Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are extremely energetic, millisecond-duration radio flashes that reach Earth from extragalactic distances. Broadly speaking, FRBs can be classified as repeating or (apparently) non-repeating. It is still unclear, however, whether the two types share a common physical origin and differ only in their activity rate. Here we report on an observing campaign that targeted one hyperactive repeating source, FRB 20201124A, for more than 2,000 h using four 25–32 m class radio telescopes. We detected 46 high-energy bursts, many more than one would expect given previous observations of lower-energy bursts using larger radio telescopes. We find a high-energy burst distribution that resembles that of the non-repeating FRB population, suggesting that apparently non-repeating FRB sources may simply be the rarest bursts from repeating sources. Also, we discuss how FRB 20201124A contributes strongly to the all-sky FRB rate and how similar sources would be observable even at very high redshift.

快速射电爆发（FRB）是一种能量极高、持续时间为毫秒的射电闪光，可从河外距离到达地球。从广义上讲，快速射电暴可以分为重复型和（显然）非重复型。然而，目前尚不清楚这两种类型是否具有共同的物理起源，仅在活动率上有所不同。在此，我们报告了一项观测活动，该活动使用四台 25-32 m 级射电望远镜对一个高度活跃的重复源 FRB 20201124A 进行了 2,000 多个小时的观测。我们检测到了 46 个高能爆发，比之前使用大型射电望远镜观测到的低能爆发所预期的要多得多。我们发现高能爆发分布与非重复 FRB 群的分布相似，这表明明显非重复 FRB 源可能只是重复源中最罕见的爆发。此外，我们还讨论了 FRB 20201124A 如何对全天 FRB 率做出重大贡献，以及即使在非常高的红移下如何观测到类似的源。