arXiv subjects

Shuo Xiao

Publications and source records attributed to Shuo Xiao.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Design and preliminary performance study of the broad-band spectrometer detector for POLAR-2

POLAR-2, the successor of the POLAR experiment aboard China's Tiangong-2 space lab, is set to be deployed on the China Space Station. The POLAR-2 mission aims to conducting high-precision polarization measurements of high-energy transients with a primary focus on Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), following POLAR's pioneering accurate polarization measurements of GRB prompt emission. One of the key advancements in POLAR-2 is the inclusion of a dedicated Broad-band Spectrometer Detector (BSD) instrument, designed to provide precise measurements of GRB location and spectral parameters, which are critical inputs for accurate polarization analysis of POLAR-2's dedicated High-energy Polarimetry Detector (HPD), which is made of plastic scintillator bars array. BSD employs a coded-aperture mask imaging technique and pixelated GAGG scintillation crystals, offering a wide half-coded field of view of ~132{\deg} x 125{\deg} and an operational energy range of 10-1000 keV. Simulation results indicate that the instrument can achieve a localization accuracy of approximately 1.5{\deg} for faint GRBs similar to GRB 170817A, satisfying the core requirements of GRB polarimetry with HPD. BSD also has moderate capability for GRB polarimetry, particularly at several hundred keV energy. This paper outlines the preliminary design of BSD and presents an overall evaluation of its expected scientific performance, based on extensive Monte Carlo simulations and preliminary ground-based calibration tests.

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arXiv2026

Joint Observation of SGR J1935+2154 with \textit{Insight}-HXMT and KM40m during the active episode of October 2022

SGR J1935+2154 is the unique magnetar so far from which fast radio bursts have been detected. In October 2022, it resumed its burst activity, and we implemented a dedicated target-of-opportunity (ToO) observation on it from Oct. 13th to Nov. 1st, 2022 (about 940 ks in total) with \textit{Insight}-HXMT, while the KM40m radio telescope observed this source for about 1400 hours since Oct. 15th. We searched the LE, ME, and HE data of \textit{Insight}-HXMT in the overlapping observation time windows with the KM40m radio telescope and revealed 60 magnetar X-ray bursts (MXBs), while KM40m only detected 1 radio burst. In particular, we find that there is an X-ray burst on October 21 (denoted as MXB 221021) temporally associated with this radio burst. Interestingly, this association event shows very different morphology from those X-ray and radio association events from this source reported before (e.g., MXB/FRB 200428). Moreover, we systematically analyzed the temporal and spectral properties of the sample of MXBs during this observation and found that % the (radio-associated) MXB 221021 shows some different properties from other MXBs without associated radio bursts. These findings shed new light on the physical mechanisms of X-ray bursts and radio burst emission in magnetars.

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arXiv2026

GECAM discovery of a peculiar magnetar X-ray burst (MXB 221120) from SGR J1935+2154 associated with a fast radio burst

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are enigmatic cosmic transients of millisecond duration observed in the radio band. The identification of FRB-associated magnetar X-ray bursts (MXBs) from galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 suggests that at least a fraction of FRBs can be produced from magnetar activity. However, the sample size of FRB-associated MXBs is still very small. Here we report a bright and peculiar FRB-associated MXB from SGR J1935+2154 detected by GECAM on November 20, 2022, dubbed MXB 221120. We find that both temporal and spectral properties of MXB 221120 exhibit distinctive features. Its light curve could be generally described by a single FRED function with superposition of several narrow pulses. Interestingly, we identify a possible QPO feature with center frequency of ~18 Hz in this MXB. The time-integrated spectrum is best fitted by a blackbody model with temperature (kT ) of 18.6 keV, rendering it the first thermal spectrum FRB-associated MXB from SGR J1935+2154. Compared to other MXBs with single emission episode, MXB 221120 has longer duration and higher blackbody temperature, making it an outlier in the burst sample. These results indicate that MXB 221120 may be produced by a special mechanism with extreme physical conditions.

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arXiv2026

Comprehensive Measurement of Spectral Evolution in a GRB Flare: High Time-Resolution Insights into the "Double-Tracking" Phenomenon

The spectral evolution characteristics of the prompt emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been extensively studied, but detailed investigations of spectral evolution in a GRB flare remain lacking. In this work, we present the first analysis of spectral parameter evolution in a GRB flare through high time-resolved spectral fitting of the Brightest Flare in GRB 221009A. We find that the $\alpha$-Flux, $E_p$-Flux, and $E_p$-$\alpha$ relationships during both the overall phase and the rise phase of flare can be well described by simple power-law model, showing positive correlations. Therefore, we conclude that Brightest Flare exhibits "Double-tracking" behavior. Since values of $\alpha$ do not exceed the synchrotron "death line" (-2/3), we explain this phenomenon using a magnetic dissipation synchrotron radiation model. In the decay phase of flare, the $E_p$-Flux and $E_p$-$\alpha$ correlations become notably flatter, with their power-law indices decreasing significantly compared to those in the rise phase. This may be due to the fact that the next flare begins to erupt before the Brightest Flare has completely ended, resulting in the combined effects of both two flares. Our study of spectral parameter relations of the Brightest Flare provides new insights into the radiation mechanisms of both GRB prompt emission and flares.

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arXiv2026

Geometric Search for Hawking Radiation from Nearby Primordial Black Holes

A nearby primordial-black-hole (PBH) evaporation burst would produce a curved gamma-ray wavefront, leading to detectable departures from plane-wave inter-satellite delays. We introduce a purely geometric method that combines imaging localizations with multi-spacecraft timing to determine the distance of a gamma-ray transient. Applied to \textit{Swift}-localized short GRBs, the current sample shows no significant deviation from the plane-wave expectation, with the most constraining event reaching $1.2$ AU and already probing a meaningful Solar-System-scale regime. Our analysis shows that direct distance measurements are achievable to $10^3$ AU scales with the current and near-future technical capabilities. Once a finite source distance is measured, the corresponding PBH mass and lifetime can be directly inferred. Future wide-field localization and long-baseline deep-space gamma-ray detectors could extend such searches to $10^5$ AU and beyond.

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arXiv2026

GECAM discovery of the second FRB-associated Magnetar X-ray Burst from SGR J1935+2154

Fast radio burst (FRB) is mysterious phenomenon with millisecond-duration radio pulses observed mostly from cosmological distance. The association between FRB 200428 and a magnetar X-ray burst (MXB) from SGR J1935+2154 has significantly advanced the understanding of FRB and magnetar bursts. However, it is uncertain whether this association between MXB and FRB (i.e. MXB/FRB 200428) is genuine or just coincidental only based on this single event. Here we report the discovery of a bright ($\rm\sim7.6\times10^{-7}\,erg \cdot cm^{-2}$ in 1-250 keV) magnetar X-ray burst detected by GECAM on October 14th, 2022 (dubbed as MXB 221014) from SGR J1935+2154, which is associated with a FRB detected by CHIME and GBT. We conducted a detailed temporal and spectral analysis of MXB 221014 with GECAM data and find that it is a bright and typical ($T_{90}\sim$250 ms) X-ray burst from this magnetar. Interestingly, we find two narrow X-ray pulses in the MXB, one of which temporally aligns with the main pulse of the FRB 221014 $\sim5.70$ ms latter than the peak time of FRB 221014), resembling the feature found in MXB/FRB 200428. Furthermore, we did comprehensive comparison between MXB/FRB 221014 and MXB/FRB 200428, and find that while the two events share several common features, they also exhibit distinct differences, highlighting the variety of the MXB-FRB association morphology. This finding not only confirms the association between MXB and FRB but also provides new insights into the mechanism of and the relationship between FRB and MXB.

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arXiv2026

Systematic Study of the Simultaneous Events Detected by GECAM

GECAM is a constellation of all-sky monitors in hard X-ray and gamma-ray band primarily aimed at high energy transients such as gamma-ray bursts, soft gamma-ray repeaters, solar flares and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes. As GECAM has the highest temporal resolution (0.1~$\mu$s) among instruments of its kind, it can identify the so-called simultaneous events (STE) that deposit signals in multiple detectors nearly at the same time (with a 0.3~$\mu$s window). However, the properties and origin of STE have not yet been explored. In this work, we implemented, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of the STE detected by GECAM, including their morphology, energy deposition, and the dependence on the geomagnetic coordinates. We find that these STE probably result from direct interactions between high-energy charged cosmic rays and satellite. These results demonstrate that GECAM can detect, identify, and characterize high-energy cosmic rays, making it a Micro Cosmic-Ray Observatory (MICRO) in low Earth orbit.

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arXiv2026

Brightest GRB flare observed in GRB 221009A: bridge the last gap between flare and prompt emission in GRB

Flares are usually observed during the afterglow phase of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) in soft X-ray, optical and radio bands, but rarely in gamma-ray band. Despite the extraordinary brightness, GECAM-C has accurately measured both the bright prompt emission and flare emission of GRB 221009A without instrumental effects, offering a good opportunity to study the relation between them. In this work, we present a comprehensive analysis of flare emission of GRB 221009A, which is composed of a series of flares. Among them, we identify an exceptionally bright flare with a record-breaking isotropic energy $E_{\rm iso} = 1.82 \times 10^{53}$ erg of GRB flares. It exhibits the highest peak energy ever detected in GRB flares, $E_{\rm peak} \sim 300$ keV, making it a genuine gamma-ray flare. It also shows rapid rise and decay timescales, significantly shorter than those of typical X-ray flares observed in soft X-ray or optical band, but comparable to those observed in prompt emissions. Despite these exceptional properties, the flare shares several common properties with typical GRB flares. We note that this is the first observation of a GRB flare in the keV-MeV band with sufficiently high temporal resolution and high statistics, which bridges the last gap between prompt emission and flare.

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arXiv2026

Evidence for a Damped Millisecond Quasi-Periodic Structure in a Fast Radio Burst

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration transients of unknown origin, likely associated with compact astrophysical objects. We report evidence for a damped millisecond quasi-periodic structure in a non-repeat FRB~20190122C. The burst consists of eight closely spaced radio pulses separated by $\sim$1 ms, with pulse amplitudes exhibiting an exponential decay starting from the brightest component. Combined Gaussian fitting and time-series analysis reveal a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) at $\sim$1 kHz. The observed QPO is consistent with damped magnetospheric oscillations. Assuming an Alfv\'en wave origin, we estimate a surface magnetic field of $\sim 10^{12}$ G and a characteristic spin period of $\sim$1 s, favoring a low-field magnetar or young neutron star scenario. The absence of frequency drift and the presence of exponential damping disfavor a merger-driven origin. These results suggest the first detection of an exponentially decaying QPO in any FRB, marking a rare detection of coherent oscillatory behavior in FRBs.

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arXiv2025

The Origin of Cross-Energy-Similar FRED Profiles in Gamma-Ray Bursts Pulses

To understand the physical mechanisms underlying the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRB), single FRED (Fast-Rise-Exponential-Decay) profile GRBs serve as an ideal sample, as they origin from single epoch central engine activity. These GRBs have been found to exhibit a peculiar morphology-including the elegant cross-energy-similarity across energy bands and the recently discovered composite nature-challenging nearly all existing radiation mechanisms, sparking widespread curiosity about their origins. Here we propose a physical model which includes radiation locations sequentially triggered by propagating magnetic perturbations. It naturally explains all observed properties of these GRBs, including the self-similar FRED profile, multi-band aligned subpulses, hard-to-soft spectral evolution, local intensity tracking, and increasing subpulse durations. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that the duration of these GRBs is not reflecting the activity timescale of the central engine, reconciling recent challenges to the traditional merger-short/collapsar-long dichotomy of GRBs.

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arXiv2025

BREAKFAST: A Framework for general joint BA duty and follow-up guidance of multiple $\gamma$-ray monitors

With the growing number of gamma-ray monitors in operation, several research teams have adopted a strategy of joint operation and scientific duty to improve efficiency. A successful example is the GECAM-HXMT-SVOM (GHS) constellation collaboration, which sets a precedent for other gamma-ray monitor constellations. However, joint duty also presents challenges to Burst Advocates (BAs), including the increased number of triggers and, more importantly, the frequent switching between various systems due to incompatibilities among different missions, which complicates the situation. To address the current requirements of multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomy, we developed a customized framework for unified trigger processing within the GHS joint duty, named "BA's Rapid Evaluation and Analysis Kit for Formulating Alerts and Summary Tools" (BREAKFAST). This framework incorporates a series of automated, semi-automated, and manual pipelines designed to rapidly process triggers of prompt emissions in the gamma-ray band from different instruments, while maintaining flexible compatibility for future missions. The pursuit of BREAKFAST goes beyond merely providing trigger processing for BAs. BREAKFAST also aims to filtering high-value targets and guiding follow-up telescopes through rapid analysis and reporting, thus serving as an important bridge between prompt emission observations and afterglow observations. To this end, a suite of comprehensive analysis modules is included in BREAKFAST, particularly the specially designed module that predicts X-ray afterglow brightness based on prompt emission properties. The framework's effectiveness has already been demonstrated in recent observational campaigns, and it is expected to play a significant role in the discovery and observation of peculiar transients in the future.

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arXiv2025

On the Ultra-Long Gamma-Ray Transient GRB 250702B/EP250702

GRB 250702B/EP250702a is an interesting long-duration gamma-ray transient whose nature is in debate. To obtain a full picture in gamma-ray band, we implement a comprehensive targeted search of burst emission in a wide window of 30 days jointly with Insight-HXMT, GECAM and Fermi/GBM data within the ETJASMIN framework. In gamma-ray band, we find there is a 50-second precursor about 25 hours before the 4-hour main burst, which generally consists of 4 emission episodes. Remarkably, we find that the soft X-ray emission (after the main burst) decays as a power-law with start time aligning with the last episode of main emission and index of -5/3 perfectly consistent with the canonical prediction of fallback accretion. We conclude that the properties of precursor, main burst and the following soft X-ray emission strongly support the atypical collapsar Ultra-Long Gamma-Ray Burst (ULGRB) scenario rather than the Tidal Disruption Event (TDE), and all these gamma-ray and soft X-ray emission probably originate from relativistic jet whose luminosity is dominated by the fallback accretion rate during the death collapse of a supergiant star.

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arXiv2025

Extending the short gamma-ray burst population from sub-threshold triggers in Fermi/GBM and GECAM data and its implications

Detection of short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) is critically important for the research of compact object mergers and multi-messenger astrophysics, but a significant part of SGRBs fall below the trigger threshold of GRB detectors, and thus are often missed. Here we present a systematic search for and verification of missed SGRBs using Fermi/GBM subthreshold triggers, jointly analyzing data from GBM, GECAM-B, and GECAM-C. Among 466 Fermi/GBM sub-threshold events (with reliability >= 5) from 2021 to 2024, 181 are within GECAM's field of view. We find that 49 out of 181 are confirmed astrophysical transients, and 41 can be classified as SGRBs. Thus, the SGRB detection rate of Fermi/GBM is increased to about 50 per year. Additionally, a complete multi-instrument monitoring and systematic verification of GBM sub-threshold events is expected to further increase the SGRB rate to about 80 per year, which is about 100% improvement relative to the GBM-triggered SGRBs. These results may have important implications on the local formation rate of SGRBs and the binary neutron star merger rate. We also searched for potential temporal coincidences between these SGRBs and gravitational waves from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA O4 run resulting in no detection.

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arXiv2025

A comprehensive search for Long and Short Periodic Features from an Extremely Active Cycle of FRB 20240114A

Possible periodic features in fast radio bursts (FRBs) may provide insights into their astrophysical origins. Using extensive observations from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), we conduct a multi-timescale periodicity search for the exceptionally active repeater FRB~20240114A. Our analysis is based on different datasets for different timescales: for short-timescale periodicity in Time of Arrivals (TOAs), we use 57 observations from January to August 2024; for long-timescale periodicity, we employ an extended TOA dataset comprising 111 observations spanning from January 2024 to October 2025; and for burst time series analysis, we utilize individual burst data from the 57 FAST observations. We identify three candidate short-timescale periodic signals (0.673~s, 0.635~s, and 0.536~s) with significances of $3.2\sigma$--$6\sigma$, each detected in two independent observations. On longer timescales, we detect a significant $143.40\pm7.19$-day periodicity with $5.2\sigma$ significance, establishing FRB~20240114A as a periodic repeater. In burst time series, we find quasi-periodic oscillations in the few hundred Hz range ($3.4\sigma$ and $3.7\sigma$) and periodic burst trains with periods of several to tens of milliseconds ($3\sigma$--$3.9\sigma$), though these periodic features appear transient and short-lived. The detection of periodic signals at these different time scales indicates that FRB 20240114A exhibits intriguing periodic self-similar characteristics. Despite the comprehensive dataset, no definitive periodicity linked to the source's rotation is confirmed, placing stringent constraints on the intrinsic source properties and the modulation mechanisms. All data are available via the Science Data Bank.

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arXiv2025

Prospects for Time-Domain and Multi-Messenger Science with eXTP

In this new era of time-domain and multi-messenger astronomy, various new transients and new phenomena are constantly being discovered thanks to the rapid advances in observations, which provide the excellent opportunity to study the physics in the extreme environments. The enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission (eXTP), planned to be launched in 2030, has several key advantages, including advanced polarimetry, high sensitivity & large effective area, and wide energy range coverage, which make it a groundbreaking project in high-energy astrophysics. In this article, we briefly introduce the potential time-domain and multi-messenger targets for eXTP, including gravitational-wave (GW) counterparts, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), magnetars and fast radio bursts (FRBs), tidal disruption events (TDEs), supernovae, high energy neutrinos and TeV active galactic nucleus (AGNs), and so on. We discuss the advantages of future eXTP observations for detecting these sources, their detection capabilities, the abilities to distinguish theoretical models, and their applications in gravity and cosmology.

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arXiv2025

Multi-Instrument Search for Gamma-Ray Counterpart of X-ray Transients detected by EP/WXT

As a soft X-ray imager with unprecedentedly large field of view, EP/WXT has detected many (fast) X-ray transients, whose nature is very intriguing. Whether there is gamma-ray counterpart for the X-ray transient provides important implications for its origin. Some of them have been reported to be associated with GRB, however, a systematic study on the gamma-ray emission of these X-ray transients is lacking. In this work, we implemented a comprehensive targeted search for gamma-ray counterparts to 63 X-ray transients reported by EP/WXT during its first year of operation, using the dedicated multiple-instrument search pipeline, ETJASMIN, with GECAM-B, GECAM-C, Fermi/GBM, and \textit{Insight}-HXMT data. We find that 14 out of 63 (22\%) EP/WXT X-ray transients have gamma-ray counterparts. For other transients, ETJASMIN pipeline provided upper limit of gamma-ray emission, which is more stringent than that given by individual instrument. Moreover, we investigated the properties of the X-ray transients and their gamma-ray counterparts, and explored the relation between the x-ray transient and gamma-ray counterpart.

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arXiv2025

Pitch Angle Measurement Method based on Detector Counts Distribution. -I. Basic conception

As an X-ray and gamma-ray all-sky monitor aiming for high energy astrophysical transients, Gravitational-wave high-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) has also made a series of observational discoveries on burst events of gamma-rays and particles in the low Earth orbit. Pitch angle is one of the key parameters of charged particles traveling around geomagnetic field. However, the usage of the GECAM-style instruments to measure the pitch angle of charged particles is still lacking. Here we propose a novel method for GECAM and similar instruments to measure the pitch angle of charged particles based on detector counts distribution. The basic conception of this method and simulation studies are described. With this method, the pitch angle of a peculiar electron precipitation event detected by GECAM-C is derived to be about 90$^\circ$, demonstrating the feasibility of our method. We note that the application of this method on GECAM-style instruments may open a new window for studying space particle events, such as Terrestrial Electron Beams (TEBs) and Lightning-induced Electron Precipitations (LEPs).

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arXiv2025

GECAM Discovery of Peculiar Oscillating Particle Precipitation Events

Charged particle precipitation typically manifests as a gradual increase and decrease of flux observed by space detectors. Cases with rapidly flux variation are very rare. Periodic events are even more extraordinary. These oscillating particle precipitation (OPP) events are usually attributed to the bounce motion of electrons, which are induced by lightning. Owing to the observation limitations, there has been debate regarding whether these oscillations originate from temporal flux evolution or spatial structure evolution. Here we report three peculiar charged particle precipitation events detected by GECAM during a geomagnetic storm on March 21, 2024, with two exhibiting significant periodicity. These events were observed around the same region during three consecutive orbits. Through comprehensive temporal and spectral analyses, we revealed that one of the OPP events exhibited a transition in spectral lag of mini-pulses, shifting from "softer-earlier" to "softer-later" while showing no significant time evolution in overall frequency characteristics. And there is no association found between these two OPP events and lightning activity. Several possible scenarios are discussed to explain these charged particles with a life time of more than 3.5 hours, but the nature of these three events remains an enigma. We suggest that these GECAM-detected OPP events may represent a new type of particle precipitation event or a peculiar Lightning-induced Electron Precipitations (LEPs).

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