Short GRBs and Mergers of Compact Objects: Observational Constraints

Abstract

GRB data accumulated over the years have shown that the distribution of their time duration is bimodal. While there is some evidence that long bursts are associated with star-forming regions, nothing is known regarding the class of short bursts. Their very short timescales are hard to explain with the collapse of a massive star, but would be naturally produced by the merger of two compact objects, such as two neutron stars (NS), or a neutron star and a black hole (BH). As for the case of long bursts, afterglow obervations for short bursts should help reveal their origin. By using updated population synthesis code calculations, we simulate a cosmological population of merging NS-NS and NS-BH, and compute the distribution of their galactic off-sets, the density distribution of their environment, and, if indeed associated with GRBs, their expected afterglow characteristics.

34 pages with 12 figures, accepted to ApJ

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• The short GRB070707 afterglow and its very faint host galaxy
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• GRB 140102A: Insight into Prompt Spectral Evolution and Early Optical Afterglow Emission
• GW170817: implications for the local kilonova rate and for surveys from ground-based facilities
• Constraints on an optical afterglow and on supernova light following the short burst GRB 050813
• Optical afterglows of short Gamma-ray Bursts and GRB 040924
• Prompt emission and early optical afterglow of VHE detected GRB 201015A and GRB 201216C: onset of the external forward shock
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• Kinematic constraints on the ages and kick velocities of Galactic neutron star binaries
• Diversity Of Short Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows From Compact Binary Mergers Hosting Pulsars
• X-ray absorbing column densities of a complete sample of short Gamma Ray Bursts
• Photometric and Spectroscopic Observations of GRB 210104A: Bright Reverse shock Emission and Dense Circumburst Environment
• On the offset of Short Gamma-ray Bursts
• Short Gamma Ray Bursts as possible electromagnetic counterpart of coalescing binary systems
• The cosmological distribution of compact object mergers from dynamical interactions with SMBH binaries
• GRB 241105A: A test case for GRB classification and rapid r-process nucleosynthesis channels
• Comparison of the Origin of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts with or without Extended Emission
• Binary neutron star merger offsets from their host galaxies II. Short-duration gamma-ray bursts
• Host galaxies and electromagnetic counterparts to binary neutron star mergers across the cosmic time: Detectability of GW170817-like events
• Modelling the host galaxies of binary compact object mergers with observational scaling relations
• Short Gamma Ray Bursts: marking the birth of black holes from coalescing compact binaries