Discovery of a transient gamma-ray counterpart to FRB 131104

Abstract

We report our discovery in Swift satellite data of a transient gamma-ray counterpart (3.2$\sigma$ confidence) to the fast radio burst FRB131104, the first such counterpart to any FRB. The transient has duration $T_{90}\gtrsim 100$s and fluence $S_{\gamma }\approx 4\times 10^{-6}$ erg cm${}^{-2}$, increasing the energy budget for this event by more than a billion times; at the nominal $z\approx 0.55$ redshift implied by its dispersion measure, the burst's gamma-ray energy output is $E_{\gamma }\approx 5\times 10^{51}$ erg. The observed radio to gamma-ray fluence ratio for FRB131104 is consistent with a lower limit we derive from Swift observations of another FRB, which is not detected in gamma-rays, and with an upper limit previously derived for the brightest gamma-ray flare from SGR 1806-20, which was not detected in the radio. X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical observations beginning two days after the FRB do not reveal any associated afterglow, supernova, or transient; Swift observations exclude association with the brightest 65% of Swift gamma-ray burst X-ray afterglows, while leaving the possibility of an associated supernova at much more than 10% the FRB's nominal distance, $D\gtrsim 320$ Mpc, largely unconstrained. Transient high-luminosity gamma-ray emission arises most naturally in a relativistic outflow or shock breakout, as for example from magnetar flares, gamma-ray bursts, relativistic supernovae, and some types of galactic nuclear activity. Our discovery thus bolsters the case for an extragalactic origin for some FRBs and suggests that future rapid-response observations might identify long-lived counterparts, resolving the nature of these mysterious phenomena and realizing their promise as probes of cosmology and fundamental physics.

12 pages, 2 figures, 5 tables Will be published in ApJL Friday Nov. 11 DeLaunay, J., et al. 2016, ApJL, 832, L1 (doi:10.3847/2041-8205/832/1/L1)

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Cited by in corpus (57)

• Fast Radio Bursts
• A Living Theory Catalogue for Fast Radio Bursts
• Fast radio bursts as synchrotron maser emission from decelerating relativistic blast waves
• Millisecond Magnetar Birth Connects FRB 121102 to Superluminous Supernovae and Long Duration Gamma-ray Bursts
• INTEGRAL discovery of a burst with associated radio emission from the magnetar SGR 1935+2154
• The Physical Mechanisms of Fast Radio Bursts
• FRB 121102 Bursts Show Complex Time-Frequency Structure
• The Physics of Fast Radio Bursts
• Science with e-ASTROGAM (A space mission for MeV-GeV gamma-ray astrophysics)
• A "Cosmic Comb" Model of Fast Radio Bursts
• The first interferometric detections of Fast Radio Bursts
• Simultaneous X-ray, gamma-ray, and Radio Observations of the repeating Fast Radio Burst FRB 121102
• Testing the Young Neutron Star Scenario with Persistent Radio Emission Associated with FRB 121102
• Constraints on the Engines of Fast Radio Bursts
• FRB 121102: A repeatedly combed neutron star by a nearby low-luminosity accreting super-massive black hole
• Fast Radio Bursts
• The Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON): Performance and Science Program
• Fast Radio Bursts from Extragalactic Light Sails
• Can black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas?
• A Search for High-Energy Counterparts to Fast Radio Bursts
• How bright are fast optical bursts associated with fast radio bursts?
• Science with the Murchison Widefield Array: Phase I Results and Phase II Opportunities
• Multiwavelength observations of Fast Radio Bursts
• Fast Radio Bursts with Extended Gamma-Ray Emission?
• A search for prompt gamma-ray counterparts to fast radio bursts in the Insight-HXMT data
• Investigation of the asteroid-neutron star collision model for the repeating fast radio bursts
• Deep optical observations contemporaneous with emission from the periodic FRB 180916.J0158+65
• Non-detection of fast radio bursts from six gamma-ray burst remnants with possible magnetar engines
• Zwicky Transient Facility constraints on the optical emission from the nearby repeating FRB 180916.J0158+65
• The EXOD search for faint transients in XMM-Newton observations: Method and discovery of four extragalactic Type I X-ray Bursters
• Collapsing supra-massive magnetars: FRBs, the repeating FRB121102 and GRBs
• Radio-interferometric monitoring of FRB 131104: A coincident AGN flare, but no evidence for a cosmic fireball
• A cumulative search for hard X/$\gamma$-Ray emission associated with fast radio bursts in Fermi/GBM data
• Limits on Fast Radio Burst-like Counterparts to Gamma-ray Bursts using CHIME/FRB
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• A search for neutrinos from fast radio bursts with IceCube
• Hard X-ray/Soft gamma-ray experiments and missions: overview and prospects
• Search for high-energy neutrinos in coincidence with Fast Radio Bursts with the ANTARES neutrino telescope
• A search for gamma-ray prompt emission associated with the Lorimer Burst FRB010724
• Multi-wavelength and Multi-messenger Counterparts of Fast Radio Bursts
• Implications from the upper limit of radio afterglow emission of FRB 131104/Swift J0644.5-5111
• Second Repeating FRB 180814.J0422+73: Ten-year Fermi-LAT Upper limits and Implications
• FRB 171019: An event of binary neutron star merger?
• Constraining Near-Simultaneous Radio Emission from Short Gamma-ray Bursts using CHIME/FRB
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• Multi-wavelength afterglow emission from bursts associated with magnetar flares and fast radio bursts
• A targeted search for repeating fast radio bursts associated with gamma-ray bursts
• Constraints on fast radio burst emission in the aftermath of gamma-ray bursts
• Constraining the Environmental Properties of FRB 131104 Using the Unified Dynamical Afterglow Model
• AT2020hur: A Possible Optical Counterpart of FRB 180916B
• Searching for the Signature of Fast Radio Burst by Swift/XRT X-ray Afterglow Light Curve
• Multi-Wavelength Constraints on the Outflow Properties of the Extremely Bright Millisecond Radio Bursts from the Galactic Magnetar SGR 1935+2154
• Is GRB 110715A the progenitor of FRB 171209?