Gamma ray bursts monitoring with the ARGO-YBJ experiment in scaler mode

We report on the search for Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) in the energy range 1-100 GeV in coincidence with the prompt emission detected by satellites, using the Astrophysical Radiation Ground-based Observatory at YangBaJing (ARGO-YBJ). With its big active surface (∼6700 m 2) and large field of view (≥2 sr) the ARGO-YBJ air shower detector is particularly suitable to detect unpredictable and short duration events such as GRBs. The search has been performed using the single particle technique in time coincidence with satellite detections both for single events and for the piling up of all the GRBs in time and in phase. Between November 2004 and June 2010 115 GRBs, detected by different satellites (mainly Swift and Fermi), occurred within the field of view of ARGO-YBJ. For 94 of these we searched for a counterpart in the ARGO-YBJ data finding no statistically significant emission. Search methods and results are discussed. © Author(s) 2011.