Related papers: Testing a new luminosity/redshift indicator for $\…
We attempt to constrain the luminosity function of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) from the observed number count--flux relation and the afterglow redshift data. We assume three classes of luminosity functions for our analysis: (a) Log-normal…
Spectral lags are deduced for 1437 long GRBs with peak fluxes extending to near the BATSE trigger threshold. The lags are modeled to approximate the observed distribution in the peak flux-lag plane, realizing a noise-free representation.…
The issue of the X-ray to optical luminosity relationship ($L_o-L_x$) is addressed for both optically and X-ray selected quasar samples. We have applied a generalized regression algorithm for the case of samples involving censored data,…
In this work we present the first results from a new ray-tracing tool to calculate cosmological distances in the context of fully nonlinear general relativity. We use this tool to study the ability of the general cosmographic representation…
The luminosity functions of galaxies and quasars provide invaluable information about galaxy and quasar formation. Estimating the luminosity function from magnitude limited samples is relatively straightforward, provided that the distances…
We derive the luminosity function and redshift distribution of short Gamma Ray Bursts (SGRBs) using (i) all the available observer-frame constraints (i.e. peak flux, fluence, peak energy and duration distributions) of the large population…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are powerful probes of the high-redshift universe. However, the proportion of collapsar GRBs among long GRBs and their event rate relative to the star formation rate (SFR) remain contentious issues. We assume that…
We review five studies of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) luminosity function that are based on one or more of the proposed luminosity criteria, i.e., variability, spectral lag and spectral hardness. A comparison between the resulting luminosity…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are spectacularly energetic events, with the potential to inform on the early universe and its evolution, once their redshifts are known. Unfortunately, determining redshifts is a painstaking procedure requiring…
Luminosity of GRB 170817A is much lower than that of other sGRBs. The measurement of the superluminal movement of the radio afterglow emission confirms the presence of the relativistic jet, and the emission features can be well explained by…
At low redshift, a handful of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been discovered with peak luminosities ($L_{\rm iso} < 10^{48.5}~\rm{erg\,s}^{-1}$) substantially lower than the average of the more distant ones ($L_{\rm iso} >…
An important concern in the application of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) to cosmology is that the calibration of GRB luminosity/energy relations depends on the cosmological model, due to the lack of a sufficient low-redshift GRB sample. In this…
We describe a new method for measuring the true redshift distribution of any set of objects studied only photometrically. The angular cross-correlation between objects in a photometric sample with objects in some spectroscopic sample as a…
A new procedure for smoothing a gamma-ray burst (GRB) lightcurve and calculating its variability is presented. Applying the procedure to a sample of 25 long GRBs, we have obtained a very tight correlation between the variability and the…
We show how the redshift and peak-flux distributions of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have an observation time dependence that can be used to discriminate between different burst populations. We demonstrate how observation time relations can be…
The intriguing observations of Swift/BAT X-ray flash XRF 060218 and the BATSE-BeppoSAX gamma-ray burst GRB 980425, both with much lower luminosity and redshift compared to other observed bursts, naturally lead to the question of how these…
LSST will supply up to $10^6$ supernovae (SNe) to constrain dark energy through the distance-redshift ($D_L$-$z$) test. Obtaining spectroscopic SN redshifts (spec-$z$s) is unfeasible; alternatives are suboptimal and may be biased. We…
Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) visible up to very high redshift have become attractive targets as potential new distance indicators. It is still not clear whether the relations proposed so far originate from an unknown GRB physics or result from…
Current and forthcoming galaxy surveys will map the observable Universe with unprecedented depth, sky coverage, and precision. These maps are affected by relativistic redshift-space distortions (RSDs), which become increasingly relevant on…
We have developed a Monte Carlo method to compute the luminosity function of galaxies, based on photometric redshifts, which takes into account the non-gaussianity of the probability functions, and the presence of degenerate solutions in…