Unraveling the Origins of Gamma-Ray Burst X-Ray Plateaus through a Study of X-Ray Flares

The X-ray light curves of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) display complex features, including plateaus and flares, that challenge theoretical models. Here, we study the properties of flares that are observed in the early afterglow phase (up to a few thousand seconds). We split the sample into two groups: bursts with and without an X-ray plateau. We find that the distributions of flare properties are similar in each group; specifically, the peak time (t_pk) of the flares and the ratio of the flare width to the flare peak time (w/t_pk), which is found to be ≈1, regardless of the presence of a plateau. We discuss these results in view of the different theoretical models aimed at explaining the origin of the plateau. These results are difficult to explain by viewing angle effects or late-time energy injection, but do not contradict the idea that GRBs with X-ray plateaus have a low Lorentz factor, on the order of tens. For these GRBs, the dissipation processes that produce the flares naturally occur at smaller radii compared to GRBs with higher Lorentz factors, while the flares maintain a similar behavior. Our results therefore provide independent support for the idea that many GRBs have a Lorentz factor of a few tens rather than a few hundreds.