The clustering of gamma-ray bursts in the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall: the largest structure in the Universe?. (arXiv:2008.03679v2 [astro-ph.HE] UPDATED)
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Horvath_I/0/1/0/all/0/1">I. Horvath</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Szecsi_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. Szécsi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hakkila_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. Hakkila</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Szabo_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Á. Szabó</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Racz_I/0/1/0/all/0/1">I. I. Racz</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Toth_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">L. V. Tóth</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Pinter_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Pinter</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bagoly_Z/0/1/0/all/0/1">Z. Bagoly</a>
The Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall is a statistically significant
clustering of gamma-ray bursts around redshift 2. Motivated by recent
theoretical results indicating that a maximal Universal structure size may
indeed coincide with its estimated size (2-3Gpc), we reexamine the question of
this Great Wall’s existence from both observational and theoretical
perspectives. Our statistical analyses confirm the clustering’s presence in the
most reliable data set currently available, and we present a video showing what
this data set looks like in~3D. Cosmological explanations (i.e. having to do
with the distribution of gravitating matter) and astrophysical explanations
(i.e. having to do with the rate of star formation over cosmic time and space)
regarding the origin of such a structure are presented and briefly discussed
and the role of observational bias is also discussed at length. This, together
with the scientific importance of using gamma-ray bursts as unique cosmological
probes, emphasises the need for future missions such as the THESEUS satellite
which will provide us with unprecedentedly homogeneous data of gamma-ray bursts
with measured redshifts. We conclude from all this that the Hercules-Corona
Borealis Great Wall may indeed be the largest structure in the Universe – but
to be able to decide conclusively whether it actually exists, we need THESEUS.
The Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall is a statistically significant
clustering of gamma-ray bursts around redshift 2. Motivated by recent
theoretical results indicating that a maximal Universal structure size may
indeed coincide with its estimated size (2-3Gpc), we reexamine the question of
this Great Wall’s existence from both observational and theoretical
perspectives. Our statistical analyses confirm the clustering’s presence in the
most reliable data set currently available, and we present a video showing what
this data set looks like in~3D. Cosmological explanations (i.e. having to do
with the distribution of gravitating matter) and astrophysical explanations
(i.e. having to do with the rate of star formation over cosmic time and space)
regarding the origin of such a structure are presented and briefly discussed
and the role of observational bias is also discussed at length. This, together
with the scientific importance of using gamma-ray bursts as unique cosmological
probes, emphasises the need for future missions such as the THESEUS satellite
which will provide us with unprecedentedly homogeneous data of gamma-ray bursts
with measured redshifts. We conclude from all this that the Hercules-Corona
Borealis Great Wall may indeed be the largest structure in the Universe – but
to be able to decide conclusively whether it actually exists, we need THESEUS.
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