Millisecond Magnetar Birth Connects FRB 121102 to Superluminous Supernovae and Long Duration Gamma-ray Bursts

Understand

Sub-arcsecond localization of the repeating fast radio burst FRB 121102 revealed its coincidence with a dwarf host galaxy and a steady (`quiescent') non-thermal radio source.

• We show that the properties of the host galaxy are consistent with those of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRB) and hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I).
• Both LGRBs and SLSNe-I were previously hypothesized to be powered by the electromagnetic spin-down of newly-formed, strongly-magnetized neutron stars with millisecond birth rotation periods (`millisecond magnetars').
• This motivates considering a scenario whereby the repeated bursts from FRB 121102 originate from a young magnetar remnant embedded within a young hydrogen-poor supernova remnant.