Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies: Specific Star Formation Rate vs. Metallicity

TL;DR

This study investigates whether metallicity or specific star formation rate (sSFR) more strongly influences the likelihood of a galaxy hosting a gamma-ray burst, using models and observational data up to redshift 4.

Contribution

It compares the effects of metallicity and sSFR on GRB host galaxy likelihood, highlighting the importance of galaxy mass and star formation functions in resolving their relative roles.

Findings

Star formation fractions are similar for both properties up to z~4.

The sSFR-based GRB host fraction aligns better with observations than metallicity-based predictions.

Galaxy stellar mass and star formation rate functions are key to distinguishing the dominant factor.

Abstract

The observed properties of long gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies show them to often be of a rather low metallicity and/or of high specific star formation rate (SFR). It is not clear which of these properties is a dominant factor in determining if a galaxy will host a GRB or not. In fact there are indications, at least in the local Universe, that the two may be anticorrelated and that the metallicity is the deciding parameter. Here, we consider GRB production models dependent on both quantities and show that when compared to the best available data, the respective star formation fractions appear indistinguishable out to redshift of $z\sim 4$. However, the fraction of galaxies hosting a GRB, as determined by the specific SFR, is less at tension with the observed host galaxy fraction than the corresponding metallicity determined fraction, but this conclusion is model dependent. Well established galaxy stellar mass and star formation rate functions at high redshift are crucial in breaking the apparent degeneracy between the specific rate and metallicity in GRB production probability.