This special collection of JPP is devoted to understanding the plasma physics behind Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) --- very short and extremely intense pulses of radio waves coming to us every few minutes from cosmological distances. FRBs are one of the most enigmatic phenomena recently discovered in astrophysics.  The last few years have seen rapid observational progress in this area, with new empirical data pouring in at a fast pace. These data have eliminated many models but a basic physical understanding of FRBs still eludes us. As FRB emission is highly coherent, collective plasma processes have to be involved and so FRBs present a fascinating challenge to plasma astrophysics. This Special JPP Collection has been convened to consolidate recent progress and to provide a forum for comparing different interpretations of FRBs.

Special issue editors:

Dmitri Uzdensky

Roger Blandford

Jon Arons

Maxim Lyutikov