A cumulative search for hard X/$\gamma$-Ray emission associated with fast radio bursts in Fermi/GBM data

TL;DR

This study systematically searches for high-energy gamma-ray counterparts to fast radio bursts using Fermi/GBM data, setting stringent fluence limits and finding no common gamma-ray emission associated with FRBs.

Contribution

It introduces a novel background modeling approach to constrain gamma-ray emission from a sample of FRBs, improving sensitivity over previous searches.

Findings

Fluence limits exclude most long and short gamma-ray bursts detected by Fermi/GBM.

Radio-to-gamma fluence ratio indicates a different emission mechanism than magnetar flares.

No common gamma-ray counterpart feature found among FRBs.

Abstract

Context. Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-long bursts uniquely detected at radio frequencies. FRB 131104 is the only case for which a $\gamma$-ray transient positionally and temporally consistent was claimed. This high-energy transient had a duration of $\sim400$~s and a 15-150~keV fluence $S_{\gamma}\sim4\times10^{-6}$ erg $\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$. However, the association with the FRB is still debated. Aims. We aim at testing the systematic presence of an associated transient high-energy counterpart throughout a sample of the FRB population. Methods. We used an approach like that used in machine learning methodologies to accurately model the highly-variable Fermi/GBM instrumental background on a time interval comparable to the duration of the proposed $\gamma$-ray counterpart of FRB 131104. A possible $\gamma$-ray signal is then constrained considering sample average lightcurves. Results. We constrain the fluence of the possible $\gamma$-ray signal in the 8-1000 keV band down to $6.4 \times 10^{-7}$ ($7.1 \times 10^{-8}$) erg cm$^{-2}$ for a 200-s (1-s) integration time. Furthermore, we found the radio-to-gamma fluence ratio to be $\eta>10^{8}$ Jy ms erg$^{-1}$ cm$^2$. Conclusions. Our fluence limits exclude $\sim 94\%$ of Fermi/GBM detected long gamma-ray bursts and $\sim 96\%$ of Fermi/GBM detected short gamma-ray bursts. In addition, our limits on the radio-to-gamma fluence ratio point to a different emission mechanism from that of magnetar giant flares. Finally, we exclude a $\gamma$-ray counterpart as fluent as the one possibly associated with FRB 131104 to be a common feature of FRBs.