Analysis of Bright Source Hardness Ratios in the 4 yr Insight-HXMT Galactic Plane Scanning Survey Catalog

We conduct a statistical analysis of the hardness ratio(HR)for bright sources in the 4 yr Galactic Plane Scanning Survey catalog of Insight-HXMT.Depending on the stable(variable)flux F_(s)(F_(v))or spectrum S_(s)(S_(v))of each source,the bright sources are classified into three groups:F_(v)&S_(v),F_(v)&S_(s),and F_(s)&_(s).Our study of the HR characteristics in different types of sources reveals that accretion-powered neutron star(NS)low-mass X-ray binaries(LMXBs)exhibit softer energy spectra than NS high-mass X-ray binaries(HMXBs),but harder energy spectra than black hole binaries in most cases.This difference is probably due to their different magnetic field strengths.Additionally,Fv&Sv LMXBs tend to be harder than Fv&Ss LMXBs below 7 keV,while the opposite is true for HMXBs.Our results suggest that LMXBs may dominate unclassified sources,and NS binaries are likely to be the primary type of X-ray binaries with ambiguous compact stars.By comparing the HR of transient sources in their outburst and low-flux states,it is found that the averaged HR of four sources in the two states are roughly comparable within uncertainties.We also investigate the spatial properties of the three groups and find that Fv&Sv sources are mainly located in the longitude of-20°<l<9°,Fv&Ss sources cross the Galactic Plane,and Fs&Ss sources are predominantly concentrated in 19°<l<42°.In addition,analyzing the HR spatial distributions shows the absorption of soft X-rays(primarily below 2 keV)in the Galactic Plane.

Spin Evolution of the Magnetar SGR J1935+2154

Fast radio bursts(FRBs)are short pulses observed in radio frequencies usually originating from cosmological distances.The discovery of FRB 200428 and its X-ray counterpart from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154suggests that at least some FRBs can be generated by magnetars.However,the majority of X-ray bursts from magnetars are not associated with radio emission.The fact that only in rare cases can an FRB be generated raises the question regarding the special triggering mechanism of FRBs.Here we report long time spin evolution of SGR J1935+2154 until the end of 2022.According to v and v,the spin evolution of SGR J1935+2154 could be divided into two stages.The first stage evolves relatively steady evolution until 2020 April 27.After the burst activity in2020,the spin of SGR J1935+2154 shows strong variations,especially for v.After the burst activity in 2022October,a new spin-down glitch with△v/v=(-7.2±0.6)×10^(-6)is detected around MJD 59876,which is the second event in SGR J1935+2154.At the end,spin frequency and pulse profile do not show variations around the time of FRB 200428 and radio bursts 221014 and 221021,which supply strong clues to constrain the trigger mechanism of FRBs or radio bursts.

The In-Flight Realtime Trigger and Localization Software of GECAM

Realtime trigger and localization of bursts are the key functions of GECAM,an all-sky gamma-ray monitor launched on 2020 December 10.We developed a multifunctional trigger and localization software operating in the CPU of the GECAM Electronic Box.This onboard software has the following features:high trigger efficiency for real celestial bursts with a suppression of false triggers caused by charged particle bursts and background fluctuation,dedicated localization algorithm optimized for both short and long bursts,and low time latency of the trigger information which is downlinked through the Global Short Message Communication service of the global BeiDou navigation system.This paper provides a detailed description of the design and development of the trigger and localization software system for GECAM.It covers the general design,workflow,the main functions,and the algorithms used in the system.The paper also includes on-ground trigger tests using simulated gamma-ray bursts generated by a dedicated X-ray tube,as well as an overview of the performance for real celestial bursts during its in-orbit operation.

Searching for the Highest Energy of Pulsation and Critical Luminosity of Swift J0243.6+6124 Observed by Insight-HXMT

Owing to the broad energy coverage of Insight-HXMT in the hard X-ray band,we detected the highest energy of pulsation exceeding 200 keV around the 2017–2018 outburst peak of the first Galactic pulsating ultraluminous X-ray source (PULX) Swift J0243.6+6124,which is the highest energy detected from PULXs to date.We also obtained the highest energy of pulsation of every exposure during the outburst in 2017–2018,and found the highest energy is roughly positively correlated with luminosity.Using our newly developed method,we identified the critical luminosity being 4×10^(38)erg s^(-1) when the main peaks of the low and high energy pulse profiles became aligned,which separates the fan-beam dominated and pencil-beam dominated accretion regimes.Above the critical luminosity,the phase of the main peak shifted gradually from 0.5 to 0.8 until the outburst peak in al energy bands is reached,which is in agreement with the phase shift found previously at low energies.Our result is consistent with what is derived from spectral analysis.

Temporal and Spectral Characteristics of Persistent Emission and Special Bursts of Magnetar SGR J1935+2154 Based on Insight-HXMT

In October 2022,the magnetar SGR J1935+2154 entered the active outburst state.During the episode,the InsightHXMT 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.

Burst Phase Distribution of SGR J1935+2154 Based on Insight-HXMT

On 2020 April 27,the soft gamma-ray repeater SGR J1935+2154 entered its intense outburst episode again.Insight-HXMT carried out about one month observation of the source.A total number of 75 bursts were detected during this activity episode by Insight-HXMT,and persistent emission data were also accumulated.We report on the spin period search result and the phase distribution of burst start times and burst photon arrival times of the Insight-HXMT high energy detectors and Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor(GBM).We find that the distribution of burst start times is uniform within its spin phase for both Insight-HXMT and Fermi/GBM observations,whereas the phase distribution of burst photons is related to the type of a burst’s energy spectrum.The bursts with the same spectrum have different distribution characteristics in the initial and decay episodes for the activity of magnetar SGR J1935+2154.

An X-Ray Burst Associated with FRB 200428 from a Magnetar-asteroid Impact

Fast radio bursts(FRBs)are extragalactic radio transients with millisecond duration and brightness temperature.An FRB-associated X-ray burst(XRB)was recently found to arise from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154.Following the model of Dai,in which an FRB may originate from a magnetar encountering an asteroid,we focus on explaining the spectrum of the XRB associated with FRB 200428 from SGR J1935+2154.Collisions between asteroidal fragments and the magnetar surface produce a fireball,which further expands relativistically.Due to the velocity difference among some shells in the fireball,internal shocks would form far away from the magnetar,and further emit X-ray emission.We propose that the FRB-associated XRB can be produced by synchrotron emission from the internal shocks,and then constrain the physical parameters by the observed XRB spectrum.

Localization Method for the Pointing Observation with the Collimated Telescopes of Insight-HXMT

An accurate target source position is sometimes useful for the pointing observation with the collimated telescopes of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope(Insight-HXMT),which is determined by the reliability of the instrumental response.Insight-HXMT has the unique design that all three main payloads(LE,ME and HE)consist of detector groups with three fields of views(FOVs)whose orientations differ by 60°.As the point-spread functions are different at different positions in the FOV coordinates,the count rate ratios between the detector groups depend on the position of an X-ray source in the FOVs.Based on the multi-FOV design,we develop a localization method for an X-ray source in the pointing observation of Insight-HXMT.The accuracy of the method is investigated with the pointing observations of the Crab with different exposures.We find that the statistical error decreases with the exposure,and the systematic error is dominant for the exposure>128 s.With the exposure of1024 s,the total error is 0°.015 for the Crab.This method can effectively distinguish the Rapid Burster H 1730–333and Slow Burster GX 354–0,which are only 0°.5 apart and can both contribute to bursts in the light curve obtained by Insight-HXMT.We also apply the pointing observation localization method to locate the X-ray counterpart of FRB 200428 with high precision.The located position is consistent with SGR J1935+2154 within 1σuncertainty of 10′,which provides important evidence that fast radio bursts can originate from magnetars.

Atlas of dynamic spectra of fast radio burst FRB 20201124A

Fast radio bursts(FRBs) are highly dispersed millisecond-duration radio bursts,[1,2]of which the physical origin is still not fully understood. FRB 20201124A is one of the most actively repeating FRBs. In this paper, we present the collection of 1863 burst dynamic spectra of FRB 20201124A measured with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST). The current collection, taken from the observation during the FRB active phase from April to June 2021, is the largest burst sample detected for any FRB so far. The standard PSRFITs format is adopted, including dynamic spectra of the burst, and the time information of the dynamic spectra, in addition, mask files help readers to identify the pulse positions are also provided. The dataset is available in Science Data Bank, with the link https://www.doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.j00113.00076.

The mini-GWAC optical follow-up of gravitational wave alerts – results from the O2 campaign and prospects for the upcoming O3 run

The second(O2)observational campaign of gravitational waves(GWs)organized by the LIGO/Virgo Collaborations has led to several breakthroughs such as the detection of GW signals from merger systems involving black holes or neutrons stars.During O2,14 GW alerts were sent to the astronomical community with sky regions mostly covering over hundreds of square degrees.Among them,six were finally confirmed as real astrophysical events.Since 2013,a new set of ground-based robotic telescopes called Ground-based Wide Angle Camera system(GWAC)project and its pathfinder mini-GWAC has been developed to contribute to the various challenges of multi-messenger and time domain astronomy.The GWAC system is built up in the framework of the ground-segment system of the SVOM mission that will be devoted to the study of the multi-wavelength transient sky in the next decade.During O2,only the mini-GWAC telescope network was fully operational.Due to the wide field of view and fast automatic follow-up capabilities of the mini-GWAC telescopes,they were adept to efficiently cover the sky localization areas of GW event candidates.In this paper,we present the mini-GWAC pipeline we have set up to respond to GW alerts and we report our optical follow-up observations of eight GW alerts detected during the O2 run.Our observations provided the largest coverage of the GW localization areas with a short latency made by any optical facility.We found tens of optical transient candidates in our images,but none of those could be securely associated with any confirmed black hole-black hole merger event.Based on this first experience and the near future technical improvements of our network system,we will be more competitive in detecting the optical counterparts from some GW events that will be identified during the upcoming O3 run,especially those emerging from binary neutron star mergers.

Comparisons of Jet Properties between GeV Radio Galaxies and Blazars

We compile a sample of spectral energy distributions （SEDs） of 12 GeV radio galaxies （RGs）, including eight FR I RGs and four FR II RGs. These SEDs can be represented with the one-zone leptonic model. No significant unification, as expected in the unification model, is found for the derived jet parameters between FR I RGs and BL Lacertae objects （BL Lacs） and between FR II RGs and flat spectrum radio quasars （FSRQs）. However, on average FR I RGs have a larger ＇Tb （break Lorentz factor of electrons） and lower B （magnetic field strength） than FR II RGs, analogous to the differences be- tween BL Lacs and FSRQs. The derived Doppler factors （~） of RGs are on average smaller than those of blazars, which is consistent with the unification model such that RGs are the misaligned parent pop- ulations of blazars with smaller tS. On the basis of jet parameters from SED fits, we calculate their jet powers and the powers carded by each component, and compare their jet compositions and radiation efficiencies with blazars. Most of the RG jets may be dominated by particles, like BL Lacs, not FSRQs. However, the jets of RGs with higher radiation efficiencies tend to have higher jet magnetization. A strong anticorrelation between synchrotron peak frequency and jet power is observed for GeV RGs and blazars in both the observer and co-moving frames, indicating that the ＂sequence＂ behavior among blazars, together with the GeV RGs, may be intrinsically dominated by jet power.

An unusual timing and spectral state of a black hole microquasar XTE J1550-564

An unusual timing and spectral state of a black hole microquasar XTE J1550- 564 observed with RXTE is analyzed. Millisecond variabilities are found, which are significantly shorter than the minimum possible time scale in the light curves of black hole binaries, as suggested by Sunyaev ＆ Revnivtsev （2000）. The X-ray spectral fitting result indicates that there is an unusual soft component in the spectrum, which may be responsible for the millisecond variabilities. The millisecond variabilities as well as the unusual soft spectral component should be produced from some small, but independent active regions in the accretion disk.

GRB 190530A:From Precursor,Prompt Emission to Afterglow all Originated from Synchrotron Radiation

GRB 190530A was jointly observed by the High Energy X-ray Telescope of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope(Insight-HXMT/HE)and the Ground-Based Wide-Angle Camera network(GWAC-N)with the extremely large field of view.After triggered by Insight-HXMT/HE and Fermi/GBM,we observed the optical emission of GRB 190530A,using the 30 cm telescope of GWAC(GWAC-F30)to search and locate its position.Subsequent observation of the late afterglow of GRB 190530A was made with the 2.16 m telescope at Xinglong Observatory.In this paper,we make a detailed exploration of the origin of GRB 190530A.In the prompt emission,a“double-tracking”pattern is presented both for the low-energy spectral indexαand the peak energy Epin the Band function with Insight-HXMT/HE and Fermi/GBM data;the results of GRB 190530A are consistent with the Amati and Yonetoku correlations;the spectral lag(τ)versus energy(E)can be estimated withτ=-3.0±0.06+(0.17±0.03)logE.The synchrotron radiation can account for the origin of GRB190530A prompt emission behaviors.Theαand Epof the precursor are essentially the same as that of the main prompt emission,implying that they have the same origin.For the afterglow,it can be described with the external forward shock model in ISM circumburst medium.In summary,from precursor,prompt emission to afterglow of GRB 190530A all originated from synchrotron radiation.

Similarity of jet radiation between flat spectrum radio quasars and GeV narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies: a universal δ-Lc correlation

By modeling the broadband spectral energy distributions （SEDs） of a typical flat spectrum radio quasar （FSRQ, 3C 279） and two GeV narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies （NLSls, PMN J0948＋0022 and 1H 0323＋342） in different flux stages with one-zone leptonic models, we find a universal correlation between their Doppler factors （δ） and peak luminosities （Lc） of external Compton scattering bumps. Compiling a combined sample of FSRQs and GeV NLSls, it is found that both FSRQs and GeV NLSls in different stages and in different sources follow the same δ-Lc correlation well. This indicates that the variations of observed luminosities may be essentially due to the Doppler boosting effect. The universal δ-Lo relation between FSRQs and GeV NLS 1 s in different stages may be further evidence that the particle acceleration and radiation mechanisms for the two kinds of sources are similar. In addition, by replacing Lc with the observed luminosity in the Fermi/LAT band （LLAT）, this correlation holds and it may serve as an empirical indicator of δ. We estimate the δ values with LLAT for 484 FSRQs in the Fermi/LAT Catalog and they range from 3 to 41, with a median of 16, which are statistically consistent with the values derived by other methods.

Comparison between Windowed FFT and Hilbert-Huang Transform for Analyzing Time Series with Poissonian Fluctuations: A Case Study

Hilbert-Huang Transform （HHT） is a novel data analysis technique for nonlinear and non-stationary data. We present a time-frequency analysis of both simulated fight curves and an X-ray burst from the X-ray burster 4U 1702-429 with both the HHT and the Windowed Fast Fourier Transform （WFFT） methods. Our results show that the HHT method has failed in all cases for light curves with Poissonian fluctuations which axe typical for all photon counting instruments used in astronomy, whereas the WFFT method can sensitively detect the periodic signals in the presence of Poissonian fluctuations; the only drawback of the WFFT method is that it cannot detect sharp frequency variations accurately.

Modeling the evolution and distribution of the frequency's second derivative and the braking index of pulsar spin

We model the evolution of the spin frequency＇s second derivative ν¨ and the braking index n of radio pulsars with simulations within the phenomenological model of their surface magnetic field evolution, which contains a long-term power-law decay modulated by short-term oscillations. For the pulsar PSR B0329＋54, a model with three oscillation components can reproduce its ν¨ variation. We show that the ＂averaged＂ n is different from the instantaneous n, and its oscillation magnitude decreases abruptly as the time span increases, due to the ＂averaging＂ effect. The simulated timing residuals agree with the main features of the reported data. Our model predicts that the averaged ν¨ of PSR B0329＋54 will start to decrease rapidly with newer data beyond those used in Hobbs et al. We further perform Monte Carlo simulations for the distribution of the reported data in ｜ν¨｜ and ｜n｜ versus characteristic age τcdiagrams.It is found that the magnetic field oscillation model with decay index α = 0 can reproduce the distributions quite well. Compared with magnetic field decay due to the ambipolar diffusion（α = 0.5） and the Hall cascade（α = 1.0）, the model with no long term decay（α = 0） is clearly preferred for old pulsars by the p-values of the two-dimensional Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.

Observation data pre-processing and scientific data products generation of POLAR

POLAR is a compact space-borne detector initially designed to measure the polarization of hard X-rays emitted from Gamma-Ray Bursts in the energy range 50–500 ke V.This instrument was launched successfully onboard the Chinese space laboratory Tiangong-2(TG-2) on 2016 September 15.After being switched on a few days later,tens of gigabytes of raw detection data were produced in-orbit by POLAR and transferred to the ground every day.Before the launch date,a full pipeline and related software were designed and developed for the purpose of quickly pre-processing all the raw data from POLAR,which include both science data and engineering data,then to generate the high level scientific data products that are suitable for later science analysis.This pipeline has been successfully applied for use by the POLAR Science Data Center in the Institute of High Energy Physics(IHEP) after POLAR was launched and switched on.A detailed introduction to the pipeline and some of the core relevant algorithms are presented in this paper.

A possible origin of the Galactic Center magnetar SGR 1745–2900

Since there is a large population of massive O/B stars and putative neutron stars （NSs） located in the vicinity of the Galactic Center （GC）, intermediate-mass X-ray binaries （IMXBs） constituted by an NS and a B-type star probably exist there. We investigate the evolutions of accreting NSs in IMXBs （similar to M82 X-2） with a - 5.2 M companion and orbital period 2.53 d. By adopting a mildly super-Eddington rate M = 6 × 10-8 M yr-1 for the early Case B Roche-lobe overflow （RLOF） accretion, we find that only in accreting NSs with quite elastic crusts （slippage factor s = 0.05） can the toroidal magnetic fields be amplified within 1 Myr, which is assumed to be the longest duration of the RLOF. These IMXBs will evolve into NS＋white dwarf （WD） binaries if they are dynamically stable. However, before the formation of NS＋WD binaries, the high stellar density in the GC will probably lead to frequent encounters between the NS＋evolved star binaries （in post-early Case B mass transfer phase） and NSs or exchange encounters with other stars, which may produce single NSs. These NSs will evolve into magnetars when the amplified poloidal magnetic fields diffuse out to the NS surfaces. Consequently, our results provide a possible expianation for the origin of the GC magnetar SGR 1745-2900. Moreover, the accreting NSs with s 〉 0.05 will evolve into millisecond pulsars （MSPs）. Therefore, our model reveals that the GC magnetars and MSPs could both originate from a special kind of IMXB.

Timing analysis of the black hole candidate EXO 1846–031 with Insight-HXMT monitoring

We present the observational results from a detailed timing analysis of the black hole candidate EXO 1846-031 during its outburst in 2019 with the observations of Insight-HXMT,NICER and MAXI.This outburst can be classified roughly into four different states.Type-C quasi-periodic oscillations(QPOs)observed by NICER(about 0.1-6 Hz)and Insight-HXMT(about 0.7-8 Hz)are also reported in this work.Meanwhile,we study various physical quantities related to QPO frequency.The QPO rms-frequency relationship in the energy band 1-10 keV indicates that there is a turning pointing in frequency around2 Hz,which is similar to that of GRS 1915+105.A possible hypothesis for the relationship above may be related to the inclination of the source,which may require a high inclination to explain it.The relationships between QPO frequency and QPO rms,hardness,total fractional rms and count rate have also been found in other transient sources,which can indicate that the origin of type-C QPOs is non-thermal.

A low-latency pipeline for GRB light curve and spectrum using Fermi/GBM near real-time data

Rapid response and short time latency are very important for Time Domain Astronomy, such as the observations of Gamma-ray Bursts（GRBs） and electromagnetic（EM） counterparts of gravitational waves（GWs）. Based on near real-time Fermi/GBM data, we developed a low-latency pipeline to automatically calculate the temporal and spectral properties of GRBs. With this pipeline, some important parameters can be obtained, such as T_（90） and fluence, within ～ 20 min after the GRB trigger.For ～ 90% of GRBs, T90 and fluence are consistent with the GBM catalog results within 2σ errors.This pipeline has been used by the Gamma-ray Bursts Polarimeter（POLAR） and the Insight Hard Xray Modulation Telescope（Insight-HXMT） to follow up the bursts of interest. For GRB 170817 A, the first EM counterpart of GW events detected by Fermi/GBM and INTEGRAL/SPI-ACS, the pipeline gave T90 and spectral information 21 min after the GBM trigger, providing important information for POLAR and Insight-HXMT observations.