arXiv subjects

Zigao Dai

Publications and source records attributed to Zigao Dai.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Sub-second periodic radio oscillations in a microquasar

Powerful relativistic jets are one of the ubiquitous features of accreting black holes in all scales. GRS 1915+105 is a well-known fast-spinning black-hole X-ray binary with a relativistic jet, termed as a ``microquasar'', as indicated by its superluminal motion of radio emission. It exhibits persistent x-ray activity over the last 30 years, with quasi-periodic oscillations of $\sim 1-10$ Hz and 34 and 67 Hz in the x-ray band. These oscillations likely originate in the inner accretion disk, but other origins have been considered. Radio observations found variable light curves with quasi-periodic flares or oscillations with periods of $\sim 20-50$ minutes. Here we report two instances of $\sim$5 Hz transient periodic oscillation features from the source detected in the 1.05-1.45 GHz radio band that occurred in January 2021 and June 2022, respectively. Circular polarization was also observed during the oscillation phase.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Prompt-to-afterglow transition of optical emission in a long gamma-ray burst consistent with a fireball

Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which signify the end-life collapsing of very massive stars, are produced by extremely relativistic jets colliding into circumstellar medium. Huge energy is released both in the first few seconds, namely the internal dissipation phase that powers prompt emissions, and in the subsequent self-similar jet-deceleration phase that produces afterglows observed in broad-band electromagnetic spectrum. However, prompt optical emissions of GRBs have been rarely detected, seriously limiting our understanding of the transition between the two phases. Here we report detection of prompt optical emissions from a gamma-ray burst (i.e. GRB 201223A) using a dedicated telescope array with a high temporal resolution and a wide time coverage. The early phase coincident with prompt γ-ray emissions show a luminosity in great excess with respect to the extrapolation of γ-rays, while the later luminosity bump is consistent with onset of the afterglow. The clearly detected transition allows us to differentiate physical processes contributing to early optical emissions and to diagnose the composition of the jet

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

An Intermediate-field Fast Radio Burst Model and the Quasi-periodic Oscillation

Quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) signals are discovered in some fast radio bursts (FRBs) such as FRB 20191221A, as well as in the X-ray burst associated with the galactic FRB from SGR 1935+2154. We revisit the intermediate-field FRB model where the radio waves are generated as fast-magnetosonic waves through magnetic reconnection near the light cylinder. The current sheet in the magnetar wind is compressed by a low frequency pulse emitted from the inner magnetosphere to trigger magnetic reconnection. By incorporating the wave dynamics of the magnetosphere, we demonstrate how the FRB frequency, the single pulse width, and luminosity are determined by the period, magnetic field, QPO frequency and quake energetics of the magnetar. We find that this model can naturally and self-consistently interpret the X-ray/radio event from SGR 1935+2154 and the QPO in FRB 20191221A. It can also explain the observed wide energy range of repeating FRBs in a narrow bandwidth.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Fast Radio Bursts

The era of fast radio bursts (FRBs) was open in 2007, when a very bright radio pulse of unknown origin was discovered occasionally in the archival data of Parkes Telescope. Over the past fifteen years, this mysterious phenomenon have caught substantial attention among the scientific community and become one of the hottest topic in high-energy astrophysics. The total number of events has a dramatic increase to a few hundred recently, benefiting from new dedicated surveys and improved observational techniques. Our understanding of these bursts has been undergoing a revolutionary growth with observational breakthroughs announced consistently. In this chapter, we will give a comprehensive introduction of FRBs, including the latest progress. Starting from the basics, we will go through population study, inherent physical mechanism, and all the way to the application in cosmology. Plenty of open questions exist right now and there is more surprise to come in this active young field.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Supernova luminosity powered by magnetar-disk system

Magnetars are one of the potential power sources for some energetic supernova explosions such as type I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe I) and broad-lined type Ic supernovae (SNe Ic-BL). In order to explore the possible link between these two subclasses of supernovae (SNe), we study the effect of fallback accretion disk on magnetar evolution and magnetar-powered SNe. In this scenario, the interaction between a magnetar and a fallback accretion disk would accelerate the spin of the magnetar in the accretion regime but could result in substantial spin-down of the magnetars in the propeller regime. Thus, the initial rotation of the magnetar plays a less significant role in the spin evolution. Such a magnetar-disk interaction scenario can explain well the light curves of both SNe Ic-BL and SLSNe I, for which the observed differences are sensitive to the initial magnetic field of the magnetar and the fallback mass and timescale for the disk. Compared to the magnetars powering the SNe Ic-BL, those accounting for more luminous SNe usually maintain faster rotation and have relatively lower effective magnetic fields around peak time. In addition, the association between SLSNe I and long gamma-ray bursts, if observed in the future, could be explained in the context of magnetar-disk system.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Insight-HXMT observations of jet-like corona in a black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070

A black hole X-ray binary produces hard X-ray radiation from its corona and disk when the accreting matter heats up. During an outburst, the disk and corona co-evolves with each other. However, such an evolution is still unclear in both its geometry and dynamics. Here we report the unusual decrease of the reflection fraction in MAXI J1820+070, which is the ratio of the coronal intensity illuminating the disk to the coronal intensity reaching the observer, as the corona is observed to contrast during the decay phase. We postulate a jet-like corona model, in which the corona can be understood as a standing shock where the material flowing through. In this dynamical scenario, the decrease of the reflection fraction is a signature of the corona's bulk velocity. Our findings suggest that as the corona is observed to get closer to the black hole, the coronal material might be outflowing faster.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

The Physics of Fast Radio Bursts

In 2007, a very bright radio pulse was identified in the archival data of the Parkes Telescope in Australia, marking the beginning of a new research branch in astrophysics. In 2013, this kind of millisecond bursts with extremely high brightness temperature takes a unified name, fast radio burst (FRB). Over the first few years, FRBs seemed very mysterious because the sample of known events was limited. With the improvement of instruments over the last five years, hundreds of new FRBs have been discovered. The field is now undergoing a revolution and understanding of FRB has rapidly increased as new observational data increasingly accumulates. In this review, we will summarize the basic physics of FRBs and discuss the current research progress in this area. We have tried to cover a wide range of FRB topics, including the observational property, propagation effect, population study, radiation mechanism, source model, and application in cosmology. A framework based on the latest observational facts is now under construction. In the near future, this exciting field is expected to make significant breakthroughs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

GRID: a Student Project to Monitor the Transient Gamma-Ray Sky in the Multi-Messenger Astronomy Era

The Gamma-Ray Integrated Detectors (GRID) is a space mission concept dedicated to monitoring the transient gamma-ray sky in the energy range from 10 keV to 2 MeV using scintillation detectors onboard CubeSats in low Earth orbits. The primary targets of GRID are the gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the local universe. The scientific goal of GRID is, in synergy with ground-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors such as LIGO and VIRGO, to accumulate a sample of GRBs associated with the merger of two compact stars and study jets and related physics of those objects. It also involves observing and studying other gamma-ray transients such as long GRBs, soft gamma-ray repeaters, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, and solar flares. With multiple CubeSats in various orbits, GRID is unaffected by the Earth occultation and serves as a full-time and all-sky monitor. Assuming a horizon of 200 Mpc for ground-based GW detectors, we expect to see a few associated GW-GRB events per year. With about 10 CubeSats in operation, GRID is capable of localizing a faint GRB like 170817A with a 90% error radius of about 10 degrees, through triangulation and flux modulation. GRID is proposed and developed by students, with considerable contribution from undergraduate students, and will remain operated as a student project in the future. The current GRID collaboration involves more than 20 institutes and keeps growing. On August 29th, the first GRID detector onboard a CubeSat was launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit and is currently under test.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2017

Optical Observations of LIGO Source GW 170817 by the Antarctic Survey Telescopes at Dome A, Antarctica

The LIGO detection of gravitational waves (GW) from merging black holes in 2015 marked the beginning of a new era in observational astronomy. The detection of an electromagnetic signal from a GW source is the critical next step to explore in detail the physics involved. The Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3), located at Dome A, Antarctica, is uniquely situated for rapid response time-domain astronomy with its continuous night-time coverage during the austral winter. We report optical observations of the GW source (GW~170817) in the nearby galaxy NGC 4993 using AST3. The data show a rapidly fading transient at around 1 day after the GW trigger, with the $i$-band magnitude declining from $17.23\pm0.13$ magnitude to $17.72\pm0.09$ magnitude in $\sim 1.8$ hour. The brightness and time evolution of the optical transient associated with GW~170817 are broadly consistent with the predictions of models involving merging binary neutron stars. We infer from our data that the merging process ejected about $\sim 10^{-2}$ solar mass of radioactive material at a speed of up to $30\%$ the speed of light.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Do we expect to detect electromagnetic radiation from merging stellar mass black binaries like GW150914? No

Context: The LIGO consortium announced the first direct detection of gravitation wave event GW150914 from two merging black holes; however the nature of the black holes are still not clear. Aims: We study whether electromagnetic radiation can be detected from merging stellar mass black binaries like GW150914. Methods: We briefly investigate the possible growth and merging processes of the two stellar mass black holes in the merging event of GW150914 detected by aLIGO, as clocked by a distant external observer. Our main results are: (1) The description of the black hole growth using stationary metric of a pre-existing black hole predicts strong electromagnetic radiation from merging black holes, which is inconsistent with GW150914; (2) Only gravitational wave radiation can be produced in the coalescence of two black holes such as that in the GW150914 event, if the black hole growth is described using time-dependent metric considering the influence of the in-falling matter onto a pre-existing black hole, as clocked by a distant external observer. Conclusions: Future high sensitivity detections of gravitational waves from merging black holes might be used to probe matter distribution and space-time geometry in the vicinity of the horizon. Perhaps the GW150914-like events can be identified with traditional astronomy observations only if the black holes are embedded in extremely dense medium before their final merge, when very strong electromagnetic radiation is produced and can escape from the system.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2007

Constraints on Dark Energy Models Including Gamma Ray Bursts

In this paper we analyze the constraints on the property of dark energy from cosmological observations. Together with SNe Ia Gold sample, WMAP, SDSS and 2dFGRS data, we include 69 long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) data in our study and perform global fitting using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique. Dark energy perturbations are explicitly considered. We pay particular attention to the time evolution of the equation of state of dark energy parameterized as $w_{DE}=w_0+w_a(1-a)$ with $a$ the scale factor of the universe, emphasizing the complementarity of high redshift GRBs to other cosmological probes. It is found that the constraints on dark energy become stringent by taking into account high redshift GRBs, especially for $w_a$, which delineates the evolution of dark energy.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Testing Mass Varying Neutrino With Short Gamma Ray Burst

In this paper we study the possibility of probing for the absolute neutrino mass and its variation with short Gamma Ray Burst (GRB). We have calculated the flight time difference between a massive neutrino and a photon in two different approaches to mass varying neutrinos. Firstly we parametrize the neutrino mass as a function of redshift in a model independent way, then we consider two specific models where the neutrino mass varies during the evolution of the Quintessence fields. Our calculations show in general the value of the time delay is changed substantially relative to a constant neutrino mass. Furthermore our numerical results show that the flight time delay in these models is expected to be larger than the duration time of the short GRB, which opens a possibility of testing the scenario of mass varying neutrino with the short GRB.

hep-ph↗