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Ariel Perera

Publications and source records attributed to Ariel Perera.

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Expanding the Population of Short Gamma-Ray Transients with a Coherent Fermi/GBM Search. A 13-year catalog of short GRBs

In this paper, we present an archival search for short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) over 13 years (2013-2025) of Fermi/GBM data using a Poisson matched-filter pipeline that performs a fully coherent analysis across all detectors and energy channels, significantly improving sensitivity relative to the onboard triggering algorithms. A central component of the analysis is the empirical estimation of trigger significance using 'timeslided' data, allowing each candidate to be assigned a probability of astrophysical origin. We also developed a new parameter-estimation framework based on the Poisson matched filter, which uses the global structure of the detected event across spectral, temporal, and spatial parameter spaces. This enables us to systematically classify bursts and distinguish between GRBs, soft gamma repeaters, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, and solar flares. We identify 568 new GRB candidates with $p_{\text{astro}}\geq0.9$ and thousands of magnetar bursts, significantly expanding the known short-transient population in GBM data. To further strengthen the significance of the GRB candidates, we performed a targeted follow-up search in Swift/BAT rate data. Applying the followup to all of our triggers - including triggers below the detection threshold yielded 1736 temporally coincident events with association probability above $90\%$. The resulting probabilistically ranked catalog substantially expands the population of short GRBs and magnetar flares detected in GBM data and provides a statistically robust framework for multimessenger searches.

astro-ph.HE

A New Search Pipeline for Short Gamma Ray Bursts in Fermi/GBM Data -- A 50% Increase in the Number of Detections

In this paper, we present the development and the results of a new search pipeline for short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) in the publicly available data from the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on board the Fermi satellite. This pipeline uses rigorous statistical methods that are designed to maximize the information extracted from the Fermi/GBM detectors. Our approach differs substantially from existing search efforts in several aspects: The pipeline includes the construction of template banks, Poisson matched filtering, background estimation, background misestimation correction, automatic routines to filter contaminants, statistical estimation of the signal location and a quantitative estimator of the signal probability to be of a cosmological, terrestrial, or solar origin. Our analysis also includes operating the pipeline on "time-slided" copies of the data, which allows exact significance assessment and $p_{\text{astro}}$ computation, akin to the state-of-the-art gravitational waves (GW) data analysis pipelines. Depending on the spectral properties of the bursts, our pipeline achieves a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement by a factor of 2 to 15 over the onboard GBM triggering algorithm. This enhancement increases the detectable volume for sGRBs and results in an approximate 50% increase in sGRB detections in the 2014 GBM dataset. As a further consequence of the sensitivity increase, we detect hundreds of soft gamma-ray flares of galactic origin. This improved sensitivity enhances the chances of detecting fainter, off-axis GRBs that would likely fall below the standard triggering thresholds. Applying this pipeline to the full GBM archive is expected to expand further the joint sGRB-GW detection volume.

astro-ph.HE