Inferring the Energy and Distance Distributions of Fast Radio Bursts using the First CHIME/FRB Catalog

Abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief, energetic, extragalactic flashes of radio emission whose progenitors are largely unknown. Although studying the FRB population is essential for understanding how these astrophysical phenomena occur, such studies have been difficult to conduct without large numbers of FRBs and characterizable observational biases. Using the recently released catalog of 536 FRBs published by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment/Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) collaboration, we present a study of the FRB population that also calibrates for selection effects. Assuming a Schechter luminosity function, we infer a characteristic energy cut-off of $E_{\mathrm{char}}=$ $2.38_{-1.64}^{+5.35}\times 10^{41}$ erg and a differential power-law index of $\gamma =$ $-1.3_{-0.4}^{+0.7}$. Simultaneously, we infer a volumetric rate of [$7.3_{-3.8}^{+8.8}$(stat.)${}_{-1.8}^{+2.0}$(sys.)]$\times 10^4$ Gpc${}^{-3}$ year${}^{-1}$ above a pivot energy of 10${}^{39}$ erg and below a scattering timescale of 10 ms at 600 MHz, and find we cannot significantly constrain the cosmic evolution of the FRB population with star formation rate. Modeling the host dispersion measure (DM) contribution as a log-normal distribution and assuming a total Galactic contribution of 80 pc cm${}^{-3}$, we find a median value of ${\mathrm{DM}}_{\mathrm{host}}=$ $84_{-49}^{+69}$ pc cm${}^{-3}$, comparable with values typically used in the literature. Proposed models for FRB progenitors should be consistent with the energetics and abundances of the full FRB population predicted by our results. Finally, we infer the redshift distribution of FRBs detected with CHIME, which will be tested with the localizations and redshifts enabled by the upcoming CHIME/FRB Outriggers project.

Revised to reflect published version

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• A luminous fast radio burst that probes the Universe at redshift 1
• An Injection System for the CHIME/FRB Experiment
• Relativistic coronal mass ejections from magnetars
• Inferring redshift and energy distributions of fast radio bursts from the first CHIME/FRB catalog
• Birth and Evolution of Fast Radio Bursts: Strong Population-Based Evidence for a Neutron-Star Origin
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• Multi-messenger Gravitational Lensing
• The Cosmic Evolution of Fast Radio Bursts Inferred from the CHIME/FRB Baseband Catalog 1
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• Multi-wavelength and Multi-messenger Counterparts of Fast Radio Bursts
• Fast radio burst energy function in the presence of $\mathrm{D}{\mathrm{M}}_{\mathrm{host}}$ variation
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• Revisiting the energy distribution and formation rate of CHIME fast radio bursts
• Associating fast radio bursts with compact binary mergers via gravitational lensing
• The Fast Radio Burst Population Energy Distribution
• How limiting is optical follow-up for fast radio burst applications? Forecasts for radio and optical surveys
• Predicting the rate of fast radio bursts in globular clusters from binary black hole observations
• Modeling Current and Future High-Cadence Surveys of Repeating FRB Populations
• Time-integrated constraint on neutrino flux of CHIME fast radio burst sources with 10-year IceCube point-source data
• Constraints on the progenitor models of fast radio bursts from population synthesis with the first CHIME/FRB catalog
• Do Multi-Structural One-Off FRBs Trace Similar Cosmology History with Repeaters?
• Exploring selection biases in FRB dispersion-galaxy cross-correlations with magnetohydrodynamical simulations
• Cosmological Evolution of Fast Radio Bursts and The Star Formation Rate
• Constraints on fast radio burst emission in the aftermath of gamma-ray bursts
• A Comprehensive Study of the Energy and Redshift Distributions of the Fast Radio Burst Population Based on the First CHIME/FRB Catalog
• Fast Radio Bursts from non-resonant Alfvén waves and synchrotron maser emission in the magnetar wind
• Forecasting the FRB Population Observed Through Galaxy Cluster Lenses