arXiv subjects

Z. G. Dai

Publications and source records attributed to Z. G. Dai.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Very high energy gamma-ray emission beyond 10 TeV from GRB 221009A

The highest energy gamma-rays from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have important implications for their radiation mechanism. Here we report for the first time the detection of gamma-rays up to 13 TeV from the brightest GRB 221009A by the Large High Altitude Air-shower Observatory (LHAASO). The LHAASO-KM2A detector registered more than 140 gamma-rays with energies above 3 TeV during 230$-$900s after the trigger. The intrinsic energy spectrum of gamma-rays can be described by a power-law after correcting for extragalactic background light (EBL) absorption. Such a hard spectrum challenges the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) scenario of relativistic electrons for the afterglow emission above several TeV. Observations of gamma-rays up to 13 TeV from a source with a measured redshift of z=0.151 hints more transparency in intergalactic space than previously expected. Alternatively, one may invoke new physics such as Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) or an axion origin of very high energy (VHE) signals.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Does or did the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A operate as a PeVatron?

For decades, supernova remnants (SNRs) have been considered the prime sources of Galactic Cosmic rays (CRs). But whether SNRs can accelerate CR protons to PeV energies and thus dominate CR flux up to the knee is currently under intensive theoretical and phenomenological debate. The direct test of the ability of SNRs to operate as CR PeVatrons can be provided by ultrahigh-energy (UHE; $E_γ\geq 100$~TeV) $γ$-rays. In this context, the historical SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is considered one of the most promising target for UHE observations. This paper presents the observation of Cas A and its vicinity by the LHAASO KM2A detector. The exceptional sensitivity of LHAASO KM2A in the UHE band, combined with the young age of Cas A, enabled us to derive stringent model-independent limits on the energy budget of UHE protons and nuclei accelerated by Cas A at any epoch after the explosion. The results challenge the prevailing paradigm that Cas A-type SNRs are major suppliers of PeV CRs in the Milky Way.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Temporal evolution of depolarization and magnetic field of FRB 20201124A

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are energetic millisecond phenomena in radio band. Polarimetric studies of repeating FRBs indicate that many of these sources occupy extreme and complex magneto-ionized environments. Recently, a frequency-dependent depolarization has been discovered in several repeating FRBs. However, the temporal evolution of polarization properties is limited by the burst rate and observational cadence of telescopes. In this letter, the temporal evolution of depolarization in repeating FRB 20201124A is explored. Using the simultaneous variation of rotation measure and dispersion measure, we also measure the strength of a magnetic field parallel to the line-of-sight. The strength ranges from a few $μ{\rm G}$ to $10^3\ μ{\rm G}$. In addition, we find that the evolution of depolarization and magnetic field traces the evolution of rotation measure. Our result supports that the variation of depolarization, rotation measure and the magnetic field are determined by the same complex magneto-ionized screen surrounding the FRB source. The derived properties of the screen are consistent with the wind and the decretion disk of a massive star.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Measurement of ultra-high-energy diffuse gamma-ray emission of the Galactic plane from 10 TeV to 1 PeV with LHAASO-KM2A

The diffuse Galactic $γ$-ray emission, mainly produced via interactions between cosmic rays and the interstellar medium and/or radiation field, is a very important probe of the distribution, propagation, and interaction of cosmic rays in the Milky Way. In this work we report the measurements of diffuse $γ$-rays from the Galactic plane between 10 TeV and 1 PeV energies, with the square kilometer array of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). Diffuse emissions from the inner ($15^{\circ} 10$~TeV). The energy spectrum in the inner Galaxy regions can be described by a power-law function with an index of $-2.99\pm0.04$, which is different from the curved spectrum as expected from hadronic interactions between locally measured cosmic rays and the line-of-sight integrated gas content. Furthermore, the measured flux is higher by a factor of $\sim3$ than the prediction. A similar spectrum with an index of $-2.99\pm0.07$ is found in the outer Galaxy region, and the absolute flux for $10\lesssim E\lesssim60$ TeV is again higher than the prediction for hadronic cosmic ray interactions. The latitude distributions of the diffuse emission are consistent with the gas distribution, while the longitude distributions show clear deviation from the gas distribution. The LHAASO measurements imply that either additional emission sources exist or cosmic ray intensities have spatial variations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Repeating fast radio bursts reveal memory from minutes to an hour

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief, luminous pulses with unknown physical origin. The repetition pattern of FRBs contains essential information about their physical nature and emission mechanisms. Using the two largest samples of FRB 20121102A and FRB 20201124, we report that the sources of the two FRBs reveal memory over a large range of timescales, from a few minutes to about an hour. The memory is detected from the coherent growths in burst-rate structures and the Hurst exponent. The waiting time distribution displays a power-law tail, which is consistent with a Poisson model with a time-varying rate. From cellular automaton simulations, we find that these characteristics can be well understood within the physical framework of a self-organized criticality system driven in a correlation way, such as random walk functions. These properties indicate that the triggers of bursts are correlated, preferring the crustal failure mechanism of neutron stars.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Reanalysis of the X-ray burst associated FRB 200428 with Insight-HXMT observations

A double-peak X-ray burst from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 was discovered as associated with the two radio pulses of FRB 200428 separated by 28.97+-0.02 ms. Precise measurements of the timing and spectral properties of the X-ray bursts are helpful for understanding the physical origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs). In this paper, we have reconstructed some information about the hard X-ray events, which were lost because the High Energy X-ray Telescope (HE) onboard the Insight-HXMT mission was saturated by this extremely bright burst, and used the information to improve the temporal and spectral analyses of the X-ray burst. The arrival times of the two X-ray peaks by fitting the new Insight-HXMT/HE lightcurve with multi-Gaussian profiles are 2.77+-0.45 ms and 34.30+-0.56 ms after the first peak of FRB 200428, respectively, while these two parameters are 2.57+-0.52 ms and 32.5+-1.4 ms if the fitting profile is a fast rise and exponential decay function. The spectrum of the two X-ray peaks could be described by a cutoff power-law with cutoff energy ~60 keV and photon index ~1.4, the latter is softer than that of the underlying bright and broader X-ray burst when the two X-ray peaks appeared.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Flux Variations of Cosmic Ray Air Showers Detected by LHAASO-KM2A During a Thunderstorm on 10 June 2021

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) has three sub-arrays, KM2A, WCDA and WFCTA. The flux variations of cosmic ray air showers were studied by analyzing the KM2A data during the thunderstorm on 10 June 2021. The number of shower events that meet the trigger conditions increases significantly in atmospheric electric fields, with maximum fractional increase of 20%. The variations of trigger rates (increases or decreases) are found to be strongly dependent on the primary zenith angle. The flux of secondary particles increases significantly, following a similar trend with that of the shower events. To better understand the observed behavior, Monte Carlo simulations are performed with CORSIKA and G4KM2A (a code based on GEANT4). We find that the experimental data (in saturated negative fields) are in good agreement with simulations, assuming the presence of a uniform upward electric field of 700 V/cm with a thickness of 1500 m in the atmosphere above the observation level. Due to the acceleration/deceleration and deflection by the atmospheric electric field, the number of secondary particles with energy above the detector threshold is modified, resulting in the changes in shower detection rate.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Rotation Measure Variations and Reversals of Repeating Fast Radio Bursts in Massive Binary Systems

Recent observations discovered that some repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) show complicated variations and reversals of Faraday rotation measures (RMs), indicating that the sources of these FRBs are embedded in a dynamically magnetized environment. One possible scenario is that repeating FRBs are generated by pulsars in binary systems, especially containing a high-mass companion with strong stellar outflows. Here, we study the RM variations caused by stellar winds, and a possible stellar disc. If the magnetic field is radial in the stellar wind, RM will not reverse except if the magnetic axis inclination angle is close to $90 ^\circ$. For the toroidal magnetic field in the wind, RM will reverse at the super conjunction. For the case of the toroidal field in the disc, the RM variations may have a multimodal and multiple reversal profile because the radio signals travel through different components of the disc during periastron passage. We also apply this model to FRB 20180916B. By assuming its 16.35-day period is from a slowly rotating or freely precessing magnetar, we find that the secular RM variation can be explained by the periastron passage of a magnetar in a massive binary system. In addition, the clumps in the stellar wind and disc can cause short time-scale ($< 1$ day) variations or reversals of RM. Therefore, long-term monitoring of RM variations can reveal the environments of repeating FRBs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Repeating fast radio burst 20201124A originates from a magnetar/Be star binary

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are cosmic sources emitting millisecond-duration radio bursts. Although several hundreds FRBs have been discovered, their physical nature and central engine remain unclear. The variations of Faraday rotation measure and dispersion measure, due to local environment, are crucial clues to understanding their physical nature. The recent observations on the rotation measure of FRB 20201124A show a significant variation on a day time scale. Intriguingly, the oscillation of rotation measure supports that the local contribution can change sign, which indicates the magnetic field reversal along the line of sight. Here we present a physical model that explains observed characteristics of FRB 20201124A and proposes that repeating signal comes from a binary system containing a magnetar and a Be star with a decretion disk. When the magnetar approaches the periastron, the propagation of radio waves through the disk of the Be star naturally leads to the observed varying rotation measure, depolarization, large scattering timescale, and Faraday conversion. This study will prompt to search for FRB signals from Be/X-ray binaries.

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↗

arXiv2022

Flaring-associated Complex Dynamics in Two M-dwarfs Revealed by Fast, Time-resolved Spectroscopy

Habitability of an exoplanet is believed to be profoundly affected by activities of the host stars, although the related coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are still rarely detected in solar-like and late-type stars. We here report an observational study on flares of two M-dwarfs triggered by the high-cadence survey performed by the Ground Wide-angle Camera system. In both events, the fast, time-resolved spectroscopy enables us to identify symmetric broad H$α$ emission with not only a nearly zero bulk velocity, but also a large projected maximum velocity as high as $\sim700-800\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}}$. This broadening could be resulted from either Stark (pressure) effect or a flaring-associated CME at stellar limb. In the context of the CME scenario, the CME mass is estimated to be $\sim4\times10^{18}$ g and $2\times10^{19}$ g. In addition, our spectral analysis reveals a temporal variation of the line center of the narrow H$α$ emission in both events. The variation amplitudes are at tens of $\mathrm{km\ s^{-1}}$, which could be ascribed to the chromospheric evaporation in one event, and to a binary scenario in the other one. With the total flaring energy determined from our photometric monitor, we show a reinforced trend in which larger the flaring energy, higher the CME mass is.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2022

Quasi-periodic Eruptions from Helium Envelope of Hydrogen-deficient Stars Stripped by Supermassive Black Holes

Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs), which are a new kind of X-ray bursts with a recurrence time of several hours, have been detected from supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei. Recently, the two QPEs discovered by the \textit{eROSITA} show asymmetric light curves with a fast rise and a slow decline. Current models cannot explain the observational characteristics of QPEs. Here we show that QPEs can be generated from the Roche lobe overflows at each periapsis passage of an evolved star orbiting an SMBH. The properties of the companion stars are constrained via analytic estimations. We find that hydrogen-deficient post-AGB stars are promising candidates. Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) stellar evolution code is used to construct the hydrogen-deficient stars which can fulfill the requirements, as obtained through analytical estimates, to produce the properties of QPEs, including the fast-rise and slow-decay light curves, periods, energetics, and rates. Furthermore, the extreme mass ratio $\sim 10^5$ between the SMBH and the donor will lead to a phenomenon called extreme mass-ratio inspiral (EMRI), producing millihertz gravitational waves. These QPEs would be detected as EMRI sources with electromagnetic counterparts for space-based GW detectors, such as Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and Tianqin. They would provide a new way to measure the Hubble constant and further test the Hubble constant tension.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Peta-electron volt gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula

The Crab pulsar and the surrounding nebula powered by the pulsar's rotational energy through the formation and termination of a relativistic electron-positron wind is a bright source of gamma-rays carrying crucial information about this complex conglomerate. We report the detection of $γ$-rays with a spectrum showing gradual steepening over three energy decades, from $5\times 10^{-4}$ to $1.1$ petaelectronvolt (PeV). The ultra-high-energy photons exhibit the presence of a PeV electron accelerator (a pevatron) with an acceleration rate exceeding 15% of the absolute theoretical limit. Assuming that unpulsed $γ$-rays are produced at the termination of the pulsar's wind, we constrain the pevatron's size, between $0.025$ and $0.1$ pc, and the magnetic field $\approx 110 μ$G. The production rate of PeV electrons, $2.5 \times 10^{36}$ erg $\rm s^{-1}$, constitutes 0.5% of the pulsar's spin-down luminosity, although we do not exclude a non-negligible contribution of PeV protons to the production of the highest energy $γ$-rays.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Energy and waiting time distributions of FRB 121102 observed by FAST

The energy and waiting time distributions are important properties for understanding the physical mechanism of repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs). Recently, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) detected the largest burst sample of FRB 121102, containing 1652 bursts. We use this sample to investigate the energy and waiting time distributions. The energy count distribution $dN/dE$ at the high-energy range ($>10^{38}$ erg) can be fitted with a single power-law function with an index of $-1.86 ^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$, while the distribution at the low-energy range deviates from the power-law function. An interesting result of Li et al. (2021) is that there is an apparent temporal gap between early bursts (occurring before MJD 58740) and late bursts (occurring after MJD 58740). We find the energy distributions of high-energy bursts at different epochs are inconsistent. The power-law index is $-1.70^{+0.03}_{-0.03}$ for early bursts and $-2.60^{+0.15}_{-0.14}$ for late bursts. For bursts observed in a single day, a linear repetition pattern is found. We use the Weibull function to fit the distribution of waiting time of consecutive bursts. The shape parameter $k = 0.72^{+0.01}_{-0.01}$ and the event rate $r = 736.43^{+26.55}_{-28.90}$ day$ ^{-1} $ are derived. If the waiting times with $δ_t < 28$ s are excluded, the burst behavior can be described by a Poisson process. The best-fitting values of $k$ are slightly different for low-energy ($E < 1.58\times10^{38}$ erg) and high-energy ($E > 1.58\times10^{38}$ erg) bursts.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Constrains on optical emission of FAST-detected FRB 20181130B with GWAC synchronized observations

Multi-wavelength simultaneous observations are essential to the constraints on the origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs). However, it is a significant observational challenge due to the nature of FRBs as transients with a radio millisecond duration, which occur randomly in the sky regardless of time and position. Here, we report the search for short-time fast optical bursts in the GWAC archived data associated with FRB 20181130B, which were detected by the Five Hundred Meter Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) and recently reported. No new credible sources were detected in all single GWAC images with an exposure time of 10 s, including image with coverage of the expected arrival time in optical wavelength by taking the high dispersion measurements into account. Our results provide a limiting magnitude of 15.43$\pm0.04$ mag in R band, corresponding to a flux density of 1.66 Jy or 8.35 mag in AB system by assuming that the duration of the optical band is similar to that of the radio band of about 10 ms. This limiting magnitude makes the spectral index of $α<0.367$ from optical to radio wavelength. The possible existence of longer duration optical emission was also investigated with an upper limits of 0.33 Jy (10.10 mag), 1.74 mJy (15.80 mag) and 0.16 mJy (18.39 mag) for the duration of 50 ms, 10 s and 6060 s, respectively. This undetected scenario could be partially attributed to the shallow detection capability, as well as the high inferred distance of FRB 20181130B and the low fluence in radio wavelength. The future detectability of optical flashes associated with nearby and bright FRBs are also discussed in this paper.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Periodic Activities of Repeating Fast Radio Bursts from Be/X-ray Binary Systems

The frequency-dependent periodic active window of the fast radio burst FRB 180916.J0158+65 (FRB 180916B) was observed recently. In this Letter, we propose that a Be/X-ray binary (BeXRB) system, which is composed of a neutron star (NS) and a Be star with a circumstellar disk, might be the source of a repeating FRB with periodic activities, and apply this model to explain the activity window of FRB 180916B. The interaction between the NS magnetosphere and the accreted material results in evolution of the spin period and the centrifugal force of the NS, leading to the change of the stress in the NS crust. When the stress of the crust reaches the critical value, a starquake occurs and further produces FRBs. The interval between starquakes is estimated to be a few days that is smaller than the active window of FRB 180916B. When the NS moves out of the disk of the Be star, the interval between starquakes becomes much longer than the orbital period, which corresponds to the non-active phase. In this model, due to the absorption of the disk of the Be star, a frequency-dependent active window would appear for the FRBs, which is consistent with the observed properties of FRB 180916B. And the contribution of dispersion measure (DM) from the disk of the Be star is small. In addition, the location of FRB 180916B in the host galaxy is consistent with a BeXRB system.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Measuring cosmological parameters with a luminosity-time correlation of gamma-ray bursts

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), as a possible probe to extend the Hubble diagram to high redshifts, have attracted much attention recently. In this paper, we select two samples of GRBs that have a plateau phase in X-ray afterglow. One is short GRBs with plateau phases dominated by magnetic dipole (MD) radiations. The other is long GRBs with gravitational-wave (GW) dominated plateau phases. These GRBs can be well standardized using the correlation between the plateau luminosity $L_0$ and the end time of plateau $t_b$. The so-called circularity problem is mitigated by using the observational Hubble parameter data and Gaussian process method. The calibrated \ltb ~correlations are also used to constrain $Λ$CDM and $w(z)$ = $w_{0}$ models. Combining the MD-LGRBs sample from Wang et al. (2021) and the MD-SGRBs sample, we find $Ω_{m} = 0.33_{-0.09}^{+0.06}$ and $Ω_Λ$ = $1.06_{-0.34}^{+0.15}$ excluding systematic uncertainties in the nonflat $Λ$CDM model. Adding type Ia supernovae from Pantheon sample, the best-fitting results are $w_{0}$ = $-1.11_{-0.15}^{+0.11}$ and $Ω_{m}$ = $0.34_{-0.04}^{+0.05}$ in the $w=w_0$ model. These results are in agreement with the $Λ$CDM model. Our result supports that selection of GRBs from the same physical mechanism is crucial for cosmological purposes.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

Construction and On-site Performance of the LHAASO WFCTA Camera

The focal plane camera is the core component of the Wide Field-of-view Cherenkov/fluorescence Telescope Array (WFCTA) of the Large High-Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). Because of the capability of working under moonlight without aging, silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) have been proven to be not only an alternative but also an improvement to conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMT) in this application. Eighteen SiPM-based cameras with square light funnels have been built for WFCTA. The telescopes have collected more than 100 million cosmic ray events and preliminary results indicate that these cameras are capable of working under moonlight. The characteristics of the light funnels and SiPMs pose challenges (e.g. dynamic range, dark count rate, assembly techniques). In this paper, we present the design features, manufacturing techniques and performances of these cameras. Finally, the test facilities, the test methods and results of SiPMs in the cameras are reported here.

physics.ins-det↗