Search

While the appeal of their extraordinary radio luminosity to our curiosity is undiminished, the nature of fast radio bursts (FRBs) has remained unclear. The challenge has been due in part to small sample sizes and limited understanding of telescope selection effects. We here present the first inclusion of the entire set of one-off FRBs from CHIME/FRB Catalog 1 in frbpoppy. Where previous work had to curate this data set, and fit for few model parameters, we have developed full multi-dimensional Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) capabilities for frbpoppy – the comprehensive, open-science FRB population synthesis code – that allow us to include all one-off CHIME bursts. Through the combination of these two advances we now find the best description of the real, underlying FRB population, with higher confidence than before. We show that 4 ± 3 × 103 one-off FRBs go off every second between Earth and z = 1; and we provide a mock catalog based on our best model, for straightforward inclusion in other studies. We investigate CHIME side-lobe detection fractions, and FRB luminosity characteristics, to show that some bright, local FRBs are still being missed. We find strong evidence that FRB birth rates evolve with the star formation rate of the Universe, even with a hint of a short (0.1−1 Gyr) delay time. The preferred contribution of the hosts to the FRB dispersion agrees with a progenitor birth location in the host disk. This population-based evidence solidly aligns with magnetar-like burst sources, and we conclude FRBs are emitted by neutron stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulsars often display systematic variations in the position and/or intensity of the subpulses, the components that comprise each single pulse. Although the drift of these subpulses was observed in the early years of pulsar research, and their potential for understanding the elusive emission mechanism was quickly recognized, there is still no consensus on the cause of the drift. We explore the electrodynamics of two recently proposed or refined drift models: one where plasma lags behind corotation, connecting the drift with the rotational pole; and another where plasma drifts around the electric potential extremum of the polar cap. Generally, these are different locations, resulting in different drift behaviours, that can be tested with observations. In this study, however, we specifically examine these models in the axisymmetric case, where the physics is well understood. This approach seems counter-intuitive as both models then predict similar large-scale plasma drift. However, it allows us to show, by studying conditions within the sparks for both models, that the lagging behind corotation model is inconsistent with Faraday's law. The modified carousel (MC) model, where plasma drifts around the electric potential extremum, not only aligns with Faraday's law, but also provides a future direction for developing a comprehensive model of plasma generation in the polar cap region. Unlike previous models, which considered the drift only inside the discharging regions, the MC model reveals that the electric field between the discharges is not completely screened, and plasma drifts there – a paradigm shift for the drifting subpulse phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ephemeral Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) must be powered by some of the most energetic processes in the Universe. That makes them highly interesting in their own right, and as precise probes for estimating cosmological parameters. This field thus poses a unique challenge: FRBs must be detected promptly and immediately localised and studied based only on that single millisecond-duration flash. The problem is that the burst occurrence is highly unpredictable and that their distance strongly suppresses their brightness. Since the discovery of FRBs in single-dish archival data in 2007, detection software has evolved tremendously. Pipelines now detect bursts in real time within a matter of seconds, operate on interferometers, buffer high-time and frequency resolution data, and issue real-time alerts to other observatories for rapid multi-wavelength follow-up. In this paper, we review the components that comprise a FRB search software pipeline, we discuss the proven techniques that were adopted from pulsar searches, we highlight newer, more efficient techniques for detecting FRBs, and we conclude by discussing the proposed novel future methodologies that may power the search for FRBs in the era of big data astronomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) must be powered by uniquely energetic emission mechanisms. This requirement has eliminated a number of possible source types, but several remain. Identifying the physical nature of FRB emitters arguably requires good localisation of more detections, as well as broad-band studies enabled by real-time alerting. In this paper, we present the Apertif Radio Transient System (ARTS), a supercomputing radio-telescope instrument that performs real-time FRB detection and localisation on the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) interferometer. It reaches coherent-addition sensitivity over the entire field of the view of the primary-dish beam. After commissioning results verified that the system performed as planned, we initiated the Apertif FRB survey (ALERT). Over the first 5 weeks we observed at design sensitivity in 2019, we detected five new FRBs, and interferometrically localised each of them to 0.4-10 sq. arcmin. All detections are broad band, very narrow, of the order of 1 ms in duration, and unscattered. Dispersion measures are generally high. Only through the very high time and frequency resolution of ARTS are these hard-to-find FRBs detected, producing an unbiased view of the intrinsic population properties. Most localisation regions are small enough to rule out the presence of associated persistent radio sources. Three FRBs cut through the halos of M31 and M33. We demonstrate that Apertif can localise one-off FRBs with an accuracy that maps magneto-ionic material along well-defined lines of sight. The rate of one every days ensures a considerable number of new sources are detected for such a study. The combination of the detection rate and localisation accuracy exemplified by the first five ARTS FRBs thus marks a new phase in which a growing number of bursts can be used to probe our Universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are extragalactic astrophysical transients1 whose brightness requires emitters that are highly energetic yet compact enough to produce the short, millisecond-duration bursts. FRBs have thus far been detected at frequencies from 8 gigahertz (ref. 2) down to 300 megahertz (ref. 3), but lower-frequency emission has remained elusive. Some FRBs repeat4–6, and one of the most frequently detected, FRB 20180916B7, has a periodicity cycle of 16.35 days (ref. 8). Using simultaneous radio data spanning a wide range of wavelengths (a factor of more than 10), here we show that FRB 20180916B emits down to 120 megahertz, and that its activity window is frequency dependent (that is, chromatic). The window is both narrower and earlier at higher frequencies. Binary wind interaction models predict a wider window at higher frequencies, the opposite of our observations. Our full-cycle coverage shows that the 16.3-day periodicity is not aliased. We establish that low-frequency FRB emission can escape the local medium. For bursts of the same fluence, FRB 20180916B is more active below 200 megahertz than at 1.4 gigahertz. Combining our results with previous upper limits on the all-sky FRB rate at 150 megahertz, we find there are 3–450 FRBs in the sky per day above 50 Jy ms. Our chromatic results strongly disfavour scenarios in which absorption from strong stellar winds causes FRB periodicity. We demonstrate that some FRBs are found in ‘clean’ environments that do not absorb or scatter low-frequency radiation.The fast radio burst FRB 20180916B repeats with a periodicity of 16 days, and is now found to emit down to a frequency of 120 MHz, much lower than previously observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the bi-drifting pulsar B1839-04, where the observed subpulse drift direction in the two leading pulse components is opposite from that in the two trailing components. Such diametrically opposed apparent motions challenge our understanding of an underlying structure. We find that for the geometry spanned by the observer and the pulsar magnetic and rotation axes, the observed bi-drifting in B1839-04 can be reproduced assuming a nondipolar configuration of the surface magnetic field. Acceptable solutions are found to either have relatively weak (∼1012 G) or strong (∼1014 G) surface magnetic fields. Our single-pulse modeling shows that a global electric potential variation at the polar cap that leads to a solid-body-like rotation of spark forming regions is favorable in reproducing the observed drift characteristics. This variation of the potential additionally ensures that the variability is identical in all pulse components resulting in the observed phase locking of subpulses. Thorough and more general studies of pulsar geometry show that a low ratio of impact factor to opening angle (β/ρ) increases the likelihood of bi-drifting to be observed. We thus conclude that bi-drifting is visible when our line of sight crosses close to the magnetic pole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have conducted two pilot surveys for radio pulsars and fast transients with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) around 140 MHz and here report on the first low-frequency fast-radio burst limit and the discovery of two new pulsars. The first survey, the LOFAR Pilot Pulsar Survey (LPPS), observed a large fraction of the northern sky, ~1:4 × 104 deg2, with 1 h dwell times. Each observation covered ~75 deg2 using 7 independent fields formed by incoherently summing the high-band antenna fields. The second pilot survey, the LOFAR Tied-Array Survey (LOTAS), spanned ~600 deg2, with roughly a 5-fold increase in sensitivity compared with LPPS. Using a coherent sum of the 6 LOFAR "Superterp" stations, we formed 19 tied-array beams, together covering 4 deg2 per pointing. From LPPS we derive a limit on the occurrence, at 142 MHz, of dispersed radio bursts of <150 day-1 sky-1, for bursts brighter than S > 107 Jy for the narrowest searched burst duration of 0.66 ms. In LPPS, we re-detected 65 previously known pulsars. LOTAS discovered two pulsars, the first with LOFAR or any digital aperture array. LOTAS also redetected 27 previously known pulsars. These pilot studies show that LOFAR can efficiently carry out all-sky surveys for pulsars and fast transients, and they set the stage for further surveying efforts using LOFAR and the planned low-frequency component of the Square Kilometer Array. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shortly after the discovery of PSR J1906+0746, some hints of profile variations were already interpreted as first signs of relativistic spin-precession occuring. Using observations from the Nançay, Arecibo and Green Bank Radio Observatories, we report here the measurement of pulse profile and polarimetric variations. Using the Rotating Vector Model, we show that PSR J1906+0746 is likely to be an orthogonal rotator (α ≃ 80°). Fitting our polarimetric data to a precession model, we determined the geometry of the pulsar and found a wide misalignment angle (δ = 89−44+85 deg, 95% C.L.), although the uncertainty is large. Assuming this geometry, we constructed the beam maps of both magnetic poles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The relatively unexplored fast radio transient parameter space is known to be home to a variety of interesting sources, including pulsars, pulsar giant pulses, and non-thermal emission from planetary magnetospheres. In addition, a variety of hypothesized but as-yet-unobserved phenomena such as primordial black hole evaporation and prompt emission associated with coalescing massive objects have been suggested. The 2007 announcement by Lorimer et al. of the detection of a bright (30 Jy) radio pulse that was inferred to be of extragalactic origin and the subsequent consternation have demonstrated both the need for wide-field surveys characterizing the fast-transient parameter space and the potential utility of bright radio pulses as probes of the interstellar medium and intergalactic medium. Here we present results from the 450 hr, 150 deg² Fly's Eye survey for bright-dispersed radio pulses at the Allen Telescope Array (ATA). The Fly's Eye Spectrometer produces 128 channel power spectra over a 209 MHz bandwidth, centered at 1430 MHz, on 44 independent signal paths originating with 30 independent ATA antennae. Data were dedispersed between 0 and 2000 pc cm-3 and searched for pulses with dispersion measures greater than 50 pc cm-3 between 625 µs and 5 s in duration. No pulses were detected in the survey, implying a limiting rate of less than 2 sky-1 hr-1 for 10 ms duration pulses having apparent energy densities greater than 440 kJy µs, or mean flux densities greater than 44 Jy. Here we present details of the instrument, experiment, and observations, including a discussion of our results in light of other single pulse searches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-mass white dwarfs can be produced either in low-mass X-ray binaries by stable mass transfer to a neutron star, or in a common envelope phase with a heavier white dwarf companion. We have searched eight low-mass white dwarf candidates recently identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey for radio pulsations from pulsar companions, using the Green Bank Telescope at 340 MHz. We have found no pulsations down to flux densities of 0.6–0.8 mJy kpc−2 and conclude that a given low-mass helium-core white dwarf has a probability of of being in a binary with a radio pulsar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present high-sensitivity XMM/LOFAR observations that show for the first time that mode switching extends from radio to X-ray. In pulsar B0943+10, the known changes in radio profile and drift rate are confidently tied to simultaneous changes in X-ray emission.In mode switching, seen in many pulsars, profile and subpulse-drift behavior change almost instantaneously. The mechanism for these drastic changes, or for the bi-stable emission behavior, is not understood; while even for the basic emission mechanism different families of theories (e.g. vacuum gap, or space-charge limited flow models) exist.To discriminate between such models, we carried out a campaign of 42 hours of simultaneous LOFAR/XMM-Newton observations on PSR B0943+10. Through LOFAR's unparalleled low-frequency sensitivity, mode changes were pinpointed to 10-second accuracy. XMM X-ray photons were next separated by the two radio modes. We discovered large modal differences in the X-ray pulsations, flux, and spectral shapes: in the radio-bright mode, no X-ray pulsations are detected – but in the radio-quiet mode, B0943+10 is strongly pulsating in X-ray. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]