3 research outputs found
High-Redshift Starbursting Dwarf Galaxies Revealed by GRB Afterglows
We present a study of 15 long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies at
z>2. The GRBs are selected with available early-time afterglow spectra in order
to compare interstellar medium (ISM) absorption-line properties with stellar
properties of the host galaxies. In addition to five previously studied hosts,
we consider new detections for the host galaxies of GRB050820 and GRB060206 and
place 2-sigma upper limits to the luminosities of the remaining unidentified
hosts. We examine the nature of the host galaxy population and find that (1)
the UV luminosity distribution of GRB host galaxies is consistent with
expectations from a UV luminosity weighted random galaxy population with a
median luminosity of =0.1 L*; (2) there exists a moderate correlation
between UV luminosity and SiII 1526 absorption width, which together with the
observed large line widths of W(1526)>1.5 Ang for a large fraction of the
objects suggests a galactic outflow driven velocity field in the host galaxies;
(3) there is tentative evidence for a trend of declining ISM metallicity with
decreasing galaxy luminosity in the star-forming galaxy population at z=2-4;
(4) the interstellar UV radiation field is found ~ 35-350 times higher in GRB
hosts than the Galactic mean value; and (5) additional galaxies are found at <
2" from the GRB host in all fields with known presence of strong MgII
absorbers, but no additional faint galaxies are found at < 2" in fields without
strong MgII absorbers. Our study confirms that the GRB host galaxies (with
known optical afterglows) are representative of unobscured star-forming
galaxies at z>2, and demonstrates that high spatial resolution images are
necessary for an accurate identification of GRB host galaxies in the presence
of strong intervening absorbers.Comment: 24 emulateapj pages, 24 figures, ApJ in press; full-resolution
version available at http://lambda.uchicago.edu/public/tmp/ghost.pd