Line searches in swift X-ray spectra
journal contribution
posted on 2012-10-24, 09:21 authored by C. P. Hurkett, S. Vaughan, J. P. Osborne, P. T. O'Brien, K. L. Page, A. Beardmore, O. Godet, P. A. Evans, M. R. Goad, R. L. C. Starling, D. N. Burrows, J. Kennea, M. Capalbi, M. Perri, N. Gehrels, J. E. Hill, T. MineoPrior to the launch of the Swift mission several X-ray line detections were reported in gamma-ray burst afterglow spectra. To date, these pre-Swift era results have not been conclusively confirmed. The most contentious issue in this area is the choice of statistical method used to evaluate the significance of these features. In this paper we compare three different methods already extant in the literature for assessing the significance of possible line features and discuss their relative advantages and disadvantages. The methods are demonstrated by application to observations of 40 bursts from the archive of Swift XRT at early times (
Funding
This work is supported at the University of Leicester by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), at PSU by NASA and in Italy by funding from ASI. C. P. H. gratefully acknowledges support from a PPARC studentship. S. V., J. P. O., E. R., K. L. P., A. N. , O. G., M. R. G. , P. E., and R. S. acknowledge PPARC support.
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Citation
The Astrophysical Journal, 2008, 679 (1), pp. 587-606Published in
The Astrophysical JournalPublisher
American Astronomical Society, IOP Publishingissn
2041-8205eissn
2041-8213Copyright date
2008Available date
2012-10-24Publisher DOI
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http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/679/1/587/Language
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