One-off and Repeating Fast Radio Bursts: A Statistical Analysis

Abstract

According to the number of detected bursts, fast radio bursts (FRBs) can be classified into two categories, i.e., one-off FRBs and repeating ones. We make a statistical comparison of these two categories based on the first FRB catalog of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst Project. Using the Anderson–Darling, Kolmogorov–Smirnov, and Energy statistic tests, we find significant statistical differences (p-value < 0.001) in the burst properties between the one-off FRBs and the repeating ones. More specifically, after controlling for distance, we find that the peak luminosities of one-off FRBs are, on average, higher than the repeating ones; the pulse temporal widths of repeating FRBs are, on average, longer than the one-off ones. The differences indicate that these two categories could have distinct physical origins. Moreover, we discuss the subpopulations of FRBs and provide statistical evidence to support the existence of subpopulations in one-off FRBs and in repeating ones.