Gamma-Ray Bursts: Should Cosmologists Care?

Abstract

Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) locations are distributed isotropically on the sky, but the intensity distribution of the bursts seems clearly incompatible with spatial homogeneity. Of the scenarios that attempt to provide an explanation, there are two that enjoy current popularity: (1) GRBs are produced by high-velocity neutron stars that have formed an extended (~100 kpc) spherical halo or ”corona” around our galaxy. (2) The bursters are at cosmological distances, with redshifts near unity for the weaker events. The major evidence used to argue for or against each of these scenarios remains inconclusive. Assuming, not unreasonably, that the cosmological scenario is correct, one can discuss the advantages and disadvantages of studying GRBs as opposed to other objects at moderate redshift. We find that the advantages of GRBs—high intensity, penetrating radiation, rapid variability, and no expected source evolution—are offset by observational difficulties pertaining to the extraction of cosmological information from GRB data. If the cosmological scenario proves to be correct and if the observational difficulties are overcome, then cosmologists certainly should care.