Star Formation and the Metallicity Aversion of Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

It has been suggested that the apparent bias of long-duration GRBs (LGRBs) to low metallicity environments might be a result of the fact that star-formation is anti-correlated with metallicity. However, if this were the cause, one would expect other indicators of star formation, such as Type II and Type Ic SNe to demonstrate a similar bias. Here we show that local Type Ic and Type II SNe track the star-formation weighted metallicity distribution of the SDSS galaxies. In contrast LGRBs are typically found at far-lower metallicities than would be expected based on the distribution of star-formation. This is true even when one takes into account so-called “dark bursts”. Indeed, while we will present data that show that some LGRBs form at very high metallicities, these objects enter the sample because of the large effective search volume produced by their bright hosts. The bias of LGRBs to low metallicity is real and must be related to a mechanism which is crucial in their formation.