Solving the Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts: A Detective’s Approach

Abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are still a mystery in contemporary astrophysics. Unlike many other astronomical objects whose basic physical mechanism is already identified and the research on which focuses mainly on refining details, FRBs are still largely unknown regarding their source(s) and radiation mechanism(s). To make progress in the field, a “top-down” or “detective’s approach” is desirable. I will summarize how some key observational facts have narrowed down the options to interpret FRBs and show that at least some FRBs are produced from the magnetospheres of highly magnetized neutron stars (or magnetars). I will also argue that the current data seem to favor a type of coherent inverse Compton scattering process by relativistic particle bunches off a low-frequency wave propagating in the magnetosphere. This brief contribution is a shorter version of an extended review to be published in Reviews of Modern Physics, and it was written as a tribute to the 80th anniversary of Remo Ruffini.