  While the Band function or other phenomenological functions are commonly used
to fit GRB prompt emission spectra, we propose a new parametric function that
is inspired by an internal shock physical model. We use this function as a
proxy of the model to confront it easily to GRB observations. We built a
parametric function that represents the spectral form of the synthetic bursts
provided by our internal shock synchrotron model (ISSM). We simulated the
response of the Fermi instruments to the synthetic bursts and fitted the
obtained count spectra to validate the ISSM function. Then, we applied this
function to a sample of 74 bright GRBs detected by the Fermi/GBM, and we
computed the width of their spectral energy distributions around their peak
energy. For comparison, we fitted also the phenomenological functions that are
commonly used in the literature. Finally, we performed a time-resolved analysis
of the broadband spectrum of GRB 090926A, which was jointly detected by the
Fermi GBM and LAT. The ISSM function reproduces 81% of the spectra in the GBM
bright GRB sample, versus 59% for the Band function, for the same number of
parameters. It gives also relatively good fits to the GRB 090926A spectra. The
width of the MeV spectral component that is obtained from the fits of the ISSM
function is slightly larger than the width from the Band fits, but it is
smaller when observed over a wider energy range. Moreover, all of the 74
analysed spectra are found to be significantly wider than the synthetic
synchrotron spectra. We discuss possible solutions to reconcile the
observations with the internal shock synchrotron model, such as an improved
modeling of the shock micro-physics or more accurate spectral measurements at
MeV energies.

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena