Orbit-induced spin precession as an origin of periodicity in periodically-repeating fast radio bursts

Understand

FRB 180916.J0158+65 has been found to repeatedly emit fast radio bursts with the period in roughly 16 days.

• We propose that such periodicity comes from orbit-induced, spin precession of the emitter, which is possibly a neutron star.
• Depending on the mass of the companion, the binary period ranges from several hundred to thousands of seconds.
• Such tight binaries have a relatively short lifetime, which does not likely come from the gravitational decay of a wide binary.