10 Years of XRT light curves: a general view of the X-ray afterglow

TL;DR

This study analyzes 254 Swift-era GRB X-ray afterglow light curves, confirming the clustering phenomenon and its consistency with the Dainotti correlation after correcting for cosmological effects.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of X-ray afterglow light curves in the Swift era, confirming clustering and its relation to the Dainotti correlation.

Findings

Clustering of X-ray afterglow light curves is confirmed.

Data corrections for cosmological effects are essential.

The sample aligns with the Dainotti correlation.

Abstract

During the pre-Swift era, a clustering of light curves was observed in the X-ray, optical and infrared afterglow of gamma-ray bursts. We used a sample of 254 GRB X-ray afterglows to check this fact in the Swift era. We corrected fluxes for distance, time dilation and losses of energy due to cosmological effects. With all our data in hand, we faced with a problem: our data were scattered. We investigated 3 possibilities to explain this, namely: the clustering does not exist, there are problems during calibration of data, and there are instrumental problems. We finally confirm that our sample is consistent with Dainotti correlation.