The Fluence Distribution of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

In the use and interpretation of $\log N$--$\log S$ distributions for gamma-ray bursts, burst peak flux has typically been used for $S$. We consider here the use of the fluence as a measure of $S$, which may be a more appropriate quantity than the peak flux in such highly variable sources. We demonstrate how using the BATSE trigger data we can determine the selection effects on fluence. Then using techniques developed elsewhere to account for the important threshold effects and correlations. Applying the appropriate corrections to the distributions, we obtain a fluence distribution which shows a somewhat sharper break than the peak flux distribution, implying a possibly narrower fluence luminosity distribution. If bursts are at cosmological distances, these observations together indicate that evolution of the luminosity function is required.

ApJ Letters, Accepted May 24, 1996. 16 pages LaTeX, 4 Postscript figures, uses AASTeX and psfig macros, paper also available at http://www-bigbang.stanford.edu/~ted/paper4.html

Cited by in corpus (18)

• The Cosmic Rate, Luminosity Function and Intrinsic Correlations of Long GRBs
• Distribution of Spectral Characteristics and the Cosmological Evolution of GRBs
• 'On the difference between the short and long gamma-ray bursts'
• Intrinsic and Cosmological Signatures in Gamma-Ray Burst Time Profiles: Time Dilation
• Clustering of gamma-ray burst types in the Fermi-GBM catalogue: indications of photosphere and synchrotron emissions during the prompt phase
• A Complexity-Brightness Correlation in Gamma Ray Bursts
• Time Dilation of BATSE Gamma-ray Bursts
• Fast X-ray Transients and Their Connection to Gamma-Ray Bursts
• A Multivariate Fit Luminosity Function and World Model for Long GRBs
• Collapsing supra-massive magnetars: FRBs, the repeating FRB121102 and GRBs
• Constraints on the Redshift and Luminosity Distributions of Gamma Ray Bursts in an Einstein-de Sitter Universe
• The Cosmological Signatures and Flux Distribution of Gamma-Ray Bursts with a Broad Luminosity Distribution
• GRB Spikes Could Resolve Stars
• A Multilevel Empirical Bayesian Approach to Estimating the Unknown Redshifts of 1366 BATSE Catalog Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts
• A MAD Explanation for the Correlation between Bulk Lorentz Factor and Minimum Variability Timescale
• The Halo Beaming Model for Gamma-Ray Bursts
• A search for x-ray counterparts of gamma-ray bursts with the ROSAT PSPC
• An alternative statistical interpretation for the apparent plateaus in the duration distributions of GRBs