arXiv subjects

You-Jun Lu

Publications and source records attributed to You-Jun Lu.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Detecting and Monitoring Tidal Dissipation of Hot Jupiters in the Era of SiTian

Transit Timing Variation (TTV) of hot Jupiters provides direct observational evidence of planet tidal dissipation. Detecting tidal dissipation through TTV needs high precision transit timings and long timing baselines. In this work, we predict and discuss the potential scientific contribution of SiTian Survey in detecting and analyzing exoplanet TTV. We develop a tidal dissipation detection pipeline for SiTian Survey that aims at time-domain astronomy with 72 1-meter optical telescopes. The pipeline includes the modules of light curve deblending, transit timing obtaining, and TTV modeling. SiTian is capable to detect more than 25,000 exoplanets among which we expect $\sim$50 sources showing evidence of tidal dissipation. We present detection and analysis of tidal dissipating targets, based on simulated SiTian light curves of XO-3b and WASP-161b. The transit light curve modeling gives consistent results within 1$σ$ to input values of simulated light curves. Also, the parameter uncertainties predicted by Monte-Carlo Markov Chain are consistent with the distribution obtained from simulating and modeling the light curve 1000 times. The timing precision of SiTian observations is $\sim$ 0.5 minutes with one transit visit. We show that differences between TTV origins, e.g., tidal dissipation, apsidal precession, multiple planets, would be significant, considering the timing precision and baseline. The detection rate of tidal dissipating hot Jupiters would answer a crucial question of whether the planet migrates at an early formation stage or random stages due to perturbations, e.g., planet scattering, secular interaction. SiTian identified targets would be constructive given that the sample would extend tenfold.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2021

TESS Timings of 31 Hot Jupiters with Ephemeris Uncertainties

A precise transit ephemeris serves as the premise for follow-up exoplanet observations. We compare TESS Objects of Interest (TOI) transit timings of 262 hot Jupiters with the archival ephemeris and find 31 of them having TOI timing offsets, among which WASP-161b shows the most significant offset of -203.7$\pm$4.1 minutes. The median value of these offsets is 17.8 minutes, equivalent to 3.6 $\sigma$. We generate TESS timings in each sector for these 31 hot Jupiters, using a self-generated pipeline. The pipeline performs photometric measurements to TESS images and produces transit timings by fitting the light curves. We refine and update the previous ephemeris, based on these TESS timings (uncertainty $\sim$ 1 minute) and a long timing baseline ($\sim 10$ years). Our refined ephemeris gives the transit timing at a median precision of 0.82 minutes until 2025 and 1.21 minutes until 2030. We regard the timing offsets mainly originating from the underestimated ephemeris uncertainty. All the targets with timing offset larger than 10$\sigma$ present earlier timings than the prediction, which cannot be due to underestimated ephemeris uncertainty, apsidal precision, or R$\o$mer effect as those effects should be unsigned. For some particular targets, timing offsets are likely due to tidal dissipation. Our sample leads to the detection of period decaying candidates of WASP-161b and XO-3b reported previously.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2021

LTD064402+245919: A Subgiant with a 1-3 M$_{\odot}$ Undetected Companion Identified from LAMOST-TD Data

Single-line spectroscopic binaries recently contribute to the stellar-mass black hole discovery, independently of the X-ray transient method. We report the identification of a single-line binary system LTD064402+245919, with an orbital period of 14.50 days. The observed component is a subgiant with a mass of 2.77$\pm$0.68M$_{\odot}$, radius 15.5$\pm$2.5R$_{\odot}$, effective temperature $T_{\rm eff}$ 4500$\pm$200K, and surface gravity log\emph{g} 2.5$\pm$0.25dex. The discovery makes use of the LAMOST time-domain (LAMOST-TD) and ZTF survey. Our general-purpose software pipeline applies the Lomb-Scargle periodogram to determine the orbital period and uses machine-learning to classify the variable type from the folded light curves. We apply a combined model to estimate the orbital parameters from both the light and radial velocity curves, taking constraints on the primary star mass, mass function, and detection limit of secondary luminosity into consideration. We obtain a radial velocity semi-amplitude of 44.6$\pm$1.5 km s$^{-1}$, mass ratio of 0.73$\pm$0.07, and an undetected component mass of 2.02$\pm$0.49M$_{\odot}$ when the type of the undetected component is not set. We conclude that the inclination is not well constrained, and that the secondary mass is larger than 1M$_{\odot}$ when the undetected component is modelled as a compact object. According to our investigations using an MCMC simulation, increasing the spectra SNR by a factor of 3 would enable the secondary light to be distinguished (if present). The algorithm and software in this work are able to serve as general-purpose tools for the identification of compact objects quiescent in X-rays.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2020

591 high velocity stars in the Galactic halo selected from LAMOST DR7 and Gaia DR2

In this paper, we report 591 high velocity star candidates (HiVelSCs) selected from over 10 million spectra of the data release seven (DR7) of the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope and the second Gaia data release, with three-dimensional velocities in the Galactic rest-frame larger than 445 km/s. We show that at least 43 HiVelSCs are unbound to the Galaxy with escape probabilities larger than 50%, and this number decreases to eight if the possible parallax zero-point error is corrected. Most of these HiVelSCs are metal-poor and slightly alpha-enhanced inner halo stars. Only 14% of them have [Fe/H] > -1, which may be the metal-rich "in situ" stars in halo formed in the initial collapse of the Milky Way or metal-rich stars formed in the disk or bulge but kinematically heated. The low ratio of 14% implies that the bulk of stellar halo was formed from the accretion and tidal disruption of satellite galaxies. In addition, HiVelSCs on the retrograde orbits have a slightly lower metallicities on average compared with these on the prograde orbits, meanwhile metal-poor HiVelSCs with [Fe/H] < -1 have an even faster mean retrograde velocity compared with metal-rich HiVelSCs. To investigate the origins of HiVelSCs, we perform orbit integrations and divide them into four types, i.e., hypervelocity stars, hyper-runaway stars, runaway stars and fast halo stars. A catalog for these 591 HiVelSCs, including radial velocities, atmospheric parameters, Gaia astrometric parameters, spatial positions, and velocities, etc., is available at http://paperdata.chinavo.org/LYB/lamostdr7_gaiadr2_hvs_591.csv.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Revisiting the Relationship between the Long GRB Rate and Cosmic Star Formation History Based on a Large Swift Sample

The exact relationship between the long gamma-ray burst (LGRB) rate and the cosmic star formation rate (CSFR) is essential for using LGRBs as cosmological probes. In this work, we collect a large sample composed of 371 Swift LGRBs with known redshifts and prompt emission properties. We first compare the rest-frame prompt properties of these bursts in different redshift bins, finding negligible redshift evolution of the luminosity of LGRBs with $L_{\mathrm{iso}}\gtrsim10^{51}\,\mathrm{erg\, s^{-1}}$ between $z\sim1$ and $z\sim4$. Then, by utilizing the CSFR obtained from the large-scale cosmological hydrodynamical simulation, the Illustris simulation, we calculate the cumulative redshift distribution of LGRBs under different metallicity thresholds. After comparing with our sample, we find that the predictions with a moderate threshold between $0.3\,Z_{\odot}\leqslant Z_{\mathrm{th}}\leqslant1.0\,Z_{\odot}$ are consistent with the sample between redshift $0<z<3$, while at higher redshifts between $3<z<5$, all metallicity thresholds fit the data well. When changing to an empirical model based on observations, the predictions show similar results as well. After comparing with the metallicity distribution of the observed LGRB host galaxies between $0<z<1$, we confirm that the production of LGRBs in galaxies with super-solar metallicity is suppressed. Nevertheless, considering that a significant fraction of stars are born in sub-solar metallicity environments at $z\gtrsim3$, we suggest that, as a first approximation, LGRBs can be used as direct tracers of the CSFR in this redshift range.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

A new Hyper-Runaway star discovered from LAMOST and GAIA: ejected almost in the galactic rotation direction

In this paper, we report the discovery of a new late-B type unbound hyper-runaway star (LAMOST-HVS4) from the LAMOST spectroscopic surveys. According to its atmospheric parameters, it is either a B-type main sequence (MS) star or a blue horizontal branch (BHB) star. Its Galactocentric distance and velocity are 30.3 +/- 1.6 kpc and 586 +/- 7 km/s if it is an MS star, and they are 13.2 +/- 3.7 kpc and 590 +/- 7 km/s if a BHB star. We track its trajectories back, and find that the trajectories intersect with the Galactic disk and the Galactic center lies outside of the intersection region at the 3 sigma confidence level. We investigate a number of mechanisms that could be responsible for the ejection of the star, and find that it is probably ejected from the Galactic disk by supernova explosion or multiple-body interactions in dense young stellar clusters.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2016

Thick Accretion Disk Model for Ultraluminous Supersoft Sources

We propose a geometrically thick, super-Eddington accretion disk model, where an optically thick wind is not necessary, to understand ultraluminous supersoft sources (ULSs). For high mass accretion rates $\dot M \ga 30\dot M_{\rm Edd}$ and not small inclination angles $θ\ga 25^{\circ}$, where $\dot M_{\rm Edd}$ is the Eddington accretion rate, the hard photons from the hot inner region may be shaded by the geometrically thick inner disk, and therefore only the soft photons from the outer thin disk and the outer photosphere of the thick disk can reach the observer. Our model can naturally explain the approximate relation between the typical thermal radius and the thermal temperature, $R_{\rm bb} \propto T_{\rm bb}^{-2}$. Moreover, the thick disk model can unify ULSs and normal ultraluminous X-ray sources, where the different observational characteristics are probably related to the inclination angle and the mass accretion rate. By comparing our model with the optically thick outflow model, we find that less mass accretion rate is required in our model.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Relativistic baryonic jets from an ultraluminous supersoft X-ray source

The formation of relativistic jets by an accreting compact object is one of the fundamental mysteries of astrophysics. While the theory is poorly understood, observations of relativistic jets from systems known as microquasars have led to a well-established phenomenology. Relativistic jets are not expected from sources with soft or supersoft X-ray spectra, although two such systems are known to produce relatively low-velocity bipolar outflows. Here we report optical spectra of an ultraluminous supersoft X-ray source (ULS) in the nearby galaxy M81 (M81 ULS-1) showing blueshifted broad Hα emission lines, characteristic of baryonic jets with relativistic speeds. The time variable jets have projected velocities ~17 per cent of the speed of light, and seem similar to those in the prototype microquasar SS 433. Such relativistic jets are not expected to be launched from white dwarfs, but an origin from a black hole or neutron star in M81 ULS-1 is hard to reconcile with its constant soft X-rays. The completely unexpected presence of relativistic jets in a ULS challenges the canonical theories for jet formation, but may possibly be explained by a long speculated super-critically accreting black hole with optically thick outflows

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Reducing the Tension Between the BICEP2 and the Planck Measurements: A Complete Exploration of the Parameter Space

A large inflationary tensor-to-scalar ratio $r_\mathrm{0.002} = 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$ is reported by the BICEP2 team based on their B-mode polarization detection, which is outside of the $95\%$ confidence level of the Planck best fit model. We explore several possible ways to reduce the tension between the two by considering a model in which $α_\mathrm{s}$, $n_\mathrm{t}$, $n_\mathrm{s}$ and the neutrino parameters $N_\mathrm{eff}$ and $Σm_\mathrmν$ are set as free parameters. Using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique to survey the complete parameter space with and without the BICEP2 data, we find that the resulting constraints on $r_\mathrm{0.002}$ are consistent with each other and the apparent tension seems to be relaxed. Further detailed investigations on those fittings suggest that $N_\mathrm{eff}$ probably plays the most important role in reducing the tension. We also find that the results obtained from fitting without adopting the consistency relation do not deviate much from the consistency relation. With available Planck, WMAP, BICEP2 and BAO datasets all together, we obtain $r_{0.002} = 0.14_{-0.11}^{+0.05}$, $n_\mathrm{t} = 0.35_{-0.47}^{+0.28}$, $n_\mathrm{s}=0.98_{-0.02}^{+0.02}$, and $α_\mathrm{s}=-0.0086_{-0.0189}^{+0.0148}$; if the consistency relation is adopted, we get $r_{0.002} = 0.22_{-0.06}^{+0.05}$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv1998

Emission Line-Ultraviolet to X-Ray Continuum Correlations: Constraints on the Anisotropy of the Ionizing Continuum in Active Galactic Nuclei

Anisotropic emission of the ionizing continuum is a general prediction of the accretion disk models. In this paper, we present the results of correlation analysis of the UV emission line and UV to X-ray continuum properties for a large sample of broad emission line AGNs observed with ROSAT, IUE and HST. We find strong correlations between the CIV/$Lyα$ ratio, the equivalent width of CIV, and the UV to soft X-ray spectral slope. The results are in good agreement with the photoionization calculation, suggesting that the overall ionizing continuum can well match the observed UV to soft X-ray spectrum. These results are consistent with the assumption of isotropic ionizing continuum shape. Our analysis suggests a small range for the ``big blue bump'' cutoff energy for the objects in this sample, consistent with the similar results of Laor et al. (1997) and Walter & Fink (1993) based on the continuum properties . The mean UV-to-X-ray spectral slope is similar to the soft X-ray spectral slope. This similarity also holds for radio-loud and radio-quiet objects separately. This suggests that the two might be drawn from the same distribution. The two spectral slopes are only weakly correlated. The UV to X-ray spectral index is correlated with absolute optical magnitude. This result confirms the earlier suggestion that the ionizing continua are softer for higher luminosity objects.

astro-ph↗