TY - JOUR
T1 - Pre-ALMA observations of GRBs in the mm/submm range
AU - de Ugarte Postigo, A.
AU - Lundgren, A.
AU - Martín, S.
AU - Garcia-Appadoo, D.
AU - de Gregorio Monsalvo, I.
AU - Peck, A.
AU - Michałowski, M. J.
AU - Thöne, C. C.
AU - Campana, S.
AU - Gorosabel, J.
AU - Tanvir, N. R.
AU - Wiersema, K.
AU - Castro-Tirado, A. J.
AU - Schulze, S.
AU - De Breuck, C.
AU - Petitpas, G.
AU - Hjorth, J.
AU - Jakobsson, P.
AU - Covino, S.
AU - Fynbo, J. P. U.
AU - Winters, J. M.
AU - Bremer, M.
AU - Levan, A. J.
AU - Llorente, A.
AU - Sánchez-Ramírez, R.
AU - Tello, J. C.
AU - Salvaterra, R.
PY - 2012/2/1
Y1 - 2012/2/1
N2 - Context. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) generate an afterglow emission that can
be detected from radio to X-rays during days, or even weeks after the
initial explosion. The peak of this emission crosses the millimeter and
submillimeter range during the first hours to days, making their study
in this range crucial for constraining the models. Observations have
been limited until now due to the low sensitivity of the observatories
in this range. This situation will be greatly improved with the start of
scientific operations of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter
Array (ALMA). Aims: In this work we do a statistical analysis of
the complete sample of mm/submm observations of GRB afterglows obtained
before the beginning of scientific operations at ALMA. Methods:
We present observations of 11 GRB afterglows obtained from the Atacama
Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) and the SubMillimeter Array (SMA), as well
as the first detection of a GRB with ALMA, still in the commissioning
phase, and put them into context with a catalogue of all the
observations that have been published until now in the spectral range
that is covered by ALMA. Results: The catalogue of mm/submm
observations collected here is the largest to date and is composed of
102 GRBs, of which 88 have afterglow observations, whereas the rest are
host galaxy searches. With our programmes, we contributed with data of
11 GRBs and the discovery of 2 submm counterparts. In total, the full
sample, including data from the literature, has 22 afterglow detections
with redshifts ranging from 0.168 to 8.2. GRBs have been detected in
mm/submm wavelengths with peak luminosities spanning 2.5 orders of
magnitude, the most luminous reaching 1033erg
s-1Hz-1. We observe a correlation between the
X-ray brightness at 0.5 days and the mm/submm peak brightness. Finally
we give a rough estimate of the distribution of peak flux densities of
GRB afterglows, based on the current mm/submm sample.
Conclusions: Observations in the mm/submm bands have been shown to be
crucial for our understanding of the physics of GRBs, but have until now
been limited by the sensitivity of the observatories. With the start of
the operations at ALMA, the sensitivity has improved by more than an
order of magnitude, opening a new era in the study of GRB afterglows and
their host galaxies. Our estimates predict that, once completed, ALMA
will detect up to ~98% of the afterglows if observed during the passage
of the peak synchrotron emission.
This publication is partially based on data acquired with the Atacama
Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) under programmes 082.F-9850, 084.D-0732,
086.D-0590, 086.F-9303(A) and 087.F-9301(A) and with the Submillimeter
Array (SMA) under programmes 2009B-S015, 2010A-S004 and 2010B-S026. This
paper makes use of the following ALMA Science Verification data:
ADS/JAO.ALMA#2011.0.00006.SV.Table 1 is available in electronic form at
http://www.aanda.org
AB - Context. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) generate an afterglow emission that can
be detected from radio to X-rays during days, or even weeks after the
initial explosion. The peak of this emission crosses the millimeter and
submillimeter range during the first hours to days, making their study
in this range crucial for constraining the models. Observations have
been limited until now due to the low sensitivity of the observatories
in this range. This situation will be greatly improved with the start of
scientific operations of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter
Array (ALMA). Aims: In this work we do a statistical analysis of
the complete sample of mm/submm observations of GRB afterglows obtained
before the beginning of scientific operations at ALMA. Methods:
We present observations of 11 GRB afterglows obtained from the Atacama
Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) and the SubMillimeter Array (SMA), as well
as the first detection of a GRB with ALMA, still in the commissioning
phase, and put them into context with a catalogue of all the
observations that have been published until now in the spectral range
that is covered by ALMA. Results: The catalogue of mm/submm
observations collected here is the largest to date and is composed of
102 GRBs, of which 88 have afterglow observations, whereas the rest are
host galaxy searches. With our programmes, we contributed with data of
11 GRBs and the discovery of 2 submm counterparts. In total, the full
sample, including data from the literature, has 22 afterglow detections
with redshifts ranging from 0.168 to 8.2. GRBs have been detected in
mm/submm wavelengths with peak luminosities spanning 2.5 orders of
magnitude, the most luminous reaching 1033erg
s-1Hz-1. We observe a correlation between the
X-ray brightness at 0.5 days and the mm/submm peak brightness. Finally
we give a rough estimate of the distribution of peak flux densities of
GRB afterglows, based on the current mm/submm sample.
Conclusions: Observations in the mm/submm bands have been shown to be
crucial for our understanding of the physics of GRBs, but have until now
been limited by the sensitivity of the observatories. With the start of
the operations at ALMA, the sensitivity has improved by more than an
order of magnitude, opening a new era in the study of GRB afterglows and
their host galaxies. Our estimates predict that, once completed, ALMA
will detect up to ~98% of the afterglows if observed during the passage
of the peak synchrotron emission.
This publication is partially based on data acquired with the Atacama
Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) under programmes 082.F-9850, 084.D-0732,
086.D-0590, 086.F-9303(A) and 087.F-9301(A) and with the Submillimeter
Array (SMA) under programmes 2009B-S015, 2010A-S004 and 2010B-S026. This
paper makes use of the following ALMA Science Verification data:
ADS/JAO.ALMA#2011.0.00006.SV.Table 1 is available in electronic form at
http://www.aanda.org
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84856528290&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201117848
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201117848
M3 - Article
SN - 0004-6361
VL - 538
SP - 44
JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy & Astrophysics
ER -