Magnetars in Binaries as the Engine of Actively Repeating Fast Radio Bursts
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866914080068993024 |
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| author | Zhang, Bing Hu, Rui-Chong |
| author_facet | Zhang, Bing Hu, Rui-Chong |
| contents | The association between FRB 20200428D and the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 makes magnetars the leading engine of cosmological fast radio bursts (FRBs). However, there is a list of puzzles for this magnetar-for-all-FRBs scenario: known Galactic magnetars are all isolated and none of them are active repeaters; some cosmological repeaters have extremely high repetition rates but without any measurable spin-related periodicity; some show long-term periodic active windows; and some show diverse rotation measure (RM) evolution patterns, such as quasi-periodic fluctuations, sign reversals, and abrupt RM flares. Here we propose a unified theoretical framework for FRBs within the framework of magnetar engine: Most active repeating FRBs originate from magnetars in binary systems with nearly aligned rotation and magnetic axes, some of which with a triple-aligned geometry, i.e. with an alignment with the orbital axis as well; whereas apparent non-repeaters and inactive repeaters originate from magnetars in isolated systems or in binaries with a misaligned geometry. By studying various magnetar formation channels using population syntheses, we show that a few percent of magnetars in the universe can be in binary systems, most with a massive star companion and some with aligned geometry. We suggest that such binary systems can account for the rich phenomenology of active repeaters. We suggest that the existence of a companion helps to maintain the aligned geometry and that the companion may play an active role in triggering FRBs in an active repeater source. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_12119 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Magnetars in Binaries as the Engine of Actively Repeating Fast Radio Bursts Zhang, Bing Hu, Rui-Chong High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Astrophysics of Galaxies Solar and Stellar Astrophysics The association between FRB 20200428D and the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 makes magnetars the leading engine of cosmological fast radio bursts (FRBs). However, there is a list of puzzles for this magnetar-for-all-FRBs scenario: known Galactic magnetars are all isolated and none of them are active repeaters; some cosmological repeaters have extremely high repetition rates but without any measurable spin-related periodicity; some show long-term periodic active windows; and some show diverse rotation measure (RM) evolution patterns, such as quasi-periodic fluctuations, sign reversals, and abrupt RM flares. Here we propose a unified theoretical framework for FRBs within the framework of magnetar engine: Most active repeating FRBs originate from magnetars in binary systems with nearly aligned rotation and magnetic axes, some of which with a triple-aligned geometry, i.e. with an alignment with the orbital axis as well; whereas apparent non-repeaters and inactive repeaters originate from magnetars in isolated systems or in binaries with a misaligned geometry. By studying various magnetar formation channels using population syntheses, we show that a few percent of magnetars in the universe can be in binary systems, most with a massive star companion and some with aligned geometry. We suggest that such binary systems can account for the rich phenomenology of active repeaters. We suggest that the existence of a companion helps to maintain the aligned geometry and that the companion may play an active role in triggering FRBs in an active repeater source. |
| title | Magnetars in Binaries as the Engine of Actively Repeating Fast Radio Bursts |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Astrophysics of Galaxies Solar and Stellar Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.12119 |