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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 February 2023
Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-long bursts of radio emission of extragalactic origin. The nature or FRBs is still unknown. Whether all FRBs are representatives of the same source population, or whether multiple underlying populations exist, is also unknown. One class that stands out is that of the “repeaters”, i.e. FRBs from which multiple bursts have been detected. In these cases, appropriate models should be non-cataclysmic but yet being able to create powerful coherent radio emission. Magnetars are among those source types that are considered as possible explanation for (repeating) FRBs. This review will summarise the basic properties of FRBs and those of magnetars to provide a critical assessment of the possible physical connection between these classes of sources. We conclude that while magnetars may indeed be related to the FRB phenomenon, it is unlikely that they explain all FRBs, i.e. at least two classes of FRBs exist.