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W. C. Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to W. C. Zhang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Revisiting identified-particle $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ spectra using the Boltzmann-Gibbs blast-wave model in a Bayesian inference framework

We perform a Bayesian analysis of transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm{T}}$) spectra of identified particles, i.e., pions, kaons, and protons, at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions and Pb+Pb collisions using the Boltzmann-Gibbs blast-wave (BGBW) model. We investigate whether it is possible to simultaneously describe the $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ spectra of identified particles without imposing the particle species-dependent $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ fit ranges -- a practice that was followed in conventional blast-wave model studies to achieve reasonable simultaneous fits. Using Bayesian analysis, our results indicate that a simultaneous description of the $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ spectra of pions, kaons, and protons is feasible without imposing the particle species-dependent $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ fit ranges, for Au+Au collisions up to the available data ($\sim$2 GeV/c) and for Pb+Pb collisions up to 3 GeV/c. The extracted parameters remain broadly consistent with those obtained from conventional BGBW simultaneous fits, while the extension of the fit range leads to moderate changes in some parameters. Furthermore, Bayesian analysis yields well-constrained posterior distributions for the kinetic freeze-out temperature $T_{kin}$, the average transverse flow velocity $\langle β_{\mathrm{T}}\rangle$, and the exponent of the velocity profile $n$ and shows their correlations transparently. We suggest that the BGBW model in a Bayesian inference framework proposed can be applied in future data analyses to simultaneously describe the $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ spectra of identified particles and extract the relevant information about the collision system.

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Particle productions in $p\bar{p}$ collisions in the PACIAE 4.0 model

We investigate the particle production in proton-antiproton ($p\bar{p}$) collisions using the PACIAE 4.0 model. The pseudorapidity density distributions ($dN_{\text{ch}}/dη$) and transverse momentum ($p_T$) spectra of charged particles from nonsingle diffractive (NSD) $p\bar{p}$ collisions agree well with the experimental data when using model parameters previously determined from nonsingle diffractive proton-proton ($pp$) collisions. Furthermore, we systematically compare results from both inelastic (INEL) and nonsingle diffractive $p\bar{p}$ and $pp$ collisions at the same energy to study the effect of the initial state (matter vs. antimatter) on the transverse momentum spectra of identified particles. Our results show that the net baryon-number difference in the initial state significantly enhances nucleon production at low collision energies, while its effect becomes negligible for high-multiplicity particles or at high collision energies, as expected. These findings further prove that the PACIAE 4.0 model is a versatile and reliable tool for studying high-energy collision physics.

hep-ph

Pseudorapidity dependence of charged particles production in non-single diffractive $pp$ collisions in the PACIAE 4.0 model

Studying experimental observables is a key benchmark for validating theoretical models in high energy physics. In this work, we employ the PACIAE 4.0 model to simulate non-single diffractive proton-proton ($pp$) collisions at center-of-mass energies of 0.9, 2.36, and 7 TeV, comparing the results with Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experimental data on charged-particle pseudorapidity densities and transverse momentum spectra across different pseudorapidity bins, respectively. Our results show good agreement with the CMS data, particularly only using a single set of parameters for all collision energies. This demonstrates that the PACIAE 4.0 model can serve as a reliable tool for systematically studying the physics of NSD $pp$ collisions.

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Pseudorapidity density distributions of charged particles and transverse momentum spectra of identified particles in pp collisions in PACIAE 4.0 model

The pseudorapidity density distributions of charged particles and the transverse momentum spectra of identified particles in proton-proton (pp) collisions at the center-of-mass energies ranging from $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV to 13 TeV have been systematically studied using the newly released parton and cascade model PACIAE 4.0 based on PYTHIA 8.3. The available experimental data are well reproduced across all analyzed aspects. This theoretical method can be easily extended to anywhere the experimental data for pp collisions are currently unavailable. Furthermore, since pp collisions serve as the baseline for heavy-ion collisions, our results can provide a valuable resource for both experimentalists and theorists.

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New insight into the Rapid Burster by Insight-HXMT

We report the timing and spectral analyses upon of the type II X-ray bursts from the Rapid Burster (MXB 1730--335) observed by Insight-HXMT and Swift/XRT. By stacking the long-duration bursts, we find for the first time that the hard X-rays are lagging than the soft X-rays by 3 seconds. However, such a lag is not visible for the short-duration bursts, probably because of the poor statistics. For all bursts the energy spectrum is found to be non-thermal, thanks to the broad band coverage of Insight-HXMT. These findings put new insights into the type-II bursts and require a temporally showing-up corona for possible interpretation.

astro-ph.HE

The Novel Scaling of Tsallis Parameters from the Transverse Momentum Spectra of Charged Particles in Heavy-Ion Collisions

The transverse momentum $(p_T)$ spectra of charged particles measured in Au + Au collisions from the beam energy scan (BES) program, Cu + Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=62.4$, 200 GeV at the RHIC and Pb + Pb, Xe + Xe collisions at the LHC are investigated in the framework of Tsallis thermodynamics. The theory can describe the experimental data well for all the collision systems, energies and centralities investigated. The collision energy and centrality dependence of the Tsallis distribution parameters, i.e., the temperature $T$ and the nonextensive parameter $q$, for the \mbox{A + A} collisions are also studied and discussed. A novel scaling between the temperature divided by the natural logarithm of collision energy $(T/\ln\sqrt{s})$ and the nonextensive parameter $q$ is presented.

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Collective expansion in pp collisions using the Tsallis statistics

We investigate the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) spectra of identified hadrons in minimum-bias proton-proton (pp) collisions at a centre-of-mass energy ($\sqrt{s}$) of 0.9, 2.76, 5.02, 7 and 13 TeV in the framework of Tsallis-blast wave (TBW) model. It is found that the model describes well the particle spectra up to 10 GeV/c. The radial flow ($\langle β\rangle$) increases with the collision energy. The degrees of non-equilibrium ($q$) and the Tsallis temperature parameter ($T$) show a similar behaviour, but with a much weaker trend. With this dependence of the freeze-out parameters on the collision energy, we evaluate $\langle β\rangle$, $T$ and $q$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 and 14 TeV and predict the particle spectra at these two energies. Moreover, in order to investigate the multiplicity dependence of the freeze-out parameters, the TBW model is extended to the spectra at different charged-particle multiplicity classes in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 7 and 13 TeV. It is observed that at both energies the radial flow increases with the multiplicity while the degree of non-equilibrium shows an opposite behaviour, which is similar to that observed in proton-nucleus (pA) and nucleus-nucleus (AA) collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies. However, the Tsallis temperature parameter increases with the multiplicity, which is opposite to the trend in pA and AA collisions. At similar multiplicities, the radial flow in pp collisions is stronger than those in pA and AA collisions, indicating that the size of the colliding system has significant effects on the final state particle dynamics. Finally, we apply an additional flow correction to the Tsallis temperature parameter and find that the doppler-corrected temperature parameter almost scales with the multiplicity in a uniform way, despite the difference in the colliding system and collision energy.

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Number-of-constituent-quark scaling of elliptic flow: a quantitative study

The number-of-constituent-quark (NCQ) scaling behavior of the elliptic flow of identified particles produced in A+A collisions is studied quantitatively using an empirical function that fits the experimental $v_2$ data available from the RHIC and LHC. The most common approach for NCQ scaling involves (1) doing a scaling of the experimental $v_2$ data of an identified particle with its NCQ, (2) doing the same to its transverse momentum or energy, then (3) combining all the scaled data and identifying the NCQ behavior by intuitively looking (since the measured experimental data are discrete). We define two variables $(d_1, d_2)$ to describe NCQ scaling quantitatively and simultaneously, and identify the approximate region where the NCQ scaling holds. This approach could be applied to study NCQ or other scaling phenomena in future experiments.

hep-ph

Peculiar disk behaviors of the black hole candidate MAXI J1348-630 in the hard state observed by Insight-HXMT and Swift

We present a spectral study of the black hole candidate MAXI J1348-630 during its 2019 outburst, based on monitoring observations with Insight-HXMT and Swift. Throughout the outburst, the spectra are well fitted with power-law plus disk-blackbody components. In the soft-intermediate and soft states, we observed the canonical relation L ~ T_in^4 between disk luminosity L and peak colour temperature T_in, with a constant inner radius R_in (traditionally identified with the innermost stable circular orbit). At other stages of the outburst cycle, the behaviour is more unusual, inconsistent with the canonical outburst evolution of black hole transients. In particular, during the hard rise, the apparent inner radius is smaller than in the soft state (and increasing), and the peak colour temperature is higher (and decreasing). This anomalous behaviour is found even when we model the spectra with self-consistent Comptonization models, which take into account the up-scattering of photons from the disk component into the power-law component. To explain both those anomalous trends at the same time, we suggest that the hardening factor for the inner disk emission was larger than the canonical value of ~1.7 at the beginning of the outburst. A more physical trend of radii and temperature evolution requires a hardening factor evolving from ~3.5 at the beginning of the hard state to ~1.7 in the hard intermediate state. This could be evidence that the inner disk was in the process of condensing from the hot, optically thin medium and had not yet reached a sufficiently high optical depth for its emission spectrum to be described by the standard optically-thick disk solution.

astro-ph.HE

Search for Gamma-Ray Bursts and Gravitational Wave Electromagnetic Counterparts with High Energy X-ray Telescope of \textit{Insight}-HXMT

The High Energy X-ray telescope (HE) on-board the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (\textit{Insight}-HXMT) can serve as a wide Field of View (FOV) gamma-ray monitor with high time resolution ($μ$s) and large effective area (up to thousands cm$^2$). We developed a pipeline to search for Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), using the traditional signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) method for blind search and the coherent search method for targeted search. By taking into account the location and spectrum of the burst and the detector response, the targeted coherent search is more powerful to unveil weak and sub-threshold bursts, especially those in temporal coincidence with Gravitational Wave (GW) events. Based on the original method in literature, we further improved the coherent search to filter out false triggers caused by spikes in light curves, which are commonly seen in gamma-ray instruments (e.g. \textit{Fermi}/GBM, \textit{POLAR}). We show that our improved targeted coherent search method could eliminate almost all false triggers caused by spikes. Based on the first two years of \textit{Insight}-HXMT/HE data, our targeted search recovered 40 GRBs, which were detected by either \textit{Swift}/BAT or \textit{Fermi}/GBM but too weak to be found in our blind search. With this coherent search pipeline, the GRB detection sensitivity of \textit{Insight}-HXMT/HE is increased to about 1.5E-08 erg/cm$^2$ (200 keV$-$3 MeV). We also used this targeted coherent method to search \textit{Insight}-HXMT/HE data for electromagnetic (EM) counterparts of LIGO-Virgo GW events (including O2 and O3a runs). However, we did not find any significant burst associated with GW events.

astro-ph.HE

Identified particle spectra in Pb-Pb, Xe-Xe and p-Pb collisions with Tsallis blast-wave model

We investigate the identified hadrons transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) spectra in Pb-Pb (Pb-Pb, Xe-Xe, p-Pb) collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=$ 2.76 (5.02, 5.44, 5.02) TeV in the framework of Tsallis-blast wave (TBW) model with a linear transverse velocity profile and with a constant velocity profile. In this model, the Tsallis temperature ($T$), the average radial flow velocity ($\langle β\rangle$) and the degree of non-equilibrium ($q$) of the system are common for all hadrons when a combined fit is performed to the $p_{\rm T}$ spectra of different particles at a given centrality. It is found that the model can describe the particle spectra well up to 3 GeV/c. For both profiles, the transverse flow velocity decreases from central to peripheral collisions while the non-extensive parameter $q$ exhibits the opposite behavior, indicating a more rapid expansion and less off-equilibrium of the system in more central collisions. Moreover, we observe that in central collisions $\langle β\rangle$ and $q$ ($T$) from the fit with the linear profile are smaller (is slightly larger) than those (that) with the constant profile, while in peripheral collisions $\langle β\rangle$, $T$ and $q$ from the former are compatible with those from the latter. We also derived and discussed the relation between the Tsallis temperature and the thermal temperature. In addition, to check whether a scenario of an early freeze-out of strange particles at the LHC exists, the particle spectra are investigated by grouping them into strange and non-strange hadrons. The combined fit gives an insight on the degree of non-equilibrium, the radial flow and the Tsallis temperature of the system at the kinetic decoupling. It provides a comparison between the results at different energies in the same collision system and the results in different collision systems at the same or similar energy.

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Physical origin of the nonphysical spin evolution of MAXI J1820+070

We report on the Insight-HXMT observations of the new black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070 during its 2018 outburst. Detailed spectral analysis via the continuum fitting method shows an evolution of the inferred spin during its high soft sate. Moreover, the hardness ratio, the non-thermal luminosity and the reflection fraction also undergo an evolution, exactly coincident to the period when the inferred spin transition takes place. The unphysical evolution of the spin is attributed to the evolution of the inner disc, which is caused by the collapse of a hot corona due to condensation mechanism or may be related to the deceleration of a jet-like corona. The studies of the inner disc radius and the relation between the disc luminosity and the inner disc radius suggest that, only at a particular epoch, did the inner edge of the disc reach the innermost stable circular orbit and the spin measurement is reliable. We then constrain the spin of MAXI J1820+070 to be a*=0.2^{+0.2}_{-0.3}. Such a slowly spinning black hole possessing a strong jet suggests that its jet activity is driven mainly by the accretion disc rather than by the black hole spin.

astro-ph.HE

Accretion Torque Reversals in GRO J1008-57 Revealed by Insight-HXMT

GRO J1008-57, as a Be/X-ray transient pulsar, is considered to have the highest magnetic field in known neutron star X-ray binary systems. Observational data of the X-ray outbursts in GRO J1008-57 from 2017 to 2020 were collected by the Insight-HXMT satellite. In this work, the spin period of the neutron star in GRO J1008-57 was determined to be about 93.28 seconds in August 2017, 93.22 seconds in February 2018, 93.25 seconds in June 2019 and 93.14 seconds in June 2020. GRO J1008-57 evolved in the spin-up process with a mean rate of $-(2.10\pm 0.05)\times$10$^{-4}$ s/d from 2009 -- 2018, and turned into a spin down process with a rate of $(6.7\pm 0.6)\times$10$^{-5}$ s/d from Feb 2018 to June 2019. During the type II outburst of 2020, GRO J1008-57 had the spin-up torque again. During the torque reversals, the pulse profiles and continuum X-ray spectra did not change significantly, and the cyclotron resonant scattering feature around 80 keV was only detected during the outbursts in 2017 and 2020. Based on the observed mean spin-up rate, we estimated the inner accretion disk radius in GRO J1008-57 (about 1 - 2 times of the Alfvén radius) by comparing different accretion torque models of magnetic neutron stars. During the spin-down process, the magnetic torque should dominate over the matter accreting inflow torque, and we constrained the surface dipole magnetic field $B\geq 6\times 10^{12}$ G for the neutron star in GRO J1008-57, which is consistent with the magnetic field strength obtained by cyclotron line centroid energy.

astro-ph.HE

QPOs and Orbital elements of X-ray binary 4U 0115+63 during the 2017 outburst observed by Insight-HXMT

In this paper, we presented a detailed timing analysis of a prominent outburst of 4U 0115+63 detected by \textit{Insight}-HXMT in 2017 August. The spin period of the neutron star was determined to be $3.61398\pm 0.00002$ s at MJD 57978. We measured the period variability and extract the orbital elements of the binary system. The angle of periastron evolved with a rate of $0.048\pm0.003$ $yr^{-1}$. The light curves are folded to sketch the pulse profiles in different energy ranges. A multi-peak structure in 1-10 keV is clearly illustrated. We introduced wavelet analysis into our data analysis procedures to study QPO signals and perform a detailed wavelet analysis in many different energy ranges. Through the wavelet spectra, we report the discovery of a QPO at the frequency $\sim 10$ mHz. In addition, the X-ray light curves showed multiple QPOs in the period of $\sim 16-32 $ s and $\sim 67- 200 $ s. We found that the $\sim100$ s QPO was significant in most of the observations and energies. There exist positive relations between X-ray luminosity and their Q-factors and S-factors, while the QPO periods have no correlation with X-ray luminosity. In wavelet phase maps, we found that the pulse phase of $\sim 67- 200 $ s QPO drifting frequently while the $\sim 16-32 $ s QPO scarcely drifting. The dissipation of oscillations from high energy to low energy was also observed. These features of QPOs in 4U 0115+63 provide new challenge to our understanding of their physical origins.

astro-ph.HE

A variable ionized disk wind in the black-hole candidate EXO 1846-031

After 34 years, the black-hole candidate EXO 1846-031 went into outburst again in 2019. We investigate its spectral properties in the hard intermediate and the soft states with NuSTAR and Insight-HXMT. A reflection component has been detected in the two spectral states but possibly originating from different illumination spectra: in the intermediate state, the illuminating source is attributed to a hard coronal component, which has been commonly observed in other X-ray binaries, whereas in the soft state the reflection is probably produced by the disk self-irradiation. Both cases support EXO 1846-031 as a low inclination system of ~40 degrees. An absorption line is clearly detected at ~7.2 keV in the hard intermediate state, corresponding to a highly ionized disk wind (log ξ > 6.1) with a velocity up to 0.06c. Meanwhile, quasi-simultaneous radio emissions have been detected before and after the X-rays, implying the co-existence of disk winds and jets in this system. Additionally, the observed wind in this source is potentially driven by magnetic forces. The absorption line disappeared in the soft state and a narrow emission line appeared at ~6.7 keV on top of the reflection component, which may be evidence for disk winds, but data with the higher spectral resolution are required to examine this.

astro-ph.HE

X-ray reprocessing in accreting pulsar GX 301-2 observed with Insight-HXMT

We investigate the absorption and emission features in observations of GX 301-2 detected with Insight-HXMT/LE in 2017-2019. At different orbital phases, we found prominent Fe Kalpha, Kbeta and Ni Kalpha lines, as well as Compton shoulders and Fe K-shell absorption edges. These features are due to the X-ray reprocessing caused by the interaction between the radiation from the source and surrounding accretion material. According to the ratio of iron lines Kalpha and Kbeta, we infer the accretion material is in a low ionisation state. We find an orbital-dependent local absorption column density, which has a large value and strong variability around the periastron. We explain its variability as a result of inhomogeneities of the accretion environment and/or instabilities of accretion processes. In addition, the variable local column density is correlated with the equivalent width of the iron Kalpha lines throughout the orbit, which suggests that the accretion material near the neutron star is spherically distributed.

astro-ph.HE

Insight-HXMT observations of a possible fast transition from jet to wind dominated state during a huge flare of GRS~1915+105

We present the analysis of the brightest flare that was recorded in the \emph{Insight}-HMXT data set, in a broad energy range (2$-$200 keV) from the microquasar GRS~1915+105 during an unusual low-luminosity state. This flare was detected by \emph{Insight}-HXMT among a series of flares during 2 June 2019 UTC 16:37:06 to 20:11:36, with a 2-200 keV luminosity of 3.4$-$7.27$\times10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Basing on the broad-band spectral analysis, we find that the flare spectrum shows different behaviors during bright and faint epochs. The spectrum of the flare can be fitted with a model dominated by a power-law component. Additional components show up in the bright epoch with a hard tail and in the faint epoch with an absorption line $\sim$ 6.78 keV. The reflection component of the latter is consistent with an inner disk radius $\sim$ 5 times larger than that of the former. These results on the giant flare during the "unusual" low-luminosity state of GRS~1915+105 may suggest that the source experiences a possible fast transition from a jet-dominated state to a wind-dominated state. We speculate that the evolving accretion disk and the large-scale magnetic field may play important roles in this peculiar huge flare.

astro-ph.HE

Pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles in pp($\rm\overline{p}$), p(d)A and AA collisions using Tsallis thermodynamics

The pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles measured in p+p($\rm \overline{p}$) collisions for energies ranging from $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=23.6$ GeV to 13 TeV, d+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV, p+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}= 5.02$ TeV and A+A collisions at RHIC and LHC are investigated in the fireball model with Tsallis thermodynamics. We assume that the rapidity axis is populated with fireballs following q-Gaussian distribution and the charged particles follow the Tsallis distribution in the fireball. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental data for all the collision systems and centralities investigated. The collision energy and centrality dependence of the central position $y_0$ and its width $σ$ of the fireball distribution are also investigated. A possible application of the model to predict the charged particle pseudorapidity distributions for the system size scan program proposed recently for the STAR experiment at RHIC is proposed.

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