by
Giancarlo Ghirlanda(INAF - Osservatorio Astron. di Brera, Italy)
→
Europe/Stockholm
Nordita seminar room
Nordita seminar room
Description
Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful sources in the Universe. They release up to 10^55 erg as gamma ray photons within a few tenths of seconds. Their prompt and afterglow emission are the consequence of the final stages of the evolution of very massive stars. Their emission is observed in different bands up to months after the burst detection. Their detection in the gamma ray band make them observable up to very high redshifts. GRBs could represent a unique tool to study the high redshift universe and they could be used as a cosmological probe (complementary to SN Ia and the CMB). The use of GRBs for cosmology is presented, open issues, recent results and future perspectives are discussed.