scholarly journals Joint inference on the redshift distribution of fast radio burst and on the intergalactic baryon content

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Hackstein ◽  
M Brüggen ◽  
F Vazza
Keyword(s):  
Radio Burst ◽  
Intergalactic Medium ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Dispersion Measure ◽  
Selection Effects ◽  
Radio Bursts ◽  
Host Galaxies ◽  
Redshift Distribution ◽  
Joint Inference ◽  
Fast Radio Burst

Abstract Context: Fast radio bursts are transient radio pulses of extragalactic origin. Their dispersion measure is indicative of the baryon content in the ionized intergalactic medium between the source and the observer. However, inference using unlocalized fast radio bursts is degenerate to the distribution of redshifts of host galaxies. Method: We perform a joint inference of the intergalactic baryon content and the fast radio burst redshift distribution with the use of Bayesian statistics by comparing the likelihood of different models to reproduce the observed statistics in order to infer the most likely models. In addition to two models of the intergalactic medium, we consider contributions from the local environment of the source, assumed to be a magnetar, as well as a representative ensemble of host and intervening galaxies. Results: Assuming that the missing baryons reside in the ionized intergalactic medium, our results suggest that the redshift distribution of observed fast radio bursts peaks at z ≲ 0.6. However, conclusions from different instruments regarding the intergalactic baryon content diverge and thus require additional changes to the observed distribution of host redshifts, beyond those caused by telescope selection effects.

scholarly journals Fast radio burst dispersion measures and rotation measures and the origin of intergalactic magnetic fields

2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (3) ◽  
pp. 4220-4238 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Hackstein ◽  
M Brüggen ◽  
F Vazza ◽  
B M Gaensler ◽  
V Heesen
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Radio Burst ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Intergalactic Medium ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Distribution Functions ◽  
Host Galaxy ◽  
Radio Bursts ◽  
Dispersion Measures ◽  
Fast Radio Burst

ABSTRACT We investigate the possibility of measuring intergalactic magnetic fields using the dispersion measures and rotation measures of fast radio bursts. With Bayesian methods, we produce probability density functions for values of these measures. We distinguish between contributions from the intergalactic medium, the host galaxy, and the local environment of the progenitor. To this end, we use constrained, magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the local Universe to compute lines-of-sight integrals from the position of the Milky Way. In particular, we differentiate between predominantly astrophysical and primordial origins of magnetic fields in the intergalactic medium. We test different possible types of host galaxies and probe different distribution functions of fast radio burst progenitor locations inside the host galaxy. Under the assumption that fast radio bursts are produced by magnetars, we use analytic predictions to account for the contribution of the local environment. We find that less than 100 fast radio bursts from magnetars in stellar-wind environments hosted by starburst dwarf galaxies at redshift z ≳ 0.5 suffice to discriminate between predominantly primordial and astrophysical origins of intergalactic magnetic fields. However, this requires the contribution of the Milky Way to be removed with a precision of ≈1 rad m−2. We show the potential existence of a subset of fast radio bursts whose rotation measures carry information on the strength of the intergalactic magnetic field and its origins.

scholarly journals The Northern Cross fast radio burst project – I. Overview and pilot observations at 408 MHz

2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (1) ◽  
pp. 1229-1236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola T Locatelli ◽  
Gianni Bernardi ◽  
Germano Bianchi ◽  
Riccardo Chiello ◽  
Alessio Magro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Burst ◽  
System Performance ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
High Dispersion ◽  
Dispersion Measure ◽  
Radio Bursts ◽  
Radio Telescopes ◽  
Present Test ◽  
New Radio ◽  
Fast Radio Burst

ABSTRACT Fast radio bursts (FRBs) remain one of the most enigmatic astrophysical sources. Observations have significantly progressed over the last few years, due to the capabilities of new radio telescopes and the refurbishment of existing ones. Here, we describe the upgrade of the Northern Cross radio telescope, operating in the 400–416 MHz frequency band, with the ultimate goal of turning the array into a dedicated instrument to survey the sky for FRBs. We present test observations of the pulsar B0329+54 to characterize the system performance and forecast detectability. Observations with the system currently in place are still limited by modest sky coverage (∼9.4 deg2) and biased by smearing of high dispersion measure events within each frequency channels. In its final, upgraded configuration, however, the telescope will be able to carry out unbiased FRB surveys over a ∼350 deg2 instantaneous field of view up to z ∼ 5, with a (nearly constant) $\sim 760 \, (\tau /{\rm ms})^{-0.5}$ mJy rms sensitivity.

scholarly journals A highly active repeating fast radio burst in a complex local environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Li ◽  
C.H. Niu ◽  
Kshitij Aggarwal ◽  
Xian Zhang ◽  
Shami Chatterjee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intergalactic Medium ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Host Galaxy ◽  
Evolutionary Stage ◽  
Host Galaxies ◽  
Highly Active ◽  
Central Engine ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Galaxy Environment ◽  
Fast Radio Burst

Abstract The central engine of fast radio bursts (FRB) is not yet understood. Due to the interaction between the pulse and the intervening plasma, the dispersion sweep of FRBs provides a unique probe of its environment and the ionized baryon content of the intergalactic medium. Active repeaters has been shown to be associated with persistent radio source (PRS), and dense, energetic, magnetized plasmas. Here we report the discovery and localization of a new, extremely active repeater, FRB 190520, which is co-located with a compact PRS and identified with a dwarf host galaxy of high star formation at a redshift z=0.241. The estimated host galaxy contribution DMhost≈912+69−108pc cm−3 is nearly an order of magnitude higher than the average of FRB host galaxies and much larger than the contribution from the intergalactic medium, suggesting caution in inferring redshifts for FRBs without accurate host galaxy identifications. This represents the second source after FRB 121102 with confirmed association between FRB and compact PRS. The dense, complex host galaxy environment and the association with PRS may point to a distinctive origin or an earlier evolutionary stage for highly active repeating FRBs.

scholarly journals Imprint of local environment on fast radio burst observations

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (3) ◽  
pp. 3308-3313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenbin Lu ◽  
E Sterl Phinney
Keyword(s):  
Radio Burst ◽  
Emission Measure ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Dispersion Measure ◽  
Source Information ◽  
Coulomb Collisions ◽  
Fast Radio Burst ◽  
The Individual

ABSTRACT When fast radio burst (FRB) waves propagate through the local (${\lesssim}\rm 1\, pc$) environment of the FRB source, electrons in the plasma undergo large-amplitude oscillations. The finite-amplitude effects cause the effective plasma frequency and cyclotron frequency to be dependent on the wave strength. The dispersion measure and rotation measure should therefore vary slightly from burst to burst for a repeating source, depending on the luminosity and frequency of the individual burst. Furthermore, free–free absorption of strong waves is suppressed due to the accelerated electrons’ reduced energy exchange in Coulomb collisions. This allows bright low-frequency bursts to propagate through an environment that would be optically thick to low-amplitude waves. Given a large sample of bursts from a repeating source, it would be possible to use the deficit of low-frequency and low-luminosity bursts to infer the emission measure of the local intervening plasma and its distance from the source. Information about the local environment will shed light on the nature of FRB sources.

scholarly journals A search for fast-radio-burst-like emission from Fermi gamma-ray bursts

2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mieke Bouwhuis ◽  
Keith W Bannister ◽  
Jean-Pierre Macquart ◽  
R M Shannon ◽  
David L Kaplan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Emission ◽  
Radio Burst ◽  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Gamma Ray Bursts ◽  
Dispersion Measure ◽  
Radio Bursts ◽  
Square Kilometre Array ◽  
Fast Radio Burst ◽  
Short Grbs

ABSTRACT We report the results of the rapid follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi satellite to search for associated fast radio bursts. The observations were conducted with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder at frequencies from 1.2 to 1.4 GHz. A set of 20 bursts, of which four were short GRBs, were followed up with a typical latency of about 1 min, for a duration of up to 11 h after the burst. The data were searched using 4096 dispersion measure trials up to a maximum dispersion measure of 3763 pc cm−3, and for pulse widths w over a range of duration from 1.256 to 40.48 ms. No associated pulsed radio emission was observed above $26 \, {\rm Jy\, ms}\, (w/1\, {\rm ms})^{-1/2}$ for any of the 20 GRBs.

scholarly journals Multiwavelength Observations of Fast Radio Bursts

Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Luciano Nicastro ◽  
Cristiano Guidorzi ◽  
Eliana Palazzi ◽  
Luca Zampieri ◽  
Massimo Turatto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Burst ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Radio Bursts ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Fast Radio Burst ◽  
Theoretical Results ◽  
Observational Strategy ◽  
Shed Light

The origin and phenomenology of the Fast Radio Burst (FRB) remains unknown despite more than a decade of efforts. Though several models have been proposed to explain the observed data, none is able to explain alone the variety of events so far recorded. The leading models consider magnetars as potential FRB sources. The recent detection of FRBs from the galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 seems to support them. Still, emission duration and energetic budget challenge all these models. Like for other classes of objects initially detected in a single band, it appeared clear that any solution to the FRB enigma could only come from a coordinated observational and theoretical effort in an as wide as possible energy band. In particular, the detection and localisation of optical/NIR or/and high-energy counterparts seemed an unavoidable starting point that could shed light on the FRB physics. Multiwavelength (MWL) search campaigns were conducted for several FRBs, in particular for repeaters. Here we summarize the observational and theoretical results and the perspectives in view of the several new sources accurately localised that will likely be identified by various radio facilities worldwide. We conclude that more dedicated MWL campaigns sensitive to the millisecond–minute timescale transients are needed to address the various aspects involved in the identification of FRB counterparts. Dedicated instrumentation could be one of the key points in this respect. In the optical/NIR band, fast photometry looks to be the only viable strategy. Additionally, small/medium size radiotelescopes co-pointing higher energies telescopes look a very interesting and cheap complementary observational strategy.

scholarly journals Fast radio burst dispersion measure distribution as a probe of helium reionization

2021 ◽  
Vol 103 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mukul Bhattacharya ◽  
Pawan Kumar ◽  
Eric V. Linder
Keyword(s):  
Radio Burst ◽  
Dispersion Measure ◽  
Fast Radio Burst ◽  
Measure Distribution

scholarly journals A fast radio burst with a low dispersion measure

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Petroff ◽  
L C Oostrum ◽  
B W Stappers ◽  
M Bailes ◽  
E D Barr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Burst ◽  
Dispersion Measure ◽  
Fast Radio Burst ◽  
Low Dispersion

scholarly journals No Evidence for Galactic Latitude Dependence of the Fast Radio Burst Sky Distribution

2021 ◽  
Vol 923 (1) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Josephy ◽  
P. Chawla ◽  
A. P. Curtin ◽  
V. M. Kaspi ◽  
M. Bhardwaj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Burst ◽  
Sensitivity Threshold ◽  
Galactic Latitude ◽  
Radio Bursts ◽  
Intensity Mapping ◽  
Latitude Dependence ◽  
Kolmogorov Smirnov ◽  
Coin Flipping ◽  
Fast Radio Burst ◽  
Anderson Darling

Abstract We investigate whether the sky rate of fast radio bursts (FRBs) depends on Galactic latitude using the first catalog of FRBs detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) Project. We first select CHIME/FRB events above a specified sensitivity threshold in consideration of the radiometer equation, and then we compare these detections with the expected cumulative time-weighted exposure using Anderson–Darling and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests. These tests are consistent with the null hypothesis that FRBs are distributed without Galactic latitude dependence (p-values distributed from 0.05 to 0.99, depending on completeness threshold). Additionally, we compare rates in intermediate latitudes (∣b∣ < 15°) with high latitudes using a Bayesian framework, treating the question as a biased coin-flipping experiment–again for a range of completeness thresholds. In these tests the isotropic model is significantly favored (Bayes factors ranging from 3.3 to 14.2). Our results are consistent with FRBs originating from an isotropic population of extragalactic sources.

scholarly journals On the magnetoionic environments of fast radio bursts

2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (1) ◽  
pp. 355-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Yang Wang ◽  
Bing Zhang ◽  
Xuelei Chen ◽  
Renxin Xu
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Line Of Sight ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Dispersion Measure ◽  
Radio Bursts ◽  
Host Galaxies ◽  
Surface Magnetic Field ◽  
Rotation Measure ◽  
The Mean

ABSTRACT Observations of the Faraday rotation measure, combined with the dispersion measure, can be used to infer the magnetoionic environment of a radio source. We investigate the magnetoionic environments of fast radio bursts (FRBs) by deriving their estimated average magnetic field strengths along the line of sight 〈B∥〉 in their host galaxies and comparing them with those of Galactic pulsars and magnetars. We find that for those FRBs with RM measurements, the mean 〈B∥〉 are $1.77^{+9.01}_{-1.48}\, \rm \mu G$ and $1.74^{+14.82}_{-1.55}\, \rm \mu G$ using two different methods, which is slightly larger but not inconsistent with the distribution of Galactic pulsars, $1.00^{+1.51}_{-0.60}\, \rm \mu G$. Only six Galactic magnetars have estimated 〈B∥〉. Excluding PSR J1745–2900 that has an anomalously high value due to its proximity with the Galactic Centre, the other five sources have a mean value of $1.70\, \rm \mu G$, which is statistically consistent with the 〈B∥〉 distributions of both Galactic pulsars and FRBs. There is no apparent trend of evolution of magnetar 〈B∥〉 as a function of age or surface magnetic field strength. Galactic pulsars and magnetars close to the Galactic Centre have relatively larger 〈B∥〉 values than other pulsars/magnetars. We discuss the implications of these results for the magnetoionic environments of FRB 121102 within the context of magnetar model and the model invoking a supermassive black hole, and for the origin of FRBs in general.

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