A mean redshift of 2.8 for Swift gamma-ray bursts

P. Jakobsson; A. Levan; J. P. U. Fynbo; R. Priddey; J. Hjorth; N. Tanvir; D. Watson; B. L. Jensen; J. Sollerman; P. Natarajan; J. Gorosabel; J. M. Castro Cerón; K. Pedersen; T. Pursimo; A. S. Árnadóttir; A. J. Castro-Tirado; C. J. Davis; H. J. Deeg; D. A. Fiuza; S. Mykolaitis; S. G. Sousa

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20054287

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · astro-ph/0509888

A mean redshift of 2.8 for Swift gamma-ray bursts

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The exceptionally high luminosities of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), gradually emerging as extremely useful probes of star formation, make them promising tools for exploration of the high-redshift Universe. Here we present a carefully selected sample of Swift GRBs, intended to estimate in an unbiased way the GRB mean redshift (z_mean), constraints on the fraction of high-redshift bursts and an upper limit on the fraction of heavily obscured afterglows. We find that z_mean = 2.8 and that at least 7% of GRBs originate at z > 5. In addition, consistent with pre-Swift observations, at most 20% of afterglows can be heavily obscured. The redshift distribution of the sample is qualitatively consistent with models where the GRB rate is proportional to the star formation rate in the Universe. We also report optical, near-infrared and X-ray observations of the afterglow of GRB 050814, which was seen to exhibit very red optical colours. By modelling its spectral energy distribution we find that z = 5.3 +/- 0.3. The high mean redshift of GRBs and their wide redshift range clearly demonstrates their suitability as efficient probes of galaxies and the intergalactic medium over a significant fraction of the history of the Universe.

Explore related subjects

astro-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

P. Jakobsson, A. Levan, J. P. U. Fynbo, R. Priddey, J. Hjorth, N. Tanvir, D. Watson, B. L. Jensen, J. Sollerman, P. Natarajan, J. Gorosabel, J. M. Castro Cerón, K. Pedersen, T. Pursimo, A. S. Árnadóttir, A. J. Castro-Tirado, C. J. Davis, H. J. Deeg, D. A. Fiuza, S. Mykolaitis, S. G. Sousa. 2005-10-28. A mean redshift of 2.8 for Swift gamma-ray bursts. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%3A20054287

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2024

Deformation procedure for scalar fields in cosmology

This work offers an extension of the deformation procedure introduced in field theory to the case of standard cosmology in the presence of real scalar field in flat space-time. The procedure is shown to work for many models, which give rise to several different cosmic scenarios, evolving under the presence of first-order differential equations which solve the corresponding equations of motion very appropriately.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2023

Does Unruh radiation accelerate the universe? A novel approach to dark energy

In braneworld scenario, the brane accelerates in the bulk, and hence it perceives a thermal bulk filled with Unruh radiation. We put forward that there may be an energy exchange between Unruh radiation in the bulk and the dark matter confined to the brane, which accelerates the universe.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2023

Dark Energy is the Cosmological Quantum Vacuum Energy of Light Particles-The Axion and the Lightest Neutrino

We uncover the general mechanism producing the dark energy(DE). This is only based on well known quantum physics and cosmology. We show that the observed DE originates from the cosmological quantum vacuum of light particles which provides a continuous energy distribution able to reproduce the data. Bosons give positive contributions to the DE while fermions yield negative contributions. As usual in field theory, ultraviolet divergences are subtracted from the physical quantities. The subtractions respect the symmetries of the theory and we normalize the physical quantities to be zero for the Minkowski vacuum. The resulting finite contributions to the energy density and the pressure from the quantum vacuum grow as log a(t) where a(t) is the scale factor, while the particle contributions dilute as 1/a^3(t), as it must be for massive particles. The DE equation of state P = w(z)H turns to be w(z)<-1 with w(z) asymptotically reaching the value -1 from below.A scalar particle can produce the observed DE through its quantum cosmological vacuum provided:(i)its mass is of the order of 10^{-3} eV = 1 meV,(ii) it is very weakly coupled and (iii) it is stable on the time scale of the age of the universe. The axion vacuum thus appears as a natural candidate. The neutrino vacuum (especially the lightest mass eigenstate) can give negative contributions to the DE. We find that w(z=0) is slightly below -1 by an amount ranging from [-1.5 10^{-3}] to [-8 10^{-3}] and we predict the axion mass to be in the range between 4 and 5 meV. We find that the universe will expand in the future faster than the de Sitter universe, as an exponential in the square of the cosmic time. DE arises from the quantum vacua of light particles in FRW cosmological space time in an analogous way to the Casimir effect in Minkowski spacetime with non trivial boundaries.

astro-ph↗