ASTRO
In the literature: open
Do all fast radio burst sources eventually repeat?
In plain words
A few sources flash again and again while most have been seen once; they may be two kinds of object or one kind seen at different activity levels.
Precise statement
Determine whether apparently non-repeating FRBs form a distinct population or the low-activity tail of repeaters, using the distribution of per-source burst rates, burst morphology (repeaters are narrower in band and drift downward in frequency), dispersion measures and host properties. Answer: a statistical test on a complete survey sample that rejects a single population or bounds the fraction of truly one-off (cataclysmic) sources.
What would settle it
Multi-year monitoring of a large CHIME/FRB sample that yields the repetition-rate distribution and its correlation with morphology.
Related problems
- Special case of Which astrophysical objects produce fast radio bursts?