The effect of Compton scattering on gamma-ray spectra of the 2005 January 20 flare

Gamma-ray spectroscopy provides a wealth of information about acceler- ated particles in solar flares, as well as the ambient medium with which these energetic particles interact. The neutron capture line （2.223 MeV）, the strongest in the solar gamma-ray spectrum, forms in the deep atmosphere. The energy of these photons can be reduced via Compton scattering. With the fully relativistic GEANT4 toolkit, we have carried out Monte Carlo simulations of the transport of a neutron capture line in solar flares, and applied them to the flare that occurred on 2005 January 20 （X7.1/2B）, one of the most powerful gamma-ray flares observed by RHESSI during the 23rd solar cycle. By comparing the fitting results of different models with and without Compton scattering of the neutron capture line, we find that when including the Compton scat- tering for the neutron capture line, the observed gamma-ray spectrum can be repro- duced by a population of accelerated particles with a very hard spectrum （s ≤ 2.3）. The Compton effect of a 2.223 MeV line on the spectra is therefore proven to be sig- nificant, which influences the time evolution of the neutron capture line flux as well. The study also suggests that the mean vertical depth for neutron capture in hydrogen for this event is about 8 g cm-2.

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.

Heuristic approach for peak regions estimation in gamma-ray spectra measured by a NaI detector

In this paper, a heuristic approach based on Slavic＇s peak searching method has been employed to estimate the width of peak regions for background removing. Synthetic and experimental data are used to test this method. With the estimated peak regions using the proposed method in the whole spectrum, we find it is simple and effective enough to be used together with the Statistics-sensitive Nonlinear Iterative Peak-Clipping method.

Search for gamma-ray spectral lines with the DArk Matter Particle Explorer

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE)is well suitable for searching for monochromatic and sharpγ-ray structures in the GeV-TeV range thanks to its unprecedented high energy resolution.In this work,we search forγ-ray line structures using five years of DAMPE data.To improve the sensitivity,we develop two types of dedicated data sets(including the BgoOnly data which is the first time to be used in the data analysis for the calorimeter-based gamma-ray observatories)and adopt the signal-to-noise ratio optimized regions of interest(ROIs)for different DM density profiles.No line signals or candidates are found between 10 and 300 GeV in the Galaxy.The constraints on the velocity-averaged cross section for xx→γγand the decay lifetime for x→γv,both at 95%confidence level,have been calculated and the systematic uncertainties have been taken into account.Comparing to the previous Fermi-LAT results,though DAMPE has an acceptance smaller by a factor of~10,similar constraints on the DM parameters are achieved and below 100 GeV the lower limits on the decay lifetime are even stronger by a factor of a few.Our results demonstrate the potential of high-energy-resolution observations on dark matter detection.

Relationships between Relative Spectral Lags and Relative Widths of Gamma-ray Bursts

The phenomenon of gamma-ray burst （GRB） spectral lags is very common, but a definitive explanation has not yet been given. From a sample of 82 GRB pulses we find that the spectral lags are correlated with the pulse widths, however, there is no correlation between the relative spectral lags and the relative pulse widths. We suspect that the correlations between spectral lags and pulse widths might be caused by the Lorentz factor of the GRBs concerned. Our analysis on the relative quantities suggests that the intrinsic spectral lag might reflect other aspect of pulses than the aspect associated with the dynamical time of shocks or that associated with the time delay due to the curvature effect.

The gamma-ray spectral index changes for blazars

Based upon Fermi 1FGL and EGRET 3EG samples, a sample including 79 blazars （53 FSRQs, 26 BL Lacs） is presented. It is investigated that the correlations between the ratio of EGRET to Fermi blazars g-ray flux densities and the spectral index differ for EGRET to Fermi blazars for three subclasses of high-frequency peaked BL Lacertae objects-HBL, low-frequency peaked BL Lacertae objects-LBL, and flat spectrum radio quasars-FSRQs. There is a consistent relationship between the ratio of the two γ-ray flux densities and the spectral index difference for the three subclasses. It suggests that the spectrum changed with the source brightness in the gamma-ray band. Both the spectral index difference and the correlation slopes follow a continuous sequence from FSRQs to LBLs to HBLs, which is consistent with the noted blazar sequence.

Relative Spectral Lag: a New Redshift Indicator of Gamma-ray Bursts

Using 64 ms count data of long gamma-ray bursts （T90 〉 2.6 s）, we analyze the quantity named relative spectral lag （RSL）, T31/FWHM（1）. We investigated in detail all the correlations between the RSL and other parameters for a sample of nine long bursts, using the general cross-correlation technique that includes the lag between two different energy bands. We conclude that the distribution of RSLs is normal and has a mean value of 0.1; that the RSLs are weakly correlated with the FWHM, the asymmetry, peak flux （Fp）, peak energy （Ep） and spectral indexes （α and β）, while they are uncorrelated with τ31, the hardness- ratio （HR31） and the peak time （tm）. Our important discovery is that redshift （z） and peak luminosity （Lp） are strongly correlated with the RSL, which can be measured easily and directly, making the RSL a good redshift and peak luminosity indicator.

Development of the spectrum of gamma-ray burst pulses influenced by the intrinsic spectral evolution and the curvature effect

The spectral evolution of gamma-ray burst pulses assumed to arise from the emission of fireballs is explored. It is found that due to the curvature effect, the integrated flux is well related to peak energy by a power law in the decaying phase of pulses, where the index is about 3, which does not depend on intrinsic emission and the Lorentz factor. The spectra of pulses in the decaying phase are slightly different from each other when different intrinsic spectral evolution patterns are considered, indicating that it is dominated by the curvature effect. In the rising phase, the integrated flux keeps increasing whilst the peak energy remains unchanged when the intrinsic emission bears an unchanged spectrum. Within this phase, the flux decreases with the increase of the peak energy for a hard-to-soft intrinsic spectrum, and for a soft-to-hard-to-soft intrinsic spectrum, the flux generally increases with the increase of the peak energy. An intrinsic soft-to-hard-to-soft spectral evolution within a co-moving pulse would give rise to a pulse-like evolutionary curve for the peak energy.

A Close Correlation between the Spectral Lags and Redshifts of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Based on nine BATSE GRBs with known redshifts, we found that the maximum spectral lag of all the pulses in a gamma-ray burst （GRB） appears to be anti-correlated with the redshift of the burst. In order to confirm this finding, we analyzed 10 GRBs detected by HETE-2 with known redshifts and found a similar relation. Using the relation, we estimated the redshifts of 878 long GRBs in the BATSE catalog, then we investigated the distributions of the redshifts and 869 Eiso of these GRBs. The distribution of the estimated redshifts is concentrated at z = 1.4 and the distribution of Eiso peaks at 10^52.5 erg. The underlying physics of the correlation is unclear at present.

Simulation study of the performance of the Very Large Area gamma-ray Space Telescope

The Very Large Area gamma-ray Space Telescope(VLAST)is a mission concept proposed to detect gamma-ray photons through both Compton scattering and electron–positron pair production mechanisms,thus enabling the detection of photons with energies ranging from MeV to TeV.This project aims to conduct a comprehensive survey of the gamma-ray sky from a low-Earth orbit using an anti-coincidence detector,a tracker detector that also serves as a low-energy calorimeter,and a high-energy imaging calorimeter.We developed a Monte Carlo simulation application of the detector using the GEANT4 toolkit to evaluate the instrument performance,including the effective area,angular resolution,and energy resolution,and explored specific optimizations of the detector configuration.Our simulation-based analysis indicates that the current design of the VLAST is physically feasible,with an acceptance above 10 m^(2)sr which is four times larger than that of the Fermi-LAT,an energy resolution better than 2%at 10 GeV,and an angular resolution better than 0.2◦at 10 GeV.The VLAST project promises to make significant contributions to the field of gamma-ray astronomy and enhance our understanding of the cosmos.

The correlations among variability,optical peak time and spectral time lag of long gamma-ray bursts

Statistical relations are useful tools to comprehend the intrinsic physics processes of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs). In this work we collect spectral lag(τ), variability(V) and optical peak time(tp,o). We find that there is a correlation between variabilities and spectral lags, reading as V =-0.0075(±0.0007) ×log10τ +0.0351(±0.0024). There may also exist a relatively weak positive tendency between GRBs optical band peak times and their spectral time lags. Its Pearson coefficient is 0.398, which indicates a weak linear correlation. If we contain some "negative spectral lag" samples, then the latter relation would be worse due to two outlying points. The τ-V relation is consistent with previous studies, and the positive trend betweenτ and tp,oindicates the spectral lag of GRB might be caused by the curvature effect, but this conclusion is not significant.

Redshift Dependence of the Low-energy Spectral Index of Gamma-Ray Bursts Revisited

A negative correlation was found to exist between the low-energy spectral index and the redshift of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)by Amati et al.It was later confirmed by Geng&Huang and Gruber et al.,but the correlation was also found to be quite dispersive when the sample size was significantly expanded.In this study,we have established two even larger samples of GRBs to further examine the correlation.One of our samples consists of316 GRBs detected by the Swift satellite,and the other one consists of 80 GRBs detected by the Fermi satellite.It is found that there is no correlation between the two parameters for the Swift sample,but there does exist a weak negative correlation for the Fermi sample.The correlation becomes even more significant when the spectral index at the peak flux is considered.It is argued that the absence of the correlation in the Swift sample may be due to the fact that Swift has a very narrow energy response so that it could not measure the low-energy spectral index accurately enough.Further studies based on even larger GRB samples are solicited.

GRB 200612A:An Ultralong Gamma-Ray Burst Powered by Magnetar Spinning Down

GRB 200612A could be classified as an ultralong gamma-ray burst due to its prompt emission lasting up to~1020 s and the true timescale of the central engine activity t_(burst)≥4×10^(4) s.The late X-ray light curve with a decay index ofα=7.53 is steeper than the steepest possible decay from an external shock model.We propose that this X-ray afterglow can be driven by dipolar radiation from the magnetar spindown during its early stage,while the magnetar collapsed into the black hole before its spindown,resulting in a very steep decay of the late X-ray light curve.The optical data show that the light curve is still rising after 1.1 ks,suggesting a late onset.We show that GRB 200612A’s optical afterglow light curve is fitted with the forward shock model by Gaussian structured off-axis jet.This is a special case among GRBs,as it may be an ultralong gamma-ray burst powered by a magnetar in an off-axis observation scenario.

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.

Capability of Searching for Kilonova Associated with a Short Gamma-Ray Burst by SVOM

In spite of the importance of studying the cosmic generation of heavy elements through the r-process,the detection of a kilonova resulting from the merger of a neutron star binary is still a challenging task.In this paper,we show that the Visible Telescope(VT)onboard the ongoing SVOM space mission is powerful for identifying kilonova candidates associated with short gamma-ray bursts up to a distance of 600 Mpc.A significant color variation,turning blue and then turning red,is revealed by calculating the light curves in both red and blue channels of VT by a linear combination of an afterglow and an associated kilonova.The maximum color variation is as high as~0.5-1 mag,which is far larger than the small photometry error of~0.2 mag of VT for a point source with a brightness of 23 mag.Up to a distance of 600 Mpc,~1-2 kilonova candidates per year are predicted to be identified by VT.

Deep learning for determining pure isotropic proton spectra from solidstate spectra

Recently,an article on ^(1)H solid-state NMR spectra was published,in which the authors proposed a deep learning approach to infer the pure isotropic proton NMR spectra obtained at an infinite magic angle spinning(MAS)rate.This approach even allowed to obtain,by far,the best resolved ^(1)H spectra of molecular solids[1](https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202216607).Deep learning based artificial intelligence is developing rapidly,and its application is deepening.Currently,there are many applications of deep learning in the field of magnetic resonance,such as the reconstruction of the under-sampled multidimensional spectra[2-4],the deconvolution of two-dimensional NMR spectra[5]and noise suppression and weak peak retrial[6],etc.

Tunable spectral continuous shift of high-order harmonic generation in atoms by a plasmon-assisted shaping pulse

We delve into the phenomenon of high-order harmonic generation within a helium atom under the influence of a plasmon-assisted shaping pulse.Our findings reveal an intriguing manipulation of the frequency peak position in the harmonic emission by adjusting the absolute phase parameter within the frequency domain of the shaping pulse.This phenomenon holds potential significance for experimental setups necessitating precisely tuned single harmonics.Notably,we observe a modulated shift in the created harmonic photon energy,spanning an impressive range of 1.2 eV.This frequency peak shift is rooted in the asymmetry exhibited by the rising and falling edges of the laser pulse,directly influencing the position of the peak frequency emission.Our study quantifies the dependence of this tuning range and the asymmetry of the laser pulse,offering valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms driving this phenomenon.Furthermore,our investigation uncovers the emergence of semi-integer order harmonics as the phase parameter is altered.We attribute this discovery to the intricate interference between harmonics generated by the primary and secondary return cores.This observation introduces an innovative approach for generating semi-integer order harmonics,thus expanding our understanding of high-order harmonic generation.Ultimately,our work contributes to the broader comprehension of complex phenomena in laser-matter interactions and provides a foundation for harnessing these effects in various applications,particularly those involving precise spectral control and the generation of unique harmonic patterns.

Simulation Study on Constraining Gravitational Wave Propagation Speed by Gravitational Wave and Gamma-ray Burst Joint Observation on Binary Neutron Star Mergers

Theories of modified gravity suggest that the propagation speed of gravitational waves(GW)v_gmay deviate from the speed of light c.A constraint can be placed on the difference between c and v_gwith a simple method that uses the arrival time delay between GW and electromagnetic wave simultaneously emitted from a burst event.We simulated the joint observation of GW and short gamma-ray burst signals from binary neutron star merger events in different observation campaigns,involving advanced LIGO(aLIGO)in design sensitivity and Einstein Telescope(ET)joint-detected with Fermi/GBM.As a result,the relative precision of constraint on v_gcan reach~10~(-17)(aLIGO)and~10^(-18)(ET),which are one and two orders of magnitude better than that from GW170817,respectively.We continue to obtain the bound of graviton mass m_g≤7.1(3.2)×10~(-20)eV with aLIGO(ET).Applying the Standard-Model Extension test framework,the constraint on v_gallows us to study the Lorentz violation in the nondispersive,nonbirefringent limit of the gravitational sector.We obtain the constraints of the dimensionless isotropic coefficients S_(00)^(4)at mass dimension d=4,which are-1×10^(-15)<S_(00)^(4)<9×10^(-17)for aLIGO and-4×10^(-16)<s_(00)^(4<8<10^(-18))for ET.

Probing the Gamma-Ray Emission Region of Five TeV Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars

The location ofγ-ray emission of blazars remains a contested topic,inspiring the development of numerous investigative techniques to address this issue.In this work,we analyzed Fermiγ-ray light curves in the GeV and MeV bands,employing the discrete cross-correlation function method to discern time lags between the two bands.For 4C+21.35,Ton 599,B21420+32,and PKS 1510-089,we identified a time lag spanning several days,while for PKS 1441+25,the time lag was not statistically found.The results imply that the soft photons necessary for inverse Compton scattering predominantly originate from the dusty torus in the first four sources,whereas for PKS1441+25,they seem to be sourced mainly from the broad-line region.Further analysis of the opacity(τγγ)and the GeV spectra study supports the conclusion that the location of the dissipation region must be beyond the BLR to avoid significant absorption.Notably,for PKS 1441+25,the emission region is also posited to lie outside yet proximate to the BLR.The parameters of describing the emission region were obtained by fitting broadband spectral energy distribution with contemporaneous observation data.Our findings suggest that for the five TeV FSRQs,during Te V flaring events,the jet appears to maintain an equilibrium between the energy density of the magnetic field and that of the particles for all investigated sources,with the exceptions of 4C+21.35 and PKS1441+25.In terms of the overall jet power,particle energy is the dominant contributor,and the observed blazar radiation cannot be solely attributed to the magnetic field,except in the case of 4C+21.35.Consequently,magnetic reconnection is unlikely to be the primary mechanism behind particle acceleration in these systems.

Wavelength calibration and spectral analysis of vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy in EAST

A vacuum ultraviolet(VUV)spectroscopy with a focal length of 1 m has been engineered specifically for observing edge impurity emissions in Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST).In this study,wavelength calibration for the VUV spectroscopy is achieved utilizing a zinc lamp.The grating angle and charge-coupled device(CCD)position are carefully calibrated for different wavelength positions.The wavelength calibration of the VUV spectroscopy is crucial for improving the accuracy of impurity spectral data,and is required to identify more impurity spectral lines for impurity transport research.Impurity spectra of EAST plasmas have also been obtained in the wavelength range of 50–300 nm with relatively high spectral resolution.It is found that the impurity emissions in the edge region are still dominated by low-Z impurities,such as carbon,oxygen,and nitrogen,albeit with the application of fulltungsten divertors on the EAST tokamak.