arXiv subjects

K. S. Cheng

Publications and source records attributed to K. S. Cheng.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

A unified model of active repeating fast radio bursts associated with persistent radio sources

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are intense pulses with unknown origins. A subclass of repeating FRBs show some common features, such as associated compact persistent radio sources (PRSs), high burst rates, and large host-galaxy dispersion measures (DMs). Meanwhile, they show diverse DM and rotation measure (RM) variations, which cannot be explained by current models. A unified model urgently needs to be established. Here we show the first evidence for a supernova remnant surrounding the FRB 20190520B source. We then demonstrate that the five active repeating FRB sources associated with PRSs can be understood within a single model in which central objects are young magnetars in massive binary systems embedded in supernova remnants. This model naturally predicts distinct variations of DM and RM for repeating FRBs. Crucially, young magnetar wind nebulae can generate bright PRSs. As a magnetar becomes older, the luminosity of a PRS will fade, which can naturally explain less-luminous PRSs for some active FRBs. Our results support a unified population of active FRBs in dynamic magnetized environments.

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arXiv2023

Influences of dynamical disruptions on the evolution of pulsars in globular clusters

By comparing the physical properties of pulsars hosted by core-collapsed (CCed) and non-core-collapsed (Non-CCed) globular clusters (GCs), we find that pulsars in CCed GCs rotate significantly slower than their counterparts in Non-CCed GCs. Additionally, radio luminosities at 1.4 GHz in CCed GCs are higher. These findings are consistent with the scenario that dynamical interactions in GCs can interrupt angular momentum transfer processes and surface magnetic field decay during the recycling phase. Our results suggest that such effects in CCed GCs are stronger due to more frequent disruptions of compact binaries. This is further supported by the observation that both estimated disruption rates and the fraction of isolated pulsars are predominantly higher in CCed GCs.

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arXiv2023

A comparison of millisecond pulsar populations between globular clusters and the Galactic field

We have performed a systematic study of the rotational, orbital and X-ray properties of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in globular clusters (GCs) and compared their nature with those of the MSPs in the Galactic field (GF). We found that GC MSPs generally rotate slower than their counterparts in the GF. Different from the expectation of a simple recycling scenario, no evidence for the correlation between the orbital period and the rotation period can be found from the MSP binaries in GCs. There is also an indication that the surface magnetic field of GC MSPs are stronger than those in the GF. All these suggest dynamical interactions in GCs can alter the evolution of MSPs/their progenitors which can leave an imprint on their X-ray emission properties. While the MSPs in both GF and GCs have similar distributions of X-ray luminosity and hardness, our sample supports the notion that these two populations follow different relation between the X-ray luminosity and spin-down power. We discuss this in terms of both pulsar emission model and the observational bias.

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arXiv2022

Repeating fast radio burst 20201124A originates from a magnetar/Be star binary

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are cosmic sources emitting millisecond-duration radio bursts. Although several hundreds FRBs have been discovered, their physical nature and central engine remain unclear. The variations of Faraday rotation measure and dispersion measure, due to local environment, are crucial clues to understanding their physical nature. The recent observations on the rotation measure of FRB 20201124A show a significant variation on a day time scale. Intriguingly, the oscillation of rotation measure supports that the local contribution can change sign, which indicates the magnetic field reversal along the line of sight. Here we present a physical model that explains observed characteristics of FRB 20201124A and proposes that repeating signal comes from a binary system containing a magnetar and a Be star with a decretion disk. When the magnetar approaches the periastron, the propagation of radio waves through the disk of the Be star naturally leads to the observed varying rotation measure, depolarization, large scattering timescale, and Faraday conversion. This study will prompt to search for FRB signals from Be/X-ray binaries.

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arXiv2020

Searches for Pulsar-like Candidates from Unidentified Objects in the Third Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT (3FHL) sources with Machine Learning Techniques

We report the results of searching pulsar-like candidates from the unidentified objects in the $3^{\rm rd}$ Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT sources (3FHL). Using a machine-learning based classification scheme with a nominal accuracy of $\sim98\%$, we have selected 27 pulsar-like objects from 200 unidentified 3FHL sources for an identification campaign. Using archival data, X-ray sources are found within the $γ-$ray error ellipses of 10 3FHL pulsar-like candidates. Within the error circles of the much better constrained X-ray positions, we have also searched for the optical/infrared counterparts and examined their spectral energy distributions. Among our short-listed candidates, the most secure identification is the association of 3FHL J1823.3-1339 and its X-ray counterpart with the globular cluster Mercer 5. The $γ-$rays from the source can be contributed by a population of millisecond pulsars residing in the cluster. This makes Mercer 5 as one of the slowly growing hard $γ-$ray population of globular clusters with emission $>10$ GeV. Very recently, another candidate picked by our classification scheme, 3FHL J1405.1-6118, has been identified as a new $γ-$ray binary with an orbital period of $13.7$ days. Our X-ray analysis with a short Chandra observation has found a possible periodic signal candidate of $\sim1.4$ hrs and a putative extended X-ray tail of $\sim20$ arcsec long. Spectral energy distribution of its optical/infrared counterpart conforms with a blackbody of $T_{\rm bb}\sim40000$ K and $R_{\rm bb}\sim12R_{\odot}$ at a distance of 7.7 kpc. This is consistent with its identification as an early O star as found by infrared spectroscopy.

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arXiv2020

Reply to "Rapid $^{14}$C excursion at 3372-3371 BCE not observed at two different locations"

The nuclide $^{14}$C can be produced in the atmosphere by high energy particles and $γ$-rays from high-energy phenomena. Through the carbon cycle, some of $^{14}$CO$_2$ produced in the atmosphere can be retained in annual tree rings. Four events of rapid increase of the $^{14}$C content occurred in AD 775, AD 994, BC 660 and BC 3371 were found. Recently, the data of Jull et al. (2020) was inconsistent with our records around BC 3371. We measured our sample again and found the $^{14}$C records are consistent with the value in Wang et al. (2017). Therefore, our $^{14}$C records are robust. The inconsistency may be caused by the difference of calendar ages for the wood samples, or the physical origin of the event. First, crossdating on ring width can be performed only between trees whose growth has the same environmental conditions. Because the master tree-ring for dendrochronology is lack for Chinese trees. The master tree-ring from California has to be used. Therefore, the calendar ages derived from dendrochronology may be not precise. Second, the $^{14}$C even may be not global. One evidence is the variation of $^{14}$C content around AD 1006. The $^{14}$C contents of Californian trees increase 12\textperthousand~ in two years, while Japanese trees show no $^{14}$C increase.

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arXiv2020

Repeated state change of variable gamma-ray pulsar, PSR J2021+4026

PSR J2021+4026 is a radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar and the first pulsar that shows state change of the gamma-ray emission and spin-down rate. The state change of PSR J2021+4026 was first observed at 2011 October, at which the pulsar changes the state from high gamma-ray flux/low spin-down rate state to low gamma-ray flux/high spin-down rate st\ ate. In December 2014, PSR J2021+4026 recovered the state before the 2011 state change over a timescale of a few months. We report that the long term evolution of the gamma-ray flux and timing behavior suggests that PSR J2021+4026 changed the state near 2018 February 1st and entered a new low gamma-ray flux/high spin-down rate state. At the 2018 state change, the averaged flux dropped from $(1.29\pm 0.01)\times 10^{-6} {\rm cts~cm^{-2}s^{-1}}$ to $(1.12\pm 0.01)\times 10^{-6} {\rm cts~cm^{-2}s^{-1\ }}$, which has the similar behavior to the case of 2011 event. The spin-down rate has increased by $\sim 3\%$ in the new state since the 2018 state change. The shapes of pulse profile and spectrum in GeV bands also changed at the 2018 event, and they are consistent with behavior at the 2011 state change. Our results probably suggest that PSR J2021+4026 is switching between different states with a timescale of several years, like some radio pulsars (e.g. PSR~B1828-11). PSR J2021+4026 will provide a unique opportunity to study the mechanism of the state switching.

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arXiv2019

Consequences of Energetic Magnetar-Like Outbursts of Nearby Neutron Stars: $^{14}$C Events and the Cosmic Electron Spectrum

Four significant events of rapid $^{14}$C increase have taken place within the past several thousand years. The physical origin of these rapid increases is still a mystery but must be associated with extremely energetic cosmic processes. Pulsars are highly magnetized neutron stars that emit a beam of electromagnetic radiations. Any sudden release of the energy stored in the magnetic multipole field will trigger outbursts similar to the giant flares of magnetars. Here we show that the relativistic outflow from the outbursts of a nearby pulsar interacting with the interstellar medium generates a shock, which accelerates electrons to trillions of electron volts. The high-energy photons from synchrotron emission of the shock interact with Earth's atmosphere, producing the cosmogenic nuclide $^{14}$C, which can cause the rapid $^{14}$C increases discovered in tree rings. These same relativistic electrons can account for a significant fraction of the cosmic electron spectrum in the trillion electron volts energy range, as observed by space-borne satellites. Since these outburst events can significantly affect our environment, monitoring nearby pulsars for such outbursts may be important in the future.

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arXiv2019

Where to find Electromagnetic Wave Counterparts of stellar-mass binary black hole mergers?

Multi-messenger astronomy combining Gravitational Wave (GW) and Electromagnetic Wave (EM) observation brings huge impact on physics, astrophysics and cosmology. However, the majority of sources to be detected with currently running ground-based GW observatories are binary black hole (BBH) mergers, which are expected disappointedly to have no EM counterparts. In this letter, we propose that if the BBH merger happens in a gaseous disk around a supermassive black hole, the merger can be accompanied by a transient radio flare alike a fast radio burst (FRB). We argue that the total mass and the effective spin derived from GW detection can be used to distinguish such a source from other channels of BBH mergers. If the prediction is confirmed with future observation, multi-messenger astronomy can be brought to a distance which is one order of magnitude farther than present. The mystery of the origin of FRBs can also be revealed partially.

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arXiv2019

Modelling the multi-wavelength emissions from PSR B1259-63/LS 2883: the effects of the stellar disc on shock radiations

PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 is an elliptical pulsar/Be star binary and emits broadband emissions from radio to TeV $γ$-rays. The massive star possesses an equatorial disc, which is inclined with the orbital plane of the pulsar. The non-thermal emission from the system is believed to be produced by the pulsar wind shock and the double-peak profiles in the X-ray and TeV $γ$-ray light curves are related to the phases of the pulsar passing through the disc region of the star. In this paper, we investigate the interactions between the pulsar wind and stellar outflows, especially with the presence of the disc, and present a multi-wavelength modelling of the emission from this system. We show that the double-peak profiles of X-ray and TeV $γ$-ray light curves are caused by the enhancements of the magnetic field and the soft photons at the shock during the disc passages. As the pulsar is passing through the equatorial disc, the additional pressure of the disc pushes the shock surface closer to the pulsar, which causes the enhancement of magnetic field in the shock, and thus increases the synchrotron luminosity. The TeV $γ$-rays due to the inverse-Compton (IC) scattering of shocked electrons with seed photons from the star is expected to peak around periastron which is inconsistent with observations. However, the shock heating of the stellar disc could provide additional seed photons for IC scattering during the disc passages, and thus produces the double-peak profiles as observed in the TeV $γ$-ray light curve. Our model can possibly be examined and applied to other similar gamma-ray binaries, such as PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213, HESS J0632+057, and LS I+61$^{\circ}$303.

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arXiv2019

On the Polarized Nonthermal Emission from AR Scorpii

We study linear polarization of optical emission from white dwarf (WD) binary system AR~Scorpii. The optical emission from this binary is modulating with the beat frequency of the system, and it is highly polarized, with the degree of the polarization reaching $\sim 40$\%. The angle of the polarization monotonically increases with the spin phase, and the total swing angle can reach $360^{\circ}$ over one spin phase. It is also observed that the morphology of the pulse profile and the degree of linear polarization evolve with the orbital phase. These polarization properties can constrain the scenario for nonthermal emission from AR Scorpii. In this paper, we study the polarization properties predicted by the emission model, in which (i) the pulsed optical emission is produced by the synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons trapped by magnetic field lines of the WD and (ii) the emission is mainly produced at magnetic mirror points of the electron motion. We find that this model can reproduce the large swing of the polarization angle, provided that the distribution of the initial pitch angle of the electrons that are leaving the M-type star is biased to a smaller angle rather than a uniform distribution. The observed direction of the swing suggests that the Earth viewing angle is less than $90^{\circ}$ measured from the WD spin axis. The current model prefers an Earth viewing angle of $50^{\circ}-60^{\circ}$ and a magnetic inclination angle of $50^{\circ}-60^{\circ}$ (or $120^{\circ}-130^{\circ}$). We discuss that the different contribution of the emission from M-type star to total emission causes a large variation in the pulsed fraction and the degree of the linear polarization along the orbital phase.

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arXiv2018

Clumpy jets from black hole-massive star binaries as engines of Fast Radio Bursts

We propose a new model of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) based on stellar mass black hole-massive star binaries. We argue that the inhomogeneity of the circumstellar materials or/and the time varying wind activities of the stellar companion will cause the black hole to accrete at a transient super-Eddington rate. The collision among the clumpy ejecta in the resulted jet could trigger plasma instability. As a result, the plasma in the jet will emit coherent curvature radiation. When the jet cone aims toward the observer, the apparent luminosity can be $10^{41}-10^{42}$\,erg/s. The duration of the resulted flare is $\sim$ millisecond. The high event rate of the observed non-repeating FRBs can be explained. A similar scenario in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole can be used to explain the interval distribution of the repeating source FRB121102 qualitatively.

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arXiv2018

Gamma-Ray Emission from Molecular Clouds Generated by Penetrating Cosmic Rays

We analyze the processes governing cosmic-ray (CR) penetration into molecular clouds and the resulting generation of gamma-ray emission. The density of CRs inside a cloud is depleted at lower energies due to the self-excited MHD turbulence. The depletion depends on the effective gas column density ("size") of the cloud. We consider two different environments where the depletion effect is expected to be observed. For the Central Molecular Zone, the expected range of CR energy depletion is $E\lesssim 10$ GeV, leading to the depletion of gamma-ray flux below $E_γ\approx 2$ GeV. This effect can be important for the interpretation of the GeV gamma-ray excess in the Galactic Center, which has been revealed from the standard model of CR propagation (assuming the CR spectrum inside a cloud to be equal to the interstellar spectrum). Furthermore, recent observations of some local molecular clouds suggest the depletion of the gamma-ray emission, indicating possible self-modulation of the penetrating low-energy CRs.

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arXiv2018

X-ray Census of Millisecond Pulsars in the Galactic field

We have conducted a systematic survey for the X-ray properties of millisecond pulsars (MSPs). Currently, there are 47 MSPs with confirmed X-ray detections. We have also placed the upper limits for the X-ray emission from the other 36 MSPs by using the archival data. We have normalized their X-ray luminosities $L_{x}$ and their effective photon indices $Γ$ into a homogeneous data set, which enable us to carry out a detailed statistical analysis. Based on our censored sample, we report a relation of $L_{x}\simeq10^{31.05}\left(\dot{E}/10^{35}\right)^{1.31}$ erg/s (2-10 keV) for the MSPs. The inferred X-ray conversion efficiency is found to be lower than previously reported estimate that could be affected by selection bias. $L_{x}$ also correlates/anti-correlates with the magnetic field strength at the light cylinder $B_{LC}$/characteristic age $τ$. On the other hand, there is no correlation between $L_{x}$ and their surface magnetic field strength $B_{s}$. We have further divided the sample into four classes: (i) black-widows, (ii) redbacks, (iii) isolated MSPs and (iv) other MSP binaries, and compare the properties among them. We noted that while the rotational parameters and the orbital periods of redbacks and black-widow are similar, $L_{x}$ of redbacks are significantly higher than those of black-widows in the 2-10 keV band. Also the $Γ$ of redbacks are apparently smaller than those of black-widows, which indicates the X-ray emission of redbacks are harder than that of black-widows. This can be explained by the different contribution of intrabinary shocks in the X-ray emission of these two classes.

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arXiv2018

Multi-wavelength observations of a new redback millisecond pulsar candidate: 3FGL J0954.8-3948

We present a multi-wavelength study of the unassociated Fermi-LAT source, 3FGL J0954.8-3948, which is likely the gamma-ray counterpart of a 9.3-hour binary in the field. With more than 9 years of Pass 8 LAT data, we updated the gamma-ray spectral properties and the LAT localization of the gamma-ray source. While the binary lies outside the cataloged 95% error ellipse, the optimized LAT ellipse is 0.1 degrees closer and encloses the binary. The system is likely spectrally hard in X-rays (photon index ~ 1.4) with orbital modulations detected in optical, UV, and possibly X-rays. A steep spectrum radio counterpart (spectral index ~ -1.6) is also found in the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS), implying that it is a pulsar system. We obtained a series of SOAR and Gemini spectroscopic observations in 2017/2018, which show a low-mass secondary orbiting in a close circular orbit with K2 = 272 km/s under strong irradiation by the primary compact object. All the observations as well as the modelling of the X/gamma-ray high-energy emission suggest that 3FGL J0954.8-3948 is a redback millisecond pulsar in a rotation-powered state.

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arXiv2018

Time-Variability of equivalent width of 6.4 keV line from the Arches Complex: reflected X-rays or charged particles?

Molecular gas in Arches cloud located near the Arches cluster is one of the emitters of K-$α$ line of neutral iron and X-ray continuum in the Galactic center (GC). Similarly to the cloud Sgr B2, another well-known emitter of the iron line in the GC, the Arches cloud demonstrates temporal decline of the X-ray emission. The most natural origin of this emission is irradiation of primary photons of an X-ray flare from a distant source, most likely Sgr A*. However, recent observations of the Arches cloud discovered variations of equivalent width of the 6.4 keV iron line, which indicated that the X-ray emission from the cloud is a combination of two components with different origin and different equivalent width, one of which is time-variable, while the other is stationary during the period of observations. We considered two different scenarios: a) this emission is formed by reflection from two clouds, which are at some distance from each other, when they are irradiated by two different flares; and b) the other scenario assumes a combination of X-ray fluxes produced in the same cloud by reflection of primary photons and by subrelativistic cosmic rays. We present restrictions for both model and conditions at which these scenarios can be realized. Although none of the models can be completely ruled out, we find that the X-ray reflection model requires less assumption and therefore is the most viable.

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arXiv2018

The growth of stellar mass black hole binaries trapped in an accretion disk of active galactic nuclei

Among the four black hole binary merger events detected by LIGO, six progenitor black holes have masses greater than 20\,$M_\odot$. The existence of such massive BHs calls for extreme metal-poor stars as the progenitors. An alternative possibility that a pair of stellar mass black holes each with mass $\sim7\,M_\odot$ increases to $>20\,M_\odot$ via accretion from a disk surrounding a super massive black hole in an active galactic nucleus is considered. The growth of mass of the binary and the transfer of orbital angular momentum to the disk accelerates the merger. Based on the recent numerical work of Tang et al. (2017), it is found that, in the disk of a low mass AGN with mass $\sim10^6\,M_\odot$ and Eddington ratio $>0.01$, the mass of an individual BH in the binary can grow to $>20\,M_\odot$ before coalescence provided that accretion takes place at a rate more than 10 times the Eddington value. The mechanism predicts a new class of gravitational wave sources involving the merger of two extreme Kerr black holes associated with active galactic nuclei and a possible electromagnetic wave counterpart.

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arXiv2018

Toward an inner connection of SNe Ic, SLSNe Ic, XRF connected SNe, SNe Ic-BL, and GRB connected SNe

Type Ic supernovae (SNe) can be classified as: normal SNe Ic, type Ic super-luminous SNe (SLSNe Ic), X-ray flash (XRF) connected SNe, broad-line SNe Ic (SN Ic-BL), and gamma-ray burst (GRB) connected SNe. Here we suggest an inner connection for all kinds of SNe Ic based on a pair of jets being successfully launched: a normal SN Ic is a normal core collapsar without jets launched; a GRB associated SN Ic is a core collapsar with relativistic jets launched and successfully breaking out the envelope of the progenitor; an XRF associated SN Ic is a core collapsar with jets launched but can only develop a relativistic shock breakout; an SN Ic-BL is an off-axis GRB or XRF associated supernova; and an SLSN Ic is close to the XRF-SN Ic but the shock breakout is not relativistic and most of the jet energy is deposited into the supernova component. Based on the luminosity-distance diagram, we derived the luminosity function of all different types of SNe Ic as a whole. We also show that the normal SNe Ic and GRB connected SNe Ic have similar accumulative distributions.

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