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[3.03] Constraints on the Luminosity Function of Gamma-Ray Bursts \\from the Gamma Ray Background

H. Che (Michigan Tech.)

The width of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) luminosity function is presently not well constrained. A wide luminosity function might be expected were GRBs associated with supernovae, for example. The possibility that a large number of undetected GRBs might make a contribution to the diffuse soft gamma-ray background is investigated. If gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) create supernova-like remnants, the width of the GRB luminosity function can be constrained by the observed flux of the diffuse gamma-ray background. Relevant observational constraints include the GRB Log N - Log P measured at energies between 50-300 KeV, the contribution of the nuclear decay of unstable isotopes to the gamma-ray background between 100 KeV - 10 MeV, and the slow time-scale of variation of the diffuse background. It is found that if the lower limit of the GRB luminosity function is less than about 10⁴⁷ ergs/sec, unacceptably large contributions to the diffuse gamma-ray background result.

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