GLAST, GRBs, and Quantum Gravity
Abstract
The fast temporal structures and cosmological distances of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) afford a natural laboratory for testing theories of frequency-dependent propagation of high-energy photons, as predicted for quantum gravity (QG). We calibrate the sensitivity of the proposed Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) by performing simulations which include: the response of GLAST to a GRB fluence distribution; a distribution of spectral power-law indices similar to the EGRET sample; and consideration of gamma-gamma attenuation, significant above ~ 10 GeV for redshifts z > 3 - 5. We find that GLAST should detect > 200 GRBs per year, with sensitivity to a few tens of GeV for a few bursts. GLAST could detect the energy- and distance-dependent dispersion (10 ms / GeV / Gpc) predicted by QG with 1 - 2 years of observations. Attribution to QG would require correlation of GRB redshifts with the temporal and energetic signatures.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9912136,
title = {GLAST, GRBs, and Quantum Gravity},
author = {J. P. Norris and J. T. Bonnell and G. F. Marani and J. D. Scargle},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9912136},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
4 pages