1998/07/31 by Mark Krumholz, Mark R. Krumholz, S. E. Thorsett +1 · 3 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #CCD and CMOS Imaging Sensors #COSMIC cancer database #Cosmic distance ladder #Flux (metallurgy) #Gamma-ray burst #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Luminosity #Redshift #Star formation #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/311657
12 pages, 2 postscript figures, uses AAS LaTex macros v4.0. To be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, accepted August 20, 1998. Revised for publication
arxiv created 1998/08/23 · openalex publication_date 1998/10/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We have tested several models of gamma-ray burst (GRB) luminosity and redshift distribution functions for compatibility with the BATSE 4B number versus peak flux relation. Our results disagree with recent claims that current GRB observations can be used to constrain strongly the cosmic star formation history. Instead, we find that relaxing the assumption that GRBs are standard candles renders a very broad range of models that are consistent with the BATSE number-flux relation. We explicitly construct two sample distributions, one tracing the star formation history and one with a constant comoving density. We show that both distributions are compatible with the observed fluxes and redshifts of the bursts GRB 970508, GRB 971214, and GRB 980703, and we discuss the measurements required to distinguish the two models.