Blast Waves from Magnetar Flares and Fast Radio Bursts

Understand

Magnetars younger than one century are expected to be hyper active.

• Besides winds powered by rotation they generate frequent magnetic flares, which launch powerful blast waves into the wind.
• These internal shocks act as masers producing fast (millisecond) radio bursts (FRBs) with the following properties.
• (1) GHz radio emission occurs at radii $r\sim 10^{14}$ cm and lasts $\lesssim 1$ ms in observer's time.