arXiv subjects

Songbo Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Songbo Zhang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Cross-validation of six dispersion measure estimation methods for FRB 20240114A

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are important cosmological probes, but their applications depend critically on accurate dispersion measure (DM) determinations. We present a systematic comparison of six DM estimation methods using 2,874 bursts from FRB20240114A, the most active repeating FRB currently known, observed by FAST during a single 4.4-hr session on 2024 March 12. This large, homogeneous sample over a short timescale, during which the propagation environment is expected to be nearly static, provides an ideal benchmark for isolating algorithmic effects on DM determination. We investigate the dependence of inter-method consistency on signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), burst morphology, and radio frequency interference (RFI). Low-S/N bursts exhibit significantly larger inter-method deviations, while single-component bursts produce highly consistent DM values across methods. In contrast, complex double- and multiple-component bursts with drifting substructures lead to substantial inter-method scattering, indicating that DM discrepancies are primarily driven by algorithmic responses to burst morphology. RFI does not significantly alter the global statistical behavior of DM deviations, but it affects density-filtering methods through morphology distortion caused by frequency-channel masking. Even after imposing strict inter-method consistency constraints, FRB20240114A still exhibits notable apparent DM fluctuations spanning $\sim$528-534~pc~cm$^{-3}$ over 15,780s. For morphologically simple bursts these variations far exceed the measurement uncertainty and, on second-to-minute timescales, cannot arise from any plausible change in the line-of-sight electron column, pointing instead to a frequency-dependent emission-time structure intrinsic to the bursts that mimics dispersion.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

TOA_SP: A Multi-Strategy Framework for Single-Pulse Timing

Precision pulsar timing typically relies on the stability of average pulse profiles, enabling time-of-arrival (TOA) estimation through template cross-correlation. This assumption breaks down for highly variable radio sources such as Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs) and fast radio bursts (FRBs), where individual pulses could exhibit strong variability in morphology and amplitude, and no single averaged profile may represent the underlying emission process. We present toa_sp, an open-source Python package for extracting TOAs directly from PSRFITS search-mode data without requiring profile folding into a stable template. The framework implements a suite of complementary single-pulse timing strategies, including parametric profile fitting, non-parametric estimators, and adaptive sub-band and time-resolution optimisation, together with empirical diagnostics for assessing model consistency. We apply toa_sp to 688 single pulses from a 3-hour FAST observation of RRAT~J1913+1330. The resulting TOAs residual achieve a weighted RMS residual of 1.33\,ms, a 24\% improvement over a standard template-based PSRCHIVE pipeline, while retaining all pulses without statistical outlier rejection. A set of bright FRB 20220529 bursts provides a controlled test of the framework across regimes of increasing pulse complexity, revealing frequency-dependent substructure not captured by band-integrated profiles. We introduce an empirical convergence diagnostic that identifies well-constrained pulses and guides the transition between parametric and non-parametric regimes. Full multi-strategy processing of 688 pulses requires approximately 7.6\,s per pulse on a 10-thread CPU. The package is publicly available via pip install toa_sp.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2026

Experience Transfer for Multimodal LLM Agents in Minecraft Game

Multimodal LLM agents operating in complex game environments must continually reuse past experience to solve new tasks efficiently. In this work, we propose Echo, a transfer-oriented memory framework that enables agents to derive actionable knowledge from prior interactions rather than treating memory as a passive repository of static records. To make transfer explicit, Echo decomposes reusable knowledge into five dimensions: structure, attribute, process, function, and interaction. This formulation allows the agent to identify recurring patterns shared across different tasks and infer what prior experience remains applicable in new situations. Building on this formulation, Echo leverages In-Context Analogy Learning (ICAL) to retrieve relevant experiences and adapt them to unseen tasks through contextual examples. Experiments in Minecraft show that, under a from-scratch learning setting, Echo achieves a 1.3x to 1.7x speed-up on object-unlocking tasks. Moreover, Echo exhibits a burst-like chain-unlocking phenomenon, rapidly unlocking multiple similar items within a short time interval after acquiring transferable experience. These results suggest that experience transfer is a promising direction for improving the efficiency and adaptability of multimodal LLM agents in complex interactive environments.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2026

Geometric Neural Operators via Lie Group-Constrained Latent Dynamics

Neural operators offer an effective framework for learning solutions of partial differential equations for many physical systems in a resolution-invariant and data-driven manner. Existing neural operators, however, often suffer from instability in multi-layer iteration and long-horizon rollout, which stems from the unconstrained Euclidean latent space updates that violate the geometric and conservation laws. To address this challenge, we propose to constrain manifolds with low-rank Lie algebra parameterization that performs group action updates on the latent representation. Our method, termed Manifold Constraining based on Lie group (MCL), acts as an efficient \emph{plug-and-play} module that enforces geometric inductive bias to existing neural operators. Extensive experiments on various partial differential equations, such as 1-D Burgers and 2-D Navier-Stokes, over a wide range of parameters and steps demonstrate that our method effectively lowers the relative prediction error by 30-50\% at the cost of 2.26\% of parameter increase. The results show that our approach provides a scalable solution for improving long-term prediction fidelity by addressing the principled geometric constraints absent in the neural operator updates.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2026

Optimizing Soft Prompt Tuning via Structural Evolution

Soft prompt tuning leverages continuous embeddings to capture task-specific information in large pre-trained language models (LLMs), achieving competitive performance in few-shot settings. However, soft prompts rely on high-dimensional, implicit representations and lack explicit semantics and traceable training behaviors, which limits their interpretability. To address this limitation, we propose a soft prompt tuning optimization method based on topological morphological evolution. Specifically, we employ persistent homology from topological data analysis (TDA) to quantify the structural representations of soft prompts in continuous parameter space and their training process evolution. Quantitative analysis shows that topologically stable and compact soft prompts achieve better downstream performance. Based on this empirical observation, we construct a loss function for optimizing soft prompt tuning, termed Topological Soft Prompt Loss (TSLoss). TSLoss guides the model to learn structurally stable adaptations by quantifying inter-parameter connectivity and redundancy. Extensive experiments show that training with TSLoss accelerates convergence and improves tuning performance, providing an interpretable method to understand and optimize soft prompt tuning from structural and topological perspectives.

cs.CL↗

arXiv2025

Non-detection of FAST and Parkes follow-up observation for 27 Parkes discovered FRBs

To investigate whether apparently non-repeating Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are truly one-off transients, we conducted systematic follow-up observations of 27 out of 81 non-repeating FRBs identified in the Parkes Transient Database. Using 59.0 hours of data from the Parkes Ultra-Wideband Low (UWL) receiver and 6.3 hours from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) 19-beam receiver, we searched for repeated bursts from these sources. No additional bursts were detected from any of the 27 FRBs. Combining these non-detections with prior archival observations, we derived stringent upper limits on their repetition rates above 1 Jy under two statistical models: Poisson process constraints range from $\sim10^{-3.5}$ to $10^{-1.9}\,\mathrm{h^{-1}}$, while Weibull process constraints range from $\sim10^{-3.4}$ to $10^{-1.5}\,\mathrm{h^{-1}}$. These limits are approximately an order of magnitude stricter than those reported in previous studies. By applying consistent observational setups and analytical methodologies across all sources, the derived rate limits converge to a narrow, well-defined range. This suggests that these FRBs form a relatively homogeneous population with extremely low intrinsic activity rates.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Multi-year Polarimetric Monitoring of Four CHIME-Discovered Repeating Fast Radio Bursts with FAST

In this study, we report multi-year polarization measurements of four repeating FRBs initially discovered by CHIME: FRBs~20190117A, 20190208A, 20190303A, and 20190417A. We observed the four repeating FRBs with FAST, detecting a total of 66 bursts. Two bursts from FRB~20190417A exhibit a circular polarization signal-to-noise ratio greater than 7, with the highest circular polarization fraction recorded at 35.7%. While the bursts from FRBs 20190208A and 20190303A are highly linearly polarized, those from FRBs~20190117A and 20190417A show depolarization due to multi-path propagation, with \sigma_{\mathrm{RM}} = 2.78 \pm 0.05 rad m$^{-2}$ and 5.19 \pm 0.09 rad m$^{-2}$, respectively. The linear polarization distributions among five repeating FRB--FRBs~20190208A, 20190303A, 20201124A, 20220912A, and 20240114A--are nearly identical but show distinct differences from those of non-repeating FRBs. FRBs~20190117A, 20190303A, and 20190417A exhibit substantial rotation measure (RM) variations between bursts, joining other repeating FRBs in this behavior. Combining these findings with published results, 64% of repeating FRBs show RM variations greater than 50 rad m$^{-2}$, and 21\% exhibit RM reversals. A significant proportion of repeating FRBs reside in a dynamic magneto-ionic environment. The structure function of RM variations shows a power-law index of $\gamma \sim (0-0.8)$, corresponding to a shallow power spectrum $\alpha = -(\gamma + 2) \sim -(2.0-2.8)$ of turbulence, if the RM variations are attributed to turbulence. This suggests that the variations are dominated by small-scale RM density fluctuations. We perform K-S tests comparing the RMs of repeating and non-repeating FRBs, which reveal a marginal dichotomy in the distribution of their RMs.We caution that the observed dichotomy may be due to the small sample size and selection biases.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Quasi-periodic sub-structure of RRAT J1913+1330

Recent findings suggest a universal relationship between the quasi-periodic sub-structures and rotational periods across various types of radio-emitting neutron stars. In this study, we report the detection of 12 quasi-periodic sub-structures in a rotating radio transient (RRAT) J1913+1330 using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). This is the second known RRAT exhibiting quasi-periodic sub-structures. Our result reinforces the observed relationship between quasi-periodicity and rotational period. The polarization analysis reveals that 11 of the 12 pulses exhibit high linear polarization consistent with the quasi-periodic behaviour of the total intensity, while circular polarization with detectable quasi-periodic sub-structures is observed in only three pulses. No correlation is found between the sub-structure periods and their widths, peak fluxes, or fluences, even under the extremely variable single-pulse energy and morphology observed in J1913+1330.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Search for Fast Radio Bursts and radio pulsars from pulsing Ultraluminous X-ray Sources

We conducted targeted fast radio burst (FRB) and pulsar searches on eight pulsing ultraluminous X-ray sources (PULXs) using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) and the Parkes 64-meter Radio Telescope (Murriyang) to investigate whether PULXs could be progenitors of FRBs. FAST carried out 12 observations of four PULXs, totaling 8 hours, while Parkes conducted 12 observations of the remaining four PULXs, totaling 11 hours. No significant signals were detected through single-pulse and periodic searches, covering a dispersion measure (DM) range of 0-5000 pc cm$^{-3}$, placing stringent upper limits on the radio flux density from these sources. The results imply that accretion processes and dense stellar winds in PULXs likely suppress or attenuate potential coherent emission in radio band. Additionally, the beaming factor and luminosity of FRBs associated with PULXs, as well as the highly relativistic and magnetized nature of their outflows, may limit detectability. Non-detection yielded from the observations covering the full orbital phases of PULXs can also constrain the theoretical models that link FRB emission to highly magnetized neutron stars in binary systems.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

A lensed FRB candidate in the first CHIME/FRB Catalogue and its potential implications

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are immensely energetic radio pulses with durations of milliseconds. Given their high all-sky rate, the probability of an FRB being lensed by an intervening massive object is non-negligible. In this study, we search for possible lensing candidates within the first Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment FRB catalogue using an autocorrelation algorithm and verification through signal simulations. We identify FRB 20190308C as a lensed candidate with a significance of 3.4 sigma. Furthermore, we constrain the mass of the lensing object using the Chang-Refsdal lens model, based on the flux ratio and time delay between the substructures of FRB 20190308C. Future long-term and high-precision observations are expected to reveal more lensed FRBs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Pulsar Polarization Array Limits on Ultralight Axion-like Dark Matter

We conduct the first-ever Pulsar Polarization Array (PPA) analysis to detect the ultralight Axion-Like Dark Matter (ALDM) using the polarization data of 22 millisecond pulsars from the third data release of Parkes Pulsar Timing Array. As one of the major dark matter candidates, the ultralight ALDM exhibits a pronounced wave nature on astronomical scales and offers a promising solution to small-scale structure issues within local galaxies. While the linearly polarized pulsar light travels through the ALDM galactic halo, its position angle (PA) can be subject to an oscillation induced by the ALDM Chern-Simons coupling with electromagnetic field. The PPA is thus especially suited for detecting the ultralight ALDM by correlating polarization data across the arrayed pulsars. To accomplish this task, we develop an advanced Bayesian analysis framework that allows us to construct pulsar PA residual time series, model noise contributions properly and search for pulsar cross-correlations. We find that for an ALDM density of $\rho_0=0.4\,\textrm{GeV}/\textrm{cm}^3$, the Parkes PPA offers the best global limits on the ALDM Chern-Simons coupling, namely $\lesssim 10^{-13.5}-10^{-12.2}~{\rm GeV}^{-1}$, for the mass range of $10^{-22} - 10^{-21}~{\rm eV}$. The crucial role of pulsar cross-correlation in recognizing the nature of the derived limits is also highlighted.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

The Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND) Collaboration -- Contributions to the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2023)

The Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND) is an envisioned observatory of ultra-high-energy particles of cosmic origin, with energies in excess of 100 PeV. GRAND uses large surface arrays of autonomous radio-detection units to look for the radio emission from extensive air showers that are triggered by the interaction of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos in the atmosphere or underground. In particular, for ultra-high-energy neutrinos, the future final phase of GRAND aims to be sensitive enough to discover them in spite of their plausibly tiny flux. Presently, three prototype GRAND radio arrays are in operation: GRANDProto300, in China, GRAND@Auger, in Argentina, and GRAND@Nancay, in France. Their goals are to field-test the design of the radio-detection units, understand the radio background to which they are exposed, and develop tools for diagnostic, data gathering, and data analysis. This list of contributions to the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2023) presents an overview of GRAND, in its present and future incarnations, and a look at the first data collected by GRANDProto13, the first phase of GRANDProto300.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Van-Hove annihilation and nematic instability on a Kagome lattice

Novel states of matter arise in quantum materials due to strong interactions among electrons. A nematic phase breaks the point group symmetry of the crystal lattice and is known to emerge in correlated materials. Here we report the observation of an intra-unit-cell nematic order and signatures of Pomeranchuk instability in the Kagome metal ScV6Sn6. Using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, we reveal a stripe-like nematic order breaking the crystal rotational symmetry within the Kagome lattice itself. Moreover, we identify a set of van Hove singularities adhering to the Kagome layer electrons, which appear along one direction of the Brillouin zone while being annihilated along other high-symmetry directions, revealing a rotational symmetry breaking. Via detailed spectroscopic maps, we further observe an elliptical deformation of Fermi surface, which provides direct evidence for an electronically mediated nematic order. Our work not only bridges the gap between electronic nematicity and Kagome physics, but also sheds light on the potential mechanism for realizing symmetry-broken phases in correlated electron systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Discovery of a Topological Charge Density Wave

Charge density waves (CDWs) appear in numerous condensed matter platforms, ranging from high-Tc superconductors to quantum Hall systems. Despite such ubiquity, there has been a lack of direct experimental study on boundary states that can uniquely stem from the charge order. Here, using scanning tunneling microscopy, we directly visualize the bulk and boundary phenomenology of CDW in a topological material, Ta2Se8I. Below the transition temperature (TCDW = 260 K), tunneling spectra on an atomically resolved lattice reveal a large insulating gap in the bulk and on the surface, exceeding 500 meV, surpassing predictions from standard weakly-coupled mean-field theory. Spectroscopic imaging confirms the presence of CDW, with LDOS maxima at the conduction band corresponding to the LDOS minima at the valence band, thus revealing a {\pi} phase difference in the respective CDW order. Concomitantly, at a monolayer step edge, we detect an in-gap boundary mode with modulations along the edge that match the CDW wavevector along the edge. Intriguingly, the phase of the edge state modulation shifts by {\pi} within the charge order gap, connecting the fully gapped bulk (and surface) conduction and valence bands via a smooth energy-phase relation. This bears similarity to the topological spectral flow of edge modes, where the boundary modes bridge the gapped bulk modes in energy and momentum magnitude but in Ta2Se8I, the connectivity distinctly occurs in energy and momentum phase. Notably, our temperature-dependent measurements indicate a vanishing of the insulating gap and the in-gap edge state above TCDW, suggesting their direct relation to CDW. The theoretical analysis also indicates that the observed boundary mode is topological and linked to CDW.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Discovery of a topological exciton insulator with tunable momentum order

Correlated topological materials often maintain a delicate balance among physical symmetries: many topological orders are symmetry protected, while most correlated phenomena arise from spontaneous symmetry breaking. It is rare to find cases where symmetry breaking induces a non-trivial topological phase. Here, we present the discovery of such a phase in Ta2Pd3Te5, where Coulomb interactions form excitons, which condense below 100 K, opening a topological gap and creating a topological excitonic insulator. Our spectroscopy reveals the full spectral bulk gap stemming from exciton condensation. This excitonic insulator state spontaneously breaks mirror symmetries but involves a very weak structural coupling, as indicated by photoemission spectroscopy, thermodynamic measurements, and a detailed structural analysis. Notably, scanning tunneling microscopy uncovers gapless boundary modes in the bulk insulating phase. Their magnetic field response, together with theoretical modeling, suggests a topological origin. These observations establish Ta2Pd3Te5 as the first confirmed topological excitonic insulator in a three-dimensional crystal. This allows to access the associated physics through bulk-sensitive techniques. Furthermore, we uncover another surprising aspect of the topological excitonic insulator, a secondary excitonic instability near 5 K that breaks the translational symmetry. The wavevector of this state shows an unprecedented magnetic field tunability. Thus, we unveil a unique sequence of topological exciton condensations in a bulk crystal, offering new opportunities to study critical behavior and excitations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Spectropolarimetric variability in the repeating fast radio burst source FRB 20180301A

As the sample size of repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) has grown, an increasing diversity of phenomenology has emerged. Through long-term multi-epoch studies of repeating FRBs, it is possible to assess which phenomena are common to the population and which are unique to individual sources. We present a multi-epoch monitoring campaign of the repeating FRB source 20180301A using the ultra-wideband low (UWL) receiver observations with Murriyang, the Parkes 64-m radio telescope. The observations covered a wide frequency band spanning approximately 0.7--4 GHz, and yielded the detection of 46 bursts. None of the repeat bursts displayed radio emission in the range of 1.8--4 GHz, while the burst emission peaked at 1.1 GHz. We discover evidence for secular trends in the burst dispersion measure, indicating a decline at a rate of $-2.7\pm0.2\,{\rm pc\,cm^{-3}\,yr^{-1}}$. We also found significant variation in the Faraday rotation measure of the bursts across the follow-up period, including evidence of a sign reversal. While a majority of bursts did not exhibit any polarization, those that did show a decrease in the linear polarization fraction as a function of frequency, consistent with spectral depolarization due to scattering, as observed in other repeating FRB sources. Surprisingly, no significant variation in the polarization position angles was found, which is in contrast with earlier measurements reported for the FRB source. We measure the burst rate and sub-pulse drift rate variation and compare them with the previous results. These novel observations, along with the extreme polarization properties observed in other repeating FRBs, suggest that a sub-sample of FRB progenitors possess highly dynamic magneto-ionic environments.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array Third Data Release

We present the third data release from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) project. The release contains observations of 32 pulsars obtained using the 64-m Parkes "Murriyang" radio telescope. The data span is up to 18 years with a typical cadence of 3 weeks. This data release is formed by combining an updated version of our second data release with $\sim 3$ years of more recent data primarily obtained using an ultra-wide-bandwidth receiver system that operates between 704 and 4032 MHz. We provide calibrated pulse profiles, flux-density dynamic spectra, pulse times of arrival, and initial pulsar timing models. We describe methods for processing such wide-bandwidth observations, and compare this data release with our previous release.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Search for an isotropic gravitational-wave background with the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array

Pulsar timing arrays aim to detect nanohertz-frequency gravitational waves (GWs). A background of GWs modulates pulsar arrival times and manifests as a stochastic process, common to all pulsars, with a signature spatial correlation. Here we describe a search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background (GWB) using observations of 30 millisecond pulsars from the third data release of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA), which spans 18 years. Using current Bayesian inference techniques we recover and characterize a common-spectrum noise process. Represented as a strain spectrum $h_c = A(f/1 {\rm yr}^{-1})^α$, we measure $A=3.1^{+1.3}_{-0.9} \times 10^{-15}$ and $α=-0.45 \pm 0.20$ respectively (median and 68% credible interval). For a spectral index of $α=-2/3$, corresponding to an isotropic background of GWs radiated by inspiraling supermassive black hole binaries, we recover an amplitude of $A=2.04^{+0.25}_{-0.22} \times 10^{-15}$. However, we demonstrate that the apparent signal strength is time-dependent, as the first half of our data set can be used to place an upper limit on $A$ that is in tension with the inferred common-spectrum amplitude using the complete data set. We search for spatial correlations in the observations by hierarchically analyzing individual pulsar pairs, which also allows for significance validation through randomizing pulsar positions on the sky. For a process with $α=-2/3$, we measure spatial correlations consistent with a GWB, with an estimated false-alarm probability of $p \lesssim 0.02$ (approx. $2σ$). The long timing baselines of the PPTA and the access to southern pulsars will continue to play an important role in the International Pulsar Timing Array.

astro-ph.HE↗