Multi-wavelength afterglow observations of the high redshift GRB 050730

Context. GRB 050730 is a long duration high-redshift burst (z = 3.967) that was discovered by Swift. The afterglow shows variability and was well monitored over a wide wavelength range. We present comprehensive temporal and spectral analysis of the afterglow of GRB 050730 including observations covering the wavelength range from the millimeter to X-rays. Aims. We use multi-wavelength afterglow data to understand the complex temporal and spectral decay properties of this high redshift burst. Methods. Five telescopes were used to study the decaying afterglow of GRB 050730 in the B, V, r', R, i', I, J and K photometric pass bands. A spectral energy distribution was constructed at 2.9 h post-burst in the B, V, R, I, J and K bands. X-ray data from the satellites Swift and XMM-Newton were used to study the afterglow evolution at higher energies. Results. The early afterglow shows variability at early times and the slope steepens at 0.1 days (8.6 ks) in the B, V, r', R, i', I, J and K passbands. The early afterglow light curve decayed with a powerlaw slope index alpha(1) = -0.60 +/- 0.07 and subsequently steepened to alpha(2) = -1.71 +/- 0.06 based on the R and I band data. A millimeter detection of the afterglow around 3 days after the burst shows an excess in comparison to theoretical predictions. The early X- ray light curve observed by Swift is complex and contains flares. At late times the X-ray light curve can be fit by a powerlaw decay with alpha(x) = -2.5 +/- 0.15 which is steeper than the optical light curve. A spectral energy distribution (SED) was constructed at similar to 2.9 h after the burst. An electron energy index, p, of similar to 2.3 was calculated using the SED and the photon index from the X-ray afterglow spectra and implies that the synchrotron cooling frequency v(c) is above the X-ray band.