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Y. F. Xu

Publications and source records attributed to Y. F. Xu.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Einstein Probe Discovery of EP J182730.0-095633: A New Black Hole X-ray Binary Candidate in Faint Outburst?

Black hole X-ray binaries (candidates) currently identified in our galaxy are mainly transient sources, with the majority discovered through the detection of their X-ray outbursts. Among these, only four were found during faint outbursts exhibiting peak X-ray luminosities $L_{\rm X}\lesssim10^{36}~{\rm erg~s^{-1}}$, likely due to the previous lack of sensitive, wide-field monitoring instruments in the X-ray band. In this Letter, we present the discovery of an intriguing X-ray transient, EP J182730.0-095633, via the Einstein Probe (EP) and subsequent multi-wavelength follow-up studies. This transient, located on the Galactic plane, experienced a faint and brief X-ray outburst lasting about 20 days. Its X-ray spectrum is non-thermal and consistent with a power-law model with a nearly constant photon index of $Γ\sim2$ throughout the outburst. A long-lasting millihertz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) signal was detected in its X-ray light curve, centered around a frequency of $\sim0.04$ Hz. A transient near-infrared source was identified as its counterpart, although no optical emission was detectable, likely due to significant extinction. A radio counterpart was also observed, displaying an inverted radio spectrum with $α\sim0.45$. The X-ray spectral and temporal characteristics, along with the multi-wavelength properties, indicate that the source is a faint low-mass X-ray binary, with the compact object likely being a black hole. This work demonstrates the potential of the EP in discovering new X-ray binaries by capturing faint-level X-ray outbursts.

astro-ph.HE

Discovery of an Antiferromagnetic Topological Nodal-line Kondo Semimetal

The symbiosis of strong interactions, flat bands, topology and symmetry has led to the discovery of exotic phases of matter, including fractional Chern insulators, correlated moiré topological superconductors, and Dirac and Weyl semimetals. Correlated metals, such as those present in Kondo lattices, rely on the screening of local moments by a sea of non-magnetic conduction electrons. Here, we report on a unique topological Kondo lattice compound, CeCo2P2, where the Kondo effect - whose existence under the magnetic Co phase is protected by PT symmetry - coexists with antiferromagnetic order emerging from the flat bands associated with the Co atoms. Remarkably, this is the only known Kondo lattice compound where magnetic order occurs in non-heavy electrons, and puzzlingly, at a temperature significantly higher than that of the Kondo effect. Furthermore, at low temperatures, the emergence of the Kondo effect, in conjunction with a glide-mirror-z symmetry, results in a nodal line protected by bulk topology near the Fermi energy. These unusual properties, arising from the interplay between itinerant and correlated electrons from different constituent elements, lead to novel quantum phases beyond the celebrated topological Kondo insulators and Weyl Kondo semimetals. CeCo2P2 thus provides an ideal platform for investigating narrow bands, topology, magnetism, and the Kondo effect in strongly correlated electron systems.

cond-mat.str-el

Multiple-models prediction for light neutron-rich isotopes cross section by $Q_g$ systematics in $^{40}$Ar projectile fragmentation reactions

Precise predictions for nuclei near drip lines are crucial for experiments in new generation of rare isotope facilities. A multi-models investigation of the $Q_g$ systematics for fragments production cross sections, with $Q_g$ defined as the difference of mass excess (ME) between the projectile ($Z_{p}, A_{p}$) and the fragment ($Z_{f}, A_{f}$) nuclei $Q_{g}=ME(Z_{p}, A_{p})-ME(Z_{f}, A_{f})$, has been performed to verify the model prediction abilities for light neutron-rich isotopes in measured $^{40}$Ar + $^9$Be projectile fragmentation reactions from 57$A$ MeV to 1$A$ GeV. The models used are the FRACS parametrizations and the newly developed Bayesian neural networks (BNN) model. %method The results show that FRACS, BNN, and $Q_g$ extrapolations are generally consistent, except for fragments near the nuclear mass of the projectile. Additionally, both measured data and model extrapolations provide evidence for a shell closure at $N=$ 16 in fluorine and neon, as well as the disappearance of the traditional magic number $N=$ 20 in neon, sodium and magnesium.

nucl-th

Data-Guided Physics-Informed Neural Networks for Solving Inverse Problems in Partial Differential Equations

Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) represent a significant advancement in scientific machine learning by integrating fundamental physical laws into their architecture through loss functions. PINNs have been successfully applied to solve various forward and inverse problems in partial differential equations (PDEs). However, a notable challenge can emerge during the early training stages when solving inverse problems. Specifically, data losses remain high while PDE residual losses are minimized rapidly, thereby exacerbating the imbalance between loss terms and impeding the overall efficiency of PINNs. To address this challenge, this study proposes a novel framework termed data-guided physics-informed neural networks (DG-PINNs). The DG-PINNs framework is structured into two distinct phases: a pre-training phase and a fine-tuning phase. In the pre-training phase, a loss function with only the data loss is minimized in a neural network. In the fine-tuning phase, a composite loss function, which consists of the data loss, PDE residual loss, and, if available, initial and boundary condition losses, is minimized in the same neural network. Notably, the pre-training phase ensures that the data loss is already at a low value before the fine-tuning phase commences. This approach enables the fine-tuning phase to converge to a minimal composite loss function with fewer iterations compared to existing PINNs. To validate the effectiveness, noise-robustness, and efficiency of DG-PINNs, extensive numerical investigations are conducted on inverse problems related to several classical PDEs, including the heat equation, wave equation, Euler--Bernoulli beam equation, and Navier--Stokes equation. The numerical results demonstrate that DG-PINNs can accurately solve these inverse problems and exhibit robustness against noise in training data.

cs.LG

The Lobster Eye Imager for Astronomy Onboard the SATech-01 Satellite

The Lobster Eye Imager for Astronomy (LEIA), a pathfinder of the Wide-field X-ray Telescope of the Einstein Probe (EP) mission, was successfully launched onboard the SATech-01 satellite of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on 27 July 2022. In this paper, we introduce the design and on-ground test results of the LEIA instrument. Using state-of-the-art Micro-Pore Optics (MPO), a wide field-of-view (FoV) of 346 square degrees (18.6 degrees * 18.6 degrees) of the X-ray imager is realized. An optical assembly composed of 36 MPO chips is used to focus incident X-ray photons, and four large-format complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensors, each of 6 cm * 6 cm, are used as the focal plane detectors. The instrument has an angular resolution of 4 - 8 arcmin (in FWHM) for the central focal spot of the point spread function, and an effective area of 2 - 3 cm2 at 1 keV in essentially all the directions within the field of view. The detection passband is 0.5 - 4 keV in the soft X-rays and the sensitivity is 2 - 3 * 10-11 erg s-1 cm-2 (about 1 mini-Crab) at 1,000 second observation. The total weight of LEIA is 56 kg and the power is 85 W. The satellite, with a design lifetime of 2 years, operates in a Sun-synchronous orbit of 500 km with an orbital period of 95 minutes. LEIA is paving the way for future missions by verifying in flight the technologies of both novel focusing imaging optics and CMOS sensors for X-ray observation, and by optimizing the working setups of the instrumental parameters. In addition, LEIA is able to carry out scientific observations to find new transients and to monitor known sources in the soft X-ray band, albeit limited useful observing time available.

astro-ph.IM

First wide field-of-view X-ray observations by a lobster eye focusing telescope in orbit

As a novel X-ray focusing technology, lobster eye micro-pore optics (MPO) feature both a wide observing field of view and true imaging capability, promising sky monitoring with significantly improved sensitivity and spatial resolution in soft X-rays. Since first proposed by Angel (1979), the optics have been extensively studied, developed and trialed over the past decades. In this Letter, we report on the first-light results from a flight experiment of the Lobster Eye Imager for Astronomy ($LEIA$), a pathfinder of the wide-field X-ray telescope of the Einstein Probe mission. The piggyback imager, launched in July 2022, has a mostly un-vignetted field of view of $18.6^\circ \times 18.6^\circ $. Its spatial resolution is in the range of 4$-$7 arcmin in FWHM and the focal spot effective area is 2$-$3 cm$^2$, both showing only mild fluctuations across the field of view. We present images of the Galactic center region, Sco X-1 and the diffuse Cygnus Loop nebular taken in snapshot observations over 0.5$-$4 keV. These are truly wide-field X-ray images of celestial bodies observed, for the first time, by a focusing imaging telescope. Initial analyses of the in-flight data show excellent agreement between the observed images and the on-ground calibration and simulations. The instrument and its characterization are briefly described, as well as the flight experiment. The results provide a solid basis for the development of the present and proposed wide-field X-ray missions using lobster eye MPO.

astro-ph.HE

Topological Phase Transition in a Magnetic Weyl Semimetal

Topological Weyl semimetals (TWSs) are exotic crystals possessing emergent relativistic Weyl fermions connected by unique surface Fermi-arcs (SFAs) in their electronic structures. To realize the TWS state, certain symmetry (such as the inversion or time reversal symmetry) must be broken, leading to a topological phase transition (TPT). Despite the great importance in understanding the formation of TWSs and their unusual properties, direct observation of such a TPT has been challenging. Here, using a recently discovered magnetic TWS Co3Sn2S2, we were able to systematically study its TPT with detailed temperature dependence of the electronic structures by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The TPT with drastic band structures evolution was clearly observed across the Curie temperature (TC = 177 K), including the disappearance of the characteristic SFAs and the recombination of the spin-split bands that leads to the annihilation of Weyl points with opposite chirality. These results not only reveal important insights on the interplay between the magnetism and band topology in TWSs, but also provide a new method to control their exotic physical properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Direct observation of the spin-orbit coupling effect in Magnetic Weyl semimetal Co3Sn2S2

The spin-orbit coupling (SOC) lifts the band degeneracy that plays a vital role in the search for different topological states, such as topological insulators (TIs) and topological semimetals (TSMs). In TSMs, the SOC can partially gap a degenerate nodal line, leading to the formation of Dirac/Weyl semimetals (DSMs/WSMs). However, such SOC-induced gap structure along the nodal line in TSMs has not yet been systematically investigated experimentally. Here, we report a direct observation of such gap structure in a magnetic WSM Co3Sn2S2 using high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Our results not only reveal the existence and importance of the strong SOC effect in the formation of the WSM phase in Co3Sn2S2, but also provide insights for the understanding of its exotic physical properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Empirical Fourier Decomposition: An Accurate Adaptive Signal Decomposition Method

Signal decomposition is an effective tool to assist the identification of modal information in time-domain signals. Two signal decomposition methods, including the empirical wavelet transform (EWT) and Fourier decomposition method (FDM), have been developed based on Fourier theory. However, the EWT can suffer from a mode mixing problem for signals with closely-spaced modes and decomposition results by FDM can suffer from an inconsistency problem. An accurate adaptive signal decomposition method, called the empirical Fourier decomposition (EFD), is proposed to solve the problems in this work. The proposed EFD combines the uses of an improved Fourier spectrum segmentation technique and an ideal filter bank. The segmentation technique can solve the inconsistency problem by predefining the number of modes in a signal to be decomposed and filter functions in the ideal filter bank have no transition phases, which can solve the mode mixing problem. Numerical investigations are conducted to study the accuracy of the EFD. It is shown that the EFD can yield accurate and consistent decomposition results for signals with multiple non-stationary modes and those with closely-spaced modes, compared with decomposition results by the EWT, FDM, variational mode decomposition and empirical mode decomposition. It is also shown that the EFD can yield accurate time-frequency representation results and it has the highest computational efficiency among the compared methods.

eess.SP

Observation of orbital ordering and origin of the nematic order in FeSe

To elucidate the origin of nematic order in FeSe, we performed field-dependent 77Se-NMR measurements on single crystals of FeSe. We observed orbital ordering from the splitting of the NMR spectra and Knight shift and a suppression of it with magnetic field B0 up to 16 T applied parallel to the Fe-planes. There is a significant change in the distribution and magnitude of the internal magnetic field across the orbital ordering temperature Torb while stripe-type antiferromagnetism is absent. Giant antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin fluctuations measured by the NMR spin-lattice relaxation are gradually developed starting at ~ 40 K, which is far below the nematic ordering temperature Tnem. These results demonstrate that orbital ordering is the origin of the nematic order, and the AFM spin fluctuation is the driving mechanism of superconductivity in FeSe under the presence of the nematic order.

cond-mat.supr-con

Observation of Open-Orbit Fermi Surface Topology in Extremely Large Magnetoresistance Semimetal MoAs$_2$

While recent advances in band theory and sample growth have expanded the series of extremely large magnetoresistance (XMR) semimetals in transition metal dipnictides $TmPn_2$ ($Tm$ = Ta, Nb; $Pn$ = P, As, Sb), the experimental study on their electronic structure and the origin of XMR is still absent. Here, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy combined with first-principles calculations and magnetotransport measurements, we performed a comprehensive investigation on MoAs$_2$, which is isostructural to the $TmPn_2$ family and also exhibits quadratic XMR. We resolve a clear band structure well agreeing with the predictions. Intriguingly, the unambiguously observed Fermi surfaces (FSs) are dominated by an open-orbit topology extending along both the [100] and [001] directions in the three-dimensional Brillouin zone. We further reveal the trivial topological nature of MoAs$_2$ by bulk parity analysis. Based on these results, we examine the proposed XMR mechanisms in other semimetals, and conclusively ascribe the origin of quadratic XMR in MoAs$_2$ to the carriers motion on the FSs with dominant open-orbit topology, innovating in the understanding of quadratic XMR in semimetals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci