Related papers: Testing Reionization with Gamma Ray Burst Absorpti…
The gamma-ray burst (GRB) 050904 at z = 6.3 provides the first opportunity of probing the intergalactic medium (IGM) by GRBs at the epoch of the reionization. Here we present a spectral modeling analysis of the optical afterglow spectrum…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows have been proposed as an excellent probe to study the evolution of cosmic star formation, the reionization of the intergalactic medium, and the metal enrichment history of the universe, since the…
We show that near-infrared observations of the red side of the Ly-alpha line from a single gamma ray burst (GRB) afterglow cannot be used to constrain the global neutral fraction of the intergalactic medium (IGM), x_H, at the GRB's redshift…
GRBs are expected to occur at redshifts far higher than the highest quasar redshifts so far detected. And unlike quasars, GRB afterglows may provide "clean" probes of the epoch of reionization because no complications (such as the presence…
Using the near-infrared (NIR) observations of the afterglows of the high redshift ($5 \la z \la 25$) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) which will be detected by the {\it Swift} satellite, we discuss a way to study the cosmic reionization history. In…
We report on follow-up observations of the GRB 060927 using the ROTSE-IIIa telescope and a suite of larger aperture ground-based telescopes. An optical afterglow was detected 20 s after the burst, the earliest rest-frame detection of…
If Gamma-Ray-Bursts (GRBs) occur at high redshifts, then their bright afterglow emission can be used to probe the ionization and metal enrichment histories of the intervening intergalactic medium during the epoch of reionization. In…
We present early time, high resolution spectroscopy of three GRB afterglows: GRB050730, 050922C and 060418. These data give us precious information on the kinematics, ionization and metallicity of the interstellar matter of GRB host…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are excellent probes of the high-redshift Universe due to their high luminosities and the relatively simple intrinsic spectra of their afterglows. They can be used to estimate the fraction of neutral hydrogen (i.e.,…
We forecast the reionization history constraints, inferred from Lyman-alpha damping wing absorption features, for a future sample of $\sim 20$ $z \geq 6$ gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. We describe each afterglow spectrum by a…
Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) afterglows close to their peak intensity are among the brightest X-ray sources in the sky. Despite their fast power-law like decay, when fluxes are integrated from minutes up to hours after the GRB event, the…
Analysis is performed on ultra-high resolution large-scale cosmological radiation-hydrodynamic simulations to, for the first time, quantify the physical environment of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) at the epoch of reionization. We…
We present the discovery of radio afterglow emission from the high redshift (z=6.295) burst GRB 050904. The peak flux density for this burst is similar to typical low-redshift gamma-ray bursts (GRB). We further show that beyond a redshift…
In 2000, Lamb and Reichart predicted that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows occur in sufficient numbers and at sufficient brightnesses at very high redshifts (z > 5) to eventually replace quasars as the preferred probe of element…
Aim: We present early optical spectroscopy of the afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 060206 with the aim of determining the metallicity of the GRB absorber and the physical conditions in the circumburst medium. We also discuss how GRBs…
We assess the possibility to detect and characterize the physical state of the missing baryons at low redshift by analyzing the X-ray absorption spectra of the Gamma Ray Burst [GRB] afterglows, measured by a micro calorimeters-based…
GRB 050904 at redshift z=6.29, discovered and observed by Swift and with spectroscopic redshift from the Subaru telescope, is the first gamma-ray burst to be identified from beyond the epoch of reionization. Since the progenitors of long…
The discovery of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglows revealed a new class of variable sources at optical and radio wavelengths. At present, the environment and precise redshift of the detected afterglows are still unknown. We show that if a…
X-ray absorption of $\gamma$-ray burst (GRB) afterglows is prevalent yet poorly understood. X-ray derived neutral hydrogen column densities ($N_{\rm H}$) of GRB X-ray afterglows show an increase with redshift, which might give a clue for…
Aims: We reanalyse optical spectra of the z=6.7 gamma-ray burst GRB 080913, adding hitherto unpublished spectra, in order to reassess the measurement of the neutral fraction of the IGM at high redshifts. Methods: In the data reduction we…