A pulsar-like polarization angle swing from a nearby fast radio burst

Ryan Mckinven^{1

2}, Mohit Bhardwaj³, Tarraneh Eftekhari^{4

5}, Charles D Kilpatrick⁴, Aida Kirichenko⁶, Arpan Pal⁷, Amanda M Cook^{8

9}, B M Gaensler^{8

9

10}, Utkarsh Giri¹¹, Victoria M Kaspi^{12

13}, Daniele Michilli^{14

15}, Kenzie Nimmo^{14

15}, Aaron B Pearlman^{12

13}, Ziggy Pleunis^{8

9

16

17}, Ketan R Sand^{12

13}, Ingrid Stairs¹⁸, Bridget C Andersen^{12

13}, Shion Andrew^{14

15}, Kevin Bandura^{19

20}, Charanjot Brar^{12

13}, Tomas Cassanelli²¹, Shami Chatterjee²², Alice P Curtin^{12

13}, Fengqiu Adam Dong¹⁸, Gwendolyn Eadie^{9

23

24}, Emmanuel Fonseca^{20

25}, Adaeze L Ibik^{8

9}, Jane F Kaczmarek²⁶, Bikash Kharel^{20

25}, Mattias Lazda^{8

9}, Calvin Leung^{5

27}, Dongzi Li²⁸, Robert Main^{12

13}, Kiyoshi W Masui^{14

15}, Juan Mena-Parra^{8

9}, Cherry Ng²⁹, Ayush Pandhi^{8

9}, Swarali Shivraj Patil^{20

25}, J Xavier Prochaska^{30

31

32}, Masoud Rafiei-Ravandi^{12

13}, Paul Scholz^{8

33}, Vishwangi Shah^{12

13}, Kaitlyn Shin^{14

15}, Kendrick Smith³⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. ryan.mckinven@mcgill.ca.
² Trottier Space Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. ryan.mckinven@mcgill.ca.
³ McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
⁴ Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁵ NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP), Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁶ Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ensenada, Mexico.
⁷ National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Pune, India.
⁸ Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ Division of Physical and Biological Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
¹² Department of Physics, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
¹³ Trottier Space Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁴ MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁶ Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁷ ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.
¹⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹⁹ Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²⁰ Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²¹ Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
²² Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
²³ Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
²⁴ Data Sciences Institute, University of Toronto, Ontario Power Generation Building, Toronto, Canada.
²⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²⁶ CSIRO Space and Astronomy, Parkes Observatory, Parkes, New South Wales, Australia.
²⁷ Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
²⁸ Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
²⁹ Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace, Université d'Orléans/CNRS, Orléans, France.
³⁰ Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
³¹ Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), Kashiwa, Japan.
³² Division of Science, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.
³³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Ontario, Ontario, Canada.
³⁴ Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 39743599
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08184-4

A pulsar-like polarization angle swing from a nearby fast radio burst

Ryan Mckinven et al. Nature. 2025 Jan.

. 2025 Jan;637(8044):43-47.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08184-4. Epub 2025 Jan 1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. ryan.mckinven@mcgill.ca.
² Trottier Space Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. ryan.mckinven@mcgill.ca.
³ McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
⁴ Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁵ NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP), Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁶ Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ensenada, Mexico.
⁷ National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Pune, India.
⁸ Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ Division of Physical and Biological Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
¹² Department of Physics, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
¹³ Trottier Space Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁴ MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁶ Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁷ ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.
¹⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹⁹ Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²⁰ Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²¹ Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
²² Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
²³ Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
²⁴ Data Sciences Institute, University of Toronto, Ontario Power Generation Building, Toronto, Canada.
²⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²⁶ CSIRO Space and Astronomy, Parkes Observatory, Parkes, New South Wales, Australia.
²⁷ Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
²⁸ Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
²⁹ Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace, Université d'Orléans/CNRS, Orléans, France.
³⁰ Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
³¹ Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), Kashiwa, Japan.
³² Division of Science, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.
³³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Ontario, Ontario, Canada.
³⁴ Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 39743599
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08184-4

Abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) last for milliseconds and arrive at Earth from cosmological distances. Although their origins and emission mechanisms are unknown, their signals bear similarities with the much less luminous radio emission generated by pulsars within our Miky Way Galaxy¹, with properties suggesting neutron star origins^2,3. However, unlike pulsars, FRBs typically show minimal variability in their linear polarization position angle (PA) curves⁴. Even when marked PA evolution is present, their curves deviate significantly from the canonical shape predicted by the rotating vector model (RVM) of pulsars⁵. Here we report on FRB 20221022A, detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst project (CHIME/FRB) and localized to a nearby host galaxy (about 65 Mpc), MCG+14-02-011. This FRB shows a notable approximately 130° PA rotation over its about 2.5 ms burst duration, resembling the characteristic S-shaped evolution seen in many pulsars and some radio magnetars. The observed PA evolution supports magnetospheric origins^6-8 over models involving distant shocks^9-11, echoing similar conclusions drawn from tempo-polarimetric studies of some repeating FRBs^12,13. The PA evolution is well described by the RVM and, although we cannot determine the inclination and magnetic obliquity because of the unknown period or duty cycle of the source, we exclude very short-period pulsars (for example, recycled millisecond pulsars) as the progenitor.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

1. Pearlman, A. B., Majid, W. A., Prince, T. A., Kocz, J. & Horiuchi, S. Pulse morphology of the Galactic Center magnetar PSR J1745-2900. Astrophys. J. 866, 160 (2018).
1. The CHIME/FRB Collaboration. A bright millisecond-duration radio burst from a Galactic magnetar. Nature 587, 54–58 (2020).
1. Kirsten, F. et al. A repeating fast radio burst source in a globular cluster. Nature 602, 585–589 (2022). - PubMed
1. Pandhi, A. et al. Polarization properties of 128 non-repeating fast radio bursts from the first CHIME/FRB baseband catalog. Astrophys. J. 968, 50 (2024).
1. Radhakrishnan, V. & Cooke, D. J. Magnetic poles and the polarization structure of pulsar radiation. Astrophys. Lett. 3, 225–229 (1969).

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A pulsar-like polarization angle swing from a nearby fast radio burst

Affiliations

A pulsar-like polarization angle swing from a nearby fast radio burst

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources