Dimitrios Giannios

We evaluate the prompt observational signatures of the merger between a massive close-in planet (a `hot Jupiter') and its host star, events with an estimated Galactic rate of ~0.1-1/yr. Depending on the ratio of the mean density of the planet rho_p to that of the star rho_star, a merger results in three possible outcomes. If rho_p/rho_star > 5, then the planet directly plunges below the stellar atmosphere before being disrupted by tidal forces. Dissipation of orbital energy creates a hot wake behind the planet, producing a EUV/soft X-ray transient as the planet sinks below the stellar surface. The peak luminosity L_X ~ 1e36 erg/s is achieved weeks-months prior to merger, after which the stellar surface is enshrouded by an outflow. The final inspiral is accompanied by an optical transient powered by the recombination of hydrogen in the outflow, which peaks at L~1e37-38 erg/s on a timescale ~days. If instead rho_planet/rho_star < 5, then Roche Lobe overflow occurs above the stellar surface. For rho_p/rho_star < 1, mass transfer is stable, resulting the planet being accreted on a relatively slow timescale. However, for 1 < rho_p/rho_star < 5, mass transfer may instead be unstable, resulting in the planet being dynamically disrupted into an accretion disk around the star. Super-Eddington outflows from the disk power an optical transient with L~1e37-38 erg/s and characteristic duration ~week-months. The disk itself becomes visible once the accretion rate become sub-Eddington, resulting in a bolometric brightening and spectral shift to the UV. Optical transients from planet merger events may resemble classical novae, but are distinguished by lower ejecta mass and velocity ~100s km/s, and by hard pre- and post-cursor emission, respectively. Promising search strategies include combined optical, UV, and X-ray surveys of nearby massive galaxies with cadences from days to months.

The radiation released at the transparency radius of an ultrarelativistic flow can account for the observed properties of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) provided that sufficient energy is dissipated in the sub-photospheric region. Here, I investigate how the peak energy of the E*f(E) spectrum and its overall shape depend on the properties of the jet for various "dissipative photospheres". I find that continuous energy release which results in electron heating over a wide range of distances may be the key to explain the GRB emission. In this picture, the peak of the spectrum forms at a Thomson optical depth of several tens. The peak depends mainly on the bulk Lorentz factor Gamma of the flow and can, therefore, be used to determine it. The Gamma is predicted to range from ~10 to 1000 from X-ray flashes to the brightest observed GRBs in agreement with recent observational inferences. The Amati relation can be understood if the brightest bursts are the least baryon loaded ones. Implications from this interpretation of the GRB emission for the central engine are discussed.

The tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole provides us with a rare glimpse of these otherwise dormant beasts. It has long been predicted that the disruption will be accompanied by a thermal `flare', powered by the accretion of bound stellar debris. Several candidate disruptions have been discovered in this manner at optical, UV and X-ray wavelengths. Here we explore the observational consequences if a modest fraction of the accretion power is channeled into an ultra-relativistic outflow. We show that a relativistic jet decelerates due to its interaction with the interstellar medium at sub-parsec distances from the black hole. Synchrotron radiation from electrons accelerated by the reverse shock powers a bright radio-infrared transient that peaks on a timescale ~1 yr after disruption. Emission from the forward shock may be detectable for several years after the peak. Deep radio follow-up observations of tidal disruption candidates at late times can test for the presence of relativistic ejecta. Upcoming radio transient surveys may independently discover tens to hundreds of tidal disruptions per year, complimenting searches at other wavelengths. Non-thermal emission from tidal disruption probes the physics of jet formation under relatively clean conditions, in which the flow parameters are independently constrained.

Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) may be produced in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) or gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets. I argue that magnetic reconnection in jets can accelerate UHECRs rather independently of physical processes in the magnetic dissipation region. First-order Fermi acceleration can efficiently take place in the region where the unreconnected (upstream) magnetized fluid converges into the reconnection layer. I find that protons can reach energies up to E ∼ 1020 eV in GRB and powerful AGN jets while iron nuclei can reach similar energies in AGN jets of more moderate luminosity.

Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) may be powered by the rotational energy of a millisecond magnetar. I argue that the GRB-driving magnetars lie at the high end of the distribution of magnetic field strengths of magnetars. The field of GRB magnetars decays on timescale of hundreds of years and can power SGR-like flares up to ~100 times more powerful than the 2004 event of SGR 1806--20. A few of these flares per year may have been observed by {\it BATSE} and classified as short-duration GRBs. Association of one of these superflares with a nearby d_L\simless 250 Mpc galaxy and the discovery of a, coincident in space, 100-year-old GRB afterglow (observed in the radio) will be the characteristic signature of the magnetar model for GRBs.