THE EFFECT OF REPEATING GAMMA RAY BURSTS ON V/Vmax

I consider the effect of repeating burst sources on the 〈V/Vmax〉 statistic. I find that if the burst sources are distributed homogeneously in a d-dimensional space, 〈V/Vmax〉 converges to d/(d + 3) as long as the luminosity function is independent of position. Choosing the brightest event from a cluster of k events shifts the luminosity function to higher luminosities, but if the original luminosity function is position-independent, it remains so. Therefore the treatment of repeating events, if applied consistently, will not affect the effectiveness of 〈V/Vmax〉 as a test of burst homogeneity. The calculation of 〈V/Vmax〉 for apparent repeating and nonrepeating source populations will be biased by the incorrect classification of faint bursts. In conclusion, the current practice of calculating 〈V/Vmax〉 using all bursts, even apparent repeaters, and treating multi-spike bursts as single bursts, is valid and consistent. Subject headings: gamma rays: bursts