arXiv subjects

Hou-Jun Lv

Publications and source records attributed to Hou-Jun Lv.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Minutes-long soft X-ray prompt emission from a compact object merger

Compact object mergers are multi-messenger sources and known progenitors of some gamma-ray bursts, bright flashes of high-energy radiation powered by a central engine, either an accreting black hole or a neutron star. Our understanding of these events has so far been shaped primarily by observations in the gamma-ray band, leaving their prompt phase poorly constrained at lower energies. A long-lasting ($\approx$100 s) engine-driven X-ray emission was discussed to explain rapidly fading X-ray afterglows following several ($\approx$30%) bursts of short ($\lesssim$2 s) duration. However, this prompt X-ray component was not directly observed and past candidates were not confirmed. Here we report the discovery of EP250704a containing a minutes-long ($\sim$560 s) flash of soft (0.5--4 keV) X-rays immediately following the short ($\sim$0.4 s) GRB 250704B. The variability and spectral shape of this emission are inconsistent with the canonical picture of a hard, accretion-powered spike followed by a standard external-shock afterglow. Instead, the long-soft bump points to a distinct phase of prompt emission in X-rays, which would not have been detected without the soft X-ray coverage of Einstein Probe. The detection of a prompt soft X-ray counterpart in an otherwise ordinary short GRB shows that long-lasting X-ray emission is likely a common feature of merger-driven bursts and a promising electromagnetic counterpart to gravitational wave sources.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

An Intertwined Short and Long GRB with 4-minute Separation

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most energetic transients in the Universe, are traditionally classified into long-duration ($T_{90}>2$ s) and short-duration ($T_{90}<2$ s) events, associated with the core collapse of massive stars (Type II) and the merger of compact binary systems (Type I), respectively. The two classes exhibit distinct observational properties that serve as key diagnostic criteria for classification. Here we report GRB 160425A, a peculiar event comprising two sub-bursts separated by four minutes: a short-duration burst ($G_1$) and a long-duration burst ($G_2$). Nearly all standard prompt-emission diagnostics, including pulse morphology, duration, hardness ratio, minimum variability timescale, spectral properties, and established empirical correlations, consistently categorize $G_1$ as a short-like (Type I, merger-origin) and $G_2$ as a long-like (Type II, collapsar-origin) GRB. The coexistence of merger and collapsar signatures in a single event challenges existing progenitor frameworks and calls for a re-evaluation of GRB classification schemes and progenitor scenarios.

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arXiv2023

Constraining the ellipticity and frequency of binary neutron star remnant via its gravitational-wave and electromagnetic radiations

The nature of the merger remnant of binary neutron star (BNS) remains an open question. From the theoretical point of view, one possible outcome is a supra-massive neutron star (SMNS), which is supported by rigid rotation and through its survival of hundreds of seconds before collapsing into a black hole (BH). If this is the case, the SMNS can emit continuous gravitational waves (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation, particularly in the X-ray band. In this work, the ellipticity and initial frequency of SMNS are constrained with a Bayesian framework using simulated X-ray and GW signals, which could be detected by The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS) and Einstein Telescope (ET), respectively. We found that only considering the X-ray emission can not completely constrain the initial frequency and ellipticity of the SMNS, but it can reduce the ranges of the parameters. Afterwards, we can use the posterior distribution of the X-ray parameter estimates as a prior for the GW parameter estimates. It was found that the 95$\%$ credible region of the joint X-ray-GW analysis was about $10^5$ times smaller than that of the X-ray analysis alone.

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arXiv2018

A comprehensive analysis of Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Data: IV. Spectral lag and Its Relation to Ep Evolution

The spectral evolution and spectral lag behavior of 92 bright pulses from 84 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed by the Fermi GBM telescope are studied. These pulses can be classified into hard-to-soft pulses (H2S, 64/92), H2S-dominated-tracking pulses (21/92), and other tracking pulses (7/92). We focus on the relationship between spectral evolution and spectral lags of H2S and H2S-dominated-tracking pulses. %in hard-to-soft pulses (H2S, 64/92) and H2S-dominating-tracking (21/92) pulses. The main trend of spectral evolution (lag behavior) is estimated with $\log E_p\propto k_E\log(t+t_0)$ (${\hatτ} \propto k_{\hatτ}\log E$), where $E_p$ is the peak photon energy in the radiation spectrum, $t+t_0$ is the observer time relative to the beginning of pulse $-t_0$, and ${\hatτ}$ is the spectral lag of photons with energy $E$ with respect to the energy band $8$-$25$ keV. For H2S and H2S-dominated-tracking pulses, a weak correlation between $k_{\hatτ}/W$ and $k_E$ is found, where $W$ is the pulse width. We also study the spectral lag behavior with peak time $t_{\rm p_E}$ of pulses for 30 well-shaped pulses and estimate the main trend of the spectral lag behavior with $\log t_{\rm p_E}\propto k_{t_p}\log E$. It is found that $k_{t_p}$ is correlated with $k_E$. We perform simulations under a phenomenological model of spectral evolution, and find that these correlations are reproduced. We then conclude that spectral lags are closely related to spectral evolution within the pulse. The most natural explanation of these observations is that the emission is from the electrons in the same fluid unit at an emission site moving away from the central engine, as expected in the models invoking magnetic dissipation in a moderately-high-$σ$ outflow.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

Lorentz Factor-Isotropic Luminosity/Energy Correlations of GRBS and Their Interpretation

The bulk Lorentz factor of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) ejecta (Gamma_0) is a key parameter to understand the GRB physics. Liang et al. have discovered a correlation between Gamma_0 and isotropic gamma-ray energy: Gamma_0\proptoE_{gamma,iso,52}^{0.25}. By including more GRBs with updated data and more methods to derive Gamma_0, we confirm this correlation and obtain Gamma_0~91E_{gamma,iso,52}^{0.29}. Evaluating the mean isotropic gamma-ray luminosities L_{gamma,iso} of the GRBs in the same sample, we discover an even tighter correlation Gamma_0~249 L_{gamma,iso,52}^{0.30}. We propose an interpretation to this later correlation. Invoking a neutrino-cooled hyperaccretion disk around a stellar mass black hole as the central engine of GRBs, we derive jet luminosity powered by neutrino annihilation and baryon loading from a neutrino-driven wind. Applying beaming correction, we finally derive Gamma_0\proptoL_{gamma,iso}^{0.22}, which is well consistent with the data. This suggests that the central engine of long GRBs is likely a stellar mass black hole surrounded by a hyper-accreting disk.

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arXiv2009

A Comprehensive Analysis of Swift/XRT Data: IV. Single Power-Law Decaying Lightcurves vs. Canonical Lightcurves and Implications for a Unified Origin of X-rays

By analyzing the Swift/XRT lightcurves detected before 2009 July, we find 19 cases that monotonously decay as a single power law (SPL) with an index of 1 ~ 1.7 from tens (or hundreds) to ~ 10^5 seconds post the GRB trigger, apparently different from the canonical lightcurves characterized by a shallow-to-normal decay transition. No statistical difference is found in their prompt gamma-rays, and the X-ray properties of the two samples are also similar, although the SPL sample tend to have a slightly lower NH value of the host galaxies and larger energy release compared with the canonical sample. The SPL XRT lightcurves in the burst frame gradually merge into a conflux.The normal decay segment for the canonical sample has the same feature. Similar to the normal decay segment, the SPL lightcurves satisfy the closure relations of external shock models. If the X-rays are the afterglow of the GRB fireball, our results indicate that the shallow decay would be due to energy injection and the total energy budget after injection for both samples of GRBs is comparable. More intriguing, we find that a prior X-ray emission model proposed by Yamazaki is more straightforward to interpret the data. We show that the zero times (T0) of the X-rays atisfy a log-normal distribution, and the negligible T0's of the SPL sample are consistent with being the tail of T0 distributions at low end. Referenced to T0, the canonical XRT lightcurves well trace the SPL lightcurves. The T0's of the canonical lightcurves in our analysis are usually much larger than the offsets of the known precursors from the main GRBs, indicating the X-rays would be an emission component from external shocks prior to GRB trigger. The lack of detection of a jet-like break in most XRT lightcurves implies that the opening angle of its jet would be usually large.

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arXiv2009

Towards the Properties of Long Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitors with Swift Data

We investigate the properties of both the prompt and X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the burst frame with a sample of 33 Swift GRBs. Assuming that the steep decay segment in the canonical X-ray afterglow lightcurves is due to the curvature effect, we fit the lightcurves with a broken power-law to derive the zero time of the last emission epoch of the prompt emission (t1) and the beginning as well as the end time of the shallow decay segment (t2 and t3).We show that both the isotropic peak gamma-ray luminosity and gamma-ray energy are correlated with the isotropic X-ray energy of the shallow decay phase and the isotropic X-ray luminosity at t2. We infer the properties of the progenitor stars based on a model proposed by Kumar et al. who suggested that both the prompt gamma-rays and the X-ray afterglows are due to the accretions of different layers of materials of the GRB progenitor star by a central black hole (BH). We find that most of the derived masses of the core layers are 0.1-5 solar mass with a radius of 10^8-10^10 cm. The rotation parameter is correlated with the burst duration, being consistent with the expectation of collapsar models. The estimated radii and the masses of the fall-back materials for the envelope layers are 10^10-10^12 cm and 10^-3~1 solar mass, respectively. The average accretion rates in the shallow decay phase are correlated with those in the prompt gamma-ray phase, but they are much lower. The derived radii of the envelope are smaller than the photospheric radii of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. It is interesting that the assembled mass density profile for the bursts in our sample is also well consistent with the simulation for a pre-supernova star with 25 solar mass.

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arXiv2009

Discerning the physical origins of cosmological Gamma-ray bursts based on multiple observational criteria: the cases of z=6.7 GRB 080913, z=8.3 GRB 090423, and some short/hard GRBs

(Abridged) The two high-redshift gamma-ray bursts, GRB 080913 at z=6.7 and GRB 090423 at z=8.3, recently detected by Swift appear as intrinsically short, hard GRBs. They could have been recognized by BATSE as short/hard GRBs should they have occurred at z <= 1. We perform a more thorough investigation on two physically distinct types (Type I/II) of cosmological GRBs and their observational characteristics. We reiterate the definitions of Type I/II GRBs and review the observational criteria and their physical motivations. Contrary to the traditional approach of assigning the physical category based on the gamma-ray properties (duration, hardness, and spectral lag), we take an alternative approach to define the Type I and Type II Gold Samples using several criteria that are more directly related to the GRB progenitors, and study the properties of the two Gold Samples and compare them with the traditional long/soft and short/hard samples. We find that the Type II Gold Sample reasonably tracks the long/soft population, although it includes several intrinsically short (shorter than 1s in the rest frame) GRBs. The Type I Gold Sample only has 5 GRBs, 4 of which are not strictly short but have extended emission. Other short/hard GRBs detected in the Swift era represent the BATSE short/hard sample well, but it is unclear whether all of them belong to Type I. We suggest that some (probably even most) high-luminosity short/hard GRBs instead belong to Type II. We suggest that GRB 080913 and GRB 090423 are more likely Type II events. We re-emphasize the importance of invoking multiple observational criteria, and cautiously propose an operational procedure to infer the physical origin of a given GRB with available multiple observational criteria, with various caveats laid out.

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