Petrosian, V., & Lee, T. T. 1996, ApJL, 467, XXX
The Fluence Distribution for Gamma-Ray Bursts
Abstract:

In the use and interpretation of $\log{N}$--$\log{S}$ distributions for gamma-ray bursts, burst peak flux has typically been used for $S$. We consider here the use of the fluence as a measure of $S$, which may be a more appropriate quantity than the peak flux in such highly variable sources. We demonstrate how using the BATSE trigger data we can determine the selection effects on fluence. Then using techniques developed elsewhere to account for the important threshold effects and correlations, we find that the fluences given in the BATSE 3B catalog are correlated with the duration in the opposite sense expected from cosmological time dilation. Applying the appropriate corrections to the distributions, we obtain fluence distributions which show a somewhat sharper break than the peak flux distribution, implying a possibly narrower fluence luminosity distribution. If bursts are at cosmological distances, these observations together indicate that evolution of the luminosity function is required.


Paper available at the xxx.lanl.gov e-print archives at this URL . It is also available as postscript below: Last revised: 6/19/96
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