Using temporal distributions of transient events to characterize cosmological source populations

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method using the observation time dependence of transient events to analyze their properties, demonstrating its effectiveness with gamma-ray burst data to estimate their rate density.

Contribution

It presents a new relation based on peak flux--observation time distribution that is invariant to luminosity distribution, enabling better characterization of cosmological transient populations.

Findings

The relation is invariant to luminosity distribution.

Application to Swift gamma-ray burst data constrains their rate density.

The method improves understanding of transient population properties.

Abstract

The brightest events in a time series of cosmological transients obey an observation time dependence which is often overlooked. This dependence can be exploited to probe the global properties of electromagnetic and gravitational wave transients (Howell et al. 2007a, Coward & Burman 2005). We describe a new relation based on a peak flux--observation time distribution and show that it is invariant to the luminosity distribution of the sources (Howell et al. 2007b). Applying this relation, in combination with a new data analysis filter, to \emph{Swift} gamma-ray burst data, we demonstrate that it can constrain their rate density.