Gamma-ray burst host galaxies at low and high redshift

Abstract

The galaxies hosting the most energetic explosions in the universe, the gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), are generally found to be low-mass, metal poor, blue and star forming galaxies. However, the majority of the targets investigated so far (less than 100) are at relatively low redshift, z < 2. We know that at low redshift, the cosmic star formation is predominantly in small galaxies. Therefore, at low redshift, long-duration GRBs, which are associated with massive stars, are expected to be in small galaxies. Preliminary investigations of the stellar mass function of z < 1.5 GRB hosts does not indicate that these galaxies are different from the general population of nearby star-forming galaxies. At high-z, it is still unclear whether GRB hosts are different. Recent results indicate that a fraction of them might be associated with dusty regions in massive galaxies. Remarkable is the a super-solar metallicity measured in the interstellar medium of a z = 3.57 GRB host.

Highlight talk at the Astronomische Gesellschaft meeting (Heidelberg 2011), to appear in the book series Reviews in Modern Astronomy, volume 24

References in corpus (14)

• Long gamma-ray bursts and core-collapse supernovae have different environments
• The Galaxy Population Hosting Gamma-Ray Bursts
• UV star-formation rates of GRB host galaxies
• On the galaxy stellar mass function, the mass-metallicity relation, and the implied baryonic mass function
• The Host Galaxies of Swift Dark Gamma-Ray Bursts: Observational Constraints on Highly Obscured and Very High-Redshift GRBs
• The SEDs and Host Galaxies of the dustiest GRB afterglows
• Observations of the Naked-Eye GRB 080319B: Implications of Nature's Brightest Explosion
• The evolving slope of the stellar mass function at 0.6 <= z < 4.5 from deep WFC3 data
• Super-solar Metal Abundances in Two Galaxies at z ~ 3.57 revealed by the GRB 090323 Afterglow Spectrum
• The nature of GRB-selected submillimeter galaxies: hot and young
• The nature of the dwarf starforming galaxy associated with GRB 060218 / SN2006aj
• A very metal poor Damped Lyman-alpha system revealed through the most energetic GRB 090926A
• Small-scale variations in the radiating surface of the GRB 011211 jet
• Millimetric Properties of Gamma Ray Burst Host Galaxies

Cited by in corpus (9)

• The Swift GRB Host Galaxy Legacy Survey - II. Rest-Frame NIR Luminosity Distribution and Evidence for a Near-Solar Metallicity Threshold
• Unveiling the Secrets of Metallicity and Massive Star Formation Using DLAs along Gamma-ray Bursts
• VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy of the GRB 120327A afterglow
• A method for quantifying the Gamma Ray Burst "bias". Application in the redshift range 0-1.1
• The host-galaxy response to the afterglow of GRB 100901A
• Feedback effects of aspherical supernovae explosions on galaxies
• Soft X-ray absorption excess in gamma-ray burst afterglow spectra: Absorption by turbulent ISM
• Rapid Response Mode observations of GRB 160203A: Looking for fine-structure line variability at z=3.52
• Study of shock wave dynamics produced by interaction of a fireball with the surrounding medium to it, to explain the x-ray afterglow of Gamma Ray Burst-GRBs