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This paper compares the population of binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected by LIGO/Virgo with selected long gamma-ray burst (GRB) world models convolved with a delay function (LGRBs are used as a tracer of stellar-mass BH formation). The comparison involves the redshift distribution and the fraction of LGRBs required to produce the local rate of BBH mergers. We find that BBH mergers and LGRBs cannot have the same formation history, unless BBH mergers have a long coalescence time of several Gyr. This would imply that BHs born during the peak of long GRB formation at redshift z ≈ 2âˆ'3 merge within the horizon of current GW interferometers. We also show that LGRBs are more numerous than BBH mergers, meaning that most of them do not end their lives in BBH mergers. We interpret these results as an indication that BBH mergers and LGRBs constitute two distinct populations of stellar-mass BHs, with LGRBs being more frequent than BBH mergers. We speculate that the descendants of LGRBs may resemble galactic high-mass X-ray binaries more than BBH mergers. Finally, we discuss the possible existence of a subpopulation of fast-spinning LGRB descendants among BBH mergers, showing that this population, if it exists, is expected to become dominant beyond redshift z ≈ 1, leading to a change in the observed properties of BBH mergers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from prompt to afterglow emission is one of the most exciting and least understood phases in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Correlations among optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray emission in GRBs have been explored, to attempt to answer whether the earliest optical emission comes from internal and/or external shocks. We present optical photometric observations of GRB 180325A collected with the TAROT and RATIR ground-based telescopes. These observations show two strong optical flashes with separate peaks at ∼50 and ∼120 s, followed by a temporally extended optical emission. We also present X-rays and gamma-ray observations of GRB 180325A, detected by the Burst Alert Telescope and X-ray Telescope, on the Neil Gehrels Swift observatory, which both observed a narrow flash at ∼80 s. We show that the prompt gamma-ray and X-ray early emission shares similar temporal and spectral features consistent with internal dissipation within the relativistic outflow (e.g., by internal shocks or magnetic reconnection), while the early optical flashes are likely generated by the reverse shock that decelerates the ejecta as it sweeps up the external medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “ultra-long” gamma-ray burst GRB 111209A at redshift z = 0.677 is the longest GRB ever observed thus far, with a rest frame prompt emission duration of ∼4 hr. In order to explain the burst exceptional longevity, a low-metallicity blue supergiant progenitor was invoked. In this article we further constrain the phenomenology and progenitor properties of this peculiar GRB by performing a multiband temporal and spectral analysis of both the prompt and the afterglow emission. We use proprietary and publicly available data from Swift, Konus WIND, XMM-Newton, and TAROT, as well as from other ground-based optical and radio telescopes. We find some peculiar properties that are possibly connected to the exceptional nature of this burst, namely: (1) an unprecedented large optical delay of 410 ± 50 s between the peak time in gamma-rays and the peak time in the optical of a marked multiwavelength flare; (2) multiwavelength prompt emission spectral modeling requires a certain amount of dust in the circumburst environment. The dust produces a rest frame visual extinction of AV = 0.3-1.5 mag, and may undergo destruction at late times; and (3) we detect the presence of a hard spectral extra power-law component at the end of the X-ray steep steep decay phase and before the start of the X-ray afterglow, which has never been revealed thus far in past GRBs. The optical afterglow shows more usual properties; it has a flux power-law decay with an index of 1.6 ± 0.1 and a late rebrightening feature observed at ∼1.1 the day after the first Burst Alert Telescope trigger. We discuss our findings in the context of several possible interpretations that have been given thus far of the complex multiband GRB phenomenology and propose a binary channel formation for the blue supergiant progenitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present optical, X-ray and gamma-ray observations of GRB 111209A, observed at a redshift of z = 0.677. We show that this event was active in its prompt phase for about 25000 s, making it the longest burst ever observed. This rare event could have been detected up to z ∼ 1.4 in gamma-rays. Compared to other long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), GRB 111209A is a clear outlier in the energy-fluence and duration plane. The high-energy prompt emission shows no sign of a strong blackbody component, the signature of a tidal disruption event, or a supernova shock breakout. Given the extreme longevity of this event, and lack of any significant observed supernova signature, we propose that GRB 111209A resulted from the core-collapse of a low-metallicity blue supergiant star. This scenario is favored because of the necessity to supply enough mass to the central engine over a duration of thousands of seconds. Hence, we suggest that GRB 111209A could have more in common with population III stellar explosions, rather than those associated with normal long GRBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most energetic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are remarkable sources releasing huge amounts of energy on short timescales. Their prompt emission, which usually lasts a few seconds, is so bright that it is visible across the whole observable universe. Studying these extreme events may provide clues on the nature of GRB progenitors and on the physical processes at work in relativistic jets. In this paper, we study the bright end of the isotropic energy distribution of long GRBs. We use two samples of long GRBs with redshift detected by Fermi/GBM or Konus-Wind, two instruments that measure the spectral shape and the energetics of the prompt emission accurately. We focus on GRBs within a range of redshifts z = 1–5, a volume that contains a large number of energetic GRBs, and we propose a simple method to reconstruct the bright end of the GRB energy distribution from the observed one. We find that the GRB energy distribution cannot be described by a simple power law but requires a strong cutoff above erg. We attribute this feature to an intrinsic limit on the energy per unit of solid angle radiated by GRBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring gamma-ray burst (GRB) properties in their rest frame is crucial for understanding the physics at work in GRBs. This can only be done for GRBs with known redshifts. Since redshifts are usually measured from the optical spectrum of the afterglow, correlations between prompt and afterglow emissions may introduce biases into the distribution of the rest-frame properties of the prompt emission, especially considering that we measure the redshift of only one-third of Swift GRBs. In this paper, we study the optical flux of GRB afterglows and its connection to various intrinsic properties of GRBs. We also discuss the impact of the optical selection effect on the distribution of rest-frame prompt properties of GRBs. Our analysis is based on a sample of 90 GRBs with good optical follow-up and well-measured prompt emission. Seventy-six of them have a measure of redshift and 14 have no redshift. We compare the rest-frame prompt properties of GRBs with different afterglow optical fluxes in order to check for possible correlations between the promt properties and the optical flux of the afterglow. The optical flux is measured two hours after the trigger, which is a typical time for the measure of the redshift. We find that the optical flux of GRB afterglows in our sample is mainly driven by their optical luminosity and depends only slightly on their redshift. We show that GRBs with low and high afterglow optical fluxes have similar E , E , and L , indicating that the rest-frame distributions computed from GRBs with a redshift are not significantly distorted by optical selection effects. However, we found that the distribution is not immune to optical selection effects, which favor the selection of GRBs with longer durations. Finally, we note that GRBs well above the E –E relation have lower optical fluxes and we show that optical selection effects favor the detection of GRBs with bright optical afterglows located close to or below the best-fit E –E relation (Amati relation), whose redshift is easily measurable. With more than 300 GRBs with a redshift, we now have a much better view of the intrinsic properties of these remarkable events. At the same time, increasing statistics allow us to understand the biases acting on the measurements. The optical selection effects induced by the redshift measurement strategies cannot be neglected when we study the properties of GRBs in their rest frame, even for studies focused on prompt emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Swift burst GRB 110205A was a very bright burst visible in the Northern Hemisphere. GRB 110205A was intrinsically long and very energetic and it occurred in a low-density interstellar medium environment, leading to delayed afterglow emission and a clear temporal separation of the main emitting components: prompt emission, reverse shock, and forward shock. Our observations show several remarkable features of GRB 110205A: the detection of prompt optical emission strongly correlated with the Burst Alert Telescope light curve, with no temporal lag between the two; the absence of correlation of the X-ray emission compared to the optical and high-energy gamma-ray ones during the prompt phase; and a large optical re-brightening after the end of the prompt phase, that we interpret as a signature of the reverse shock. Beyond the pedagogical value offered by the excellent multi-wavelength coverage of a gamma-ray burst with temporally separated radiating components, we discuss several questions raised by our observations: the nature of the prompt optical emission and the spectral evolution of the prompt emission at high energies (from 0.5 keV to 150 keV); the origin of an X-ray flare at the beginning of the forward shock; and the modeling of the afterglow, including the reverse shock, in the framework of the classical fireball model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]