Origin and physical cause of fast radio bursts (FRBs)

Determine the origin and physical cause of fast radio bursts (FRBs), including identifying the progenitor systems and mechanisms responsible for these short, energetic radio pulses observed in diverse extragalactic host galaxies, to explain their production and nature.

Background

Adaeze Lorreta Ibik describes her PhD research focus on bright explosions in the universe, particularly fast radio bursts (FRBs) and superluminous supernovae (SLSNe). FRBs are extremely short-duration radio flashes originating from distant galaxies. Recent observations show FRBs occur in a variety of host environments, yet their progenitors remain unidentified.

Her work uses radio imaging data to locate FRB progenitors and investigate their causes. The explicit statement highlights that, despite growing observational samples and host identifications, the fundamental origin of FRBs is not yet understood, marking this as a central open problem in time-domain astrophysics.