arXiv subjects

Wenbin Lu

Publications and source records attributed to Wenbin Lu.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Zwicky Transient Facility constraints on the optical emission from the nearby repeating FRB 180916.J0158+65

The discovery rate of fast radio bursts (FRBs) is increasing dramatically thanks to new radio facilities. Meanwhile, wide-field instruments such as the 47 deg$^2$ Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) survey the optical sky to study transient and variable sources. We present serendipitous ZTF observations of the CHIME repeating source FRB 180916.J0158+65, that was localized to a spiral galaxy 149 Mpc away and is the first FRB suggesting periodic modulation in its activity. While 147 ZTF exposures corresponded to expected high-activity periods of this FRB, no single ZTF exposure was at the same time as a CHIME detection. No $>3σ$ optical source was found at the FRB location in 683 ZTF exposures, totalling 5.69 hours of integration time. We combined ZTF upper limits and expected repetitions from FRB 180916.J0158+65 in a statistical framework using a Weibull distribution, agnostic of periodic modulation priors. The analysis yielded a constraint on the ratio between the optical and radio fluences of $η\lesssim 200$, corresponding to an optical energy $E_{\rm opt} \lesssim 3 \times 10^{46}$ erg for a fiducial 10 Jy ms FRB (90% confidence). A deeper (but less statistically robust) constraint of $η\lesssim 3$ can be placed assuming a rate of $r(>5$ Jy ms)= hr$^{-1}$ and $1.2\pm 1.1$ FRB occurring during exposures taken in high-activity windows. The constraint can be improved with shorter per-image exposures and longer integration time, or observing FRBs at higher Galactic latitudes. This work demonstrated how current surveys can statistically constrain multi-wavelength counterparts to FRBs even without deliberately scheduled simultaneous radio observation.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Deceleration of relativistic jets with lateral expansion

We present a model for the hydrodynamics of a relativistic jet interacting with the circum-stellar medium (CSM). The shocked CSM and the jet material are assumed to be in an infinitely thin surface, so the original 2D problem is effectively reduced to 1D. From general conservation laws, we derive the equation of motion for each fluid element along this surface, taking into account the deceleration along the surface normal due to newly swept-up mass and lateral expansion due to pressure gradient in the tangential direction. The pressure and energy density of the shocked CSM are given by the jump conditions at the forward shock. The method is implemented with a finite-differencing numerical scheme, along with calculation of synchrotron emission and absorption from shock-accelerated electrons, in a new code $\mathtt{Jedi}$ (for "jet dynamics"). We present a number of test cases, including top-hat jet, power-law structured jet, "boosted fireball" profile, and CSM with density jump at the wind termination shock. Based on the agreement with other analytical and numerical calculations, we conclude that our simplified method provides a good approximation for the hydrodynamics and afterglow emission for a wide variety of jet structures and CSM density profiles. Efficient modeling of the afterglow from e.g., neutron star mergers, will provide important information on the jet energetics, CSM properties, and the viewing angle.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

The multiwavelength counterparts of fast radio bursts

The engines that produce extragalactic fast radio bursts (FRBs), and the mechanism by which the emission is generated, remain unknown. Many FRB models predict prompt multi-wavelength counterparts, which can be used to refine our knowledge of these fundamentals of the FRB phenomenon. However, several previous targeted searches for prompt FRB counterparts have yielded no detections, and have additionally not reached sufficient sensitivity with respect to the predictions. In this work, we demonstrate a technique to estimate the ratio, $η$, between the energy outputs of FRB counterparts at various wavelengths and the radio-wavelength emission. Our technique combines the fluence distribution of the FRB population with results from several wide-field blind surveys for fast transients from the optical to the TeV bands. We present constraints on $η$ that improve upon previous observations even in the case that all unclassified transient events in existing surveys are FRB counterparts. In some scenarios for the FRB engine and emission mechanism, we find that FRB counterparts should have already been detected, thus demonstrating that our technique can successfully test predictions for $η$. However, it is possible that FRB counterparts are lurking amongst catalogs of unclassified transient events. Although our technique is robust to the present uncertainty in the FRB fluence distribution, its ultimate application to accurately estimate or bound $η$ will require the careful analysis of all candidate fast-transient events in multi-wavelength survey data sets.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Radiation Forces Constrain the FRB Mechanism

We provide constraints on Fast Radio Burst (FRB) models by careful considerations of radiation forces associated with these powerful transients. We find that the induced-Compton scatterings of the coherent radiation by electrons/positrons accelerate particles to very large Lorentz factors (LF) in and around the source of this radiation. This severely restricts those models for FRBs that invoke relativistic shocks and maser type instabilities at distances less than about $10^{13}$ cm of the neutron star. Radiation traveling upstream, in these models, forces particles to move away from the shock with a LF larger than the LF of the shock front. This suspends the photon generation process after it has been operating for less than ~0.1 ms (observer frame duration). We show that masers operating in shocks at distances larger than $10^{13}$ cm cannot simultaneously account for the burst duration of 1 ms or more and the observed ~1 GHz frequencies of FRBs without requiring an excessive energy budget ($10^{46}$ erg); the energy is not calculated by imposing any efficiency consideration, or other details, for the maser mechanism, but is entirely the result of ensuring that particle acceleration by induced-Compton forces upstream of the shock front does not choke off the maser process. For the source to operate more or less continuously for a few ms, it should be embedded in a strong magnetic field - cyclotron frequency $\gg$ wave frequency - so that radiation forces do not disperse the plasma and shut-off the engine.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Wind-reprocessed Transients

We consider the situation where the luminosity from a transient event is reprocessed by an optically thick wind. Potential applications are the tidal disruption of stars by black holes, engine-powered supernovae, and unique fast transients found by current and future wide-field surveys. We derive relations between the injected and observed luminosity for steady and time dependent winds, and discuss how the temperature is set for scattering-dominated radiative transport. We apply this framework to specific examples of tidal disruption events and the formation of a black hole by a massive star, as well as discuss other applications such as deriving observables from detailed hydrodynamic simulations. We conclude by exploring what is inferred about the mass loss rate and underlying engine powering AT2018cow if it is explained as a wind-reprocessed transient, demonstrating that its optical emission is consistent with reprocessing of the observed soft X-rays.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

A New Framework for Online Testing of Heterogeneous Treatment Effect

We propose a new framework for online testing of heterogeneous treatment effects. The proposed test, named sequential score test (SST), is able to control type I error under continuous monitoring and detect multi-dimensional heterogeneous treatment effects. We provide an online p-value calculation for SST, making it convenient for continuous monitoring, and extend our tests to online multiple testing settings by controlling the false discovery rate. We examine the empirical performance of the proposed tests and compare them with a state-of-art online test, named mSPRT using simulations and a real data. The results show that our proposed test controls type I error at any time, has higher detection power and allows quick inference on online A/B testing.

stat.ME↗

arXiv2020

Does the Markov Decision Process Fit the Data: Testing for the Markov Property in Sequential Decision Making

The Markov assumption (MA) is fundamental to the empirical validity of reinforcement learning. In this paper, we propose a novel Forward-Backward Learning procedure to test MA in sequential decision making. The proposed test does not assume any parametric form on the joint distribution of the observed data and plays an important role for identifying the optimal policy in high-order Markov decision processes and partially observable MDPs. We apply our test to both synthetic datasets and a real data example from mobile health studies to illustrate its usefulness.

stat.ML↗

arXiv2019

Self-intersection of the Fallback Stream in Tidal Disruption Events

We propose a semi-analytical model for the self-intersection of the fallback stream in tidal disruption events (TDEs). When the initial periapsis is less than about 15 gravitational radii, a large fraction of the shocked gas is unbound in the form of a collision-induced outflow (CIO). This is because large apsidal precession causes the stream to self-intersect near the local escape speed at radius much below the apocenter. The rest of the fallback gas is left in more tightly bound orbits and quickly joins the accretion flow. We propose that the CIO is responsible for reprocessing the hard emission from the accretion flow into the optical band. This picture naturally explains the large photospheric radius (or low blackbody temperature) and typical widths of the H and/or He emission lines seen in optical TDEs. We predict the CIO-reprocessed spectrum in the infrared to be L_ν~ ν^{~0.5}, shallower than a blackbody. The partial sky coverage of the CIO also provides a unification of the diverse X-ray behaviors of optical TDEs. According to this picture, optical surveys filter out a large fraction of TDEs with low-mass blackholes due to lack of a reprocessing layer, and the volumetric rate of optical TDEs is nearly flat wrt. the blackhole mass for M < 10^7 solar masses. This filtering causes the optical TDE rate to be lower than the total rate by a factor of ~10 or more. When the CIO is decelerated by the ambient medium, radio emission at the level of that in ASASSN-14li may be produced, but the timescales and peak luminosities can be highly diverse. Finally, our method paves the way for global simulations of the disk formation process by injecting gas at the intersection point according to the prescribed velocity and density profiles.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Jets from Tidal Disruption Events

The discovery of jets from tidal disruption events (TDEs) rejuvenated the old field of relativistic jets powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes. In this Chapter, we first review the extensive multi-wavelength observations of jetted TDEs. Then, we show that these events provide valuable information on many aspects of jet physics from a new prospective, including the on-and-off switch of jet launching, jet propagation through the ambient medium, $γ/$X-ray radiation mechanism, jet composition, and the multi-messenger picture. Finally, open questions and future prospects in this field are summarized.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Implications from ASKAP Fast Radio Burst Statistics

Although there has recently been tremendous progress in studies of fast radio bursts (FRBs), the nature of their progenitors remains a mystery. We study the fluence and dispersion measure (DM) distributions of the ASKAP sample to better understand their energetics and statistics. We first consider a simplified model of a power-law volumetric rate per unit isotropic energy dN/dE ~ E^{-gamma} with a maximum energy E_max in a uniform Euclidean Universe. This provides analytic insights for what can be learnt from these distributions. We find that the observed cumulative DM distribution scales as N(>DM) ~ DM^{5-2*gamma} (for gamma > 1) until a maximum value DM_max above which bursts near E_max fall below the fluence threshold of a given telescope. Comparing this model with the observed fluence and DM distributions, we find a reasonable fit for gamma ~ 1.7 and E_max ~ 10^{33} erg/Hz. We then carry out a full Bayesian analysis based on a Schechter rate function with cosmological factor. We find roughly consistent results with our analytical approach, although with large errors on the inferred parameters due to the small sample size. The power-law index and the maximum energy are constrained to be gamma = 1.6 +/- 0.3 and log(E_max) [erg/Hz] = 34.1 +1.1 -0.7 (68% confidence), respectively. From the survey exposure time, we further infer a cumulative local volumetric rate of log N(E > 10^{32} erg/Hz) [Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}] = 2.6 +/- 0.4 (68% confidence). The methods presented here will be useful for the much larger FRB samples expected in the near future to study their distributions, energetics, and rates.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Tidal Disruptions of Stars by Black Hole Remnants in Dense Star Clusters

In a dense stellar environment, such as the core of a globular cluster (GC), dynamical interactions with black holes (BHs) are expected to lead to a variety of astrophysical transients. Here we explore tidal disruption events (TDEs) of stars by stellar-mass BHs through collisions and close encounters. Using state-of-the-art $N$-body simulations, we show that these TDEs occur at significant rates throughout the evolution of typical GCs and we study how their relative rates relate to cluster parameters such mass and size. By incorporating a realistic cosmological model of GC formation, we predict a BH - main-sequence-star TDE rate of approximately $3\,\rm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\rm{yr}^{-1}$ in the local universe ($z<0.1$) and a cosmological rate that peaks at roughly $25\,\rm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\rm{yr}^{-1}$ for redshift 3. Furthermore, we show that the ejected mass associated with these TDEs could produce optical transients of luminosity $\sim 10^{41} - 10^{44}\rm\,erg\,s^{-1}$ with timescales of about a day to a month. These should be readily detectable by optical transient surveys such as the Zwicky Transient Facility. Finally, we comment briefly on BH - giant encounters and discuss how these events may contribute to the formation of BH - white-dwarf binaries.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Simulating realistic disc formation in tidal disruption events

A star coming too close to a supermassive black hole gets disrupted by the tidal force of the compact object in a tidal disruption event, or TDE. Following this encounter, the debris evolves into an elongated stream, half of which coming back to pericenter. Relativistic apsidal precession then leads to a self-crossing shock that initiates the formation of an accretion disc. We perform the first simulation of this process considering a realistic stellar trajectory and black hole mass, which has so far eluded investigations for computational reasons. This numerical issue is alleviated by using as initial conditions the outflow launched by the self-crossing shock according the local simulation of Lu & Bonnerot (2019). We find that the gas leaving the intersection point experiences numerous secondary shocks that result in the rapid formation of a thick and marginally-bound disc. The mass distribution features two overdensities identified as spiral shocks that drive slow gas inflow along the mid-plane. Inward motion primarily takes place along the funnels of the newly-formed torus, from which a fraction of the matter can get accreted. Further out, the gas moves outward forming an extended envelope completely surrounding the accretion flow. Secondary shocks heat the debris at a rate of a few times $10^{44} \, \rm erg \, s^{-1}$ with a large fraction likely participating to the bolometric luminosity. These results pave the way towards a complete understanding of the early radiation from TDEs that progressively becomes accessible from observations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Fast radio burst source properties from polarization measurements

Recent polarization measurements of fast radio bursts (FRBs) provide new insights on these enigmatic sources. We show that the nearly 100% linear polarization and small variation of the polarization position angles (PAs) of multiple bursts from the same source suggest that the radiation is produced near the surface of a strongly magnetized neutron star. As the emitted radiation travels through the magnetosphere, the electric vector of the X-mode wave adiabatically rotates and stays perpendicular to the local magnetic field direction. The PA freezes at a radius where the plasma density becomes too small to be able to turn the electric vector. At the freeze-out radius, the electric field is perpendicular to the magnetic dipole moment of the neutron star projected in the plane of the sky, independent of the radiation mechanism or the orientation of the magnetic field in the emission region. We discuss a number of predictions of the model. The variation of PAs from repeating FRBs should follow the rotational period of the underlying neutron star (but the burst occurrence may not be periodic). Measuring this period will provide crucial support for the neutron star nature of the progenitors of FRBs. For FRB 121102, the small range of PA variation means that the magnetic inclination angle is less than about 20 degrees and that the observer's line of sight is outside the magnetic inclination cone. Other repeating FRBs may have a different range of PA variation from that of FRB 121102, depending on the magnetic inclination and the observer's viewing angle.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

The maximum luminosity of fast radio bursts

Under the assumption that fast radio bursts (FRBs) are from coherent curvature emission powered by the dissipation of magnetic energy in the magnetosphere of neutron stars, we predict a maximum isotropic equivalent luminosity of (~2x10^{47} erg/s) min(ρ^2, Bρ^{4/3}ν^{-2/3}), where ρ is the curvature radius of the magnetic field lines near the source region in units of 10 km, B is the local magnetic field strength in units of 10^{16} G, and ν is the FRB wave frequency in units of GHz. This is because the electric field responsible for accelerating the radiating particles becomes close to the quantum critical field strength and is then quickly shielded by Schwinger pairs within a nano-second. Future observations should be able to confirm this cut-off luminosity and hence provide a unique probe of the source location and magnetic field strength. We discuss how the maximum luminosity affects the observed flux distributions for repeating bursts from the same object and for the entire FRB population.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

On the Missing Energy Puzzle of Tidal Disruption Events

For the majority of the tidal disruption event (TDE) candidates, the observed energy in the optical/near-UV bands is of order 10^{51} erg. We show that this observed energy is smaller than the minimum bolometric energy for the radiative inefficient accretion flow model by a factor of 10-100. We argue that this discrepancy is because the majority of the energy released is in the extreme-UV (EUV) band and/or in the form of relativistic jets beamed away from the Earth. The EUV scenario is supported by existing mid-infrared data and should be further tested by future dust reverberation observations. The jet scenario is disfavored by the radio observations of ASASSN-14li but may still be viable for other TDE candidates. We also provide evidence that, at least for some TDEs, most of the missing energy (in the EUV and/or in the form of jets) is released within a few times the orbital period of the most tightly bound material, which means (1) the circularization of the fallback stream may occur rapidly, and (2) the luminosity of the accretion flow or the jet power may not be capped near the Eddington level when the fallback rate is super-Eddington. For most other TDEs, this energy-release timescale is currently not strongly constrained.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Post-Lasso Inference for High-Dimensional Regression

Among the most popular variable selection procedures in high-dimensional regression, Lasso provides a solution path to rank the variables and determines a cut-off position on the path to select variables and estimate coefficients. In this paper, we consider variable selection from a new perspective motivated by the frequently occurred phenomenon that relevant variables are not completely distinguishable from noise variables on the solution path. We propose to characterize the positions of the first noise variable and the last relevant variable on the path. We then develop a new variable selection procedure to control over-selection of the noise variables ranking after the last relevant variable, and, at the same time, retain a high proportion of relevant variables ranking before the first noise variable. Our procedure utilizes the recently developed covariance test statistic and Q statistic in post-selection inference. In numerical examples, our method compares favorably with other existing methods in selection accuracy and the ability to interpret its results.

stat.ME↗

arXiv2018

Thermal and non-thermal emission from the cocoon of a gamma-ray burst jet

We present hydrodynamic simulations of the hot cocoon produced when a relativistic jet passes through the gamma-ray burst (GRB) progenitor star and its environment, and we compute the lightcurve and spectrum of the radiation emitted by the cocoon. The radiation from the cocoon has a nearly thermal spectrum with a peak in the X-ray band, and it lasts for a few minutes in the observer frame; the cocoon radiation starts at roughly the same time as when $γ$-rays from a burst trigger detectors aboard GRB satellites. The isotropic cocoon luminosity ($\sim 10^{47}$ erg s$^{-1}$) is of the same order of magnitude as the X-ray luminosity of a typical long-GRB afterglow during the plateau phase. This radiation should be identifiable in the Swift data because of its nearly thermal spectrum which is distinct from the somewhat brighter power-law component. The detection of this thermal component would provide information regarding the size and density stratification of the GRB progenitor star. Photons from the cocoon are also inverse-Compton (IC) scattered by electrons in the relativistic jet. We present the IC lightcurve and spectrum, by post-processing the results of the numerical simulations. The IC spectrum lies in 10 keV--MeV band for typical GRB parameters. The detection of this IC component would provide an independent measurement of GRB jet Lorentz factor and it would also help to determine the jet magnetisation parameter.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Observational evidence for the formation of trapping horizons in astrophysical black holes

Black holes in general relativity are characterized by their trapping horizon, a one-way membrane that can be crossed only inwards. The existence of trapping horizons in astrophysical black holes can be tested observationally using a reductio ad absurdum argument, replacing black holes by horizonless configurations with a physical surface and looking for inconsistencies with electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations. In this approach, the radius of the horizonless object is always larger than but arbitrarily close to the position where the horizon of a black hole of the same mass would be located. Upper bounds on the radius of these alternatives have been provided using electromagnetic observations (in optical/IR band) of astronomical sources at the center of galaxies, but lower bounds were lacking, leaving unconstrained huge regions of parameter space. We show here that lower bounds on the radius of horizonless objects that do not develop trapping horizons can be placed using observations of accreting systems. This result is model-independent and relies only on the local notion of causality dictated by the spacetime geometry around the horizonless object. These observational bounds reduce considerably the previously allowed parameter space, boosting the prospects of establishing the existence of trapping horizons using electromagnetic observations.

gr-qc↗