Short GRBs: Slashing Through the Jungle One Step at a Time
Abstract
We are learning in the Swift era that short and long bursts have very different origins. The short bursts appear to have old-population stellar progenitors and the long bursts certainly have young-population progenitors. However, the going is tough for short bursts, with low event rates and weak afterglows. Hints of sub-populations are emerging in distance range, progenitor type and lightcurve characteristics. This paper will discuss the growing Swift data set on short bursts and where it is leading.
- Publication:
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AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #10
- Pub Date:
- March 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008HEAD...10.1503G