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| These two false-color images compare the distribution of normal matter (red, left) with dark matter (blue, right) in the universe. The brightness of clumps corresponds to the density of mass. The comparison will provide insight on how structure formed in the evolving universe under the relentless pull of gravity. Credit: NASA, ESA, CalTech |
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous explosive events in the cosmos, which can be detected even out to the edge of the Universe and they can be used to probe the properties of the high-z Universe, including high-z star formation history.
Long (>2 seconds) gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) are powered by the core collapse of massive stars, so the cosmic GRB rate should in principle trace the cosmic star formation rate. It is important to note that stars can only form in structures that are suitably dense: the star formation occurs only if the mass of the dark matter halo of the collapsed structures is greater than the minimum value M_{min}.
Structures with masses smaller than M_{min} are considered as part of the intergalactic medium and do not take part in the star formation process.
The connection of LGRBs with the collapse of massive stars has provided a good opportunity for probing star formation in dark matter halos. The value M_{min} can be constrained by directly comparing the observed and expected redshift distributions of LGRBs.
In a recent paper (Wei et al. 2016), the authors used the latest Swift GRB data to obtain a value for the minimum mass of 10^{7.7} < M_{min} < 10^{10.7} solar masses. Below this limit the star formation process should not take place.
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http://arxiv.org/pdf/1511.04483v1.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214404815000658
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