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Collapsars as Sites of r-process Nucleosynthesis: Systematic Photometric Near-infrared Follow-up of Type Ic-BL Supernovae

One of the open questions following the discovery of GW170817 is whether neutron star (NS) mergers are the only astrophysical sites capable of producing r-process elements. Simulations have shown that 0.01–0.1 M $_ødot$ of r-process material could be …

Characterizing the Ordinary Broad-line Type Ic SN 2023pel from the Energetic GRB 230812B

We report observations of the optical counterpart of the long gamma-ray burst (GRB) GRB 230812B and its associated supernova (SN) SN 2023pel. The proximity (z = 0.36) and high energy (E $_ γ,iso$ åisebox-0.5ex 10$^53$ erg) make it an important event …

Cosmological Fast Optical Transients with the Zwicky Transient Facility: A Search for Dirty Fireballs

Dirty fireballs are a hypothesized class of relativistic massive-star explosions with an initial Lorentz factor Γ$_init$ below the Γ$_init$ åisebox-0.5ex 100 required to produce a long-duration gamma-ray burst (LGRB), but which could still produce …

In Search of Short Gamma-Ray Burst Optical Counterparts with the Zwicky Transient Facility

The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) triggers on-board in response to åisebox-0.5ex 40 short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) per year; however, their large localization regions have made the search for optical counterparts a challenging endeavour. We …

Modeling the Prompt Optical Emission of GRB 180325A: The Evolution of a Spike from the Optical to Gamma Rays

The transition from prompt to afterglow emission is one of the most exciting and least understood phases in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Correlations among optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray emission in GRBs have been explored, to attempt to answer whether …