A Comparison of Gamma-ray Burst Subgroups Measured by RHESSI and BATSE

TL;DR

This study compares gamma-ray burst subgroups detected by RHESSI and BATSE satellites, finding no significant evidence for an intermediate subgroup in RHESSI data despite prior claims from BATSE studies.

Contribution

It provides a statistical comparison of GRB subgroups between RHESSI and BATSE, challenging previous findings of an intermediate subgroup.

Findings

No statistically significant intermediate subgroup in RHESSI data

Comparison supports the existence of long and short GRB groups only

Statistical tests used include chi^2 and F-test

Abstract

A sample of almost 400 Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the RHESSI satellite is studied statistically. We focus on GRB duration and hardness ratio and use the statistical chi^2 test and the F-test to compare the number of GRB subgroups in the RHESSI database with that of the BATSE database. Although some previous articles based on the BATSE catalog claim the existence of an intermediate GRB subgroup, besides long and short, we have not found a statistically significant intermediate subgroup in the RHESSI data.