Very recently, an extremely bright fast radio burst (FRB) 200428 with two submillisecond pulses was discovered coming from the direction of the Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154, and an X-ray burst ...(XRB) counterpart was detected simultaneously. These observations favor magnetar-based interior-driven models. In this Letter, we propose a different model for FRB 200428 associated with an XRB from SGR 1935+2154 in which a magnetar with high proper velocity encounters an asteroid of mass ∼1020 g. This infalling asteroid in the stellar gravitational field is first possibly disrupted tidally into a great number of fragments at a radius of ∼a few times 1010 cm, and then slowed around the Alfvén radius by an ultra-strong magnetic field, and in the meantime two major fragments of mass ∼1017 g that cross magnetic field lines produce two pulses of FRB 200428. The whole asteroid is eventually accreted onto the poles along magnetic field lines, impacting the stellar surface, creating a photon-e pair fireball trapped initially in the stellar magnetosphere, and further leading to an XRB. We show that this gravitationally powered model can interpret all of the observed features self-consistently.
Abstract
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.
The mergers of black hole (BH)-neutron star (NS) binaries have been one of the most interesting topics in astrophysics, because such events have been thought to possibly produce multimessenger ...signals including gravitational waves and broadband electromagnetic (EM) waves. In this paper, we investigate EM emission from the inspiral of a binary composed of a spinning BH and a magnetized NS. Observationally, the BH is usually more massive than ∼7 M and the NS has a mass 1.4 M . During the inspiral of such a binary, the BH will accumulate more and more charges based on the charging scenario of Wald, even though the BH will eventually swallow the NS whole inevitably. We calculate the emission luminosities and energies through three energy dissipation mechanisms: magnetic dipole radiation, electric dipole radiation, and magnetic reconnection. We show that magnetic dipole radiation due to the spin of the increasingly charged BH and magnetic reconnection in between the BH and the NS could be most significant at the final inspiral stage. We find that if the BH is rapidly spinning and the NS is strongly magnetized, these mechanisms would lead to a detectable EM signal (e.g., a short-duration X-ray transient).
Abstract
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous explosions in and can be detectable out to the edge of the universe. They have long been thought to be able to extend the Hubble diagram to very ...high redshifts. Several correlations between temporal or spectral properties and GRB luminosities have been proposed to make GRBs cosmological tools. However, those correlations cannot be properly standardized. In this paper, we select a long-GRB sample with X-ray plateau phases produced by electromagnetic dipole emissions from central newborn magnetars. A tight correlation is found between the plateau luminosity and the end time of the plateau in the X-ray afterglows out to the redshift
z
= 5.91. We standardize these long-GRB X-ray light curves to a universal behavior through this correlation, with a luminosity dispersion of 0.5 dex. The derived distance–redshift relation of GRBs is in agreement with the standard ΛCDM model both at low and high redshifts. The evidence for an accelerating universe from this GRB sample is 3
σ
, which is the highest statistical significance from GRBs to date.
X-ray flares detected in nearly half of gamma-ray-burst (GRB) afterglows are one of the most intriguing phenomena in high-energy astrophysics. All of the observations indicate that the central ...engines of bursts, after the gamma-ray emission has ended, still have long periods of activity, during which energetic explosions eject relativistic materials, leading to late-time X-ray emission. It is thus expected that X-ray flares provide important clues as to the nature of the central engines of GRBs, and more importantly, unveil the physical mechanism of the flares themselves, which has so far remained mysterious. Here we report statistical results of X-ray flares of GRBs with known redshifts, and show that X-ray flares and solar flares share three statistical properties: power-law frequency distributions for energies, durations and waiting times. All of the distributions can be well understood within the physical framework of a self-organized criticality (SOC) system. The statistical properties of X-ray flares of GRBs are similar to solar flares, and thus both can be attributed to a SOC process. Both types of flares may be driven by a magnetic reconnection process, but X-ray flares of GRBs are produced in ultra-strongly magnetized millisecond pulsars or long-term hyperaccreting disks around stellar-mass black holes. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Abstract
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 disk. If the magnetic field is radial in the stellar wind, RMs will not reverse except if the magnetic axis inclination angle is close to 90°. For the toroidal magnetic field in the wind, RMs will reverse at the superconjunction. For the case of the toroidal field in the disk, the RM variations may have a multimodal and multiple reversal profile because the radio signals travel through different components of the disk during periastron passage. We also apply this model to FRB 20180916B. By assuming that 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 disk can cause short timescale (<1 day) variations or reversals of RM. Therefore, long-term monitoring of RM variations can reveal the environments of repeating FRBs.
The periodic activity of the repeating fast radio burst (FRB) 180916.J0158+65 was recently reported by the CHIME/FRB Collaboration team. From this source 28 bursts not only show a ∼16 day period with ...an active phase of ∼4.0 days, but they also exhibit a broken power law in differential energy distribution. In this Letter, we suggest that FRB 180916.J0158+65-like periodic FRBs could provide a unique probe of extragalactic asteroid belts (EABs), based on our previously proposed pulsar-EAB impact model, in which repeating FRBs arise from an old-aged, slowly spinning, moderately magnetized pulsar traveling through an EAB around another stellar-mass object. These two objects form a binary, and thus the observed period is in fact the orbital period. We show that this model can be used to well interpret all of the observed data of FRB 180916.J0158+65. Furthermore, we constrain the EAB's physical properties and find that (1) the outer radius of the EAB is at least an order of magnitude smaller than that of its analog in the solar system, (2) the differential size distribution of the EAB's asteroids at small diameters (large diameters) is shallower (steeper) than that of solar system small objects, and (3) the two belts have a comparable mass.
X-ray Flares from Postmerger Millisecond Pulsars Dai, Z. G; Wang, X. Y; Wu, X. F ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
02/2006, Letnik:
311, Številka:
5764
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Recent observations support the suggestion that short-duration gamma-ray bursts are produced by compact star mergers. The x-ray flares discovered in two short gamma-ray bursts last much longer than ...the previously proposed postmerger energy-release time scales. Here, we show that they can be produced by differentially rotating, millisecond pulsars after the mergers of binary neutron stars. The differential rotation leads to windup of interior poloidal magnetic fields and the resulting toroidal fields are strong enough to float up and break through the stellar surface. Magnetic reconnection-driven explosive events then occur, leading to multiple x-ray flares minutes after the original gamma-ray burst.
Abstract
Because mergers of black hole–neutron star (BH–NS) binaries are widely argued to produce both gravitational and electromagnetic waves, these binaries are among the most attractive systems in ...the era of multi-messenger astronomy. In this paper we explore the charging processes of a moving BH in two types of charged surroundings and propose a new charging scenario differing from the elegant mechanism of Wald. During the inspiral of such a binary, the NS is strongly magnetized and the BH is moving inward. By considering this moving BH charging scenario, we find that the BH will increasingly accumulate enough net charge to light up the binary system at the inspiral stage. This charging process is universal no matter whether the BH spins or not. We show that our BH charging scenario can physically explain the BH’s unipolar inductor mechanism in a BH–NS binary system. We calculate electromagnetic emission luminosities due to various energy dissipation mechanisms and find that the electric dipole radiation of the BH makes a dominant contribution to electromagnetic emission at the final stage of inspiral if the BH spins slowly.
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