GRB 200415A: A Short Gamma-Ray Burst from a Magnetar Giant Flare?
Jun Yang, Vikas Chand, Bin-Bin Zhang, Yu-Han Yang, Jin-Hang Zou, Yi-Si Yang, Xiao-Hong Zhao, Lang Shao, Shao-Lin Xiong, Qi Luo, Xiao-Bo Li, Shuo Xiao, Cheng-Kui Li, Cong-Zhan Liu, Jagdish C. Joshi, Vidushi Sharma, Manoneeta Chakraborty, Ye Li, Bing Zhang
Abstract
Abstract The giant flares of soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) have long been proposed to contribute to at least a subsample of the observed short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In this paper, we perform a comprehensive analysis of the high-energy data of the recent bright short GRB 200415A, which was located close to the Sculptor galaxy. Our results suggest that a magnetar giant flare provides the most natural explanation for most observational properties of GRB 200415A, including its location, temporal and spectral features, energy, statistical correlations, and high-energy emissions. On the other hand, the compact star merger GRB model is found to have difficulty reproducing such an event in a nearby distance. Future detections and follow-up observations of similar events are essential to firmly establish the connection between SGR giant flares and a subsample of nearby short GRBs.