RESUMO
Complete samples are the basis of any population study. To this end, we selected a complete subsample of Swift long bright gamma ray bursts (GRBs). The sample, made up of 58 bursts, was selected by considering bursts with favourable observing conditions for ground-based follow-up observations and with the 15-150 keV 1 s peak flux above a flux threshold of 2.6 photons cm(-2) s(-1). This sample has a redshift completeness level higher than 90 per cent. Using this complete sample, we investigate the properties of long GRBs and their evolution with cosmic time, focusing in particular on the GRB luminosity function, the prompt emission spectral-energy correlations and the nature of dark bursts.
RESUMO
We report the optical polarization of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow, obtained 203 seconds after the initial burst of gamma-rays from GRB 060418, using a ring polarimeter on the robotic Liverpool Telescope. Our robust (2sigma) upper limit on the percentage of polarization, less than 8%, coincides with the fireball deceleration time at the onset of the afterglow. The combination of the rate of decay of the optical brightness and the low polarization at this critical time constrains standard models of GRB ejecta, ruling out the presence of a large-scale ordered magnetic field in the emitting region.