The radio afterglow from the giant flare of SGR 1900+14: The same mechanism as afterglows from classic gamma-ray bursts?

A radio afterglow was detected following the 1998 August 27 giant flare from the soft gamma repeater (SGR) 1900+14. Its short-lived behavior is quite different from the radio nebula of SGR 1806-20, but very similar to radio afterglows from classic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Motivated by this, we attempt to explain it with the external shock model as invoked in the standard theory of GRB afterglows. We find that the light curve of this radio afterglow is not consistent with the forward shock emission of an ultrarelativistic outflow, which is suggested to be responsible for the initial hard spike of the giant flare. Nevertheless, shock emission from a mildly or subrelativistic outflow expanding into the interstellar medium could fit the observations. The possible origin for this kind of outflow is discussed, based on the magnetar model for SGRs. Furthermore, we suggest that the presence of an ultrarelativistic fireball from SGR giant flares could be tested by rapid radio to optical follow-up observations in the future.