A search for giant flares from soft gamma-repeaters in nearby galaxies in the Konus-Wind short burst sample

Abstract

The knowledge of the rate of soft gamma-ray repeater (SGR) giant flares is important for understanding the giant flare mechanism and the SGR energy budget in the framework of the magnetar model. We estimate the upper limit to the rate using the results of an extensive search for extragalactic soft gamma-repeater giant flares (GFs) among 140 short gamma-ray bursts detected between 1994 and 2010 by Konus-Wind using InterPlanetary Network (IPN) localizations and temporal parameters. We show that Konus-Wind and the IPN are capable of detecting GFs with energies of 2.3x10^46 erg (which is the energy of the GF from SGR 1806-20 assuming a distance of 15 kpc) at distances of up to about 30 Mpc and GFs with energies of <10^45 erg (which is the energy of the GF from SGR 0526-66) at distances of up to about 6 Mpc. Using a sample of 1896 nearby galaxies we found that only two bursts, GRB 051103 and GRB 070201, have a low chance coincidence probability between an IPN localization and a nearby galaxy. We found the upper limit to the fraction of GFs among short GRBs with fluence above ~5x10^-7 erg cm^-2 to be <8% (95% confidence level). Assuming that the number of active SGRs in nearby galaxies is proportional to their core-collapse supernova rate, we derived the one-sided 95% upper limit to the rate of GFs with energy output similar to the GF from SGR 1806-20 to be (0.6--1.2)x10^-4 Q_46^-1.5 yr^-1 per SGR, where Q_46 is the GF energy output in 10^46 erg.

arXiv comment6 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• Magnetars: the physics behind observations
• A peculiar hard X-ray counterpart of a Galactic fast radio burst
• A bright gamma-ray flare interpreted as a giant magnetar flare in NGC 253
• Radio Non-Detection of the SGR 1806-20 Giant Flare and Implications for Fast Radio Bursts
• Neutron Star Mergers and How to Study Them
• Identification of a Local Sample of Gamma-Ray Bursts Consistent with a Magnetar Giant Flare Origin
• The second Konus-Wind catalog of short gamma-ray bursts
• The Rate of Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Local Universe
• A cumulative search for hard X/$\gamma$-Ray emission associated with fast radio bursts in Fermi/GBM data
• Exploring the Cosmic Evolution of Habitability with Galaxy Merger Trees
• Investigation of Primordial Black Hole Bursts using Interplanetary Network Gamma-ray Bursts
• Misidentification of Short GRBs as Magnetars in Nearby Galaxies
• Magnetar giant flare origin for GRB 200415A inferred from a new scaling relation and its implications