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Astrophysical transients are a class of variable sources often associated with some of the most cataclysmic phenomena in the universe, such as compact object (neutron stars and black holes) mergers and explosions of massive stars. Radio studies of transients uniquely unveil key information on the physics at play in these events, as well as important clues on the properties of their surroundings; complementing what we can learn from observations in other wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio transients can be classified into two broad categories : incoherent or slow (e.g. supernovae, counterparts to gravitational wave events etc.); and coherent or fast (e.g. rotating radio transients and fast radio bursts). First, I will focus on some interesting physical insights we can obtain from radio observations of a few interesting incoherent transients namely, the radio afterglow from the binary neutron star merger event, GW170817; and a peculiar rebrightening of the radio afterglow of core-collapse supernova, SN2004dk. Following this, I will introduce fast radio bursts (FRBs), which are extremely bright extra-galactic pulses of radio light, discuss my work on FRBs, highlighting how follow-up observations, especially in the radio wavelengths, will help us in understanding these sources better.
Colloquium Committee