Measuring interstellar turbulence in fast radio burst host galaxies
  Turbulence is a vital part of the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies,
contributing significantly to galaxy energy budgets and acting as a regulator
of star formation. Despite this, little is understood about ISM turbulence
empirically. In the Milky Way, multiple tracers are used to reconstruct the
density- and velocity-fluctuation power spectra over an enormous range of
scales, but questions remain on the nature of these fluctuations at the
smallest scales. Even less is known about the ISM of distant galaxies, where
only a few tracers of turbulence, such as non-thermal broadening of optical
recombination lines, are accessible. We explore the use of radio-wave
scattering of fast radio bursts (FRBs) to add a second probe of turbulence in
extragalactic galaxies on scales many orders of magnitude smaller than those
probed by emission-line widths. We first develop the formalism to compare the
scattering measures of FRBs to alternative probes of density and velocity
fluctuations in the host-galaxy ISM. We then apply this formalism to three FRBs
with detailed host-galaxy analyses in the literature, with the primary
motivation of determining whether FRB scattering within the host galaxy probes
the same turbulent cascade as the gas seen in H${\rm \alpha}$ emission. In all
cases we consider, we find such an association plausible, although in one of
these sources, FRB 20121102A, the radio-scattering limit on the turbulent
energy is much less constraining than the H${\rm \alpha}$ line width. We
anticipate that future FRB surveys, especially those at frequencies below 1
GHz, will find many FRBs that illuminate the small-scale properties of
extragalactic ISM.
