Introduction to gamma-ray bursts
The universe is made up of many objects some of which scientists have managed to discover while others are yet to be discovered. Gamma-ray bursts form the highest and most complicated cosmic events present in the universe. These are high-energy explosions discovered during the cold war by astronomers. The discovery was made after the United States suspected the soviets could test nuclear weapons in space. They installed satellites in the space that detected gamma-ray flashes. It was until 1997 when astronomers discovered that gamma-ray bursts are caused by explosions of young energetic stars found in the distant galaxies. These bursts are characterized by a FRED profile while others are spiky and contain some emissions. Presently, a few bursts per day are experienced in the universe whereby 10 to 20 per cent of the occurrences are made of short hard variety (Bloom 5). Gamma-ray bursts relate to the new frontier in astronomy in many ways as will be discussed on this paper.
Blazing a trail into the grand frontier of the unknown universe
Many people have developed different theories explaining the functioning of the universe under different perspectives. The process has continued even in the present time where new scientists are trying to make new discoveries about the origin, and the existence of the universe. Understanding of gamma-ray bursts has brought about many controversial as new frontiers in astronomy that have made numerous suggestions about their origin. New frontiers in astronomy believe that gamma-ray bursts originated from the galactic disk, they are found in standard candles, they are caused by a collision between two objects, or a product of a special type of supernova. In order to fully understand the issue of gamma-ray bursts the Optical Gravitational Licensing Experiment (OGLE) contributes to various areas of modern astrophysics and plays a role in assisting new frontier make easier observations of the universe through surveys.
In order to understand the universe, astronauts first studied the major building blocks of the universe; the forces that make elementary constituents form the features seen in the space, and the properties of particles and forces that drive the evolution of the universe. In order to get answers to the above questions, scientists made use of three grand frontiers, the energy frontier, the intensity frontier, and the cosmic frontier.
The energy frontier
The energy frontier provides learners with an interaction between the forces powering various particles found in the universe and the factors causing them. Experiments conducted by grand frontiers have come up with major discoveries that have made astronauts develop an ultimate understanding of objects found in the universe and their relationships. The main issues addressed by these people are those concerning present and future colliders including the origin of elementary particle masses, the existence of new symmetries, and the nature of forces found in the universe. These experiments allow physicists study the particles that show astronauts how new phenomena occur. The energy frontier on the other hand helps in clear understanding of massive star cluster that helps address a number of questions in the study of the universe. They play a role in the control of dynamics and chemical evolutions that are involved in the generation of gamma-ray bursts.
On the other hand, the energy frontier is concerned with the evolution of star formation. Since the discovery of gamma-ray bursts, astronauts have gone deep into studying the relationship between these bursts and star formation. The distribution of locations where these bursts occur was concentrated on the skies. No astronaut has ever recorded a situation where gamma-ray bursts have repeated themselves; however, some events are consistent repeating themselves almost four times. A research conducted by OGLE revealed that gamma-ray bursts are related to energy frontier because they are caused by particle acceleration that produces high-energy collision leading to a loud burst. The formation of stars was also found as one of the main factors influencing particle acceleration at the energy frontier (Shifman 973-974).
The relationship between energy frontiers and gamma-ray bursts can also be clearly observed from the nature of bursts as explained by astronauts. Scientists argued that there must be a source of energy that causes gamma-ray bursts, and that source must be found within the universe. In the mid 1990s most researchers realized that the source of energy was not a determinant of the amount of sound produced by bursts. The energy frontier, therefore; can be taken as one of the accelerators of gamma-ray bursts (Mobasher).
Intensity frontier
The intense beams resulting from particle accelerators for intensity-frontier experiments are used by scientists to explore the availability of different particles found in the universe. These experiments have been used to explore the neutrino interactions and other natural processes. The intense frontier helps astronauts in understanding the origin of the universe and the availability of unique activities such as gamma-ray bursts. As discussed above, gamma ray burst are high-energy explosives occurring from interaction of particles in the space. Using the intense frontier, it could be suspected that neutrinos play an essential role the evolution of such high-energy explosions based on the fact that forces they possess (Ananthaswamy 54). Moreover, the NOVA experiments conducted in the United States laboratories showed that neutrinos have unique characteristics because they mysteriously transform into electron neutrinos that store a lot of energy.
On the other hand, the intensity frontier also related to gamma-ray bursts because their particles are composed of both positive and negative electrons. The interaction between these particles creates an electric field that leads to attraction and repulsive forces that may create a burst. In addition, the neutrinos are high speed particles that travel long distances in the universe and the interaction between these particles may cause gamma-ray bursts. The intensity frontier also deals with the forces of particles found in the universe and their related activities. Physicists have found out that neutrinos tip the balance of matter and are involved in many sounds experienced in the universe as particles with same charges collide. In addition, scientists have revealed that quarks occur because of an interaction between particles that also result into gamma-ray bursts (Bloom 20).
The cosmic frontier
Over the last few years scientists have made many discoveries on the trail into the grand frontier and the relationship with gamma-ray bursts. These discoveries led into the understanding of the causes of gamma-ray bursts and how they are formed in the universe. At the cosmic frontier, scientists use cosmos as a laboratory to carry out research on fundamental laws of physics and their application in understanding the universe more. Some observations such as the bending of light and properties of supernovae show the universe to compose of different forms. Scientists at the cosmos center have related various activities taking place in the space to cosmic rays. Cosmic emit rays that produce particles hitting the earth surface. These rays are capable of producing energy that powers electrons found on the space and end up charging them. The interaction between charged particles leads to huge blasts that produce a lot of light. These are the gamma-rays and the blast produced is what astronauts’ term as the gamma-ray burst (Ananthaswamy 141-142).
Secondly, cosmic frontier conducts research on dark energy. Many people have no idea of the intensity of dark energy. It accounts for almost 70% of all energy found in the universe and speeds up its expansion. This energy plays a role in the production of gamma-ray bursts because it assists power the particles found in the far areas where other sources of energy are unable to reach. In addition, the power of the dark energy subjects these particles to high pressure because of the heat produced leading to bursts that are accompanied by strong lights (Ananthaswamy 153-155).
Conclusion
The grand frontiers of the unknown universe help readers and scientists understand the universe from the many studies they conduct. From the above discussion, it has been shown that the three frontiers are related to the production of gamma-ray bursts in different ways. Using this information, astronauts’ can easily discover other activities and objects in the universe that have not been discovered before. In addition, an understanding of these frontiers assists learners in gaining more knowledge about the universe, the objects found in the universe, the types and sources of energy, and the interaction between objects and particles. Such information is essential in understanding the production of gamma-ray bursts.
Works cited
Ananthaswamy, Anil. The edge of physics: dispatches from the frontiers of cosmology. London:
Duckworth Overlook, 2010. Print.
Bloom, Joshua S. What are gamma-ray bursts?. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
2011. Print.
Mobasher, Bahram. "Thirty Meter Telescope." Discovering New Frontiers in Astronomy with TMT/IRMS. N.p., 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 28 May 2014:
http://tmt.org/news-center/discovering-new-frontiers-astronomy-tmtirms
Shifman, Misha. At the Frontier of Particle Physics: Handbook of Qcd : Boris Ioffe Festschrift. New Jersey: World Scientific, 2002. Internet resource.
