Fast radio bursts: superpulsars, magnetars, or something else?

TL;DR

This paper reviews the properties of fast radio bursts (FRBs) and discusses two main hypotheses—magnetar flares and supergiant pulsar pulses—highlighting the need for future observations to determine their true origin.

Contribution

It provides a concise overview of FRB observational features and compares two leading models, emphasizing the current inability to distinguish between them and the potential of upcoming telescopes.

Findings

FRBs likely originate from extragalactic sources

The event rate is about a few thousand per day for fluences above 1 Jy ms

Current data cannot definitively favor magnetar flares or supergiant pulsar pulses

Abstract

We briefly review main observational properties of fast radio bursts (FRBs) and discuss two most popular hypothesis for the explanation of these enigmatic intense millisecond radio flashes. FRBs most probably originate on extragalactic distances, and their rate on the sky is about a few thousand per day with fluences above $\sim$~1~Jy~ms (or with fluxes larger than few tenths of Jy). Two leading scenarios describing these events include strong flares of magnetars and supergiant pulses of young radio pulsars with large rotational energy losses, correspondingly. At the moment, it is impossible to choose between these models. However, new telescopes can help to solve the puzzle of FRBs in near future.