The Rate of Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Local Universe

Abstract

Following the faint gamma-ray burst, GRB 170817A, coincident with a gravitational wave-detected binary neutron star merger at $d\sim 40$ Mpc, we consider the constraints on a local population of faint short duration GRBs (defined here broadly as $T_{90}<4$ s). We review proposed low-redshift short-GRBs and consider statistical limits on a $d⪅200$ Mpc population using Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), and Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO) Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) GRBs. Swift/BAT short-GRBs give an upper limit for the all-sky rate of $<4$ y${}^{-1}$ at $d<200$ Mpc, corresponding to $<5$% of SGRBs. Cross-correlation of selected CGRO/BATSE and Fermi/GBM GRBs with $d<100$ Mpc galaxy positions returns a weaker constraint of $⪅12{\mathrm{y}}^{-1}$. A separate search for correlations due to SGR giant flares in nearby ($d<11$ Mpc) galaxies finds an upper limit of $<3{\mathrm{y}}^{-1}$. Our analysis suggests that GRB 170817A-like events are likely to be rare in existing SGRB catalogues. The best candidate for an analogue remains GRB 050906, where the Swift/BAT location was consistent with the galaxy IC0327 at $d\approx 132$ Mpc. If binary neutron star merger rates are at the high end of current estimates, then our results imply that at most a few percent will be accompanied by detectable gamma-ray flashes in the forthcoming LIGO/Virgo science runs.

arXiv comment16 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Published in Galaxies as part of the Special Issue, "Observations and Theory of Short GRBs at the Dawn of the Gravitational Wave Era"

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Cited by in corpus (19)

• Kilonovae
• Rates of Compact Object Coalescences
• Identification of a Local Sample of Gamma-Ray Bursts Consistent with a Magnetar Giant Flare Origin
• Short gamma-ray bursts within 200 Mpc
• Exploring compact binary merger host galaxies and environments with $\mathrm{zELDA}$
• Fermi GBM GRBs with characteristics similar to GRB 170817A
• Resonant Shattering Flares in Black Hole-Neutron Star and Binary Neutron Star Mergers
• Reverse Shocks in the Relativistic Outflows of Gravitational Wave Detected Neutron Star Binary Mergers
• Hadron matter in neutron stars in view of gravitational wave observations
• GRB 180418A: A possibly-short GRB with a wide-angle outflow in a faint host galaxy
• Prospects of joint detections of neutron star mergers and short-GRBs with Gaussian structured jets
• On short GRBs similar to GRB 170817A detected by Fermi GBM
• Observational prospects of double neutrons star mergers and their multi-messenger afterglows: LIGO discovery power, event rates and diversity
• Search for radio remnants of nearby off-axis Gamma-Ray Bursts in a sample of Swift/BAT events
• Searching for single-frame rapid X-ray transients detected with Chandra
• Machine-directed gravitational-wave counterpart discovery
• Peak energy--Isotropic Luminosity Correlation and Jet Opening Angle Evolution in Swift-BAT Short GRBs with Soft Tail Emission
• Misidentification of Short GRBs as Magnetars in Nearby Galaxies
• Implications of low neutron star merger rates for gamma-ray bursts, r-process production and Galactic double neutron stars