A population analysis of pulse broadening in ASKAP Fast Radio Bursts

TL;DR

This study analyzes the pulse profiles of 33 bright FRBs detected by ASKAP, revealing insights into their intrinsic widths and scattering effects, with implications for understanding their progenitors and the intervening plasma.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of pulse broadening and intrinsic widths in a sample of ASKAP-detected FRBs, including repeaters, and explores their relation to the plasma environment.

Findings

Seven FRBs have measurable intrinsic pulse widths.

Five FRBs show millisecond-scale pulse broadening due to scattering.

No correlation found between pulse broadening and dispersion measure.

Abstract

The pulse morphology of fast radio bursts (FRBs) provides key information in both understanding progenitor physics and the plasma medium through which the burst propagates. We present a study of the profiles of 33 bright FRBs detected by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. We identify seven FRBs with measureable intrinsic pulse widths, including two FRBs that have been seen to repeat. In our modest sample we see no evidence for bimodality in the pulse width distribution. We also identify five FRBs with evidence of millisecond timescale pulse broadening caused by scattering in inhomogeneous plasma. We find no evidence for a relationship between pulse broadening and extragalactic dispersion measure. The scattering could be either caused by extreme turbulence in the host galaxy or chance propagation through foreground galaxies. With future high time resolution observations and detailed study of host galaxy properties we may be able to probe line-of-sight turbulence on gigaparsec scales.