Statistical Properties of X-Ray Bursts from SGR J1935+2154 Detected by Insight-HXMT

As one class of the most important objects in the universe,magnetars can produce a lot of different frequency bursts including X-ray bursts.In Cai et al.,75 X-ray bursts produced by magnetar SGR J1935+2154 during an active period in 2020 are published,including the duration and net photon counts of each burst,and waiting time based on the trigger time difference.In this paper,we utilize the power-law model,dN(x)/dx∝(x+x_0)~((-α)_x),to fit the cumulative distributions of these parameters.It can be found that all the cumulative distributions can be well fitted,which can be interpreted by a self-organizing criticality theory.Furthermore,we check whether this phenomenon still exists in different energy bands and find that there is no obvious evolution.These findings further confirm that the X-ray bursts from magnetars are likely to be generated by some self-organizing critical process,which can be explained by a possible magnetic reconnection scenario in magnetars.

Verification of Short-Term Predictions of Solar Soft X-ray Bursts for the Maximum Phase (2000-2001) of Solar Cycle 23

We present a verification of the short-term predictions of solar X-ray bursts for the maximum phase (2000–2001) of Solar Cycle 23, issued by two prediction centers. The results are that the rate of correct predictions is about equal for RWC-China and WWA; the rate of too high predictions is greater for RWC-China than for WWA, while the rate of too low predictions is smaller for RWC-China than for WWA.

A report on TypeⅡX-ray bursts from SMC X-1

We study RXTE PCA data for the high mass X-ray binary source SMC X-1 between 2003–10 and 2003–12 when the source was in its high states.The source is found to be frequently bursting which can be seen as flares in lightcurves that occur at a rate of one every 800 s, with an average of 4–5 Type Ⅱ X-ray bursts per hour.We note that typically a burst was short, lasting for a few tens of seconds in addition to a few long bursts spanning more than a hundred seconds that were also observed.The flares apparently occupied 2.5% of the total observing time of 225.5 ks.We note a total of 272 flares with mean FWHM of the flare ～21 s.The rms variability and aperiodic variability are independent of flares.As observed, the pulse profiles of the lightcurves do not change their shape, implying that there is no change in the geometry of an accretion disk due to a burst.The hardness ratio and rms variability of lightcurves exhibit no correlation with the flares.The flare fraction shows a positive correlation with the peak-to-peak ratio of the primary and secondary peaks of the pulse profile.The observed hardening or softening of the spectrum cannot be correlated with the flaring rate but may be due to the interstellar absorption of X-rays as evident from the change in hydrogen column density(n_H).It is found that the luminosity of the source increases with the flaring rate.Considering that the viscous timescale is equal to the mean recurrence time of flares, we fixed the viscosity parameter α ～ 0.16.

Stellar reaction rate of 55Ni（p,γ）56Cu in Type I X-ray bursts

56Cu is close to the waiting-point nucleus 56Ni and lies on the rapid proton capture（rp） process path in Type I X-ray bursts（XRBs）. In this work, we obtained a revised thermonuclear reaction rate of 55Ni（p,γ）56Cu in the temperature region relevant to XRBs. This rate was recalculated based on the recent experimental level structure in 56Cu, the recently measured proton separation energy of Sp = 579.8（7.1） keV, together with shell-model calculation, and the mirror nuclear structure in 56Co. The associated uncertainties in the rates were estimated by a Monte Carlo method. Our revised rate is significantly different from the recent results, which were partially based on experimental results; in addition, we found that a result in a previous work was incorrect. We recommend our revised rate to be incorporated in the future astrophysical network calculations.

2-15 Thermonuclear Reaction Rates in rp Process of 64Ge(p,γ)65As and 65As(p,γ)66Se for Type-I X-ray Bursts

We have derived new thermonuclear 64Ge(p, )65As and 65As(p, )66Se reaction rates based on recently evaluatedproton separation energies[1] and large-scale shell model (LSSM) calculation. The precisely measured or evaluatedproton separation energies of Sp(65As) and Sp(66Se), are (90±85) keV and (1720±310) keV, respectively. Weutilized one-zone post-processing type I X-ray burst model[2] to investigate the astrophysical impact of our newrates. We found that the new experimental Sp(65As), resonant energies and spectroscopic factors estimated fromLSSM significantly affects the productions of nuclide in the range of 64≤A≤110 about one to ten times comparedto currently available JINA data sets, REACLIB[3].

First Digit Distributions of Gamma-Ray Bursts

The occurrence of the first significant digits from real world sources is usually not equally distributed,but is consistent with a logarithmic distribution instead,known as Benford’s law.In this work,we perform a comprehensive investigation on the first digit distributions of the duration,fluence,and energy flux of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) for the first time.For a complete GRB sample detected by the Fermi satellite,we find that the first digits of the duration and fluence adhere to Benford’s law.However,the energy flux shows a significant departure from this law,which may be due to the fact that a considerable part of the energy flux measurements is restricted by lack of spectral information.Based on the conventional duration classification scheme,we also check if the durations and fluences of long and short GRBs (with duration T_(90)>2 s and T_(90)≤2 s,respectively) obey Benford’s law.We find that the fluences of both long and short GRBs still agree with the Benford distribution,but their durations do not follow Benford’s law.Our results hint that the long–short GRB classification scheme does not directly represent the intrinsic physical classification scheme.

Time-resolved Spectral Properties of Fermi-GBM Bright Long Gamma-Ray Bursts

The prompt emission mechanism of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)is still unclear,and the time-resolved spectral analysis of GRBs is a powerful tool for studying their underlying physical processes.We performed a detailed time-resolved spectral analysis of 78 bright long GRB samples detected by Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor.A total of 1490 spectra were obtained and their properties were studied using a typical Band-shape model.First,the parameter distributions of the time-resolved spectrum are given as follows:the low-energy spectral indexα~-0.72,high-energy spectral indexβ~2.42,the peak energy E_(p)~221.69 keV,and the energy flux F~7.49×10^(-6)erg cm^(-2)s^(-1).More than 80%of the bursts exhibit the hardest low-energy spectral indexα_(max),exceeding the synchrotron limit(-2/3).Second,the evolution patterns of a and E_(p)were statistically analyzed.The results show that for multi-pulse GRBs the intensity-tracking pattern is more common than the hard-to-soft pattern in the evolution of both E_(p)andα.The hard-to-soft pattern is generally shown in single-pulse GRBs or in the initial pulse of multi-pulse GRBs.Finally,we found a significant positive correlation between F and E_(p),with half of the samples exhibiting a positive correlation between F andα.We discussed the spectral evolution of different radiation models.The diversity of spectral evolution patterns indicates that there may be more than one radiation mechanism occurring in the GRB radiation process,including photo spheric radiation and synchrotron radiation.However,it may also involve only one radiation mechanism,but more complicated physical details need to be considered.

AstroSat Observations of the Be/X-Ray Binary XTE J1946+274 During 2018 and 2021 Outbursts

We present the timing and spectral studies of the Be/X-ray binary XTE J1946+274 during its 2018 and 2021 giant outbursts using observations with the SXT and LAXPC instruments on the AstroSat satellite.Unlike the 1998 and 2010 outbursts,where a giant outburst was followed by several low intensity periodic outbursts,the 2018 and 2021 outbursts were single outbursts.The X-ray pulsations are detected over a broad energy band covering 0.5–80 keV from the compact object.We construct the spin evolution history of the pulsar over two decades and find that the pulsar spins-up during the outbursts but switches to spin-down state in the quiescent periods between the outbursts.Energy resolved pulse profiles generated in several bands in 0.5–80 keV show that the pulse shape varies with the energy.The energy spectrum of the pulsar is determined for the 2018 and 2021 outbursts.The best fit spectral models require presence of cyclotron resonant scattering feature at about 43 keV in the energy spectra of both the outbursts.We find indication of possible reversal in the correlation between the cyclotron line energy and luminosity which needs to be ascertained from future observations.Using the best fit spectra the X-ray luminosity of XTE J1946+274 is inferred to be 2.7×10^(37) erg s^(-1) for the 2018 observations and 2.3×10^(37) erg s^(-1) for the 2021 observations.We discuss possible mechanisms which can drive outbursts in this transient Be X-ray binary.

GHz bursts in MHz burst(BiBurst) enabling high-speed femtosecond laser ablation of silicon due to prevention of air ionization

For the practical use of femtosecond laser ablation, inputs of higher laser intensity are preferred to attain high-throughput material removal. However, the use of higher laser intensities for increasing ablation rates can have detrimental effects on ablation quality due to excess heat generation and air ionization. This paper employs ablation using BiBurst femtosecond laser pulses, which consist of multiple bursts(2 and 5 bursts) at a repetition rate of 64 MHz, each containing multiple intra-pulses(2–20 pulses) at an ultrafast repetition rate of 4.88 GHz, to overcome these conflicting conditions. Ablation of silicon substrates using the BiBurst mode with 5 burst pulses and 20 intra-pulses successfully prevents air breakdown at packet energies higher than the pulse energy inducing the air ionization by the conventional femtosecond laser pulse irradiation(single-pulse mode). As a result, ablation speed can be enhanced by a factor of23 without deteriorating the ablation quality compared to that by the single-pulse mode ablation under the conditions where the air ionization is avoided.

X-ray在鱼体组织及微量元素检测中的应用

鱼类硬质组织物,特别是骨骼支持鱼体和保护其体内器官的组织,对其进行特征检测分析是研究鱼类游泳运动、鱼类解剖、鱼体建模等的数据基础。随着X-ray技术的发展和国产设备的广泛应用,其仪器设备成本明显降低,使得X-ray在渔业研究与自动化生产中的应用成为可能。首先介绍了X-ray技术的基本原理与其在鱼体组织检测中的应用,X-ray技术在鱼体组织及微量元素检测中的应用主要分为鱼类组织器官的无损检测和鱼体微量元素检测两部分,其中分别介绍了包括照相法、数字成像法、衍射技术和吸收光谱法等X-ray技术;然后综述其在鱼体组织器官建模、鱼骨检测、鱼类化石研究、鱼耳石分析和鱼体微量元素检测方面的应用,总结了Xray在渔业领域应用中存在的问题;最后对X-ray的渔业应用方向进行展望。

Global hybrid simulations of soft X-ray emissions in the Earth’s magnetosheath

Earth’s magnetopause is a thin boundary separating the shocked solar wind plasma from the magnetospheric plasmas,and it is also the boundary of the solar wind energy transport to the magnetosphere.Soft X-ray imaging allows investigation of the large-scale magnetopause by providing a two-dimensional(2-D)global view from a satellite.By performing 3-D global hybrid-particle-in-cell(hybrid-PIC)simulations,we obtain soft X-ray images of Earth’s magnetopause under different solar wind conditions,such as different plasma densities and directions of the southward interplanetary magnetic field.In all cases,magnetic reconnection occurs at low latitude magnetopause.The soft X-ray images observed by a hypothetical satellite are shown,with all of the following identified:the boundary of the magnetopause,the cusps,and the magnetosheath.Local X-ray emissivity in the magnetosheath is characterized by large amplitude fluctuations(up to 160%);however,the maximum line-of-sight-integrated X-ray intensity matches the tangent directions of the magnetopause well,indicating that these fluctuations have limited impact on identifying the magnetopause boundary in the X-ray images.Moreover,the magnetopause boundary can be identified using multiple viewing geometries.We also find that solar wind conditions have little effect on the magnetopause identification.The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)mission will provide X-ray images of the magnetopause for the first time,and our global hybrid-PIC simulation results can help better understand the 2-D X-ray images of the magnetopause from a 3-D perspective,with particle kinetic effects considered.

Prediction models of burst strength degradation for casing with considerations of both wear and corrosion

Casing wear and casing corrosion are serious problems affecting casing integrity failure in deep and ultra-deep wells.This paper aims to predict the casing burst strength with considerations of both wear and corrosion.Firstly,the crescent wear shape is simplified into three categories according to common mathematical models.Then,based on the mechano-electrochemical(M-E)interaction,the prediction model of corrosion depth is built with worn depth as the initial condition,and the prediction models of burst strength of the worn casing and corroded casing are obtained.Secondly,the accuracy of different prediction models is validated by numerical simulation,and the main influence factors on casing strength are obtained.At last,the theoretical models are applied to an ultra-deep well in Northwest China,and the dangerous well sections caused by wear and corrosion are predicted,and the corrosion rate threshold to ensure the safety of casing is obtained.The results show that the existence of wear defects results in a stress concentration and enhanced M-E interaction on corrosion depth growth.The accuracy of different mathematical models is different:the slot ring model is most accurate for predicting corrosion depth,and the eccentric model is most accurate for predicting the burst strength of corroded casing.The burst strength of the casing will be overestimated by more than one-third if the M-E interaction is neglected,so the coupling effect of wear and corrosion should be sufficiently considered in casing integrity evaluation.

The Soft X-ray Imager(SXI)on the SMILE Mission

The Soft X-ray Imager(SXI)is part of the scientific payload of the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)mission.SMILE is a joint science mission between the European Space Agency(ESA)and the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)and is due for launch in 2025.SXI is a compact X-ray telescope with a wide field-of-view(FOV)capable of encompassing large portions of Earth’s magnetosphere from the vantage point of the SMILE orbit.SXI is sensitive to the soft X-rays produced by the Solar Wind Charge eXchange(SWCX)process produced when heavy ions of solar wind origin interact with neutral particles in Earth’s exosphere.SWCX provides a mechanism for boundary detection within the magnetosphere,such as the position of Earth’s magnetopause,because the solar wind heavy ions have a very low density in regions of closed magnetic field lines.The sensitivity of the SXI is such that it can potentially track movements of the magnetopause on timescales of a few minutes and the orbit of SMILE will enable such movements to be tracked for segments lasting many hours.SXI is led by the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom(UK)with collaborating organisations on hardware,software and science support within the UK,Europe,China and the United States.

Two methods for separating the magnetospheric solar wind charge exchange soft X-ray emission from the diffuse X-ray background

Solar wind charge exchange(SWCX)is the process of solar wind high-valence ions exchanging charges with neutral components and generating soft X-rays.Recently,detecting the SWCX emission from the magnetosphere is proposed as a new technique to study the magnetosphere using panoramic soft X-ray imaging.To better prepare for the data analysis of upcoming magnetospheric soft X-ray imaging missions,this paper compares the magnetospheric SWCX emission obtained by two methods in an XMM-Newton observation,during which the solar wind changed dramatically.The two methods differ in the data used to fit the diffuse X-ray background(DXB)parameters in spectral analysis.The method adding data from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey(RASS)is called the RASS method.The method using the quiet observation data is called the Quiet method,where quiet observations usually refer to observations made by the same satellite with the same target but under weaker solar wind conditions.Results show that the spectral compositions of magnetospheric SWCX emission obtained by the two methods are very similar,and the changes in intensity over time are highly consistent,although the intensity obtained by the RASS method is about 2.68±0.56 keV cm^(-2)s^(-1)sr^(-1)higher than that obtained by the Quiet method.Since the DXB intensity obtained by the RASS method is about 2.84±0.74 keV cm^(-2)s^(-1)sr^(-1)lower than that obtained by the Quiet method,and the linear correlation coefficient between the difference of SWCX and DXB obtained by the two methods in diffe rent energy band is close to-1,the diffe rences in magnetospheric SWCX can be fully attributed to the diffe rences in the fitted DXB.The difference between the two methods is most significant when the energy is less than 0.7 keV,which is also the main energy band of SWCX emission.In addition,the difference between the two methods is not related to the SWCX intensity and,to some extent,to solar wind conditions,because SWCX intensity typically va ries with the solar wind.In summary,both methods are robust and reliable,and should be considered based on the best available options.

The Early X-ray Afterglows of Optically Bright and Dark Gamma-Ray Bursts

A systematic study on the early X-ray afterglows of both optically bright and dark gamma-ray bursts （B-GRBs and D-GRBs） observed by Swift is presented. Our sample includes 25 GRBs of which 13 are B-GRBs and 12 are D-GRBs. Our results show that the distributions of the X-ray afterglow fluxes （Fx）, the gamma-ray fluxes （Sγ）, and the ratio （Rγ,x） are similar for the two kinds of GRBs, that any observed differences should be simply statistical fluctuation. These results indicate that the progenitors of the two kinds of GRBs are of the same population with comparable total energies of explosion. The suppression of optical emission in the D-GRBs should result from circumburst but not from their central engine.

Revise Thermal Winds of Remnant Neutron Stars in Gamma-Ray Bursts

It seems that the wealth of information revealed by the multi-messenger observations of the binary neutron star(NS)merger event,GW170817/GRB 170817A/kilonova AT2017gfo,places irreconcilable constraints to models of the prompt emission of this gamma-ray burst(GRB).The observed time delay between the merger of the two NSs and the trigger of the GRB and the thermal tail of the prompt emission can hardly be reproduced by these models simultaneously.We argue that the merger remnant should be an NS(last for,at least,a large fraction of 1 s),and that the difficulty can be alleviated by the delayed formation of the accretion disk due to the absorption of high-energy neutrinos emitted by the NS and the delayed emergence of effective viscosity in the disk.Further,we extend the consideration of the effect of the energy deposition of neutrinos emitted from the NS.If the NS is the central object of a GRB with a distance and duration similar to that of GRB 170817A,thermal emission of the thermal bubble inflated by the NS after the termination of accretion may be detectable.If our scenario is verified,it would be of interest to investigate the cooling of nascent NSs.

Finding the magnetopause location using soft X-ray observations and a statistical inverse method

Variability in the location and shape of the dayside magnetopause is attributed to magnetic reconnection,a fundamental process that enables the transfer of mass,energy,and momentum from the solar wind into the magnetosphere.The spatial and temporal properties of the magnetopause,under varying solar and magnetospheric conditions,remain largely unknown because empirical studies using in-situ observations are challenging to interpret.Global wide field-of-view(FOV)imaging is the only means to simultaneously observe the spatial distribution of the plasma properties over the vast dayside magnetospheric region and,subsequently,quantify the energy transport from the interplanetary medium into the terrestrial magnetosphere.Two upcoming missions,ESA/CAS SMILE and NASA’s LEXI will provide wide-field imagery of the dayside magnetosheath in soft X-rays,an emission generated by charge exchange interactions between high charge-state heavy ions of solar wind origin and exospheric neutral atoms.High-cadence two-dimensional observations of the magnetosheath will allow the estimation of dynamic properties of its inner boundary,the magnetopause,and enable studies of its response to changes in the solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field orientation.This work introduces a statistically-based estimation approach based on inverse theory to estimate the spatial distribution of magnetosheath soft X-ray emissivities and,with this,identify the location of the magnetopause over the Sun−Earth line.To do so,we simulate the magnetosheath structure using the MHD-based OpenGGCM model and generate synthetic soft X-ray images using LEXI’s orbit and attitude information.Our results show that 3-D estimations using the described statistically-based technique are robust against Poisson-distributed shot noise inherent to soft X-ray images.Also,our proposed methodology shows that the accuracy of both three-dimensional(3-D)estimation and the magnetopause standoff distance calculation highly depends on the observational point.

Estimating the subsolar magnetopause position from soft X-ray images using a low-pass image filter

The Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager(LEXI)and Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)missions will image the Earth’s dayside magneto pause and cusps in soft X-rays after their respective launches in the near future,to specify glo bal magnetic reconnection modes for varying solar wind conditions.To suppo rt the success of these scientific missions,it is critical to develop techniques that extract the magnetopause locations from the observed soft X-ray images.In this research,we introduce a new geometric equation that calculates the subsolar magnetopause position(RS)from a satellite position,the look direction of the instrument,and the angle at which the X-ray emission is maximized.Two assumptions are used in this method:(1)The look direction where soft X-ray emissions are maximized lies tangent to the magnetopause,and(2)the magnetopause surface near the subsolar point is almost spherical and thus RSis nea rly equal to the radius of the magneto pause curvature.We create synthetic soft X-ray images by using the Open Geospace General Circulation Model(OpenGGCM)global magnetohydrodynamic model,the galactic background,the instrument point spread function,and Poisson noise.We then apply the fast Fourier transform and Gaussian low-pass filte rs to the synthetic images to re move noise and obtain accurate look angles for the soft X-ray pea ks.From the filte red images,we calculate RS and its accuracy for different LEXI locations,look directions,and solar wind densities by using the OpenGGCM subsolar magnetopause location as ground truth.Our method estimates RS with an accuracy of<0.3 RE when the solar wind density exceeds>10 cm-3.The accuracy improves for greater solar wind densities and during southward interplanetary magnetic fields.The method ca ptures the magnetopause motion during southwa rd interplaneta ry magnetic field turnings.Consequently,the technique will enable quantitative analysis of the magnetopause motion and help reveal the dayside reconnection modes for dynamic solar wind conditions.This technique will suppo rt the LEXI and SMILE missions in achieving their scientific o bjectives.

SMILE soft X-ray Imager flight model CCD370 pre-flight device characterisation

Throughout the SMILE mission the satellite will be bombarded by radiation which gradually damages the focal plane devices and degrades their performance.In order to understand the changes of the CCD370s within the soft X-ray Imager,an initial characterisation of the devices has been carried out to give a baseline performance level.Three CCDs have been characterised,the two flight devices and the flight spa re.This has been carried out at the Open University in a bespo ke cleanroom measure ment facility.The results show that there is a cluster of bright pixels in the flight spa re which increases in size with tempe rature.However at the nominal ope rating tempe rature(-120℃) it is within the procure ment specifications.Overall,the devices meet the specifications when ope rating at -120℃ in 6 × 6 binned frame transfer science mode.The se rial charge transfer inefficiency degrades with temperature in full frame mode.However any charge losses are recovered when binning/frame transfer is implemented.

Solar wind ion charge state distributions and compound cross sections for solar wind charge exchange X-ray emission

Solar Wind Charge eXchange X-ray(SWCX) emission in the heliosphere and Ea rth’s exosphere is a hard to avoid signal in soft Xray obse rvations of astrophysical targets.On the other hand,the X-ray imaging possibilities offered by the SWCX process has led to an increasing number of future dedicated space missions for investigating the solar wind-terrestrial inte ractions and magnetospheric interfaces.In both cases,accurate modelling of the SWCX emission is key to correctly interpret its signal,and remove it from obse rvations,when needed.In this paper,we compile solar wind abundance measurements from ACE for different solar wind types,and atomic data from literature,including charge exchange cross-sections and emission probabilities,used fo r calculating the compound cross-section a for the SWCX X-ray emission.We calculate a values for charge-exchange with H and He,relevant to soft X-ray energy bands(0.1-2.0 keV)for various solar wind types and solar cycle conditions.