Lex Kaper, A. de Ugarte Postigo, J. Japelj, Guido Cupani, P. Cortés-Zuleta, P. Petitjean, F. Hammer, R. Sanchez-Ramirez, Nial R. Tanvir, George D. Becker, Marianne Vestergaard, T. A. M. Berg, N. Annau, R. Cañameras, D. Passi, Johan P. U. Fynbo, Sara L. Ellison, Kasper E. Heintz, Stefano Covino, Sebastian Lopez, P. Jakobsson, Zach Cano, V. D'Elia, Christina C. Thöne, S. D. Vergani, K. Wiersema, V. Pugliese, Gabor Worseck, Palle Møller, Steve Schulze, A. Gomboc, V. D'Odorico, P. Goldoni, Lise Christensen, Jonatan Selsing, D. Malesani, Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique, Instrumentation (GEPI), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Weizmann Institute of Science [Rehovot, Israël], Dark Cosmology Centre (DARK), Niels Bohr Institute [Copenhagen] (NBI), Faculty of Science [Copenhagen], University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH)-Faculty of Science [Copenhagen], University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH), Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux (L3AB), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera (OAB), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma (OAR), AstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC (UMR_7164)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics [Ljubljana] (FMF), University of Ljubljana, University of Iceland [Reykjavik], Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek (AI PANNEKOEK), University of Amsterdam [Amsterdam] (UvA), Institut de pharmacologie et de biologie structurale (IPBS), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), Department of Physics and Astronomy [Leicester], University of Leicester, Aarhus University [Aarhus], Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, ANR-16-CE31-0003,BEaPro,Using the most powerful explosion as probes of the high-redshift Universe(2016), ITA, USA, GBR, FRA, DEU, ESP, Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France), Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (Chile), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), National Science Foundation (US), Icelandic Research Fund, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, European Commission, Danish Council for Independent Research, API Other Research (FNWI), High Energy Astrophys. & Astropart. Phys (API, FNWI), PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Weizmann Institute of Science, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-Faculty of Science [Copenhagen], University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), INAF-OAB, ASI-Science Data Center, Rome, APC - Astrophysique des Hautes Energies (APC - AHE), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Dipartimento di Astronomia, Universita degli Studi di Bologna, Università di Bologna [Bologna] (UNIBO)-Università di Bologna [Bologna] (UNIBO), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Spain] (CSIC), Aarhus University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1, Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Dipartimento di Astronomia, Universita degli Studi di Bologna, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna [Bologna] (UNIBO)-Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna [Bologna] (UNIBO), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)
Full list of authors: Christensen, L.; Vergani, S. D.; Schulze, S.; Annau, N.; Selsing, J.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; de Ugarte Postigo, A.; Cañameras, R.; Lopez, S.; Passi, D.; Cortés-Zuleta, P.; Ellison, S. L.; D'Odorico, V.; Becker, G.; Berg, T. A. M.; Cano, Z.; Covino, S.; Cupani, G.; D'Elia, V.; Goldoni, P. Gomboc, A.; Hammer, F.; Heintz, K. E.; Jakobsson, P.; Japelj, J.; Kaper, L.; Malesani, D.; Møller, P.; Petitjean, P.; Pugliese, V.; Sánchez-Ramírez, R.; Tanvir, N. R.; Thöne, C. C.; Vestergaard, M.; Wiersema, K.; Worseck, G., Previous studies have shown that the incidence rate of intervening strong Mgii absorbers towards gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) were a factor of 2-4 higher than towards quasars. Exploring the similar sized and uniformly selected legacy data sets XQ-100 and XSGRB, each consisting of 100 quasar and 81 GRB afterglow spectra obtained with a single instrument (VLT/X-shooter), we demonstrate that there is no disagreement in the number density of strong Mgii absorbers with rest-frame equivalent widths W r > 1 Å towards GRBs and quasars in the redshift range 0:1 . z . 5. With large and similar sample sizes, and path length coverages of Δz = 57:8 and 254.4 for GRBs and quasars, respectively, the incidences of intervening absorbers are consistent within 1σ uncertainty levels at all redshifts. For absorbers at z < 2:3; the incidence towards GRBs is a factor of 1.5± 0.4 higher than the expected number of strong Mgii absorbers in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasar spectra, while for quasar absorbers observed with X-shooter we find an excess factor of 1.4 ± 0.2 relative to SDSS quasars. Conversely, the incidence rates agree at all redshifts with reported high-spectralresolution quasar data, and no excess is found. The only remaining discrepancy in incidences is between SDSS Mgii catalogues and high-spectral-resolution studies. The rest-frame equivalent-width distribution also agrees to within 1σ uncertainty levels between the GRB and quasar samples. Intervening strong Mgii absorbers towards GRBs are therefore neither unusually frequent, nor unusually strong. © ESO 2017., L.C. and R.C. are supported by YDUN grant DFF 4090-00079. S.D.V. is supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR) under contract ANR-16-CE31-0003 BEaPro. S.L. has been supported by FONDECYT grant number 1140838 and partially by PFB-06 CATA. A.d.U.P. and C.T. acknowledge support from Ramon y Cajal fellowships, and with RSR a BBVA Foundation Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators, and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through project AYA2014-58381-P. G.B. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation through grant AST-1615814. Z.C. acknowledges support from the Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion fellowship IJCI-2014-21669 and from the Spanish research project AYA2014-58381-P. P.J. and K.E.H. acknowledge support by a Project Grant (162948-051) from The Icelandic Research Fund. J.J. acknowledges support from NOVA and NWO-FAPESP grant for advanced instrumentation in astronomy. R.S.R. acknowledges support from ASI (Italian Space Agency) through the Contract No. 2015-046-R.0 and from European Union Horizon 2020 Programme under the AHEAD project (grant agreement No. 654215). M.V. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Danish Council for Independent Research via grant no. DFF 4002-00275.