On the role of GRBs on life extinction in the Universe

TL;DR

This paper estimates the likelihood of gamma-ray bursts causing mass extinctions on Earth and elsewhere, highlighting the importance of galactic location and cosmological factors in life's survival prospects.

Contribution

It provides a quantitative assessment of GRB-related extinction risks across the galaxy and universe, incorporating recent GRB data and cosmological considerations.

Findings

High probability of past lethal GRBs near Earth within 5 Gyr.

Inner Milky Way regions are highly inhospitable due to GRB risks.

Life could only exist in low-density, outer galaxy regions and in less than 10% of galaxies.

Abstract

As a copious source of gamma-rays, a nearby Galactic Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) can be a threat to life. Using recent determinations of the rate of GRBs, their luminosity function and properties of their host galaxies, we estimate the probability that a life-threatening (lethal) GRB would take place. Amongst the different kinds of GRBs, long ones are most dangerous. There is a very good chance (but no certainty) that at least one lethal GRB took place during the past 5 Gyr close enough to Earth as to significantly damage life. There is a 50% chance that such a lethal GRB took place during the last 500 Myr causing one of the major mass extinction events. Assuming that a similar level of radiation would be lethal to life on other exoplanets hosting life, we explore the potential effects of GRBs to life elsewhere in the Galaxy and the Universe. We find that the probability of a lethal GRB is much larger in the inner Milky Way (95% within a radius of 4 kpc from the galactic center), making it inhospitable to life. Only at the outskirts of the Milky Way, at more than 10 kpc from the galactic center, this probability drops below 50%. When considering the Universe as a whole, the safest environments for life (similar to the one on Earth) are the lowest density regions in the outskirts of large galaxies and life can exist in only ~ 10% of galaxies. Remarkably, a cosmological constant is essential for such systems to exist. Furthermore, because of both the higher GRB rate and galaxies being smaller, life as it exists on Earth could not take place at $z > 0.5$. Early life forms must have been much more resilient to radiation.