HEASA 2026 (29 Sep - 02 Oct)

Session

Transients 2

1 Oct 2026, 08:30

Description

Chair: Piet Meintjes

23. Gamma-Ray Bursts redshift estimators and the connection between GRB rate and Star Formation rate

Maria Dainotti (Stanford University)

01/10/2026, 08:30

1

GRBs, FRBs and other Transients

Invited Talk

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can be probes of the early Universe, but currently, only 26% of GRBs observed by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have known redshifts (z) due to observational limitations. To address this, we estimated the GRB redshift (distance) via a supervised statistical learning model that uses optical afterglow observed by Swift and ground-based telescopes. The inferred...

22. Deep-Learning-Based FRB Populations Simulation - Zero Order Model

Prof. Christo Venter (North-West University), Shruti Bhatporia (North-West University)

01/10/2026, 09:01

GRBs, FRBs and other Transients

Contributed Talk

The statistical characterization of Fast Radio Burst (FRB) populations is fundamentally constrained by selection biases and the non-linear coupling of intrinsic source physics with extrinsic propagation effects. A primary hurdle is the DM-z degeneracy, where unknown host galaxy dispersion ($DM_{host}$) obscures cosmological distances. This is further compounded by morphological smearing;...

31. Probing magnetar central engines in short GRBs through fallback accretion and extended X-ray emission

Dr ankur ghosh (University of Johannesburg)

01/10/2026, 09:14

1

GRBs, FRBs and other Transients

Contributed Talk

Short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) are associated with compact binary mergers, as established by the joint detection of GW 170817 and GRB 170817A, although the nature of the post-merger remnant remains uncertain. A long-lived millisecond magnetar provides a possible central engine for the extended X-ray emission observed in a fraction of sGRBs. We investigate nine sGRBs detected between 2016 and...

48. Optical Spectroscopy and Temporal Evolution of the Nova V1405 Cas

Gesesew Reta Habtie (Debre Berhan University)

01/10/2026, 09:27

GRBs, FRBs and other Transients

Contributed Talk

This paper presents the findings from our study of nova V1405 Cas over the first 1051 days after the outburst. The study includes an analysis of the photometric light-curve evolution, along with a detailed spectroscopic analysis. Photometric analysis shows that the nova is a very slow nova, with a decline timescale of t2 ≈ 165 days. The mass of the white dwarf (WD) is calculated as MWD ∼ 0.7...

42. GRB phenomenological relations' dependence on cosmology

Soebur Razzaque

01/10/2026, 09:40

GRBs, FRBs and other Transients

Contributed Talk

Phenomenological relations between the isotropic energy and spectral peak energy in the source rest frame (the Amati relation) and between the isotropic luminosity and spectral peak energy in the source rest frame (the Yonetoku relation) in gamma-ray bursts have been widely conjectured as potential cosmological standard candles. However, reliably using these relations as standard candles...