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      Highest-frequency detection of FRB 121102 at 4-8 GHz using the Breakthrough Listen Digital Backend at the Green Bank Telescope

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          Abstract

          We report the first detections of the repeating fast radio burst source FRB 121102 above 5.2 GHz. Observations were performed using the 4\(-\)8 GHz receiver of the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope with the Breakthrough Listen digital backend. We present the spectral, temporal and polarization properties of 21 bursts detected within the first 60 minutes of a total 6-hour observations. These observations comprise the highest burst density yet reported in the literature, with 18 bursts being detected in the first 30 minutes. A few bursts clearly show temporal sub-structures with distinct spectral properties. These sub-structures superimpose to provide enhanced peak signal-to-noise ratio at higher trial dispersion measures. Broad features occur in \(\sim 1\) GHz wide subbands that typically differ in peak frequency between bursts within the band. Finer-scale structures (\(\sim 10-50\) MHz) within these bursts are consistent with that expected from Galactic diffractive interstellar scintillation. The bursts exhibit nearly 100% linear polarization, and a large average rotation measure of 9.359\(\pm\)0.012 \(\times\) 10\(^{\rm 4}\) rad m\(^{\rm -2}\) (in the observer's frame). No circular polarization was found for any burst. We measure an approximately constant polarization position angle in the 13 brightest bursts. The peak flux densities of the reported bursts have average values (0.2\(\pm\)0.1 Jy), similar to those seen at lower frequencies (\(<3\) GHz), while the average burst widths (0.64\(\pm\)0.46 ms) are relatively narrower.

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          An extreme magneto-ionic environment associated with the fast radio burst source FRB 121102

          Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration, extragalactic radio flashes of unknown physical origin. FRB 121102, the only known repeating FRB source, has been localized to a star-forming region in a dwarf galaxy at redshift z = 0.193, and is spatially coincident with a compact, persistent radio source. The origin of the bursts, the nature of the persistent source, and the properties of the local environment are still debated. Here we present bursts that show ~100% linearly polarized emission at a very high and variable Faraday rotation measure in the source frame: RM_src = +1.46 x 10^5 rad m^-2 and +1.33 x 10^5 rad m^-2 at epochs separated by 7 months, in addition to narrow ( 10^4 MSun). Indeed, the properties of the persistent radio source are compatible with those of a low-luminosity, accreting massive black hole. The bursts may thus come from a neutron star in such an environment. However, the observed properties may also be explainable in other models, such as a highly magnetized wind nebula or supernova remnant surrounding a young neutron star.
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            Author and article information

            Journal
            11 April 2018
            Article
            1804.04101
            0f1e50b6-cd70-48a4-a705-3b305e9b6b0b

            http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

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            Accepted for publication in ApJ
            astro-ph.HE

            High energy astrophysical phenomena
            High energy astrophysical phenomena

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