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Paper: Models for "Optically Dark" Gamma-Ray Bursts
Volume: 312, Third Rome Workshop on Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era
Page: 175
Authors: Lamb, D.Q.
Abstract: Roughly 65 percent of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are "optically dark"; i.e., no optical afterglow is detected for these bursts. Three explanations of these "optically dark" GRBs have been widely discussed: (1) the optical afterglow is extinguished by dust in the vicinity of the GRB or in the star-forming region in which the GRB occurs; (2) some GRBs have optical afterglows that are intrinsically very faint; and (3) the GRB lies at very high redshift (z > 5), and the optical afterglow is absorbed by neutral hydrogen in the host galaxy and in the intergalactic medium along the line of sight from the burst to us. I briefly review and discuss each of these explanations.
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