Generation of circular polarization of gamma ray bursts

The generation of the circular polarization of gamma ray burst (GRB) photons is discussed in this paper via their interactions with astroparticles in the presence or absence of background fields such as magnetic fields and noncommutative space-time geometry. Solving the quantum Boltzmann equation for GRB photons as a photon ensemble, we discuss the generation of circular polarization (as Faraday conversion phase shift $\mathrm{\Delta }{\varphi }_{\mathrm{FC}}$) of GRBs in the following cases: (i) intermediate interactions, i.e., the Compton scattering of GRBs in the galaxy cluster magnetic field and in the presence of noncommutative space-time geometry, as well as the scattering of GRBs in the cosmic neutrino background (CNB) and cosmic microwave background (CMB); (ii) interactions with particles and fields in shockwaves, i.e., the Compton scattering of GRBs with accelerated charged particles in the presence of magnetic fields. We found that (i) after shockwave crossing, the greatest contribution of $\mathrm{\Delta }{\varphi }_{\mathrm{FC}}$ for energetic GRBs (of the order of GeV and larger) comes from GRB-CMB interactions, but for low-energy GRBs the contributions of the Compton scattering of GRBs in the galaxy cluster magnetic field dominate; (ii) in shockwave crossing, the magnetic field has significant effects on converting a GRB’s linear polarization to a circular one, and this effect can be used to better understand the magnetic profile in shockwaves. The main aim of this work is to study and measure the circular polarization of GRBs for a better understanding of the physics and mechanism of the generation of GRBs and their interactions before reaching us.