Merger delay time distribution of extended emission short GRBs

TL;DR

This study investigates whether short GRBs with extended emission originate from compact binary mergers by analyzing their redshift distribution and delay times, finding consistency with the merger hypothesis but no significant difference from non-EE bursts.

Contribution

It provides the first analysis of the merger delay time distribution specifically for short GRBs with extended emission, testing their connection to the merger model.

Findings

EE burst redshift distribution aligns with merger model

No significant difference in delay times between EE and non-EE short GRBs

Supports merger origin hypothesis for EE bursts

Abstract

The most popular progenitor model for short duration Gamma-Ray bursts (sGRBs) is the merger of two compact objects. However, the short GRB population exhibit a certain diversity: some bursts display an extended emission (EE), continuing in soft $\gamma$-rays for a few hundreds of seconds post the initial short pulse. It is currently unclear whether the origin of such bursts is linked to compact object mergers. Within the merger hypothesis, the redshift ($z$) distribution of short GRBs is influenced by the merger delay time, i.e., time elapsed between the merger and the formation of the binary star system, which is dominated by the time-scale for gravitational wave losses during the compact binary phase. We examine redshift distributions of short GRBs with extended emission to see whether their formation channel requires considerable delay post the star formation episode. Our results show that the $z$ distribution of EE bursts is consistent with the merger model. We attempted to compare the delay time distribution of the EE and the non-EE short bursts. However, no statistically significant difference could be seen within the limited sample size.