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 with Ground-based Observatory at YangBaJing (ARGO-YBJ) air shower detec
tor. Thanks to its mountain location (Yangbajing, Tibet, P.R. China, 4300 m a.s.l.), active surface (about 6700 m**2 of Resistive Plate Chambers), and large field of view (about 2 sr, limited only by the atmospheric absorption), the ARGO-YBJ air shower detector is particularly suitable for the detection of unpredictable and short duration events such as GRBs. The search is carried out using the single particle technique, i.e. counting all the particles hitting the detector without measurement of the energy and arrival direction of the primary gamma rays. Between 2004 December 17 and 2009 April 7, 81 GRBs detected by satellites occurred within the field of view of ARGO-YBJ (zenith angle < 45 deg). It was possible to examine 62 of these for >1 GeV counterpart in the ARGO-YBJ data finding no statistically significant emission. With a lack of detected spectra in this energy range fluence upper limits are profitable, especially when the redshift is known and the correction for the extragalactic absorption can be considered. The obtained fluence upper limits reach values as low as 10**{-5} erg cm**{-2} in the 1-100 GeV energy region. Besides this individual search for a higher energy counterpart, a statistical study of the stack of all the GRBs both in time and in phase was made, looking for a common feature in the GRB high energy emission. No significant signal has been detected.
The ARGO-YBJ (Astrophysical Radiation Ground-based Observatory at YangBaJing) experiment is designed for very high energy $gamma$-astronomy and cosmic ray researches. Due to the full coverage of a large area ($5600 m^2$) with resistive plate chambers
at a very high altitude (4300 m a.s.l.), the ARGO-YBJ detector is used to search for transient phenomena, such as Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Because the ARGO-YBJ detector has a large field of view ($sim$2 sr) and is operated with a high duty cycle ($>$90%), it is well suited for GRB surveying and can be operated in searches for high energy GRBs following alarms set by satellite-borne observations at lower energies. In this paper, the sensitivity of the ARGO-YBJ detector for GRB detection is estimated. Upper limits to fluence with 99% confidence level for 26 GRBs inside the field of view from June 2006 to January 2009 are set in the two energy ranges 10$-$100 GeV and 10 GeV$-$1 TeV.
