On the Collapsar Model of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts:Constraints from Cosmic Metallicity Evolution

By N. Langer, C. Norman. 2005

146 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We explore the consequences of new observational and theoretical evidence that long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) prefer low-metallicity environments. Using recently derived mass-metallicity correlations and the mass function from SDSS studies, and adopting an average cosmic metallicity evolution from Kewley & Kobulnicky and Savaglio et al., we derive expressions for the relative number of massive stars formed below a given fraction of solar metallicity, ϵ, as a function of redshift. We demonstrate that about 1/10 of all stars form with ϵ < 0.1. Therefore, a picture in which the majority of GRBs form with ϵ < 0.1 is not inconsistent with an empirical global SN/GRB ratio of 1/1000. It implies that (1) GRBs peak at a significantly higher redshift than supernovae; (2) massive star evolution at low metallicity may be qualitatively different; and (3) the larger the low-metallicity bias of GRBs, the less likely binary evolution channels can be significant GRB producers.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1b0137403e8d24d361c3bcd18dbbb4f85dedf5df

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. Ilya Mandel
2. N. Langer
3. E. Berger
4. Selma de Mink
5. Bing Zhang
6. S. Smartt
7. Brant Robertson
8. N. Smith

Citations in the corpus

• A new route towards merging massive black holes (2016, methodology): “For the former, we followed Langer & Norman (2006), who computed the formation rate of stars with a metallicity below a threshold metallicity Z∗ in the local Universe.”
• The effect of the metallicity-specific star formation history on double compact object mergers (2019, methodology): “We also show our introduced offset to Langer & Norman (2006) which overlaps with the bisector fit of Savaglio et al. (2005).”
• Single star progenitors of long gamma-ray bursts - I. Model grids and redshift dependent GRB rate (2006, methodology): “7, we show fGRB/SN as a function of redshift, which is estimated using the gamma-fit for D(vinit/vK) and the cosmic metallicity evolution model used by Langer & Norman (2006).”
• The chemically homogeneous evolutionary channel for binary black hole mergers: rates and properties of gravitational-wave events detectable by advanced LIGO (2016, methodology): “For the metallicity distribution as a function of redshift, we follow Langer & Norman (2006), which is based on the mass–metallicity relation of Savaglio et al. (2005) and the average cosmic metallicity scaling of Kewley & Kobulnicky (2005, 2007).”
• Probing the Interstellar Medium near Star-forming Regions with Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglow Spectroscopy: Gas, Metals, and Dust (2007, background): “Because high metallicity stars are expected to have significant mass-loss by winds promoting the loss of angular momentum (Vink & de Koter 2005), Langer & Norman (2006) and Woosley & Heger (2006) have argued that GRB pro- 6We note that the few GRB sightlines with NHI < 10 20 cm−2 have very low…”
• Merging binary black holes formed through chemically homogeneous evolution in short-period stellar binaries (2015, methodology): “(6) For the metallicity distribution as a function of redshift, we use the fit of Langer & Norman (2006) based in turn on the mass–metallicity relation of Savaglio et al. (2005) and the average cosmic metallicity scaling of Kewley & Kobulnicky (2005, 2007).”
• CONNECTING THE GAMMA RAY BURST RATE AND THE COSMIC STAR FORMATION HISTORY: IMPLICATIONS FOR REIONIZATION AND GALAXY EVOLUTION (2011, methodology): “Analyses that used the Langer & Norman (2006) calculation utilized the fraction of stellar mass at metallicities below 12+ log[O/H]crit to determine the redshift-dependence of Ψ(z), whereas we prefer to extend the Kocevski et al. (2009) model to findΨ(z) from the fraction ofstar formation occurring…”
• A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF BRIGHT SWIFT LONG GAMMA-RAY BURSTS. I. SAMPLE PRESENTATION, LUMINOSITY FUNCTION AND EVOLUTION (2011, methodology): “Following Langer & Norman (2006), we model the fractional mass density belonging to metallicity below a given threshold, Zth as Σ(z) = Γ̂(0.84, (Zth/Z⊙) 2100.3z) Γ(0.84) , (5) where Γ̂ (Γ) are the incomplete (complete) gamma function, and Γ(0.84) ≃ 1.122.”
• THE COSMIC RATE, LUMINOSITY FUNCTION, AND INTRINSIC CORRELATIONS OF LONG GAMMA-RAY BURSTS (2009, methodology): “Following Salvaterra & Chincarini (2007) (also, Langer & Norman 2006), we can use the prescription from Kewley & Kobulnicky (2005) for how metallicity evolves with redshift to estimate the mass density Σ evolution: Σ(z) = Γ̂[0.84, (Zth/Z ) 2100.3z] Γ(0.84) , (8) where Γ̂ (Γ) is the incomplete…”
• HYDROGEN-POOR SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE AND LONG-DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURSTS HAVE SIMILAR HOST GALAXIES (2013, background): “…increased mass loss through stellar winds (Vink & de Koter 2005) which strips the core of angular momentum, and so it has been proposed that the observed preference for low-metallicity environments for LGRBs is linked to the need to maintain high rotation (Yoon & Langer 2005; Langer & Norman 2006).”
• Binary star progenitors of long gamma-ray bursts (2007, background): “…bursts may have a bias towards low metallicity (e.g., Fynbo et al. 2003; Fruchter et al. 2006) may change the situation: rather than being exotic, GRBs may simply represent massive low-metallicity stars – which locally are much rarer than O stars of solar metallicity (Langer & Norman 2006).”
• Revealing the High-Redshift Star Formation Rate with Gamma-Ray Bursts (2008, background): “The evolutionary trend described byα may arise from several mechanisms (Kistler et al. 2008), such as a GRB preference for low-metallicity environments (Stanek et al. 2006; Langer & Norman 2006; Li 2007; Cen & Fang 2007), and must be accounted for to characterizeṅGRB.”
• THE STAR FORMATION RATE IN THE REIONIZATION ERA AS INDICATED BY GAMMA-RAY BURSTS (2009, background): “Possible origins of this trend are discussed in detail in Kistler et al. (2008), including an overall decrease in cosmic metallicity (Langer & Norman 2006).”