A second-scale periodicity in an active repeating fast radio burst source

A second-scale periodicity in an active 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 A second-scale periodicity in an active repeating fast radio burst source Yong-Feng Huang, Chen Du, Jin-Jun Geng, Hao-Xuan Gao, Li Zhang, and 12 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6032624/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 Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are fierce radio flashes from the deep sky. Abundant observations have indicated that highly magnetized neutron stars might be involved in these energetic bursts, but the underlying trigger mechanism is still enigmatic. Especially, the widely expected periodicity connected to the spin of the central engine has never been discovered, which leads to further debates on the nature of FRBs. Here we report the first discovery of a ～ 1.7 s period in the repeating source of FRB 20201124A. This is an active repeater, from which more than 2800 FRBs have been observed on a total of 49 days. The phase-folding method is adopted to analyze the bursts on each day separately. While no periodical signal is found in all other datasets, a clear periodicity does appear on two specific days, i.e. a period of 1.706015(2) s on MJD 59310, and a slightly larger period of 1.707972(1) s on MJD 59347. A period derivative of 6.14×10 -10 s s -1 can be derived from these two periods, which further implies a surface magnetic field strength of 1.04×10 15 G and a spin-down age of 44 years for the central engine. It is thus concluded that FRB 20201124A should be associated with a young magnetar. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/High-energy astrophysics Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Time-domain astronomy Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Transient astrophysical phenomena 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. 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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-6032624","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":416878560,"identity":"b4df7464-88a6-4e6a-9c34-6ed3bfbbc33d","order_by":0,"name":"Yong-Feng Huang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAArUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwbGhw8YeEDMBKK1MBsbkKzFTALCJFaLuUQyW3WBzGEGfvYcA4afO4jQYjkjme32DJ7DDJI9bwwYe88Q47Ab+cdu8wC1GNzIMWBmbCNKSzJbMUiLPUlamMG2SBCt5cxjZmkennQeiTPPCg72EqXleDLjZ94eazn+9uSND34So4VBIIGBgbEHEpkHiNHAwMAPUveDOLWjYBSMglEwQgEAUM0wB7xTI7oAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7199-2906","institution":"Nanjing University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yong-Feng","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":416878561,"identity":"5d874e5f-481a-48ac-8c7c-938717e5e90c","order_by":1,"name":"Chen Du","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8460-1649","institution":"Nanjing University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chen","middleName":"","lastName":"Du","suffix":""},{"id":416878562,"identity":"fd9e3dd6-b0d6-44ed-b344-748d35e83ca3","order_by":2,"name":"Jin-Jun Geng","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9648-7295","institution":"Purple Mountain Observatory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jin-Jun","middleName":"","lastName":"Geng","suffix":""},{"id":416878563,"identity":"028202ea-0f3e-4f42-b90a-0c48ce724363","order_by":3,"name":"Hao-Xuan Gao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Purple Mountain Observatory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hao-Xuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""},{"id":416878565,"identity":"b53c7cb8-4edc-45d1-883f-4daa1d7d05d0","order_by":4,"name":"Li Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guizhou University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Li","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":416878566,"identity":"4180d2bb-cad1-4078-8cfb-da8b21e20597","order_by":5,"name":"Chen Deng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chen","middleName":"","lastName":"Deng","suffix":""},{"id":416878567,"identity":"81eaaa39-8752-46e9-81d1-5c07b5fa9c17","order_by":6,"name":"Lang Cui","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0721-5509","institution":"Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, CAS","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lang","middleName":"","lastName":"Cui","suffix":""},{"id":416878568,"identity":"dd7fc047-6a01-454d-b727-6a92c6adef61","order_by":7,"name":"Jie Liao","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7562-7720","institution":"Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jie","middleName":"","lastName":"Liao","suffix":""},{"id":416878569,"identity":"b2530f86-6d7c-4314-b21f-71ac8e68d65b","order_by":8,"name":"Peng-Fei Jiang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Peng-Fei","middleName":"","lastName":"Jiang","suffix":""},{"id":416878570,"identity":"52b8f8a8-189b-479a-8d45-ee0a6546344c","order_by":9,"name":"Liang Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guizhou Vocational College of Economics and Business","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Liang","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":416878571,"identity":"401ba41e-2d2b-4e66-8bb8-9fcc0e403725","order_by":10,"name":"P. 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Abundant observations have indicated that highly magnetized neutron stars might be involved in these energetic bursts, but the underlying trigger mechanism is still enigmatic. Especially, the widely expected periodicity connected to the spin of the central engine has never been discovered, which leads to further debates on the nature of FRBs. Here we report the first discovery of a ～ 1.7 s period in the repeating source of FRB 20201124A. This is an active repeater, from which more than 2800 FRBs have been observed on a total of 49 days. The phase-folding method is adopted to analyze the bursts on each day separately. While no periodical signal is found in all other datasets, a clear periodicity does appear on two specific days, i.e. a period of 1.706015(2) s on MJD 59310, and a slightly larger period of 1.707972(1) s on MJD 59347. A period derivative of 6.14×10\u003csup\u003e-10\u003c/sup\u003e s s\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e can be derived from these two periods, which further implies a surface magnetic field strength of 1.04×10\u003csup\u003e15\u003c/sup\u003e G and a spin-down age of 44 years for the central engine. It is thus concluded that FRB 20201124A should be associated with a young magnetar.","manuscriptTitle":"A second-scale periodicity in an active repeating fast radio burst source","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-03-26 01:24:05","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6032624/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":"0487c83e-ca43-4516-9f61-e28968f6ec0a","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 26th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":44444964,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/High-energy astrophysics"},{"id":44444965,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Time-domain astronomy"},{"id":44444966,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Transient astrophysical phenomena"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-25T11:42:23+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-03-26 01:24:05","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6032624","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6032624","identity":"rs-6032624","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}