GRB Jet Beaming Angle Statistics

Abstract

Existing theory and models suggest that a Type I (merger) GRB should have a larger jet beaming angle than a Type II (collapsar) GRB, but so far no statistical evidence is available to support this suggestion. In this paper, we obtain a sample of 37 beaming angles and calculate the probability that this is true. A correction is also devised to account for the scarcity of Type I GRBs in our sample. The probability is calculated to be 83% without the correction and 71% with it.