A Search for Gamma-ray Burst Subgroups in the SWIFT and RHESSI Databases

TL;DR

This study analyzes gamma-ray burst data from Swift and RHESSI satellites to identify subgroups, finding clear short and long groups but no evidence of an intermediate subgroup as previously suggested by BATSE data.

Contribution

It provides a comparative statistical analysis of GRB subgroups across different satellite datasets, challenging prior claims of an intermediate subgroup.

Findings

Short and long GRB subgroups are clearly detected.

No statistically significant intermediate subgroup was found.

Results differ from earlier BATSE-based studies.

Abstract

A sample of 286 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Swift satellite and 358 GRBs detected by the RHESSI satellite are studied statistically. Previously published articles, based on the BATSE GRB Catalog, claimed the existence of an intermediate subgroup of GRBs with respect to duration. We use the statistical chi^2 test and the F-test to compare the number of GRB subgroups in our databases with the earlier BATSE results. Similarly to the BATSE database, the short and long subgroups are well detected in the Swift and RHESSI data. However, contrary to the BATSE data, we have not found a statistically significant intermediate subgroup in either Swift or RHESSI data.