Paper

A first measurement of baryonic feedback with Fast Radio Bursts

Hagstotz, Steffen, Reischke, Robert

2025

Overview

Baryonic feedback fundamentally alters the total matter distribution on small to intermediate cosmological scales, posing a significant challenge for contemporary cosmological analyses. Direct tracers of the baryon distribution are therefore key for unearthing cosmological information buried under astrophysical effects. Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) have emerged as a novel and direct probe of baryons, tracing the integrated ionised electron density along the line-of-sight, quantified by the dispersion measure (DM). The scatter of the DM as a function of redshift provides insight into the lumpiness of the electron distribution and, consequently, baryonic feedback processes. Using a model calibrated to the BAHAMAS hydrodynamical simulation suite, we forward-model the statistical properties of the DM with redshift. Applying this model to approximately 100 localised FRBs, we constrain the governing feedback parameter, \\( T_AGN\\). Our findings represent the first measurement of baryonic feedback using FRBs, demonstrating a strong rejection of no-feedback scenarios at greater than \\(99.7\\,\\%\\) confidence (\\(3\\)), depending on the FRB sample. We find that FRBs prefer fairly strong feedback, similar to other measurements of the baryon distribution, via the thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. The results are robust against sightline correlations and modelling assumptions. We emphasise the importance of accurate calibration of the host galaxy and Milky Way contributions to the DM. Furthermore, we discuss implications for future FRB surveys and necessary improvements to current models to ensure accurate fitting of upcoming data, particularly that from low-redshift FRBs.

• Publisher: Cornell University Library, arXiv.org
• Subject: Active galactic nuclei / Baryons / Electron density / Electron distribution / Feedback / Line of sight / Radio bursts / Red shift