Prospects for the detection of GRBs with HAWC

Understand

The observation of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) with very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays can provide understanding of the particle acceleration mechanisms in GRBs, and can also be used to probe the extra-galactic background light and place constraints on Lorentz invariance violation.

• We present prospects for GRB detection by the ground-based HAWC (High Altitude Water Cherenkov) gamma-ray observatory.
• We model the VHE spectrum of GRBs by extrapolating observations by Fermi LAT and other observatories to higher energies.
• Under the assumption that only e-pair production associated with extra-galactic background light is responsible for high-energy cutoffs in the spectrum, we find that HAWC will have a detection rate as high as 1.65 GRBs/year.