Star-formation rates of two GRB host galaxies at z~2 and a [CII] deficit observed with ALMA

Abstract

Event rate of long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) is expected to be an useful tracer of the cosmic star-formation history. For this purpose, it is necessary to understand what kind of star formations/galaxies are traced by GRBs. Here we report rest-frame far-infrared (FIR) continuum detections of GRB 070521 and 080207 host galaxies at $z\sim 2$ with ALMA band 8 and 9. The FIR photometries provide the reliable star-formation rates (SFRs), because FIR emission is free from dust extinction and possible radio contamination from long-lived afterglows of GRBs. The spectral energy distribution fittings indicate 49.85${}_{-2.86}^{+72.33}$ and 123.4${}_{-21.78}^{+25.19}$ $M_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$ for the 070521 and 080207 hosts, respectively. The derived SFRs place them on the \lq \lq main sequence\rq \rq\ of normal star-forming galaxies at $z\sim 2$. The derived SFRs are significantly lower than that of radio observations. It is inferred that the observed radio fluxes in a previous study are contaminated by the afterglows. ALMA marginally detected [C~{\sc ii}]\,158\,$\hat{I}¼$m emission line from the GRB 080207 host galaxy with S/N $\sim$ 4. This is the first detection of [C~{\sc ii}]\,158\,$\hat{I}¼$m of a GRB host at $z>2$, and the second detection among known GRBs. The luminosity ratio of [C~{\sc~ii}]\,158$\hat{I}¼$m to FIR is 7.5$\times 10^{-4}$, which is one of the smallest values among galaxies at $z\sim 1-2$ with the same FIR luminosity. The \lq \lq [C~{\sc ii}] deficit\rq \rq\ could be a new physical property to characterise GRB hosts at $z\sim 1-2$. Possible parameters controlling the deficit include the metallicity, initial mass function, and gas density.

Accepted in MNRAS. Summary of the paper can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78BaH1IYajw&feature=youtu.be