We report on the discovery and analysis of bursts from nine new repeating fast radio burst (FRB) sources found using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope. These ...sources span a dispersion measure (DM) range of 195-1380 pc cm−3. We detect two bursts from three of the new sources, three bursts from four of the new sources, four bursts from one new source, and five bursts from one new source. We determine sky coordinates of all sources with uncertainties of ∼10′. We detect Faraday rotation measures (RMs) for two sources, with values −20(1) and −499.8(7) rad m−2, that are substantially lower than the RM derived from bursts emitted by FRB 121102. We find that the DM distribution of our events, combined with the nine other repeaters discovered by CHIME/FRB, is indistinguishable from that of thus far non-repeating CHIME/FRB events. However, as previously reported, the burst widths appear statistically significantly larger than the thus far non-repeating CHIME/FRB events, further supporting the notion of inherently different emission mechanisms and/or local environments. These results are consistent with previous work, though are now derived from 18 repeating sources discovered by CHIME/FRB during its first year of operation. We identify candidate galaxies that may contain FRB 190303.J1353+48 (DM = 222.4 pc cm−3).
The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a novel transit radio telescope operating across the 400-800 MHz band. CHIME is composed of four 20 m × 100 m semicylindrical paraboloid ...reflectors, each of which has 256 dual-polarization feeds suspended along its axis, giving it a 200 deg2 field of view. This, combined with wide bandwidth, high sensitivity, and a powerful correlator, makes CHIME an excellent instrument for the detection of fast radio bursts (FRBs). The CHIME Fast Radio Burst Project (CHIME/FRB) will search beam-formed, high time and frequency resolution data in real time for FRBs in the CHIME field of view. Here we describe the CHIME/FRB back end, including the real-time FRB search and detection software pipeline, as well as the planned offline analyses. We estimate a CHIME/FRB detection rate of 2-42 FRBs sky-1 day-1 normalizing to the rate estimated at 1.4 GHz by Vander Wiel et al. Likely science outcomes of CHIME/FRB are also discussed. CHIME/FRB is currently operational in a commissioning phase, with science operations expected to commence in the latter half of 2018.
We report on the discovery of eight repeating fast radio burst (FRB) sources found using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope. These sources span a dispersion measure ...(DM) range of 103.5-1281 pc cm−3. They display varying degrees of activity: six sources were detected twice, another three times, and one 10 times. These eight repeating FRBs likely represent the bright and/or high-rate end of a distribution of infrequently repeating sources. For all sources, we determine sky coordinates with uncertainties of ∼10′. FRB 180916.J0158+65 has a burst-averaged DM = 349.2 0.3 pc cm−3 and a low DM excess over the modeled Galactic maximum (as low as ∼20 pc cm−3); this source also has a Faraday rotation measure (RM) of −114.6 0.6 rad m−2, which is much lower than the RM measured for FRB 121102. FRB 181030.J1054+73 has the lowest DM for a repeater, 103.5 0.3 pc cm−3, with a DM excess of ∼70 pc cm−3. Both sources are interesting targets for multi-wavelength follow-up due to their apparent proximity. The DM distribution of our repeater sample is statistically indistinguishable from that of the first 12 CHIME/FRB sources that have not yet repeated. We find, with 4 significance, that repeater bursts are generally wider than those of CHIME/FRB bursts that have not repeated, suggesting different emission mechanisms. Many of our repeater events show complex morphologies that are reminiscent of the first two discovered repeating FRBs. The repetitive behavior of these sources will enable interferometric localizations and subsequent host galaxy identifications.
We report the detection of a single burst from the first-discovered repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source, FRB 121102, with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope, ...which operates in the frequency band 400-800 MHz. The detected burst occurred on 2018 November 19 and its emission extends down to at least 600 MHz, the lowest frequency detection of this source yet. The burst, detected with a significance of 23.7 , has fluence 12 3 Jy ms and shows complex time and frequency morphology. The 34 ms width of the burst is the largest seen for this object at any frequency. We find evidence of subburst structure that drifts downward in frequency at a rate of −3.9 0.2 MHz ms−1. Our best fit tentatively suggests a dispersion measure of 563.6 0.5 pc cm−3, which is 1% higher than previously measured values. We set an upper limit on the scattering time at 500 MHz of 9.6 ms, which is consistent with expectations from the extrapolation from higher-frequency data. We have exposure to the position of FRB 121102 for a total of 11.3 hr within the FWHM of the synthesized beams at 600 MHz from 2018 July 25 to 2019 February 25. We estimate on the basis of this single event an average burst rate for FRB 121102 of 0.1-10 per day in the 400-800 MHz band for a median fluence threshold of 7 Jy ms in the stated time interval.
Abstract
The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) has become a leading facility for detecting fast radio bursts (FRBs) through the CHIME/FRB backend. CHIME/FRB searches for fast ...transients in polarization-summed intensity data streams that have 24 kHz spectral and 1 ms temporal resolution. The intensity beams are pointed to predetermined locations in the sky. A triggered baseband system records the coherent electric field measured by each antenna in the CHIME array at the time of FRB detections. Here we describe the analysis techniques and automated pipeline developed to process these full-array baseband data recordings. Whereas the real-time FRB detection pipeline has a localization limit of several arcminutes, offline analysis of baseband data yields source localizations with subarcminute precision, as characterized by using a sample of pulsars and one repeating FRB with known positions. The baseband pipeline also enables resolving temporal substructure on a microsecond scale and the study of polarization including detections of Faraday rotation.
We report on the detection of seven bursts from the periodically active, repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source FRB 180916.J0158+65 in the 300-400 MHz frequency range with the Green Bank Telescope ...(GBT). Emission in multiple bursts is visible down to the bottom of the GBT band, suggesting that the cutoff frequency (if it exists) for FRB emission is lower than 300 MHz. Observations were conducted during predicted periods of activity of the source, and had simultaneous coverage with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) and the FRB backend on the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope. We find that one of the GBT-detected bursts has potentially associated emission in the CHIME band (400-800 MHz) but we detect no bursts in the LOFAR band (110-190 MHz), placing a limit of on the spectral index of broadband emission from the source. We also find that emission from the source is severely band-limited with burst bandwidths as low as ∼40 MHz. In addition, we place the strictest constraint on observable scattering of the source, <1.7 ms at 350 MHz, suggesting that the circumburst environment does not have strong scattering properties. Additionally, knowing that the circumburst environment is optically thin to free-free absorption at 300 MHz, we find evidence against the association of a hyper-compact H ii region or a young supernova remnant (age <50 yr) with the source.
ABSTRACT
Using commissioning data from the first year of operation of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment’s (CHIME) Pulsar backend system, we conduct a systematic analysis of the ...Faraday Rotation Measure (RM) of the Northern hemisphere pulsars detected by CHIME. We present 55 new RMs as well as obtain improved RM uncertainties for 25 further pulsars. CHIME’s low observing frequency and wide bandwidth between 400 and 800 MHz contribute to the precision of our measurements, whereas the high cadence observation provides extremely high signal-to-noise co-added data. Our results represent a significant increase of the pulsar RM census, particularly regarding the Northern hemisphere. These new RMs are for sources that are located in the Galactic plane out to 10 kpc, as well as off the plane to a scale height of ∼16 kpc. This improved knowledge of the Faraday sky will contribute to future Galactic large-scale magnetic structure and ionosphere modelling.
We present a catalog of emissive point sources detected in the SPT-SZ survey, a contiguous 2530 square degree area surveyed with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) from 2008-2011 in three bands centered ...at 95, 150, and 220 GHz. The catalog contains 4845 sources measured at a significance of 4.5 or greater in at least one band, corresponding to detections above approximately 9.8, 5.8, and 20.4 mJy in 95, 150, and 220 GHz, respectively. The spectral behavior in the SPT bands is used for source classification into two populations based on the underlying physical mechanisms of compact, emissive sources that are bright at millimeter wavelengths: synchrotron radiation from active galactic nuclei and thermal emission from dust. The latter population includes a component of high-redshift sources often referred to as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). In the relatively bright flux ranges probed by the survey, these sources are expected to be magnified by strong gravitational lensing. The survey also contains sources consistent with protoclusters, groups of dusty galaxies at high redshift undergoing collapse. We cross-match the SPT-SZ catalog with external catalogs at radio, infrared, and X-ray wavelengths and identify available redshift information. The catalog splits into 3980 synchrotron-dominated and 865 dust-dominated sources, and we determine a list of 506 SMGs. Ten sources in the catalog are identified as stars. We calculate number counts for the full catalog, and synchrotron and dusty components, using a bootstrap method and compare our measured counts with models. This paper represents the third and final catalog of point sources in the SPT-SZ survey.
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