Investigating the nature of Peculiar Supernovae and Fast Radio Bursts via their multi-wavelength properties and environments

Abstract

Transient astronomical sources offer new ways to explore phenomena such as the origins of black holes, fast radio bursts, the nature of supernova explosions, the mechanisms driving gamma-ray bursts, and the role of mergers in producing gravitational waves. Two peculiar classes of transients, fast radio bursts (FRBs) and superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), have uncertain origins, prompting ongoing research into their multi-wavelength properties and environments. FRBs are powerful, millisecond-long bursts of radio waves from outside the Milky Way Galaxy. At the same time, some supernovae—particularly SLSNe—are much brighter than standard models predict, and their power sources remain poorly understood. This thesis seeks to advance our understanding of the nature of these two phenomena. Using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment for Fast Radio Burst telescope data and complementary data from imaging telescopes, I identified likely host galaxies for three FRBs, revealing star-forming galaxies in early-type and transitional evolutionary stages as common FRB hosts. Additionally, a search for persistent radio sources (PRS) associated with repeating FRBs found that most repeating FRBs lack detectable PRSs. However, two new candidates' PRSs were identified and may align with magnetar or hypernebula models.For SLSNe, I analyzed multi-wavelength data from a luminous interacting supernova, PS1-11aop, discovered by the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. I then performed a detailed study of PS1-11aop, unveiling a dense shell surrounding the progenitor star and hinting at a significant mass loss before its explosion. Overall, this work advances our understanding of FRBs and SLSNe, exploring possible formation channels and progenitors while shedding light on the mass-loss mechanisms of supernova progenitors.