Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 0710.4602

EXIST's Gamma-Ray Burst Sensitivity

D. L. Band·J. E. Grindlay·J. Hong·G. Fishman·D. H. Hartmann·A. Garson III·H. Krawczynski·S. Barthelmy·N. Gehrels·G. Skinner
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We use semi-analytic techniques to evaluate the burst sensitivity of designs for the EXIST hard X-ray survey mission. Applying these techniques to the mission design proposed for the Beyond Einstein program, we find that with its very large field-of-view and faint gamma-ray burst detection threshold, EXIST will detect and localize approximately two bursts per day, a large fraction of which may be at high redshift. We estimate that EXIST's maximum sensitivity will be ~4 times greater than that of Swift's Burst Alert Telescope. Bursts will be localized to better than 40 arcsec at threshold, with a burst position as good as a few arcsec for strong bursts. EXIST's combination of three different detector systems will provide spectra from 3 keV to more than 10 MeV. Thus, EXIST will enable a major leap in the understanding of bursts, their evolution, environment, and utility as cosmological probes.

Explore related subjects

astro-ph

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

D. L. Band, J. E. Grindlay, J. Hong, G. Fishman, D. H. Hartmann, A. Garson III, H. Krawczynski, S. Barthelmy, N. Gehrels, G. Skinner. 2007-10-25. EXIST's Gamma-Ray Burst Sensitivity. https://doi.org/10.1086/524883

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2012

Likelihood Analysis of CMB Temperature and Polarization Power Spectra

Microwave background temperature and polarization observations are a powerful way to constrain cosmological parameters if the likelihood function can be calculated accurately. The temperature and polarization fields are correlated, partial sky coverage correlates power spectrum estimators at different ell, and the likelihood function for a theory spectrum given a set of observed estimators is non-Gaussian. An accurate analysis must model all these properties. Most existing likelihood approximations are good enough for a temperature-only analysis, however they cannot reliably handle a temperature-polarization correlations. We give a new general approximation applicable for correlated Gaussian fields observed on part of the sky. The approximation models the non-Gaussian form exactly in the ideal full-sky limit and is fast to evaluate using a pre-computed covariance matrix and set of power spectrum estimators. We show with simulations that it is good enough to obtain correct results at ell >~ 30 where an exact calculation becomes impossible. We also show that some Gaussian approximations give reliable parameter constraints even though they do not capture the shape of the likelihood function at each ell accurately. Finally we test the approximations on simulations with realistically anisotropic noise and asymmetric foreground mask.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2012

Critical Test of the Self-Similar Cosmological Paradigm: Anomalously Few Planets Orbiting Low-Mass Red Dwarf Stars

The incidence of planetary systems orbiting red dwarf stars with masses less than 0.4 solar masses provides a crucial observational test for the Self-Similar Cosmological paradigm. The discrete self-similarity of the paradigm mandates the prediction of anomalously few planetary systems associated with these lowest mass red dwarf stars, in contrast to conventional astrophysical assumptions. Ongoing observational programs are rapidly collecting the data necessary for testing this prediction and preliminary results are highly encouraging. A definitive verdict on the prediction should be available in the near future.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2012

New northern common proper motion pairs

A list of 705 new Northern Celestial Hemisphere common proper motion pairs as derived from the Second U.S. Naval Observatory CCD Astrograph Catalog is presented, along with details of their separation, motion, brightness and colour. Objects of particular interest are noted, and the use of the catalogue for such work gauged.

astro-ph↗