Making use of exponential increases in computing power, radio astronomers have been able to search larger areas of the sky at high time and frequency resolution. These surveys facilitate the studies of radio transients, particularly contributing to the thriving investigation of fast radio bursts (FRBs), enigmatic radio bursts observable at cosmological distances. I will provide an overview of the current comprehension of FRB origins, delineate persisting mysteries, and outline prospective avenues for further exploration. The augmented observation bandwidth and frequency resolution also present unprecedented opportunities to scrutinize highly chromatic propagation effects. With the radio transients as background sources, we can probe matter distribution and small-scale magnetic structures in the foreground.
BIO
Dr. Dongzi Li is a Lyman Spitzer, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton. She obtained her PhD from the University of Toronto in 2021 and was a Sherman Fairchild Postdoc Fellow at Caltech 2020-2023. She works on the theory, observation and modelling of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), pulsars, as well as using them to probe cosmic matter distribution and magnetic structures.
Host: Shude Mao
