Towards a new model-independent calibration of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract: Current data on baryon acoustic oscillations and Supernovae of Type Ia cover up to $z\sim 2.5$. These observations play a very important role in the determination of cosmological parameters and have been widely used to constrain the $\Lambda$CDM and models beyond it. To extend the investigation to higher $z$, Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) stand out as one of the most promising observables since can probe the universe up to $z\sim9.4$. The use of GRB correlations is still a challenge due to the spread in their intrinsic properties. In this work, we propose an innovative and cosmology-independent method of calibration of the so-called 3D Dainotti correlation. We employ state-of-the-art data on Cosmic Chronometers (CCH) at $z\lesssim2$ and use the Gaussian Processes reconstruction tool. To match the CCH redshift range, we select 20 long GRBs in $0.553\leq z\leq1.96$ from the Platinum sample, which consists of well-defined GRB plateau properties that obey the fundamental plane relation. We verify that the choice of priors on the parameters of the Dainotti relation and the modelling of CCH uncertainties and covariance have negligible impact on our results. We also consider the case in which the redshift evolution of the physical features of the plane is accounted for. We find that the use of CCH allows us to identify a sub-sample of GRBs that adhere even more closely to the fundamental plane relation, with an intrinsic scatter of $\sigma_{int}=0.20^{+0.03}_{-0.05}$ when evolutionary effects are considered. In an epoch in which we strive to reduce uncertainties on the GRB correlations variables to tighten constraints on cosmological parameters, we have found a novel model-independent approach to pinpoint a sub-sample that can thus represent a valuable set of standardizable candles. This allows us to extend the distance ladder presenting a new catalogue of calibrated luminosity distances up to $z=5$.