arXiv subjects

Bing Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Bing Zhang.

At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Gamma-Ray Burst Prompt Emission

The origin of gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission, bursts of gamma-rays lasting from shorter than one second to thousands of seconds, remains not fully understood after more than 40 years of observations. The uncertainties lie in several open questions in the GRB physics, including jet composition, energy dissipation mechanism, particle acceleration mechanism, and radiation mechanism. Recent broad-band observations of prompt emission with Fermi sharpen the debates in these areas, which stimulated intense theoretical investigations invoking very different ideas. I will review these debates, and argue that the current data suggest the following picture: A quasi-thermal spectral component originating from the photosphere of the relativistic ejecta has been detected in some GRBs. Even though in some cases (e.g. GRB 090902B) this component dominates the spectrum, in most GRBs, this component either forms a sub-dominant "shoulder" spectral component in the low energy spectral regime of the more dominant "Band" component, or is not detectable at all. The main "Band" spectral component likely originates from the optically thin region due to synchrotron radiation. The diverse magnetization in the GRB central engine is likely the origin of the observed diverse prompt emission properties among bursts.

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arXiv2014

Low Energy Spectral Index and $E_{p}$ evolution of Quasi-thermal Photosphere Emission of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Recent observations by the Fermi satellite suggest that a photosphere emission component is contributing to the observed spectrum of many GRBs. One important question is whether the photosphere component can interpret the typical ``Band'' function of GRBs with a typical low energy photon spectral index $α\sim -1$. We perform a detailed study of the photosphere emission spectrum by progressively introducing several physical ingredients previously not fully incorporated, including the probability distribution of the location of a dynamically evolving photosphere, superposition of emission from an equal-arrival-time ``volume'' in a continuous wind, the evolution of optical depth of a wind with finite but evolving outer boundary, as well as the effect of different top-hat wind luminosity ($L_w$) profiles. By assuming a co-moving blackbody spectrum emerging from the photosphere, we find that for an outflow with a constant or increasing $L_w$, the low-energy spectrum below the peak energy ($E_{p}$), can be modified to $F_ν\sim ν^{1.5}$ ($α\sim +0.5$). A softer ($-1<α<+0.5$) or flat ($α=-1$) spectrum can be obtained during the $L_w$ decreasing phase or high-latitude-emission-dominated phase. We also study the evolution of $E_{p}$ as a function of wind and photosphere luminosity in this photosphere model. An $E_p-L$ tracking pattern can be reproduced if a certain positive dependence between the dimensionless entropy $η$ and $L_w$ is introduced. However, the hard-to-soft evolution pattern cannot be reproduced unless a contrived condition is invoked. In order to interpret the Band spectrum, a more complicated photosphere model or a different energy dissipation and radiation mechanism are needed.

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arXiv2014

A test of the millisecond magnetar central engine model of GRBs with Swift data

A rapidly spinning, strongly magnetized neutron star (magnetar) has been proposed as one possible candidate of the central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We systematically analyze the Swift/XRT light curves of long GRBs detected before 2013 August, and characterize them into four categories based on how likely they may harbor a magnetar central engine: Gold, Silver, Aluminum, and Non-magnetar. We also independently analyze the data of short GRBs with a putative magnetar central engine. We then perform a statistical study of various properties of the magnetar samples and the non-magnetar sample, and investigate whether the data are consistent with the hypothesis that there exist two types of central engines. By deriving the physical parameters of the putative magnetars, we find that the observations of the Gold and Silver samples are generally consistent with the predictions of the magnetar model. For a reasonable beaming factor for long GRBs, the derived magnetar surface magnetic field $B_p$ and initial spin period $P_0$ fall into the reasonable range. Magnetar winds in short GRBs, on the other hand, are consistent with being isotropic. No GRB in the magnetar sample has a beam-corrected total energy exceeding the maximum energy budget defined by the initial spin energy of the magnetar, while some non-magnetar GRBs do violate such a limit. With beaming correction, on average the non-magnetar sample is more energetic and luminous than the magnetar samples. Our analysis hints that millisecond magnetars are likely operating in a good fraction, but probably not all, GRBs.

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arXiv2014

Radio efficiency of pulsars

We investigate radio emission efficiency $ξ$ of pulsars and report a near linear inverse correlation between $ξ$ and the spindown power $\dot E$, as well as a near linear correlation between $ξ$ and pulsar age $τ$. This is a consequence of very weak, if any, dependences of radio luminosity $L$ on pulsar period $P$ and period derivative $\dot{P}$, in contrast to X-ray or $γ$-ray emission luminosities. The analysis of radio fluxes suggests that these correlations are not due to a selection effect, but are intrinsic to the pulsar radio emission physics. We have found that, although with a large variance, the radio luminosity of pulsars is $\left \approx 10^{29} \,{\rm erg/s}$, regardless of the position in the $P-\dot P$ diagram. Within such a picture, a model-independent statement can be made that the death line of radio pulsars corresponds to an upper limit in the efficiency of radio emission. If we introduce the maximum value for a radio efficiency into Monte Carlo-based population syntheses we can reproduce the observed sample using the random luminosity model. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test on a synthetic flux distribution shows high probability of reproducing the observed distribution. Our results suggests that the plasma responsible for generating radio emission is produced under similar conditions regardless of pulsar age, dipolar magnetic field strength, and spin-down rate. The magnetic fields near the pulsar surface are likely dominated by crust-anchored magnetic anomalies, which do not significantly differ among pulsars, leading to similar conditions for generating electron-positron pairs necessary to power radio emission.

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arXiv2014

Cosmological implications of Fast Radio Burst / Gamma-Ray Burst Associations

If a small fraction of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), as recently suggested by Zhang, the combination of redshift measurements of GRBs and dispersion measure (DM) measurements of FRBs opens a new window to study cosmology. At $z<2$ where the universe is essentially fully ionized, detections of FRB/GRB pairs can give an independent measurement of the intergalactic medium portion of the baryon mass fraction, $Ω_b f_{\rm IGM}$, of the universe. If a good sample of FRB/GRB associations are discovered at higher redshifts, the free electron column density history can be mapped, which can be used to probe the reionization history of both hydrogen and helium in the universe. We apply our formulation to GRBs 101011A and 100704A that each might have an associated FRB, and constrained $Ω_b f_{\rm IGM}$ to be consistent with the value derived from other methods. The methodology developed here is also applicable, if the redshifts of FRBs not associated with GRBs can be measured by other means.

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arXiv2014

High Energy Astrophysics

High energy astrophysics is one of the most active branches in contemporary astrophysics. It studies astrophysical objects that emit X-ray and gamma-ray photons, such as accreting super-massive and stellar-size black holes, and various species of neutron stars. With the operations of many space-borne and ground-based observational facilities, high energy astrophysics has enjoyed a rapid development in the past decades. It is foreseen that the field will continue to advance rapidly in the coming decade, with possible ground-breaking discoveries of astrophysical sources in the high-energy neutrino and gravitational wave channels. This Special Issue of Frontiers of Physics is dedicated to a systematic survey of the field of high energy astrophysics as it stands in 2013.

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arXiv2014

Magnetic Field Amplification and Saturation in Turbulence Behind a Relativistic Shock

We have investigated via two-dimensional relativistic MHD simulations the long-term evolution of turbulence created by a relativistic shock propagating through an inhomogeneous medium. In the postshock region, magnetic field is strongly amplified by turbulent motions triggered by preshock density inhomogeneities. Using a long-simulation box we have followed the magnetic-field amplification until it is fully developed and saturated. The turbulent velocity is sub-relativistic even for a strong shock. Magnetic-field amplification is controled by the turbulent motion and saturation occurs when the magnetic energy is comparable to the turbulent kinetic energy. Magnetic-field amplification and saturation depend on the initial strength and direction of the magnetic field in the preshock medium, and on the shock strength. If the initial magnetic field is perpendicular to the shock normal, the magnetic field is first compressed at the shock and then can be amplified by turbulent motion in the postshock region. Saturation occurs when the magnetic energy becomes comparable to the turbulent kinetic energy in the postshock region. If the initial magnetic field in the preshock medium is strong, the postshock region becomes turbulent but significant field amplification does not occur. If the magnetic energy after shock compression is larger than the turbulent kinetic energy in the postshock region, significant field amplification does not occur. We discuss possible applications of our results to gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei.

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arXiv2014

A double neutron star merger origin for the cosmological relativistic fading source PTF11agg?

The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) team recently reported the discovery of a rapidly fading optical transient source, PTF11agg. A long-lived scintillating radio counterpart was identified, but the search for a high energy counterpart showed negative results. The PTF team speculated that PTF11agg may represent a new class of relativistic outbursts. Here we suggest that a neutron star (NS)-NS merger system with a supra-massive magnetar central engine could be a possible source to power such a transient, if our line of sight is not on the jet axis direction of the system. These systems are also top candidates for gravitational wave sources to be detected in the advanced LIGO/Virgo era. We find that the PTF11agg data could be explained well with such a model, suggesting that at least some gravitational wave bursts due to NS-NS mergers may be associated with such a bright electromagnetic counterpart without a γ-ray trigger.

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arXiv2013

A supra-massive magnetar central engine for short GRB 130603B

We show that the peculiar early optical and in particular X-ray afterglow emission of the short duration burst GRB 130603B can be explained by continuous energy injection into the blastwave from a supra-massive magnetar central engine. The observed energetics and temporal/spectral properties of the late infrared bump (i.e., the "kilonova") are also found consistent with emission from the ejecta launched during an NS-NS merger and powered by a magnetar central engine. The isotropic-equivalent kinetic energies of both the GRB blastwave and the kilonova are about $E_{\rm k}\sim 10^{51}$ erg, consistent with being powered by a near-isotropic magnetar wind. However, this relatively small value demands that most of the initial rotational energy of the magnetar $(\sim {\rm a~ few \times 10^{52}~ erg})$ is carried away by gravitational wave radiation. Our results suggest that (i) the progenitor of GRB 130603B would be a NS-NS binary system, whose merger product would be a supra-massive neutron star that lasted for about $\sim 1000$ seconds; (ii) the equation-of-state of nuclear matter would be stiff enough to allow survival of a long-lived supra-massive neutron star, so that it is promising to detect bright electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave triggers without short GRB associations in the upcoming Advanced LIGO/Virgo era.

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arXiv2013

H I Free-Bound Emission of Planetary Nebulae with Large Abundance Discrepancies: Two-Component Models versus Kappa-distributed electrons

The "abundance discrepancy" problem in the study of planetary nebulae (PNe), viz., the problem concerning systematically higher heavy-element abundances derived from optical recombination lines relative to those from collisionally excited lines, has been under discussion for decades, but no consensus on its solution has yet been reached. In this paper we investigate the hydrogen free-bound emission near the Balmer jump region of four PNe that are among those with the largest abundance discrepancies, aiming to examine two recently proposed solutions to this problem: two-component models and Kappa electron energy distributions. We find that the Balmer jump intensities and the spectrum slopes cannot be simultaneously matched by the theoretical calculations based upon single Maxwell-Boltzmann electron-energy distributions, whereas the fitting can be equally improved by introducing Kappa electron energy distributions or an additional Maxwell-Boltzmann component. We show that although H I free-bound emission alone cannot distinguish the two scenarios, it can provide important constraints on the electron energy distributions, especially for cold and low-Kappa plasmas.

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arXiv2013

A possible connection between Fast Radio Bursts and Gamma-Ray Bursts

The physical nature of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), a new type of cosmological transients discovered recently, is not known. It has been suggested that FRBs can be produced when a spinning supra-massive neutron star loses centrifugal support and collapses to a black hole. Here we suggest that such implosions can happen in supra-massive neutron stars shortly (hundreds to thousands of seconds) after their births, and an observational signature of such implosions may have been observed in the X-ray afterglows of some long and short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Within this picture, a small fraction of FRBs would be physically connected to GRBs. We discuss possible multi-wavelength electromagnetic signals and gravitational wave signals that might be associated with FRBs, and propose an observational campaign to unveil the physical nature of FRBs. In particular, we strongly encourage a rapid radio follow-up observation of GRBs starting from 100 s after GRB triggers.

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arXiv2013

On the Non-existence of a Sharp Cooling Break in GRB Afterglow Spectra

Although the widely-used analytical afterglow model of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) predicts a sharp cooling break $ν_c$ in its afterglow spectrum, the GRB observations so far rarely show clear evidence for a cooling break in their spectra or its corresponding temporal break in their light curves. Employing a Lagrangian description of the blast wave, we conduct a sophisticated calculation of the afterglow emission. We precisely follow the cooling history of non-thermal electrons accelerated into each Lagrangian shell. We show that a detailed calculation of afterglow spectra does not in fact give rise to a sharp cooling break at $ν_c$. Instead, it displays a very mild and smooth transition, which occurs gradually over a few orders of magnitude in energy or frequency. The main source of this slow transition is that different mini-shells have different evolution histories of the comoving magnetic field strength $B$, so that deriving the current value of $ν_c$ of each mini-shell requires an integration of its cooling rate over the time elapsed since its creation. We present the time evolution of optical and X-ray spectral indices to demonstrate the slow transition of spectral regimes, and discuss the implications of our result in interpreting GRB afterglow data.

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arXiv2013

Bright "merger-nova" from the remnant of a neutron star binary merger: A signature of a newly born, massive, millisecond magnetar

A massive millisecond magnetar may survive a merger of a neutron star (NS) binary, which would continuously power the merger ejecta. We develop a generic dynamic model for the merger ejecta with energy injection from the central magnetar. The ejecta emission (the "merger-nova") powered by the magnetar peaks in the UV band and the peak of lightcurve progressively shifts to an earlier epoch with increasing frequency. A magnetar-powered mergernova could have an optical peak brightness comparable to a supernova, which is a few tens or hundreds times brighter than the radioactive-powered merger-novae (the so-called macro-nova or kilo-nova). On the other hand, such a merger-nova would peak earlier and have a significantly shorter duration than that of a supernova. An early collapse of the magnetar could suppress the brightness of the optical emission and shorten its duration. Such millisecond-magnetar-powered merger-novae may be detected from NS-NS merger events without an observed short gamma-ray burst, and could be a bright electromagnetic counterpart for gravitational wave bursts due to NS-NS mergers. If detected, it suggests that the merger leaves behind a massive NS, which has important implications for the equation-of-state of nuclear matter.

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arXiv2013

A Complete Reference of the Analytical Synchrotron External Shock Models of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Gamma-ray bursts are most luminous explosions in the universe. Their ejecta are believed to move towards Earth with a relativistic speed. The interaction between this "relativistic jet" and a circum burst medium drives a pair of (forward and reverse) shocks. The electrons accelerated in these shocks radiate synchrotron emission to power the broad-band afterglow of GRBs. The external shock theory is an elegant theory, since it invokes a limit number of model parameters, and has well predicted spectral and temporal properties. On the other hand, depending on many factors (e.g. the energy content, ambient density profile, collimation of the ejecta, forward vs. reverse shock dynamics, and synchrotron spectral regimes), there is a wide variety of the models. These models have distinct predictions on the afterglow decaying indices, the spectral indices, and the relations between them (the so-called "closure relations"), which have been widely used to interpret the rich multi-wavelength afterglow observations. This review article provides a complete reference of all the analytical synchrotron external shock afterglow models by deriving the temporal and spectral indices of all the models in all spectral regimes, including some regimes that have not been published before. The review article is designated to serve as a useful tool for afterglow observers to quickly identify relevant models to interpret their data. The limitations of the analytical models are reviewed, with a list of situations summarized when numerical treatments are needed.

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arXiv2013

Compton Scattering of Self-Absorbed Synchrotron Emission

Synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) scattering is an important emission mechanism in many astronomical sources, such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We give a complete presentation of the analytical approximations for the Compton scattering of synchrotron emission with both weak and strong synchrotron self-absorption. All possible orders of the characteristic synchrotron spectral breaks ($ν_{\rm a}$, $ν_{\rm m}$, and $ν_{\rm c}$) are studied. In the weak self-absorption regime, i.e., $ν_{\rm a} < ν_c$, the electron energy distribution is not modified by the self-absorption process. The shape of the SSC component broadly resembles that of synchrotron, but with the following features: The SSC flux increases linearly with frequency up to the SSC break frequency corresponding to the self-absorption frequency $ν_{\rm a}$; and the presence of a logarithmic term in the high-frequency range of the SSC spectra makes it harder than the power-law approximation. In the strong absorption regime, i.e. $ν_{\rm a} > ν_{\rm c}$, heating of low energy electrons due to synchrotron absorption leads to pile-up of electrons, and form a thermal component besides the broken power-law component. This leads to two-component (thermal + non-thermal) spectra for both the synchrotron and SSC spectral components. For $ν_{\rm c} < ν_{\rm a} < ν_{\rm m}$, the spectrum is thermal (non-thermal) -dominated if $ν_a > \sqrt{ν_m ν_c}$ ($ν_a < \sqrt{ν_m ν_c}$). Similar to the weak-absorption regime, the SSC spectral component is broader than the simple broken power law approximation. We derive the critical condition for strong absorption (electron pile-up), and discuss a case of GRB reverse shock emission in a wind medium, which invokes $ν_{\rm a} > {\rm max} (ν_{\rm m}, ν_{\rm c})$.

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arXiv2013

Possible High-Energy Neutrino and Photon Signals from Gravitational Wave Bursts due to Double Neutron Star Mergers

As the technology of gravitational-wave and neutrino detectors becomes increasingly mature, a multi-messenger era of astronomy is ushered in. Advanced gravitational wave detectors are close to making a ground-breaking discovery of gravitational wave bursts (GWBs) associated with mergers of double neutron stars (NS-NS). It is essential to study the possible electromagnetic (EM) and neutrino emission counterparts of these GWBs. Recent observations and numerical simulations suggest that at least a fraction of NS-NS mergers may leave behind a massive millisecond magnetar as the merger product. Here we show that protons accelerated in the forward shock powered by a magnetar wind pushing the ejecta launched during the merger process would interact with photons generated in the dissipating magnetar wind and emit high energy neutrinos and photons. We estimate the typical energy and fluence of the neutrinos from such a scenario. We find that $\sim$PeV neutrinos could be emitted from the shock front as long as the ejecta could be accelerated to a relativistic speed. The diffuse neutrino flux from these events, even under the most optimistic scenarios, is too low to account for the two events announced by the IceCube Collaboration, but it is only slightly lower than the diffuse flux of GRBs, making it an important candidate for the diffuse background of $\sim$PeV neutrinos. The neutron-pion decay of these events make them a moderate contributor to the sub-TeV gamma-ray diffuse background.

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arXiv2013

A Comprehensive Study of Gamma-Ray Burst Optical Emission: III. Brightness Distributions and Luminosity Functions of Optical Afterglows

We continue our systematic statistical study on optical afterglow data of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We present the apparent magnitude distributions of early optical afterglows at different epochs (t= 10^2 s, t = 10^3 s, and 1 hour) for the optical lightcurves of a sample of 93 GRBs (the global sample), and for sub-samples with an afterglow onset bump or a shallow decay segment. For the onset sample and shallow decay sample we also present the brightness distribution at the peak time t_{p} and break time t_{b}, respectively. All the distributions can be fit with Gaussian functions. We further perform Monte Carlo simulations to infer the luminosity function of GRB optical emission at the rest-frame time 10^3 seconds, t_{p}, and t_{b}, respectively. Our results show that a single power-law luminosity function is adequate to model the data, with indices -1.40+/-0.10, -1.06+/- 0.16, and -1.54\+/- 0.22, respectively. Based on the derived rest-frame 10^3 s luminosity function, we generate the intrinsic distribution of the R-band apparent magnitude M_{R} at the observed time 10^{3} seconds post trigger, which peaks at M_{R}=22.5 mag. The fraction of GRBs whose R-band magnitude is fainter than 22 mag, and 25 mag and at the observer time 10^3 seconds are ~63% and ~25%, respectively. The detection probabilities of the optical afterglows with ground-based robotic telescopes and UVOT onboard {Swift} are roughly consistent with that inferred from this intrinsic M_{R} distribution, indicating that the variations of the dark GRB fraction among the samples with different telescopes may be due to the observational selection effect, although the existence of an intrinsically dark GRB population cannot be ruled out.

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arXiv2013

Radiation Mechanism and Jet Composition of Gamma-Ray Bursts and GeV-TeV selected Radio Loud Active Galactic Nuclei

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and GeV-TeV selected radio loud Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are compared based on our systematic modeling of the observed spectral energy distributions of a sample of AGNs with a single-zone leptonic model. We show that the correlation between the jet power (P_{jet}) and the prompt gamma-ray luminosity (L_{jet}) of GRBs is consistent, within the uncertainties, with the correlation between jet power and the synchrotron peak luminosity (L_{s, jet}) of flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs). Their radiation efficiencies (\varepsilon) are also comparable (>10% for most sources), which increase with the bolometric jet luminosity (L_{bol,jet}) for FSRQs and with the L_{jet} for GRBs with similar power-law indices. BL Lacs do not follow the P_{jet}-L_{s, jet} relation of FSRQs. They have lower \varepsilon and L_{bol, jet} values than FSRQs, and a tentative L_{bol, jet}-\varepsilon relation is also found, with a power-law index being different from that of the FSRQs. The magnetization parameters (σ) of FSRQs are averagely larger than that of BL Lacs. They are anti-correlated with $\varepsilon$ for the FSRQs, but positive correlated with \varepsilon for the BL Lacs. GeV Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies potentially share similar properties with FSRQs. Based on the analogy between GRBs and FSRQs, we suggest that the prompt gamma-ray emission of GRBs is likely produced by synchrotron process in a magnetized jet with high radiation efficiency, similar to FSRQs. The jets of BL Lacs, on the other hand, are less efficient and are likely more matter dominated.

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