FRBs Backlighting Halos

Fast radio bursts are ubiquitous pencil-beam probes of galaxy halos and the cosmic web.

These remarkable transients hold the promise to reveal key properties of galaxies' gaseous environments, the circumgalactic medium. Much of my work is devoted to developing the methods and theory necessary to make this a reality. Below are a few studies I led along these lines.

Radio Scattering Horizons

Ocker et al. 2022: Forecasts the horizons to which FRBs will be detectable, based on semi-analytic modeling of the electron density distribution along FRBs' entire sightlines.

Circumgalactic Turbulence

Ocker et al. 2025: Presents a framework for using quasars and FRBs in tandem to reveal the energetics of the circumgalactic medium at sub-au scales.

Milky Way Halo

Ocker et al. 2021: Constrains the strength of density fluctuations in the Galactic halo and shows that galaxy halos contribute negligibly to FRB scattering.