Searching for counterpart of γ-ray bursts with resonant gravitational wave detectors

Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) likely arise from the collapse of very massive objects or from the coalescence of compact binary systems. In both cases, also a burst of gravitational waves (GWs) should be emitted. The observation of a large number of GRB events gives the possibility of a systematic analysis of the GW detector data when searching for an association between the two emissions. Data collected by the resonant cryogenic detectors, EXPLORER and NAUTILUS, between 1991 and 1999, have been correlated with the GRB events. The analysis excludes the presence of a signal of amplitude h greater than or equal to 5.4 x 10(-19), if we allow a time delay between GW burst and GRB within 10 s.