arXiv subjects

X. F. Wu

Publications and source records attributed to X. F. Wu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

An invariant energy release hierarchy in a repeating fast radio burst

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are luminous millisecond radio transients whose physical origin remains unsettled. A key diagnostic is whether their burst-energy distributions retain characteristic physical scales that are intrinsic and temporally stable within an individual engine. Here we report a 3.2-year monitoring campaign of the hyperactive repeater FRB~20220529 with FAST and Parkes, yielding more than 1,300 bursts spanning nearly five orders of magnitude in spectral energy density. The cumulative burst-rate distribution is described by an exponential-plus-power-law (EXP+PL) form, linking a low-energy exponential component with characteristic scale (E_0) to a scale-free bright-end tail. This scale remains invariant despite the burst rate declining by more than an order of magnitude, revealing a stable dissipation scale decoupled from the source's macroscopic trigger activity. Within a magnetar interpretation, this phenomenology is consistent with localized sub-critical reconnection episodes coexisting with plasmoid-mediated magnetic avalanches in a twisted magnetosphere. The invariant (E_0) constrains the dissipation region to the inner-to-middle magnetosphere and reveals a robust energy-release hierarchy beneath the variable activity of repeating FRBs, providing an observational benchmark for relativistic reconnection in an ultra-magnetized neutron-star environment.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

A sudden dramatic change and recovery of magneto-environment of a repeating fast radio burst

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio bursts with unidentified extra-galactic origin. Some FRBs exhibit mild magneto-ionic environmental variations, possibly attributed to plasma turbulence or binary configuration. We report an abrupt magneto-ionic variation of FRB 20220529, a repeating FRB from a disk galaxy at redshift $0.1839 \pm 0.0001$. Initially, the Faraday rotation measure (RM) had a median of $17~{\rm rad~m^{-2}}$ and a scatter of $101~{\rm rad~m^{-2}}$ over 17 months. In December 2023, it jumped to $1977 \pm 84~{\rm rad~m^{-2}}$, and returned to typical values within two weeks. This drastic RM variation suggests that a dense magnetized clump enters and exits the line of sight in week timescales. One plausible scenario invokes a coronal mass ejection from a companion star, while other scenarios invoking extreme turbulence or binary orbital motion are also possible.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Algebraic law of local correlations in a driven Rydberg atomic system

Understanding the mechanism behind the buildup of inner correlations is crucial for studying nonequilibrium dynamics in complex, strongly interacting many-body systems. Here we investigate both analytically and numerically the buildup of antiferromagnetic (AF) correlations in a dynamically tuned Ising model with various geometries, realized in a Rydberg atomic system. Through second-order Magnus expansion (ME), we demonstrate quantitative agreement with numerical simulations for diverse configurations including $2 \times n$ lattice and cyclic lattice with a star. We find that the AF correlation magnitude at fixed Manhattan distance obeys a universal superposition principle: It corresponds to the algebraic sum of contributions from all shortest paths. This superposition law remains robust against variations in path equivalence, lattice geometries, and quench protocols, establishing a new paradigm for correlation propagation in quantum simulators.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2025

Flat tails in FRB and pulsar energy distributions: implications for optimizing nearby FRB surveys

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are energetic, short-duration radio pulses of unclear origin. To explore effective survey strategies for detecting FRBs from nearby globular clusters (GCs), we investigate the burst energy distribution, which has a strong influence on the detection rate. We re-analyze FRBs and pulsars exhibiting broad energy distributions by fitting their high-energy tails with power-law models. Two cosmological repeating FRBs (FRB 20201124A and FRB 20220912A), one nearby FRB (FRB 20200120E), and two pulsars (RRATs J1846$-$0257 and J1854+0306), exhibit power-law indices of $α\gtrsim -1$, suggesting that their bright pulses contribute significantly to the total radio pulse energy. The brightest bursts from these sources can be fitted with a power-law model ($α_{\rm Bri} = -0.26 \pm 0.05$), suggesting that an extremely flat index is required to naturally derive high-luminosity FRBs from low-luminosity sources. We present detailed survey strategies for FAST, MeerKAT and Parkes cryoPAF in the search for FRBs in nearby GCs using different power-law indices, recommending targets for observation. We suggest that combining observations with FAST ($\sim3$ hours) and Parkes cryoPAF (10$-$20 hours) is practicable for discovering new FRBs in nearby GCs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Searching for radio pulsars in old open clusters from the Parkes archive

Motivated by the discovery of a pulsar in the direction of the old open cluster NGC 6791, we conducted a search for radio pulsars in archival Parkes observations targeting similar old open clusters. We reprocessed 224 observations totalling 75.02 hours from four clusters: Theia 1661, NGC 6259, Pismis 3, and Trumpler 20. Our analysis identified five known pulsars and three new rotating radio transient (RRAT) candidates. By comparing the measured dispersion measures (DMs) with the expected DM values for each cluster derived from YMW16 and NE2001 models, we conclude that most detected sources are likely background pulsars. However, RRAT J1749-25 in Theia 1661 and RRAT J1237-60 in Trumpler 20 have DMs reasonably close to their respective clusters, suggesting possible membership. The association between PSR J1750-2536 and Theia 1661 remains ambiguous due to its intermediate DM. These candidate cluster-associated neutron stars warrant follow-up with more sensitive telescopes such as MeerKAT or the SKA, potentially offering valuable insights into neutron star retention mechanisms and evolution in open cluster environments.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

A universal break in energy functions of three hyperactive repeating fast radio bursts

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration pulses occurring at cosmological distances with a mysterious origin. Observations show that at least some FRBs are produced by magnetars. All magnetar-powered FRB models require some triggering mechanisms, among which the most popular is the crust cracking of a neutron star, which is called starquake. However, so far there has been no decisive evidence for this speculation. Here we report the energy functions of the three most active repeating FRBs, which show a universal break around $10^{38}$ erg. Such a break is similar to that of the frequency-magnitude relationship of earthquakes. The break and change of the power-law indices below and above it can be well understood within the framework of FRBs triggered by starquakes in the magnetar models. The seed of weak FRBs can grow both on the magnetar surface and in the deeper crust. In contrast, the triggering of strong FRBs is confined by the crustal thickness and the seed of strong FRBs can only grow on the surface. This difference in dimensionality causes a break in the scaling properties from weak to strong FRBs, occurring at a point where the penetration depth of starquakes equals the crustal thickness. Our result, together with the earthquake-like temporal properties of these FRBs, strongly supports that FRBs are triggered by starquakes, providing a new opportunity to study the physical properties of the neutron star crust.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Detection of hidden emissions in two rotating radio transients with high surface magnetic fields

Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs) are neutron stars emitting sporadic radio pulses. The unique emission of RRATs has been proposed to resemble those of known pulsar types, such as extreme nulling pulsars or pulsars with giant pulses. However, the presence of additional radiation beyond these sporadic pulses remains unclear. Through high-sensitivity observations and extended tracking, we detected the sequential weak emissions in two RRATs with relatively high surface magnetic fields (Bs > 10^13 G): J1846-0257 and J1854+0306. These emissions show peak flux densities of 0.15 and 0.41 mJy, up to 687 and 512 times weaker than our detected RRAT single pulses, respectively. The weak emissions contribute small fractions (~ 16% and 5%) to the total radio pulse energy releases, contrasting significantly with giant-pulse pulsars where normal pulses dominate. Polarization analysis of J1854+0306 suggests that its sporadic RRAT pulses may originate from intermittent enhanced sparking processes due to magnetospheric evolution. Our findings indicate that some RRATs may represent a novel class of pulsars, distinct from any previously known subclass. Further observations of sources with similar rotational properties using high-sensitivity instruments could validate the generality of these hidden emissions.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

A bright burst from FRB 20200120E in a globular cluster of the nearby galaxy M81

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are immensely energetic millisecond-duration radio pulses. Observations indicate that nearby FRBs can be produced by old stellar populations, as suggested by the localization of the repeating source FRB 20200120E in a globular cluster of M81. Nevertheless, the burst energies of FRB 20200120E are significantly smaller than those of other cosmological FRBs, even falling below the energy of the Galactic event FRB 20200428. Here, we report the detection of a bright burst from FRB 20200120E in 1.1 -- 1.7 GHz, with a fluence of about 30 Jy ms, which is more than 42 times larger than the previously detected bursts near 1.4 GHz frequency. It reaches one-third of the energy of the weakest burst from FRB 20121102A and is detectable at a distance exceeding 200 Mpc. Our finding bridges the gap between nearby and cosmological FRBs and indicates that FRBs hosted in globular clusters can be bright enough to be observable at cosmological distances.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

RRAT J1913+1330: an extremely variable and puzzling pulsar

Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs) are neutron stars that emit sporadic radio bursts. We detected 1955 single pulses from RRAT J1913+1330 using the 19-beam receiver of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). These pulses were detected in 19 distinct clusters, with 49.4% of them occurring with a waiting time of one rotation period. The energy distribution of these individual pulses exhibited a wide range, spanning three orders of magnitude, reminiscent of repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs). Furthermore, we observed abrupt variations in pulse profile, width, peak flux, and fluence between adjacent sequential pulses. These findings suggest that this RRAT could be interpreted as a pulsar with extreme pulse-to-pulse modulation. The presence of sequential pulse trains during active phases, along with significant pulse variations in profile, fluence, flux, and width, should be intrinsic to a subset of RRATs. Our results indicate that J1913+1330 represents a peculiar source that shares certain properties with populations of nulling pulsars, giant pulses, and FRBs from different perspectives. The dramatic pulse-to-pulse variation observed in J1913+1330 could be attributed to unstable pair creation above the polar cap region and the variation of the site where streaming pairs emit coherently. Exploring a larger sample of RRATs exhibiting similar properties to J1913+1330 has the potential to significantly advance our understanding of pulsars, RRATs, and FRBs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

A fast radio burst source at a complex magnetised site in a barred galaxy

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are highly dispersed millisecond-duration radio bursts. Recent observations of a Galactic FRB suggest that at least some FRBs originate from magnetars, but the origin of cosmological FRBs is still not settled. Here we report the detection of 1863 bursts in 82 hr over 54 days from the repeating source FRB~20201124A. These observations show irregular short-time variation of the Faraday rotation measure (RM), which probes the density-weighted line-of-sight magnetic field strength, of individual bursts during the first 36 days, followed by a constant RM. We detected circular polarisation in more than half of the burst sample, including one burst reaching a high fractional circular polarisation of 75%. Oscillations in fractional linear and circular polarisations as well as polarisation angle as a function of wavelength were detected. All of these features provide evidence for a complicated, dynamically evolving, magnetised immediate environment within about an astronomical unit (au; Earth-Sun distance) of the source. Our optical observations of its Milky-Way-sized, metal-rich host galaxy reveal a barred spiral, with the FRB source residing in a low stellar density, interarm region at an intermediate galactocentric distance. This environment is inconsistent with a young magnetar engine formed during an extreme explosion of a massive star that resulted in a long gamma-ray burst or superluminous supernova.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

No pulsed radio emission during a bursting phase of a Galactic magnetar

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are mysterious millisecond-duration radio transients of unknown origin observed at extragalactic distances. It has been long speculated that magnetars are the engine powering repeating bursts from FRB sources, but no convincing evidence has been collected so far\cite{sun19}. Recently, the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 entered an active phase by emitting intense soft Gamma-ray bursts. One FRB-like event with two peaks (FRB 200428) and a luminosity slightly lower than the faintest extragalactic FRBs was detected from the source, in association with a soft Gamma-ray / hard X-ray flare. Here we report an eight-hour targeted radio observational campaign comprising four sessions and assisted by multi-wavelength (optical and hard X-rays) data. During the third session, 29 soft Gamma-ray repeater (SGR) bursts were detected in Gamma-ray energies. Throughout the observing period, we detected no single dispersed pulsed emission coincident with the arrivals of SGR bursts, but unfortunately we were not observing when the FRB was detected. The non-detection places a fluence upper limit that is eight orders of magnitude lower than the fluence of FRB 200428. Our results suggest that FRB -- SGR burst associations are rare. FRBs may be highly relativistic and geometrically beamed, or FRB-like events associated with SGR bursts may have narrow spectra and characteristic frequencies outside the observed band. It is also possible that the physical conditions required to achieve coherent radiation in SGR bursts are difficult to satisfy, and that only under extreme conditions could an FRB be associated with an SGR burst.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

A magnetar-powered X-ray transient as the aftermath of a binary neutron-star merger

Neutron star-neutron star mergers are known to be associated with short gamma-ray bursts. If the neutron star equation of state is sufficiently stiff, at least some of such mergers will leave behind a supramassive or even a stable neutron star that spins rapidly with a strong magnetic field (i.e., a magnetar). Such a magnetar signature may have been observed as the X-ray plateau following a good fraction (up to 50%) of short gamma-ray bursts, and it has been expected that one may observe short gamma-ray burst-less X-ray transients powered by double neutron star mergers. A fast X-ray transient (CDF-S XT1) was recently found to be associated with a faint host galaxy whose redshift is unknown. Its X-ray and host-galaxy properties allow several possibleexplanations including a short gamma-ray burst seen off axis, a low-luminosity gamma-ray burst at high redshift, or a tidal disruption event involving an intermediate mass black hole and a white dwarf. Here we report a second X-ray transient, CDF-S XT2, that is associated with a galaxy at redshift z = 0.738. The light curve is fully consistent with being powered by a millisecond magnetar. More intriguingly, CDF-S XT2 lies in the outskirts of its star-forming host galaxy with a moderate offset from the galaxy center, as short bursts often do. The estimated event rate density of similar X-ray transients, when corrected to the local value, is consistent with the double neutron star merger rate density inferred from the detection of GW170817.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Could FRB 131104 Originate from the Merger of Binary Neutron Stars?

Recently, DeLaunay et al. (2016) discovered a gamma-ray transient, Swift J0644.5-5111, associated with the fast radio burst (FRB) 131104. They also reported follow-up broadband observations beginning two days after the FRB and provided upper limits on a putative afterglow of this transient. In this paper, we show that if such a transient drives a relativistic shock as in a cosmological gamma-ray burst (GRB), these upper limits are consistent with an environment of which density is much less than that of an interstellar medium but typical for the outskirts' density of a galaxy when the typical values of three microphysical parameters of the shock are taken. This appears to be inconsistent with the catastrophic event models in which the central engine of Swift J0644.5-5111 is surrounded by an interstellar medium, but together with the properties of the gamma-ray transient, favors the binary neutron star merger origin. We further constrain the physical parameters of the postmerger object by assuming that Swift J0644.5-5111 results from internal dissipation of a spinning-down pulsar wind, and we find that the postmerger object is an ultra-strongly magnetized, very rapidly rotating pulsar. This merger event should have given birth to a gravitational wave burst, an FRB, and a short GRB or an extended X-ray/gamma-ray emission if a relativistic jet of the GRB is missed. Such "triplets" would be testable in the near future with the advanced LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave observatories.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

A Triple-Energy-Source Model for Superluminous Supernova iPTF13ehe

Almost all superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) whose peak magnitudes are $\lesssim -21$ mag can be explained by the $^{56}$Ni-powered model, magnetar-powered (highly magnetized pulsar) model or ejecta-circumstellar medium (CSM) interaction model. Recently, iPTF13ehe challenges these energy-source models, because the spectral analysis shows that $\sim 2.5M_\odot$ of $^{56}$Ni have been synthesized but are inadequate to power the peak bolometric emission of iPTF13ehe, while the rebrightening of the late-time light-curve (LC) and the H$α$ emission lines indicate that the ejecta-CSM interaction must play a key role in powering the late-time LC. Here we propose a triple-energy-source model, in which a magnetar together with some amount ($\lesssim 2.5M_\odot$) of $^{56}$Ni may power the early LC of iPTF13ehe while the late-time rebrightening can be quantitatively explained by an ejecta-CSM interaction. Furthermore, we suggest that iPTF13ehe is a genuine core-collapse supernova rather than a pulsational pair-instability supernova candidate. Further studies on similar SLSNe in the future would eventually shed light on their explosion and energy-source mechanisms.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Repeating Fast Radio Bursts from Highly Magnetized Pulsars Travelling through Asteroid Belts

Very recently Spitler et al. (2016) and Scholz et al. (2016) reported their detections of sixteen additional bright bursts from the direction of the fast radio burst (FRB) 121102. This repeating FRB is inconsistent with all the catastrophic event models put forward previously for hypothetically non-repeating FRBs. Here we propose a different model, in which highly magnetized pulsars travel through asteroid belts of other stars. We show that a repeating FRB could originate from such a pulsar encountering lots of asteroids in the belt. During each pulsar-asteroid impact, an electric field induced outside the asteroid has such a large component parallel to the stellar magnetic field that electrons are torn off the asteroidal surface and accelerated to ultra-relativistic energies instantaneously. Subsequent movement of these electrons along magnetic field lines will cause coherent curvature radiation, which can account for all the properties of an FRB. In addition, this model can self-consistently explain the typical duration, luminosity, and repetitive rate of the seventeen bursts of FRB 121102. The predicted occurrence rate of repeating FRB sources may imply that our model would be testable in the next few years.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Imprints of Electron-positron Winds on the Multi-wavelength Afterglows of Gamma-ray Bursts

Optical re-brightenings in the afterglows of some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are unexpected within the framework of the simple external shock model. While it has been suggested that the central engines of some GRBs are newly born magnetars, we aim to relate the behaviors of magnetars to the optical re-brightenings. A newly born magnetar will lose its rotational energy in the form of Poynting-flux, which may be converted into a wind of electron-positron pairs through some magnetic dissipation processes. As proposed by Dai (2004), this wind will catch up with the GRB outflow and a long-lasting reverse shock would form. By applying this scenario to GRB afterglows, we find that the reverse shock propagating back into the electron-positron wind can lead to an observable optical re-brightening and a simultaneous X-ray plateau (or X-ray shallow decay). In our study, we select four GRBs, i.e., GRB 080413B, GRB 090426, GRB 091029, and GRB 100814A, of which the optical afterglows are well observed and show clear re-brightenings. We find that they can be well interpreted. In our scenario, the spin-down timescale of the magnetar should be slightly smaller than the peak time of the re-brightening, which can provide a clue to the characteristics of the magnetar.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Delayed Energy Injection Model For Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows

The shallow decay phase and flares in the afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is widely believed to be associated with the later activation of central engine. Some models of energy injection involve with a continuous energy flow since the GRB trigger time, such as the magnetic dipole radiation from a magnetar. However, in the scenario involving with a black hole accretion system, the energy flow from the fall-back accretion may be delayed for a fall-back time $\sim t_{\rm fb}$. Thus we propose a delayed energy injection model, the delayed energy would cause a notable rise to the Lorentz factor of the external shock, which will "generate" a bump in the multiple band afterglows. If the delayed time is very short, our model degenerates to the previous models. Our model can well explain the significant re-brightening in the optical and infrared light curves of GRB 081029 and GRB 100621A. A considerable fall-back mass is needed to provide the later energy, this indicates GRBs accompanied with fall-back material may be associated with a low energy supernova so that fraction of the envelope can be survived during eruption. The fall-back time can give meaningful information of the properties of GRB progenitor stars.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Optical Transients Powered by Magnetars: Dynamics, Light Curves, and Transition to the Nebular Phase

Millisecond magnetars can be formed via several channels: core-collapse of massive stars, accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs (WDs), double WD mergers, double neutron star (NS) mergers, and WD-NS mergers. Because the mass of ejecta from these channels could be quite different, their light curves are also expected to be diverse. We evaluate the dynamic evolution of optical transients powered by millisecond magnetars. We find that the magnetar with short spin-down timescale converts its rotational energy mostly into the kinetic energy of the transient, while the energy of a magnetar with long spin-down timescale goes into radiation of the transient. This leads us to speculate that hypernovae could be powered by magnetars with short spin-down timescales. At late times the optical transients will gradually evolve into a nebular phase because of the photospheric recession. We treat the photosphere and nebula separately because their radiation mechanisms are different. In some cases the ejecta could be light enough that the magnetar can accelerate it to a relativistic speed. It is well known that the peak luminosity of a supernova (SN) occurs when the luminosity is equal to the instantaneous energy input rate, as shown by Arnett (1979). We show that photospheric recession and relativistic motion can modify this law. The photospheric recession always leads to a delay of the peak time $t_{\mathrm{pk}}$ relative to the time $t_{\times }$ at which the SN luminosity equals the instantaneous energy input rate. Relativistic motion, however, may change this result significantly.

astro-ph.HE↗