Arecibo observations of a burst storm from FRB 20121102A in 2016

Hewitt, D. M.; Snelders, M. P.; Hessels, J. W. T.; Nimmo, K.; Jahns, J N; Spitler, Laura; Gourdji, K.; Hilmarsson, G. H.; Michilli, D.; Ould-Boukattine, O. S.; Scholz, Paul; Seymour, Andrew

doi:10.1093/mnras/stac1960

“…Hereafter, we denote the simulated observable with a superscript "sim" and denote the observational data with a superscript "obs." We employ the data of FRB 20121102A observed with FAST, Arecibo, and GBT telescopes for our analysis (Zhang et al 2018;Li et al 2021a;Hewitt et al 2022). We describe the selected samples below.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FRB 20121102A is one of the most extensively monitored FRB sources with different telescopes at frequencies from 0.5 to 8 GHz with a wealth of observational features (e.g., Spitler et al 2014Spitler et al , 2016Scholz et al 2016Scholz et al , 2017Tendulkar et al 2017;Chatterjee et al 2017;Zhang et al 2018;Michilli et al 2018;Houben et al 2019;Gourdji et al 2019;Josephy et al 2019;Oostrum et al 2020;Fonseca et al 2020;Majid et al 2020;Rajwade et al 2020;Caleb et al 2020;Li et al 2021a;Hewitt et al 2022). Observations indicate that the burst dynamic spectra of FRB 20121102A are highly variable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We prefer adopting spectral slope instead of spectral index for avoiding any confusion about the Gaussian spectral model hereafter (please refer to details under bullet point (4) in Section 3.2). Both the spectral width and peak frequency vary among bursts detected in different bandpass and different observation sessions (Scholz et al 2016;Spitler et al 2016;Law et al 2017;Gajjar et al 2018;Zhang et al 2018;Hewitt et al 2022). For example, the spectral indices of the bursts of FRB 20121102A observed with the Arecibo telescope at L band (∼1.4 GHz) vary from −10.4 ± 1.1 to 13.6 ± 0.4 (Spitler et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Confining Burst Energy Function and Spectral Fringe Pattern of FRB 20121102A with Multifrequency Observations

Lyu

¹

,

Cheng

²

,

Liang

³

et al. 2022

ApJ

2

15

0

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The observed spectral shapes variation and tentative bimodal burst energy distribution (E-distribution) of fast radio burst (FRB) 20121102A with the FAST telescope are great puzzles. Adopting the published multifrequency data observed with the FAST and Arecibo telescopes at L band and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) at C band, we investigate these puzzles through Monte Carlo simulations. The intrinsic energy function (E-function) is modeled as dp / dE ∝ E − α E , and the spectral profile is described as a Gaussian function. A fringe pattern of its spectral peak frequency (ν p ) in 0.5–8 GHz is inferred from the ν p distribution of the GBT sample. We estimate the likelihood of α E and the standard deviation of the spectral profile (σ s) by utilizing the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test probability for the observed and simulated specific E-distributions. Our simulations yield α E = 1.82 − 0.30 + 0.10 , and σ s = 0.18 − 0.06 + 0.28 (3σ confidence level) with the FAST sample. These results suggest that a single power-law function is adequate to model the E-function of FRB 20121102A. The variations of its observed spectral indices and E-distributions with telescopes in different frequency ranges are due to both physical and observational reasons, i.e., narrow spectral width for a single burst and discrete ν p fringe pattern in a broad frequency range among bursts, and the selection effects of the telescope bandpass and sensitivity. The putative ν p fringe pattern cannot be explained with the current radiation physics models of FRBs. Some caveats of possible artificial effects that may introduce such a feature are discussed.

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“…Our observation suggests that this characteristic waiting time is not universal within one source, but rather depends on the activity level of the source. The bimodal form of waiting time has also been found in FRB 20121102A (Li et al 2021;Hewitt et al 2022;Aggarwal et al 2021). The timescale of the second peak varies also significantly for telescopes with different sensitivities, with shorter waiting times for more sensitive telescopes (which detect more bursts).…”

mentioning

confidence: 65%

“…For FRB 20201124A, α ∼ −1.2 was measured for the uGMRT bursts (Marthi et al 2021) and α ∼ −3.6 was measured for the CHIME bursts (Lanman et al 2022). A broken power-law was also used to model the cumulative energy distribution of FRB 20121102A, the index α = −1.4 and β = −1.8 around the turning point 2.3 × 10 37 erg (Hewitt et al 2022;Aggarwal et al 2021). The bursts in our FAST sample also require a two-segment power law, but the turning point is not obvious.…”

Section: Energy Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

FAST Observations of an Extremely Active Episode of FRB 20201124A. II. Energy Distribution

Zhang

¹

,

Wang

²

,

Feng

³

et al. 2022

Res. Astron. Astrophys.

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We report the properties of more than 800 bursts detected from the repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source FRB 20201124A with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) during an extremely active episode on UTC September 25-28, 2021 in a series of four papers. In this second paper of the series, we study the energy distribution of 881 bursts (defined as significant signals separated by dips down to the noise level) detected in the first four days of our 19-hour observational campaign spanning 17 days. The event rate initially increased exponentially but the source activity stopped within 24 hours after the 4th day. The detection of 542 bursts in one hour during the fourth day marked the highest event rate detected from one single FRB source so far. The bursts have complex structures in the time-frequency space. We find a double-peak distribution of the waiting time, which can be modeled with two log-normal functions peaking at 51.22 ms and 10.05 s, respectively. Compared with the emission from a previous active episode of the source detected with FAST, the second distribution peak time is smaller, suggesting that this peak is defined by the activity level of the source. We calculate the isotropic energy of the bursts using both a partial bandwidth and a full bandwidth and find that the energy distribution is not significantly changed. We find that an exponentially connected broken-power-law function can fit the cumulative burst energy distribution well, with the lower and higher-energy indices being -1.22±0.01 and -4.27±0.23, respectively. Assuming a radio radiative efficiency of ηr = 10-4, the total isotropic energy of the bursts released during the four days when the source was active is already 3.9×1046 erg, exceeding ∽23% of the available magnetar dipolar magnetic energy. This challenges the magnetar models invoking an inefficient radio emission (e.g. synchrotron maser models).

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Fast radio bursts at the dawn of the 2020s

Petroff

¹

,

Hessels

²

,

Lorimer

³

2022

Astron Astrophys Rev

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Since the discovery of the first fast radio burst (FRB) in 2007, and their confirmation as an abundant extragalactic population in 2013, the study of these sources has expanded at an incredible rate. In our 2019 review on the subject, we presented a growing, but still mysterious, population of FRBs—60 unique sources, 2 repeating FRBs, and only 1 identified host galaxy. However, in only a few short years, new observations and discoveries have given us a wealth of information about these sources. The total FRB population now stands at over 600 published sources, 24 repeaters, and 19 host galaxies. Higher time resolution data, sustained monitoring, and precision localisations have given us insight into repeaters, host galaxies, burst morphology, source activity, progenitor models, and the use of FRBs as cosmological probes. The recent detection of a bright FRB-like burst from the Galactic magnetar SGR 1935 + 2154 provides an important link between FRBs and magnetars. There also continue to be surprising discoveries, like periodic modulation of activity from repeaters and the localisation of one FRB source to a relatively nearby globular cluster associated with the M81 galaxy. In this review, we summarise the exciting observational results from the past few years. We also highlight their impact on our understanding of the FRB population and proposed progenitor models. We build on the introduction to FRBs in our earlier review, update our readers on recent results, and discuss interesting avenues for exploration as the field enters a new regime where hundreds to thousands of new FRBs will be discovered and reported each year.

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Arecibo observations of a burst storm from FRB 20121102A in 2016

Cited by 36 publications

References 91 publications

Confining Burst Energy Function and Spectral Fringe Pattern of FRB 20121102A with Multifrequency Observations

Confining Burst Energy Function and Spectral Fringe Pattern of FRB 20121102A with Multifrequency Observations

FAST Observations of an Extremely Active Episode of FRB 20201124A. II. Energy Distribution

Fast radio bursts at the dawn of the 2020s

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