GRB 200415A: A Short Gamma-Ray Burst from a Magnetar Giant Flare?

Understand

The giant flares of soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) have long been proposed to contribute to at least a subsample of the observed short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).

• In this paper, we perform a comprehensive analysis of the high-energy data of the recent bright short GRB 200415A, which was located close to the Sculptor galaxy.
• Our results suggest that a magnetar giant flare provides the most natural explanation for most observational properties of GRB 200415A, including its location, temporal and spectral features, energy, statistical correlations, and high-energy emissions.
• On the other hand, the compact star merger GRB model is found to have difficulty reproducing such an event in a nearby distance.