Parkes observations for project P864 semester 2014APRS_01

The Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) discovered in 2007 are the very first detections of extragalactic coherent radio emission. Though similar in nature to the giant single pulses emitted by the Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs) in terms of their cold plasma dispersion sweeps and narrow pulse widths, FRBs have not yet been detected in follow up observations at radio or other wavelengths. Our pilot study will examine the feasibility to determine the Rotation Measures (RM) of moderately bright RRAT single pulses similar to FRBs. Since the FRBs are highly energetic pulses of very short duration, they can be assumed to be polarised. This study to measure single pulse RMs could then open up a whole new possibility to map the extragalactic magnetic field of the Universe through FRB polarimetry. At present, we do not know whether cosmological magnetic fields exist, but the detection of sufficiently strong fields would open up a new observational window into the early Universe. The Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) is believed to be the residing place of the Universe’s missing baryonic matter. If the RM of an FRB can be determined through the diffuse WHIM, it would be the beginning to our understanding of the matter distribution within the cosmic web.