We outline a detailed analysis of a novel scenario in which gamma-ray bursts are of intergalactic origin and arise from the induced collapse of a lone neutron star triggered by a primordial black hole captured in its center. The energy released from the phase transition of accreted nucleon matter into the quark-gluon plasma is transferred by degenerate neutrinos to the star’s surface, where neutrinos annihilate into an electron-positron plasma and produce an inverted temperature layer that preserves a fireball from undue baryonic pollution. Possible observational tests include absence of apparent cosmological time dilation, primary location of γ-ray bursts outside of galaxies, specific shape of logN-logS dependence with a peak near redshift z∼10, emission of 10−4–10−3 of total energy in the form of 100 GeV photons, bimodal distribution of durations, very weak accompanying pulse of gravitational radiation, etc [1].

This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.