Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Nature. 2020 Nov;587(7832):45-53. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2828-1. Epub 2020 Nov 4.
Fast radio bursts are mysterious millisecond-duration transients prevalent in the radio sky. Rapid accumulation of data in recent years has facilitated an understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms of these events. Knowledge gained from the neighbouring fields of gamma-ray bursts and radio pulsars has also offered insights. Here I review developments in this fast-moving field. Two generic categories of radiation model invoking either magnetospheres of compact objects (neutron stars or black holes) or relativistic shocks launched from such objects have been much debated. The recent detection of a Galactic fast radio burst in association with a soft gamma-ray repeater suggests that magnetar engines can produce at least some, and probably all, fast radio bursts. Other engines that could produce fast radio bursts are not required, but are also not impossible.
快速射电暴是一种神秘的毫秒级持续时间的暂态现象，普遍存在于射电天空中。近年来，数据的快速积累促进了对这些事件潜在物理机制的理解。来自邻近的伽马射线暴和射电脉冲星领域的知识也提供了一些见解。在这里，我回顾了这个快速发展的领域的最新进展。两种通用的辐射模型类别，一种涉及致密天体（中子星或黑洞）的磁层，另一种涉及从这些天体发射的相对论激波，一直是激烈争论的话题。最近在一个软伽马射线重复器附近探测到一个银河快速射电暴表明，磁星引擎至少可以产生一些，而且可能是所有的快速射电暴。不需要其他可以产生快速射电暴的引擎，但也不是不可能。
