Fast Radio Bursts are always one of the most mysterious astronomical phenomena. It was first detected in 2007 it lasted for about a few milliseconds.
The cause of fast radio bursts is always unknown, but researchers since its first detection finding the answer.
Recently a new study led by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, an Australian-American team of researchers has revealed that the cause of Fast radio bursts may be connected to gravitational waves (GWs).
According to their study, it is noted there is a potential coincidence between the neutron star merger and the FRBs.
They deduce that FRBs could confirm by a variety of astronomical events.
What are Fast Radio Bursts and Gravitational Waves?
Fast Radio Bursts are intense bursts of radio emission that lasted for about a few milliseconds and then vanish.
But what causes Fast Radio Bursts is still unknown.
Gravitational Waves are waves that are invisible ripples in space. They travel at the speed of light.
Gravitational Waves: Ripple Effect
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What Actually Causes Fast Radio Bursts?
Since its first detection FRBs detected 1000s of times, thanks to dedicated radio telescopes, like the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP).
Many people gave so many reasons for FRBs ranging from black holes, neutron stars and magnetars to possible extra-terrestrial.
A team of research included physicists from Oz Grav, the University of Australia, The International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) at Curtin University, and the Nevada Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Nevada
Researchers deduce that the FRBs is caused by neutron stars’ merger in compact binary systems. An Astrophysicist Clancy W. James with ICRAR explained that –
“Astronomers have long predicted that two neutron stars – a binary – merging to produce a black hole should also produce a burst of radio waves. The two neutron stars will be highly magnetic, and black holes cannot have magnetic fields. The idea is the sudden vanishing of magnetic fields when the neutron stars merge and collapse to a black hole producing a fast radio burst. Changing magnetic fields produce electric fields – it’s how most power stations produce electricity. And the huge change in magnetic fields at the time of collapse could produce the intense electromagnetic fields of an FRB.”
To prove their theory Moroianu and her colleagues examined the GW190425 gravitational wave events detected on 25 April 2019 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). They detected that the GWs caused by binary neutron stars.
However, confirming the GWs event and FRBs are related was rather challenging. Because of odd of 1 in 200 is rare.
But in the future odds of detecting such events will improve considerably, when the recent-upgraded Virgo and Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detectors (KAGRA) come back online this May.
The Astrophysicist Clancy James added that –
“The key piece of evidence that would confirm or refute our theory – an optical or gamma-ray flash coming from the direction of the fast radio burst – vanished almost four years ago. In a few months, we might get another chance to find out if we are correct. In a few months, we may find out if we’ve made a key breakthrough – or if it was just a flash in the pan.”
In the future there are potentially thousands of events that occurred in the coming decades and those events will help astronomers to find the real cause of the Fast Radio Bursts.
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