分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Tidal disruption events (TDEs) can uncover the quiescent supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the center of galaxies. After the disruption of a star by a SMBH, the highly elliptical orbit of the debris stream will be gradually circularized due to the self-crossing, and then the circularized debris will form an accretion disk. The recent TDE candidate AT 2019avd has double peaks in its optical light curve, and the X-ray emerges near the second peak. The durations of the peaks are ~400 and 600 days, respectively, and the separation between them is ~700 days. We fit its spectral energy distribution (SED) and analyze its light curves in the optical/UV, mid-infrared, and X-ray bands. We find that this source can be interpreted as a two-phase scenario in which the first phase is dominated by the stream circularization, and the second phase is the delayed accretion. We use the succession of the self-crossing model and the delayed accretion model to fit the first and the second peaks, respectively. The fitting result implies that AT 2019avd can be interpreted by the partial disruption of a 0.9 M_sun star by a 7 * 10^6 M_sun SMBH, but this result is sensitive to the stellar model. Furthermore, we find the large-amplitude (by factors up to $\sim 5$) X-ray variability in AT 2019avd can be interpreted as the rigid-body precession of the misaligned disk due to the Lense--Thirring effect of a spinning SMBH, with the precession period of 10 - 25 days.
分类: 物理学 >> 基本粒子与场物理学 提交时间: 2016-05-08
摘要: We study the P - V criticality and phase transition in the extended phase space of charged Gauss-Bonnet black holes in anti-de Sitter space, where the cosmological constant. appears as a dynamical pressure of the system and its conjugate quantity is the thermodynamic volume of the black holes. The black holes can have a Ricci flat (k - 0), spherical (k = 1), or hyperbolic (k = -1) horizon. We find that for the Ricci flat and hyperbolic Gauss-Bonnet black holes, no P - V criticality and phase transition appear, while for the black holes with a. spherical horizon, even when the charge of the black hole is absent, the P - V criticality and the small black hole/large black hole phase transition will appear, but it happens only in d = 5 dimensions; when the charge does not vanish, the P - V criticality and the small black hole/large phase transition always appear in d = 5 dimensions; in the case of d >= 6, to have the P - V criticality and the small black hole/large black hole phase transition, there exists an upper bound for the parameter b = (alpha) over tilde vertical bar Q vertical bar(-2/(d-3)), where (alpha) over tilde is the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient and Q is the charge of the black hole. We calculate the critical exponents at the critical point and find that for all cases, they are the same as those in the van der Waals liquid-gas system.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We present and analyze the optical/UV and X-ray observations of a nearby tidal disruption event (TDE) candidate AT2019azh, spanning from $\sim$ 30 d before to $\sim$ 400 d after its early optical peak. The X-rays show a late brightening by a factor of $\sim$ 30-100 around 200 days after discovery, while the UV/opticals continuously decayed. The early X-rays show two flaring episodes of variation, temporally uncorrelated with the early UV/opticals. We found a clear sign of X-ray hardness evolution, i.e., the source is harder at early times, and becomes softer as it brightens later. The drastically different temporal behaviors in X-rays and UV/opticals suggest that the two bands are physically distinct emission components, and probably arise from different locations. These properties argue against the reprocessing of X-rays by any outflow as the origin of the UV/optical peak. The full data are best explained by a two-process scenario, in which the UV/optical peak is produced by the debris stream-stream collisions during the circularization phase; some shocked gas with low angular momentum forms an early, low-mass 'precursor' accretion disk which emits the early X-rays. The major body of the disk is formed after the circularization finishes, whose enhanced accretion rate produces the late X-ray brightening. AT2019azh is a strong case of TDE whose emission signatures of stream-stream collision and delayed accretion are both identified.
分类: 物理学 >> 核物理学 提交时间: 2023-07-06
摘要: Proton computed tomography (CT) has a distinct practical significance in clinical applications. It eliminates 35% errors caused by the transformation of Hounsfield unit (HU) to relative stopping power (RSP) valueswhen using X-ray CT for positioning andtreatment planning systems (TPSs). Following the development of FLASH proton therapy, there are increased requirements for accurate and rapid positioning in TPSs. Thus, anewrapid proton CT imaging mode is proposed based on sparsely sampled projections. The proton beam wasboosted to 350 MeV by a compact proton linear accelerator (linac). In this study,thecomparisons of the proton scattering with the energyof 350 MeV and 230 MeV are conducted based on GEANT4simulations.Asthe sparsely sampledinformation associated with beam acquisitions at 12angles is not enough for reconstruction, X-ray CT is used as a prior image. The RSP map generated by converting the X-ray CT was constructed based onMonte Carlo simulations. Consideringtheestimationof the most likely path (MLP), the prior image-constrained compressed sensing (PICCS) algorithm isused to reconstruct images from twodifferent phantoms using sparse protonprojections of 350 MeV parallel proton beam. The results show that it is feasible to realize the proton image reconstruction with the rapid protonCT imaging proposed in this paper. It can produce RSP maps withmuchhigher accuracy for TPSs and fast positioning to achieve ultra-fast imaging for real-time image-guided radiotherapy(IGRT) in clinical proton therapyapplications.
分类: 物理学 >> 核物理学 提交时间: 2023-06-18 合作期刊: 《Nuclear Science and Techniques》
摘要: The Monte Carlo method can be widely applied to particle transport through numerous simulated data processing operations. However, this process consumes much time. Traditional parallel computing based on multi-CPU or multi-core CPU can effectively address this issue, but it is limited by inadequate computer hardware. Nonetheless, the current programmability and parallel processing capability of digital graphics processing units (GPUs) can sustain general computing applications such as Monte Carlo program simulation. This paper presents a method that facilitates the parallel computation of the Monte Carlo procedure through GPUs. Its feasibility is verified through a sample of simplified photon transport program, the results indicate that execution time can be shortened by approximately 90 times. Based on the general Monte Carlo program Geant4, the photon and electronic coupled transport module was examined, analyzed, and rewritten using the GPU programming language OpenCL to generate a Geant4 parallel tool [base on GPU parallel computing tool (BOGPT)]. The simulation results of the standard examples demonstrated that the outcomes of the BOGPT program are similar to those of Geant4 and the simulation time can be reduced by approximately three times. Finally, the GPU programming-based parallel computing method for Monte Carlo applications is accelerated and implementation prospects are broadened following further optimization.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We report a dramatic fast X-ray dimming event in a z=2.627 radio-quiet type 1 quasar, which has an estimated supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass of $6.3\times 10^{9} M_\odot$. In the high X-ray state, it showed a typical level of X-ray emission relative to its UV/optical emission. Then its 0.5-2 keV (rest-frame 1.8-7.3 keV) flux dropped by a factor of $\approx7.6$ within two rest-frame days. The dimming is associated with spectral hardening, as the 2-7 keV (rest-frame 7.3-25.4 keV) flux dropped by only $17\%$ and the effective power-law photon index of the X-ray spectrum changed from $\approx2.3$ to $\approx0.9$. The quasar has an infrared (IR)-to-UV spectral energy distribution and a rest-frame UV spectrum similar to those of typical quasars, and it does not show any significant long-term variability in the IR and UV/optical bands. Such an extremely fast and large-amplitude X-ray variability event has not been reported before in luminous quasars with such massive SMBHs. The X-ray dimming is best explained by a fast-moving absorber crossing the line of sight and fully covering the X-ray emitting corona. Adopting a conservatively small size of $5 {G} M_{\rm BH}/c^2$ for the X-ray corona, the transverse velocity of the absorber is estimated to be $\approx 0.9c$. The quasar is likely accreting with a high or even super-Eddington accretion rate, and the high-velocity X-ray absorber is probably related to a powerful accretion-disk wind. Such an energetic wind may eventually evolve into a massive galactic-scale outflow, providing efficient feedback to the host galaxy.
分类: 核科学技术 >> 辐射物理与技术 提交时间: 2024-04-19
摘要: The superconducting magnet system of a fusion reactor plays a vital role in plasma confinement, a processthat can be disrupted by various operational factors. A critical parameter for evaluating the temperature marginof superconducting magnets during normal operation is the nuclear heating caused by D-T neutrons. This studyinvestigates the impact of nuclear heating on a superconducting magnet system by employing an improvedanalysis method that combines neutronics and thermal hydraulics.In the magnet system, toroidal field (TF) magnets are positioned closest to the plasma and bear the highestnuclear-heat load, making them prime candidates for evaluating the influence of nuclear heating on stability.To enhance the modeling accuracy and facilitate design modifications, a parametric TF model that incorporatesheterogeneity is established to expedite the optimization design process and enhance the accuracy of the computations. A comparative analysis with a homogeneous TF model reveals that the heterogeneous model improvesaccuracy by over 12%. Considering factors such as heat load, magnetic-field strength, and cooling conditions,the cooling circuit facing the most severe conditions is selected to calculate the temperature of the superconductor. This selection streamlines the workload associated with thermal-hydraulic analysis. This approach enablesa more efficient and precise evaluation of the temperature margin of TF magnets. Moreover, it offers insightsthat can guide the optimization of both the structure and cooling strategy of superconducting magnet systems.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2024-07-15 合作期刊: 《Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics》
摘要: We present a comprehensive analysis of the 2021 outburst of MAXI J1803–298 utilizing observations of the Insight-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) spanning from the low hard state to the high soft state. Within the Insight-HXMT data set, compared to the previous work, we identify a more prolonged presence of type-C quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) with centroid frequencies ranging from ∼0.16 to 6.3 Hz, which present correlations with the hardness ratio and the photon index of the Comptonized component. For QPO frequencies less than ∼2 Hz, the QPO phase lags are hard (photons of 10–19 keV arrive later than those of 1–4 keV), while at higher frequencies, the lags become soft at and above ∼4 Hz. Furthermore, the spectra in all Insight-HXMT observations consist of a multi-color blackbody component and a Comptonized component, as commonly observed in classical black hole X-ray binaries. We analyze state transitions and the evolution of accretion geometry in this work. The fitted inner disk radius increases abnormally during the low hard state, hypothesized to result from the corona condensing onto the inner disk. Additionally, two significant drops in flux are observed during the soft intermediate state, maybe implying changes in the corona/jet and the disk, respectively.
分类: 生物学 >> 生物物理学 >> 细胞生物学 提交时间: 2016-05-11
摘要: Membrane receptors at the surface of target cells are key host factors for virion entry; however, it is unknown whether trafficking and secretion of progeny virus requires host intracellular receptors. In this study, we demonstrate that dengue virus (DENV) interacts with KDEL receptors (KDELR), which cycle between the ER and Golgi apparatus, for vesicular transport from ER to Golgi. Depletion of KDELR by siRNA reduced egress of both DENV progeny and recombinant subviral particles (RSPs). Coimmunoprecipitation of KDELR with dengue structural protein prM required three positively charged residues at the N terminus, whose mutation disrupted protein interaction and inhibited RSP transport from the ER to the Golgi. Finally, siRNA depletion of class II Arfs, which results in KDELR accumulation in the Golgi, phenocopied results obtained with mutagenized prME and KDELR knockdown. Our results have uncovered a function for KDELR as an internal receptor involved in DENV trafficking.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2024-07-15 合作期刊: 《Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics》
摘要: In October 2022, the magnetar SGR J1935+2154 entered the active outburst state. During the episode, the Insight-HXMT satellite carried out a long observation that lasted for 20 days. More than 300 bursts were detected, and a certain amount of persistent radiation signals were also accumulated. This paper mainly introduces the results of persistent radiation profile folding and period search based on Insight-HXMT data. At the same time, the burst phase distribution characteristics, spectral lag results of burst, the spectral characteristics of zero-lag bursts and the time-resolved spectral evolution characteristics of high-flux bursts are reported. We found that there is no significant delay feature during different energy bands for the bursts of SGR J1935+2154. The observed zero-lag burst does not have a unique spectrum. The time-resolved spectrum of the individual burst has consistent spectral types and spectral parameters at different time periods of the burst. We also find that the burst number phase distribution and the burst photon phase distribution have the same tendency to concentrate in specific regions of the persistent emission profile.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Purpose: The High-Energy X-ray telescope (HE), one of the three main payloads of the \textit{Insight}-HXMT mission, is composed of eighteen NaI(Tl)/CsI(Na) phoswich detectors, where NaI(Tl) serves as the primary detector covering 20--250\,keV, and CsI(Na) is used as an active shield detector to suppress the background of NaI(Tl) and also serves as an all-sky gamma-ray burst monitor covering 0.2--3\,MeV. In this paper, we review the in-orbit performance of HE in the first 5 years since \textit{Insight}-HXMT was launched on June 15, 2017. Methods: The major performances we concern include the gain and energy resolution of NaI(Tl) and CsI(Na) detectors, the performance of pulse-shape-discriminator (PSD) and system dead-time. In this work, we investigate these performances mainly using the data of blank-sky observations and the data when the telescope in earth occultation. Results: The overall performance of HE/NaI(Tl) is very stable in the first 5 years, whereas the gain of HE/CsI(Na) shows a continuously increasing trend and should be calibrated regularly. Conclusion: In general, HE is still in good health and well-calibrated status after five-year's operation. The in-orbit performance of HE has no significant deviation from expectation. HE is expected to be in operation healthily for another several years of extended mission life.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: The Earth occultation technique has broad applications in both astronomy and atmospheric density measurements. We construct the background model during the occultation of the Crab Nebula observed by the Insight-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) at energies between 6 keV and 100 keV. We propose a Bayesian atmospheric density retrieval method based on the Earth occultation technique, combining Poisson and Gaussian statistics. By modeling the atmospheric attenuation of X-ray photons during the occultation, we simultaneously retrieved the neutral densities of the atmosphere at different altitude ranges. Our method considers the correlation of densities between neighboring atmospheric layers and reduces the potential systematic bias to which previous work may be subject. Previous analyses based on light curve fitting or spectral fitting also lost some spectral or temporal information of the data. In contrast to previous work, the occultation data observed by the three telescopes onboard Insight-HXMT is fully used in our analysis, further reducing the statistical error in density retrieval. We apply our method to cross-check the (semi-)empirical atmospheric models, using 115 sets of occultation data of the Crab Nebula observed by Insight-HXMT. We find that the retrieved neutral density is ~10%, ~20%, and ~25% less than the values of the widely used atmospheric model NRLMSISE-00, in the altitude range of 55--80 km, 80--90 km, and 90--100 km, respectively. We also show that the newly released atmospheric model NRLMSIS 2.0 is generally consistent with our density measurements.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We investigate the extreme X-ray variability of a z = 1.608 active galactic nucleus in the 7 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South (XID 403), which showed two significant X-ray brightening events. In the first event, XID 403 brightened by a factor of $>2.5$ in $\lesssim6.1$ rest-frame days in the observed-frame 0.5-5 keV band. The event lasted for $\approx5.0\textrm{-}7.3$ days, and then XID 403 dimmed by a factor of $>6.0$ in $\lesssim6.1$ days. After $\approx1.1\textrm{-}2.5$ years in the rest frame (including long observational gaps), it brightened again with the 0.5-5 keV flux increasing by a factor of $>12.6$. The second event lasted over 251 days and the source remained bright until the end of the 7 Ms exposure. The spectrum is a steep power law (photon index $\Gamma=2.8\pm0.3$) without obscuration during the second outburst, and the rest-frame 2-10 keV luminosity reaches $1.5^{+0.8}_{-0.5}\times10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$; there is no significant spectral evolution within this epoch. The infrared-to-UV spectral energy distribution of XID 403 is dominated by the host galaxy. There is no significant optical/UV variability and $R$-band (rest-frame $\approx2500$ $\unicode{xC5}$) brightening contemporaneous with the X-ray brightening. The extreme X-ray variability is likely due to two X-ray unveiling events, where the line of sight to the corona is no longer shielded by high-density gas clumps in a small-scale dust-free absorber. XID 403 is probably a high-redshift analog of local narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, and the X-ray absorber is a powerful accretion-disk wind. On the other hand, we cannot exclude the possibility that XID 403 is an unusual candidate for tidal disruption events.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: The Earth occultation technique has broad applications in both astronomy and atmospheric density measurements. We construct the background model during the occultation of the Crab Nebula observed by the Insight-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) at energies between 6 keV and 100 keV. We propose a Bayesian atmospheric density retrieval method based on the Earth occultation technique, combining Poisson and Gaussian statistics. By modeling the atmospheric attenuation of X-ray photons during the occultation, we simultaneously retrieved the neutral densities of the atmosphere at different altitude ranges. Our method considers the correlation of densities between neighboring atmospheric layers and reduces the potential systematic bias to which previous work may be subject. Previous analyses based on light curve fitting or spectral fitting also lost some spectral or temporal information of the data. In contrast to previous work, the occultation data observed by the three telescopes onboard Insight-HXMT is fully used in our analysis, further reducing the statistical error in density retrieval. We apply our method to cross-check the (semi-)empirical atmospheric models, using 115 sets of occultation data of the Crab Nebula observed by Insight-HXMT. We find that the retrieved neutral density is ~10%, ~20%, and ~25% less than the values of the widely used atmospheric model NRLMSISE-00, in the altitude range of 55--80 km, 80--90 km, and 90--100 km, respectively. We also show that the newly released atmospheric model NRLMSIS 2.0 is generally consistent with our density measurements.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: The X/$\gamma$ ray polarimetry of the Crab pulsar/nebula is believed to hold crucial information on their emission models. In the past, several missions have shown evidence of polarized emission from the Crab. The significance of these measurements remains however limited. New measurements are therefore required. POLAR is a wide Field of View Compton-scattering polarimeter (sensitive in 50-500 keV) onboard the Chinese spacelab Tiangong-2 which took data from September 2016 to April 2017. Although not designed to perform polarization measurements of pulsars, we present here a novel method which can be applied to POLAR as well as that of other wide Field of View polarimeters. The novel polarimetric joint-fitting method for the Crab pulsar observations with POLAR, allows us to obtain constraining measurements of the pulsar component. The best fitted values and corresponding 1$\sigma$ deviations for the averaged phase interval: (PD=$14\substack{+15 \\ -10}$\%, PA=$108\substack{+33 \\ -54} ^{\circ}$), for Peak 1: (PD=$17\substack{+18 \-12}$\%, PA=$174\substack{+39 \\ -36} ^{\circ}$) and for Peak 2: (PD=$16\substack{+16 \\ -11}$\%, PA=$78\substack{+39 \\ -30} ^{\circ}$). Further more, the 3$\sigma$ upper limits on the polarization degree are for the averaged phase interval (55\%), Peak 1 (66\%) and Peak 2 (57\%). Finally, to illustrate the capabilities of this method in the future, we simulated two years observation to the Crab pulsar with POLAR-2. The results show that POLAR-2 is able to confirm the emission to be polarized with $5\sigma$ and $4\sigma$ confidence level if the Crab pulsar is polarized at $20\%$ and $10\%$ respectively.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Searching for X-ray and gamma-ray bursts, including Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs) and high energy transients associated with Gravitational wave (GW) events or Fast radio bursts (FRBs), is of great importance in the multi-messenger and multi-wavelength era. Although a coherent search based on the likelihood ratio and Gaussian statistics has been established and utilized in many studies, this Gaussian-based method could be problematic for weak and short bursts which usually have very few counts. To deal with all bursts including weak ones, here we propose the coherent search in Poisson statistics. We studied the difference between Poisson-based and Gaussian-based search methods by Monte Carlo simulations, and find that the Poisson-based search method has advantages compared to the Gaussian case especially for weak bursts. Our results show that, for very weak bursts with very low number of counts, the Poisson-based search can provide higher significance than the Gaussian-based search, and its likelihood ratio (for background fluctuation) still generally follows the chi2 distribution, making the significance estimation of searched bursts very convenient. Thus, we suggest that the coherent search based on Poisson likelihood ratio is more appropriate in the search for generic transients including very weak ones.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Searching for X-ray and gamma-ray bursts, including Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs) and high energy transients associated with Gravitational wave (GW) events or Fast radio bursts (FRBs), is of great importance in the multi-messenger and multi-wavelength era. Although a coherent search based on the likelihood ratio and Gaussian statistics has been established and utilized in many studies, this Gaussian-based method could be problematic for weak and short bursts which usually have very few counts. To deal with all bursts including weak ones, here we propose the coherent search in Poisson statistics. We studied the difference between Poisson-based and Gaussian-based search methods by Monte Carlo simulations, and find that the Poisson-based search method has advantages compared to the Gaussian case especially for weak bursts. Our results show that, for very weak bursts with very low number of counts, the Poisson-based search can provide higher significance than the Gaussian-based search, and its likelihood ratio (for background fluctuation) still generally follows the chi2 distribution, making the significance estimation of searched bursts very convenient. Thus, we suggest that the coherent search based on Poisson likelihood ratio is more appropriate in the search for generic transients including very weak ones.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Purpose: We present the five-year in-orbit background evolution of Insight-HXMT since the launch, as well as the effects of the background model in data analysis. Methods: The backgrounds of the three main payloads, i.e., Low-Energy Telescope, Medium-Energy Telescope and High-Energy Telescope, are described, respectively. The evolution of the background over time is obtained by simply comparing the background in every year during the in-orbit operation of Insight-HXMT. Results: The major observational characteristics of the Insight-HXMT in-orbit background are presented, including the light curve, spectrum, geographical distribution, and long-term evolution. The systematic error in background estimation is investigated for every year. Conclusion: The observational characteristics of the five-year in-orbit background are consistent with our knowledge of the satellite design and the space environment, and the background model is still valid for the latest observations of Insight-HXMT.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Purpose: We present the five-year in-orbit background evolution of Insight-HXMT since the launch, as well as the effects of the background model in data analysis. Methods: The backgrounds of the three main payloads, i.e., Low-Energy Telescope, Medium-Energy Telescope and High-Energy Telescope, are described, respectively. The evolution of the background over time is obtained by simply comparing the background in every year during the in-orbit operation of Insight-HXMT. Results: The major observational characteristics of the Insight-HXMT in-orbit background are presented, including the light curve, spectrum, geographical distribution, and long-term evolution. The systematic error in background estimation is investigated for every year. Conclusion: The observational characteristics of the five-year in-orbit background are consistent with our knowledge of the satellite design and the space environment, and the background model is still valid for the latest observations of Insight-HXMT.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: As a new member of GECAM mission, GECAM-C (also named High Energy Burst Searcher, HEBS) was launched onboard the SATech-01 satellite on July 27th, 2022, which is capable to monitor gamma-ray transients from $\sim$ 6 keV to 6 MeV. As the main detector, there are 12 gamma-ray detectors (GRDs) equipped for GECAM-C. In order to verify the GECAM-C GRD detector performance and to validate the Monte Carlo simulations of detector response, comprehensive on-ground calibration experiments have been performed using X-ray beam and radioactive sources, including Energy-Channel relation, energy resolution, detection efficiency, SiPM voltage-gain relation and the non-uniformity of positional response. In this paper, the detailed calibration campaigns and data analysis results for GECAM-C GRDs are presented, demonstrating the excellent performance of GECAM-C GRD detectors.