More Like this

1. The FRB 20190520B Sight Line Intersects Foreground Galaxy Clusters

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acefb5  

   Lee, Khee-Gan ; Khrykin, Ilya S. ; Simha, Sunil ; Ata, Metin ; Huang, Yuxin ; Prochaska, J. Xavier ; Tejos, Nicolas ; Cooke, Jeff ; Nagamine, Kentaro ; Zhang, Jielai ( August 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   The repeating fast radio burst FRB 20190520B is an anomaly of the FRB population thanks to its high dispersion measure (DM = 1205 pc cm⁻³) despite its low redshift ofz_frb= 0.241. This excess has been attributed to a large host contribution of DM_host≈ 900 pc cm⁻³, far larger than any other known FRB. In this paper, we describe spectroscopic observations of the FRB 20190520B field obtained as part of the FLIMFLAM survey, which yielded 701 galaxy redshifts in the field. We find multiple foreground galaxy groups and clusters, for which we then estimated halo masses by comparing their richness with numerical simulations. We discover two separateM_halo> 10¹⁴M_⊙galaxy clusters atz= 0.1867 and 0.2170 that are directly intersected by the FRB sight line within their characteristic halo radiusr₂₀₀. Subtracting off their estimated DM contributions, as well that of the diffuse intergalactic medium, we estimate a host contribution of${\mathrm{D}\mathrm{M}}_{\mathrm{h}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{t}}={430}_{-220}^{+140}$or${280}_{-170}^{+140}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$(observed frame), depending on whether we assume that the halo gas extends tor₂₀₀or 2 ×r₂₀₀. This significantly smaller DM_host—no longer the largest known value—is now consistent with Hαemission measures of the host galaxy without invoking unusually high gas temperatures. Combined with the observed FRB scattering timescale, we estimate the turbulent fluctuation and geometric amplification factor of the scattering layer to be$\tilde{F}G\approx 4.5–11{({\mathrm{pc}}^2\mathrm{km})}^{-1/3}$, suggesting that most of the gas is close to the FRB host. This result illustrates the importance of incorporating foreground data for FRB analyses both for understanding the nature of FRBs and to realize their potential as a cosmological probe.

    

   more » « less
2. Measuring the Variance of the Macquart Relation in Redshift–Extragalactic Dispersion Measure Modeling

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad2705  

   Baptista, Jay ; Prochaska, J. Xavier ; Mannings, Alexandra G. ; James, C. W. ; Shannon, R. M. ; Ryder, Stuart D. ; Deller, A. T. ; Scott, Danica R. ; Glowacki, Marcin ; Tejos, Nicolas ( April 2024 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   The Macquart relation describes the correlation between the dispersion measure (DM) of fast radio bursts (FRBs) and the redshiftzof their host galaxies. The scatter of the Macquart relation is sensitive to the distribution of baryons in the intergalactic medium including those ejected from galactic halos through feedback processes. The variance of the distribution in DMs from the cosmic web (DM_cosmic) is parameterized by a fluctuation parameterF. In this work, we present a new measurement ofFusing 78 FRBs of which 21 have been localized to host galaxies. Our analysis simultaneously fits for the Hubble constantH₀and the DM distribution due to the FRB host galaxy. We find that the fluctuation parameter is degenerate with these parameters, most notablyH₀, and use a uniform prior onH₀to measure${\log }_{10}F>-0.86$at the 3σconfidence interval and a new constraint on the Hubble constant$H_0={85.3}_{-8.1}^{+9.4}\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-1}$. Using a synthetic sample of 100 localized FRBs, the constraint on the fluctuation parameter is improved by a factor of ∼2. Comparing ourFmeasurement to simulated predictions from cosmological simulation (IllustrisTNG), we find agreement between redshifts 0.4 <z andz< 2.0. However, atz< 0.4, the simulations underpredictF, which we attribute to the rapidly changing extragalactic DM excess distribution at low redshift.

    

   more » « less
3. Deep Synoptic Array Science: Implications of Faraday Rotation Measures of Fast Radio Bursts Localized to Host Galaxies

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad0380  

   Sherman, Myles B. ; Connor, Liam ; Ravi, Vikram ; Law, Casey ; Chen, Ge ; Sharma, Kritti ; Catha, Morgan ; Faber, Jakob T. ; Hallinan, Gregg ; Harnach, Charlie ; et al ( October 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Faraday rotation measures (RMs) of fast radio bursts (FRBs) offer the prospect of directly measuring extragalactic magnetic fields. We present an analysis of the RMs of 10 as yet nonrepeating FRBs detected and localized to host galaxies with robust redshift measurements by the 63-antenna prototype of the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-110). We combine this sample with published RMs of 15 localized FRBs, nine of which are repeating sources. For each FRB in the combined sample, we estimate the host-galaxy dispersion measure (DM) contributions and extragalactic RM. We find compelling evidence that the extragalactic components of FRB RMs are often dominated by contributions from the host-galaxy interstellar medium (ISM). Specifically, we find that both repeating and as yet nonrepeating FRBs show a correlation between the host DM and host RM in the rest frame, and we find an anticorrelation between extragalactic RM (in the observer frame) and redshift for nonrepeaters, as expected if the magnetized plasma is in the host galaxy. Important exceptions to the ISM origin include a dense, magnetized circumburst medium in some repeating FRBs, and the intracluster medium of host or intervening galaxy clusters. We find that the estimated ISM magnetic-field strengths,${\overline{B}}_{\mid \mid }$, are characteristically ∼1–2μG larger than those inferred from Galactic radio pulsars. This suggests either increased ISM magnetization in FRB hosts in comparison with the Milky Way, or that FRBs preferentially reside in regions of increased magnetic-field strength within their hosts.

    

   more » « less
4. A subarcsec localized fast radio burst with a significant host galaxy dispersion measure contribution

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad1839  

   Caleb, M. ; Driessen, L. N. ; Gordon, A. C. ; Tejos, N. ; Bernales, L. ; Qiu, H. ; Chibueze, J. O. ; Stappers, B. W. ; Rajwade, K. M. ; Cavallaro, F. ; et al ( June 2023 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   We present the discovery of FRB 20210410D with the MeerKAT radio interferometer in South Africa, as part of the MeerTRAP commensal project. FRB 20210410D has a dispersion measure DM = 578.78 ± 2 ${\rm pc \, cm^{-3}}$ and was localized to subarcsec precision in the 2 s images made from the correlation data products. The localization enabled the association of the FRB with an optical galaxy at z = 0.1415, which when combined with the DM places it above the 3σ scatter of the Macquart relation. We attribute the excess DM to the host galaxy after accounting for contributions from the Milky Way’s interstellar medium and halo, and the combined effects of the intergalactic medium and intervening galaxies. This is the first FRB that is not associated with a dwarf galaxy to exhibit a likely large host galaxy DM contribution. We do not detect any continuum radio emission at the FRB position or from the host galaxy down to a 3σ rms of 14.4 $\mu$Jy beam−1. The FRB has a scattering delay of $29.4^{+2.8}_{-2.7}$ ms at 1 GHz, and exhibits candidate subpulses in the spectrum, which hint at the possibility of it being a repeating FRB. Although not constraining, we note that this FRB has not been seen to repeat in 7.28 h at 1.3 GHz with MeerKAT, 3 h at 2.4 GHz with Murriyang, and 5.7 h at simultaneous 2.3 GHz and 8.4 GHz observations with the Deep Space Network. We encourage further follow-up to establish a possible repeating nature.

    

   more » « less
5. A Nonrepeating Fast Radio Burst in a Dwarf Host Galaxy

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acc178  

   Bhandari, Shivani ; Gordon, Alexa C. ; Scott, Danica R. ; Marnoch, Lachlan ; Sridhar, Navin ; Kumar, Pravir ; James, Clancy W. ; Qiu, Hao ; Bannister, Keith W. ; T. Deller, Adam ; et al ( May 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   We present the discovery of an as yet nonrepeating fast radio burst (FRB), FRB 20210117A, with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), as a part of the Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients Survey. The subarcsecond localization of the burst led to the identification of its host galaxy atz= 0.214(1). This redshift is much lower than what would be expected for a source dispersion measure (DM) of 729 pc cm⁻³, given typical contributions from the intergalactic medium and the host galaxy. Optical observations reveal the host to be a dwarf galaxy with little ongoing star formation—very different to the dwarf host galaxies of the known repeating FRBs 20121102A and 20190520B. We find an excess DM contribution from the host and attribute it to the FRB’s local environment. We do not find any radio emission from the FRB site or host galaxy. The low magnetized environment and the lack of a persistent radio source indicate that the FRB source is older than those found in other dwarf host galaxies, establishing the diversity of FRB sources in dwarf galaxy environments. We find our observations to be fully consistent with the “hypernebula” model, where the FRB is powered by an accretion jet from a hyperaccreting black hole. Finally, our high time resolution analysis reveals burst characteristics similar to those seen in repeating FRBs. We encourage follow-up observations of FRB 20210117A to establish any repeating nature.

    

   more » « less