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Da-Bin Lin

Publications and source records attributed to Da-Bin Lin.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Revisit the Emission Polarization of the Internal-shock for the blazars' Jet

Recent Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observations of blazars tend to support the shock model for the X-ray emission, but report a low polarization degree ($Π\sim 10\%$) in X-rays compared with the previous theoretical expectations in the shock model. In order to reconcile the theoretical expectations with observations, we revisit the polarization of the shock emission by considering different kind of direction distribution for the shock-generated magnetic fields (sgMFs). Here, $w'_{\rm sg}\propto(\sinθ')^{ζ_{\rm sg}}$ with $θ'=0$ along the shock normal direction is used to describe the direction distribution of the sgMFs in the shock co-moving frame. It is found that the polarization in the X-ray and radio emission for a general jet in blazars can be described as $Π\sim 44.5[1-\exp(-ζ_{\rm sg}/2.6)]\%$ and $Π\sim 20[1-\exp(-ζ_{\rm sg}/2.4)]\%$, respectively. Correspondingly, one can have $ζ_{\rm sg}\sim 1-1.5$ according to the IXPE observations. Besides the sgMFs, the magnetic fields generated by the Richmyer-Meshkov instability (rmMFs) is supposed to present in the jets. The direction of the rmMFs is mainly distributed along the shock normal in the simulations and thus $w'_{\rm rm}\propto(\cos θ')^{ζ_{\rm rm}}$ is adopted to describe the direction distribution of rmMFs. We find that the rmMFs is likely to significantly affect the polarization properties at the low-frequency emission, especially when the sgMFs decay rapidly. Based on the contemporaneous radio and X-ray observations, we find the the emission of the electrons in the rmMFs make a significant contribution in the low-frequency emission and the the ordered background magnetic fields (obMFs) can be neglected.

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Searching for Associations Between Short Gamma-ray Bursts and Fast Radio Burst

The physical origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs) is still unclear. However, young magnetars associated with short-duration gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) have been thought to be possible central engines for some FRBs. In this paper, we perform a systematic search for SGRBs that are associated with FRBs in a sample including 623 FRBs (601 one-off bursts and 22 repeaters) and 168 SGRBs with precise localizations. We find that FRB 190309A is spatially associated with GRB 060502B, with a chance probability of 0.05 when temporal and redshift information is taken into account. Considering the high chance probability (the statistical significance is < 3σ), we examine other observational properties such as the host galaxy, the dispersion measure, and the energy budget of the central engine to check the possibility of their association. Although the available observational information is insufficient to determine whether they are physically associated, it does not rule out such a possibility. As the only pair of FRB and GRB that are spatially associated, it remains an interesting case worthy of further attention

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Event Rate of Fast Radio Burst from Binary Neutron-star Mergers

It is proposed that one-off fast radio burst (FRB) with periodic structures may be produced during the inspiral phase of a binary neutron-star (BNS) merger. In this paper, we study the event rate of such kind of FRB. We first investigate the properties of two one-off FRBs with periodic structures (i.e., FRB~20191221A and FRB~20210213A) in this scenario, by assuming the fast magnetosonic wave is responsible for their radio emission. For the luminosities and periods of these bursts, it is found that the pre-merger BNS with magnetic field strength $B\gtrsim 10^{12}\,{\rm Gs}$ is required. This is relatively high compared with that of the most of the BNSs observed in our Galaxy, of which the magnetic field is around $10^{9}\,{\rm Gs}$. Since the observed BNSs in our Galaxy are the binaries without suffering merger, a credited event rate of BNS-merger originated FRBs should be estimated by considering the evolution of both the BNS systems and their magnetic fields. Based on the population synthesis and adopting a decaying magnetic field of NSs, we estimate the event rate of BNS-mergers relative to their final magnetic fields. We find that the rapid merged BNSs tend to merge with high magnetization, and the event rate of BNS-merger originated FRBs, i.e., the BNS-mergers with both NSs' magnetic field being higher than $10^{12}\,{\rm Gs}$ is $\sim8\times10^{4}\,\rm{yr}^{-1}$ ($19 \%$ of the total BNS-mergers) in redshift $z<1$.

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Detection of Quasi-periodic Oscillations in SGR 150228213

The detection of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in magnetar giant flares (GFs) has brought a new perspective to study the mechanism of magnetar bursts. Due to the scarcity of GFs, searching QPOs from magnetar short bursts is reasonable. Here we report the detection of a high frequency QPO at approximately 110 Hz and a wide QPO at approximately 60 Hz in a short magnetar burst SGR 150228213, with a confidence level of 3.35$σ$. This burst was initially attributed to 4U 0142+61 by $Fermi$/GBM on location, but we haven't detected such QPOs in other bursts from this magnetar. We also found that there was a repeating fast radio burst associated with SGR 150228213 on location. Finally, we discuss the possible origins of SGR 150228213.

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Comparing hierarchical black hole mergers in star clusters and active galactic nuclei

Star clusters (SCs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are promising sites for the occurrence of hierarchical black hole (BH) mergers. We use simple models to compare hierarchical BH mergers in two of the dynamical formation channels. We find that the primary mass distribution of hierarchical mergers in AGNs is higher than that in SCs, with the peaks of $\sim$$50\,M_{\odot}$ and $\sim$$13\,M_{\odot}$, respectively. The effective spin ($χ_{\rm eff}$) distribution of hierarchical mergers in SCs is symmetrical around zero as expected and $\sim$$50\%$ of the mergers have $|χ_{\rm eff}|>0.2$. The distribution of $χ_{\rm eff}$ in AGNs is narrow and prefers positive values with the peak of $χ_{\rm eff}\ge0.3$ due to the assistance of AGN disks. BH hierarchical growth efficiency in AGNs, with at least $\sim$$30\%$ of mergers being hierarchies, is much higher than the efficiency in SCs. Furthermore, there are obvious differences in the mass ratios and effective precession parameters of hierarchical mergers in SCs and AGNs. We argue that the majority of the hierarchical merger candidates detected by LIGO-Virgo may originate from the AGN channel as long as AGNs get half of the hierarchical merger rate.

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GRB 200829A: External Shock Origin of the Very Early Prompt Emission?

Long-duration GRB~200829A was detected by Fermi-GBM and Swift-BAT/XRT, and then rapidly observed by other ground-based telescopes. It has a weak $γ$-ray emission in the very early phase and followed by a bright spiky $γ$-ray emission pulse. The radiation spectrum of the very early emission is best fitted by a power-law function with index $\sim -1.7$. However, the bright spiky $γ$-ray pulse, especially the time around the peak, exhibits a distinct two-component radiation spectra, i.e., Band function combined with a blackbody radiation spectrum. We infer the photospheric properties and reveal a medium magnetization at photospheric position by adopting the initial size of the outflow as $r_0=10^9$~cm. It implies that Band component in this pulse may be formed during the dissipation of magnetic field. The power-law radiation spectra found in the very early prompt emission may imply the external-shock origination of this phase. Then, we perform Markov Chain Monte Carlo method fitting on the light-curves of this burst, where the jet corresponding to the $γ$-ray pulses at around $20$~s is used to refresh the external-shock. It is shown that the light-curves of very early phase and X-ray afterglow after $40$~s, involving the X-ray bump at around $100$~s, can be well modelled in the external-shock scenario. For the obtained initial outflow, we estimate the minimum magnetization factor of the jet based on the fact that the photospheric emission of this jet is missed in the very early phase.

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Jets in a Gamma-Ray Burst During its Prompt Emission: Evolution of Lorentz Factor

Knowledge about the Lorentz factor and its evolution of relativistic jets in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is crucial to understand their physics. An exact value of bulk Lorentz factor can be estimated based on a high-energy spectral cutoff, which may appear in GRBs' prompt emission owing to the absorption of photon-photon pair production. In this work, we focus on the investigation of the bulk Lorentz factor evolution of jets in an individual burst. Based on \textsl{Fermi} observations, we search for the bursts with multiple $γ$-ray pulses characterized by a high-energy spectral cutoff, and nine GRBs are obtained. Together with the estimation of the pulse duration and radiation spectrum, the Lorentz factor of jets corresponding to different pulses in an individual GRB are estimated. It is shown that the Lorentz factor of jets in an individual GRB fluctuates within a certain range and without a general trend in these nine GRBs. In addition, the Lorentz factors of the jets in GRBs~130821A, 160509A and 160625B seem to increase with time. We also study the relations among $L_{\rm iso }$, $E_{\rm p,z}$, and $Γ$ for the pulses in our sample, which is found to be consistent with that found in previous works.

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Fermi Observations of GRB 220426A: a burst similar to GRB 090902B

We report on a very bright, long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB), GRB~220426A, observed by \emph{Fermi} satellite. GRB~220426A with total duration of $T_{90}=6$~s is composed with two main pulses and some sub-peaks. The spectral analysis of this burst with Band function reveals that both the time-integrated and the time-resolved spectra are very narrow with high $α\gtrsim 0.2$ and low $β\lesssim -3.1$. It is strong reminiscent of GRB~090902B, a special GRB with identification of the photospheric emission. Then, we perform the spectral analysis of this burst based on a non-dissipated photospheric emission, which can be well modelled as the multicolor-blackbody with a cutoff power-law distribution of the thermal temperature. The spectral fittings reveal that the photospheric emission can well describe the radiation spectrum of this burst. We conclude that this burst would be a second burst in the class of GRB~090902B observed by \emph{Fermi} satellite. We also discuss the physics of photosphere and the origin of the high-energy component in GRB~220426A .

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GRB 101225A as Orphan Dipole Radiation of a Newborn Magnetar with Precession Rotation in an Off-Axis Gamma-Ray Burst

The unusual multiwavelength lightcurves of GRB 101225A are revisited by assuming that it is from an off-axis GRB powered by a newborn magnetar. We show that its optical afterglow lightcurve is fitted with the forward shock model by parameterizing its jet structure as a Gaussian function with a half opening angle of the jet core as $1.67^{\rm o}$. The derived initial Lorentz factor ($Γ_0$) is 120, and the viewing angle to the jet axis is $θ_v=3.7^{\rm o}$. Tentative QPO signatures of $P=488$ seconds and $P=250\sim 300$ seconds are found with a confidence level of 90\% by analysing its X-ray flares observed in the time interval of $[4900,\ 7500]$ seconds. Its global gamma-ray/X-ray lightcurve and the QPO signatures are represented with the magnetar dipole radiation (DR) model by considering the magnetar precession motion, assuming that the magnetar spindown is dominated by the GW emission. The bulk Lorentz factor of the DR ejecta is limited to 8, being much lower than $Γ_0$. Comparing GRB 101225A with the extremely off-axis GRB 170817A, we suspect that the nature of the two-component jet in GRB 170817A is a combination of a co-axial GRB jet and a DR ejecta. GRB 101225A would be among the brightest ones of the CDF-S XT2 like X-ray transient population driven by newborn magnetars. Discussion on detectability of its gravitational wave emission is also presented.

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Gamma-Ray Emission Produced by $r$-process Elements from Neutron Star Mergers

The observation of a radioactively powered kilonova AT~2017gfo associated with the gravitational wave-event GW170817 from binary neutron star merger proves that these events are ideal sites for the production of heavy $r$-process elements. The gamma-ray photons produced by the radioactive decay of heavy elements are unique probes for the detailed nuclide compositions. Basing on the detailed $r$-process nucleosynthesis calculations and considering radiative transport calculations for the gamma-rays in different shells, we study the gamma-ray emission in a merger ejecta on a timescale of a few days. It is found that the total gamma-ray energy generation rate evolution is roughly depicted as $\dot{E}\propto t^{-1.3}$. For the dynamical ejecta with a low electron fraction ($Y_{\rm e}\lesssim0.20$), the dominant contributors of gamma-ray energy are the nuclides around the second $r$-process peak ($A\sim130$), and the decay chain of $^{132}$Te ($t_{1/2}=3.21$~days) $\rightarrow$ $^{132}$I ($t_{1/2}=0.10$~days) $\rightarrow$ $^{132}$Xe produces gamma-ray lines at $228$ keV, $668$ keV, and $773$ keV. For the case of a wind ejecta with $Y_{\rm e}\gtrsim0.30$, the dominant contributors of gamma-ray energy are the nuclides around the first $r$-process peak ($A\sim80$), and the decay chain of $^{72}$Zn ($t_{1/2}=1.93$~days) $\rightarrow$ $^{72}$Ga ($t_{1/2}=0.59$~days) $\rightarrow$ $^{72}$Ge produces gamma-ray lines at $145$ keV, $834$ keV, $2202$ keV, and $2508$ keV. The peak fluxes of these lines are $10^{-9}\sim 10^{-7}$~ph~cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, which are marginally detectable with the next-generation MeV gamma-ray detector \emph{ETCC} if the source is at a distance of $40$~Mpc.

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Late Afterglow Bump/Plateau around the Jet Break: Signature of a free-to-shocked wind Environment in Gamma-ray Burst

A number of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) exhibit the late simultaneous bumps in their optical and Xray afterglows around the jet break. Its origin is unclear. Based on the following two facts, we suggest that this feature may sound a transition of circum-burst environment from a free-wind medium to a homogeneous medium. (I) The late bump followed by a steep decay is strongly reminiscent of the afterglows of GRB 170817A, which is attributed to an off-axis observed external-forward shock (eFS) propagating in an interstellar medium. (II) Observations seem to feature a long shallow decay before the late optical bump, which is different from the afterglow of GRB 170817A. In this paper, we study the emission of an eFS propagating in a free-to-shocked wind for on/off-axis observers, where the mass density in the shocked-wind is almost constant. The late simultaneous bumps/plateaux in the optical and X-ray afterglows are really found around the jet break for high-viewing-angle observers. Moreover, there is a long plateau or shallow decay before the late bump in the theoretical light-curves, which is formed during the eFS propagating in the free-wind. For low-viewing-angle observers, the above bumps appear only in the situation that the structured jet has a low characteristic angle and the deceleration radius of the on-axis jet flow is at around or beyond the free-wind boundary. As examples, the X-ray and optical afterglows of GRBs 120326A, 120404A, and 100814A are fitted. We find that an off-axis observed eFS in a free-to-shocked wind can well explain the afterglows in these bursts.

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Electron Spectrum for the Prompt Emission of Gamma-ray Bursts in the Synchrotron Radiation Scenario

Growing evidence indicates that the synchrotron radiation mechanism may be responsible for the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In the synchrotron radiation scenario, the electron energy spectrum of the prompt emission is diverse in theoretical works and has not been estimated from observations in a general way (i.e., without specifying a certain physical model for the electron spectrum). In this paper, we creatively propose a method to directly estimate the electron spectrum for the prompt emission, without specifying a certain physical model for the electron spectrum in the synchrotron radiation scenario. In this method, an empirical function (i.e., a four-order Bezier curve jointed with a linear function at high-energy) is applied to describe the electron spectrum in log-log coordinate. It is found that our empirical function can well mimic the electron spectra obtained in many numerical calculations or simulations. Then, our method can figure out the electron spectrum for the prompt emission without specifying a model. By employing our method on observations, taking GRB 180720B and GRB 160509A as examples, it is found that the obtained electron spectra are generally different from that in the standard fast-cooling scenario and even a broken power law. Moreover, the morphology of electron spectra in its low-energy regime varies with time in a burst and even in a pulse. Our proposed method provides a valuable way to confront the synchrotron radiation mechanism with observations.

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Contribution of dark matter annihilation to gamma-ray burst afterglows near massive galaxy centers

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are believed to be powered by ultrarelativistic jets. If these jets encounter and accelerate excess electrons and positrons produced by particle dark matter (DM) annihilation, the observed electromagnetic radiation would be enhanced. In this paper, we study GRB afterglow emission with the presence of abundant DM under the weakly interacting massive particle annihilation conditions. We calculate the light curves and spectra of the GRB afterglows with different parameters, i.e., DM density, particle DM mass, annihilation channel, and electron density of the interstellar medium. We find that the effect of DM may become noticeable in the afterglow spectra if the circumburst has a low electron number density ($n \lesssim 0.1~\rm cm^{-3}$) and if the DM has a high number density ($ρ_χ\gtrsim 10^3~\rm GeV~cm^{-3}$). According to the standard galaxy DM density profile, GRB afterglows with DM contribution might occur at distances of several to tens of parsecs from the centers of massive galaxies.

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Constraining the Jet Launching Time of GRB 170817A by Utilizing the Baryon Loading

The observed delay of GRB 170817A relative to GW170817 carries significant information about gamma-ray burst (GRB) physics and is subject to intense debate. In this letter, we put forward an approach to discuss the major source of this time delay. First of all, we use the structured jet model to fit the X-ray/optical/radio afterglows of GRB 170817A together with superluminal motion measured by the Very Long Baseline Interferometry. Our structured jet is modelled with angle-dependent energy and baryon loading. It is found that our model can well fit the afterglows of GRB 170817A. After that, the baryon loading in the jet is inferred based on our fitting results. By comparing the baryon loading to the mass outflow in different stages, we infer that the time lag of the jet launch relative to the merger is less than hundreds or tens of milliseconds. It suggests that the time delay of GRB 170817A relative to GW170817 is defined mostly by the spreading time of the jet propagating to its dissipation radius.

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GRB 140423A: A Case of Stellar Wind to Interstellar Medium Transition in the Afterglow

We present very early ground-based optical follow-up observations of GRB~140423A, which was discovered by \emph{Swift}/BAT and by {\it Fermi}/GBM. Its broadband afterglow was monitored by {\it Swift}/XRT and ground-based optical telescopes from $T_0+$70.96~s to 4.8~d after the {\it Swift}/BAT trigger. This is one more case of prompt optical emission observation. The temporal and spectral joint fit of the multiwavelength light curves of GRB 140423A reveals that achromatic behavior is consistent with the external shock model including a transition from a stellar wind to the interstellar medium (ISM) and energy injection. In terms of the optical light curves, there is an onset bump in the early afterglow with a rising index $α_{\rm O,I} = -0.59 \pm 0.04$ (peaking at $t_{\rm peak}-T_0 \approx 206$~s). It then decays with a steep index $α_{\rm O,II} = 1.78 \pm 0.03$, and shows a steeper to flatter "transition" with $α_{\rm O,III} = 1.13 \pm 0.03$ at around $T_0 + 5000$~s. The observed X-ray afterglow reflects an achromatic behavior, as does the optical light curve. There is no obvious evolution of the spectral energy distribution between the X-ray and optical afterglow, with an average value of the photon index $Γ\approx 1.95$. This "transition" is consistent with an external shock model having the circumburst medium transition from a wind to the ISM, by introducing a long-lasting energy injection with a Lorentz factor stratification of the ejecta. The best parameters from Monte Carlo Markov Chain fitting are $E_{\rm K,iso} \approx 2.14\times10^{55}$ erg, $Γ_0 \approx 162$, $ε_e \approx 0.02$, $ε_B \approx 1.7\times10^{-6}$, $A_\ast \approx 1.0$, $R_t \approx 4.1\times10^{17}$ cm, $n \approx 11.0 \rm\ cm^{-3}$, $L_0 \approx 3.1\times10^{52} \rm\ erg\ s^{-1}$, $k \approx 1.98$, $s \approx 1.54$, and $θ_j > 0.3$ rad.

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Photospheric Emission in Gamma-ray Bursts: Variability

It is generally believed that the variability of photospheric emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) traces that of the jet power. This work further investigates the variability of photospheric emission in a variable jet. By setting a constant $η$ (dimensionless entropy of the jet), we find that the light curve of the photospheric emission shows a ``tracking'' pattern on the time profile of jet power. However, the relative variability is significantly low in the photospheric emission compared with that in the jet power. If the $η$ is genetic variable, the variability of the photospheric emission is not only limited by the jet power but also affected by $η$ strongly. It becomes complex and is generally different from that of the jet power. Moreover, the opposite phase may stand in the variabilities of the photospheric emission at different photon energies. We also find that the relative variability does not remain constant over the photon energies with an obvious reduction at a certain energy. This is consistent with the analysis of GRB 090902B in which an appreciable thermal component has been detected in a wide energy range. For several other GRBs coupling with the thermal component, we conservatively evaluate the variability of the thermal and non-thermal emission, respectively. Our results show that the relative variability of the thermal emission is likely comparable to that of the non-thermal emission for these bursts. In addition, the analysis of GRB~120323A reveals that the variability of the photospheric emission may be of the opposite phase from that of the non-thermal emission.

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Early Optical Observations of GRB 150910A: Bright Jet Optical Afterglow and X-ray Dipole Radiation from a Magnetar Central Engine

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 150910A was detected by {\it Swift}/BAT, and then rapidly observed by {\it Swift}/XRT, {\it Swift}/UVOT, and ground-based telescopes. We report Lick Observatory spectroscopic and photometric observations of GRB~150910A, and we investigate the physical origins of both the optical and X-ray afterglows, incorporating data obtained with BAT and XRT. The light curves show that the jet emission episode lasts $\sim 360$~s with a sharp pulse from BAT to XRT (Episode I). In Episode II, the optical emission has a smooth onset bump followed by a normal decay ($α_{\rm R,2} \approx -1.36$), as predicted in the standard external shock model, while the X-ray emission exhibits a plateau ($α_{\rm X,1} \approx -0.36$) followed by a steep decay ($α_{\rm X,2} \approx -2.12$). The light curves show obvious chromatic behavior with an excess in the X-ray flux. Our results suggest that GRB 150910A is an unusual GRB driven by a newly-born magnetar with its extremely energetic magnetic dipole (MD) wind in Episode II, which overwhelmingly dominates the observed early X-ray plateau. The radiative efficiency of the jet prompt emission is $η_γ \approx 11\%$. The MD wind emission was detected in both the BAT and XRT bands, making it the brightest among the current sample of MD winds seen by XRT. We infer the initial spin period ($P_0$) and the surface polar cap magnetic field strength ($B_p$) of the magnetar as $1.02 \times 10^{15}~{\rm G} \leq B_{p} \leq 1.80 \times 10^{15}~{\rm G}$ and 1~ms $\leq P_{0}v\leq 1.77$~ms, and the radiative efficiency of the wind is $η_w \geq 32\%$.

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Is GRB 110715A the progenitor of FRB 171209?

The physical origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs) is unknown. Young magnetars born from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been suggested to be a possible central engine of FRBs. We test such a hypothesis by systematically searching for GRB-FRB spatial associations from 110 FRBs and 1440 GRBs. We find that one FRB event, FRB 171209, discovered by the Parkes telescope is spatially coincident with a historical long-duration GRB 110715A at $z=0.82$. The afterglow of GRB 110715A is consistent with being powered by a millisecond magnetar. The extragalactic dispersion measure of FRB 171209 is in excess of that contributed by the intergalactic medium, which can be interpreted as being contributed by a young supernova remnant associated with the GRB. Overall, the significance of the association is $(2.28 - 2.55) σ$. If the association is indeed physical, our result suggests that the magnetars associated with long GRBs can be the progenitors of at least some FRBs.

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