Constraints on fast radio burst emission in the aftermath of gamma-ray bursts

TL;DR

This study investigates potential associations between Fast Radio Bursts and Gamma Ray Bursts, using catalog cross-matching and simulations, to assess whether they share common origins, despite current observational limitations.

Contribution

It provides the first systematic search for FRB-GRB associations with current data and models the likelihood of future joint detections with upcoming instruments.

Findings

Two low-significance associations identified

Current data insufficient to confirm or exclude connection

Future detectors may improve detection prospects

Abstract

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are highly energetic radio transients with millisecond duration, whose physical origin is still unknown. Many models consider magnetars as possible FRB sources, supported by the observational association of FRBs with the galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154. Magnetars are also thought to be the source of the power of a fraction of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs), opening the possibility that the two extreme phenomena have a common progenitor. In this work we put constrains to this hypothesis searching for possible associations between GRBs and FRBs with currently available catalogs, and estimating if the lack of coincident detection can rule out their association. We cross-matched all the Swift GRBs detected so far with all the well-localised FRBs reported in the FRBSTATS catalog, and we looked for FRB-GRB associations considering both spatial and temporal constraints. We also simulated a synthetic population of FRBs associated with Swift GRBs to estimate how likely it is to have a joint detection with current and future radio facilities. We recover two, low significant, possible associations already reported in literature from the catalogs' matches: GRB 110715A/FRB 20171209A and GRB 060502B/FRB 20190309A. However, our study shows that the absence of any unambiguous association so far between Swift GRBs and FRBs cannot exclude that the two populations are connected, given the characteristics of current GRB and FRB detectors. Currently available observational data are not sufficient to clearly exclude/confirm whether GRBs and FRBs are physically associated. In the next decade, with new generations of GRB and FRB detectors there will be a higher probability to detect joint GRB-FRB events, if any: future observations will therefore be key to put more stringent constraints on the hypothesis that FRBs and GRBs have common progenitors.