15 - Epilogue

Summary

The preceding fourteen chapters have been written at a good time to take stock of the field of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The extraordinary discoveries made over the last decade or so about a phenomenon that has been around for over four decades seem to have attained a mature state. Thousands of bursts have been observed, classified and followed up, and it is now the special and rare cases, which are extreme by some important measure, that are most likely to advance our understanding as radically new gamma-ray and X-ray observing capabilities are at least a decade away. On the theoretical front, some prescient inferences have been vindicated, phenomenological models that are usable by observers have been developed, and simulation has made great strides. The greatest challenge is to explore the underlying physical processes in much more detail and this is likely to require a new generation of high-performance computers. Nonetheless, the GRB pace of discovery, like much of contemporary astrophysics, will likely exceed that in most other subfields of physical science.

I was asked to write a critique of where we are today and what I think will be the major developments going forward. My qualifications for this task are not promising. I have probably contributed most to the study of a high-energy gamma-ray stellar phenomenon unintentionally in the context of trying to explain variability of the lowest frequency radio emission from active galaxies, and my largest attempt to work on what I thought was relevant turned out to be only applicable, at best, to X-ray bursting neutron stars.