Triaxial magnetars as sources of fast radio bursts

I suggest that some of the mysterious temporal properties of Fast Radio Bursts (FRB) may be explained if they are produced by dynamically triaxial magnetars. If the bursts are narrowly collimated along open field lines, then observed repeating FRB are those in which the moment of inertia tensor is only slightly triaxial and the rotation axis, open field lines and infrequent radiation (analogous to pulsar giant pulses) point nearly to the observer. In apparently non-repeating FRB these are misaligned and the directions of the open field lines and infrequent radiation wander across the sky as they rotate, reducing their duty factors by several orders of magnitude. In repeaters a triaxial moment tensor moves the radiation pattern into or out of the line of sight on long (precessional) time scales, explaining periods of greater or lesser (or absent) activity..

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Publication Details

Journal
The Open Journal of Astrophysics
Published
2026-05-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.33232/001c.162006
Primary Topic
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Triaxial magnetars as sources of fast radio bursts

Jonathan I Katz
The Open Journal of Astrophysics
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
article

Triaxial magnetars as sources of fast radio bursts

Jonathan I Katz
article en

Abstract

I suggest that some of the mysterious temporal properties of Fast Radio Bursts (FRB) may be explained if they are produced by dynamically triaxial magnetars. If the bursts are narrowly collimated along open field lines, then observed repeating FRB are those in which the moment of inertia tensor is only slightly triaxial and the rotation axis, open field lines and infrequent radiation (analogous to pulsar giant pulses) point nearly to the observer. In apparently non-repeating FRB these are misaligned and the directions of the open field lines and infrequent radiation wander across the sky as they rotate, reducing their duty factors by several orders of magnitude. In repeaters a triaxial moment tensor moves the radiation pattern into or out of the line of sight on long (precessional) time scales, explaining periods of greater or lesser (or absent) activity..

The Open Journal of AstrophysicsVol. 9
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
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