A model for fast extragalactic radio bursts

Abstract

Bursts of millisecond duration were recently discovered in the 1 GHz band. There is a strong evidence that they come from ~1 Gpc distances, which implies extraordinary high-brightness temperature. I propose that these bursts could be attributed to synchrotron maser emission from relativistic, magnetized shocks. At the onset of the magnetar flare, a strongly magnetized pulse is formed, which propagates away through the relativistic magnetar wind and eventually reaches the nebula inflated by the wind within the surrounding medium. I show that the observed radio bursts could be generated at shocks formed via the interaction of the magnetic pulse with the plasma within the nebula. The model predicts strong millisecond bursts in the TeV band, which could be observed even from distant galaxies. © 2014 The Author Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.