Decadal evolution of a repeating fast radio burst source

Decadal evolution of a repeating fast radio burst source | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Decadal evolution of a repeating fast radio burst source Di Li, P. Wang, Junshuo Zhang, Yuan-Pei Yang, Dengke Zhou, Yongkun Zhang, and 45 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5854536/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs), the brightest cosmic radio explosions, is still unknown 1–3 . Bearing critical clues to FRBs’ origin, the long-term evolution of FRBs has yet to be con- firmed, since the field is still young and most FRBs were seen only once. Here we report clear evidence of decadal evolution of FRB 20121102A, the first precisely localized repeater. In conjunction with archival data, our FAST and GBT monitoring campaign since 2020 reveals a significant ∼7% decline of local dispersion measure (DM). The rotation measure (RM) of 30,755±16 rad m −2 detected in the last epoch represents a 70% decrease compared to that from December 20165 . The σ RM parameter, which describes the complexity of the magneto-ionic environment surrounding the source, was shown to have decreased by 13%. These general trends reveal an evolving FRB environment, which could originate from an early-phase su- pernova associated with an enhanced pair wind from the FRB central engine. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Transient astrophysical phenomena Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/High-energy astrophysics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5854536","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":434877651,"identity":"ec1b8609-0bec-446d-a68c-dc20f8e6dba2","order_by":0,"name":"Di Li","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDCCw8wNBz4wMPCAERAwNhDWwthwcEYCSVoOMDYw8ySAWMRq4TvO2HjY9kedjDn/2mMSPxhsZDccYH72AJ8WSaDDDuckHOaxnPEuTbKHIc14wwE2cwN8WgwgWg7wGNw4YybBw3A4ccMBHjYJglosEurAWiT/MPwnUgtDAjOPwfkeM2kehgOEtYD8crAn7TDQFh5jaxmDZOOZh9nM8GrhO3/48IcfNnX2BufPGN58U2En23e8+RleLQggkQByJxAzE6ceCPgPEK10FIyCUTAKRhgAAKngTDOSX6CDAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3010-7661","institution":"Tsinghua University; National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Zhejiang Lab","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Di","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":434877652,"identity":"d7b4bc25-cbb1-4d20-a22a-21ca1bcf40ad","order_by":1,"name":"P. 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Bearing critical clues to FRBs’ origin, the long-term evolution of FRBs has yet to be con- firmed, since the field is still young and most FRBs were seen only once. Here we report clear evidence of decadal evolution of FRB 20121102A, the first precisely localized repeater. In conjunction with archival data, our FAST and GBT monitoring campaign since 2020 reveals a significant ∼7% decline of local dispersion measure (DM). The rotation measure (RM) of 30,755±16 rad m\u003csup\u003e−2\u003c/sup\u003e detected in the last epoch represents a 70% decrease compared to that from December 20165 . The \u003cem\u003eσ\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003eRM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c/em\u003eparameter, which describes the complexity of the magneto-ionic environment surrounding the source, was shown to have decreased by 13%. These general trends reveal an evolving FRB environment, which could originate from an early-phase su- pernova associated with an enhanced pair wind from the FRB central engine.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Decadal evolution of a repeating fast radio burst source","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-03-28 10:04:12","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5854536/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f0f1f223-5be9-401f-a18f-01b6ff2f99f0","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 28th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":46306372,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Transient astrophysical phenomena"},{"id":46306373,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/High-energy astrophysics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-08-15T11:25:41+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-03-28 10:04:12","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5854536","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5854536","identity":"rs-5854536","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}