REPEATING OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS IN LIGHT OF THE BATSE 2B CATALOG

We examine the evidence for repeating of gamma-ray bursts in light of the BATSE 2B catalog. The temporal coverage of the 2B-1B (non-MAXBC) d ata set is approximate to 1/3 smaller than that of the 1B catalog. We find evidence that the distributions of the burst statistical position al errors and of the burst fluences also differ. Assuming that the bur sts in the 1B catalog form a ''fair sample'' and taking these observat ional selection effects into account, we simulate the 2B-1B (less MAXB C) data set. We find that a repeating signal like that seen in the nea rest neighbor distribution of the bursts in the 1B catalog would not b e detectable in the 2B-1B (non-MAXBC) and 2B (non-MAXBC) data sets, be cause of the differences in the temporal coverage and in the distribut ion of positional errors.