The First Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Universe

Abstract

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the ultimate cosmic lighthouses, capable of illuminating the universe at its earliest epochs. Could such events probe the properties of the first stars at z $\sim$ 20, the end of the cosmic Dark Ages? Previous studies of Population III GRBs only considered explosions in the diffuse relic H II regions of their progenitors, or bursts that are far more more energetic than those observed to date. But the processes that produce GRBs at the highest redshifts likely reset their local environments, creating much more complicated structures than those in which relativistic jets have been modeled so far. These structures can greatly affect the luminosity of the afterglow, and hence the redshift at which it can be detected. We have now simulated Population III GRB afterglows in H II regions, winds, and dense shells ejected by the star during the processes that produce the burst. Our model, which has been used in previous work, has been extended to include contributions from reverse shocks, inverse Compton cooling and the effects of sphericity and beaming in the blast wave, and is valid in a variety of circumjet density profiles. We find that GRBs with E${}_{\mathrm{iso},\gamma }=$ 10${}^{51}$ - 10${}^{53}$ erg will be visible at z $\gtrsim$ 20 to the next generation of near infrared and radio observatories. In many cases, the environment of the burst, and hence progenitor type, can be inferred from the afterglow light curve. Although some Population III GRBs are visible to Swift and the Very Large Array now, the optimal strategy for their detection will be future missions like EXIST and JANUS, which have large survey areas and onboard X-ray and infrared telescopes that can track their near infrared flux from the moment of the burst, thereby identifying its redshift.

17 pages, 9 figures, submitted to the Astrophysical Journal, revised in response to comments by the referee

References in corpus (13)

• The Supernova -- Gamma-Ray Burst Connection
• Nucleosynthetic signatures of the first stars
• A single low-energy, iron-poor supernova as the source of metals in the star SMSS J 031300.36-670839.3
• The Formation of Population III Binaries from Cosmological Initial Conditions
• The Destruction of Cosmological Minihalos by Primordial Supernovae
• Light Curve Modeling of Superluminous Supernova 2006gy: Collision between Supernova Ejecta and Dense Circumstellar Medium
• The HII Region of a Primordial Star
• Smooth Light Curves from a Bumpy Ride: Relativistic Blast Wave Encounters a Density Jump
• Ionization Front Instabilities in Primordial H II Regions
• The Transition from the First Stars to the Second Stars in the Early Universe
• Three-Dimensional Dynamical Instabilities in Galactic Ionization Fronts
• Finding the First Cosmic Explosions. III. Pulsational Pair-Instability Supernovae
• The Molecular Hydrogen Deficit in Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows

Cited by in corpus (28)

• Titans of the Early Universe: The Prato Statement on the Origin of the First Supermassive Black Holes
• Gamma-ray Burst Cosmology
• Constraining the primordial initial mass function with stellar archaeology
• On the Cosmological Evolution of Long Gamma-ray Burst Properties
• Pair Instability Supernovae of Very Massive Population III Stars
• A New Statistical Model for Population III Supernova Rates: Discriminating Between $\Lambda$CDM and WDM Cosmologies
• Probing the stellar initial mass function with high-$z$ supernovae
• Four GRB-Supernovae at Redshifts between 0.4 and 0.8
• Pair-Instability Supernovae in the Local Universe
• How the First Stars Regulated Star Formation. II. Enrichment by Nearby Supernovae
• Gamma-ray burst afterglow blast waves
• Low-energy Population III supernovae and the origin of extremely metal-poor stars
• Population III Hypernovae
• Finding the First Cosmic Explosions. IV. 90 - 140 M${}_{\odot }$ Pair-Instability Supernovae
• Detecting Pair-Instability Supernovae at z<5 with the James Webb Space Telescope
• Rapidly rotating Population III stellar models as a source of primary nitrogen
• Detecting strongly lensed supernovae at z ~ 5-7 with LSST
• Jet-powered supernovae of $\sim 10^5{M}_{\odot }$ population III stars are observable by $Euclid$, $WFIRST$, $WISH$, and $JWST$
• A MAD Model for Gamma-Ray Burst Variability
• Machine-z: Rapid Machine Learned Redshift Indicator for Swift Gamma-ray Bursts
• Simulation and physical model based gamma-ray burst afterglow analysis
• Detecting Radio Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts with FAST
• GRBs and fundamental physics
• Gas Dynamics of the Nickel-56 Decay Heating in Pair-Instability Supernovae
• Gamma-ray bursts from massive Population III stars: clues from the radio band
• Detecting Population III Stars through Tidal Disruption Events in the Era of JWST and Roman
• Gamma-ray burst radio afterglows from Population III stars: Simulation methods and detection prospects with SKA precursors
• Cosmic ray acceleration and non-thermal emission from fast luminous optical transient sources