A parametric study of population inversions in relativistic plasmas through nonresonant interactions with Alfv\'en waves and their applications to Fast Radio Bursts

TL;DR

This study investigates how nonresonant interactions between Alfvén waves and relativistic plasmas can create population inversions necessary for synchrotron maser emission, potentially explaining Fast Radio Bursts in magnetar environments.

Contribution

It provides the first calculation of energy fractions in population inversions across relevant parameter space and demonstrates the mechanism's capability to produce observable FRB signals.

Findings

Population inversions form across a wide range of magnetizations and temperatures.

Energy fractions in the inversion can exceed 1% for high magnetizations.

The mechanism can generate GHz signals in relativistic magnetar winds that escape without damping.

Abstract

Synchrotron maser emission is a leading candidate to explain the coherent emission from Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). This mechanism requires a population inversion in order to operate. We show that nonresonant interactions between Alfv\'{e}n waves and a relativistic plasma result in the formation of population inversions across a wide range of magnetizations, $\sigma\gtrsim10^{-4}$, and temperatures, $10^{-2} \leq k_bT/mc^2 \leq 3$, spanning the parameters expected in FRB environments. We calculate the fraction of energy contained in the inversion across the whole of this parameter space for the first time and we show that energy fractions of $f_{inv}\gtrsim10^{-2}$ are achieved for high magnetizations $\sigma >1$. The population inversion forms on time-scales compatible with the typical dynamical time-scales of magnetars for all magnetizations. Furthermore, we provide physical explanations for the behaviour of the interaction in different magnetization regimes, and identify the important characteristic values at which this behaviour changes. We also show that the mechanism is capable of producing an FRB signal at GHz frequencies in a relativistic magnetar wind close to the light cylinder and that this signal can escape the magnetar environment without significant damping.