Li 2007 Probe the cosmic metallicity
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Probing the Cosmic Metallicity Evolution with Gamma-Ray Bursts
(Submitted on 18 Oct 2007)
Abstract: The current Swift sample of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with measured redshifts allows to test the assumption that GRBs trace the star formation in the Universe. Some authors have claimed that the rate of GRBs increases with cosmic redshift faster than the star formation rate, whose cause is not known yet. In this paper, I investigate the possibility for interpreting the observed discrepancy between the GRB rate history and the star formation rate history by the cosmic metallicity evolution, motivated by the observation that the cosmic metallicity evolves strongly with redshift and GRBs prefer to occur in low metallicity galaxies. Adopting a simple model for the relation between the GRB production and the cosmic metallicity history as proposed by Langer & Norman, and a star formation rate determined by Hopkins & Beacom from current observations, I show that the observed redshift distribution of the Swift GRBs can be reproduced with a fairly good accuracy. Although the results are limited by the small size of the GRB sample and the poorly understood selection biases in detection and localization of GRBs and in redshift determination, the results suggest that GRBs trace both the star formation and the metallicity evolution. If the star formation history can be accurately measured with other approaches, which is presumably achievable in the near future, it will be possible to determine the cosmic metallicity evolution with the study on the redshift distribution of GRBs.
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