Papers for Friday, Mar 19 2021

Efficient and accurate simulations of the reionization epoch are crucial to exploring the vast uncharted parameter space that will soon be constrained by measurements of the 21 cm power spectrum. One of these parameters, $R_{\rm max}$, is meant to characterize the absorption of photons by residual neutral gas inside of ionized regions, but has historically been implemented in a very simplistic fashion acting only as a maximum filtering scale. We leverage the correspondence between excursion set methods and the integrated flux from ionizing sources to define two physically-motivated prescriptions of the mean free path of ionizing photons that smoothly attenuate the contribution from distant sources. Implementation of these methods in semi-numerical reionization codes requires only modest additional computational effort due to the fact that spatial filtering is still performed on scales larger than the characteristic absorption distance. We find that our smoothly-defined mean free path prescriptions more effectively suppress large-scale structures in the ionization field in semi-numerical reionization simulations compared to the standard $R_{\rm max}$ approach, and the magnitude of the mean free path modulates the power spectrum in a much smoother manner. We show that this suppression of large-scale power is significant enough to be relevant for upcoming 21 cm power spectrum observations. Finally, we show that in our model the mean free path plays a larger role in regulating the reionization history than in models using $R_{\rm max}$.

We analyze recent AMS-02 comic-ray measurements of Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen. The emphasis of the analysis is on systematic uncertainties related to propagation and nuclear cross-sections. To investigate the uncertainties in the propagation scenario, we consider five different frameworks, differing with respect to the inclusion of a diffusion break at few GVs, the presence of reacceleration, and the presence of a break in the injection spectra of primaries. For each framework we fit the diffusion equations of cosmic rays and exploring the parameter space with Monte Carlo methods. At the same time, the impact of the uncertainties in the nuclear production cross-sections of secondaries is explicitly considered and included in the fit through the use of nuisance parameters. We find that all the considered frameworks are able to provide a good fit. In particular, two competing scenarios, one including a break in diffusion but no reacceleration and the other with reacceleration but no break in diffusion are both allowed. The inclusion of cross-section uncertainties is, however, crucial, to this result. Thus, at the moment, these uncertainties represent a fundamental systematic preventing a deeper understanding of the properties of CR propagation. We find, nonetheless, that the slope of diffusion at intermediate rigidities is robustly constrained in the range $\delta\simeq0.45-0.5$ in models without convection, or $\delta\simeq0.4-0.5$ if convection is included in the fit. Furthermore, we find that the use of the AMS-02 Beryllium data provides a lower limit on the vertical size of the Galactic propagation halo of $z_\mathrm{h}\gtrsim3$ kpc.

Recent comparisons between the stellar haloes of simulated Milky Way-mass galaxies and observations of similar objects have identified a significant tension between the masses of simulated and observed stellar haloes. Simulated stellar haloes appear to have both total masses and surface density profiles 1-2 dex higher than observed galaxies. In this paper, we compare two suites of 15 simulated Milky Way-like galaxies, each drawn from the same initial conditions and simulated with the same hydrodynamical code, but with two different models for feedback from supernovae. We find that the MUGS simulations, which use an older "delayed-cooling" model for feedback, suffer from the same problems as other simulations examined in the literature, with median surface densities well above observational constraints. The MUGS2 simulations, which instead use a new, physically-motivated superbubble model for stellar feedback, have significantly reduced stellar halo masses and surface densities (~25 times lower on average compared to MUGS stellar haloes), and generally match both the median surface density as well as the diversity of structure seen in observed stellar haloes. We examine how feedback produces differences in the assembly of the stellar halo, both through in-situ stars scattered out of the disc by high-redshift mergers and in ex-situ stars stripped from accreted haloes. We conclude that there is no "missing outskirts" problem in cosmological simulations, so long as supernova feedback is modelled in a way that allows it to efficiently regulate star formation in the progenitor environments of stellar haloes.

The non-detection of zero-metallicity stars in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs) can be used to constrain the Initial Mass Function (IMF) of the first (PopIII) stars by means of a statistical comparison between available data and predictions from chemical evolution models. To this end we develop a model that follows the formation of isolated UFDs, calibrated to best reproduce the available data for the best studied system: Bo\"otes I. Our statistical approach shows that UFDs are the best suitable systems to study the implications of the persisting non-detection of zero-metallicity stars on the PopIII IMF, i.e. its shape, the minimum mass ($m_{min}$), and the characteristic mass ($m_{ch}$). We show that accounting for the incomplete sampling of the IMF is essential to compute the expected number of long-lived PopIII stars in inefficiently star-forming UFDs. By simulating the Color Magnitude Diagram of Bo\"otes I, and thus take into account the mass-range of the observed stars, we can obtain even tighter constrains on $m_{min}$. By exploiting the 96 stars with measured metallicities ($\rm i < 19$) in the UFDs represented by our model, we demonstrate that: $m_{ch} > 1 \rm M_{\odot}$ or $m_{min} > 0.8 \rm M_{\odot}$ at $99\%$ confidence level. This means that a present day IMF for PopIII stars is excluded by our model, and a top-heavy PopIII IMF is strongly favoured. We can limit $m_{min} > 0.8 \rm M_{\odot}$ independent of the PopIII IMF shape by targeting the four UFDs Bo\"otes I, Hercules, Leo IV and Eridanus II with future generation instruments, such as ELT/MOSAIC ($\rm i < 25$), which can provide samples of >10\,000 stars.

The faint-end slope of the quasar luminosity function at z~6 and its implication on the role of quasars in reionizing the intergalactic medium at early times has been an outstanding problem for some time. The identification of faint high-redshift quasars with luminosities of <1e44.5 erg/s is challenging. They are rare (few per square degree) and the separation of these unresolved quasars from late-type stars and compact star-forming galaxies is difficult from ground-based observations alone. In addition, source confusion becomes significant at >25mag, with ~30% of sources having their flux contaminated by foreground objects when the seeing resolution is ~0.7". We mitigate these issues by performing a pixel-level joint processing of ground and space-based data from Subaru/HSC and HST/ACS. We create a deconfused catalog over the 1.64 square-degrees of the COSMOS field, after accounting for spatial varying PSFs and astrometric differences between the two datasets. We identify twelve low-luminosity (M_UV ~ -21 mag) z>6 quasar candidates through (i) their red color measured between ACS/F814W and HSC/i-band and (ii) their compactness in the space-based data. We estimate that late-type stars could contribute up to 50% to our sample. Our constraints on the faint end of the quasar luminosity function at z~6.4 suggests a negligibly small contribution to reionization compared to the star-forming galaxy population. The confirmation of our candidates and the evolution of number density with redshift could provide better insights into how supermassive galaxies grew in the first billion years of cosmic time.

The landscape of black hole (BH) formation -- which massive stars explode as core-collapse supernovae (CCSN) and which implode to BHs -- profoundly affects the IMF-averaged nucleosynthetic yields of a stellar population. Building on the work of Sukhbold et al. (2016), we compute IMF-averaged yields at solar metallicity for a wide range of assumptions, including neutrino-driven engine models with extensive BH formation, models with a simple mass threshold for BH formation, and a model in which all stars from $8-120 \text{M}_{\odot}$ explode. For plausible choices, the overall yields of $\alpha$-elements span a factor of three, but changes in relative yields are more subtle, typically $0.05-0.2$ dex. For constraining the overall level of BH formation, ratios of C and N to O or Mg are promising diagnostics. For distinguishing complex, theoretically motivated landscapes from simple mass thresholds, abundance ratios involving Mn or Ni are promising because of their sensitivity to the core structure of the CCSN progenitors. We confirm previous findings of a substantial (factor $2.5-4$) discrepancy between predicted O/Mg yield ratios and observationally inferred values, implying that models either overproduce O or underproduce Mg. No landscape choice achieves across-the-board agreement with observed abundance ratios; the discrepancies offer empirical clues to aspects of massive star evolution or explosion physics still missing from the models. We find qualitatively similar results using the massive star yields of Limongi & Chieffi (2018). We provide tables of IMF-integrated yields for several landscape scenarios, and more flexible user-designed models can be implemented through the publicly available $\texttt{Versatile Integrator for Chemical Evolution}$ ($\texttt{VICE}$; https://pypi.org/project/vice/).

We develop a hybrid model of galactic chemical evolution that combines a multi-ring computation of chemical enrichment with a prescription for stellar migration and the vertical distribution of stellar populations informed by a cosmological hydrodynamic disc galaxy simulation. Our fiducial model adopts empirically motivated forms of the star formation law and star formation history, with a gradient in outflow mass loading tuned to reproduce the observed metallicity gradient. With this approach, the model reproduces many of the striking qualitative features of the Milky Way disc's abundance structure: (i) the dependence of the [O/Fe]-[Fe/H] distribution on radius $R_\text{gal}$ and midplane distance $|z|$; (ii) the changing shapes of the [O/H] and [Fe/H] distributions with $R_\text{gal}$ and $|z|$; (iii) a broad distribution of [O/Fe] at sub-solar metallicity and changes in the [O/Fe] distribution with $R_\text{gal}$, $|z|$, and [Fe/H]; (iv) a tight correlation between [O/Fe] and stellar age for [O/Fe] $>$ 0.1; (v) a population of young and intermediate-age $\alpha$-enhanced stars caused by migration-induced variability in the Type Ia supernova rate; (vi) non-monotonic age-[O/H] and age-[Fe/H] relations, with large scatter and a median age of $\sim$4 Gyr near solar metallicity. Observationally motivated models with an enhanced star formation rate $\sim$2 Gyr ago improve agreement with the observed age-[Fe/H] and age-[O/H] relations, but worsen agreement with the observed age-[O/Fe] relation. None of our models predict an [O/Fe] distribution with the distinct bimodality seen in the observations, suggesting that more dramatic evolutionary pathways are required. All code and tables used for our models are publicly available through the Versatile Integrator for Chemical Evolution (VICE; https://pypi.org/project/vice).

Young stellar associations represent a key site for the study of star formation, but to accurately compare observations to models of stellar evolution, the age of an association must be determined. The Upper Scorpius region is the youngest section of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, which is the largest collection of nearby, young, low-mass stars. The true age of Upper Scorpius is not clear, and an observed mass-dependent age gradient in Upper Scorpius, as well as in other star-forming regions, complicates age measurements. The age gradient may indicate a genuine astrophysical feature or may be an artifact of unrecognized systematic effects in stellar age measurements. We have conducted a synthetic red-optical low-resolution spectroscopic survey of a simulated analog to the Upper Scorpius star-forming region to investigate the effects of unresolved binary stars (which have mass-dependent demographics) on age measurements of a stellar population. We find that the observed mass-dependent age gradient in Upper Scorpius can be explained by a population of undetected binary stars. For a simulated population with an age of 10 (RMS = 2) Myr, we measure an age of 10.5 (RMS = 3.5) Myr for F stars, and 7.5 (RMS = 5.8) Myr for M stars. This discrepancy is caused by the mass-dependent mass ratio distribution and the variable steepness of the mass-luminosity relation. Our results support the previously suggested 10 Myr age for Upper Scorpius, with a small intrinsic age spread.

The excitation of the filamentary gas structures surrounding giant elliptical galaxies at the center of cool-core clusters, a.k.a BCGs (brightest cluster galaxies), is key to our understanding of active galactic nucleus feedback, and of the impact of environmental and local effects on star formation. We investigate the contribution of the thermal radiation from the cooling flow surrounding BCGs to the excitation of the filaments. We explore the effects of small levels of extra-heating (turbulence), and of metallicity, on the optical and infrared lines. Using the Cloudy code, we model the photoionization and photodissociation of a slab of gas of optical depth AV{\leq}30mag at constant pressure, in order to calculate self-consistently all of the gas phases, from ionized gas to molecular gas. The ionizing source is the EUV and soft X-ray radiation emitted by the cooling gas. We test these models comparing their predictions to the rich multi-wavelength observations, from optical to submillimeter. These models reproduce most of the multi-wavelength spectra observed in the nebulae surrounding the BCGs, not only the LINER-like optical diagnostics: [O iii]{\lambda} 5007 {\AA}/H\b{eta}, [N ii]{\lambda} 6583 {\AA}/H{\alpha} and ([S ii]{\lambda} 6716 {\AA}+[S ii]{\lambda} 6731 {\AA})/H{\alpha} but also the infrared emission lines from the atomic gas. The modeled ro-vib H2 lines also match observations, which indicates that near and mid-IR H2 lines are mostly excited by collisions between H2 molecules and secondary electrons produced naturally inside the cloud by the interaction between the X-rays and the cold gas in the filament. However, there is still some tension between ionized and molecular line tracers (i.e. CO), which requires to optimize the cloud structure and the density of the molecular zone.

By virtue of their sub-hour orbital periods, ultra-compact X-ray binaries are promising sources for the space-borne gravitational-wave interferometers LISA, Taiji, and TianQin. Some of these systems contain a neutron star primary, whose spin period can be measured directly via pulse timing, or indirectly through rotational modulations of burst phenomena. It is pointed out here that since actively accreting stars, with spin frequencies in the hundreds of Hz, may continuously emit appreciable gravitational waves due to the presence of accretion-built mountains, toroidal magnetic fields, and/or $r$-mode oscillations, such binaries are also candidate sources for ground-based interferometers. Two Galactic systems (4U 1728-34 and 4U 1820-30) are identified as being potentially detectable by both LISA and aLIGO simultaneously: a dual-line detection of this sort could provide percent-level constraints on the mass, radius, and internal magnetic field strength of the neutron star. With the Einstein Telescope, we find that at least four of the known ultra-compact binaries become dual-line visible.

Neptune-size exoplanets seem particularly sensitive to atmospheric evaporation, making it essential to characterize the stellar high-energy radiation that drives this mechanism. This is particularly important with M dwarfs, which emit a large and variable fraction of their luminosity in the UV and can display strong flaring behavior. The warm Neptune GJ3470b, hosted by an M2 dwarf, was found to harbor a giant hydrogen exosphere thanks to 3 transits observed with the HST/STIS. Here we report on 3 additional transit observations from the PanCET program, obtained with the HST/COS. These data confirm the absorption signature from GJ3470b's exosphere in the stellar Ly-alpha line and demonstrate its stability over time. No planetary signatures are detected in other lines, setting a 3sigma limit on GJ3470b's FUV radius at 1.3x its Roche lobe radius. We detect 3 flares from GJ3470. They show different spectral energy distributions but peak consistently in the Si III line, which traces intermediate-temperature layers in the transition region. These layers appear to play a particular role in GJ3470's activity as emission lines that form at lower or higher temperatures than Si III evolved differently over the long term. Based on the measured emission lines, we derive synthetic XUV spectra for the 6 observed quiescent phases, covering one year, as well as for the 3 flaring episodes. Our results suggest that most of GJ3470's quiescent high-energy emission comes from the EUV domain, with flares amplifying the FUV emission more strongly. The hydrogen photoionization lifetimes and mass loss derived for GJ3470b show little variation over the epochs, in agreement with the stability of the exosphere. Simulations informed by our XUV spectra are required to understand the atmospheric structure and evolution of GJ3470b and the role played by evaporation in the formation of the hot-Neptune desert.

We present high-sensitivity, wide-band observations (704 to 4032 MHz) of the young to middle-aged radio pulsar J1452-6036, taken at multiple epochs before and, serendipitously, shortly after a glitch occurred on 2019 April 27. We obtained the data using the new ultra-wide-bandwidth low-frequency (UWL) receiver at the Parkes radio telescope, and we used Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques to estimate the glitch parameters robustly. The data from our third observing session began 3 h after the best-fitting glitch epoch, which we constrained to within 4 min. The glitch was of intermediate size, with a fractional change in spin frequency of $270.52(3) \times 10^{-9}$. We measured no significant change in spin-down rate and found no evidence for rapidly-decaying glitch components. We systematically investigated whether the glitch affected any radiative parameters of the pulsar and found that its spectral index, spectral shape, polarisation fractions, and rotation measure stayed constant within the uncertainties across the glitch epoch. However, its pulse-averaged flux density increased significantly by about 10 per cent in the post-glitch epoch and decayed slightly before our fourth observation a day later. We show that the increase was unlikely caused by calibration issues. While we cannot exclude that it was due to refractive interstellar scintillation, it is hard to reconcile with refractive effects. The chance coincidence probability of the flux density increase and the glitch event is low. Finally, we present the evolution of the pulsar's pulse profile across the band. The morphology of its polarimetric pulse profile stayed unaffected to a precision of better than 2 per cent.

We study the fragmentation of collisional ring galaxies (CRGs) using our linear perturbation analysis that computes the physical conditions of gravitational instability. We adopt the analysis to our CRG simulations, and show that our analysis accurately characterises the stability and the onset of fragmentation that is determined by the balance of self-gravity against pressure and Coriolis forces. In addition, since the orthodox `density-wave' model is inapplicable to such self-gravitating rings, we devise a simple model that describes the rings propagating as material waves. We find that the toy model can predict the behaviour of the rings in our simulations. We also apply our instability analysis to a CRG discovered at a high redshift $z=2.19$. We find that a quite high velocity dispersion is required for the stability of the ring, and therefore the CRG can be unstable against ring fragmentation. CRGs are rarely observed at high redshifts, and it may be because CRGs are usually too faint. Since the fragmentation can induce active star formation and make the ring bright enough to observe, the instability may explain the rarity. Fragmenting CRGs would evolve into clumpy galaxies with low surface densities in their inter-clump regions.

We study astrometric residuals from a simultaneous fit of Hyper Suprime-Cam images. We aim to characterize these residuals and study the extent to which they are dominated by atmospheric contributions for bright sources. We use Gaussian process interpolation, with a correlation function (kernel), measured from the data, to smooth and correct the observed astrometric residual field. We find that Gaussian process interpolation with a von K\'arm\'an kernel allows us to reduce the covariances of astrometric residuals for nearby sources by about one order of magnitude, from 30 mas$^2$ to 3 mas$^2$ at angular scales of ~1 arcmin, and to halve the r.m.s. residuals. Those reductions using Gaussian process interpolation are similar to recent result published with the Dark Energy Survey dataset. We are then able to detect the small static astrometric residuals due to the Hyper Suprime-Cam sensors effects. We discuss how the Gaussian process interpolation of astrometric residuals impacts galaxy shape measurements, in particular in the context of cosmic shear analyses at the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time.

For the past dozen years, UNC-Chapel Hill has been developing a unique, survey-level astronomy curriculum, primarily for undergraduate students, with the goal of significantly boosting STEM enrollments on a national scale, as well as boosting students' technical and research skills. Called "Our Place In Space!", or OPIS!, this curriculum leverages "Skynet" - a global network of ~2 dozen, fully automated, or robotic, professional-grade telescopes that we have deployed at some of the world's best observing sites. The curriculum has now been adopted by ~2 dozen institutions, and we have just received $1.85M from NSF's IUSE program to expand it nationwide, with funding for participating instructors. The curriculum works equally well online as in person.

We propose the Correlation-Locking Optimization SchEme (CLOSE), a real-time adaptive filtering technique for adaptive optics (AO) systems controlled with integrators. CLOSE leverages the temporal autocorrelation of modal signals in the controller telemetry and drives the gains of the integral command law in a closed servo-loop. This supervisory loop is configured using only a few scalar parameters, and automatically controls the modal gains to closely match transfer functions achieving minimum variance control. This optimization is proven to work throughout the range of noise and seeing conditions relevant to the AO system. This technique has been designed while preparing the high-order AO systems for extremely large telescopes, in particular for tackling the optical gain (OG) phenomenon -- a sensitivity reduction induced by on-sky residuals -- which is a prominent issue with pyramid wavefront sensors (PWFS). CLOSE follows upon the linear modal compensation approach to OG, previously demonstrated to substantially improve AO correction with high order PWFS systems. Operating on modal gains through multiplicative increments, CLOSE naturally compensates for the recurring issue of unaccounted sensitivity factors throughout the AO loop. We present end-to-end simulations of the MICADO instrument single-conjugate AO to demonstrate the performances and capabilities of CLOSE. We demonstrate that a single configuration shall provide an efficient and versatile optimization of the modal integrator while accounting for OG compensation, and while providing significant robustness to transient effects impacting the PWFS sensitivity.

Though stellar-mass black holes (BHs) are likely abundant in the Milky Way (N=10^8-10^9), only ~20 have been detected to date, all in accreting binary systems (Casares 2006). Gravitational microlensing is a proposed technique to search for isolated BHs, which to date have not been detected. Two microlensing events, MACHO-1996-BLG-5 (M96-B5) and MACHO-1998-BLG-6 (M98-B6), initially observed near the lens-source minimum angular separation in 1996 and 1998, respectively, have long Einstein crossing times (>300 days), identifying the lenses as candidate black holes. Twenty years have elapsed since the time of lens-source closest approach for each of these events, indicating that if the lens and source are both luminous, and if their relative proper motion is sufficiently large, the two components should be spatially resolvable. We attempt to eliminate the possibility of a stellar lens for these events by: (1) using Keck near-infrared adaptive optics images to search for a potentially now-resolved, luminous lens; and (2) examining multi-band photometry of the source to search for flux contributions from a potentially unresolved, luminous lens. We combine detection limits from NIRC2 images with light curve data to eliminate all non-BH lenses for relative lens-source proper motions above 0.81 mas/yr for M96-B5 and 2.48 mas/yr for M98-B6. Further, we use WFPC2 broadband images to eliminate the possibility of stellar lenses at any proper motion. We present the narrow range of non-BH possibilities allowed by our varied analyses. Finally, we suggest future observations that would constrain the remaining parameter space with the methods developed in this work.

We recently discovered an extragalactic transient, AT2020caa, using the community alert broker ANTARES. This transient apparently exhibited two outbursts in a time span of a year (between 2020 and 2021). Based on a decade-long historical light curve of the candidate host galaxy, we rule out an activity from the galaxy nucleus to explain these outbursts. The measured peak magnitudes (assuming the known spectroscopic redshift of the candidate host galaxy) put AT2020caa in the realm of thermonuclear supernovae (SNe) or luminous core-collapse SNe. A handful of the latter are known to show prior outbursts (POs), thought to be linked to mass loss in massive stars. Using Gemini/GMOS, we obtained a spectrum of the current outburst that shows it to be a Type Ia supernova (SNIa). We examine the nature of AT2020caa's PO and conclude that it is likely a separate SN within the same galaxy.

Precise measurements of the 21 cm power spectrum are crucial for understanding the physical processes of hydrogen reionization. Currently, this probe is being pursued by low-frequency radio interferometer arrays. As these experiments come closer to making a first detection of the signal, error estimation will play an increasingly important role in setting robust measurements. Using the delay power spectrum approach, we have produced a critical examination of different ways that one can estimate error bars on the power spectrum. We do this through a synthesis of analytic work, simulations of toy models, and tests on small amounts of real data. We find that, although computed independently, the different error bar methodologies are in good agreement with each other in the noise-dominated regime of the power spectrum. For our preferred methodology, the predicted probability distribution function is consistent with the empirical noise power distributions from both simulated and real data. This diagnosis is mainly in support of the forthcoming HERA upper limit, and also is expected to be more generally applicable.

The magnetic field plays an essential role in the initiation and evolution of different solar phenomena in the corona. The structure and evolution of the 3D coronal magnetic field are still not very well known. A way to get the 3D structure of the coronal magnetic field is by performing magnetic field extrapolations from the photosphere to the corona. In previous work, it was shown that by prescribing the 3D reconstructed loops' geometry, the magnetic field extrapolation finds a solution with a better agreement between the modeled field and the reconstructed loops. Also, it improves the quality of the field extrapolation. Stereoscopy represents the classical method for performing 3D coronal loop reconstruction. It uses at least two view directions. When only one vantage point of the coronal loops is available, other 3D reconstruction methods must be applied. Within this work, we present a method for the 3D loop reconstruction based on machine learning. Our purpose for developing this method is to use as many observed coronal loops in space and time for the modeling of the coronal magnetic field. Our results show that we can build machine learning models that can retrieve 3D loops based only on their projection information. In the end, the neural network model will be able to use only 2D information of the coronal loops, identified, traced and extracted from the EUV images, for the calculation of their 3D geometry.

Hot stars are the main source of ionization of the interstellar medium and its enrichment due to heavy elements. Constraining the physical conditions of their environments is crucial to understand how these stars evolve and their impact on the evolution of galaxies. The objective of my thesis was to investigate the physical properties of the photosphere and circumstellar environment of massive hot stars confronting multi-band spectroscopic or spectro-interferometric observations and sophisticated non-LTE radiative transfer codes. My work was focused on two main lines of research. The first concerns radiative line-driven winds. Using UV and visible spectroscopic data and the radiative transfer code CMFGEN, I investigated the weak wind phenomenon on a sample of nine Galactic O stars. This study shows for the first time that the weak wind phenomenon, originally found for O dwarfs, also exists on more evolved O stars and that future studies must evaluate its impact on the evolution of massive stars. My other line of research concerns the study of classical Be stars, the fastest rotators among the non-degenerated stars, and which are surrounded by rotating equatorial disks. I studied the Be star $\omicron$ Aquarii using H$\alpha$ (CHARA/VEGA) and Br$\gamma$ (VLTI/AMBER) spectro-interferometric observations, the radiative transfer code HDUST, and developing new automatic procedures to better constrain the kinematics of the disk. This multi-band study allowed to draw the most detailed picture of this object and its environment, to test the limits of the current generation of radiative transfer models, and paved the way to my future work on a large samples of Be stars observed with VEGA, AMBER, and the newly available VLTI mid-infrared combiner MATISSE.

The discovery of early bumps in some type-I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) before the main peaks offers an important clue to their energy source mechanisms. In this paper, we updated an analytic magnetar-powered model for fitting the multi-band light curves of double-peaked SLSNe-I: the early bump is powered by magnetar-driven shock breakout thermal emission, and the main peak is powered by a radiative diffusion through the SN ejecta as in the standard magnetar-powered model. Generally, the diffusive luminosity is greater than the shock breakout luminosity at the early time, which makes the shock breakout bumps usually not clearly seen as observed. To obtain a clear double-peaked light curve, inefficient magnetar heating at early times is required. This model is applied to three well-observed double-peaked SLSNe-I (i.e., SN2006oz, LSQ14bdq, and DES14Xtaz). We find that a relative massive SN ejecta with $M_{\mathrm{ej}} \simeq 10.2-18.1 M_{\odot}$ and relative large kinetic energy of SN ejecta $E_{\mathrm{sn}} \simeq (3.8-6.5) \times 10^{51}$ erg are required, and the thermalization efficiency of the magnetar heating is suppressed before $t_{\mathrm{delay}}$, which are in the range of $\simeq 15- 43$ days. The model can well reproduce the observed light curves, with a reasonable and similar set of physical parameters for both the early bump and the main peak, strengthening support for magnetar-powered model. In the future, modeling of the double-peaked SLSNe-I will become more feasible as more events are discovered before the early bump.

Ubiquitous unidentified infrared emission bands are seen in many astronomical sources. Although these bands are widely, if not unanimously, attributed to the collective emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, no single species from this class has been detected in space. We present the discovery of two -CN functionalized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene, in the interstellar medium aided by spectral matched filtering. Using radio observations with the Green Bank Telescope, we observe both bi-cyclic ring molecules in the molecular cloud TMC-1. We discuss potential in situ gas-phase formation pathways from smaller organic precursor molecules.

The conventional picture of coeval, chemically homogeneous, populous star clusters -- known as `simple stellar populations' (SSPs) -- is a view of the past. Photometric and spectroscopic studies reveal that almost all ancient globular clusters in the Milky Way and our neighbouring galaxies exhibit star-to-star light-element abundance variations, typically known as 'multiple populations' (MPs). Here, we analyse photometric $\it Hubble$ $\it Space$ $\it Telescope$ observations of three young ($<$2 Gyr-old) Large and Small Magellanic Cloud clusters, NGC 411, NGC 1718 and NGC 2213. We measure the widths of their red-giant branches (RGBs). For NGC 411, we also use a pseudo-colour--magnitude diagram (pseudo-CMD) to assess its RGB for evidence of MPs. We compare the morphologies of the clusters' RGBs with artificially generated SSPs. We conclude that their RGBs do not show evidence of significant broadening beyond intrinsic photometric scatter, suggesting an absence of significant chemical abundance variations in our sample clusters. Specifically, for NGC 411, NGC 1718 and NGC 2213 we derive maximum helium-abundance variations of delta_Y=0.003$\pm$0.001 Y=0.300), 0.002$\pm$0.001 (Y=0.350) and 0.004$\pm$0.002 (Y=0.300), respectively. We determined an upper limit to the NGC 411 nitrogen-abundance variation of $\Delta$[N/Fe] = 0.3 dex; the available data for our other clusters do not allow us to determine useful upper limits. It thus appears that the transition from SSPs to MPs occurs at an age of ~2 Gyr, implying that age might play an important role in this transition. This raises the question as to whether this is indeed a fundamental minimum-age limit for the formation of MPs.

The evanescent wave coronagraph uses the principle of frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) to suppress the light coming from the star and study its close environment. Its focal plane mask is composed of a lens and a prism placed in contact with each other to produce the coronagraphic effect. In this paper, we present the experimental results obtained using an upgraded focal plane mask of the Evanescent Wave Coronagraph (EvWaCo). These experimental results are also compared to the theoretical performance of the coronagraph obtained through simulations. Experimentally, we reach a raw contrast equal to a few 10{-4} at a distance equal to 3 {\lambda}/D over the full I-band ({\lambda}_c = 800 nm, {\Delta}{\lambda}/{\lambda} \approx 20\%) and equal to 4 {\lambda}/D over the full R-band ({\lambda}_c = 650 nm, {\Delta}{\lambda}/{\lambda} \approx 23\%) in unpolarized light. However, our simulations show a raw contrast close to 10^{-4} over the full I-band and R-band at the same distance, thus, confirming the theoretical achromatic advantage of the coronagraph. We also verify the stability of the mask through a series of contrast measurements over a period of 8 months. Furthermore, we measure the sensitivity of the coronagraph to the lateral and longitudinal misalignment of the focal plane mask, and to the lateral misalignment of the Lyot stop.

It is generally taken for granted that our Universe is free of antimatter objects and domains. This certitude has recently been challenged by the possible detection of anti-helium nuclei by AMS-02. Should the observation be confirmed, the existence of nearby antistars would make a plausible hypothesis to explain the origin of the antinuclei. In this paper we use the 10-years \F Large Area Telescope (LAT) gamma-ray source catalog to set constraints on the abundance of antistars around the Sun. We identify in the catalog 14 antistar candidates not associated with any objects belonging to established gamma-ray source classes and with a spectrum compatible with baryon-antibaryon annihilation. We use them along with an estimate of the LAT sensitivity to antistars to set upper limits on the local antistar fraction $f_{\bar{\ast}}$ with respect to normal stars. We provide parametric limits as a function of the closest antistar mass, velocity, and surrounding matter density. We also employ a novel Monte~Carlo method to set limits for a few hypotheses about the antistar population. For a population with properties equivalent to those of regular stars concentrated in the Galactic disk we obtain $f_{\bar{\ast}} < 2.5 \times 10^{-6}$ at 95\% confidence level, which is 20 times more constraining than limits previously available. For a primordial population of antistars distributed in the Galactic halo we obtain new local upper limits which decrease as a function of antistar mass $M$ from $f_{\bar{\ast}} < 0.2$ at 95\% confidence level for $M = 1 \; M_\odot$ to $f_{\bar{\ast}} < 1.6 \times 10^{-4}$ at 95\% confidence level for $M = 10 \; M_\odot$. By combining these limits with existing microlensing constraints for lighter objects in the Magellanic clouds, we infer that a primordial population of halo antistars must have a density lower than $\mathcal{O}(10^{-5}\;\text{pc}^{-3})$ to $\mathcal{O}(10^{-2}\;\text{pc}^{-3})$ depending on their masses. Our limits can constrain models for the origin and propagation of antinuclei in cosmic rays.

The $l\!=\!+1.\!\!^\circ3$ region in the Galactic center is characterized by multiple shell-like structures and their extremely broad velocity widths. We revisit the molecular superbubble hypothesis for this region, based on high resolution maps of CO {\it J}=1--0, $^{13}$CO {\it J}=1--0, H$^{13}$CN {\it J}=1--0, H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$ {\it J}=1--0, SiO {\it J}=2--1, and CS {\it J}=2--1 lines obtained from the Nobeyama radio observatory 45-m telescope, as well as CO {\it J}=3--2 maps obtained from the James Clerk Maxwell telescope. We identified eleven expanding shells with total kinetic energy and typical expansion time $E_{\rm kin}\!\sim\! 10^{51.9}$ erg and $t_{\rm exp}\!\sim\! 10^{4.9}$ yr, respectively. In addition, the $l\!=\!+1.\!\!^\circ3$ region exhibited high SiO {\it J}=2--1/H$^{13}$CN {\it J}=1--0 and SiO {\it J}=2--1/H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$ {\it J}=1--0 intensity ratios, indicating that the region has experienced dissociative shocks in the past. These new findings confirm the molecular superbubble hypothesis for the $l\!=\!+1.\!\!^\circ3$ region. The nature of the embedded star cluster, which may have supplied 20--70 supernova explosions within 10$^5$ yr, is discussed. This work also show the importance of compact broad-velocity-width features in searching for localized energy sources hidden behind severe interstellar extinction and stellar contamination.

The first B-, V-, Rc-, and Ic-band light curves of CSS J022914.4+044340 are presented and analyzed. It is found that CSS J022914.4+044340 is a low mass ratio (0.198 +- 0.005) deep (63.7 +- 7.9%) contact binary, indicating that it has been already at the end evolutionary stage of tidally-locked evolution via magnetized wind. Because of the totally eclipsing character, the photometric solutions are reliable. The temperature and the metallicity are determined from the spectroscopic data as T = 5855 +- 15 K, and [Fe/H] = -0.842 +- 0.031, respectively. Based on the parallax of Gaia EDR3, the physical parameters of CSS J022914.4+044340 are estimated as M1 = 1.44 (+0.25,-0.22) solar mass, M2 = 0.29 (+0.05,-0.05) solar mass, R1 = 1.26 (+0.08,-0.06) solar radius, R2 = 0.65 (+0.03,-0.04) solar radius, L1 = 1.718 (+0.186,-0.191) solar luminosity, L2 = 0.416 (+0.039,-0.050) solar luminosity. Combined the fraction in light of the third body via the photometric solution (54%), the luminosity of the third body is estimated as 2.705 solar luminosity. The third body may be inferred as a subgiant. Thus, it is explained that why the primary component of CSS J022914.4+044340 has higher mass among the similar systems, and why its metallicity is so poor.

Radio halos and relics are Mpc-scale diffuse radio sources in galaxy clusters, with a steep spectral index $\alpha>1$ ($S\propto \nu^{-\alpha}$). It has been proposed that they arise from particle acceleration induced by turbulence and weak shocks, injected in the intracluster medium (ICM) during mergers. MACS J1149.5+2223 (MACS J1149) is a high redshift ($z=0.544$) galaxy cluster possibly hosting a radio halo and a relic. We analysed LOFAR, GMRT, and JVLA radio data at 144, 323, 1500 MHz, and Chandra X-ray data to characterise the thermal and non-thermal properties of the cluster. We obtained radio images at different frequencies to investigate the spectral properties of the radio halo. We used Chandra X-ray images to constrain the thermal properties of the cluster. We measured a steep spectrum of the halo, with $\alpha=1.49\pm 0.12$ between 144 and 1500 MHz. The radio surface brightness distribution across the halo is found to correlate with the X-ray brightness of the ICM, with a sub-linear slope in the range 0.4 to 0.6. We also report two possible cold fronts in north-east and north-west, but deeper X-ray observations are required to firmly constrain the properties of the upstream emission. We show that the combination of high redshift, steep radio spectrum, and sub-linear radio-X scaling of the halo rules out hadronic models. An old ($\sim 1 $ Gyr ago) major merger likely induced the formation of the halo through stochastic re-acceleration of relativistic electrons. We suggest that the two possible X-ray discontinuities may actually be part of the same cold front. In this case, the coolest gas pushed towards the north-west might be associated with the cool core of a sub-cluster involved in the major merger. The peculiar orientation of the south-east relic might indicate a different nature of this source and requires further investigation.

We carry out a systematic study of the response of companion stars in massive binaries after being impacted by supernova ejecta. A total of 720 1D stellar evolution calculations are performed to follow the inflation and contraction of the star in response to the energy injection and how it depends on various parameters. We find that the maximum luminosity achieved during the inflated phase is only dependent on the stellar mass and we derive an analytic formula to describe the relation. There is also a tight correlation between the duration of expansion and the intersected energy. These correlations will be useful to constrain pre-supernova binary parameters from future detections of inflated companions. We also discuss the possible outcomes of the binary system when the companion inflation is taken into account. Based on simple binary population synthesis, we estimate that $\sim$1-3% of stripped-envelope supernovae may have observable inflated companions. Finally, we apply our models to the observed companion of SN2006jc and place strong constraints on the possible pre-supernova binary parameters.

In this work, we present a systematic search for stellar groups in the Taurus field by applying DBSCAN algorithm to the data from Gaia DR2. We find 22 groups, consisting of 8 young groups (Groups 1-8) at ages of 2-4Myr and distances of ~130-170pc, 14 old groups (Groups 9-22) at ages of 8-49Myr and distances of ~110-210pc. We characterize the disk properties of group members and find 19 new disk-bearing stars, 8 of which are in the young groups and 11 others belong to the comparatively old groups at ages of 8-11 Myr. We characterize the accretion properties of the group members with H$\alpha$ emission line in their LAMOST spectra, and discover one source in Group 10 at an age of 10 Myr which still shows accretion activity. We investigate the kinematic relations among the old groups, and find that Group 9 is kinematically related to the known Taurus members and exclude any kinematic relations between Groups 10-22 and the known Taurus members.

Observations and models suggest that the conditions to develop lightning may be present in cloud-forming extrasolar planetary and brown dwarf atmospheres. Whether lightning on these objects is similar to or very different from what is known from the Solar System awaits answering as lightning from extrasolar objects has not been detected yet. We explore terrestrial lightning parameterisations to compare the energy radiated and the total radio power emitted from lightning discharges for Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, extrasolar giant gas planets and brown dwarfs. We find that lightning on hot, giant gas planets and brown dwarfs may have energies of the order of $10^{11}-10^{17}$ J, which is two to eight orders of magnitude larger than the average total energy of Earth lightning ($10^9$ J), affirming the stark difference between these atmospheres. Lightning on exoplanets and brown dwarfs may be more energetic and release more radio power than what has been observed from the Solar System. Such energies would increase the probability of detecting lightning-related radio emission from an extrasolar body.

Globular clusters contain a finite number of stars. As a result, they inevitably undergo secular evolution (`relaxation') causing their mean distribution function (DF) to evolve on long timescales. On one hand, this long-term evolution may be interpreted as driven by the accumulation of local deflections along each star's mean field trajectory -- so-called `non-resonant relaxation'. On the other hand, it can be thought of as driven by non-local, collectively dressed and resonant couplings between stellar orbits, a process termed `resonant relaxation'. In this paper we consider a model globular cluster represented by a spherical, isotropic isochrone DF, and compare in detail the predictions of both resonant and non-resonant relaxation theories against tailored direct $N$-body simulations. In the space of orbital actions (namely the radial action and total angular momentum), we find that both resonant and non-resonant theories predict the correct morphology for the secular evolution of the cluster's DF, although non-resonant theory over-estimates the amplitude of the relaxation rate by a factor ${\sim 2}$. We conclude that the secular relaxation of hot isotropic spherical clusters is not dominated by collectively amplified large-scale potential fluctuations, despite the existence of a strong ${\ell = 1}$ damped mode. Instead, collective amplification affects relaxation only marginally even on the largest scales. The predicted contributions to relaxation from smaller scale fluctuations are essentially the same from resonant and non-resonant theories.

We present sub-arcsecond resolution ALMA imaging of the CO(3-2) emission in two $z\sim2.5$ heavily reddened quasars (HRQs) - ULASJ1234+0907 and ULASJ2315+0143 - and their companion galaxies. Dynamical modeling of the resolved velocity fields enables us to constrain the molecular gas morphologies and host galaxy masses. Combining the new data with extensive multi-wavelength observations, we are able to study the relative kinematics of different molecular emission lines, the molecular gas fractions and the locations of the quasars on the M$_{\rm{BH}}$-M$_{\rm{gal}}$ relation. Despite having similar black-hole properties, the two HRQs display markedly different host galaxy properties and local environments. J1234 has a very massive host, M$_{\rm{dyn}} \sim 5 \times 10^{11}$M$_\odot$ and two companion galaxies that are similarly massive located within 200 kpc of the quasar. The molecular gas fraction is low ($\sim$6%). The significant ongoing star formation in the host galaxy is entirely obscured at rest-frame UV and optical wavelengths. J2315 is resolved into a close-separation major-merger ($\Delta$r=15 kpc; $\Delta$v=170 km/s) with a $\sim$1:2 mass ratio. The total dynamical mass is estimated to be $\lesssim$10$^{11}$M$_\odot$ and the molecular gas fraction is high ($>$45%). A new HSC image of the galaxy shows unobscured UV-luminous star-forming regions co-incident with the extended reservoir of cold molecular gas in the merger. We use the outputs from the Illustris simulations to track the growth of such massive black holes from $z\sim6$ to the present day. While J1234 is consistent with the simulated $z\sim2$ relation, J2315 has a black hole that is over-massive relative to its host galaxy.

Substructures are ubiquitous in high resolution (sub-)millimeter continuum observations of circumstellar disks. They are possibly caused by forming planets embedded in the disk. To investigate the relation between observed substructures and young planets, we perform novel three-dimensional two-fluid (gas+1-mm-dust) hydrodynamic simulations of circumstellar disks with embedded planets (Neptune-, Saturn-, Jupiter-, 5 Jupiter-mass) at different orbital distances from the star (5.2AU, 30AU, 50AU). We turn these simulations into synthetic (sub-)millimeter ALMA images. We find that all but the Neptune-mass planet open annular gaps in both the gas and the dust component of the disk. We find that the temporal evolution of the dust density distribution is distinctly different of the gas'. For example, the planets cause significant vertical stirring of the dust in the circumstellar disk which opposes the vertical settling. This creates a thicker dust disk than disks without a planet. We find that this effect greatly influences the dust masses derived from the synthetic ALMA images. Comparing the dust disk masses in the 3D simulations and the ones derived from the 2D ALMA synthetic images, we find the former to be a factor of a few (up to 10) larger, pointing to that real disks might be significantly more massive than previously thought based on ALMA continuum images using the optically thin assumption and equation. Finally, we analyze the synthetic ALMA images and provide an empirical relationship between the planet mass and the width of the gap in the ALMA images including the effects of the beam size.

The interaction between Earth-like exoplanets and the magnetic field of low-mass host stars are considered to produce weak emission signals at radio frequencies. A study using LOFAR data announced the detection of radio emission from the mid M-type dwarf GJ 1151 that could potentially arise from a close-in terrestrial planet. Recently, the presence of a 2.5-Me planet orbiting GJ 1151 with a 2-day period has been claimed using 69 radial velocities (RVs) from the HARPS-N and HPF instruments. We have obtained 70 new high-precision RV measurements in the framework of the CARMENES M-dwarf survey and use these data to confirm the presence of the claimed planet and to place limits on possible planetary companions in the GJ 1151 system. We analyse the periodicities present in the combined RV data sets from all three instruments and calculate the detection limits for potential planets in short-period orbits. We cannot confirm the recently-announced candidate planet and conclude that the 2-day signal in the HARPS-N and HPF data sets is most probably produced by a combination of the time sampling and long-term RV variability, the latter possibly arising from an outer planetary companion yet unconstrained. We calculate a 99.9% significance detection limit of 1.50 ms-1 in the RV semi-amplitude, which places upper limits of 0.7 Me and 1.2 Me to the minimum masses of any potential exoplanets with orbital periods of 1 and 5 days, respectively.

As mature neutron stars are cold (on the relevant temperature scale), one has to carefully consider the state of matter in their interior. The outer kilometer or so is expected to freeze to form an elastic crust of increasingly neutron-rich nuclei, coexisting with a superfluid neutron component, while the star's fluid core contains a mixed superfluid/superconductor. The dynamics of the star depend heavily on the parameters associated with the different phases. The presence of superfluidity brings new degrees of freedom -- in essence we are dealing with a complex multi-fluid system -- and additional features: Bulk rotation is supported by a dense array of quantised vortices, which introduce dissipation via mutual friction, and the motion of the superfluid is affected by the so-called entrainment effect. This brief survey provides an introduction to -- along with a commentary on our current understanding of -- these dynamical aspects, paying particular attention to the role of entrainment, and outlines the impact of superfluidity on neutron-star seismology.

In this paper, we investigate the impact of correlated noise on fast radio burst (FRB) searching. We found that 1) the correlated noise significantly increases the false alarm probability; 2) the signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) of the false positives become higher; 3) the correlated noise also affects the pulse width distribution of false positives, and there will be more false positives with wider pulse width. We use 55-hour observation for M82 galaxy carried out at Nanshan 26m radio telescope to demonstrate the application of the correlated noise modelling. The number of candidates and parameter distribution of the false positives can be reproduced with the modelling of correlated noise. We will also discuss a low S/N candidate detected in the observation, for which we demonstrate the method to evaluate the false alarm probability in the presence of correlated noise.Possible origins of the candidate are discussed, where two possible pictures, an M82-harbored giant pulse and a cosmological FRB, are both compatible with the observation.

Alignment of non-spherical grains with magnetic fields is an important problem as it lays the foundation of probing magnetic fields with polarized dust thermal emissions. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of magnetic alignment in protoplanetary disks (PPDs). We use an alignment condition that Larmor precession should be fast compared with the damping timescale. We first show that the Larmor precession timescale is some three orders of magnitude longer than the damping time for millimeter-sized grains under conditions typical of PPDs, making the magnetic alignment unlikely. The precession time can be shortened by superparamagnetic inclusions (SPIs), but the reduction factor strongly depends on the size of the SPI clusters, which we find is limited by the so-called "N\'{e}el's relaxation process." In particular, the size limit of SPIs is set by the so-called "anisotropic energy constant" of the SPI material, which describes the energy barrier needed to change the direction of the magnetic moment of an SPI. For the most common iron-bearing materials, we find maximum SPI sizes corresponding to a reduction factor of the Larmor precession timescale of order $10^3$. We also find that reaching this maximum reduction factor requires fine-tuning on the SPI sizes. Lastly, we illustrate the effects of the SPI size limits on magnetic alignment of dust grains with a simple disk model, and we conclude that it is unlikely for relatively large grains of order 100 $\mu$m or more to be aligned with magnetic fields even with SPIs.

The galaxy quenching process, in which a galaxy stops forming stars is a crucial stage in galaxy life. Two mechanisms for quenching are possible: halo mass quenching of central galaxies and environmental quenching of satellite galaxies. This thesis describes the satellite galaxies (SG) quenching process and its primary causes. The analysis contains a study of a large sample of 118 SGs within the Vela cosmological simulation, identified by a specific SG merger tree algorithm. We find that the quenching evolves through a typical path in the diagram of specific star formation (sSFR) vs. inner stellar surface density ($\Sigma_{\star, 0.5\textrm kpc}$), with the inner surface density defined as the density within 0.5kpc from the center of mass of the SG. Three discrete phases characterize this path: 1. Halt in gas accretion with SG compaction at high sSFR as the SG keeps forming stars 2. Gas removal and rapid drop in the sSFR at the peri-center of its orbit within the host halo 3. Stellar heating and stripping may lead to coalescing with the halo center, an ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG), a compact elliptical galaxy (eCg), or a globular cluster (GC). We find that the main drivers of SG evolution are ram pressure stripping at the initial stages and tidal forces at the final stages, aided by starvation, suppression of gas accretion. We show that other processes, such as gas depletion by star formation or stellar feedback are secondary. Moreover, we present an innovative method for constructing merger trees in simulations that solve systemic errors. Two new significant results presented here: a. Decoupling of dark-matter from the stellar component in SGs. b. Compact elliptical SG formation. An assembly of these results and others are presented in a fast and robust catalog.

We present the results of high-quality XMM-NEWTON observations of a ULX in the galaxy NGC 4190. The detection of spectral cutoff in NGC 4190 ULX1 spectra rules out the interpretation of the ULX to be in a standard low/hard canonical accretion state. We report that the high quality EPIC spectra can be better described by broad thermal component, such as a slim disk. In addition we found long term spectral and flux variability in the source using several XMM-NEWTON and Swift data. A clear anti-correlation between flux and power-law photon index is found which further confirms the unusual spectral state evolution of the ULX. Spectral properties of the ULX suggest that the source is in a broadened disk state with luminosities ($\approx (3-10) \times 10^{39}$ ergs s$^{-1}$) falling in the ultraluminous regime. The positive Luminosity-temperature relation further suggests that the multi color disk model follows the $L \propto T^4$ relation which is expected for a black body disk emission from a constant area and the slim disk model seems to favour $L \propto T^2$ relation consistent with an advection dominated disk emission . From the broadened disk like spectral feature at such luminosity, we estimated the upper limit of the mass of the central compact object from the inner disk radius and found that the ULX hosts a stellar mass black hole.

This paper describes the new QuickFind method in LcTools for finding signals and associated TTVs (Transit Timing Variations) in light curves from NASA space missions. QuickFind is adept at finding medium to large sized signals (generally those with S/N ratios above 15) extremely fast, significantly reducing overall processing time for a light curve as compared to the BLS detection method. For example, on the lead author's computer, QuickFind was able to detect both KOI signals for star 10937029 in a 14 quarter Kepler light curve spanning 1,459 days in roughly 2 seconds whereas BLS took about 155 seconds to find both signals making QuickFind in this example about 77 times faster than BLS. This paper focuses on the user interfaces, data processing algorithm, and performance tests for the QuickFind method in LcTools.

A new software (Soonspot) for the determination of the heliographic coordinates and areas of sunspots from solar images is presented. This program is very user-friendly and the accuracy of its results has been checked by using solar images provided by the Debrecen Photoheliographic Data (DPD). Due to its applicability in the studies of historical solar observations, the program has been used to analyze the solar drawings carried out by Hevelius in the 17th century.

We revise the sunspot observations made by Galileo Galilei and Christoph Scheiner in the context of their controversy on the nature of sunspots. Their sunspot records not included in the current sunspot group database, used as a basis to calculate the sunspot group number, are analyzed. Within the documentary sources consulted in this work, we can highlight the sunspot observations by Scheiner included in the letters sent under the pseudonym Apelles to Marcus Welser and the first sunspot observations made by Galileo, which can be consulted in Le opere di Galileo Galilei. These sunspot observations would extend the temporal coverage for these two observers and filling some gaps in the current group database in the earliest period where the data available is sparse. Moreover, we have detected changes in the quality of the sunspot drawings made by Galileo and Scheiner in their observation series affecting to the number of groups recorded by the two observers. We also compare these records with sunspot observations made by other astronomers of that time. According to this comparison and regarding the same observation days, Scheiner was generally the astronomer who reported more sunspot groups while Harriot, Cigoli, and Galileo recorded a similar number of groups. We conclude these differences are mainly because of the observational method used by the observers.

Antonio Colla was a meteorologist and astronomer who made sunspot observations at the Meteorological Observatory of the Parma University (Italy). He carried out his sunspot records from 1830 to 1843, just after the Dalton Minimum. We have recovered 71 observation days for this observer. Unfortunately, many of these records are qualitative and we could only obtain the number of sunspot groups and/or single sunspots from 25 observations. However, we highlight the importance of these records because Colla is not included in the sunspot group database as an observer and, therefore, neither his sunspot observations. According to the number of groups, the sunspot observations made by Colla are similar as several observers of his time. For common observation day, only Stark significantly recorded more groups than Colla. Moreover, we have calculated the sunspot area and positions from Colla's sunspot drawings concluding that both areas and positions recorded by this observer seem unreal. Therefore, Colla's drawings can be interpreted such as sketches including reliable information on the number of groups but the information on sunspot areas and positions should not be used for scientific purposes.

William Cranch Bond, director of the Harvard College Observatory in mid-19th century, carried out detailed sunspot observations during the period 1847-1849. We highlight Bond was the observer with the highest daily number of sunspot groups observed in Solar Cycle 9 recording 18 groups on 26 December 1848 according to the current sunspot group database. However, we have detected significant mistakes in these counts due to the use of sunspot position tables instead of solar drawings. Therefore, we have revisited the sunspot observations made by Bond, establishing a new group counting. Our new counts of the sunspot groups from Bond's drawings indicate that solar activity was previously overestimated. Moreover, after this new counting, Bond would not be the astronomer who recorded the highest daily group number for Solar Cycle 9 but Schmidt with 16 groups on 14 February 1849. We have also indicated the new highest annual group numbers recorded by any observer for the period 1847-1849 in order to correct those values applied in the "brightest star" method, which is used as a rough indicator of the solar activity level. Furthermore, a comparison between Bond's sunspot records and the sunspot observations made by Schwabe and Wolf is shown. We conclude that the statistics of Wolf and Bond are similar regarding to the group count. Additionally, Schwabe was able to observe smaller groups than Bond.

CO2+H2 greenhouse warming has recently emerged as a promising scenario to sufficiently warm the early martian surface to allow the formation of valley networks and lakes. Here we present numerical 3-D global climate simulations of the early martian climate that we have performed assuming dense CO2+H2 atmospheres. Our climate model, derived from earlier works by Forget et al. (2013) and Wordsworth et al. (2013), is coupled to an asynchronous model of the long-term evolution of martian glaciers and lakes. Simulations were carried out at 40{\deg} obliquity to investigate how (i) water content and (ii) H2 content (added to 1 or 2 bars of CO2) can shape the climate and hydrologic cycle of early Mars. We show that the adiabatic cooling mechanism (Wordsworth et al. 2013) that leads to the accumulation of ice deposits in the southern highlands in cold climate (the so called 'icy highland scenario') also works in warm climates, with impact crater lakes acting as the main water reservoirs. This produces rainfall mainly localized in the southern highlands of Mars. If one adjust (i) the amount of CO2 and H2, (ii) the size and location of the water reservoirs, and (iii) the ancient topography (i.e. by removing Tharsis), the spatial patterns of surface runoff (from rainfall or snowmelt) in the simulations can match -- with a few exceptions -- the observed distribution of valley networks and impact crater lakes. Although our results are obtained for CO2-dominated atmospheres enriched with H2, they should also apply to assess the impact of any combination of powerful long-lived greenhouse gases on early Mars.

We report the discovery of four new hot Jupiters with the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). NGTS-15b, NGTS-16b, NGTS-17b, and NGTS-18b are short-period ($P<5$d) planets orbiting G-type main sequence stars, with radii and masses between $1.10-1.30$ $R_J$ and $0.41-0.76$ $M_J$. By considering the host star luminosities and the planets' small orbital separations ($0.039-0.052$ AU), we find that all four hot Jupiters are highly irradiated and therefore occupy a region of parameter space in which planetary inflation mechanisms become effective. Comparison with statistical studies and a consideration of the planets' high incident fluxes reveals that NGTS-16b, NGTS-17b, and NGTS-18b are indeed likely inflated, although some disparities arise upon analysis with current Bayesian inflationary models. However, the underlying relationships which govern radius inflation remain poorly understood. We postulate that the inclusion of additional hyperparameters to describe latent factors such as heavy element fraction, as well as the addition of an updated catalogue of hot Jupiters, would refine inflationary models, thus furthering our understanding of the physical processes which give rise to inflated planets.

The segmented pupil experiment for exoplanet detection (SPEED) facility aims to improve knowledge and insight into various areas required for gearing up high-contrast imaging instruments adapted to the unprecedented high angular resolution and complexity of the forthcoming extremely large telescopes (ELTs). SPEED combines an ELT simulator, cophasing optics, wavefront control and shaping with a multi-deformable mirror (DM) system, and optimized small inner-working angle (IWA) coronagraphy. The fundamental objective of the SPEED setup is to demonstrate deep contrast into a dark hole optimized for small field of view and very small IWA, adapted to the hunt of exoplanets in the habitable zone around late-type stars. SPEED is designed to implement an optimized small IWA coronagraph: the phase-induced amplitude apodization complex mask coronagraph (PIAACMC). The PIAACMC consists in a multi-zone phase-shifting focal plane mask (FPM) and two apodization mirrors (PIAA-M1 and PIAA-M2), with strong manufacturing specifications. Recently, a first-generation prototype of a PIAACMC optimized for the SPEED facility has been designed and manufactured. The manufacturing components exhibit high optical quality that meets specifications. In this paper, we present how these components have been characterized by a metrological instrument, an interferential microscope, and then we show what is yielded from this characterization for the FPM and the mirrors. Eventually, we discuss the results and the perspectives of the implementation of the PIAACMC components on the SPEED setup.

V555 Ori is a T Tauri star, whose 1.5 mag brightening was published as a Gaia science alert in 2017. We carried out optical and near-infrared photometric, and optical spectroscopic observations to understand the light variations. The light curves show that V555 Ori was faint before 2017, entered a high state for about a year, and returned to the faint state by mid-2018. In addition to the long-term flux evolution, quasi-periodic brightness oscillations were also evident, with a period of about 5 days. At optical wavelengths both the long-term and short-term variations exhibited colourless changes, while in the near-infrared they were consistent with changing extinction. We explain the brightness variations as the consequence of changing extinction. The object has a low accretion rate whose variation in itself would not be enough to reproduce the optical flux changes. This behaviour makes V555 Ori similar to the pre-main sequence star AA Tau, where the light changes are interpreted as periodic eclipses of the star by a rotating inner disc warp. The brightness maximum of V555 Ori was a moderately obscured ($A_V$=2.3 mag) state, while the extinction in the low state was $A_V$=6.4 mag. We found that while the Gaia alert hinted at an accretion burst, V555 Ori is a standard dipper, similar to the prototype AA Tau. However, unlike in AA Tau, the periodic behaviour was also detectable in the faint phase, implying that the inner disc warp remained stable in both the high and low states of the system.

Coronal extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) waves are large-scale disturbances propagating in the corona, whose physical nature and origin have been discussed for decades. We report the first three dimensional (3D) radiative magneto-hydrodynamic (RMHD) simulation of a coronal EUV wave and the accompanying quasi-periodic wave trains. The numerical experiment is conducted with the MURaM code and simulates the formation of solar active regions through magnetic flux emergence from the convection zone to the corona. The coronal EUV wave is driven by the eruption of a magnetic flux rope that also gives rise to a C-class flare. It propagates in a semi-circular shape with an initial speed ranging from about 550 to 700 km s$^{-1}$, which corresponds to an average Mach number (relative to fast magnetoacoustic waves) of about 1.2. Furthermore, the abrupt increase of the plasma density, pressure and tangential magnetic field at the wavefront confirms fast-mode shock nature of the coronal EUV wave. Quasi-periodic wave trains with a period of about 30 s are found as multiple secondary wavefronts propagating behind the leading wavefront and ahead of the erupting magnetic flux rope. We also note that the true wavefront in the 3D space can be very inhomogeneous, however, the line-of-sight integration of EUV emission significantly smoothes the sharp structures in 3D and leads to a more diffuse wavefront.

Galactic scale tests have proven to be powerful tools in constraining fundamental physics in previously under-explored regions of parameter space. The astrophysical regime which they probe is inherently complicated, and the inference methods used to make these constraints should be robust to baryonic effects. Previous analyses have assumed simple empirical models for astrophysical noise without detailed calibration or justification. We outline a framework for assessing the reliability of such methods by constructing and testing more advanced baryonic models using cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. As a case study, we use the Horizon-AGN simulation to investigate warping of stellar disks and offsets between gas and stars within galaxies, which are powerful probes of screened fifth forces. We show that the degree of `U'-shaped warping of galaxies is well modelled by Gaussian random noise, but that the magnitude of the gas-star offset is correlated with the virial radius of the host halo. By incorporating this correlation we confirm recent results ruling out astrophysically relevant Hu-Sawicki $f(R)$ gravity, and identify a $\sim 30\%$ systematic uncertainty due to baryonic physics. Such an analysis must be performed case-by-case for future galactic tests of fundamental physics.

The chemical differentiation of seven COMs in the extended region around Sgr B2 has been observed: CH$_2$OHCHO, CH$_3$OCHO, t-HCOOH, C$_2$H$_5$OH, and CH$_3$NH$_2$ were detected both in the extended region and near the hot cores Sgr B2(N) and Sgr B2(M), while CH$_3$OCH$_3$ and C$_2$H$_5$CN were only detected near the hot cores. The density and temperature in the extended region are relatively low. Different desorption mechanisms have been proposed to explain the observed COMs in cold regions but fail to explain the deficiency of CH$_3$OCH$_3$ and C$_2$H$_5$CN. We explored under what physical conditions the chemical simulations can fit the observations and explain the different spatial distribution of these species. We used the Monte Carlo method to perform a detailed parameter space study. We investigated how different mechanisms affect the results. All gas-grain chemical models based on static physics cannot fit the observations. The results based on evolving physical conditions can fit six COMs when $T\sim30-60$ K, but the best-fit temperature is still higher than the observed dust temperature of 20 K. The best agreement at $T\sim27$ K is achieved by considering a short-duration $\sim 10^2$ yr X-ray burst with $\zeta_{\mathrm{CR}}=1.3\times10^{-13}$ s$^{-1}$ when the temperature is 20 K. The reactive desorption is the key mechanism for producing these COMs and inducing the low abundances of CH$_3$OCH$_3$ and C$_2$H$_5$CN. The evolution of the extended region around Sgr~B2 may have begun with a cold, $T\le10$ K phase followed by a warm-up phase. When its temperature reached $T\sim20$ K, an X-ray flare from Sgr A* with a short duration of no more than 100 years was acquired, affecting strongly the Sgr B2 chemistry. The observed COMs retain their observed abundances only several hundred years after such a flare, which could imply that such short-term X-ray flares occur relatively often.

Thermal (<1 eV) electron density measurements, derived from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution's (MAVEN) Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW) instrument, are analyzed to produce the first statistical study of the thermal electron population in the Martian magnetotail. Coincident measurements of the local magnetic field are used to demonstrate that close to Mars, the thermal electron population is most likely to be observed at a cylindrical distance of ~1.1 Mars radii (RM) from the central tail region during times when the magnetic field flares inward toward the central tail, compared to ~1.3 RM during times when the magnetic field flares outward away from the central tail. Similar patterns are observed further down the magnetotail with greater variability. Thermal electron densities are highly variable throughout the magnetotail; average densities are typically ~20-50 /cc within the optical shadow of Mars and can peak at ~100 /cc just outside of the optical shadow. Standard deviations of 100% are observed for average densities measured throughout the tail. Analysis of the local magnetic field topology suggests that thermal electrons observed within the optical shadow of Mars are likely sourced from the nightside ionosphere, whereas electrons observed just outside of the optical shadow are likely sourced from the dayside ionosphere. Finally, thermal electrons within the optical shadow of Mars are up to 20% more likely to be observed when the strongest crustal magnetic fields point sunward than when they point tailward.

The exploration of interstellar space will require autonomous navigation systems that do not rely on tracking from the Earth. Here I develop a method to determine the 3D position and 3D velocity of a spacecraft in deep space using a star catalogue. As a spacecraft moves away from the Sun, the observed positions and velocities of the stars will change relative to those in a Earth-based catalogue due to parallax, aberration, and the Doppler effect. By measuring just the angular distances between pairs of stars, and comparing these to the catalogue, we can infer the coordinates of the spacecraft via an iterative forward-modelling process. I perform simulations with existing star catalogues to demonstrate the method and to compute its performance. Using 20 stars and a modest angular distance measurement accuracy of 1", the position and velocity of the spacecraft can be determined to within 3 au and 2 km/s respectively. If a measurement accuracy of 1 mas is achievable then the navigation accuracy increases by a factor of 1000. Using more stars and/or including also onboard measurements of the stars' radial velocities improves the accuracy further.

Transiting ultra-hot Jupiters are ideal candidates to study the exoplanet atmospheres and their dynamics, particularly by means of high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio spectra. One such object is KELT-20b, orbiting the fast rotating A2-type star KELT-20. Many atomic species have already been found in its atmosphere, with blueshifted signals that hints at the presence of a day-to-night side wind. We aimed to observe the atmospheric Rossiter-McLaughlin effect in the ultra-hot Jupiter KELT-20b, and to study any variation of the atmospheric signal during the transit. For this purpose, we analysed five nights of HARPS-N spectra covering five transits of KELT-20b. We computed the mean line profiles of the spectra with a least-squares deconvolution, and then we extracted the stellar radial velocities by fitting them with a rotational broadening profile in order to obtain the radial velocity time-series. We used the mean line profile residuals tomography to analyse the planetary atmospheric signal and its variations. We also used the cross-correlation method to study an already known double-peak feature in the FeI planetary signal. We observed both the classical and the atmospheric Rossiter-McLaughlin effect in the radial velocity time-series. The latter gave us an estimate of the radius of the planetary atmosphere that correlates with the stellar mask used in our work: R(p+atmo)/Rp = 1.13 +/- 0.02). We isolated the planetary atmospheric trace in the tomography, and we found radial velocity variations of the planetary atmospheric signal during transit with an overall blueshift of approximatively 10 km/s, along with small variations in the signal's depth and, less significant, in the full width at half maximum (FWHM). We also find a possible variation in the structure and position of FeI signal in different transits.

Lightning is an important electrical phenomenon, known to exist in several Solar System planets. It carries information on convection and cloud formation, and may be important for pre-biotic chemistry. Exoplanets and brown dwarfs have been shown to host environments appropriate for the initiation of lightning discharges. In this PhD project, I aim to determine if lightning on exoplanets and brown dwarfs can be more energetic than it is known from Solar System planets, what are the most promising signatures to look for, and if these "exo-lightning" signatures can be detected from Earth. This thesis focuses on three major topics. First I discuss a lightning climatology study of Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus. I apply the obtained lightning statistics to extrasolar planets in order to give a first estimate on lightning occurrence on exoplanets and brown dwarfs. Next, I introduce a short study of potential lightning activity on the exoplanet HAT-P-11b, based on previous radio observations. Related to this, I discuss a first estimate of observability of lightning from close brown dwarfs, with the optical Danish Telescope. The final part of my project focuses on a lightning radio model, which is applied to study the energy and radio power released from lightning discharges in hot giant gas planetary and brown dwarf atmospheres. The released energy determines the observability of signatures, and the effect lightning has on the local atmosphere of the object. This work combines knowledge obtained from planetary and earth sciences and uses that to learn more about extrasolar systems. My main results show that lightning on exoplanets may be more energetic than in the Solar System, supporting the possibility of future observations and detection of lightning activity on an extrasolar body. My work provides the base for future radio, optical, and infrared search for "exo-lightning".

We study primordial non-gaussianity in supersolid inflation. The dynamics of supersolid is formulated in terms of an effective field theory based on four scalar fields with a shift symmetric action minimally coupled with gravity. In the scalar sector, there are two phonon-like excitations with a kinetic mixing stemming from the completely spontaneous breaking of diffeomorphism. In a squeezed configuration, $f_{\text{NL}}$ of scalar perturbations is angle dependent and not proportional to slow-roll parameters showing a blunt violation of the Maldacena consistency relation. Contrary to solid inflation, the violation persists even after an angular average and generically the amount of non-gaussianity is significant. During inflation, non-gaussianity in the TSS and TTS sector is enhanced in the same region of the parameters space where the secondary production of gravitational waves is sizeable enough to enter in the sensitivity region of LISA, while the scalar $f_{\text{NL}}$ is still within the current experimental limits.

We study the effect of a first-order phase transition in a confining $SU(N)$ dark sector with heavy dark quarks. The baryons of this sector are the dark matter candidate. During the confinement phase transition the heavy quarks are trapped inside isolated, contracting pockets of the deconfined phase, giving rise to a second stage of annihilation that dramatically suppresses the dark quark abundance. The surviving abundance is determined by the local accidental asymmetry in each pocket. The correct dark matter abundance is obtained for $\mathcal{O}(1-100)$ PeV dark quarks, above the usual unitarity bound.

We carry out a detailed study of the confinement phase transition in a dark sector with a $SU(N)$ gauge group and a single generation of dark heavy quark. We focus on heavy enough quarks such that their abundance freezes out before the phase transition and the phase transition is of first-order. We find that during this phase transition the quarks are trapped inside contracting pockets of the deconfined phase and are compressed enough to interact at a significant rate, giving rise to a second stage of annihilation that can dramatically change the resulting dark matter abundance. As a result, the dark matter can be heavier than the often-quoted unitarity bound of $\sim100~$TeV. Our findings are almost completely independent of the details of the portal between the dark sector and the Standard Model. We comment briefly on possible signals of such a sector. Our main findings are summarized in a companion letter, while here we provide further details on different parts of the calculation.

The existence of feebly interacting massive particles (FIMPs) could have significant implications on the effective number of relativistic species $N_\mathrm{eff}$ in the early Universe. In this work, we investigate in detail how short-lived FIMPs that can decay into neutrinos affect $N_\mathrm{eff}$ and highlight the relevant effects that govern its evolution. We show that even if unstable FIMPs inject most of their energy into neutrinos, they may still decrease $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$, and identify neutrino spectral distortions as the driving power behind this effect. As a case study, we consider Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNLs) and indicate which regions of their parameter space increase or decrease $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$. Moreover, we derive bounds on the HNL lifetime from the Cosmic Microwave Background and comment on the possible role that HNLs could play in alleviating the Hubble tension.

In this work, we study magnetic field effects on neutron star matter containing the baryon octet and additional heavier spin 3/2 baryons (the $\Delta$'s). We make use of two different relativistic hadronic models that contain an additional vector-isovector self interaction for the mesons: one version of a relativistic mean field (RMF) model and the Chiral Mean Field (CMF) model. We find that both the additional interaction and a strong magnetic field enhance the $\Delta$ baryon population in dense matter, while decreasing the relative density of hyperons. At the same time that the vector-isovector meson interaction modifies neutron-star masses very little ($<0.1~M_\odot$), it decreases their radii considerably, allowing both models to be in better agreement with observations. Together, these features indicate that magnetic neutron stars are likely to contain $\Delta$ baryons in their interior

Gravitational spectroscopy - the measurement of the quasi-normal modes of a black hole from the ringdown signal of a binary black hole coalescence - is one of the most promising tools to test gravity in the strong-field, large-curvature regime, but without the knowledge of the black hole quasi-normal modes in specific cases of modified gravity theories, only null tests of general relativity are possible. More specifically, we need to know the modes of rotating black holes, because typical compact binary mergers lead to black holes with large spins. In this article we compute, for the first time, the gravitational quasi-normal modes of rotating black holes in a modified gravity theory, up to first order in the spin. We consider Einstein-dilaton Gauss-Bonnet gravity, one of the simplest modifications of general relativity in the large-curvature regime. We find that the shifts in the mode frequencies and damping times due to general relativity modifications are significantly magnified by rotation.

The construction of constraint-satisfying initial data is an essential element for the numerical exploration of the dynamics of compact-object binaries. While several codes have been developed over the years to compute generic quasi-equilibrium configurations of binaries comprising either two black holes, or two neutron stars, or a black hole and a neutron star, these codes are often not publicly available or they provide only a limited capability in terms of mass ratios and spins of the components in the binary. We here present a new open-source collection of spectral elliptic solvers that are capable of exploring the major parameter space of binary black holes (BBHs), binary neutron stars (BNSs), and mixed binaries of black holes and neutron stars (BHNSs). Particularly important is the ability of the spectral-solver library to handle neutron stars that are either irrotational or with an intrinsic spin angular momentum that is parallel to the orbital one. By supporting both analytic and tabulated equations of state at zero or finite temperature, the new infrastructure is particularly geared towards allowing for the construction of BHNS and BNS binaries. For the latter, we show that the new solvers are able to reach the most extreme corners in the physically plausible space of parameters, including extreme mass ratios and spin asymmetries, thus representing the most extreme BNS computed to date. Through a systematic series of examples, we demonstrate that the solvers are able to construct quasi-equilibrium and eccentricity-reduced initial data for BBHs, BNSs, and BHNSs, achieving spectral convergence in all cases. Furthermore, using such initial data, we have carried out evolutions of these systems from the inspiral to after the merger, obtaining evolutions with eccentricities $\lesssim 10^{-4}-10^{-3}$, and accurate gravitational waveforms.

Accurate and comprehensive diatomic molecular spectroscopic data have long been vital in a wide variety of applications for measuring and monitoring astrophysical, industrial and other gaseous environments. These data are also used extensively for benchmarking quantum chemistry and applications from quantum computers, ultracold chemistry and the search for physics beyond the standard model. Useful data can be highly detailed like line lists or summative like molecular constants, and obtained from theory, experiment or a combination. There are plentiful (though not yet sufficient) data available, but these data are often scattered. For example, molecular constants have not been compiled since 1979 despite the existing compilation still being cited more than 200 times annually. Further, the data are interconnected but updates in one type of data are not yet routinely applied to update interconnected data: in particular, new experimental and ab-initio data are not routinely unified with other data on the molecule. This paper provide information and strategies to strengthen the connection between data producers (e.g. ab-initio electronic structure theorists and experimental spectroscopists), data modellers (e.g. line list creators and others who connect data on one aspect of the molecule to the full energetic and spectroscopic description) and data users (astronomers, chemical physicists etc). All major data types are described including their source, use, compilation and interconnectivity. Explicit advice is provided for theoretical and experimental data producers, data modellers and data users to facilitate optimal use of new data with appropriate attribution.

One of the most important achievements of inflationary cosmology is to predict a departure from scale invariance of the power spectrum for scalar curvature cosmological fluctuations. This tilt is understood as a consequence of a quasi de Sitter classical equation of state describing the inflationary dark energy dominated era. Here, following previous work, we find a departure of scale invariance for the quantum Fisher information associated to de Sitter vacuum for scalar quantum spectator modes. This gives rise to a purely quantum cosmological tilt with a well defined dependence on energy scale. This quantum tilt is imprinted, in a scale dependent energy uncertainty for the spectator modes. The effective quasi de Sitter description of this model independent energy uncertainty uniquely sets the effective quasi de Sitter parameters at all energy scales. In particular, in the slow-roll regime characterized by an almost constant $\epsilon$, the quantum Fisher -- model independent -- prediction for the spectral index is $(1-n_s) = 0.0328$ ($n_s=0.9672$). Moreover, the energy scale dependence of the quantum cosmological tilt implies the existence of a cosmological phase transition at energies higher than the CMB scale where the tilt goes from red into blue. This strongly suggest the existence of a pre-inflationary phase where the effective scalaron contributes to the spectral index as normal relativistic matter and where the corresponding growth of the power spectrum can result in dark matter in the form of small mass primordial black holes. The source and features of the quantum cosmological tilt leading to these predictions are determined by the entanglement features of the de Sitter vacuum states.

We study the propagation coherence for neutrino oscillations in media with different density profiles. For each profile, we find the dependence of the coherence length, $L_{coh}$, on neutrino energy and address the issue of correspondence of results in the distance and energy-momentum representations. The key new feature in matter is existence of energy ranges with enhanced coherence around the energies $E_0$ of "infinite coherence" at which $L_{coh} \rightarrow \infty$. In the configuration space, the infinite coherence corresponds to equality of the (effective) group velocities of the eigenstates. In constant density medium, there is a unique $E_0$, which coincides with the MSW resonance energy of oscillations of mass states and is close to the MSW resonance energy of flavor states. In the case of massless neutrinos or negligible masses in a very dense medium the coherence persists continuously. In the adiabatic case, the infinite coherence is realized for periodic density change. Adiabaticity violation changes the shape factors of the wave packets (WPs) and leads to their spread. In a medium with sharp density changes (jumps), splitting of the eigenstates occurs at crossing of each jump. We study the increase of the coherence length in a single jump and periodic density jumps - castle-wall (CW) profiles. For the CW profile, there are several $E_0$ corresponding to parametric resonances. We outlined applications of the results for supernova neutrinos. In particular, we show that coherence between two shock wave fronts leads to observable oscillation effects, and our analysis suggests that the decoherence can be irrelevant for flavor transformations in the central parts of collapsing stars.

We suggest an extension to isospin asymmetric matter of the quarkyonic model from McLerran and Reddy. This extension allows us to construct the $\beta$-equilibrium between quarks, nucleons and leptons. The concept of the quarkyonic matter originates from the large number of color limit for which nucleons are the correct degrees of freedom near the Fermi surface -- reflecting the confining forces -- while deep inside the Fermi sea quarks naturally appear. In isospin asymmetric matter, we suggest that this new concept can be implemented within a global isoscalar relation between the shell gaps differentiating the nucleon and the quark sectors. In addition, we impose the conservation of the isospin-flavor asymmetry in the nucleon and the quark phases. Within this model, several quarkyonic stars are constructed on top of the SLy4 model for the nucleon sector, producing a bump in the sound speed, which implies that quarkyonic stars are systematically bigger and have a larger maximum mass than the associated neutron stars. They also predict lower proton fraction at $\beta$-equilibrium, which potentially quenches fast cooling in massive compact stars.