Open issues with the gamma-ray burst redshift distribution

dc.creatorCoward, David
dc.date2007-02-27
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:36:53Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:36:53Z
dc.descriptionCosmological gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are the brightest explosions in the Universe. Satellite detectors, such as Beppo-SAX, HETE2 and more recently Swift, have provided a wealth of data, including the localization and redshifts of subsets of GRBs. The redshift distribution has been utilized in several studies in attempts to constrain the evolving star formation rate and to probe GRB rate evolution in the high-redshift Universe. These studies find that the GRB luminosity function and/or the rate density evolve with redshift. We present a short review of the problems of constraining GRB rate evolution in the context of the complex mix of biases inherent in the redshift measurements. To disentangle GRB rate evolution from the biases prevalent in the redshift distribution will require accounting for the incompleteness of the observed redshift sample. We highlight the importance of formulating a `complete GRB selection function' to account for the main sources of bias.
dc.description26 pages, 4 figures, submitted to New Astronomy Reviews, accepted subject to minor revision
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0702704
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0702704
dc.identifierNewAstron.Rev.51:539-546,2007
dc.identifierdoi:10.1016/j.newar.2007.03.003
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/180205
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleOpen issues with the gamma-ray burst redshift distribution
dc.typetext

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