Evidence of Contribution of Intervening Clouds to Gamma-Ray Burst's X-Ray Column Density

Wang, J.

doi:10.1088/0004-637x/776/2/96

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Extremely energetic objects such as active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and GRBs are currently some of the most effective tracers to study the IGM as their X-ray absorption provides information on the total absorbing column density of matter between the observer and the source (e.g. Galama & Wijers 2001;Watson et al 2007;Watson 2011;Wang 2013;Schady 2017;Nicastro et al 2017Nicastro et al , 2018. NHX consists of contributions from the host local environment, the IGM, and our own Galactic medium.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing the physical properties of the intergalactic medium using blazars

Dalton

Morris

Fumagalli

et al. 2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We use Swift blazar spectra to estimate the key intergalactic medium (IGM) properties of hydrogen column density (${N} {\rm \small {HXIGM}}$), metallicity and temperature over a redshift range of 0.03 ≤ z ≤ 4.7, using a collisional ionisation equilibrium (CIE) model for the ionised plasma. We adopted a conservative approach to the blazar continuum model given its intrinsic variability and use a range of power law models. We subjected our results to a number of tests and found that the ${N}{\rm \small {hxigm}}$ parameter was robust with respect to individual exposure data and co-added spectra for each source, and between Swift and XMM-Newton source data. We also found no relation between ${N}{\rm \small {hxigm}}$ and variations in source flux or intrinsic power laws. Though some objects may have a bulk Comptonisation component which could mimic absorption, it did not alter our overall results. The ${N}{\rm \small {hxigm}}$ from the combined blazar sample scales as (1 + z)1.8 ± 0.2. The mean hydrogen density at z = 0 is n0 = (3.2 ± 0.5) × 10−7 cm−3. The mean IGM temperature over the full redshift range is log(T/K) =6.1 ± 0.1, and the mean metallicity is [X/H] = −1.62 ± 0.04(Z ∼ 0.02). When combining with the results with a gamma-ray burst (GRB) sample, we find the results are consistent over an extended redshift range of 0.03 ≤ z ≤ 6.3. Using our model for blazars and GRBs, we conclude that the IGM contributes substantially to the total absorption seen in both blazar and GRB spectra.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing the physical properties of the intergalactic medium using blazars

Dalton

Morris

Fumagalli

et al. 2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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“…Within the first hours after the onset of a burst, the powerful afterglows of LGRBs illuminate not only the interstellar medium (ISM) of their host galaxies, but also the intergalactic medium, which produces an afterglow optical spectrum associated with multiple strong absorption lines of metals with different ionization stages at different redshifts (e.g., Fybno et al 2009;de Ugarte Postigo et al 2012). The spectra provide us an opportunity to study the properties of both medium at GRB's local environment and intervening absorption clouds located between the host galaxy and the observer (e.g., Savaglio et al 2003;Butler et al 2003;Tejos et al 2007;Vergani et al 2009;Vreeswijk et al 2007;Kawai et al 2006;Totani et al 2006;D'Elia et al 2009D'Elia et al , 2010Wang 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Photoionization Response to Prompt Emission and Outliers: Different Origin of Long Gamma-ray Bursts?

Wang

Xin

Qiu

et al. 2018

ApJ

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By using the line ratio C IVλ1549/C IIλ1335 as a tracer of ionization ratio of the interstellar medium (ISM) illuminated by a long gamma-ray burst (LGRB), we identify a global photoionization response of the ionization ratio to the photon luminosity of the prompt emission assessed by either L iso /E peak or L iso /E 2 peak . The ionization ratio increases with both L iso /E peak and L iso /E 2 peak for a majority of the LGRBs in our sample, although there are a few outliers. The identified dependence of C IV/C II on L iso /E 2 peak suggests that the scatter of the widely accepted Amati relation is related with the ionization ratio in ISM. The outliers tend to have relatively high C IV/C II values as well as relatively high C IVλ1549/Si IVλ1403 ratios, which suggests an existence of Wolf-Rayet stars in the environment of these LGRBs. We finally argue that the outliers and the LGRBs following the identified C IV/C II−L iso /E peak (L iso /E 2 peak ) correlation might come from different progenitors with different local environments.

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“…While we await this future mission, GRBs are currently one of the most effective observational methods to study the IGM as their X-ray absorption yields information on the total absorbing column density of the matter between the observer and the source (e.g. Galama & Wijers 2001;Watson et al 2007;Watson 2011;Wang 2013;Schady 2017). GRBs are among the most powerful explosions known in the Universe.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing the physical properties of the intergalactic medium using gamma-ray bursts

Dalton

Morris

Fumagalli

2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We use Gamma-ray burst (GRB) spectra total continuum absorption to estimate the key intergalactic medium (IGM) properties of hydrogen column density ($\mathit {N}_{\mathrm{HXIGM}}$), metallicity, temperature and ionisation parameter over a redshift range of 1.6 ≤ z ≤ 6.3, using photo-ionisation (PIE) and collisional ionisation equilibrium (CIE) models for the ionised plasma. We use more realistic host metallicity, dust corrected where available, in generating the host absorption model, assuming that the host intrinsic hydrogen column density is equal to the measured ionisation corrected intrinsic neutral column from UV spectra (${\it N}_{\mathrm{H}\, \rm \small {I,IC}}$). We find that the IGM property results are similar, regardless of whether the model assumes all PIE or CIE. The $\mathit {N}_{\mathrm{HXIGM}}$ scales as (1 + z)1.0 − 1.9, with equivalent hydrogen mean density at z = 0 of $n_0 = 1.8^{+1.5}_{-1.2} \times 10^{-7}$ cm−3. The metallicity ranges from ∼0.1 Z⊙ at z ∼ 2 to ∼0.001 Z⊙ at redshift z > 4. The PIE model implies a less rapid decline in average metallicity with redshift compared to CIE. Under CIE, the temperature ranges between 5.0 < log (T/K) < 7.1. For PIE the ionisation parameter ranges between 0.1 < log (ξ) < 2.9. Using our model, we conclude that the IGM contributes substantially to the total absorption seen in GRB spectra and that this contribution rises with redshift, explaining why the hydrogen column density inferred from X-rays is substantially in excess of the intrinsic host contribution measured in UV.

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Evidence of Contribution of Intervening Clouds to Gamma-Ray Burst's X-Ray Column Density

Cited by 9 publications

References 52 publications

Probing the physical properties of the intergalactic medium using blazars

Probing the physical properties of the intergalactic medium using blazars

A Global Photoionization Response to Prompt Emission and Outliers: Different Origin of Long Gamma-ray Bursts?

Probing the physical properties of the intergalactic medium using gamma-ray bursts

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