Does a challenge persist?

So I challenged someone, and the challenge screen is up, the one with the rotating doodad in the center.

If they don't respond for a while, how long does the challenge last?

If I close that challenge screen, without hitting "cancel", does the challenge persist?

Thanks in advance for the answer.

Good question, bump

As far as I know, it does. I routinely challenge two of my coworkers, but close that spinning screen out before they reply. Ive had one persist for roughly 2-3 days before I saw him again, told him about it and he accepted.

AKAIK the challenge persists indefinitely until either:

A - The opponent accepts
B - The opponent declines
C - You cancel the challenge
D - You log out of Lichess
E - You navigate away from that specific tab in your browser