BL Lac天体的γ射线和X射线辐射研究

收集了18个γ射线噪BL Lac天体的X射线流量密度和γ射线流量密度,以及X射线波段(1keV)和γ射线波段(＞100 MeV)的平均光谱指数,研究了它们之间的相关性.结果表明:1)X射线流量密度与γ射线流量密度在高态、低态和平均态均有较强的相关性.2)X射线波段和γ射线波段的平均光谱指数之间有较强的负相关性.3)X射线和γ射线波段的平均光谱指数与X射线和γ射线辐射流量密度在高态和平均态时均无显著的相关性.4)γ射线波段的平均光谱指数与X射线辐射流量密度的低态有较强的负相关性.X射线波段的平均光谱指数与γ射线波段的流量密度的低态之间也存在弱相关性.分析结果支持BL Lac天体的X射线和γ射线辐射可能来自同一相对论电子分布的同步辐射和同步自康普顿(SSC)辐射.     

Cyg X-3X光子场对γ射线的吸收效应

本文详细讨论了X射线双星Cyg X-3 的X光子场对γ射线的吸收效应.计算结果表明:当Cyg x-3 的X光子发射场处于高态时,从致密中子星附近发射的能量为10~2—10~4MeV的γ射线约有60％被其吸收,吸收过程产生的正负电子的逆Compton 散射会使出射能量10—70MeV的γ射线强度平均增加约50％.计算的γ射线能谱与实验观测结果基本相符.     

γ射线暴X射线耀发的研究进展

射线暴是宇宙中恒星尺度的最剧烈爆发现象。γ射线暴瞬时辐射结束后,进入余辉辐射阶段。X射线耀发是γ射线暴X射线辐射衰减过程中出现的短时标闪耀现象。X射线耀发的脉冲轮廓具有不对称性,其上升时标小于下降时标。在部分γ射线暴中,X射线耀发的亮度达到瞬时辐射的亮度。X射线耀发的持续时间与峰值时间具有线性关系。X射线耀发的光谱比X射线余辉的光谱硬。早期X射线耀发与晚期X射线耀发相比,其脉冲轮廓较窄,光谱较硬。X射线耀发产生的物理过程类似于γ射线暴瞬时辐射的物理过程。在火球(fireball)模型中,内部壳层之间发生碰撞,产生的内激波加速电子,电子的同步辐射产生X射线耀发。当火球扫过星际介质,外激波加速电子时,电子的同步辐射也可产生X射线耀发。在光球(photospere)模型中,能量耗散发生在光学厚的区域,热辐射的光谱峰值落在X射线能段附近,γ射线暴的喷流在光球半径处会产生X射线耀发。如果γ射线暴喷流由坡印亭能流主导,喷流就会与星际介质相互作用,磁场的不稳定性使磁场发生耗散,产生的能量形成X射线耀发。γ射线暴的喷流具有几何效应。一部分同步辐射可能发生在喷流辐射面的高纬度处。由于曲率效应(curva...     

γ射线暴的时变分析

γ射线暴是天空中突然的硬X射线/γ射线爆发现象,有着非常复杂的光变曲线。由于光变现象和辐射过程直接相关,因此,研究γ射线暴的时变规律是非常重要的。对γ射线暴的一些时变现象以及通过时变研究得出的分类、脉冲形状、功率谱、时间演化、光度等性质进行了总结,并对一些结果进行了讨论。     

天鹅座X-3的高能γ射线

对欧洲γ天文卫星COS-B数据的分析迄今未能发现在天鹅座X-3位置上存在着γ射线点源,从1977年6月到1980年6月,COS-B对Cyg-X天区进行了三次观测,各次观测的主要参数见表1,在第22次观测和第36次观测期间,天鹅区X-3大部分时间处于X辐射低态,各自只有6天左右处于高态;在第51次观测期间,大部分时间为X辐射高态,只有7天左右处于低态。     

BATSEγ射线暴和太阳硬X射线暴的强度和时间特征

本文研究了CGRO卫星上BATSE探测器对硬X天空监测过程中触发和记录到的1 0 0 0多个γ暴和 40 0 0多个太阳硬X射线暴的强度和时间性质 ,发现它们的强度分布相似 ,这也许意味着硬X射线天空中两种主要的爆发现象机制相似 ,同时对将γ暴的强度分布作为其宇宙学起源的证据提出了疑问 .对太阳暴的持续时间分析表明 ,其强度和持续时间呈正相关 ,而γ暴是弱负相关 .太阳暴的强度和持续时间在BATSE运行过程中有长时标变化 ,最近对γ暴的研究也发现了这种现象     

Geminga脉冲星的COS-B和HEAO-B卫星资料分析

本文利用COS-B和HEAO-B卫星资料对Geminga脉冲星进行了守时性分析和谱分析,结果进一步证实了Geminga脉冲星是一颗具有强γ辐射,弱X辐射的γ射线脉冲星.     

康普顿化的计算-推广的Kompaneets方程与Monte Carlo方法比较

在X射线天文学以及辐射物理学中,当硬X射线穿过" 冷"的等离子体时所发生的Compton软化是一种重要的辐射转移过程.简要介绍推广的Kompaneets方程,该方程在hv〈mec2及kTe〈mec2较宽松的条件下广泛成立,因此不仅能处理Compton硬化过程,而且也适用于Compton软化过程,后者在目前快速发展的X射线和γ射线天文学中十分重要.基于此方程,我们对天体物理中4种常见辐射谱(Gauss型发射谱线、黑体辐射谱、幂律辐射谱和热轫致辐射谱)在Compton软化情况下的谱演化进行了数值求解,并同Monte Carlo模拟结果做比较,证实了推广的Kompaneets方程的正确性和有效性.最后指出此方程在X射线天文学和γ射线天文学中的重要意义和潜在应用.     

特殊类型脉冲星的研究进展

脉冲星是演化末期的大质量恒星经过核坍缩形成的产物,它们在天体物理学、粒子物理学和卫星导航等方面具有重要的应用。自脉冲星发现50年来,其观测和理论研究取得了巨大进展。脉冲星主要在射电波段被探测到,部分脉冲星也有X射线和γ射线等波段的辐射,它们的信息非常丰富。根据其不同的观测特征可以把脉冲星分为多种类型。主要对射电、X射线以及γ射线波段的特殊类型脉冲星,包括旋转射电暂现源、间歇脉冲星、态转换X射线脉冲星、磁星、暗X射线孤立中子星、中心致密天体以及γ射线脉冲星的基本性质及其研究进展进行综述。     

3C 454.3伽玛射线和近红外辐射延时分析

2008年秋天,3C 454.3在γ射线能段和光学波段呈现出非常大的爆发,在这次爆发过程中Fermi/LAT和SMARTS都对其进行了观测.通过对γ射线能段与SMARTS J及B波段在这次大爆发期间获得的光变数据进行细致的DCF分析发现:这段时期内3C 454.3的J波段光变落后γ射线光变大约2 d.在进行相关性分析过程中,对DCF做了稍许改进,得到一种改进的DCF-时间变换的离散相关函数(TDCF).TDCF的峰值在T=-1.66 d,无论是对TDCF取重心还是用非对称的高斯函数拟合,其结果都显示3C 454.3的J波段光变落后γ射线光变大约2d.FR/RSS Monte Carlo模拟结果也显示γ射线领先近红外(光学)光变.如果这个延时是由于电子辐射冷却产生的,那么逆康普顿散射的"种子"光子能量不能大于1.1 eV.这个延时也可能是由于辐射区域的大小不同引起的,2 d的延时反映了两个波段辐射区域的几何性质.高能与低能波段光变有较强的相关性证明这两个波段的辐射是由同一辐射区域产生的:γ射线辐射来自于辐射区域的内部,近红外辐射来自于包括γ射线辐射区域在内的更大区域.由于近红外的辐射区域大于γ射线辐射区域,引起光变的相对论激波传播到整个近红外辐射区域比传播到整个γ射线辐射区域所用的时间长;因此,观测到了J波段光变落后γ射线光变的现象.通过结构函数分析得到的两个波段的光变时标相差约2.5 d,这与大约2 d的延时符合得很好.     

High resolution images of Cygnus X-1

The classic black hole candidate Cygnus X-1 exhibits many similarities to Galactic jet sources (micro-quasars) in soft gamma and hard X-ray rays. This has fuelled suspicions that radio jets also may be present in Cygnus X-1. The lack of radio flaring in Cygnus X-1 has been associated with the presence of continuous jets rather than multiple plasmon ejection however no evidence for this has been observed with the VLA, or with MERLIN. Recent VLBA observations at 15 GHz have detected extended emission and further multi frequency observations are required to confirm the presence of jets on a milliarcsecond level.     

A complete relativistic ionized accretion disc in Cygnus X-1

The galactic black hole candidate Cygnus X-1 is observed to be in one of two X-ray spectral states: either the low/hard (low soft X-ray flux and a flat power-law tail) or high/soft (high blackbody-like soft X-ray flux and a steep power-law tail) state. The physical origin of these two states is unclear. We present here a model of an ionized accretion disc, the spectrum of which is blurred by relativistic effects, and fit it to the ASCA , Ginga and EXOSAT data of Cygnus X-1 in both spectral states. We confirm that relativistic blurring provides a much better fit to the low/hard state data and, contrary to some previous results, find the data of both states to be consistent with an ionized thin accretion disc with a reflected fraction of unity extending to the innermost stable circular orbit around the black hole. Our model is an alternative to those that, in the low/hard state, require the accretion disc to be truncated at a few tens of Schwarzschild radii, within which there is a Thomson-thin, hot accretion flow. We suggest a mechanism that may cause the changes in spectral state.     

The violent past of Cygnus X-2

Cygnus X-2 appears to be the descendant of an intermediate-mass X-ray binary (IMXB). Using Mazzitelli's stellar code we compute detailed evolutionary sequences for the system and find that its prehistory is sensitive to stellar input parameters, in particular the amount of core overshooting during the main-sequence phase. With standard assumptions for convective overshooting a case B mass transfer starting with a 3.5-M_⊙ donor star is the most likely evolutionary solution for Cygnus X-2. This makes the currently observed state rather short-lived, of order 3 Myr, and requires a formation rate > 10⁻⁷–10⁻⁶ yr⁻¹ of such systems in the Galaxy. Our calculations show that neutron star IMXBs with initially more massive donors (≳4 M_⊙) encounter a delayed dynamical instability; they are unlikely to survive this rapid mass transfer phase. We determine limits for the age and initial parameters of Cygnus X-2 and calculate possible dynamical orbits of the system in a realistic Galactic potential, given its observed radial velocity. We find trajectories which are consistent with a progenitor binary on a circular orbit in the Galactic plane inside the solar circle that received a kick velocity ≤200 km s⁻¹ at the birth of the neutron star. The simulations suggest that about 7 per cent of IMXBs receiving an arbitrary kick velocity from a standard kick velocity spectrum would end up in an orbit similar to Cygnus X-2, while about 10 per cent of them reach yet larger Galactocentric distances.     

On the evolution of the cosmic supernova rates

The Galactic radio-emitting X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 is known to be a source of large-scale radio jets associated with periods of intense radio flaring. These jets have been found to have an expansion velocity of ∼0.3 c and are believed (on kinematic grounds) to lie close to the plane of the sky. We present new observations of Cygnus X-3 using the VLBA at 15 GHz. These observations, which included the detection of two small flares, show an additional kind of behaviour with apparent superluminal expansion along both major and minor axes. Evidence for superluminal activity has been found in a number of X-ray binary systems such as GRS 1915+105 and GRO J1655−40 with their superluminal radio jets. Apparently similar morphologies of the Galactic and extragalactic jet sources have led to the X-ray binaries being described as 'micro-quasars'. The superluminal expansion seen in our results appears to be different in nature from these other two sources, and a number of mechanisms are presented and discussed.     

X-ray spectroscopy of Cygnus X-3

We have analysed the X-ray spectra of the highly variable X-ray source Cygnus X-3 over a wide energy range from 5 keV to 150 keV using data selected from the RXTE archives. Separate analysis of the low and hard states show the presence of a hard powerlaw tail in both the states. Here we present the result of the wide band spectral study of the source.     

Opening angles, Lorentz factors and confinement of X-ray binary jets

We present a collation of the available data on the opening angles of jets in X-ray binaries, which in most cases are small (≲10°). Under the assumption of no confinement, we calculate the Lorentz factors required to produce such small opening angles via the transverse relativistic Doppler effect. The derived Lorentz factors, which are in most cases lower limits, are found to be large, with a mean >10, comparable to those estimated for active galactic nuclei (AGN) and much higher than the commonly assumed values for X-ray binaries of 2–5. Jet power constraints do not, in most cases, rule out such high Lorentz factors. The upper limits on the opening angles show no evidence for smaller Lorentz factors in the steady jets of Cygnus X-1 and GRS 1915+105. In those sources in which deceleration has been observed (notably  XTE J1550−564  and Cygnus X-3), some confinement of the jets must be occurring, and we briefly discuss possible confinement mechanisms. It is however possible that all the jets could be confined, in which case the requirement for high bulk Lorentz factors can be relaxed.     

Normal-branch quasi-periodic oscillations during the high-intensity state of Cygnus X-2

Using data obtained with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer , we report the detection of a 5-Hz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the bright low-mass X-ray binary and Z source Cygnus X-2 during high overall intensities (the high-intensity state). This QPO was detected on the so-called normal-branch and can be identified with the normal-branch QPO or NBO. Our detection of the NBO is the first one during times when Cygnus X-2 was in the high-intensity state. The rms amplitude of this QPO decreased from 2.8 per cent between 2 and 3.1 keV to <1.9 per cent between 5.0 and 6.5 keV. Above 6.5 keV, its amplitude rapidly increased to ∼12 per cent rms above 16 keV. The time lags of the QPO were consistent with being zero below 5 keV (compared with the 2–3.1 keV band), but they rapidly increased to ∼70 ms (140°) around 10 keV, above which the time lags remained approximately constant near 70 ms. The photon energy dependences of the rms amplitude and the time lags are very similar to those observed for the NBO with other satellites ( Ginga , EXOSAT ) at different (i.e. lower) intensity states.     

The nature of the hard state of Cygnus X-3

The X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 (Cyg X-3) is a highly variable X-ray source that displays a wide range of observed spectral states. One of the main states is significantly harder than the others, peaking at ∼20 keV, with only a weak low-energy component. Due to the enigmatic nature of this object, hidden inside the strong stellar wind of its Wolf–Rayet companion, it has remained unclear whether this state represents an intrinsic hard state, with truncation of the inner disc, or whether it is just a result of increased local absorption. We study the X-ray light curves from RXTE /ASM and CGRO /BATSE in terms of distributions and correlations of flux and hardness and find several signs of a bimodal behaviour of the accretion flow that are not likely to be the result of increased absorption in a surrounding medium. Using INTEGRAL observations, we model the broad-band spectrum of Cyg X-3 in its apparent hard state. We find that it can be well described by a model of a hard state with a truncated disc, despite the low cut-off energy, provided the accreted power is supplied to the electrons in the inner flow in the form of acceleration rather than thermal heating, resulting in a hybrid electron distribution and a spectrum with a significant contribution from non-thermal Comptonization, usually observed only in soft states. The high luminosity of this non-thermal hard state implies that either the transition takes place at significantly higher   L / L _E  than in the usual advection models, or the mass of the compact object is  ≳20 M_⊙  , possibly making it the most-massive black hole observed in an X-ray binary in our Galaxy so far. We find that an absorption model as well as a model of almost pure Compton reflection also fit the data well, but both have difficulties explaining other results, in particular the radio/X-ray correlation.     

吸积双星系统发射的511keV正负电子湮灭线

正负电子湮灭形成的511keV线谱是高能天体物理学光子能谱中的重要成分.本文通过Monte Carlo计算,研究了吸积双星系统(典型的如 CygX-3)中的正负电子湮灭过程.结果表明,一定物理环境下吸积双星系统可以发射较窄的正负电子湮灭线,它的流强和宽度依赖于双星系统发射的高能γ光子的强度大小,X射线晕的状态、尺度和温度分布以及吸积盘中电子的密度大小和分布.本文也讨论了现代的实验(如GRO卫星上的OSSE探测器)观测它的可能性.     

Search for 12.6 millisecond periodicity in TeV gamma rays from Cygnus X-3

Cygnus X-3, an X-ray binary with an orbital period 4.8 hr was seen to be emitting γ-rays with the same period at TeV energies by several groups. In addition the Durham group (Chadwicket al. 1985) published their observations on the existence of a pulsar in the Cyg X-3 system, emitting TeV γ-rays with a periodicity of approximately 12.6 ms. We observed this object during 1986 October-November and did not detect any pulsed emission of TeV γ-rays in the range of periods from 12.5850 to 12.5967 ms.