Periodically-repeating fast radio bursts: Lense-Thirring precession of a debris disk?

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the observed periodicity of a repeating fast radio burst can be explained by Lense-Thirring precession of a debris disk around a young pulsar, with specific disk and pulsar parameters fitting the observed 16-day cycle.

Contribution

It introduces a model where Lense-Thirring precession of a debris disk around a young pulsar accounts for the FRB periodicity, providing specific parameter constraints.

Findings

Lense-Thirring precession can produce a 16-day period with plausible disk and pulsar parameters.

The model constrains disk mass, pulsar magnetic field, and spin period consistent with observations.

A young pulsar can sustain radio bursts for about 400 years through rotational energy.

Abstract

Recently, repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) with a period of $P_{\rm FRB}=16.35\pm0.18$ days from FRB 180916.J0158+65 had been reported. It still remains controversial how to give rise to such a periodicity of this FRB. In this Letter, based on an assumption of a young pulsar surrounding by a debris disk, we attempt to diagnose whether the Lense-Thirring precession of the disk on the emitter can produce the observed periodicity. Our calculations indicate that the Lense-Thirring effect of a tilted disk can result in a precession period of 16 days for a mass inflow rate of $0.5-1.5\times10^{18}~\rm g\,s^{-1}$, a spin period of 1-20 ms of the pulsar, and an extremely low viscous parameter $\alpha=10^{-8}$ in the disk. The disk mass and the magnetic field of the pulsar are also constrained to be $\sim10^{-3}~\rm M_{\odot}$ and $< 2.5\times 10^{13}~\rm G$. In our model, a new born pulsar with normal magnetic field and millisecond period would successively experience accretion phase, propeller phase, and is visible as a strong radio source in the current stage. The rotational energy of such a young NS can provide the observed radio bursting luminosity for $400$ years.