MeerKAT discovery of a hyperactive repeating fast radio burst source

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press 540:2 (2025) 1685-1700

Authors:

J Tian, I Pastor-Marazuela, KM Rajwade, BW Stappers, K Shaji, KY Hanmer, M Caleb, MC Bezuidenhout, F Jankowski, R Breton, ED Barr, M Kramer, PJ Groot, S Bloemen, P Vreeswijk, D Pieterse, PA Woudt, RP Fender, RAD Wijnands, DAH Buckley

Abstract:

We present the discovery and localization of a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source from the MeerTRAP project, a commensal fast radio transient search programme using the MeerKAT telescope. FRB 20240619D was first discovered on 2024 June 19 with three bursts being detected within 2 min in the MeerKAT L band (856–1712 MHz). We conducted follow-up observations of FRB 20240619D with MeerKAT using the Ultra-High Frequency (UHF; MHz), L-band and S-band (1968–2843 MHz) receivers one week after its discovery, and recorded a total of 249 bursts. The MeerKAT-detected bursts exhibit band-limited emission with an average fractional bandwidth of 0.31, 0.34, and 0.48 in the UHF, L-band, and S-band, respectively. We find our observations are complete down to a fluence limit of Jy ms, above which the cumulative burst rate follows a power law with and in the UHF and L band, respectively. The near-simultaneous L-band, UHF, and S-band observations reveal a frequency dependent burst rate with more bursts being detected in the L band than in the UHF and S band, suggesting a spectral turnover in the burst energy distribution of FRB 20240619D. Our polarimetric analysis demonstrates that most of the bursts have linear polarization fractions and circular polarization fractions. We find no optical counterpart of FRB 20240619D in the MeerLICHT optical observations simultaneous to the radio observations and set a fluence upper limit in MeerLICHT’s q band of 0.76 Jy ms and an optical-to-radio fluence ratio limit of 0.034 for a 15 s exposure.

MeerKAT discovery of a hyperactive repeating fast radio burst source

(2025)

Authors:

J Tian, I Pastor-Marazuela, KM Rajwade, BW Stappers, K Shaji, KY Hanmer, M Caleb, MC Bezuidenhout, F Jankowski, R Breton, ED Barr, M Kramer, PJ Groot, S Bloemen, P Vreeswijk, D Pieterse, PA Woudt, RP Fender, RAD Wijnands, DAH Buckley

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: semi-analytic covariance matrices for the DR6 CMB power spectra

Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics IOP Publishing 2025:05 (2025) 015

Authors:

Zachary Atkins, Zack Li, David Alonso, J Richard Bond, Erminia Calabrese, Adriaan J Duivenvoorden, Jo Dunkley, Serena Giardiello, Carlos Hervías-Caimapo, J Colin Hill, Hidde T Jense, Joshua Kim, Thibaut Louis, Kavilan Moodley, Thomas W Morris, Sigurd Naess, Michael D Niemack, Lyman Page, Adrien La Posta, Cristóbal Sifón, Edward J Wollack

Abstract:

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope Data Release 6 (ACT DR6) power spectrum is expected to provide state-of-the-art cosmological constraints, with an associated need for precise error modeling. In this paper we design, and evaluate the performance of, an analytic covariance matrix prescription for the DR6 power spectrum that sufficiently accounts for the complicated ACT map properties. We use recent advances in the literature to handle sharp features in the signal and noise power spectra, and account for the effect of map-level anisotropies on the covariance matrix. In including inhomogeneous survey depth information, the resulting covariance matrix prescription is structurally similar to that used in the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) analysis. We quantify the performance of our prescription using comparisons to Monte Carlo simulations, finding better than 3% agreement. This represents an improvement from a simpler, pre-existing prescription, which differs from simulations by ∼ 16%. We develop a new method to correct the analytic covariance matrix using simulations, after which both prescriptions achieve better than 1% agreement. This correction method outperforms a commonly used alternative, where the analytic correlation matrix is assumed to be accurate when correcting the covariance. Beyond its use for ACT, this framework should be applicable for future high resolution CMB experiments including the Simons Observatory (SO).

Search for vector-like leptons coupling to first- and second-generation Standard Model leptons in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Journal of High Energy Physics Springer 2025:5 (2025) 75

Authors:

G Aad, E Aakvaag, B Abbott, S Abdelhameed, K Abeling, NJ Abicht, SH Abidi, M Aboelela, A Aboulhorma, H Abramowicz, Y Abulaiti, BS Acharya, A Ackermann, C Adam Bourdarios, L Adamczyk, SV Addepalli, MJ Addison, J Adelman, A Adiguzel, T Adye, AA Affolder, Y Afik, MN Agaras, A Aggarwal

Abstract:

A search for pair production of vector-like leptons coupling to first- and second-generation Standard Model leptons is presented. The search is based on a dataset of proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. Events are categorised depending on the flavour and multiplicity of leptons (electrons or muons), as well as on the scores of a deep neural network targeting particular signal topologies according to the decay modes of the vector-like leptons. In each of the signal regions, the scalar sum of the transverse momentum of the leptons and the missing transverse momentum is analysed. The main background processes are estimated using dedicated control regions in a simultaneous fit with the signal regions to data. No significant excess above the Standard Model background expectation is observed and limits are set at 95% confidence level on the production cross-sections of vector-like electrons and muons as a function of the vector-like lepton mass, separately for SU(2) doublet and singlet scenarios. The resulting mass lower limits are 1220 GeV (1270 GeV) and 320 GeV (400 GeV) for vector-like electrons (muons) in the doublet and singlet scenarios, respectively.

Super-SNID : an expanded set of SNID classes and templates for the new era of wide-field surveys

(2025)

Authors:

Dylan Magill, Michael D Fulton, Matt Nicholl, Stephen J Smartt, Charlotte R Angus, Shubham Srivastav, Ken W Smith