arXiv subjects

C. Cai

Publications and source records attributed to C. Cai.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Metal-Insulator Transition and Emergent Gapped Phase in the Surface-Doped 2D Semiconductor 2H-MoTe$_2$

Artificially created two-dimensional (2D) interfaces or structures are ideal for seeking exotic phase transitions due to their highly tunable carrier density and interfacially enhanced many-body interactions. Here, we report the discovery of a metal-insulator transition (MIT) and an emergent gapped phase in the metal-semiconductor interface that is created in 2H-MoTe$_2$ via alkali-metal deposition. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we found that the electron-phonon coupling is strong at the interface as characterized by a clear observation of replica shake-off bands. Such strong electron-phonon coupling interplays with disorder scattering, leading to an Anderson localization of polarons which could explain the MIT. The domelike emergent gapped phase could then be attributed to a polaron extended state or phonon-mediated superconductivity. Our results demonstrate the capability of alkali-metal deposition as an effective method to enhance the many-body interactions in 2D semiconductors. The surface-doped 2H-MoTe$_2$ is a promising candidate for realizing polaronic insulator and high-$T_c$ superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Accretion Torque Reversals in GRO J1008-57 Revealed by Insight-HXMT

GRO J1008-57, as a Be/X-ray transient pulsar, is considered to have the highest magnetic field in known neutron star X-ray binary systems. Observational data of the X-ray outbursts in GRO J1008-57 from 2017 to 2020 were collected by the Insight-HXMT satellite. In this work, the spin period of the neutron star in GRO J1008-57 was determined to be about 93.28 seconds in August 2017, 93.22 seconds in February 2018, 93.25 seconds in June 2019 and 93.14 seconds in June 2020. GRO J1008-57 evolved in the spin-up process with a mean rate of $-(2.10\pm 0.05)\times$10$^{-4}$ s/d from 2009 -- 2018, and turned into a spin down process with a rate of $(6.7\pm 0.6)\times$10$^{-5}$ s/d from Feb 2018 to June 2019. During the type II outburst of 2020, GRO J1008-57 had the spin-up torque again. During the torque reversals, the pulse profiles and continuum X-ray spectra did not change significantly, and the cyclotron resonant scattering feature around 80 keV was only detected during the outbursts in 2017 and 2020. Based on the observed mean spin-up rate, we estimated the inner accretion disk radius in GRO J1008-57 (about 1 - 2 times of the Alfvén radius) by comparing different accretion torque models of magnetic neutron stars. During the spin-down process, the magnetic torque should dominate over the matter accreting inflow torque, and we constrained the surface dipole magnetic field $B\geq 6\times 10^{12}$ G for the neutron star in GRO J1008-57, which is consistent with the magnetic field strength obtained by cyclotron line centroid energy.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

QPOs and Orbital elements of X-ray binary 4U 0115+63 during the 2017 outburst observed by Insight-HXMT

In this paper, we presented a detailed timing analysis of a prominent outburst of 4U 0115+63 detected by \textit{Insight}-HXMT in 2017 August. The spin period of the neutron star was determined to be $3.61398\pm 0.00002$ s at MJD 57978. We measured the period variability and extract the orbital elements of the binary system. The angle of periastron evolved with a rate of $0.048\pm0.003$ $yr^{-1}$. The light curves are folded to sketch the pulse profiles in different energy ranges. A multi-peak structure in 1-10 keV is clearly illustrated. We introduced wavelet analysis into our data analysis procedures to study QPO signals and perform a detailed wavelet analysis in many different energy ranges. Through the wavelet spectra, we report the discovery of a QPO at the frequency $\sim 10$ mHz. In addition, the X-ray light curves showed multiple QPOs in the period of $\sim 16-32 $ s and $\sim 67- 200 $ s. We found that the $\sim100$ s QPO was significant in most of the observations and energies. There exist positive relations between X-ray luminosity and their Q-factors and S-factors, while the QPO periods have no correlation with X-ray luminosity. In wavelet phase maps, we found that the pulse phase of $\sim 67- 200 $ s QPO drifting frequently while the $\sim 16-32 $ s QPO scarcely drifting. The dissipation of oscillations from high energy to low energy was also observed. These features of QPOs in 4U 0115+63 provide new challenge to our understanding of their physical origins.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

A variable ionized disk wind in the black-hole candidate EXO 1846-031

After 34 years, the black-hole candidate EXO 1846-031 went into outburst again in 2019. We investigate its spectral properties in the hard intermediate and the soft states with NuSTAR and Insight-HXMT. A reflection component has been detected in the two spectral states but possibly originating from different illumination spectra: in the intermediate state, the illuminating source is attributed to a hard coronal component, which has been commonly observed in other X-ray binaries, whereas in the soft state the reflection is probably produced by the disk self-irradiation. Both cases support EXO 1846-031 as a low inclination system of ~40 degrees. An absorption line is clearly detected at ~7.2 keV in the hard intermediate state, corresponding to a highly ionized disk wind (log ξ > 6.1) with a velocity up to 0.06c. Meanwhile, quasi-simultaneous radio emissions have been detected before and after the X-rays, implying the co-existence of disk winds and jets in this system. Additionally, the observed wind in this source is potentially driven by magnetic forces. The absorption line disappeared in the soft state and a narrow emission line appeared at ~6.7 keV on top of the reflection component, which may be evidence for disk winds, but data with the higher spectral resolution are required to examine this.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Insight-HXMT observations of Swift J0243.6+6124: the evolution of RMS pulse fractions at super-Eddington luminosity

Based on Insight-HXMT data, we report on the pulse fraction evolution during the 2017-2018 outburst of the newly discovered first Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) Swift J0243.6+6124. The pulse fractions of 19 observation pairs selected in the rising and fading phases with similar luminosity are investigated. The results show a general trend of the pulse fraction increasing with luminosity and energy at super-critical luminosity. However, the relative strength of the pulsation between each pair evolves strongly with luminosity. The pulse fraction in the rising phase is larger at luminosity below $7.71\times10^{38}$~erg~s$^{-1}$, but smaller at above. A transition luminosity is found to be energy independent. Such a phenomena is firstly confirmed by Insight-HXMT observations and we speculate it may have relation with the radiation pressure dominated accretion disk.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

X-ray reprocessing in accreting pulsar GX 301-2 observed with Insight-HXMT

We investigate the absorption and emission features in observations of GX 301-2 detected with Insight-HXMT/LE in 2017-2019. At different orbital phases, we found prominent Fe Kalpha, Kbeta and Ni Kalpha lines, as well as Compton shoulders and Fe K-shell absorption edges. These features are due to the X-ray reprocessing caused by the interaction between the radiation from the source and surrounding accretion material. According to the ratio of iron lines Kalpha and Kbeta, we infer the accretion material is in a low ionisation state. We find an orbital-dependent local absorption column density, which has a large value and strong variability around the periastron. We explain its variability as a result of inhomogeneities of the accretion environment and/or instabilities of accretion processes. In addition, the variable local column density is correlated with the equivalent width of the iron Kalpha lines throughout the orbit, which suggests that the accretion material near the neutron star is spherically distributed.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Insight-HXMT observations of a possible fast transition from jet to wind dominated state during a huge flare of GRS~1915+105

We present the analysis of the brightest flare that was recorded in the \emph{Insight}-HMXT data set, in a broad energy range (2$-$200 keV) from the microquasar GRS~1915+105 during an unusual low-luminosity state. This flare was detected by \emph{Insight}-HXMT among a series of flares during 2 June 2019 UTC 16:37:06 to 20:11:36, with a 2-200 keV luminosity of 3.4$-$7.27$\times10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Basing on the broad-band spectral analysis, we find that the flare spectrum shows different behaviors during bright and faint epochs. The spectrum of the flare can be fitted with a model dominated by a power-law component. Additional components show up in the bright epoch with a hard tail and in the faint epoch with an absorption line $\sim$ 6.78 keV. The reflection component of the latter is consistent with an inner disk radius $\sim$ 5 times larger than that of the former. These results on the giant flare during the "unusual" low-luminosity state of GRS~1915+105 may suggest that the source experiences a possible fast transition from a jet-dominated state to a wind-dominated state. We speculate that the evolving accretion disk and the large-scale magnetic field may play important roles in this peculiar huge flare.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Doping-controlled transition from excitonic insulator to semimetal in Ta$_2$NiSe$_5$

Excitonic insulator (EI) is an intriguing insulating phase of matter, where electrons and holes are bonded into pairs, so called excitons, and form a phase-coherent state via Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC). Its theoretical concept has been proposed several decades ago, but the followed research is very limited, due to the rare occurrence of EI in natural materials and the lack of manipulating method of excitonic condensation. In this paper, we report the realization of a doping-controlled EI-to-semi-metal transition in Ta$_2$NiSe$_5$ using $in$-$situ$ potassium deposition. Combining with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we delineate the evolution of electronic structure through the EI transition with unprecedented precision. The results not only show that Ta$ _2 $NiSe$ _5 $ (TNS) is an EI originated from a semi-metal non-interacting band structure, but also resolve two sequential transitions, which could be attributed to the phase-decoherence and pair-breaking respectively. Our results unveil the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS)-BEC crossover behavior of TNS and demonstrate that its band structure and excitonic binding energy can be tuned precisely via alkali-metal deposition. This paves a way for investigations of BCS-BEC crossover phenomena, which could provide insights into the many-body physics in condensed matters and other many-body systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Constraining the transient high-energy activity of FRB180916.J0158+65 with Insight-HXMT followup observations

A link between magnetars and fast radio burst (FRB) sources has finally been established. In this context, one of the open issues is whether/which sources of extra galactic FRBs exhibit X/gamma-ray outbursts and whether it is correlated with radio activity. We aim to constrain possible X/gamma-ray burst activity from one of the nearest extragalactic FRB sources currently known over a broad energy range, by looking for bursts over a range of timescales and energies that are compatible with being powerful flares from extragalactic magnetars. We followed up the as-yet nearest extragalactic FRB source at a mere 149 Mpc distance, the periodic repeater FRB180916.J0158+65, during the active phase on February 4-7, 2020, with the Insight-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT). Taking advantage of the combination of broad band, large effective area, and several independent detectors available, we searched for bursts over a set of timescales from 1 ms to 1.024 s with a sensitive algorithm, that had previously been characterised and optimised. Moreover, through simulations we studied the sensitivity of our technique in the released energy-duration phase space for a set of synthetic flares and assuming different energy spectra. We constrain the possible occurrence of flares in the 1-100 keV energy band to E<10^46 erg for durations <0.1 s over several tens of ks exposure. We can rule out the occurrence of giant flares similar to the ones that were observed in the few cases of Galactic magnetars. The absence of reported radio activity during our observations does not allow us to make any statements on the possible simultaneous high-energy emission.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Band insulator to Mott insulator transition in 1T-TaS$_2$

1T-TaS$_2$ undergoes successive phase transitions upon cooling and eventually enters an insulating state of mysterious origin. Some consider this state to be a band insulator with interlayer stacking order, yet others attribute it to Mott physics that support a quantum spin liquid state.Here, we determine the electronic and structural properties of 1T-TaS$_2$ using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and X-Ray diffraction. At low temperatures, the 2$π$/2c-periodic band dispersion, along with half-integer-indexed diffraction peaks along the c axis, unambiguously indicates that the ground state of 1T-TaS$_2$ is a band insulator with interlayer dimerization. Upon heating, however, the system undergoes a transition into a Mott insulating state, which only exists in a narrow temperature window. Our results refute the idea of searching for quantum magnetism in 1T-TaS$_2$ only at low temperatures, and highlight the competition between on-site Coulomb repulsion and interlayer hopping as a crucial aspect for understanding the material's electronic properties.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Insight-HXMT firm detection of the highest energy fundamental cyclotron resonance scattering feature in the spectrum of GRO J1008-57

We report on the observation of the accreting pulsar GRO J1008-57 performed by Insight-HXMT at the peak of the source's 2017 outburst. Pulsations are detected with a spin period of 93.283(1) s. The pulse profile shows double peaks at soft X-rays, and only one peak above 20 keV. The spectrum is well described by the phenomenological models of X-ray pulsars. A cyclotron resonant scattering feature is detected with very high statistical significance at a centroid energy of $E_{\rm cyc}=90.32_{-0.28}^{+0.32}$ keV, for the reference continuum and line models, HIGHECUT and GABS respectively. Detection is very robust with respect to different continuum models. The line energy is significantly higher than what suggested from previous observations, which provided very marginal evidence for the line. This establishes a new record for the centroid energy of a fundamental cyclotron resonant scattering feature observed in accreting pulsars. We also discuss the accretion regime of the source during the Insight-HXMT observation.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Anomalous spectral weight transfer in the nematic state of iron-selenide superconductor

Nematic phase intertwines closely with high-Tc superconductivity in iron-based superconductors. Its mechanism, which is closely related to the pairing mechanism of superconductivity, still remains controversial. Comprehensive characterization of how the electronic state reconstructs in the nematic phase is thus crucial. However, most experiments focus only on the reconstruction of band dispersions. Another important characteristic of electronic state, the spectral weight, has not been studied in details so far. Here, we studied the spectral weight transfer in the nematic phase of FeSe$_{0.9}$S$_{0.1}$ using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and in-situ detwinning technique. There are two elliptical electron pockets overlapping with each other orthogonally at the Brillouin zone corner. We found that, upon cooling, one electron pocket loses spectral weight and fades away, while the other electron pocket gains spectral weight and becomes pronounced. Our results show that the symmetry breaking of electronic state is manifested by not only the anisotropic band dispersion but also the band-selective modulation of spectral weight. Our observation completes our understanding of the nematic electronic state, and put strong constraints on the theoretical models. It further provide crucial clues to understand the gap anisotropy and orbital-selective pairing in iron-selenide superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Momentum-resolved measurement of electronic nematic susceptibility in the FeSe$_{0.9}$S$_{0.1}$ superconductor

Unveiling the driving force for a phase transition is normally difficult when multiple degrees of freedom are strongly coupled. One example is the nematic phase transition in iron-based superconductors. Its mechanism remains controversial due to a complex intertwining among different degrees of freedom. In this paper, we report a method for measuring the nematic susceptibly of FeSe$_{0.9}$S$_{0.1}$ using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and an $in$-$situ$ strain-tuning device. The nematic susceptibility is characterized as an energy shift of band induced by a tunable uniaxial strain. We found that the temperature-dependence of the nematic susceptibility is strongly momentum dependent. As the temperature approaches the nematic transition temperature from the high temperature side, the nematic susceptibility remains weak at the Brillouin zone center while showing divergent behavior at the Brillouin zone corner. Our results highlight the complexity of the nematic order parameter in the momentum space, which provides crucial clues to the driving mechanism of the nematic phase transition. Our experimental method which can directly probe the electronic susceptibly in the momentum space provides a new way to study the complex phase transitions in various materials.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Isostructural spin-density-wave and superconducting gap anisotropies in iron-arsenide superconductors

When passing through a phase transition, electronic system saves energy by opening energy gaps at the Fermi level. Delineating the energy gap anisotropy provides insights into the origin of the interactions that drive the phase transition. Here, we report the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) study on the detailed gap anisotropies in both the tetragonal magnetic and superconducting phases in Sr$_{1-x}$Na$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$. First, we found that the spin-density-wave (SDW) gap is strongly anisotropic in the tetragonal magnetic phase. The gap magnitude correlates with the orbital character of Fermi surface closely. Second, we found that the SDW gap anisotropy is isostructural to the superconducting gap anisotropy regarding to the angular dependence, gap minima locations, and relative gap magnitudes. Our results indicate that the superconducting pairing interaction and magnetic interaction share the same origin. The intra-orbital scattering plays an important role in constructing these interactions resulting in the orbital-selective magnetism and superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Insight-HXMT insight into switch of the accretion mode: the case of the X-ray pulsar 4U 1901+03

We use the In data collected during the 2019 outburst from X-ray pulsar 4U 1901+03 to complement the orbital parameters reported by Fermi/GBM. Using the Insight-HXMT, we examine the correlation between the derivative of the intrinsic spin frequency and bolometric flux based on accretion torque models. It was found that the pulse profiles significantly evolve during the outburst. The existence of two types of the profile's pattern discovered in the Insight-HXMT data indicates that this source experienced transition between a super-critical and a sub-critical accretion regime during its 2019 outburst. Based on the evolution of the pulse profiles and the torque model, we derive the distance to 4U 1901+03 as 12.4+-0.2 kpc.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

The evolution of the broadband temporal features observed in the black-hole transient MAXI J1820+070 with Insight-HXMT

We study the evolution of the temporal properties of MAXI 1820+070 during the 2018 outburst in its hard state from MJD 58190 to 58289 with Insight-HXMT in a broad energy band 1-150 keV. We find different behaviors of the hardness ratio, the fractional rms and time lag before and after MJD 58257, suggesting a transition occurred at around this point. The observed time lags between the soft photons in the 1-5 keV band and the hard photons in higher energy bands, up to 150 keV, are frequency-dependent: the time lags in the low-frequency range, 2-10 mHz, are both soft and hard lags with a timescale of dozens of seconds but without a clear trend along the outburst; the time lags in the high-frequency range, 1-10 Hz, are only hard lags with a timescale of tens of milliseconds; first increase until around MJD 58257 and decrease after this date. The high-frequency time lags are significantly correlated to the photon index derived from the fit to the quasi-simultaneous NICER spectrum in the 1-10 keV band. This result is qualitatively consistent with a model in which the high-frequency time lags are produced by Comptonization in a jet.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Discovery of delayed spin-up behavior following two large glitches in the Crab pulsar, and the statistics of such processes

Glitches correspond to sudden jumps of rotation frequency ($ν$) and its derivative ($\dotν$) of pulsars, the origin of which remains not well understood yet, partly because the jump processes of most glitches are not well time-resolved. There are three large glitches of the Crab pulsar, detected in 1989, 1996 and 2017, which were found to have delayed spin-up processes before the normal recovery processes. Here we report two additional glitches of the Crab pulsar occurred in 2004 and 2011 for which we discovered delayed spin up processes, and present refined parameters of the largest glitch occurred in 2017. The initial rising time of the glitch is determined as $<0.48$ hour. We also carried out a statistical study of these five glitches with observed spin-up processes. The two glitches occurred in 2004 and 2011 have delayed spin-up time scales ($τ_{1}$) of $1.7\pm0.8$\,days and $1.6\pm0.4$\,days, respectively. We find that the $Δν$ vs. $|Δ{\dotν}|$ relation of these five glitches is similar to those with no detected delayed spin-up process, indicating that they are similar to the others in nature except that they have larger amplitudes. For these five glitches, the amplitudes of the delayed spin-up process ($|Δν_{\rm d1}|$) and recovery process ($Δν_{\rm d2}$), their time scales ($τ_{1}$, $τ_{2}$), and permanent changes in spin frequency ($Δν_{\rm p}$) and total frequency step ($Δν_{\rm g}$) have positive correlations. From these correlations, we suggest that the delayed spin-up processes are common for all glitches, but are too short and thus difficult to be detected for most glitches.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

A search for prompt gamma-ray counterparts to fast radio bursts in the Insight-HXMT data

No robust detection of prompt electromagnetic counterparts to fast radio bursts (FRBs) has yet been obtained, in spite of several multi-wavelength searches carried out so far. Specifically, X/gamma-ray counterparts are predicted by some models. We planned on searching for prompt gamma-ray counterparts in the Insight-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) data, taking advantage of the unique combination of large effective area in the keV-MeV energy range and of sub-ms time resolution. We selected 39 FRBs that were promptly visible from the High-Energy (HE) instrument aboard Insight-HXMT. After calculating the expected arrival times at the location of the spacecraft, we searched for a significant excess in both individual and cumulative time profiles over a wide range of time resolutions, from several seconds down to sub-ms scales. Using the dispersion measures in excess of the Galactic terms, we estimated the upper limits on the redshifts. No convincing signal was found and for each FRB we constrained the gamma-ray isotropic-equivalent luminosity and the released energy as a function of emission timescale. For the nearest FRB source, the periodic repeater FRB180916.J0158+65, we find $L_{γ,iso}<5.5\times 10^{47}$ erg/s over 1 s, whereas $L_{γ,iso}<10^{49}-10^{51}$ erg/s for the bulk of FRBs. The same values scale up by a factor of ~100 for a ms-long emission. Even on a timescale comparable with that of the radio pulse itself no keV-MeV emission is observed. A systematic association with either long or short GRBs is ruled out with high confidence, except for subluminous events, as is the case for core-collapse of massive stars (long) or binary neutron star mergers (short) viewed off axis. Only giant flares from extra-galactic magnetars at least ten times more energetic than Galactic siblings are ruled out for the nearest FRB.

astro-ph.HE↗