We present 2–4 GHz observations of polarized radio galaxies toward eight fast radio bursts (FRBs), producing grids of Faraday rotation measure (RM) sources with sky densities of 9–28 polarized sources per square degree. Using a Bayesian interpolation framework, we constrain Galactic RM fluctuations below ∼1 deg2 angular scales around the FRB positions. Despite the positions of all eight FRBs being located far from the Galactic plane, we constrain previously unresolved small-scale Galactic RM structures around six of the eight FRBs. In two of these fields, we find potential changes in the sign of the Galactic RM that are not captured by previous, sparsely sampled RM grid observations. Our Galactic RM estimate toward the FRBs differs by a few radians per square meter up to ∼40 rad m−2 from the all-sky Galactic RM map of S. Hutschenreuter et al. Extrapolating our results to the known population of polarized FRB sources, we may be incorrectly interpreting the host galaxy RM for ∼30% of the FRB source population with current RM grid observations. Measuring small-scale Galactic RM variations is crucial for identifying FRBs in low-density and weakly magnetized environments, which in turn could serve as potent probes of cosmic magnetism. This framework of reconstructing continuous Galactic RM structure from RM grid observations can be readily applied to FRBs that fall within the sky coverage of upcoming large-sky radio polarization surveys of radio galaxies, such as the Very Large Array Sky Survey and the Polarization Sky Survey of the Universe's Magnetism.
Improved Constraints on the Faraday Rotation toward Eight Fast Radio Bursts Using Dense Grids of Polarized Radio Galaxies
Creators
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1.
University of Toronto
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2.
University of California, Santa Cruz
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3.
University of Amsterdam
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Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
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University of Vienna
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6.
California Institute of Technology
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7.
McGill University
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Complutense University of Madrid
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9.
Perimeter Institute
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Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
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International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
Abstract
Copyright and License
© 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to Jamie Farnes, who played a key role in conceiving this project and in obtaining the observations and data. We thank the anonymous reviewer for a careful reading of the manuscript and for constructive feedback. We also thank Shannon Vanderwoude, Amanda Cook, and Erik Osinga for useful feedback on the manuscript. The University of Toronto operates on the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and most recently the Mississaugas of the Credit River; we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Green Bank Observatory are facilities of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under a cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. A.P. is funded by the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarships–Doctoral program. B.M.G. acknowledges the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through grant RGPIN-2022-03163, and of the Canada Research Chairs program. Z.P. is supported by an NWO Veni fellowship (VI.Veni.222.295). S.P.O. acknowledges support from the Comunidad de Madrid Atracción de Talento program via grant 2022-T1/TIC-23797, and grant PID2023-146372OB-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF (EU). Cofunded by the European Union (ERC, ISM-FLOW, 101055318). Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Research at Perimeter Institute is supported in part by the Government of Canada through the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and by the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
Facilities
VLA - Very Large Array.
Software References
Astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2013, 2018, 2022), CASA (CASA Team et al. 2022), Matplotlib (J. D. Hunter 2007), NumPy (C. R. Harris et al. 2020), PyGEDM (D. C. Price et al. 2021), RM-CLEAN (G. Heald et al. 2009), RM-synthesis (M. A. Brentjens & A. G. de Bruyn 2005), RM-tools (C. R. Purcell et al. 2020), SciPy (P. Virtanen et al. 2020).
Files
Pandhi_2025_ApJ_982_146.pdf
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Additional details
Related works
- Is new version of
- Discussion Paper: arXiv:2502.12263 (arXiv)
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- RGPIN-2022-03163
- Canada Research Chairs
- Dutch Research Council
- VI.Veni.222.295
- Comunidad de Madrid
- 2022-T1/TIC-23797
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- PID2023-146372OB-I00
- European Research Council
- 101055318
Dates
- Accepted
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2025-02-14
- Available
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2025-03-26Published