The brightest gamma-ray burst of all time, and how it may have forged gold

by Prof. Dr. Daniel Siegel

Tuesday Dec 2, 2025, 4:15 PM → 5:45 PM Europe/Berlin

H6 (UHG)

Gamma-ray bursts are the most energetic astrophysical events in the universe. They have traditionally been classified into short-duration flashes of less than two seconds, thought to be associated with neutron-star mergers in binary systems, and long-duration bursts of more than two seconds, thought to be associated with the collapse of massive, rapidly rotating stars (collapsars). Their potential to synthesize roughly half of the elements heavier than iron of the periodic table, has only come into focus more recently. Tremendous progress has been achieved since 2017, initiated with the discovery and interpretation of gravitational waves from a neutron star merger GW170817. This event generated a short-gamma ray burst accompanied by a radioactively powered optical transient, known as a kilonova, which provided direct evidence of heavy-element formation. I will discuss recent theoretical developments in our understanding of gamma-ray burst events, including the brightest gamma-ray burst of all times, as well as of observations of multiple recent kilonova candidates following gamma-ray bursts. I will particularly highlight how to search for heavy element production and progress toward elemental identification -- how to use gamma-ray bursts as a key to understanding the synthesis of elements across a good fraction of the periodic table.

 

2025-12-02-Prof.DanielSiegel.pdf