Gamma-ray burst continue to baffle the high-energy astrophysics community even though they are the intrinsically brightest sources in the Universe. Regardless of the fact that the progenitors of the events are relatively unknown, even more frustrating is the fact that the radiative components of their prompt emission spectra have cannot be nailed down. This is chiefly due to the fact that their spectra are “modeled” by an empirical shape, the Band function. This smoothly broken power law, while able to fit nearly all the spectra of the more than 3000 GRBs detected, cannot be used to directly infer emission mechanism because its fit parameters do not provide unique solutions for these mechanisms. Additionally, the Band function’s spectral curvature is not the same as the curvature of the proposed possible emission mechanisms. We therefore must recognize the Band crisis and move beyond this empirical function to advance our understanding of GRBs.
