Constraints on the Photon Mass with Fast Radio Bursts

Understand

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are radio bursts characterized by millisecond durations, high Galactic latitude positions, and high dispersion measures.

• Very recently, the cosmological origin of FRB 150418 has been confirmed by \cite{kea16}, and FRBs are now strong competitors as cosmological probes.
• The simple sharp feature of the FRB signal is ideal for them to probe some of the fundamental laws of physics.
• Here we show that by analyzing the delay time between different frequencies, the FRB data can place stringent upper limits on the rest mass of the photon.