Doubt on the statistical significance of the Giant GRB Ring

Abstract

Balázs et al. discovered a gigaparsec‐scale ring‐like cluster of gamma‐ray bursts (GRBs) at redshift , the so‐called Giant GRB Ring (GGR), and claimed that the existence of such a gigantic structure challenges the standard cosmological paradigm. We show that the kth nearest neighbor analysis of Balázs et al., by which they estimated the probability of finding by chance a GRB cluster comparable to the GGR to be only 0.05%, has several flaws in the statistical reasoning. After correcting these flaws, the above probability becomes 5–20%, considerably higher than the original estimate and large enough to discard the hypothesis that the GGR has a physical origin. Moreover, this probability is even higher, 60–90%, when using the most recent compilation of GRB data whose redshifts have been measured. We conclude that the GGR is merely a pattern that occurred by chance in the random distribution of GRBs.