FRB
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Government & Politics, Science & Engineering |
FRB has two meanings. It stands for Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US federal agency) or Fast radio burst (astronomy & Space).
Meanings of FRB at a glance
| # | FRB stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System | Government & Politics › US Federal Agency |
| 2 | Fast radio burst | Science & Engineering › Astronomy & Space |
1. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Government & Politics · US Federal Agency Abbreviations
Seven-member board in Washington that governs the Federal Reserve System, sets reserve requirements and approves discount rates, supervises large banks and holds seven of the 12 votes on the Federal Open Market Committee. Governors serve staggered 14-year terms.
Example: The FRB approved the bank merger subject to conditions on capital levels.
FRB is also used for each of the 12 regional reserve banks, as in FRB New York or FRB San Francisco. Governors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and the Chair serves a renewable four-year term in that role. Board staff publish data releases such as H.15, which reports benchmark interest rates.
2. Fast radio burst
Science & Engineering · Astronomy & Space Abbreviations
Intense pulse of radio waves lasting a few milliseconds, arriving from distant galaxies. In that instant an FRB can release as much energy as the Sun emits in days; most are one-off events, but some sources repeat.
Example: CHIME detects several FRB events per day across the northern sky.
Duncan Lorimer and his student David Narkevic found the first FRB in 2007 in archival data from 2001. In 2020 a burst from the magnetar SGR 1935+2154 in our own galaxy linked at least some FRBs to highly magnetized neutron stars. Their signals are smeared by intergalactic gas, so they are used to weigh "missing" ordinary matter.
Related abbreviations
More US federal agency abbreviations
- FMCSA – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- FNS – Food and Nutrition Service
- FOMC – Federal Open Market Committee
- FRA – Federal Railroad Administration
- FSA – Federal Student Aid
- FSIS – Food Safety and Inspection Service
- FTA – Federal Transit Administration
- FTC – Federal Trade Commission
See all 152 US federal agency abbreviations →