Abstract The role of T50 in classifying gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is investigated. We take T50=0.7 s as the line of division and find that some bursts belonging to the class of long bursts defined by T90 ≥ 2 s now become short bursts (sample 1), while some belonging to the class of short bursts defined by T90 < 2 s now become long bursts (sample 2). We study how these sources are affected by the two methods of classification and find the change of classes of sample 1 is due to some peculiar properties of the light curves. Based on their characters, most of the bursts of sample 1 should be taken as short bursts.

Keywords gamma ray: bursts --- gamma ray: observations

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