Synchronous and Asynchronous X-Ray Monitoring of FRB 20190520B with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

Abstract We report on X-ray limits on observations of FRB 20190520B during simultaneous observations with the Green Bank Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. FRB 20190520B is an outlier in the fast radio burst (FRB) population due to its excess source-local dispersion, its association with compact persistent radio emission, and its high line-of-sight magnetic field variability. One radio burst was detected during the overlapping observing time, and no X-ray emission was detected. We find line-of-sight density and burst duration limits on FRB 20190520B’s X-ray luminosity, interpreting the nondetection in the context of known X-ray populations that might serve as progenitors for FRB 20190520B. We place a direct limit on the presence of a massive black hole (MBH) in this system, limiting mass and the Eddington ratio λ E to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mi>BH</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>4.3</mml:mn> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>0</mml:mn> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:msup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mi>λ</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">E</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:msub> </mml:math> (in a low-density line-of-sight limit) and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mi>BH</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1.8</mml:mn> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>0</mml:mn> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> </mml:msup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mi>λ</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">E</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:msub> </mml:math> (high-density limit). These limits are both inconsistent with the scenario derived by Anna-Thomas et al. in which the FRB is viewed through a MBH wind; however, the model is still allowed if the wind luminosity has an X-ray emission fraction of less than 8%. Our observations would have been sensitive to the brightest ∼15% of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) population and the brightest flares from soft gamma-ray repeaters, but the nondetection is consistent with expectations for SGR 1806-20–like flares, most ULX hypernebula models, and X-ray binaries.