Effects of localisation precision on identified fast radio burst host galaxy magnitudes

TL;DR

This study investigates how localisation precision affects the identification of host galaxies for fast radio bursts, finding that significant biases occur only when localisation uncertainty exceeds 2 arcseconds.

Contribution

It demonstrates that FRB host galaxy identification remains reliable until localisation uncertainty surpasses 2 arcseconds, informing future localisation accuracy requirements.

Findings

No significant change in host identification until 2'' uncertainty

Biases increase with localisation uncertainty beyond 2''

Supports current localisation precision standards for FRB host studies

Abstract

We study the potential bias in the identification of fast radio burst (FRB) host galaxies due to radio localisation uncertainty. Using a sample of FRBs localised to typically 0.5'' by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), we artificially increase the localisation uncertainty up to 10'', and re-run the Probabalistic Association of Transients to their Hosts (PATH) algorithm to determine the most likely host galaxy. We do not find evidence of a significant change in identified hosts until the localisation precision is worsened to 2'' or greater.