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The future of fast radio burst science

Nature Astronomy volume 2, pages 865–872 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

The field of fast radio burst (FRB) science is currently thriving. The lines of active investigation include theoretical and observational aspects of these enigmatic millisecond radio signals. These pursuits are for the most part intertwined so that each keeps the other in check, characteristic of the healthy state of the field. The immediate future for FRB science is full of promise—we will in the next few years see two orders of magnitude more FRBs discovered by the now diverse group of instruments spread across the globe involved in these efforts. This increased crop, and the increased information obtained per event, will allow a number of fundamental questions to be answered, and FRBs’ potential as astrophysical and cosmological tools to be exploited. Questions as to the exact detailed nature of FRB progenitors and whether or not there are one or more types of progenitor will be answered. Questions as to source counts, the luminosity distribution and cosmological density of FRBs will also be addressed. Looking further ahead, applications involving FRBs at the highest redshifts look set to be a major focus of the field. The potential exists to evolve to a point where statistically robust cosmological tests, orthogonal to those already undertaken in other ways, will be achieved. Related work into FRB foregrounds, as well as how to identify new events in ever more challenging radio-frequency interference environments, also appear likely avenues for extensive investigations in the coming years.

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Fig. 1: The transient parameter space showing radio luminosity, Lν, on the vertical axis versus the product of observing frequency and timescale on the horizontal axis95.
Fig. 2: The number of FRBs detected each year since the first events in 2001 up to and including the first half of 2018.
Fig. 3: The main panel shows the average DM due to the IGM as a function of redshift (see main text).

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank D. Lorimer, M. Caleb, J. Green and the anonymous referee for helpful comments that improved the quality of this manuscript. The author would like to thank the ASKAP FRB team for providing advanced knowledge of their first 26 FRB discoveries, to the PALFA FRB team for advanced knowledge on FRB 141113, and to the DSA FRB team for advanced knowledge on the DSA specifications.

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    E. F. Keane

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Keane, E.F. The future of fast radio burst science. Nat Astron 2, 865–872 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0603-0

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