Search for: All records

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-time-scale radio transients, the origins of which are predominantly extragalactic and likely involve highly magnetized compact objects. FRBs undergo multipath propagation, or scattering, from electron density fluctuations on sub-parsec scales in ionized gas along the line of sight. Scattering observations have located plasma structures within FRB host galaxies, probed Galactic and extragalactic turbulence, and constrained FRB redshifts. Scattering also inhibits FRB detection and biases the observed FRB population. We report the detection of scattering times from the repeating FRB 20190520B that vary by up to a factor of 2 or more on minutes to days-long time-scales. In one notable case, the scattering time varied from 7.9 ± 0.4 ms to less than 3.1 ms ($95{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ confidence) over 2.9 min at 1.45 GHz. The scattering times appear to be uncorrelated between bursts or with dispersion and rotation measure variations. Scattering variations are attributable to dynamic, inhomogeneous plasma in the circumsource medium, and analogous variations have been observed from the Crab pulsar. Under such circumstances, the frequency dependence of scattering can deviate from the typical power law used to measure scattering. Similar variations may therefore be detectable from other FRBs, even those with inconspicuous scattering, providing a unique probemore »of small-scale processes within FRB environments.

« less

The Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array is a low radio frequency all-sky imaging radio interferometer. The full 352-element array will generate more than 2 TB of visibility data per hour of observation. One of the array’s primary science cases, the search for variable radio emission from exoplanets and for transients, require fast and high dynamic range interferometric imaging. Here we detail the design and implementation of a two-pipeline infrastructure that minimizes development cost: an offline pipeline that facilitates experimentation with existing pack-ages, and a real-time pipeline that minimizes overhead.

The first fast radio burst (FRB) to be precisely localized was associated with a luminous persistent radio source (PRS). Recently, a second FRB/PRS association was discovered for another repeating source of FRBs. However, it is not clear what makes FRBs or PRS or how they are related. We compile FRB and PRS properties to consider the population of FRB/PRS sources. We suggest a practical definition for PRS as FRB associations with luminosity greater than 10²⁹erg s⁻¹Hz⁻¹that are not attributed to star formation activity in the host galaxy. We model the probability distribution of the fraction of FRBs with PRS for repeaters and nonrepeaters, showing there is not yet evidence for repeaters to be preferentially associated with PRS. We discuss how FRB/PRS sources may be distinguished by the combination of active repetition and an excess dispersion measure local to the FRB environment. We use CHIME/FRB event statistics to bound the mean per-source repetition rate of FRBs to be between 25 and 440 yr⁻¹. We use this to provide a bound on the density of FRB-emitting sources in the local universe of between 2.2 × 10²and 5.2 × 10⁴Gpc⁻³assuming a pulsar-like beamwidth for FRB emission. This density implies that PRS maymore »comprise as much as 1% of compact, luminous radio sources detected in the local universe. The cosmic density and phenomenology of PRS are similar to that of the newly discovered, off-nuclear “wandering” active galactic nuclei (AGN). We argue that it is likely that some PRS have already been detected and misidentified as AGN.

« less

Abstract The repeating fast radio burst FRB 20190520B is localized to a galaxy at z = 0.241, much closer than expected given its dispersion measure DM = 1205 ± 4 pc cm −3 . Here we assess implications of the large DM and scattering observed from FRB 20190520B for the host galaxy’s plasma properties. A sample of 75 bursts detected with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope shows scattering on two scales: a mean temporal delay τ (1.41 GHz) = 10.9 ± 1.5 ms, which is attributed to the host galaxy, and a mean scintillation bandwidth Δ ν d (1.41 GHz) = 0.21 ± 0.01 MHz, which is attributed to the Milky Way. Balmer line measurements for the host imply an H α emission measure (galaxy frame) EM s = 620 pc cm −6 × ( T /10 4 K) 0.9 , implying DM H α of order the value inferred from the FRB DM budget, DM h = 1121 − 138 + 89 pc cm −3 for plasma temperatures greater than the typical value 10 4 K. Combining τ and DM h yields a nominal constraint on the scattering amplification from the host galaxy F ˜ G = 1.5more »− 0.3 + 0.8 ( pc 2 km ) − 1 / 3 , where F ˜ describes turbulent density fluctuations and G represents the geometric leverage to scattering that depends on the location of the scattering material. For a two-screen scattering geometry where τ arises from the host galaxy and Δ ν d from the Milky Way, the implied distance between the FRB source and dominant scattering material is ≲100 pc. The host galaxy scattering and DM contributions support a novel technique for estimating FRB redshifts using the τ –DM relation, and are consistent with previous findings that scattering of localized FRBs is largely dominated by plasma within host galaxies and the Milky Way.« less

The physical properties of fast radio burst (FRB) host galaxies provide important clues towards the nature of FRB sources. The 16 FRB hosts identified thus far span three orders of magnitude in mass and specific star formation rate, implicating a ubiquitously occurring progenitor object. FRBs localized with ∼arcsecond accuracy also enable effective searches for associated multiwavelength and multi-time-scale counterparts, such as the persistent radio source associated with FRB 20121102A. Here we present a localization of the repeating source FRB 20201124A, and its association with a host galaxy (SDSS J050803.48+260338.0, z = 0.098) and persistent radio source. The galaxy is massive (${\sim}3\times 10^{10}\, \text{M}_{\odot }$), star-forming (few solar masses per year), and dusty. Very Large Array and Very Long Baseline Array observations of the persistent radio source measure a luminosity of 1.2 × 1029 erg s−1 Hz−1, and show that is extended on scales ≳50 mas. We associate this radio emission with the ongoing star formation activity in SDSS J050803.48+260338.0. Deeper, high-resolution optical observations are required to better utilize the milliarcsecond-scale localization of FRB 20201124A and determine the origin of the large dispersion measure (150–220 pc cm−3) contributed by the host. SDSS J050803.48+260338.0 is an order of magnitude more massive than any galaxy or stellar system previously associated with a repeating FRB source, butmore »is comparable to the hosts of so far non-repeating FRBs, further building the link between the two apparent populations.

« less

Abstract We present the localization and host galaxies of one repeating and two apparently nonrepeating fast radio bursts (FRBs). FRB 20180301A was detected and localized with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to a star-forming galaxy at z = 0.3304. FRB20191228A and FRB20200906A were detected and localized by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder to host galaxies at z = 0.2430 and z = 0.3688, respectively. We combine these with 13 other well-localized FRBs in the literature, and analyze the host galaxy properties. We find no significant differences in the host properties of repeating and apparently nonrepeating FRBs. FRB hosts are moderately star forming, with masses slightly offset from the star-forming main sequence. Star formation and low-ionization nuclear emission-line region emission are major sources of ionization in FRB host galaxies, with the former dominant in repeating FRB hosts. FRB hosts do not track stellar mass and star formation as seen in field galaxies (more than 95% confidence). FRBs are rare in massive red galaxies, suggesting that progenitor formation channels are not solely dominated by delayed channels which lag star formation by gigayears. The global properties of FRB hosts are indistinguishable from core-collapse supernovae and short gamma-ray bursts hosts, andmore »the spatial offset (from galaxy centers) of FRBs is mostly inconsistent with that of the Galactic neutron star population (95% confidence). The spatial offsets of FRBs (normalized to the galaxy effective radius) also differ from those of globular clusters in late- and early-type galaxies with 95% confidence.« less