2023/06/27 by Franz Kirsten, O. S. Ould-Boukattine, Kirsten, F. +25 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #GNSS positioning and interference #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #earthquake and tectonic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2306.15505
openalex publication_date 2023/06/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are extremely energetic, millisecond-duration radio flashes that reach Earth from extragalactic distances. Broadly speaking, FRBs can be classified as repeating or (apparently) non-repeating. It is still unclear, however, whether the two types share a common physical origin, differing only in their activity rate. Here we report on an unprecedented observing campaign that targeted one hyperactive repeating source, FRB 20201124A, for more than 2000~hr using four 25-32-m class radio telescopes. In total, we detect 46 high-energy bursts, many more than one would expect given previous observations of lower-energy bursts using larger radio telescopes. We find a high-energy burst distribution that resembles that of the non-repeating FRB population, suggesting that apparently non-repeating FRB sources may simply be the rarest bursts from repeating sources. We also discuss how FRB 20201124A contributes strongly to the all-sky FRB rate and how similar sources would be observable even at very high redshift.