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Autori principali: Er, Xinzhong, Zhu, Weishan, Mao, Shude, Li, Dongzi
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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Accesso online:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.12691
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author Er, Xinzhong
Zhu, Weishan
Mao, Shude
Li, Dongzi
author_facet Er, Xinzhong
Zhu, Weishan
Mao, Shude
Li, Dongzi
contents Small scale clumps of ionized gas have been suggested by observations in interstellar medium and circumgalactic medium. The propagation of radio signals can be deflected by these plasma clumps, i.e. plasma lensing. One observable consequence is the magnification and demagnification of background sources. These effects distort the observed luminosity function and potentially introduce bias into population studies. In this work, we investigate these effects on fast radio bursts using Gaussian plasma clumps distributed across multiple lens planes within a small field of view. The central electron density for each clump is sampled from uniform, log-normal, and Gaussian distributions. Two analytical models are employed to mimic the intrinsic luminosity function. Our results show that plasma lensing can modify the observed luminosity functions. On one hand, our model shows that radio sources may be demagnified below the detection threshold, the strength varies between ~1-15% depending on the ionized gas model and the source redshift. On the other hand, magnification can produce anomalously bright sources at the high luminosity end. Both effects introduce potential biases in inferred source properties. The lensing strength correlates with the power spectrum of free electron density. However, scattering effect in the host galaxy or in the Milky Way can suppress the plasma lensing effects.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_12691
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The influence of plasma lensing magnification to the luminosity function of fast radio bursts
Er, Xinzhong
Zhu, Weishan
Mao, Shude
Li, Dongzi
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Small scale clumps of ionized gas have been suggested by observations in interstellar medium and circumgalactic medium. The propagation of radio signals can be deflected by these plasma clumps, i.e. plasma lensing. One observable consequence is the magnification and demagnification of background sources. These effects distort the observed luminosity function and potentially introduce bias into population studies. In this work, we investigate these effects on fast radio bursts using Gaussian plasma clumps distributed across multiple lens planes within a small field of view. The central electron density for each clump is sampled from uniform, log-normal, and Gaussian distributions. Two analytical models are employed to mimic the intrinsic luminosity function. Our results show that plasma lensing can modify the observed luminosity functions. On one hand, our model shows that radio sources may be demagnified below the detection threshold, the strength varies between ~1-15% depending on the ionized gas model and the source redshift. On the other hand, magnification can produce anomalously bright sources at the high luminosity end. Both effects introduce potential biases in inferred source properties. The lensing strength correlates with the power spectrum of free electron density. However, scattering effect in the host galaxy or in the Milky Way can suppress the plasma lensing effects.
title The influence of plasma lensing magnification to the luminosity function of fast radio bursts
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.12691