Colloquium on Sep. 18, 2025

Mysteries of fast radio bursts

Speaker: Dongzi Li (Tsinghua University)

Venue: SWIFAR Building 2111

Time: 16:00 PM, Thursday, Jul. 18, 2025

Abstract:

Advancements in computing power have enabled radio astronomers to survey larger regions of the sky with high time and frequency resolution, capturing a broad range of radio transients. In particular, Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs)—short radio flashes lasting from microseconds to seconds—offer an opportunity to study individual compact objects across a cosmological volume of 1000 Gpc³. They provide a unique laboratory for investigating compact objects formed through previously unknown channels and at rarely observed evolutionary stages. In this talk, I will review the current understanding of FRB sources and efforts to distinguish their populations based on localization, magneto-environment, and potential binarity. In the coming years, existing and upcoming instruments will detect FRBs at orders of magnitude higher rates and with greatly improved spatial resolution. These advancements will open new windows for research in related fields, including magnetars and their environments, compact object dynamics, the interstellar medium, the circumgalactic medium, and cosmology.