Trust snapshot

Quick read

Trust 21 - EmergingVerification L1Unclaimed author
42works
0followers
17topics
4close collaborators

Actions

Decide how to stay connected

Follow researcher0

Identity and collaboration

How to connect with this researcher

Claiming links this public author record to a researcher profile and unlocks direct collaboration workflows.

Log in to claim

Direct collaboration

Open a focused conversation when the fit is right

Claim this author entity first to unlock direct invitations.

Research graph

See the researcher in context

Open full explorer

Inspect adjacent work, topics, institutions and collaborators without jumping out to a separate graph page.

Building this graph slice

BZPEER is loading the nearby papers, people, topics and institutions for this page.

Published work

42 published item(s)

preprint2026arXiv

CAX-Agent: A Lightweight Agent Harness for Reliable APDL Automation

Large language models deployed for MAPDL finite-element simulation face practical reliability challenges: without structured execution control, tool encapsulation, and fault recovery, outputs may be inconsistent and task failures are common. The Agent Harness paradigm addresses this by inserting domain-specific orchestration middleware that manages tool lifecycles, workflow state, and recovery escalation. This paper presents the architecture of CAX-Agent, a lightweight agent harness purpose-built for MAPDL automation, and empirically evaluates one of its core components -- the recovery policy.CAX-Agent organizes execution into three layers -- LLM service, agent harness, and solver backend -- with a recovery ladder that escalates from deterministic rule patching through model-driven regeneration to context enrichment and human intervention. We evaluate three recovery strategies (no_recovery, rule_only, and model_only) on 50 standard structural benchmarks with three repeated runs per strategy (450 case-runs total). Two independent human raters score task completion under blind conditions; inter-rater agreement is strong (quadratic weighted Cohen's kappa = 0.84, 96 percent of score pairs within one point). Model_only achieves the best completion rate (0.9267), task score (3.59/4), total score (9.16/10), and zero-intervention rate (0.84), outperforming rule_only (0.7733, 3.17/4, 7.03/10, 0.00) and no_recovery (0.6933, 2.74/4, 5.60/10, 0.00) with large effect sizes (Cliff's delta = 0.81-0.87). The benchmark uses deliberately simple geometries to isolate recovery-policy effects; we discuss the scope of these findings and directions for broader validation.

preprint2026arXiv

Local linearization for the nonlinear damped stochastic Klein-Gordon equation

For the $1+1$ dimensional nonlinear damped stochastic Klein-Gordon equation driven by space-time white noise, we prove that the second-order increments of the solution can be approximated, after scaling with the diffusion coefficient, by those of the corresponding linearized stochastic Klein-Gordon equation. This extends the result of Huang et al. \cite{HOO2024} for the stochastic wave equation. A key difficulty arises from the more complex structure of the Green function, which we overcome by means of subtle analytical estimates. As applications, we analyze the quadratic variation of the solution and construct a consistent estimator for the diffusion parameter.

preprint2026arXiv

RecruitScope: A Visual Analytics System for Multidimensional Recruitment Data Analysis

Online recruitment platforms have become the dominant channel for modern hiring, yet most platforms offer only basic filtering capabilities, such as job title, keyword, and salary range. This hinders comprehensive analysis of multi-attribute relationships and job market patterns across different scales. We present RecruitScope, a visual analytics system designed to support multidimensional and cross-level exploration of recruitment data for job seekers and employers, particularly HR specialists. Through coordinated visualizations, RecruitScope enables users to analyze job positions and salary patterns from multiple perspectives, interpret industry dynamics at the macro level, and identify emerging positions at the micro level. We demonstrate the effectiveness of RecruitScope through case studies that reveal regional salary distribution patterns, characterize industry growth trajectories, and discover high-demand emerging roles in the job market.

preprint2025arXiv

Conch: Competitive Debate Analysis via Visualizing Clash Points and Hierarchical Strategies

In-depth analysis of competitive debates is essential for participants to develop argumentative skills and refine strategies, and further improve their debating performance. However, manual analysis of unstructured and unlabeled textual records of debating is time-consuming and ineffective, as it is challenging to reconstruct contextual semantics and track logical connections from raw data. To address this, we propose Conch, an interactive visualization system that systematically analyzes both what is debated and how it is debated. In particular, we propose a novel parallel spiral visualization that compactly traces the multidimensional evolution of clash points and participant interactions throughout debate process. In addition, we leverage large language models with well-designed prompts to automatically identify critical debate elements such as clash points, disagreements, viewpoints, and strategies, enabling participants to understand the debate context comprehensively. Finally, through two case studies on real-world debates and a carefully-designed user study, we demonstrate Conch's effectiveness and usability for competitive debate analysis.

preprint2025arXiv

Ultrahigh-Energy Gamma-ray Emission Associated with Black Hole-Jet Systems

Black holes (BH), one of the most intriguing objects in the universe, can manifest themselves through electromagnetic radiation initiated by the accretion flow. Some stellar-mass BHs drive relativistic jets when accreting matter from their companion stars, forming microquasars. Non-thermal emission from the radio to tera-electronvolt (TeV) gamma-ray band has been observed from microquasars, indicating the acceleration of relativistic particles. Here we report detection of four microquasars (SS 433, V4641 Sgr, GRS 1915+105, MAXI J1820+070) of spectrum extending to the ultrahigh-energy (UHE; photon energy $E>100$ TeV) band and one microquasar (Cygnus X-1) of spectrum approaching 100 TeV, using the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). Notably, the total emission associated with SS 433 cannot be interpreted with a single leptonic component. In the UHE band, its emission is in spatial coincidence with a giant atomic cloud, which is consistent with a hadronic origin. An elongated source is discovered from V4641 Sgr with the spectrum continuing up to 800 TeV. The detection of UHE gamma rays demonstrates that accreting BHs and their environments can operate as extremely efficient accelerators of particles out of 1 peta-electronvolt (PeV), suggesting microquasars to be important contributors to Galactic cosmic rays especially around the `knee' region.

preprint2024arXiv

Optically Helicity-Dependent Orbital and Spin Dynamics in Two-Dimensional Ferromagnets

Disentangling orbital (OAM) and spin (SAM) angular momenta in the ultrafast spin dynamics of two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnets on subfemtoseconds is a challenge in the field of ultrafast magnetism. Herein, we employed non-collinear spin version of real-time time-dependent density functional theory to investigate the orbital and spin dynamics of 2D ferromagnets Fe3GeTe2 (FGT) induced by circularly polarized light. Our results show the demagnetization of Fe sublattice in FGT is accompanied by helicity-dependent precession of OAM and SAM excited by circularly polarized lasers. We further identify that precession of OAM and SAM in FGT is faster than the demagnetization within a few femtoseconds. Remarkably, circularly polarized lasers can significantly induce a periodically transverse response of OAM and SAM on very ultrafast timescales of ~250 attoseconds. Our finding suggests a powerful new route for attosecond regimes of the angular momentum manipulation to coherently control helicity-dependent orbital and spin dynamics in 2D limits.

preprint2022arXiv

A large deviation principle for the stochastic heat equation with general rough noise

We study Freidlin-Wentzell's large deviation principle for one dimensional nonlinear stochastic heat equation driven by a Gaussian noise: $$\frac{\partial u^\varepsilon(t,x)}{\partial t} = \frac{\partial^2 u^\varepsilon(t,x)}{\partial x^2}+\sqrt{\varepsilon} σ(t, x, u^\varepsilon(t,x))\dot{W}(t,x),\quad t> 0,\, x\in\mathbb{R},$$ where $\dot W$ is white in time and fractional in space with Hurst parameter $H\in(\frac 14,\frac 12)$. Recently, Hu and Wang ({\it Ann. Inst. Henri Poincaré Probab. Stat.} {\bf 58} (2022) 379-423) studied the well-posedness of this equation without the technical condition of $σ(0)=0$ which was previously assumed in Hu et al. ({\it Ann. Probab}. {\bf 45} (2017) 4561-4616). We adopt a new sufficient condition proposed by Matoussi et al. ({\it Appl. Math. Optim.} \textbf{83} (2021) 849-879) for the weak convergence criterion of the large deviation principle.

preprint2022arXiv

A Review of Generalized Zero-Shot Learning Methods

Generalized zero-shot learning (GZSL) aims to train a model for classifying data samples under the condition that some output classes are unknown during supervised learning. To address this challenging task, GZSL leverages semantic information of the seen (source) and unseen (target) classes to bridge the gap between both seen and unseen classes. Since its introduction, many GZSL models have been formulated. In this review paper, we present a comprehensive review on GZSL. Firstly, we provide an overview of GZSL including the problems and challenges. Then, we introduce a hierarchical categorization for the GZSL methods and discuss the representative methods in each category. In addition, we discuss the available benchmark data sets and applications of GZSL, along with a discussion on the research gaps and directions for future investigations.

preprint2022arXiv

A Review of the Family of Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithms: Recent Advances and Applications

The Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm (AFSA) is inspired by the ecological behaviors of fish schooling in nature, viz., the preying, swarming and following behaviors. Owing to a number of salient properties, which include flexibility, fast convergence, and insensitivity to the initial parameter settings, the family of AFSA has emerged as an effective Swarm Intelligence (SI) methodology that has been widely applied to solve real-world optimization problems. Since its introduction in 2002, many improved and hybrid AFSA models have been developed to tackle continuous, binary, and combinatorial optimization problems. This paper aims to present a concise review of the continuous AFSA, encompassing the original ASFA, its improvements and hybrid models, as well as their associated applications. We focus on articles published in high-quality journals since 2013. Our review provides insights into AFSA parameters modifications, procedures and sub-functions. The main reasons for these enhancements and the comparison results with other hybrid methods are discussed. In addition, hybrid, multi-objective and dynamic AFSA models that have been proposed to solve continuous optimization problems are elucidated. We also analyse possible AFSA enhancements and highlight future research directions for advancing AFSA-based models.

preprint2022arXiv

Adversarial Learning with Cost-Sensitive Classes

It is necessary to improve the performance of some special classes or to particularly protect them from attacks in adversarial learning. This paper proposes a framework combining cost-sensitive classification and adversarial learning together to train a model that can distinguish between protected and unprotected classes, such that the protected classes are less vulnerable to adversarial examples. We find in this framework an interesting phenomenon during the training of deep neural networks, called Min-Max property, that is, the absolute values of most parameters in the convolutional layer approach zero while the absolute values of a few parameters are significantly larger becoming bigger. Based on this Min-Max property which is formulated and analyzed in a view of random distribution, we further build a new defense model against adversarial examples for adversarial robustness improvement. An advantage of the built model is that it performs better than the standard one and can combine with adversarial training to achieve an improved performance. It is experimentally confirmed that, regarding the average accuracy of all classes, our model is almost as same as the existing models when an attack does not occur and is better than the existing models when an attack occurs. Specifically, regarding the accuracy of protected classes, the proposed model is much better than the existing models when an attack occurs.

preprint2022arXiv

CHANG-ES XXV: HI Imaging of Nearby Edge-on Galaxies -- Data Release 4

We present the HI distribution of galaxies from the Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies - an EVLA Survey (CHANG-ES). Though the observational mode was not optimized for detecting HI, we successfully produce HI cubes for 19 galaxies. The moment-0 maps from this work are available on CHANG-ES data release website, i.e., https://www.queensu.ca/changes. Our sample is dominated by star-forming, HI-rich galaxies at distances from 6.27 to 34.1 Mpc. HI interferometric images on two of these galaxies (NGC 5792 and UGC 10288) are presented here for the first time, while 12 of our remaining sample galaxies now have better HI spatial resolutions and/or sensitivities of intensity maps than those in existing publications. We characterize the average scale heights of the HI distributions for a subset of most inclined galaxies (inclination > 80 deg), and compare them to the radio continuum intensity scale heights, which have been derived in a similar way. The two types of scale heights are well correlated, with similar dependence on disk radial extension and star formation rate surface density but different dependence on mass surface density. This result indicates that the vertical distribution of the two components may be governed by similar fundamental physics but with subtle differences.

preprint2022arXiv

Constraining galaxy overdensities around three z~6.5 quasars with ALMA and MUSE

We quantify galaxy overdensities around three high-redshift quasars with known [CII] 158um companions: PJ231-20 (z=6.59), PJ308-21 (z=6.24) and J0305-3150 (z=6.61). Recent SCUBA2 imaging revealed the presence of 17 submillimeter galaxies (SMG) with sky separations $0.7&#39;< θ< 2.4&#39;$ from these three quasars. We present ALMA Band 6 follow-up observations of these SCUBA2-selected SMGs to confirm their nature and redshift. We also search for continuum-undetected [CII] emitters in the ALMA pointings and make use of archival MUSE observations to search for Lyman-$α$ Emitters (LAE) associated with the quasars. While most of the SCUBA2-selected sources are detected with ALMA in the continuum, no [CII] line emission could be detected, indicating that they are not at the quasar redshifts. Based on the serendipitous detection of CO 7-6 and [CI] emission lines, we find that four SMGs in the field of PJ231-20 are at z~2.4, which is coincident with the redshift of a Mg II absorber in the quasar rest-frame UV spectrum. We report the discovery of 2 LAEs within <0.6 cMpc of PJ231-20 at the same redshift, indicating a LAE overdensity around this quasar. Taken together, these observations provide new constraints on the large-scale excess of Lyman-$α$- and [CII]-emitting galaxies around z>6 quasars and suggest that only wide-field observations, such as MUSE, ALMA or JWST mosaics, can reveal a comprehensive picture of large-scale structure around quasars in the first billion years of the Universe.

preprint2022arXiv

Exploring the radio spectral energy distribution of the ultraluminous radio-quiet quasar SDSS J0100+2802 at redshift 6.3

We report deep Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the optically ultraluminous and radio-quiet quasar SDSS J010013.02 + 280225.8 (hereafter J0100+2802) at redshift $z=$6.3. We detected the radio continuum emission at 1.5 GHz, 6 GHz, and 10 GHz. This leads to a radio power-law spectral index of $α= -0.52\pm0.18$ ($S \propto ν^α$). The radio source is unresolved in all VLA bands with an upper limit to the size of $0.2^{\prime \prime}$ (i.e., $\sim$ 1.1 kpc) at 10 GHz. We find variability in the flux density (increase by $\sim 33\%$) and the spectral index (steepened) between observations in 2016 and 2017. We also find that the VLA 1.5 GHz flux density observed in the same year is 1.5 times that detected with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) in 2016 at the same frequency. This difference suggests that half of the radio emission from J0100+2802 comes from a compact core within 40 pc, and the rest comes from the surrounding few kpc area which is diffuse and resolved out in the VLBA observations. The diffuse emission is four times brighter than that would be expected if driven by star formation. We conclude that the central active galactic nucleus is the dominant power engine of the radio emission in J0100+2802.

preprint2022arXiv

HI Vertical Structure of Nearby Edge-on Galaxies from CHANG-ES

We study the vertical distribution of the highly inclined galaxies from the Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies - an EVLA Survey (CHANG-ES). We explore the feasibility of photometrically deriving the HI disk scale-heights from the moment-0 images of the relatively edge-on galaxies with inclination >80 deg, by quantifying the systematic broadening effects and thus deriving correction equations for direct measurements. The corrected HI disk scale-heights of the relatively edge-on galaxies from the CHANG-ES sample show trends consistent with the quasi-equilibrium model of the vertical structure of gas disks. The procedure provide a convenient way to derive the scale-heights and can easily be applied to statistical samples in the future.

preprint2022arXiv

Incorporating Hidden Layer representation into Adversarial Attacks and Defences

In this paper, we propose a defence strategy to improve adversarial robustness by incorporating hidden layer representation. The key of this defence strategy aims to compress or filter input information including adversarial perturbation. And this defence strategy can be regarded as an activation function which can be applied to any kind of neural network. We also prove theoretically the effectiveness of this defense strategy under certain conditions. Besides, incorporating hidden layer representation we propose three types of adversarial attacks to generate three types of adversarial examples, respectively. The experiments show that our defence method can significantly improve the adversarial robustness of deep neural networks which achieves the state-of-the-art performance even though we do not adopt adversarial training.

preprint2022arXiv

Ionized Outflows in Nearby Quasars are Poorly Coupled to their Host Galaxies

We analyze Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer observations of nine low-redshift (z < 0.1) Palomar-Green quasar host galaxies to investigate the spatial distribution and kinematics of the warm, ionized interstellar medium, with the goal of searching for and constraining the efficiency of active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. After separating the bright AGN from the starlight and nebular emission, we use pixel-wise, kpc-scale diagnostics to determine the underlying excitation mechanism of the line emission, and we measure the kinematics of the narrow-line region (NLR) to estimate the physical properties of the ionized outflows. The radial size of the NLR correlates with the AGN luminosity, reaching scales of $\sim 5\,$kpc and beyond. The geometry of the NLR is well-represented by a projected biconical structure, suggesting that the AGN radiation preferably escapes through the ionization cone. We find enhanced velocity dispersions ($\sim 100\,$km$\,$s$^{-1}$) traced by the H$α$ emission line in localized zones within the ionization cones. Interpreting these kinematic features as signatures of interaction between an AGN-driven ionized gas outflow and the host galaxy interstellar medium, we derive mass outflow rates of $\sim 0.008-1.6\, M_\odot \,$yr$^{-1}$ and kinetic injection rates of $\sim 10^{39}-10^{42} \,$erg$\,$s$^{-1}$, which yield extremely low coupling efficiencies of $\lesssim 10^{-3}$. These findings add to the growing body of recent observational evidence that AGN feedback is highly ineffective in the host galaxies of nearby AGNs.

preprint2022arXiv

Learned Lossless Image Compression With Combined Autoregressive Models And Attention Modules

Lossless image compression is an essential research field in image compression. Recently, learning-based image compression methods achieved impressive performance compared with traditional lossless methods, such as WebP, JPEG2000, and FLIF. However, there are still many impressive lossy compression methods that can be applied to lossless compression. Therefore, in this paper, we explore the methods widely used in lossy compression and apply them to lossless compression. Inspired by the impressive performance of the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) shown in lossy compression, we generate a lossless network architecture with GMM. Besides noticing the successful achievements of attention modules and autoregressive models, we propose to utilize attention modules and add an extra autoregressive model for raw images in our network architecture to boost the performance. Experimental results show that our approach outperforms most classical lossless compression methods and existing learning-based methods.

preprint2022arXiv

Molecular gas in z~6 quasar host galaxies

We investigate the molecular gas content of z~6 quasar host galaxies using the IRAM / Northern Extended Millimeter Array. We target the 3mm dust continuum, and the line emission from CO(6-5), CO(7-6), [CI]2-1 in 10 infra-red-luminous quasars that have been previously studied in their 1mm dust continuum and [CII] line emission. We detect CO(7-6) at various degrees of significance in all the targeted sources, thus doubling the number of such detections in z~6 quasars. The 3mm to 1mm flux density ratios are consistent with a modified black body spectrum with a dust temperature $T_{dust}$~47 K and an optical depth $τ_ν$=0.2 at the [CII] frequency. Our study provides us with four independent ways to estimate the molecular gas mass, $M_{H2}$, in the targeted quasars. This allows us to set constraints on various parameters used in the derivation of molecular gas mass estimates, such as the mass per luminosity ratios $α_{CO}$ and $α_{[CII]}$, the gas-to-dust ratio $δ_{g/d}$, and the carbon abundance [C]/H2. Leveraging either on the dust, CO, [CI], or [CII] emission yields mass estimates of the entire sample in the range $M_{H2}$~$10^{10}$ to $10^{11}$ M$_{\odot}$. We compare the observed luminosities of dust, [CII], [CI], and CO(7-6) with predictions from photo-dissociation and X-ray dominated regions. We find that the former provide better model fits to our data, assuming that the bulk of the emission arises from dense ($n_H>10^4$ cm$^{-3}$) clouds with a column density $N_{H}$~$10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$, exposed to a radiation field with intensity $G_0$~$10^3$ (in Habing units). Our analysis reiterates the presence of massive reservoirs of molecular gas fueling star formation and nuclear accretion in $z$~6 quasar host galaxies. It also highlights the power of combined 3mm and 1mm observations for quantitative studies of the dense gas content in massive galaxies at cosmic dawn.

preprint2022arXiv

On the Search for Feedback in Reinforcement Learning

The problem of Reinforcement Learning (RL) in an unknown nonlinear dynamical system is equivalent to the search for an optimal feedback law utilizing the simulations/ rollouts of the dynamical system. Most RL techniques search over a complex global nonlinear feedback parametrization making them suffer from high training times as well as variance. Instead, we advocate searching over a local feedback representation consisting of an open-loop sequence, and an associated optimal linear feedback law completely determined by the open-loop. We show that this alternate approach results in highly efficient training, the answers obtained are repeatable and hence reliable, and the resulting closed performance is superior to global state-of-the-art RL techniques. Finally, if we replan, whenever required, which is feasible due to the fast and reliable local solution, it allows us to recover global optimality of the resulting feedback law.

preprint2022arXiv

RumorLens: Interactive Analysis and Validation of Suspected Rumors on Social Media

With the development of social media, various rumors can be easily spread on the Internet and such rumors can have serious negative effects on society. Thus, it has become a critical task for social media platforms to deal with suspected rumors. However, due to the lack of effective tools, it is often difficult for platform administrators to analyze and validate rumors from a large volume of information on a social media platform efficiently. We have worked closely with social media platform administrators for four months to summarize their requirements of identifying and analyzing rumors, and further proposed an interactive visual analytics system, RumorLens, to help them deal with the rumor efficiently and gain an in-depth understanding of the patterns of rumor spreading. RumorLens integrates natural language processing (NLP) and other data processing techniques with visualization techniques to facilitate interactive analysis and validation of suspected rumors. We propose well-coordinated visualizations to provide users with three levels of details of suspected rumors: an overview displays both spatial distribution and temporal evolution of suspected rumors; a projection view leverages a metaphor-based glyph to represent each suspected rumor and further enable users to gain a quick understanding of their overall characteristics and similarity with each other; a propagation view visualizes the dynamic spreading details of a suspected rumor with a novel circular visualization design, and facilitates interactive analysis and validation of rumors in a compact manner. By using a real-world dataset collected from Sina Weibo, one case study with a domain expert is conducted to evaluate

preprint2022arXiv

Spatially resolved molecular interstellar medium in a $z=6.6$ quasar host galaxy

We present high spatial resolution (0.4&#34;, 2.2kpc) observations of the CO(6-5), CO(7-6) and [CI] lines and dust continuum emission from the interstellar medium in the host galaxy of the quasar J0305$-$3150 at $z=6.6$. These, together with archival [CII] data at comparable spatial resolution, enable studies of the spatial distribution and kinematics between the ISM in different phases. When comparing the radial profiles of CO, [CII] and the dust continuum, we find that the CO and dust continuum exhibit similar spatial distributions, both of which are less extended than the [CII], indicating that the CO and dust continuum are tracing the same gas component, while the [CII] is tracing a more extended one. In addition, we derive the radial profiles of the [CII]/CO, [CII]/far-infrared (FIR), CO/FIR, and dust continuum $S_{98.7 \rm GHz}/S_{258.1 \rm GHz}$ ratios. We find a decreasing $S_{98.7 \rm GHz}/S_{258.1 \rm GHz}$ ratio with radius, possibly indicating a decrease of dust optical depth with increasing radius. We also detect some of the ISM lines and continuum emission in the companion galaxies previously discovered in the field around J0305$-$3150. Through comparing the line-to-line and line-to-FIR ratios, we find no significant differences between the quasar and its companion galaxies.

preprint2022arXiv

ViT-P: Rethinking Data-efficient Vision Transformers from Locality

Recent advances of Transformers have brought new trust to computer vision tasks. However, on small dataset, Transformers is hard to train and has lower performance than convolutional neural networks. We make vision transformers as data-efficient as convolutional neural networks by introducing multi-focal attention bias. Inspired by the attention distance in a well-trained ViT, we constrain the self-attention of ViT to have multi-scale localized receptive field. The size of receptive field is adaptable during training so that optimal configuration can be learned. We provide empirical evidence that proper constrain of receptive field can reduce the amount of training data for vision transformers. On Cifar100, our ViT-P Base model achieves the state-of-the-art accuracy (83.16%) trained from scratch. We also perform analysis on ImageNet to show our method does not lose accuracy on large data sets.

preprint2021arXiv

Deep XMM-Newton Observations of an X-ray Weak, Broad Absorption Line Quasar at $z=6.5$

We report X-ray observations of the most distant known gravitationally lensed quasar, J0439+1634 at $z=6.52$, which is also a broad absorption line (BAL) quasar, using the XMM-Newton Observatory. With a 130 ks exposure, the quasar is significantly detected as a point source at the optical position with a total of 358$^{+19}_{-19}$ net counts using the EPIC instrument. By fitting a power-law plus Galactic absorption model to the observed spectra, we obtain a spectral slope of $Γ=1.45^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$. The derived optical-to-X-ray spectral slope $α_{\rm{ox}}$ is $-2.07^{+0.01}_{-0.01}$, suggesting that the X-ray emission of J0439+1634 is weaker by a factor of 18 than the expectation based on its 2500 Angstrom luminosity and the average $α_{\rm{ox}}$ vs. luminosity relationship. This is the first time that an X-ray weak BAL quasar at $z>6$ has been observed spectroscopically. Its X-ray weakness is consistent with the properties of BAL quasars at lower redshift. By fitting a model including an intrinsic absorption component, we obtain intrinsic column densities of $N_{\rm{H}}=2.8^{+0.7}_{-0.6}\times10^{23}\,\rm{cm}^{-2}$ and $N_{\rm{H}}= 4.3^{+1.8}_{-1.5}\times10^{23}\,\rm{cm}^{-2}$, assuming a fixed $Γ$ of 1.9 and a free $Γ$, respectively. The intrinsic rest-frame 2--10 keV luminosity is derived as $(9.4-15.1)\times10^{43}\,\rm{erg\,s}^{-1}$, after correcting for lensing magnification ($μ=51.3$). The absorbed power-law model fitting indicates that J0439+1634 is the highest redshift obscured quasar with a direct measurement of the absorbing column density. The intrinsic high column density absorption can reduce the X-ray luminosity by a factor of $3-7$, which also indicates that this quasar could be a candidate of intrinsically X-ray weak quasar.

preprint2021arXiv

The radio spectral turnover of radio-loud quasars at $z>5$

We present Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) S- (2--4 GHz), C- (4--8 GHz), and X-band (8--12 GHz) continuum observations toward seven radio-loud quasars at $z>5$. This sample has previously been found to exhibit spectral peaks at observed-frame frequencies above $\sim$1 GHz. We also present upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) band-2 (200 MHz), band-3 (400 MHz), and band-4 (650 MHz) radio continuum observations toward eight radio-loud quasars at $z>5$, selected from our previous GMRT survey, in order to sample their low-frequency synchrotron emission. Combined with archival radio continuum observations, all ten targets show evidence for spectral turnover. The turnover frequencies are $\sim$1--50 GHz in the rest frame, making these targets gigahertz-peaked-spectrum (GPS) or high-frequency-peaker (HFP) candidates. For the nine well-constrained targets with observations on both sides of the spectral turnover, we fit the entire radio spectrum with absorption models associated with synchrotron self-absorption and free-free absorption (FFA). Our results show that FFA in an external inhomogeneous medium can accurately describe the observed spectra for all nine targets, which may indicate an FFA origin for the radio spectral turnover in our sample. As for the complex spectrum of J114657.79+403708.6 at $z=5.00$ with two spectral peaks, it may be caused by multiple components (i.e., core-jet) and FFA by the high-density medium in the nuclear region. However, we cannot rule out the spectral turnover origin of variability. Based on our radio spectral modeling, we calculate the radio loudness $R_{2500\rm\, Å}$ for our sample, which ranges from 12$^{+1}_{-1}$ to 674$^{+61}_{-51}$.

preprint2020arXiv

AGN Feedback and Star Formation of Quasar Host Galaxies: Insights from the Molecular Gas

The molecular gas serves as a key probe of the complex interplay between black hole accretion and star formation in the host galaxies of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We use CO(2-1) observations from a new ALMA survey, in conjunction with literature measurements, to investigate the molecular gas properties of a representative sample of 40 z<0.3 Palomar-Green quasars, the largest and most sensitive study of molecular gas emission to date for nearby quasars. We find that the AGN luminosity correlates with both the CO luminosity and black hole mass, suggesting that AGN activity is loosely coupled to the cold gas reservoir of the host. The observed strong correlation between host galaxy total infrared luminosity and AGN luminosity arises from their common dependence on the molecular gas. We argue that the total infrared luminosity, at least for low-redshift quasars, can be used to derive reliable star formation rates for the host galaxy. The host galaxies of low-redshift quasars have molecular gas content similar to that of star-forming galaxies of comparable stellar mass. Moreover, they share similar gas kinematics, as evidenced by their CO Tully-Fisher relation and the absence of detectable molecular outflows down to sensitive limits. There is no sign that AGN feedback quenches star formation for the quasars in our sample. On the contrary, the abundant gas supply forms stars prodigiously, at a rate that places most of them above the star-forming main sequence and with an efficiency that rivals that of starburst systems.

preprint2020arXiv

Catching butterflies in the sky: Extended catalog of winged or X-shaped radio sources from the latest FIRST data release

We present a catalog of 290 &#34;winged&#34; or X-shaped radio galaxies (XRGs) extracted from the latest (2014 December 17) data release of the &#34;Very Large Array Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimeter.&#34; We have combined these radio images with their counterparts in the TIFR GMRT sky survey at 150 MHz, in an attempt to identify any low surface brightness radio emission present in these sources. This has enabled us to assemble a sample of 106 &#34;strong&#34; XRG candidates and 184 &#34;probable&#34; XRG candidates whose XRG designation needs to be verified by further observations. The present sample of 290 XRG candidates is almost twice as large as the number of XRGs currently known. Twenty-five of our 290 XRG candidates (9 &#34;strong&#34; and 16 &#34;probable&#34;) are identified as quasars. Double-peaked narrow emission lines are seen in the optical spectra of three of the XRG candidates (two &#34;strong&#34; and one &#34;probable&#34;). Nearly 90% of the sample is located in the FR II domain of the Owen-Ledlow diagram. A few of the strong XRG candidates have a rather flat radio spectrum (spectral index alpha flatter than -0.3) between 150 MHz and 1.4 GHz, or between 1.4 and 5 GHz. Since this is not expected for lobe-dominated extragalactic radio sources (like nearly all known XRGs), these sources are particularly suited for follow-up radio imaging and near-simultaneous measurement of the radio spectrum.

preprint2020arXiv

CIV emission line properties and uncertainties in black hole mass estimates of z ~ 3.5 quasars

Using a high luminosity ($L_{\rm bol} \sim 10^{47.5} - 10^{48.3}$ erg s$^{-1}$), high redshift ($3.2 < z < 3.8$) quasar sample of 19 quasars with optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, we investigate the reliability of the CIV-based black hole mass estimates ($M_{\rm BH}$). The median logarithm of the CIV- and H$β$-based $M_{\rm BH}$ ratios is 0.110 dex with the scatter of 0.647 dex. The CIV-to-H$β$ BH mass differences are significantly correlated with the CIV FWHMs, blueshifts and asymmetries. Corrections of the CIV FWHM using the blueshift and asymmetry reduce the scatter of the mass differences by $\sim$ 0.04-0.2 dex. Quasars in our sample accrete at the Eddington ratio $R_{\rm EDD}>0.3$ and cover a considerable range of blueshifts, with 18/19 of the quasars showing CIV blueshifts (with the median value of 1126 km s$^{-1}$) and 14/19 of the quasars showing CIV blueshifts larger than 500 km s$^{-1}$. It suggests that not all quasars with high Eddington ratios show large blueshifts. The Baldwin effect between the CIV rest-frame equivalent width (REW) and the continuum luminosity at 1350 $\overset{\lower.5em\circ}{\mathrm{A}}$ is not seen, likely due to the limited luminosity range of our sample. We find a lack of flux in the red wing of the composite spectrum with larger CIV blueshift, and detect a higher ratio of [OIII] quasars with REW$_{\rm [OIII]}>5$ $\overset{\lower.5em\circ}{\mathrm{A}}$ in the subsample with lower CIV blueshift. It is more likely that they are caused by the combination of the Eddington ratio and the orientation effect.

preprint2020arXiv

Constraining the quasar radio-loud fraction at $z \sim 6$ with deep radio observations

We carry out a series of deep Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) S-band observations of a sample of 21 quasars at $z\sim6$. The new observations expand the searches of radio continuum emission to the optically faint quasar population at the highest redshift with rest-frame $4400 \rm Å$ luminosities down to $3 \times10^{11} \ L_{\odot}$. We report the detections of two new radio-loud quasars: CFHQS J2242+0334 (hereafter J2242+0334) at $z=5.88$ and CFHQS J0227$-$0605 (hereafter J0227$-$0605) at $z=6.20$, detected with 3 GHz flux densities of $87.0 \pm 6.3 \ μ\rm Jy$ and $55.4 \pm 6.7 \ μ\rm Jy$, respectively. Their radio \replaced{loudness}{loudnesses} are estimated to be $54.9 \pm 4.7$ and $16.5 \pm 3.2$, respectively. To better constrain the radio-loud fraction (RLF), we combine the new measurements with the archival VLA L-band data as well as available data from the literature, considering the upper limits for non-detections and \deleted{and} possible selection effects. The final derived RLF is $9.4 \pm 5.7\%$ for the optically selected quasars at $z\sim6$. We also compare the RLF to that of the quasar samples at low redshift and check the RLF in different quasar luminosity bins. The RLF for the optically faint objects is still poorly constrained due to the limited sample size. Our \replaced{result}{results} show no evidence of significant quasar RLF evolution with redshift. There is also no clear trend of RLF evolution with quasar UV/optical luminosity due to the limited sample size of optically faint objects with deep radio observations.

preprint2020arXiv

Discovery of a [CI]-faint, CO-bright Galaxy: ALMA Observations of the Merging Galaxy NGC 6052

We report sensitive [\ion{C}{1}]~$^3P_1$--$^3P_0$ and $^{12}$CO~$J$=4--3 observations of the nearby merging galaxy NGC 6052 using the Morita (Atacama Compact) Array of ALMA. We detect $^{12}$CO~$J$=4--3 toward the northern part of NGC 6052, but [\ion{C}{1}]~$^3P_1$--$^3P_0$ is not detected with a [\ion{C}{1}]~$^3P_1$--$^3P_0$ to $^{12}$CO~$J$=4--3 line luminosity ratio of$~\lesssim0.07$. According to models of photodissociation regions, the unusual weakness of [\ion{C}{1}]~$^3P_1$--$^3P_0$ relative to $^{12}$CO~$J$=4--3 can be explained if the interstellar medium has a hydrogen density larger than $10^5\,{\rm cm}^{-3}$, conditions that might arise naturally in the ongoing merging process in NGC 6052. Its [\ion{C}{1}]~$^3P_1$--$^3P_0$ emission is also weaker than expected given the molecular gas mass inferred from previous measurements of $^{12}$CO~$J$=1--0 and $^{12}$CO~$J$=2--1. This suggests that [\ion{C}{1}]~$^3P_1$--$^3P_0$ may not be a reliable tracer of molecular gas mass in this galaxy. NGC 6052 is a unique laboratory to investigate how the merger process impacts the molecular gas distribution.

preprint2020arXiv

Distributed Energy Trading and Scheduling among Microgrids via Multiagent Reinforcement Learning

The development of renewable energy generation empowers microgrids to generate electricity to supply itself and to trade the surplus on energy markets. To minimize the overall cost, a microgrid must determine how to schedule its energy resources and electrical loads and how to trade with others. The control decisions are influenced by various factors, such as energy storage, renewable energy yield, electrical load, and competition from other microgrids. Making the optimal control decision is challenging, due to the complexity of the interconnected microgrids, the uncertainty of renewable energy generation and consumption, and the interplay among microgrids. The previous works mainly adopted the modeling-based approaches for deriving the control decision, yet they relied on the precise information of future system dynamics, which can be hard to obtain in a complex environment. This work provides a new perspective of obtaining the optimal control policy for distributed energy trading and scheduling by directly interacting with the environment, and proposes a multiagent deep reinforcement learning approach for learning the optimal control policy. Each microgrid is modeled as an agent, and different agents learn collaboratively for maximizing their rewards. The agent of each microgrid can make the local scheduling decision without knowing others&#39; information, which can well maintain the autonomy of each microgrid. We evaluate the performances of our proposed method using real-world datasets. The experimental results show that our method can significantly reduce the cost of the microgrids compared with the baseline methods.

preprint2020arXiv

Ionized and atomic interstellar medium in the z = 6.003 quasar SDSS J2310+1855

Observing the interstellar medium (ISM) in $z \gtrsim 6$ quasars host galaxies is essential for understanding the co-evolution between the supermassive black holes and their hosts. To probe the gas physical conditions and search for imprints of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) on the ISM, we report ALMA observations of the $\rm [N\ II]_{122 μm}$ and $\rm [O\ I]_{146 μm}$ lines and the underlying continuum from the $z=6.003$ quasar SDSS J231038.88+185519.7. Together with previous $\rm [C\ II]_{158 μm}$ and $\rm [O\ III]_{88 μm}$ observations, we use the ratios of these fine-structure lines to probe the ISM properties. Similar to other high-$z$ systems, this object exhibits a $\rm [C\ II]_{158 μm}$/$\rm [O\ I]_{146 μm}$ ratio comparable to the lowest values found in local (Ultra) luminous infrared galaxies, suggesting a &#34;warmer&#34; and &#34;denser&#34; gas component compared to typical local systems. The $\rm [O\ III]_{88 μm}$/$\rm [O\ I]_{146 μm}$ ratio is lower than that of other local and high-$z$ systems, indicating a smaller ionized gas fraction in this quasar. The $\rm [O\ III]_{88 μm}$/$\rm [N\ II]_{122 μm}$ ratio is comparable to that of local systems, and suggests a metallicity of $Z/Z_{\odot}$=1.5$-$2.1. Based on the $\rm [N\ II]_{122 μm}$ detection, we estimate that $17\%$ of the $\rm [C\ II]_{158 μm}$ emission is associated with ionized gas. The $\rm [N\ II]_{122 μm}$ line shows a &#34;flux deficit&#34; comparable to local systems. The $\rm [O\ I]_{146 μm}$ line, with a $\rm [O\ I]_{146 μm}$/FIR ratio $\ge 2\times$ than expected from the local relation, indicates no $\rm [O\ I]_{\rm 146 μm}$ deficit. The low $\rm [C\ II]_{158 μm}$/$\rm [O\ I]_{146 μm}$ ratio, together with the high $\rm [O\ I]_{146 μm}$/FIR ratio in J2310+1855, reveals that the warm and dense gas is likely a result of AGN heating to the ISM.

preprint2020arXiv

Observations by GMRT at 323 MHz of radio-loud quasars at $z>5$

We present Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) 323 MHz radio continuum observations toward 13 radio-loud quasars at $z>5$, sampling the low-frequency synchrotron emission from these objects. Among the 12 targets successfully observed, we detected 10 above $4σ$ significance, while 2 remain undetected. All of the detected sources appear as point sources. Combined with previous radio continuum detections from the literature, 9 quasars have power-law spectral energy distributions throughout the radio range; for some the flux density drops with increasing frequency while it increases for others. Two of these sources appear to have spectral turnover. For the power-law-like sources, the power-law indices have a positive range between 0.18 and 0.67 and a negative values between $-0.90$ and $-0.27$. For the turnover sources, the radio peaks around $\sim1$ and $\sim10$ GHz in the rest frame, the optically thin indices are $-0.58$ and $-0.90$, and the optically thick indices are 0.50 and 1.20. A magnetic field and spectral age analysis of SDSS J114657.59+403708.6 at $z=5.01$ may indicate that the turnover is not caused by synchrotron self-absorption, but rather by free-free absorption by the high-density medium in the nuclear region. Alternatively, the apparent turnover may be an artifact of source variability. Finally, we calculated the radio loudness $R_{2500\rm\, Å}$ for our sample, which spans a very wide range from 12$^{+13}_{-13}$ to 4982$^{+279}_{-254}$.

preprint2020arXiv

R3: A Reading Comprehension Benchmark Requiring Reasoning Processes

Existing question answering systems can only predict answers without explicit reasoning processes, which hinder their explainability and make us overestimate their ability of understanding and reasoning over natural language. In this work, we propose a novel task of reading comprehension, in which a model is required to provide final answers and reasoning processes. To this end, we introduce a formalism for reasoning over unstructured text, namely Text Reasoning Meaning Representation (TRMR). TRMR consists of three phrases, which is expressive enough to characterize the reasoning process to answer reading comprehension questions. We develop an annotation platform to facilitate TRMR&#39;s annotation, and release the R3 dataset, a \textbf{R}eading comprehension benchmark \textbf{R}equiring \textbf{R}easoning processes. R3 contains over 60K pairs of question-answer pairs and their TRMRs. Our dataset is available at: \url{http://anonymous}.

preprint2020arXiv

SCUBA2 High Redshift Bright Quasar Survey: Far-infrared Properties and Weak-line Features

We present a submillimetre continuum survey (&#39;SCUBA2 High rEdshift bRight quasaR surveY&#39;, hereafter SHERRY) of 54 high redshift quasars at $5.6<z<6.9$ with quasar bolometric luminosities in a range of (0.2$-$$ 5)\times10^{14}\,L_{\odot}$, using the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array-2 (SCUBA2) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. About 30% (16/54) of the sources are detected with a typical 850$μ$m rms sensitivity of 1.2 $\rm mJy\,beam^{-1}$ ($S\rm _{ν,850\,μm} = 4$-5 mJy, at $>3.5σ$). The new SHERRY detections indicate far-infrared (FIR) luminosities of $\rm 3.5\times10^{12}$ to $\rm 1.4\times10^{13}$ $L_{\odot}$, implying extreme star formation rates of 90 to 1060 $M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ in the quasar host galaxies. Compared with $z =$ 2$-$5 samples, the FIR luminous quasars ($L_{\rm FIR} > 10^{13}\,L_{\odot}$) are more rare at $z \sim 6$. The optical/near-infrared (NIR) spectra of these objects show 11% (6/54) of the sources have weak Ly$α$, emission line features, which may relate to different sub-phases of the central active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Our SCUBA2 survey confirms the trend reported in the literature that quasars with submillimeter detections tend to have weaker ultraviolet (UV) emission lines compared to quasars with nondetections. The connection between weak UV quasar line emission and bright dust continuum emission powered by massive star formation may suggest an early phase of AGN-galaxy evolution, in which the broad line region is starting to develop slowly or is shielded from the central ionization source, and has unusual properties such as weak line features or bright FIR emission.

preprint2020arXiv

Submillimeter Galaxy studies in the next decade: EAO Submillimetre Futures White Paper Series, 2019

Over the last two decades, the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) and SCUBA-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) achieved gread success in discovering the population of dusty starburst galaxies in the early universe. The SCUBA-2 surveys at 450 micron and 850 micron set important constraints on the obscured star formation over cosmic time, and in combination of deep optical and near-IR data, allows the study of protoclusters and structure formation. However, the current submillimeter (submm) surveys by JCMT are still limited by area of sky coverage (confusion limit mapping of only a few deg^2), which prevent a systematic study of large samples of the obscured galaxy population. In this white paper, we review the studies of the submm galaxies with current submillimeter/millimeter (submm/mm) observations, and discuss the important science with the new submm instruments in the next decade. In particular, with a 10 times faster mapping speed of the new camera, we will expect deep 850 micron surveys over 10 to 100 times larger sky area to i) largely increase the sample size of submm detections toward the highest redshift, ii) improve our knowledge of galaxy and structure formation in the early universe.

preprint2019arXiv

An ALMA CO(2-1) Survey of Nearby Palomar-Green Quasars

The properties of the molecular gas can shed light on the physical conditions of quasar host galaxies and the effect of feedback from accreting supermassive black holes. We present a new CO(2-1) survey of 23 z<0.1 Palomar-Green quasars conducted with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. CO emission was successfully detected in 91% (21/23) of the objects, from which we derive CO luminosities, molecular gas masses, and velocity line widths. Together with CO(1-0) measurements in the literature for 32 quasars (detection rate 53%), there are 15 quasars with both CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) measurements and in total 40 sources with CO measurements. We find that the line ratio R_21 = L&#39;_CO(2-1)/L&#39;_CO(1-0) is subthermal, broadly consistent with nearby galaxies and other quasars previously studied. No clear correlation is found between R_21 and the intensity of the interstellar radiation field or the luminosity of the active nucleus. As with the general galaxy population, quasar host galaxies exhibit a strong, tight, linear L_IR-L_CO relation, with a normalization consistent with that of starburst systems. We investigate the molecular-to-total gas mass fraction with the aid of total gas masses inferred from dust masses previously derived from infrared observations. Although the scatter is considerable, the current data do not suggest that the CO-to-H_2 conversion factor of quasar host galaxies significantly differs from that of normal star-forming galaxies.

preprint2019arXiv

Probing the full CO spectral line energy distribution (SLED) in the nuclear region of a quasar-starburst system at $z=6.003$

We report Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of CO $(8-7)$, $(9-8)$, $\rm H_{2}O (2_{0,2}-1_{1,1})$ and $\rm OH^{+} (1_{1}-0_{1})$ and NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) observations of CO $(5-4)$, $(6-5)$, $(12-11)$ and $(13-12)$ towards the $z = 6.003$ quasar SDSS J231038.88+185519.7, aiming to probe the physical conditions of the molecular gas content of this source. We present the best sampled CO spectral line energy distribution (SLED) at $z = 6.003$, and analyzed it with the radiative transfer code MOLPOP-CEP. Fitting the CO SLED to a one-component model indicates a kinetic temperature $T_{\rm kin} = 228 \ \rm K$, molecular gas density $log (n(\rm H_{2})/\rm cm^{-3}$ )=4.75, and CO column density $log(N(\rm CO)/\rm cm^{-2}) =17.5$, although a two-component model better fits the data. In either case, the CO SLED is dominated by a &#34;warm&#34; and &#34;dense&#34; component. Compared to samples of local (Ultra) Luminous Infrared Galaxies ((U)LIRGs), starburst galaxies and high redshift Submillimeter Galaxies (SMGs), J2310+1855 exhibits higher CO excitation at ($J \geq 8$), like other high redshift quasars. The high CO excitation, together with the enhanced $L_{\rm H_{2}O}/ L_{IR} $, $L_{\rm H_{2}O}/ L_{CO} $ and $L_{OH^{+}}/L_{\rm H_{2}O} $ ratios, suggests that besides the UV radiation from young massive stars, other mechanisms such as shocks, cosmic rays and X-rays might also be responsible for the heating and ionization of the molecular gas. In the nuclear region probed by the molecular emissions lines, any of these mechanisms might be present due to the powerful quasar and the starburst activity.

preprint2019arXiv

Resolving the interstellar medium in the nuclear region of two z=5.78 quasar host galaxies with ALMA

We present ALMA observations of the [CII] 158 $μ$m fine structure line and dust continuum emission from two quasars, SDSS J104433.04-012502.2 and SDSS J012958.51-003539.7, at z=5.78. The ALMA observations at 0.2&#39;&#39; resolution map the dust and gas on kpc scales. The spatially resolved emission shows a similar trend of decreasing [CII]-FIR ratios with increasing FIR surface brightnesses as was found in the infrared luminous galaxies with intense star formation. We confirm the velocity gradients of [CII] emission found previously in SDSS J0129-0035. No clear evidence of order motion is detected in SDSS J1044-0125. The velocity maps and PV-diagrams also suggest turbulent gas clumps in both objects. We tentatively detect a [CII] peak offset 4.9 kpc to the East of SDSS J1044-0125. This may be associated with an infalling companion, or node of gas outflow. All these results suggest significant dynamical evolution of the ISM in the nuclear region of these young quasar-starburst systems. We fit the velocity map of the [CII] emission from SDSS J0129-0035 with a rotating disk model. The result suggests a face-on system with an inclination angle of 16 +/- 20 degree and constrains the lower limit of the host galaxy dynamical mass to be 2.6x10^10 Msun within the [CII] emitting region. It is likely that SDSS J0129-0035, as well as other young quasars with super massive black hole masses on order of 10^7 to 10^8 Msun, falls close to the black hole and host galaxy mass relation defined by local galaxies.

preprint2019arXiv

X-shaped Radio Galaxies: Optical Properties, Large-scale Environment and Relationship to Radio Structure

In order to find clues to the origin of the &#34;winged&#34; or &#34;X-shaped&#34; radio galaxies (XRGs) we investigate here the parent galaxies of a large sample of 106 XRGs for optical-radio axes alignment, interstellar medium, black hole mass, and large-scale environment. For 41 of the XRGs it was possible to determine the optical major axis and the primary radio axis and the strong tendency for the two axes to be fairly close is confirmed. However, several counter-examples were also found and these could challenge the widely discussed backflow diversion model for the origin of the radio wings. Comparison with a well-defined large sample of normal FR II radio galaxies has revealed that: (i) XRGs possess slightly less massive central black holes than the normal radio galaxies (average masses being log$M_{\rm BH} \sim$ 8.81 $M_{\odot}$ and 9.07 $M_{\odot}$, respectively); (ii) a much higher fraction of XRGs ($\sim$ 80%) exhibits red mid-IR colors ($W2 - W3 > 1.5$), indicating a population of young stars and/or an enhanced dust mass, probably due to relatively recent galaxy merger(s). A comparison of the large-scale environment (i.e., within $\sim$ 1 Mpc) shows that both XRGs and FRII radio galaxies inhabit similarly poor galaxy clustering environments (medium richness being 8.94 and 11.87, respectively). Overall, the origin of XRGs seems difficult to reconcile with a single dominant physical mechanism and competing mechanisms seem prevalent.