Gamma-ray bursts: a probe of black holes

There is strong evidence for the existence of black holes (BHs) in some X-ray binaries and in most galactic nuclei based on different types of measurement, but black holes have not been definitely identified for the lack of very firm observational evidence up to now. Because direct evidence for BHs should come from determination of strong gravitational redshift, we expect an object can fall into the region near the BH horizon where radiation can be detected. Therefore the object must be a compact star such as a neutron star (NS), and intense astrophysical processes will release highly energetic radiation that is transient and fast-varying. These characteristics may point to the observed gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Recent observations of iron lines suggest that afterglows of GRBs show properties similar to those observed in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), implying that the GRBS may originate from intense events related to black holes. A model for GRBs and afterglows is proposed here to obtain the range of gravitational redshifts (z(g)) of GRBs with known cosmological redshifts. Here, we provide a new method that, with a search for high-energy emission lines (X- or gamma-rays) in GRBs, one can determine the gravitational redshift. We expect z(g) to be 0.5 or even larger, so we can rule out the possibility of other compact objects such as NSs, and identify the central progenitors of GRBs as black holes.