The Optically Unbiased Gamma-Ray Burst Host (TOUGH) Survey. VII. The Host Galaxy Luminosity Function: Probing the Relationship Between GRBs and Star Formation to Redshift $\sim 6$

Abstract

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) offer a route to characterizing star-forming galaxies and quantifying high-$z$ star formation that is distinct from the approach of traditional galaxy surveys: GRB selection is independent of dust and probes even the faintest galaxies that can evade detection in flux-limited surveys. However, the exact relation between the GRB rate and the star formation rate (SFR) throughout all redshifts is controversial. The Optically Unbiased GRB Host (TOUGH) survey includes observations of all GRB hosts (69) in an optically unbiased sample of Swift GRBs and we utilize these to constrain the evolution of the UV GRB-host-galaxy luminosity function (LF) between $z=0$ and $z=4.5$, and compare this with LFs derived from both Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) surveys and simulation modeling. At all redshifts we find the GRB hosts to be most consistent with a luminosity function derived from SFR weighted models incorporating GRB production via both metallicity-dependent and independent channels with a relatively high level of bias toward low metallicity hosts. In the range $1<z<3$ an SFR weighted LBG derived (i.e., non-metallicity biased) LF is also a reasonable fit to the data. Between $z\sim 3$ and $z\sim 6$, we observe an apparent lack of UV bright hosts in comparison with LBGs, though the significance of this shortfall is limited by nine hosts of unknown redshift.

ApJ, in press (including revisions according to the language editor), 14 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables

References in corpus (30)

• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) -- Overview
• Star Formation in AEGIS Field Galaxies since z=1.1 : The Dominance of Gradually Declining Star Formation, and the Main Sequence of Star-Forming Galaxies
• K-corrections and filter transformations in the ultraviolet, optical, and near infrared
• The Mass-Metallicity Relation at z~2
• Long gamma-ray bursts and core-collapse supernovae have different environments
• UV Luminosity Functions at z~4, 5, and 6 from the HUDF and other Deep HST ACS Fields: Evolution and Star Formation History
• GROND - a 7-channel imager
• The Galaxy Population Hosting Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Measured Metallicities at the Sites of Nearby Broad-Lined Type Ic Supernovae and Implications for the SN-GRB Connection
• UV star-formation rates of GRB host galaxies
• A Complete Catalog of Swift GRB Spectra and Durations: Demise of a Physical Origin for Pre-Swift High-Energy Correlations
• Binary star progenitors of long gamma-ray bursts
• The Host Galaxies of Swift Dark Gamma-Ray Bursts: Observational Constraints on Highly Obscured and Very High-Redshift GRBs
• The optically unbiased GRB host (TOUGH) survey. I. Survey design and catalogs
• The First Swift BAT Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog
• GRBs as Cosmological Probes - Cosmic Chemical Evolution
• The Evolution of the UV Luminosity Function from z ~ 0.75 to z ~ 2.5 using HST ERS WFC3/UVIS Observations
• Swift observations of GRB 060614: an anomalous burst with a well behaved afterglow
• The optically unbiased GRB host (TOUGH) survey. III. Redshift distribution
• High-Redshift Starbursting Dwarf Galaxies Revealed by GRB Afterglows
• Ly-alpha and UV emission from high-redshift GRB hosts: To what extent do GRBs trace star formation?
• The nature of GRB-selected submillimeter galaxies: hot and young
• The optically unbiased GRB host (TOUGH) survey. VI. Radio observations at z<1 and consistency with typical star-forming galaxies
• Unveiling the Secrets of Metallicity and Massive Star Formation Using DLAs along Gamma-ray Bursts
• The optically unbiased GRB host (TOUGH) survey. V. VLT/X-shooter emission-line redshifts for Swift GRBs at z~2
• Redshift Filtering by Swift Apparent X-ray Column Density
• Herschel observations of gamma-ray burst host galaxies: implications for the topology of the dusty interstellar medium
• GRB 050502B optical afterglow: a jet break at high redshift
• Far-infrared observations of an unbiased sample of gamma-ray burst host galaxies
• Gamma-Ray Burst Luminosity Functions Based On a Newly Discovered Correlation Between Peak Spectral Energy and V/V_max

Cited by in corpus (54)

• The Observer's Guide to the Gamma-Ray Burst-Supernova Connection
• Host Galaxy Properties and Offset Distributions of Fast Radio Bursts: Implications for their Progenitors
• The Swift GRB Host Galaxy Legacy Survey - II. Rest-Frame NIR Luminosity Distribution and Evidence for a Near-Solar Metallicity Threshold
• Cosmic evolution and metal aversion in super-luminous supernova host galaxies
• The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxy Legacy Survey - I. Sample Selection and Redshift Distribution
• The Palomar Transient Factory Core-Collapse Supernova Host-Galaxy Sample. I. Host-Galaxy Distribution Functions and Environment-Dependence of CCSNe
• The Koala: A Fast Blue Optical Transient with Luminous Radio Emission from a Starburst Dwarf Galaxy at $z=0.27$
• Empirical constraints on the origin of fast radio bursts: volumetric rates and host galaxy demographics as a test of millisecond magnetar connection
• A Hubble Space Telescope Survey of the Host Galaxies of Superluminous Supernovae
• The X-shooter GRB afterglow legacy sample (XS-GRB)
• Evolution of the dust-to-metals ratio in high-redshift galaxies probed by GRB-DLAs
• The rate and luminosity function of long Gamma Ray Bursts
• Are LGRBs biased tracers of star formation? Clues from the host galaxies of the $Swift$/BAT6 complete sample of bright LGRBs III: Stellar masses, star formation rates and metallicities at $z>1$
• The fraction of ionizing radiation from massive stars that escapes to the intergalactic medium
• Massive stars formed in atomic hydrogen reservoirs: HI observations of gamma-ray burst host galaxies
• HST Emission Line Galaxies at z ~ 2: Comparing Physical Properties of Lyman Alpha and Optical Emission Line Selected Galaxies
• Galaxy gas as obscurer: I. GRBs x-ray galaxies and find a N_H ~ M* relation
• The second closest gamma-ray burst: sub-luminous GRB 111005A with no supernova in a super-solar metallicity environment
• The MUSE view of the host galaxy of GRB 100316D
• A comprehensive statistical study on gamma-ray bursts
• Mass and metallicity scaling relations of high redshift star-forming galaxies selected by GRBs
• Spectroscopy of the Type Ic Supernova SN\,2017iuk Associated with Low-redshift GRB\,171205A
• GRB 980425 host: [CII], [OI] and CO lines reveal recent enhancement of star formation due to atomic gas inflow
• Detection of three Gamma-Ray Burst host galaxies at $z\sim 6$
• Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies in Emission and Absorption
• Dust reddening and extinction curves towards gamma-ray bursts at z > 4
• X-shooting GRBs at high redshift: probing dust production history
• Molecular gas masses of gamma-ray burst host galaxies
• Testing the homogeneity of the Universe using gamma-ray bursts
• The redshift selected sample of long gamma-ray burst host galaxies: the overall metallicity distribution at $z<0.4$
• The cosmic build-up of dust and metals. Accurate abundances from GRB-selected star-forming galaxies at $1.7<z<6.3$
• A blast from the infant Universe: the very high-z GRB 210905A
• GRB 110715A: The peculiar multiwavelength evolution of the first afterglow detected by ALMA
• How unbiased statistical methods lead to biased scientific discoveries: A case study of the Efron-Petrosian statistic applied to the luminosity-redshift evolution of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The possible disappearance of a massive star in the low metallicity galaxy PHL 293B
• Gamma-ray Bursts and the Early Star-formation History
• Does the GRB Duration Depend on Redshift?
• The metallicity and star formation activity of long gamma-ray burst hosts for z$<$3: insights from the Illustris simulation
• Non-parametric Morphologies of Mergers in the Illustris Simulation
• Galactic archaeology at high redshift: inferring the nature of GRB host galaxies from abundances
• Fires in the deep: The luminosity distribution of early-time gamma-ray-burst afterglows in light of the Gamow Explorer sensitivity requirements
• The luminous, massive and solar metallicity galaxy hosting the Swift gamma-ray burst, GRB 160804A at z = 0.737
• Relativistic supernova 2009bb exploded close to an atomic gas cloud
• The host of GRB 171205A in 3D -- A resolved multiwavelength study of a rare grand-design spiral GRB host
• Local starburst conditions and formation of GRB 980425 / SN 1998bw within a collisional ring
• Revisiting the Relationship between the Long GRB Rate and Cosmic Star Formation History Based on a Large Swift Sample
• Can the Cosmological Dilation Explain the Skewness in the Gamma-Ray Burst Duration Distribution?
• New radio constraints on the obscured star formation rates of massive GRB hosts at redshifts 2-3.5
• Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies: Specific Star Formation Rate vs. Metallicity
• Expected Gamma-Ray Burst Detection Rates and Redshift Distributions for the BlackCAT CubeSat Mission
• Accessing the Host Galaxies of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts with Next-Generation Telescopes
• Reanalysing large-scale structure using an updated gamma-ray burst spatial density approach
• First joint absorption and T${}_e$-based metallicity measured in a GRB host galaxy at $z=4.28$ using JWST/NIRSpec
• The metallicity dependence of long-duration gamma-ray bursts