X-ray Plateaus in Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows and Their Application in Cosmology

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Xu, Fan, Chen-Han, Tang, Jin-Jun, Geng, Fa-Yin Wang, Yu-Yang, Wang, Kuerban, Abudushataer, Yong-Feng, Huang
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 27.08.2021
• Subjects: Afterglows; Astronomical models; Constraint modelling; Correlation; Cosmology; Evolution; Gamma ray bursts; Gamma rays; Legal issues; Luminosity; Parameters; Physics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena; Red shift
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2012.05627

For gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with a plateau phase in the X-ray afterglow, a so called \(L-T-E\) correlation has been found which tightly connects the isotropic energy of the prompt GRB (\(E_{\gamma,\rm{iso}}\)) with the end time of the X-ray plateau (\(T_{a}\)) and the corresponding X-ray luminosity at the end time (\(L_{X}\)). Here we show that there is a clear redshift evolution in the correlation. Furthermore, since the power-law indices of \(L_{X}\) and \(E_{\gamma,\rm{iso}}\) in the correlation function are almost identical, the \(L-T-E\) correlation is insensitive to cosmological parameters and cannot be used as a satisfactory standard candle. On the other hand, based on a sample including 121 long GRBs, we establish a new three parameter correlation that connects \(L_{X}\), \(T_{a}\) and the spectral peak energy \(E_{\rm{p}}\), i.e. the \(L-T-E_{\rm{p}}\) correlation. This correlation strongly supports the so-called Combo-relation established by Izzo et al. (2015). After correcting for the redshift evolution, we show that the de-evolved \(L-T-E_{\rm{p}}\) correlation can be used as a standard candle. By using this correlation alone, we are able to constrain the cosmological parameters as \(\Omega_{m}=0.389^{+0.202}_{-0.141}\) (\(1\sigma\)) for the flat \(\Lambda\)CDM model, or \(\Omega_{m}=0.369^{+0.217}_{-0.191}\), \(w=-0.966^{+0.513}_{-0.678}\) (\(1\sigma\)) for the flat \(w\)CDM model. Combining with other cosmological probes, more accurate constraints on the cosmology models are presented.