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EP240414a: A Gamma-Ray Burst Jet Weakened by an Extended Circumstellar Material

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arxiv 2503.16243 v3 pith:L3EGYQCT submitted 2025-03-20 astro-ph.HE

EP240414a: A Gamma-Ray Burst Jet Weakened by an Extended Circumstellar Material

classification astro-ph.HE
keywords emissionep240414afailedafterglowbarelycircumstellarearlyevent
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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abstract

The recent Einstein Probe (EP) event EP240414a exhibits several unusual observational features. Its prompt and afterglow emissions place it between long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) and low-luminosity GRBs (LLGRBs). The event is followed by a fast optical transient (AT 2024gsa), initially exhibiting a thermal-like spectrum but later evolving into an unusually red peak at $\sim 3-5$ days, which is difficult to explain with thermal emission. Using our generalized analytic framework for jet propagation in a circumstellar material (CSM; Hamidani et al. 2025), we explore a scenario in which a conventional LGRB jet is launched in a progenitor surrounded by a dense CSM. For a CSM of $\sim 0.03 M_\odot$ extending to $\sim 3\times 10^{13}$ cm, we find that the jet is significantly weakened before breaking out, becoming "barely failed", an intermediate state between successful (LGRB) and completely failed (LLGRB) jets. This scenario naturally explains EP240414a's multi-wavelength observations, with the early thermal component produced by cocoon cooling emission, and the red peak explained by non-thermal afterglow emission from the mildly relativistic barely failed jet (and its inner-cocoon). Our work demonstrates the important role of extended CSM in shaping GRB jets and illustrates how early multi-wavelength follow-up observations can reveal the physically diverse nature of jet-driven transients.

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Cited by 9 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. X-rays breaking out of pre-explosion ejecta mark a supernova's first light

    astro-ph.HE 2026-06 conditional novelty 7.0

    EP260321a is a thermal soft X-ray shock breakout from a ~300 R_⊙ CSM shell around a stripped-envelope progenitor, followed by SN Ic-BL 2026gzf.

  2. EP260321a/SN 2026gzf: The Faintest Shock Breakout Associated with a Broad-Lined Supernova

    astro-ph.HE 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    EP260321a is the faintest observed shock breakout tied to a broad-lined Type Ic supernova, interpreted as a choked weak outflow from a stripped star.

  3. Implications of the UV/optical Plateau of AT2018cow

    astro-ph.HE 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0

    A wind-and-irradiation disk model fits the AT2018cow UV plateau with accretor masses from 1.4 to ~100 solar masses, removing the need for a >200 solar-mass black hole.

  4. X-rays breaking out of pre-explosion ejecta mark a supernova's first light

    astro-ph.HE 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.0

    Detection of a thermal X-ray shock-breakout event from pre-explosion ejecta of a stripped massive star, indicating abrupt mass loss within a month of core collapse.

  5. EP250827b/SN 2025wkm: An X-ray Flash-Supernova Powered by a Central Engine and Circumstellar Interaction

    astro-ph.HE 2025-12 conditional novelty 6.0

    EP250827b/SN 2025wkm is a new X-ray flash–supernova whose long, soft X-ray burst and double-peaked, plateauing optical light curve are best explained by a magnetar central engine interacting with a low-mass circumstel...

  6. Decadal pre-explosion activity and circumstellar interaction in a supernova

    astro-ph.HE 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    SN 2026gzf exhibits early circumstellar interaction with 0.02 solar masses of material and decadal pre-explosion variability suggesting enhanced eruptive mass loss.

  7. Discovery of a Supernova Following the Einstein Probe Transient EP250302a at z = 1.131

    astro-ph.HE 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 4.0

    The paper identifies supernova emission matching a scaled SN 1998bw template in the late-time light curve of EP250302a at z=1.131, with early data constraining the jet Lorentz factor above 25.

  8. EP260321a/SN 2026gzf: The Faintest Shock Breakout Associated with a Broad-Lined Supernova

    astro-ph.HE 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 4.0

    EP260321a is identified as the faintest shock breakout X-ray transient associated with broad-lined Ic supernova SN 2026gzf, interpreted as originating from a mildly relativistic weak outflow choked inside the progenitor star.

  9. EP250827b/SN 2025wkm: An X-ray Flash-Supernova Powered by a Central Engine and Circumstellar Interaction

    astro-ph.HE 2025-12 conditional novelty 4.0

    EP250827b/SN 2025wkm is an X-ray flash supernova at z=0.1194 powered by a long-lived magnetar and disk winds interacting with extended circumstellar medium, without an on-axis relativistic jet.