High Time Resolution Search for Prompt Radio Emission from the Long GRB 210419A with the Murchison Widefield Array

We present a low-frequency (170–200 MHz) search for prompt radio emission associated with the long GRB 210419A using the rapid-response mode of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), triggering observations with the Voltage Capture System (VCS) for the first time. The MWA began observing GRB 210419A within 89 s of its detection by Swift, enabling us to capture any dispersion delayed signal emitted by this GRB for a typical range of redshifts. We conducted a standard single pulse search with a temporal and spectral resolution of 100 μs and 10 kHz over a broad range of dispersion measures from 1 to 5000 pc cm−3, but none were detected. However, fluence upper limits of 77–224 Jy ms derived over a pulse width of 0.5–10 ms and a redshift of 0.6 < z < 4 are some of the most stringent at low radio frequencies. We compared these fluence limits to the GRB jet-interstellar medium (ISM) interaction model, placing constraints on the fraction of magnetic energy (εB ≲ [0.05–0.1]). We also searched for signals during the X-ray flaring activity of GRB 210419A on minute timescales in the image domain and found no emission, resulting in an intensity upper limit of 0.57 Jy beam−1, corresponding to a constraint of εB ≲ 10−3. Our non-detection could imply that GRB 210419A was at a high redshift, there was not enough magnetic energy for low-frequency emission, or that the radio waves did not escape from the GRB environment.