Circular polarization of fast radio bursts by asymmetric erosion in longitudinally magnetized plasma

ABSTRACT Magnetars are likely to be the origin of all fast radio bursts. The recent detection of circularly polarized bursts suggests that they might be generated deep inside magnetar magnetospheres. However, the mechanism behind the circular polarization remains uncertain. Here, we study the propagation of an intense radio pulse in a longitudinally magnetized electron-dominant plasma by particle-in-cell simulations. When the field strength of the radio pulse exceeds the background magnetic field, it can excite a non-linear plasma wakefield and continually erodes due to energy transfer to the wake. Along the magnetic field, the plasma wakefield launched by the right-circularly polarized pulse is much stronger and more non-linear than that by the left-circularly polarized pulse. Hence, the depletion rates of the two circularly polarized modes are significantly different. We discover that this asymmetric erosion can generate circularly polarized modes from a linearly polarized pulse at relativistic intensities, even when the cyclotron frequency is much higher than the radio frequency. Finally, we present a proof-of-principle simulation to demonstrate the generation of circular polarization by this magneto-induced asymmetric erosion in the non-uniform environment of magnetar magnetospheres.