An Evolving Stellar Initial Mass Function and the Gamma-Ray Burst Redshift Distribution

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that Swift gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) may not trace an ordinary star formation history. Here we show that the GRB rate turns out to be consistent with the star formation history with an evolving stellar initial mass function (IMF). We first show that the latest Swift sample of GRBs reveals an increasing evolution in the GRB rate relative to the ordinary star formation rate at high redshifts. We then assume only massive stars with masses greater than the critical value to produce GRBs, and use an evolving stellar IMF suggested by Dav\'{e} (2010) to fit the latest GRB redshift distribution. This evolving IMF would increase the relative number of massive stars, which could lead to more GRB explosions at high redshifts. We find that the evolving IMF can well reproduce the observed redshift distribution of Swift GRBs.