# Search for Non-Triggered Gamma Ray Bursts in the BATSE Continuous Records: Preliminary Results

## 1 Introduction

Many gamma-ray bursts which were too weak to cause the BATSE to trigger or were being missed due to other reasons (data readouts etc.) can be confidently identified in the BATSE daily records which cover the full period of the CGRO operation.

The search for non-triggered bursts can be of crucial importance in the following respects:

\- Extension of the log N - log P distribution which is necessary to make conclusive cosmological fits.

\- To reveal different GRB subpopulations, should they exist. In particular, the weak end of log N - log P can reveal subpopulations with Eucledian brightness distributions or put strong constraints on them.

\- To refine angular distributions and constraints on anisotropy associated with the Galaxy and M31. This in turn can put much stronger constraints on the Galactic halo scenario.

\- To increase the probability to observe the gravitational lensing effect in GRBs by more than a factor of 2.

The systematic search for non-triggered GRBs was started by Kommers et al. (1997). Recently, Kommers et al.(1998) completed the data scan for 6 years.

Despite that we started our search (in November, 1997) for non-triggered bursts much later than Kommers et al.(1997), our work still have several strong motivations:

\- Any scientific work subjected to difficult selective biases becomes much more reliable when performed independently by different groups.

\- We started our scan with some important advances. Firstly, we used a more selective off-line trigger code. Secondly, and most importantly, is the method of measurement of the efficiency of the GRB search using artificial test bursts that we employed.

More than a half of the human power was spent on the finding and the fitting of artificial test bursts for the sake of testing the reliability of log N - log P distribution of real bursts.

## 2 Data scan

We use 1024 ms time resolution BATSE data (DISCLA) from the ftp archive of the Goddard Space Flight Center at ftp://cossc.gsfc.nasa.gov/compton/data/batse/daily/.

The procedure of data reduction contains the following steps:

Step 1. Conversion of the original BATSE records adding to them artificial test bursts prepared from real rescaled bursts taken from the BATSE database.

The number of test bursts in the sample is 500. All are longer than 1 s.

Each test burst was made by randomly sampling one of the 500 bursts and rescaling its amplitude to the randomly sampled peak count rate with a proper Poisson noise (the lower limit being 160 counts /s/2500cm<sup>2</sup> , which approximately corresponds to $``$ 0.1 ph cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>)

Test bursts were added to the data at a random time with an average time interval 25000 s (i.e., the number of test bursts exceeds the number of real bursts).

Step 2. Data scan

We performed automatic check for the trigger conditions (see sec.3).

Each trigger was followed by a human decision whether the trigger is a GRB candidate. The decision was made using:

\- residual $`\chi ^2`$, hardness ratio and other quantities;

\- count rate curves in different detectors and energy channels;

\- a$`\chi ^2`$ map of the sky for the event (residual $`\chi ^2`$ after fit from a given direction) with projected Sun, Cyg X-1 and Earth horizon.

All candidates were recorded as a fragments of daily records saving all original information.

The person performing the scan was unaware whether it was a real or a test burst.

Step 3. Event classification.

The candidate events were discarded or classified as non-GRBs using the following criteria:

\- A low statistical significance (using a $`\chi ^2`$ map of the event over the sky: $`\chi ^2`$ should exceed $`4\sigma `$ over its minimum value in a hemisphere opposite to the best fit direction.)

\- A bad directional fit: strong signals in all detectors, a bad $`\chi ^2`$ map (many local minima), a spike in a single detector (luminiscence from heavy nuclei).

\- Soft, appeared during high ionosperic activity, and is close or below to the horizon (ionospheric events).

\- Soft and close to the Sun (solar flare) or consistent with Cyg X-1 or another known x-ray sources in the corresponding location and is of the same range of intensity and hardness.

Step 4. Separation of tests bursts using the protocols generated on step 1.

## 3 Off-line trigger

Background estimation for the trigger was done by linear fit of count rate over preceeding 40 seconds. (The backround estimate for BATSE trigger is the average over preceeding 17 seconds. Kommers et al.(1997) use linear fit in interval dependind on triggering time scale.)

Trigger criteria were the following (all criteria should be satisfied simultaneously):

1. The first criterium was traditional: a significant count rate excess over background: brightest detector - $`4\sigma `$ excess, second brightest - $`2.5\sigma `$. The excess was checked in time intervals (triggering timescales) 1 bin (1.024s), 2 bins, 4 bins, and 8 bins. Count rates in energy channels #2 and #3 (50 - 300 keV) were used for triggering. (Kommers et al. 1997 used similar thresholds in the same time intervals. BATSE trigger was set up to 5.5$`\sigma `$ and 5.5 $`\sigma `$ correspondingly, sometimes higher. )

2. The second criterium was a test on sufficient time variability using $`\chi ^2`$ threshold over intervals around triggering time. After fitting the signal summed over all triggered detectors by a straight line in the intervals -16 s $`<T<`$ 16 s and -16 s $`<T<`$ 32 s, the residual $`\chi ^2`$ in one of intervals should exceed 2.5 per degree of freedom. The threshold value was chosen using a sample of weak non-triggered burst found before applying this criterium: all of them passed this threshold.

The criterium is efficient against false triggers on smooth background variations and occultation steps. This criterium was not applied by Kommers et al.(1997).

3. The third criterium was based on Cyg X-1 subtraction. The detector counts are fitted using a signal incident from Cyg X-1 direction (no real detector response matrix is used in this step – just cos$`(\theta )`$ factor). Then the residual count rate pattern is checked for sufficient variability with $`\chi ^2`$ threshold as in the previous step. If $`\chi ^2`$ exceeds threshold for one of a few test time intervals, the trigger is accepted and the scanning code stops for human interactive operation.

Criteria (2) and (3), which were not used before, turned out to be very efficient against false triggers reducing their number from hundreds to several per day for quite Cyg X-1 or to few tens for loud Cyg X-1. These criteria can reject some real bursts but their number should be small: a very smooth profile is not tipical for GRBs and Cyg X-1 subtraction cuts out less than 5% of the sky. On the other hand such criteria improve the efficiency of the human visual stage of the work. This is a possible reason why we have found more non-triggered events than Kommers et al., (1998)

## 4 Preliminary results

We scanned 2068 days of BATSE daily records and found 1243 non-triggered events which can be classified as classic GRBs. (Kommers et al.,(1998) found 837 non-triggered GRBs per 2200 days). We found 1374 bursts which were triggered by BATSE (Kommers et al.,(1998) detected 1393 BATSE triggered events), and missed near 350 BATSE triggers: some of them are in data gaps, some are too short to be detected with 1 s time resolution.

Because many short bursts are lost in 1 s resolution daily BATSE data our scan yielded mostly long ($`>`$1 s) events.

We also found 3780 test bursts out of about 6800 added to the data.

The comparison with catalog of Kommers et al. (1997)for one year of observations showed that we found 90% of their events and approximately the same amount missing in their catalog. Events that we did found and Kommers et al.(1997) did not are not necessary the weakest bursts. Later, Kommers et al. (1998) increased their efficiency, so our final statisticsis about 50% larger.

The peak flux distribution of events found in the scan is presented in Fig.1.

Note that BATSE trigger missed some events much above threshold due to readout dead time. The efficiency measured by test bursts is shown in Fig.2.

Data gaps and periods of a high ionospheric background are taken into account so the efficiency is normalized to whole elapsed time of CGRO operation.

Angular distributions of new events show no excess towards the Sun, the excess $`20`$ events in the direction of Cyg X-1 and reasonable distribution in Geocentric coordinates (a smoothed step at Earth horizon and isotropy above it which indicates that a possible contamination of our sample with ionospheric events is small). The equatorial angular distribution is consistent with the sky coverage function given by Meegan et al (1998).

The hardness - peak flux scattering plot shown in Fig. 3 demonstrates that new weak bursts give a direct continuation of the distribution of stronger GRBs. All possible backgrounds events are softer on average.

The resulting log N - log P distribution in absolute units is presented in Fig.4

in comparison with BATSE log N - log P from Meegan et al. (1998) (in arbitrary normalisation) and that from Kommers et al. (1998) (in absolute units). All distributions are normalised with efficiencies estimated by their authors. Kommers et al.(KOM98 (1998)) have detected events below 0.2 ph s<sup>-1</sup> cm<sup>-2</sup>, however they presented only data with efficiency higher 0.8. The efficiency curve used by Kommers et al.(1998) is a sharper function of the peak flux. Our log N - log P curve is higher in the range $`P`$ 0.2 - 0.6 ph cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup> because of two factors: lower efficiency in this range according our estimate and a larger number of detected events.

Fig. 5 shows the log N - log P distribution where short events (only one bin is above 0.5 of the peak value) were removed from the sample and its best fit with a standard candle cosmological distribution for non-evolving parent population. For the first time the simplest cosmological model cannot fit data. The fit will be even worse if we use the star formation rate curve as the GRB evolution scenario. The rejection of the standard candle hypothesis is not surprising, however this is still an achievement because the cosmological fit of the log N – log P becomes conclusive.

## 5 Preliminary conclusions

Stern, Poutanen & Svensson (1997) claimed a possible indication of a turnover of the log N - log P near BATSE threshold. Such a turnover was also indicated by the results of Kommers et al. (1998) . There was a hope to reveal a cosmological evolution of the GRBs source population, i.e., their likely decline at large z together with the star production rate (see Totani, 1997 Bagot, Zwart & Yungel’son, 1998).

The turnover of the log N - log P is not confirmed. The reason is that the BATSE detection efficiency (see Meegan et al.,1998) below 1 ph cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup> turned out to be less than was estimated before - the smoothly declining efficiency mimiced a turnover. Probably all we see is just a very wide intrinsic luminosity function convolved with the cosmological distribution which we will not be able to extract straightforwardly.

Can the range 0.1 - 0.5 ph cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup> be contaminated by non-GRB events?

There is a temptation to suggest that the true GRBs log N - log P is bent as the standard candle curve in Fig. 5 and the rise at the left is caused by a contamination with events of another nature. One exciting possibility is a subpopulation of a relatively nearby bursts: the possible association of a supernova and GRB supports this variant. Then log N - log P should bend up to the Euclidean slope somewhere. Nobody can exlude this, however weakest events have the same hardness (Fig. 3) as classic GRBs and are isotropic in any frame (Galactic, Solar, Geocentric, where ionospheric events are anisotropic). They have the same range of durations as GRBs and the same character of the variability.

A wide intrinsic luminosity function is a more “economical” explanation: it must be wide and it will fit this log N – log P easiely.

## 6 Aknowlegements

We thank Juri Poutatnen, Aino Skassyrskaia, Andrei Skorbun, Eugeni Stern, Vladimir Kurt, Kirill Semenkov, Stas Masolkin, Alex Sergeev, Max Voronkov, Andrei Beloborodov, and Felix Ryde for valuable assistance.

This work was supported by the Swedish Natural Science Research Council, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, the Wennergren Foundation for Scientific Research, and a NORDITA Nordic Collaboration Project grant. RFBR grant 97-02-16975 supported one of the authors (D.K.).