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K. S. Cheng

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

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

The Radio and Gamma-Ray Luminosities of Blazars

Based on the $γ$-ray data of blazars in the third EGRET catalog and radio data at 5 GHz, we studied the correlation between the radio and $γ$-ray luminosities using two statistical methods. The first method was the partial correlation analysis method, which indicates that there exist correlations between the radio and $γ$-ray luminosities in both high and low states as well as in the average case. The second method involved a comparison of expected $γ$-ray luminosity distribution with the observed data using the Kolmogorov-- Smirnov (KS) test. In the second method, we assumed that there is a correlation between the radio and $γ$-ray luminosities and that the $γ$-ray luminosity function is proportional to the radio luminosity function. The KS test indicates that the expected gamma-ray luminosity distributions are consistent with the observed data in a reasonable parameter range. Finally, we used different $γ$-ray luminosity functions to estimate the possible 'observed' $γ$-ray luminosity distributions by GLAST.

astro-ph↗

Gamma-ray bursts: afterglows from cylindrical jets

Nearly all previous discussion on beaming effects in GRBs have assumed a conical geometry. However, more and more observations on relativistic jets in radio galaxies, active galactic nuclei, and "microquasars" in the Galaxy have shown that many of these outflows are not conical, but cylindrical, i.e., they maintain constant cross sections at large scales. Thus it is necessary to discuss the possibility that GRBs may be due to highly collimated cylindrical jets, not conical ones. Here we study the dynamical evolution of cylindrical jets and discuss their afterglows. Both analytical and numerical results are presented. It is shown that when the lateral expansion is not taken into account, a cylindrical jet typically remains to be highly relativistic for \sim 10^8 - 10^9 s. During this relativistic phase, the optical afterglow decays as \propto t^{-p/2} at first, where p is the index characterizing the power-law energy distribution of electrons. Then the light curve steepens to be \propto t^{-(p+1)/2} due to cooling of electrons. After entering the non-relativistic phase (i.e., t > 10^{11} s), the afterglow is \propto t^{-(5p-4)/6}. But if the cylindrical jet expands laterally at co-moving sound speed, then the decay becomes \propto t^{-p} and \propto t^{-(15p-21)/10} - t^{-(15p-20)/10} in the ultra-relativistic and non-relativistic phase respectively. Note that in both cases, the light curve turns flatter after the relativistic-Newtonian transition point, which differs markedly from the behaviour of a conical jet. It is suggested that some GRBs with afterglows decaying as t^{-1.1} - t^{-1.3} may be due to cylindrical jets, not necessarily isotropic fireballs.

astro-ph↗

Gamma-Ray Bursts: Afterglows and Central Engines

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are most intense transient gamma-ray events in the sky when they are on together with the strong evidences (i.e. the isotropic and inhomogeneous distribution of GRBs detected by BASTE) that they are located at cosmological distances, which make them the most energetic events ever known. For example, the observed radiation energies of some GRBs are equivalent to convert more than one solar mass energy into radiation completely. This is thousand times stronger than that of supernova explosion. Unconventional energy mechanisms and extremely high conversion efficiency for these mysterious events are required. The discovery of host galaxies and association with supernovae in the cosmological distances by the recently launched satellite of BeppoSAX and ground based radio and optical telescopes in GRB afterglow provides further support to the cosmological origin of GRBs and put strong constraints on central engines of GRBs. It is the aim of this article to review the possible central engines, energy mechanisms, dynamical and spectral evolution of GRBs, especially focusing on the afterglows in multi-wavebands.

astro-ph↗

Can Rotational Properties of General Relativistic Compact Objects Be Predicted from Static Ones?

We propose an approximate description of basic parameters (radius, mass and oblateness) of general relativistic compact rotating objects in terms of the parameters of the static configuration and of the angular velocity only. The representation in terms of static properties is derived using the condition of stationary equilibrium together with some phenomenological assumptions. The predicted radius and mass of rotating neutron star (described by some realistic equations of state) and strange star (described by the bag model equation of state) are compared with data obtained by numerical integration of gravitational field equation. The obtained formulae also allow a simple derivation of the "empirical" equation relating the maximum rotation frequency $Ω_{max}$ of uniformly rotating star models to the mass and radius of the maximum allowable mass configuration of the non-rotating model.

astro-ph↗

The Evolution of Magnetic Field and Spin Period of Accreting Neutron Stars

Based on the accretion induced magnetic a field decay model, in which a frozen field and an incompressible fluid are assumed, we obtain the following results. (1) An analytic relation between the magnetic field and spin period, if the fastness parameter of the accretion disk is neglected. The evolutionary tracks of accreting neutron stars in the P-B diagram in our model are different from the equilibrium period lines when the influence of the fastness parameter is taken into account. (2) The theoretical minimum spin period of an accreting neutron star is $\max (1.1{\rm ms}(\frac{ΔM}{M_{\odot}})^{-1} R^{-5/14}_6 I_{45}(\frac{M}{M_{\odot}})^{-1/2}, 1.1{\rm ms} (\frac{M}{M_{\odot}})^{-1/2} R^{17/14}_6)$, independent of the accretion rate (X-ray luminosity) but dependent on the total accretion mass $ΔM$. However, the minimum magnetic field depends on the accretion rate. (3) The magnetic field strength decreases faster with time than the period.

astro-ph↗

Thermal X-Ray Pulses Resulting From Pulsar Glitches

The non-spherically symmetric transport equations and exact thermal evolution model are used to calculate the transient thermal response to pulsars. The three possible ways of energy release originated from glitches, namely the `shell', `ring' and `spot' cases are compared. The X-ray light curves resulting from the thermal response to the glitches are calculated. Only the `spot' case and the `ring' case are considered because the `shell' case does not produce significant modulative X-rays. The magnetic field ($\vec B$) effect, the relativistic light bending effect and the rotational effect on the photons being emitted in a finite region are considered. Various sets of parameters result in different evolution patterns of light curves. We find that this modulated thermal X-ray radiation resulting from glitches may provide some useful constraints on glitch models.

astro-ph↗

Energy Sources of Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters

Quiescence and burst emission and relativistic particle winds of soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) have been widely interpreted to result from ultrastrongly magnetized neutron stars. In this magnetar model, the magnetic energy and gravitational energy of the neutron stars are suggested as the energy sources of all the emission and winds. However, Harding, Contopoulos & Kazanas (1999) have shown that the magnetic field should be only ~ 3 x 10^{13} G in order to match the characteristic spin-down timescale of SGR 1806-20 and its SNR age. Here we argue that if the magnetic field is indeed so weak, the previously suggested energy sources seem problematic. We further propose a plausible model in which SGR pulsars are young strange stars with superconducting cores and with a poloidal magnetic field of ~ 3 x 10^{13} G. In this model, the movement of the flux tubes not only leads to crustal cracking of the stars, giving rise to deconfinement of crustal matter to strange matter, but also to movement of internal magnetic toruses with the flux tubes. The former process will result in burst and quiescence emission and the latter process will produce steady relativistic winds which will power the surrounding supernova remnants.

astro-ph↗

The polarization and beaming effect for GRBs

Both observations and theoretical models suggest that the emissions in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and the afterglows are beamed. We argue that the recent polarization measured in the afterglows gives further evidence of beaming in GRBs. In this approach, we adopted the polarization-magnitude relation of BL Lacertae objects to 4 GRBs with available polarization measurements and found that the data of the 4 GRBs are consistent with the relation of BL Lacertae objects. This result suggests that the emissions in GRBs are beamed and there are similarities between GRBs and BL Lacertae objects (or generally blazars). We suggest that the weak polarization of GRBs may result from low percentage of orderly magnetic field in the shock front.

astro-ph↗

Basic properties of Gamma-ray loud blazars

In this paper, a method is proposed to determine the basic properties of $γ$-ray loud blazars, among them the central black hole mass, M, the Doppler factor, $δ$, the propagation angle of the $γ$-rays with respect to the symmetric axis of a two-temperature accretion disk, $Φ$, and the distance (i.e. the height above the accretion disk), d at which the $γ$-rays are created, for seven $γ$-ray loud blazars with available GeV variability timescales and in which the absorption effect of a $γ$-ray and the beaming effect have been taken into account. Our results indicate that, if we take the intrinsic $γ$-ray luminosity to be $λ$ times the Eddington luminosity, $L_γ^{in} = λL_{Edd.}$, the masses of the blazars are in the range of $(4 \sim 131)\times 10^{7}M_{\odot}$, the Doppler factors ($δ$) lie in the range of 0.57 to 5.33 the angle ($Φ$) is in the range of $13^{\circ}$ to 43$^{\circ}$ and the distance (d) is in the range of 26R_{g} to 411R_{g}. Our model results are independent of $γ$-ray emission mechanisms but they do depend on the X-ray emission mechanism of the accretion disk.

astro-ph↗

A Two-Step Model for Gamma-Ray Bursts Associated with Supernovae

We here propose a two-step model for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) associated with supernovae. In the first step, the core collapse of a star with mass $\ge 19M_\odot$ leads to a massive neutron star and a normal supernova, and subsequently hypercritical accretion of the neutron star from the supernova ejecta may give rise to a jet through neutrino annihilation and/or Poynting flux along the stellar rotation axis. However, because of too much surrounding matter, this jet rapidly enters a nonrelativistic phase and evolves to a large bubble. In the second step, the neutron star promptly implodes to a rapidly rotating black hole surrounded by a torus when the mass of the star increases to the maximum mass and meanwhile its rotation frequency increases to the upper limit due to the accreted angular momentum. The gravitational binding energy of the torus may be dissipated by a magnetized relativistic wind, which may then be absorbed by the supernova ejecta, thus producing an energetic hypernova. The rotational energy of the black hole may be extracted by the Blandford-Znajek's mechanism, leading to another jet. This jet is relatively free of baryons and thus may be accelerated to an ultrarelativistic phase because the first jet has pushed out of its front matter and left a baryon-free exit. We expect that the second jet generates a GRB and its afterglow. Our two-step model may alleviate the baryon-contamination problem suffered possibly from in the hypernova models. Furthermore, this model not only accounts for association of several GRBs with supernovae but also explains well the features of the afterglows of these bursts.

astro-ph↗

The formation and merger of compact objects in central engine of active galactic nuclei and quasars: gamma-ray burst and gravitational radiation

The production rate of compact objects, i.e. neutron stars (NS) and black holes (BH), in active galactic nuclei (AGN) and quasars (QSO), where the frequent supernova explosion is used to explain the high metallicity, is very high due to the interaction between the accretion disk and main sequence stars in the nucleus of the quasar. The compact object-red giant star (RG) binaries can be easily formed due to the large captured cross-section of the red giant stars. The (NS/BH, NS/BH) binary can be formed after the supernova explosion of the (NS/BH, RG) binary. Intense transient gamma-ray emission (gamma-ray burst) and gravitational radiation can result from the merger of these two compact objects. Collision between helium core (Hc) of RG and black hole may also take place and may also result in long duration gamma-ray bursts but no gravitational waves. We estimate that the merger rate of (NS/BH, NS/BH) binaries and (Hc, BH) is proportional to the metal abundance $({\rm \frac{NV}{CIV}})$ and can be as high as 10$^{-3}({\rm \frac{NV}{CIV}}/0.01)$ per year per AGN/QSO.

astro-ph↗

A Possible Energy Mechanism for Cosmological Gamma-ray Bursts

We suggest that an extreme Kerr black hole with a mass $\sim 10^6M_\odot$, a dimensionless angular momentum $A\sim 1$ and a marginal stable orbital radius $r_{ms}\sim 3r_s\sim 10^{12}M_6 cm$ located in a normal galaxy, may produced a Gamma-ray Burst by capturing and disrupting a star. During this period, a transient accretion disk is formed and a strong transient magnetic field $\sim 2.4\times 10^9M_6^{-1/2}$ Gauss, lasting for $r_{ms}/c\sim 30 M_6 s$, may be produced in the inner boundary of the accretion disk. A large amount of rotational energy of the black hole is extracted and released in the ultra relativistic jet with a bulk Lorentz factor $Γ$ larger than $10^3$ via Blandford-Znajek process. The relativistic jet energy can be converted into $γ$-ray radiation via internal shock mechanism. The gamma-ray burst (GRB) duration should be the same as that of the life time of the strong transient magnetic field. The maximum number of sub-bursts is estimated to be $r_{ms}/h\sim (10 - 10^2)$ because the disk material is likely broken into pieces with the size about the thickness of the disk $h$ at the cusp ($2r_s\le r \le 3r_s$). The shortest rising time of the burst estimated from this model is $\sim h/Γc\sim 3\times 10^{-4}Γ^{-1}_3(h/r)_{-2}M_6$ s. The model gamma-ray burst density rate is also estimated.

astro-ph↗

The Thermal Response of a Pulsar Glitch : The Non-spherical Symmetric Case

We study the thermal evolution of a pulsar after a glitch in which the energy is released from a relative compact region. A set of relativistic thermal transport and energy balance equations is used to study the thermal evolution, without making the assumption of spherical symmetry. We use an exact cooling model to solve this set of differential equtions. Our results differ significantly from those obtained under the assumption of spherical symmetry. Even for young pulsars with a hot core like the Vela pulsar, we find that a detectable hot spot can be observed after a glitch. The results suggest that the intensity variation and the relative phases of hard X-ray emissions in different epoches can provide important information on the equation of state.

gr-qc↗

Is GRO J1744-28 a Strange Star?

The unusal hard x-ray burster GRO J1744-28 recently discovered by the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory (GRO) can be modeled as a strange star with a dipolar magnetic field $\le 10^{11} $Gauss. When the accreted mass of the star exceeds some critical mass, its crust may break, resulting in conversion of the accreted matter into strange matter and release of energy. Subsequently, a fireball may form and expand relativistically outward. The expanding fireball may interact with the surrounding interstellar medium, causing its kinetic energy to be radiated in shock waves, producing a burst of x-ray radiation. The burst energy, duration, interval and spectrum derived from such a model are consistent with the observations of GRO J1744-28.

astro-ph↗

Gravitational Waves from Phase Transition of Accreting Neutron Stars

We propose that when neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries accrete sufficient mass and become millisecond pulsars, the interiors of these stars may undergo phase transitions, which excite stellar radial oscillations. We show that the radial oscillations will be mainly damped by gravitational-wave radiation instead of internal viscosity. The gravitational waves can be detected by the advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory at a rate of about three events per year.

astro-ph↗

A New Model for Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters

We consider a model in which the soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) result from young, magnetized strange stars with superconducting cores. As such a strange star spins down, the quantized vortex lines move outward and drag the magnetic field tubes because of the strong coupling between them. Since the terminations of the tubes interact with the stellar crust, the dragged tubes can produce sufficient tension to crack the crust. Part of the broken platelet will be dragged into the quark core, which is only $10^4$ cm from the surface, leading to the deconfinement of crustal matter into strange quark matter and thus the release of energy. We will show that the burst energy, duration, time interval and spectrum for our model are in agreement with the observational results. The persistent X-ray emission from the SGRs can be well explained by our model.

astro-ph↗

Statistics Of The Burst Model At Super-critical Phase

We investigate the statistics of a model of type-I X-ray burst [Phys. Rev. E, {\bf 51}, 3045 (1995)] in its super-critical phase. The time evolution of the burnable clusters, places where fire can pass through, is studied using simple statistical arguments. We offer a simple picture for the time evolution of the percentage of space covered by burnable clusters. A relation between the time-average and the peak percentage of space covered by burnable clusters is also derived.

cond-mat↗