Relative roles of intrinsic emission and propagation effects in FRB polarization

Quantify the relative contributions of intrinsic emission physics and propagation effects to the polarization properties of fast radio bursts, including depolarization, Faraday conversion, cyclotron absorption, and multipath scattering.

Background

FRB polarization observations show high linear polarization, substantial source-to-source diversity, variable rotation measures, and extreme circular polarization in some repeaters. These signatures can arise from intrinsic magnetospheric radiation, propagation through relativistic or magnetized plasma, or both. Current data do not determine how these mechanisms combine or whether a universal emission model can explain the full diversity.