Relativistic Stellar Explosions: The Landscape Revealed by Wide-field, High-cadence Optical Surveys

Abstract:

 For the last half-century, relativistic outflows accompanying the final collapse of massive stars have predominantly been detected via high-energy emission, as long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, it has long been hypothesized that GRBs are the extreme of a continuum of phenomena, including dirty fireballs and off-axis jets. I will show that the large grasp of optical surveys has recently made it possible to test this hypothesis by probing the phase space of fast and rare transients, with targeted radio observations playing a crucial role in confirming the presence of relativistic ejecta. I will review the emerging zoo, which includes orphan afterglows at cosmological distances, radio-bright supernovae in the local universe, and unexpected new classes of transients that are prime targets for millimeter-band observations. An understanding of the origin of these events and their relation to GRBs will be enabled by upcoming time-domain surveys in other bands, such as X-ray and UV.

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