Gravitational Wave Constraints on the Progenitors of Fast Radio Bursts

Thomas Callister, Jonah Kanner, Alan Weinstein

Published 2016-03-29Version 1

The nature of fast radio bursts (FRBs) remains enigmatic. Highly energetic radio pulses of millisecond duration, fast radio bursts are observed with dispersion measures consistent with an extragalactic source. A variety of models have been proposed to explain their origin. One popular class of theorized FRB progenitor is the coalescence of compact binaries composed of neutron stars and/or black holes. We demonstrate that measurements made by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories can be leveraged to severely constrain the validity of FRB binary coalescence models. Existing measurements rule out binary black holes as FRB progenitors, and results from Advanced LIGO's O1 and O2 observing runs will either confirm or strongly rule out binary neutron star and neutron star-black hole progenitors.