Title: VOEvent Standard for Fast Radio Bursts,
Abstract: Fast radio bursts are a new class of transient radio phenomena currently
detected as millisecond radio pulses with very high dispersion measures. As new
radio surveys begin searching for FRBs a large population is expected to be
detected in real-time, triggering a range of multi-wavelength and
multi-messenger telescopes to search for repeating bursts and/or associated
emission. Here we propose a method for disseminating FRB triggers using Virtual
Observatory Events (VOEvents). This format was developed and is used
successfully for transient alerts across the electromagnetic spectrum and for
multi-messenger signals such as gravitational waves. In this paper we outline a
proposed VOEvent standard for FRBs that includes the essential parameters of
the event and where these parameters should be specified within the structure
of the event. An additional advantage to the use of VOEvents for FRBs is that
the events can automatically be ingested into the FRB Catalogue (FRBCAT)
enabling real-time updates for public use. We welcome feedback from the
community on the proposed standard outlined below and encourage those
interested to join the nascent working group forming around this topic.