A probe of the maximum energetics of fast radio bursts through a prolific repeating source
Journal article, 2026
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are sufficiently energetic to be detectable from luminosity distances up to at least seven billion parsecs (redshift z > 1). Probing the maximum energies and luminosities of FRBs constrains their emission mechanism and cosmological population. Here, we investigate the maximum energetics of a highly active repeater, FRB 20220912A, using 1500h of observations. We detect 130 high-energy bursts and find a break in the burst energy distribution, with a flattening of the power-law slope at higher energy – consistent with the behaviour of another highly active repeater, FRB 20201124A. There is a roughly equal split of integrated burst energy between the low- and high-energy regimes. Furthermore, we model the rate of the highest energy bursts and find a turnover at a characteristic spectral energy density of Echarv = 2.09+3.78-1.04 × 1032 ergHz-1. This characteristic maximum energy agrees well with observations of apparently one-off FRBs, suggesting a common physical mechanism for their emission. The extreme burst energies push radiation and source models to their limit: at this burst rate a typical magnetar (B = 1015 G) would deplete the energy stored in its magnetosphere in ∼2150h, assuming a radio efficiency ϵradio = 10-5. We find that the high-energy bursts (Ev > 3 × 1030 ergHz-1) play an important role in exhausting the energy budget of the source.
radio continuum: transients
fast radio bursts
Author
O. S. Ould-Boukattine
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
P. Chawla
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
J. W. T. Hessels
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
McGill University
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
A. J. Cooper
University of Oxford
M. P. Gawroński
Nicolaus Copernicus University (SGMK)
W. Herrmann
Astropeiler Stockert e.V.
Danté M. Hewitt
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
Jeff Huang
McGill University
D. Huppenkothen
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
Franz Kirsten
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
D. C. Konijn
University of Groningen
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
K. Nimmo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Z. Pleunis
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
W. Puchalska
Nicolaus Copernicus University (SGMK)
M. P. Snelders
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
00358711 (ISSN) 13652966 (eISSN)
Vol. 545 2 staf1937Onsala space observatory infrastructure
Swedish Research Council (VR) (2017-00648), 2018-01-01 -- 2021-12-31.
Infrastructure
Onsala Space Observatory
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
DOI
10.1093/mnras/staf1937