We use two model-independent methods to standardize long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) using the E iso − E p correlation (log E iso = a + b log E p ), where E iso is the isotropic-equivalent gamma-ray energy and E p is the spectral peak energy. We update 42 long GRBs and attempt to constrain the cosmological parameters. The full sample contains 151 long GRBs with redshifts from 0.0331 to 8.2. The first method is the simultaneous fitting method. We take the extrinsic scatter σ ext into account and assign it to the parameter E iso . The best-fitting values are a = 49.15 ± 0.26, b = 1.42 ± 0.11, σ ext = 0.34 ± 0.03 and Ω m = 0.79 in the flat ΛCDM model. The constraint on Ω m is 0.55 < Ω m < 1 at the 1σ confidence level. If reduced χ 2 method is used, the best-fit results are a = 48.96 ± 0.18, b = 1.52 ± 0.08, and Ω m = 0.50 ± 0.12. The second method uses type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) to calibrate the E iso − E p correlation. We calibrate 90 high-redshift GRBs in the redshift range from 1.44 to 8.1. The cosmological constraints from these 90 GRBs are Ω m = 0.23 +0.06 −0.04 for flat ΛCDM and Ω m = 0.18 ± 0.11 and Ω Λ = 0.46 ± 0.51 for non-flat ΛCDM. For the combination of GRB and SNe Ia sample, we obtain Ω m = 0.271 ± 0.019 and h = 0.701 ± 0.002 for the flat ΛCDM and the non-flat ΛCDM, and the results are Ω m = 0.225 ± 0.044, Ω Λ = 0.640 ± 0.082, and h = 0.698 ± 0.004. These results from calibrated GRBs are consistent with that of SNe Ia. Meanwhile, the combined data can improve cosmological constraints significantly, compared to SNe Ia alone. Our results show that the E iso − E p correlation is promising to probe the high-redshift Universe.

We study the gravitational effect of non-self-annihilating dark matter on compact stellar objects.The self-interaction of condensate dark matter can give high accretion rate of dark matter onto stars. Phase transition to condensation state takes place when the dark matter density exceeds the critical value. A compact degenerate dark matter core is developed and alter the structure and stability of the stellar objects. Condensate dark matter admixed neutron stars is studied through the two-fluid TOV equation. The existence of condensate dark matter deforms the mass-radius relation of neutron stars and lower their maximum baryonic masses and radii. The possible effects on the Gamma-ray Burst rate in high redshift are discussed.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most violent explosions in the universe and can be used to explore the properties of the high-redshift universe. It is believed that long GRBs are associated with the deaths of massive stars. Therefore, it is possible to use GRBs to investigate the star formation rate (SFR). In this paper, we use Lynden-Bell's − c method to study the luminosity function and rate of Swift long GRBs without any assumptions. We find that the luminosities of GRBs evolve with redshift as . We also find that the formation rate of GRBs is almost constant at < z 1.0 for the first time, which is remarkably different from the SFR. At > z 1.0, the formation rate of GRBs is consistent with the SFR. Our results are dramatically different from previous studies. We discuss a few possible reasons for this low-redshift excess. We also test the robustness of our results using Monte Carlo simulations. The distributions of mock data (i.e., luminosity-redshift distribution, luminosity function, cumulative distribution, and log N-log S distribution) are in good agreement with observations. Also, we find that there are remarkable differences between the mock data and the observations if long GRBs are unbiased tracers of SFR at < z 1.0.

Far-ultraviolet (FUV), Hα, and HI observations of dwarf galaxy Holmberg II are used to investigate the means by which star formation propagates in galaxies lacking

The accumulation of {\it Swift} observed gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) gradually makes it possible to directly derive a GRB luminosity function (LF) from observational luminosity distribution, where however two complexities must be involved as (i) the evolving connection between GRB rate and cosmic star formation rate and (ii) observational selection effects due to telescope thresholds and redshift measurements. With a phenomenological investigation on these two complexities, we constrain and discriminate two popular competitive LF models (i.e., broke-power-law LF and single-power-law LF with an exponential cutoff at low luminosities). As a result, we find that the broken-power-law LF could be more favored by the observation, with a break luminosity $L_b=2.5\times10^{52}\rm erg s^{-1}$ and prior- and post-break indices $\nu_1=1.72$ and $\nu_2=1.98$. For an extra evolution effect expressed by a factor $(1+z)^{\delta}$, if the matallicity of GRB progenitors is lower than $\sim0.1Z_{\odot}$ as expected by some collapsar models, then there may be no extra evolution effect other than the metallicity evolution (i.e., $\delta$ approaches to be zero). Alternatively, if we remove the theoretical metallicity requirement, then a relationship between the degenerate parameters $\delta$ and $Z_{\max}$ can be found, very roughly, $\delta\sim2.4(Z_{\max}/Z_{\odot}-0.06)$. This indicates that an extra evolution could become necessary for relatively high metallicities.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. By considering some selection effects, the paper has been significantly revised. Accepted for publication in MNRA