Atlas of dynamic spectra of fast radio burst FRB 20201124A

Fast radio bursts(FRBs) are highly dispersed millisecond-duration radio bursts,[1,2]of which the physical origin is still not fully understood. FRB 20201124A is one of the most actively repeating FRBs. In this paper, we present the collection of 1863 burst dynamic spectra of FRB 20201124A measured with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST). The current collection, taken from the observation during the FRB active phase from April to June 2021, is the largest burst sample detected for any FRB so far. The standard PSRFITs format is adopted, including dynamic spectra of the burst, and the time information of the dynamic spectra, in addition, mask files help readers to identify the pulse positions are also provided. The dataset is available in Science Data Bank, with the link https://www.doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.j00113.00076.

FAST Observations of an Extremely Active Episode of FRB 20201124A.Ⅲ.Polarimetry

As the third paper in the multiple-part series,we report the statistical properties of radio bursts detected from the repeating fast radio burst(FRB)source FRB 20201124A with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope during an extremely active episode between the 25th and 28th of September 2021(UT).We focus on the polarization properties of536 bright bursts with S/N>50.We found that the Faraday rotation measures(RMs)monotonically dropped from-579to-605 rad m^(-2)in the 4 day window.The RM values were compatible with the values(-300 to-900 rad m^(-2))reported 4 months ago.However,the RM evolution rate in the current observation window was at least an order of magnitude smaller than the one(~500 rad m^(-2)day^(-1))previously reported during the rapid RM-variation phase,but is still higher than the one(≤1 rad m^(-2)day^(-1))during the later RM no-evolution phase.The bursts of FRB 20201124A were highly polarized with the total degree of polarization(circular plus linear)greater than 90%for more than 90%of all bursts.The distribution of linear polarization position angles(PAs),degree of linear polarization(L/I)and degree of circular polarization(V/I)can be characterized with unimodal distribution functions.During the observation window,the distributions became wider with time,i.e.,with larger scatter,but the centroids of the distribution functions remained nearly constant.For individual bursts,significant PA variations(confidence level 5σ)were observed in 33%of all bursts.The polarization of single pulses seems to follow certain complex trajectories on the Poincarésphere,which may shed light on the radiation mechanism at the source or the plasma properties along the path of FRB propagation.

FAST Observations of an Extremely Active Episode of FRB 20201124A.Ⅳ.Spin Period Search

We report the properties of more than 800 bursts detected from the repeating fast radio burst(FRB)source FRB 20201124A with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope during an extremely active episode on UTC 2021 September 25th-28th in a series of four papers.In this fourth paper of the series,we present a systematic search of the spin period and linear acceleration of the source object from both 996 individual pulse peaks and the dedispersed time series.No credible spin period was found from this data set.We rule out the presence of significant periodicity in the range between 1 ms and 100 s with a pulse duty cycle<0.49±0.08(when the profile is defined by a von-Mises function,not a boxcar function)and linear acceleration up to 300 m s^(-2)in each of the four one-hour observing sessions,and up to 0.6 m s^(-2)in all 4 days.These searches contest theoretical scenarios involving a 1 ms–100 s isolated magnetar/pulsar with surface magnetic field<10^(15)G and a small duty cycle(such as in a polar-cap emission mode)or a pulsar with a companion star or black hole up to 100 M_(⊙)and P_(b)>10 hr.We also perform a periodicity search of the fine structures and identify 53 unrelated millisecond-timescale“periods”in multicomponents with the highest significance of 3.9σ.The“periods”recovered from the fine structures are neither consistent nor harmonically related.Thus they are not likely to come from a spin period.We caution against claiming spin periodicity with significance below~4σwith multi-components from one-off FRBs.We discuss the implications of our results and the possible connections between FRB multi-components and pulsar microstructures.

FAST Observations of an Extremely Active Episode of FRB 20201124A.Ⅱ.Energy Distribution

We report the properties of more than 800 bursts detected from the repeating fast radio burst(FRB)source FRB20201124A with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST)during an extremely active episode on UTC 2021 September 25–28 in a series of four papers.In this second paper of the series,we study the energy distribution of 881 bursts(defined as significant signals separated by dips down to the noise level)detected in the first four days of our 19 hr observational campaign spanning 17 days.The event rate initially increased exponentially but the source activity stopped within 24 hr after the 4th day.The detection of 542 bursts in one hour during the fourth day marked the highest event rate detected from one single FRB source so far.The bursts have complex structures in the time-frequency space.We find a double-peak distribution of the waiting time,which can be modeled with two log-normal functions peaking at 51.22 ms and 10.05 s,respectively.Compared with the emission from a previous active episode of the source detected with FAST,the second distribution peak time is smaller,suggesting that this peak is defined by the activity level of the source.We calculate the isotropic energy of the bursts using both a partial bandwidth and a full bandwidth and find that the energy distribution is not significantly changed.We find that an exponentially connected broken-power law function can fit the cumulative burst energy distribution well,with the lower and higher-energy indices being-1.22±0.01 and-4.27±0.23,respectively.Assuming a radio radiative efficiency ofη_(r)=10^(-4),the total isotropic energy of the bursts released during the four days when the source was active is already 3.9×10^(46)erg,exceeding~23%of the available magnetar dipolar magnetic energy.This challenges the magnetar models which invoke an inefficient radio emission(e.g.,synchrotron maser models).