Explaining fast radio bursts through Dicke's superradiance

TL;DR

This paper proposes that fast radio bursts can be explained by Dicke's superradiance, a quantum mechanical process involving large-scale entangled molecular states, providing a new physical model for these mysterious astrophysical phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a novel explanation for FRBs based on Dicke's superradiance, linking quantum coherence to astrophysical observations, which has not been previously considered.

Findings

FRBs can originate from regions similar to masers or megamasers.

Dicke's superradiance can produce the observed burst characteristics.

Entanglement involves 10^30 to 10^32 molecules over 100-1000 AU.

Abstract

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), characterized by strong bursts of radiation intensity at radio wavelengths lasting on the order of a millisecond, have yet to be firmly associated with a family, or families, of astronomical sources. It follows that despite the large number of proposed models no well-defined physical process has been identified to explain this phenomenon. In this paper, we demonstrate how Dicke's superradiance, for which evidence has recently been found in the interstellar medium, can account for the characteristics associated to FRBs. Our analysis and modelling of previously detected FRBs suggest they could originate from regions in many ways similar to those known to harbor masers or megamasers, and result from the coherent radiation emanating from populations of molecules associated with large-scale entangled quantum mechanical states. We estimate this entanglement to involve as many as ~10^(30) to ~10^(32) molecules over distances spanning 100 to 1000 AU.