Papers for Friday, Apr 16 2021

We present a compendium of disk galaxy scaling relations and a detailed characterization of their intrinsic scatter. Observed scaling relations are typically characterized by their slope, intercept, and scatter; however, these parameters are a mixture of observational errors and astrophysical processes. We introduce a novel Bayesian framework for computing the intrinsic scatter of scaling relations that accounts for nonlinear error propagation and covariant uncertainties. Bayesian intrinsic scatters are ~25percent more accurate than those obtained with a first-order classical method, which systematically underestimates the true intrinsic scatter. Structural galaxy scaling relations based on velocity (V23.5), size (R23.5), luminosity (L23.5), colour (g-z), central stellar surface density (Sigma1), stellar mass (M*), dynamical mass (Mdyn), stellar angular momentum (j*), and dynamical angular momentum (jdyn), are examined to demonstrate the power and importance of the Bayesian formalism. Our analysis is based on a diverse selection of over 1000 late-type galaxies from the Photometry and Rotation Curve Observations from Extragalactic Surveys compilation with deep optical photometry and extended rotation curves. We determine the tightest relation for each parameter by intrinsic orthogonal scatter, finding M*-V23.5, R23.5-j*, and L23.5-jdyn to be especially tight. The scatter of the R23.5-L23.5, V23.5-(g-z), and R23.5-jdyn relations is mostly intrinsic, making them ideal for galaxy formation and evolutionary studies. Our code to compute the Bayesian intrinsic scatter of any scaling relation is also presented. We quantify the correlated nature of many uncertainties in galaxy scaling relations and scrutinize the uncertain nature of disk inclination corrections and their effect on scatter estimates.

Magnetic fields lines are trapped in black hole event horizons by accreting plasma. If the trapped field lines are lightly loaded with plasma, then their motion is controlled by their footpoints on the horizon and thus by the spin of the black hole. In this paper, we investigate the boundary layer between lightly loaded polar field lines and a dense, equatorial accretion flow. We present an analytic model for aligned prograde and retrograde accretion systems and argue that there is significant shear across this "jet-disk boundary" at most radii for all black hole spins. Specializing to retrograde aligned accretion, where the model predicts the strongest shear, we show numerically that the jet-disk boundary is unstable. The resulting mixing layer episodically loads plasma onto trapped field lines where it is heated, forced to rotate with the hole, and permitted to escape outward into the jet. In one case we follow the mass loading in detail using Lagrangian tracer particles and find a time-averaged mass-loading rate ~ 0.01 Mdot.

MAXI J1305-704 has been proposed as a high-inclination candidate black hole X-ray binary in view of its X-ray properties and dipping behaviour during outburst. We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the source in quiescence that allow us to reveal the ellipsoidal modulation of the companion star and absorption features consistent with those of an early K-type star (Teff = 4610 +130 -160 K). The central wavelengths of the absorption lines vary periodically at Porb = 0.394 +- 0.004 d with an amplitude of K2 = 554 +- 8 km/s . They imply a mass function for the compact object of f(M1) = 6.9 +- 0.3 Msun, confirming its black hole nature. The simultaneous absence of X-ray eclipses and the presence of dips set a conservative range of allowed inclinations 60 deg < i < 82 deg, while modelling of optical light curves further constrain it to i = 72 +5 -8 deg. The above parameters together set a black hole mass of M1 = 8.9 +1.6 -1.0 Msun and a companion mass of M2=0.43 +- 0.16 Msun, much lower than that of a dwarf star of the observed spectral type, implying it is evolved. Estimates of the distance to the system (d = 7.5 +1.8 -1.4 kpc) and space velocity (vspace = 270 +- 60 km/s ) place it in the Galactic thick disc and favour a strong natal kick during the formation of the BH if the supernova occurred in the Galactic Plane.

Scalar Field Dark Matter (SFDM) comprised of ultralight bosons has attracted great interest as an alternative to standard, collisionless Cold Dark Matter (CDM) because of its novel structure-formation dynamics, described by the coupled Schr\"odinger-Poisson equations. In the free-field ("fuzzy") limit of SFDM (FDM), structure is inhibited below the de Broglie wavelength, but resembles CDM on larger scales. Virialized haloes have "solitonic" cores of radius $\sim\lambda_\text{deB}$, surrounded by CDM-like envelopes. When a strong enough repulsive self-interaction (SI) is also present, structure can be inhibited below a second length scale, $\lambda_\text{SI}$, with $\lambda_\text{SI}> \lambda_\text{deB}$ -- called the Thomas-Fermi (TF) regime. FDM dynamics differs from CDM because of quantum pressure, and SFDM-TF differs further by adding SI pressure. In the small-$\lambda_\text{deB}$ limit, however, we can model all three by fluid conservation equations for a compressible, $\gamma=5/3$ ideal gas, with ideal gas pressure sourced by internal velocity dispersion and, for the TF regime, an added SI pressure, $P_\text{SI}\propto \rho^2$. We use these fluid equations to simulate halo formation from gravitational collapse in 1D, spherical symmetry, demonstrating for the first time that SFDM-TF haloes form with cores the size of $R_\text{TF}$, the radius of an SI-pressure-supported $(n=1)$-polytrope, surrounded by CDM-like envelopes. In comparison with rotation curves of dwarf galaxies in the local Universe, SFDM-TF haloes pass the ["too-big-to-fail" + "core-cusp"]-test if $R_\text{TF}\gtrsim 1$ kpc.

The excursions of star clusters and galaxies around statistical equilibria are studied. For an ergodic model with monotone decreasing DF Antonov's Hermitian operator on six-dimensional phase space has the normal modes as its eigenfunctions. The excitation energy of the system is just the sum of the (positive) energies associated with each normal mode. The positivity of modal energies opens the way to modelling the thermal properties of clusters in close analogy with those of crystals. Formulae are given for the DFs of modes, which are of the type first described by van Kampen rather than Landau. Each mode comprises the response of non-resonant stars to driving by the gravitational field of stars on a group of resonant tori. The structure of each mode is sensitive to the degree of self gravity. The emergence of global distortions in N-body models when particles are started from an analytical equilibrium is explained in terms of the interplay of normal modes.

The phenomenological study of evolving galaxy populations has shown that star forming galaxies can be quenched by two distinct processes: mass quenching and environment quenching (Peng et al. 2010). To explore the mass quenching process in local galaxies, we study the massive central disk galaxies with stellar mass above the Schechter characteristic mass. In Zhang et al. (2019), we showed that during the quenching of the massive central disk galaxies as their star formation rate (SFR) decreases, their molecular gas mass and star formation efficiency drop rapidly, but their HI gas mass remains surprisingly constant. To identify the underlying physical mechanisms, in this work we analyze the change during quenching of various structure parameters, bar frequency, and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity. We find three closely related facts. On average, as SFR decreases in these galaxies: (1) they become progressively more compact, indicated by their significantly increasing concentration index, bulge-to-total mass ratio, and central velocity dispersion, which are mainly driven by the growth and compaction of their bulge component; (2) the frequency of barred galaxies increases dramatically, and at a given concentration index the barred galaxies have a significantly higher quiescent fraction than unbarred galaxies, implying that the galactic bar may play an important role in mass quenching; and (3) the "AGN" frequency increases dramatically from 10% on the main sequence to almost 100% for the most quiescent galaxies, which is mainly driven by the sharp increase of LINERs. These observational results lead to a self-consistent picture of how mass quenching operates.

Fast radio transient search algorithms identify signals of interest by iterating and applying a threshold on a set of matched filters. These filters are defined by properties of the transient such as time and dispersion. A real transient can trigger hundreds of search trials, each of which has to be post-processed for visualization and classification tasks. In this paper, we have explored a range of unsupervised clustering algorithms to cluster these redundant candidate detections. We demonstrate this for Realfast, the commensal fast transient search system at the Very Large Array. We use four features for clustering: sky position (l, m), time and dispersion measure (DM). We develop a custom performance metric that makes sure that the candidates are clustered into a small number of pure clusters, i.e, clusters with either astrophysical or noise candidates. We then use this performance metric to compare eight different clustering algorithms. We show that using sky location along with DM/time improves clustering performance by $\sim$10% as compared to the traditional DM/time-based clustering. Therefore, positional information should be used during clustering if it can be made available. We conduct several tests to compare the performance and generalisability of clustering algorithms to other transient datasets and propose a strategy that can be used to choose an algorithm. Our performance metric and clustering strategy can be easily extended to different single-pulse search pipelines and other astronomy and non-astronomy-based applications.

The mass-sheet degeneracy is a well-known problem in gravitational lensing which limits our capability to infer astrophysical lens properties or cosmological parameters from observations. As the number of gravitational wave observations grows, detecting lensed events will become more likely, and to assess how the mass-sheet degeneracy may affect them is crucial. Here we study both analytically and numerically how the lensed waveforms are affected by the mass-sheet degeneracy computing the amplification factor from the diffraction integral. In particular, we differentiate between the geometrical optics, wave optics and interference regimes, focusing on ground-based gravitational waves detectors. In agreement with expectations of gravitational lensing of electromagnetic radiation, we confirm how, in the geometrical optics scenario, the mass-sheet degeneracy cannot be broken with only one lensed image. However, we find that in the interference regime, and in part in the wave-optics regime, the mass-sheet degeneracy can be broken with only one lensed waveform thanks to the characteristic interference patterns of the signal. Finally, we quantify, through template matching, how well the mass-sheet degeneracy can be broken. We find that, within present GW detector sensitivities and considering signals as strong as those which have been detected so far, the mass-sheet degeneracy can lead to a $1\sigma$ uncertainty on the lens mass of $\sim 12\%$. With these values the MSD might still be a problematic issue. But in case of signals with higher signal-to-noise ratio, the uncertainty can drop to $\sim 2\%$, which is less than the current indeterminacy achieved by dynamical mass measurements.

Detonation initiation in a reactive medium can be achieved by an externally created shock wave. Supersonic flow onto a gravitating center, known as Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton (BHL) accretion, is a natural shock wave creating process, but, to our knowledge, a reactive medium has never been considered in the literature. Here, we conduct an order of magnitude analysis to investigate under which conditions the shock-induced reaction zone recouples to the shock front. We derive three semi-analytical criteria for self-sustained detonation ignition. We apply these criteria to the special situation where a primordial black hole (PBH) of asteroid mass traverses a carbon-oxygen white dwarf (WD). Since detonations in carbon-oxygen WDs are supposed to produce normal thermonuclear supernovae (SNe Ia), the observed SN Ia rate constrains the fraction of dark matter (DM) in the form of PBHs as $\log_{10}(f_{\rm pbh})< 0.8 \log_{10}(m_{\rm bh}/{\rm g})-18$ in the range $10^{21}-10^{22}$g ($10^{20}-10^{22}$g) from a conservative (optimistic) analysis. Most importantly, these encounters can account for both the rate and the median explosion mass of normal sub-Chandrasekhar SNe Ia if a significant fraction of DM is in the form of PBHs with mass $10^{23}$g.

Millimeter and centimeter observations are discovering an increasing number of interstellar complex organic molecules (iCOMs) in a large variety of star forming sites, from the earliest stages of star formation to protoplanetary disks and in comets. In this context it is pivotal to understand how the solid phase interactions between iCOMs and grain surfaces influence the thermal desorption process and, therefore, the presence of molecular species in the gas phase. In laboratory, it is possible to simulate the thermal desorption process deriving important parameters such as the desorption temperatures and energies. We report new laboratory results on temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) from olivine dust of astrophysical relevant ice mixtures of water, acetonitrile, and acetaldehyde. We found that in the presence of grains, only a fraction of acetaldehyde and acetonitrile desorbs at about 100 K and 120 K respectively, while 40% of the molecules are retained by fluffy grains of the order of 100 {\mu}m up to temperatures of 190-210 K. In contrast with the typical assumption that all molecules are desorbed in regions with temperatures higher than 100 K, this result implies that about 40% of the molecules can survive on the grains enabling the delivery of volatiles towards regions with temperatures as high as 200 K and shifting inwards the position of the snowlines in protoplanetary disks. These studies offer a necessary support to interpret observational data and may help our understanding of iCOMs formation providing an estimate of the fraction of molecules released at various temperatures.

We observe a system of filaments and clusters around Cl0016+1609 and MACSJ1621.4+3810 using the SITELLE Fourier transform spectrograph at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope. For Cl0016+1609 (z=0.546), the observations span an 11.8 Mpc x 4.3 Mpc region along an eastern filament which covers the main cluster core, as well as two 4.3 Mpc x 4.3 Mpc regions which each cover southern subclumps. For MACSJ1621.4+3810 (z= 0.465), 3.9 Mpc x 3.9 Mpc around the main cluster core is covered. We present the frequency and location of the emission line galaxies, their emission line images, and calculate the star formation rates, specific star formation rates and merger statistics. In Cl0016+1609, we find thirteen [OII]~3727 Angstrom emitting galaxies with star formation rates between 0.2 and 14.0 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. 91$^{+3}_{-10}$% are found in regions with moderate local galaxy density, avoiding the dense cluster cores. These galaxies follow the main filament of the superstructure, and are mostly blue and disky, with several showing close companions and merging morphologies. In MACSJ1621.4+3810, we find ten emission line sources. All are blue (100$^{+0}_{-15}$%), with 40$^{+16}_{-12}$% classified as disky and 60$^{+12}_{-16}$% as merging systems. Eight avoid the cluster core (80$^{+7}_{-17}$%), but two (20$^{+17}_{-7}$%) are found near high density regions, including the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). These observations push the spectroscopic study of galaxies in filaments beyond z~ 0.3 to z~ 0.5. Their efficient confirmation is paramount to their usefulness as more galaxy surveys come online.

Context: Active M dwarfs frequently exhibit large flares, which can pose an existential threat to the habitability of any planet in orbit in addition to making said planets more difficult to detect. M dwarfs do not lose angular momentum as easily as earlier-type stars, which maintain the high levels of stellar activity for far longer. Studying young, fast-rotating M dwarfs is key to understanding their near stellar environment and the evolution of activity Aims: We study stellar activity on the fast-rotating M dwarf GJ 3270. Methods: We analyzed dedicated high cadence, simultaneous, photometric and high-resolution spectroscopic observations obtained with CARMENES of GJ 3270 over 7.7 h, covering a total of eight flares of which two are strong enough to facilitate a detailed analysis. We consult the TESS data, obtained in the month prior to our own observations, to study rotational modulation and to compare the TESS flares to those observed in our campaign. Results: The TESS data exhibit rotational modulation with a period of 0.37 d. The strongest flare covered by our observing campaign released a total energy of about 3.6e32 erg, putting it close to the superflare regime. This flare is visible in the B,V, r, i, and z photometric bands, which allows us to determine a peak temperature of about 10,000 K. The flare also leaves clear marks in the spectral time series. In particular, we observe an evolving, mainly blue asymmetry in chromospheric lines, which we attribute to a post-flare, corotating feature. To our knowledge this is the first time such a feature has been seen on a star other than our Sun. Conclusions: Our photometric and spectroscopic time series covers the eruption of a strong flare followed up by a corotating feature analogous to a post-flare arcadal loop on the Sun with a possible failed ejection of material.

In optical and infrared long-baseline interferometry, data often display significant correlated errors because of uncertain multiplicative factors such as the instrumental transfer function or the pixel-to-visibility matrix in the model parameters. In the context of model fitting, this situation often leads to a significant bias. In the most severe this can can result in a fit lying outside of the range of measurement values. This is known in nuclear physics as Peelle's Pertinent Puzzle. I show how this arises in the context of interferometry and determine that the relative bias is of the order of the square root of the correlated component of the relative uncertainty times the number of measurements. It impacts preferentially large data sets, such as those obtained in medium to high spectral resolution. I then give a conceptually simple and computationally cheap way to avoid the issue: model the data without covariances, estimate the covariance matrix by error propagation using the modelled data instead of the actual data, and perform the model fitting using the covariance matrix. I also show that a more imprecise but also unbiased result can be obtained from ignoring correlations in the model fitting.

Scattered sunlight from the interplanetary dust (IPD) cloud in our Solar system presents a serious foreground challenge for spectro-photometric measurements of the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL). In this work, we report on measurements of the absolute intensity of the Zodiacal Light (ZL) using the novel technique of Fraunhofer line spectroscopy on the deepest 8542 Angstrom line of the near-infrared CaII absorption triplet. The measurements are performed with the Narrow Band Spectrometer (NBS) aboard the Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment (CIBER) sounding rocket instrument. We use the NBS data to test the accuracy of two ZL models widely cited in the literature; the Kelsall and Wright models, which have been used in foreground removal analyses that produce high and low EBL results respectively. We find a mean reduced chi squared of 3.5 for the Kelsall model and a chi squared of 2.0 for the Wright model. The best description of our data is provided by a simple modification to the Kelsall model which includes a free ZL offset parameter. This adjusted model describes the data with a reduced chi squared of 1.5 and yields an inferred offset amplitude of 46 +- 19 nW m^-2 sr^-1 extrapolated to 12500 Angstroms. These measurements elude to the potential existence of a dust cloud component in the inner Solar system whose intensity does not strongly modulate with the Earth's motion around the Sun.

Hydrocarbons are observed in the gas or solid phases of solar system objects, including comets, Trans-Neptunian Objects, planets and their moons. In the presence of water ice in these environments, hydrocarbons-bearing clathrate hydrates could form. In clathrate hydrates, guest molecules are trapped in crystalline water cages of different sizes, a phase used in models of planetary (sub-)surfaces or icy bodies such as comets. The phases in presence, the potential estimate of abundances of hydrocarbon species, the spectroscopic behaviour of hydrocarbon species in the different phases must be recorded to provide reference spectra for the comparison with remote observations. We show in this study the specific encaged ethylene signatures, with bands similar in position, but shifted from the pure ethylene ice spectrum. They show a marked temperature dependence both in position and width. Some vibrational modes are activated in the infrared by interaction with the water ice cages.

Canada is beginning to plan its next chapter of space exploration that includes sending humans back to the Moon and onwards to Mars. This includes understanding humanities place in space and who will benefit from our exploration. As part of this plan the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) placed a call for consultations. In response, we presented comments urging the CSA to be inclusive of Indigenous peoples in the planning as well as to be inclusive of Indigenous rights and worldview in the future of space exploration. In particular, we explore the questions of how Outer Space Laws intersect with treaties between Indigenous Nations and the Crown in what is today Canada, how the current narratives of space exploration parallel the historic narratives of colonization that negatively impact Indigenous peoples, and how the future of commercial exploitation of outer space acts to further colonization.

Many observations show that coronal holes (CHs) deviate coronal mass ejections (CMEs) away from them. However, there are some peculiar events reported where the opposite occurs. To contribute to a space weather forecast efforts, in relation to the prediction of CME trajectories, we study the interaction between flux ropes (FRs) and CHs through numerical simulations. We perform 2.5D numerical simulations where FRs and CHs interact with different relative polarity configurations. We also reconstruct the trajectory and magnetic environment of a peculiar event occurred on 30 April 2012. The numerical simulations indicate that at low coronal levels, depending on the relative magnetic field polarity between the FR and the CH, the deflection will be attractive, i.e. the FR moves towards the CH (for anti-aligned polarities) or repulsive, i.e. the FR moves away to the CH (for aligned polarities). This is likely due to the formation of vanishing magnetic field regions or null points, located between the FR and the CH or, at the other side of the FR, respectively. The analysed observational event shows a double-deflection, first departing from the radial direction by approaching the CH and then moving away from it suggesting that the trajectory could result from a magnetic configuration with an anti-aligned polarity. We numerically reproduce the double deflection of the observed event, providing support to this conjecture.

Chemical abundances in the Leo ring, the largest HI cloud in the local Universe, have recently been determined to be close or above solar, incompatible with a previously claimed primordial origin of the ring. The gas, pre-enriched in a galactic disk and tidally stripped, did not manage to form stars very efficiently in intergalactic space. We map nebular lines in 3 dense HI clumps of the Leo ring and complement these data with archival stellar continuum observations to investigate the slow building up of a sparse population of stars in localized areas of the ring. Individual young stars as massive as O7-types are powering some HII regions. The average star formation rate density is of order of 10^{-5} Msun/yr/kpc^2 and proceeds with local bursts a few hundred parsecs in size, where loose stellar associations of 500-1000 Msun occasionally host massive outliers. The far ultraviolet-to-Halpha emission ratio in nebular regions implies recent stellar bursts, from 2 to 7 Myr ago. The relation between the local HI gas density and the star formation rate in the ring is similar to what is found in dwarfs and outer disks with gas depletion times as long as 100~Gyrs. We find a candidate planetary nebula in a compact and faint Halpha region with [OIII]/Halpha line enhancement, consistent with the estimated mean stellar surface brightness of the ring. The presence of 1 kpc partial ring emitting weak Halpha lines around the brightest and youngest HII region suggests that local shocks might be the triggers of new star forming events.

Binary neutron star mergers provide a unique probe of the dense-matter equation of state (EoS) across a wide range of parameter space, from the zero-temperature EoS during the inspiral to the high-temperature EoS following the merger. In this paper, we implement a new model for calculating parametrized finite-temperature EoS effects into numerical relativity simulations. This "M* model" is based on a two-parameter approximation of the particle effective mass and includes the leading-order effects of degeneracy in the thermal pressure and energy. We test our numerical implementation by performing evolutions of rotating single stars with zero- and non-zero temperature gradients, as well as evolutions of binary neutron star mergers. We find that our new finite-temperature EoS implementation can support stable stars over many dynamical timescales. We also perform a first parameter study to explore the role of the M* parameters in binary neutron star merger simulations. All simulations start from identical initial data with identical cold EoSs, and differ only in the thermal part of the EoS. We find that both the thermal profile of the remnant and the post-merger gravitational wave signal depend on the choice of M* parameters, but that the total merger ejecta depends only weakly on the finite-temperature part of the EoS across a wide range of parameters. Our simulations provide a first step toward understanding how the finite-temperature properties of dense matter may affect future observations of binary neutron star mergers.

We present results obtained from ALMA CO (2-1) data of the double-barred galaxy NGC 3504. With three times higher angular resolution (~ 0."8) than previous studies, our observations reveal an inner molecular gas bar, a nuclear ring, and four inner spiral arm-like structures in the central 1 kpc region. Furthermore, the CO emission is clearly aligned with the two dust lanes in the outer bar region, with differences in shape and intensity between them. The total molecular gas mass in the observed region (50"x57") is estimated to be $\sim 3.1\times 10^9 \, {\rm M}_{\odot}$, which is 17 per cent of the stellar mass. We used the Kinemetry package to fit the velocity field and found that circular motion strongly dominates at $R= 0.3-0.8$ kpc, but radial motion becomes important at $R<0.3$ kpc and $R=1.0-2.5$ kpc, which is expected due to the presence of the inner and outer bars. Finally, assuming that the gas moves along the dust lanes in the bar rotating frame, we derived the pattern speed of the outer bar to be $ 18\pm5$ km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$, the average streaming velocities on each of the two dust lanes to be 165 and 221 km s$^{-1}$, and the total mass inflow rate along the dust lanes to be 12 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. Our results give a new example of an inner gas bar within a gas-rich double-barred galaxy and suggest that the formation of double-barred galaxies could be associated with the existence of such gas structures.

It is well known that magnetic fields dominate the dynamics in the solar corona, and new generation of numerical modelling of the evolution of coronal magnetic fields, as featured with boundary conditions driven directly by observation data, are being developed. This paper describes a new approach of data-driven magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of solar active region (AR) magnetic field evolution, which is for the first time that a data-driven full-MHD model utilizes directly the photospheric velocity field from DAVE4VM. We constructed a well-established MHD equilibrium based on a single vector magnetogram by employing an MHD-relaxation approach with sufficiently small kinetic viscosity, and used this MHD equilibrium as the initial conditions for subsequent data-driven evolution. Then we derived the photospheric surface flows from a time series of observed magentograms based on the DAVE4VM method. The surface flows are finally inputted in time sequence to the bottom boundary of the MHD model to self-consistently update the magnetic field at every time step by solving directly the magnetic induction equation at the bottom boundary. We applied this data-driven model to study the magnetic field evolution of AR 12158 with SDO/HMI vector magnetograms. Our model reproduced a quasi-static stress of the field lines through mainly the rotational flow of the AR's leading sunspot, which makes the core field lines to form a coherent S shape consistent with the sigmoid structure as seen in the SDO/AIA images. The total magnetic energy obtained in the simulation matches closely the accumulated magnetic energy as calculated directly from the original vector magnetogram with the DAVE4VM derived flow field. Such a data-driven model will be used to study how the coronal field, as driven by the slow photospheric motions, reaches a unstable state and runs into eruptions.

We investigate the infall properties in a sample of 11 infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) showing blue-asymmetry signatures in HCO$^{+}$ J=1--0 line profiles. We used JCMT to conduct mapping observations in HCO$^{+}$ J=4--3 as well as single-pointing observations in HCO$^{+}$ J =3--2, towards 23 clumps in these IRDCs. We applied the HILL model to fit these observations and derived infall velocities in the range of 0.5-2.7 km s$^{-1}$, with a median value of 1.0 km s$^{-1}$, and obtained mass accretion rates of 0.5-14$\times$10$^{-3}$ Msun yr$^{-1}$. These values are comparable to those found in massive star forming clumps in later evolutionary stages. These IRDC clumps are more likely to form star clusters. HCO$^{+}$ J =3--2 and HCO$^{+}$ J =1--0 were shown to trace infall signatures well in these IRDCs with comparable inferred properties. HCO$^{+}$ J=4--3, on the other hand, exhibits infall signatures only in a few very massive clumps, due to smaller opacties. No obvious correlation for these clumps was found between infall velocity and the NH3/CCS ratio.

The strength of the radial component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), which is a measure of the Sun's total open flux, is observed to vary by roughly a factor of two over the 11 yr solar cycle. Several recent studies have proposed that the Sun's open flux consists of a constant or "floor" component that dominates at sunspot minimum, and a time-varying component due to coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Here, we point out that CMEs cannot account for the large peaks in the IMF strength which occurred in 2003 and late 2014, and which coincided with peaks in the Sun's equatorial dipole moment. We also show that near-Earth interplanetary CMEs, as identified in the catalog of Richardson and Cane, contribute at most $\sim$30\% of the average radial IMF strength even during sunspot maximum. We conclude that the long-term variation of the radial IMF strength is determined mainly by the Sun's total dipole moment, with the quadrupole moment and CMEs providing an additional boost near sunspot maximum. Most of the open flux is rooted in coronal holes, whose solar cycle evolution in turn reflects that of the Sun's lowest-order multipoles.

\textit{Resolve} onboard the X-ray satellite XRISM is a cryogenic instrument with an X-ray microcalorimeter in a Dewar. A lid partially transparent to X-rays (called gate valve, or GV) is installed at the top of the Dewar along the optical axis. Because observations will be made through the GV for the first few months, the X-ray transmission calibration of the GV is crucial for initial scientific outcomes. We present the results of our ground calibration campaign of the GV, which is composed of a Be window and a stainless steel mesh. For the stainless steel mesh, we measured its transmission using the X-ray beamline at ISAS. For the Be window, we used synchrotron facilities to measure the transmission and modeled the data with (i) photoelectric absorption and incoherent scattering of Be, (ii) photoelectric absorption of contaminants, and (iii) coherent scattering of Be changing at specific energies. We discuss the physical interpretation of the transmission discontinuity caused by the Bragg diffraction in poly-crystal Be, which we incorporated into our transmission phenomenological model. We present the X-ray diffraction measurement on the sample to support our interpretation. The measurements and the constructed model meet the calibration requirements of the GV. We also performed a spectral fitting of the Crab nebula observed with Hitomi SXS and confirmed improvements of the model parameters.

Aims. The connection between initial disc conditions and final orbital and physical properties of planets is not well-understood. In this paper, we numerically study the formation of planetary systems via pebble accretion and investigate the effects of disc properties such as masses, dissipation timescales, and metallicities on planet formation outcomes. Methods. We improved the N-body code SyMBA that was modified by taking account of new planet-disc interaction models and type II migration. We adopted the 'two-alpha disc' model to mimic the effects of both the standard disc turbulence and the mass accretion driven by the magnetic disc wind. Results. We successfully reproduced the overall distribution trends of semi-major axes, eccentricities, and planetary masses of extrasolar giant planets. We find that, when planet formation happens fast enough, giant planets are fully grown (Jupiter mass or higher) and are distributed widely across the disc. On the other hand, when planet formation is limited by the disc's dissipation, discs generally form low-mass cold Jupiters (CJs). Our simulations also naturally explain why hot Jupiters (HJs) tend to be alone and how the observed eccentricity-metallicity trends arise. The low-metallicity discs tend to form nearly circular and coplanar HJs in situ, because planet formation is slower than high-metallicity discs, and thus protoplanetary cores migrate significantly before gas accretion. The high-metallicity discs, on the other hand, generate HJs in situ or via tidal circularisation of eccentric orbits. Both pathways usually involve dynamical instabilities, and thus HJs tend to have broader eccentricity and inclination distributions. When giant planets with very wide orbits ('super-cold Jupiters') are formed, we find that they often belong to metal-rich stars, have eccentric orbits, and tend to have (~80%) companions interior to their orbits.

Evolved low- to intermediate-mass stars are known to shed their gaseous envelope into a large, dusty, molecule-rich circumstellar nebula which typically develops a high degree of structural complexity. Most of the large-scale, spatially correlated structures in the nebula are thought to originate from the interaction of the stellar wind with a companion. As part of the Atomium large programme, we observed the M-type asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star R Hydrae with ALMA. The morphology of the inner wind of R Hya, which has a known companion at ~3500 au, was determined from maps of CO and SiO obtained at high angular resolution. A map of the CO emission reveals a multi-layered structure consisting of a large elliptical feature at an angular scale of ~10'' that is oriented along the north-south axis. The wind morphology within the elliptical feature is dominated by two hollow bubbles. The bubbles are on opposite sides of the AGB star and lie along an axis with a position angle of ~115 deg. Both bubbles are offset from the central star, and their appearance in the SiO channel maps indicates that they might be shock waves travelling through the AGB wind. An estimate of the dynamical age of the bubbles yields an age of the order of 100 yr, which is in agreement with the previously proposed elapsed time since the star last underwent a thermal pulse. When the CO and SiO emission is examined on subarcsecond angular scales, there is evidence for an inclined, differentially rotating equatorial density enhancement, strongly suggesting the presence of a second nearby companion. The position angle of the major axis of this disc is ~70 deg in the plane of the sky. We tentatively estimate that a lower limit on the mass of the nearby companion is ~0.65 Msol on the basis of the highest measured speeds in the disc and the location of its inner rim at ~6 au from the AGB star.

The ConflUent System of Peak trajectories (CUSP) is a rigorous formalism in the framework of the peak theory that allows one to derive from first principles and with no free parameters the typical halo properties from the statistics of peaks in the filtered Gaussian random field of density perturbations. The predicted halo mass function, spherically averaged density, velocity dispersion, velocity anisotropy, ellipticity, prolateness and potential profiles, as well as the abundance and number density profiles of accreted and stripped subhalos and diffuse dark matter accurately recover the results of cosmological $N$-body simulations. CUSP is thus a powerful tool for the calculation, in any desired hierarchical cosmology with Gaussian perturbations, of halo properties beyond the mass, redshift and radial ranges covered by simulations. More importantly, CUSP unravels the origin of the characteristic features of those properties. In the present Paper we culminate its construction. We show that all halo properties but those related with subhalo stripping are independent of the assembly history of those objects, and that the Gaussian is the only smoothing window able to find the finite collapsing patches while properly accounting for the entropy increase produced in major mergers.

The precise measurements of energy spectra and anisotropy could help us uncover the local cosmic-ray accelerators. Our recent works have shown that spectral hardening above $200$ GeV in the energy spectra and transition of large-scale anisotropy at $\sim 100$ TeV are of local source origin. Less than $100$ TeV, both spectral hardening and anisotropy explicitly indicate the dominant contribution from nearby sources. In this work, we further investigate the parameter space of sources allowed by the observational energy spectra and anisotropy amplitude. To obtain the best-fit source parameters, a numerical package to compute the parameter posterior distributions based on Bayesian inference, which is applied to perform an elaborate scan of parameter space. We find that by combining the energy spectra and anisotropy data, the permissible range of location and age of local source is considerably reduced. When comparing with the current local SNR catalog, only Geminga SNR could be the proper candidate of the local cosmic-ray source.

We combed the Koch snowflake fractal antennae in calibre design of Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), building a conjecture of a second-order fractal primary reflectors to optimize the orientated sensitivity of the telescope. Meanwhile, on the grounds of NASA Science Working Group Report in 1984, we reexamine the strategy of Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). The mathematical analysis of the radar equation will be accomplished in the first section, aim to make it convenient to design a receiver system that can eavesdrop on disturbing activities of an extraterrestrial civilization, which according to the observable region of the narrowband. Taking advantage of the inherent potential of FAST, we simulate the theoretical detection of Kardashev Type I civilization by snowflake-selected reflecting area.

Simultaneous X-ray and optical observations of black hole X-ray binaries have shown that the light curves contain multiple correlated and anti-correlated variation components when the objects are in the hard state. In the case of the black hole X-ray binary, GX 339-4, the cross correlation function (CCF) of the light curves suggests a positive correlation with an optical lag of 0.15 s and anti-correlations with an optical lag of 1 s and X-ray lag of 4 s. This indicates the two light curves have some common signal components with different delays. In this study, we extracted and reconstructed those signal components from the data for GX 339-4. The results confirmed that correlation and anti-correlation with the optical lag are two common components. However, we found that the reconstructed light curve for the anti-correlated component indicates a positively correlated variation with an X-ray lag of ~ +1 s. In addition, the CCF for this signal component shows anti-correlations not only with the optical lag, but also with the X-ray lag, which is consistent with the CCF for the data. Therefore, our results suggest that the combination of the two positively correlated components, that is, the X-ray preceding signal with the 0.15-s optical lag and the optical preceding signal with the 1-s X-ray lag, can make the observed CCF without anti-correlated signals. The optical preceding signal may be caused by synchrotron emission in a magnetically dominated accretion flow or in a jet, while further study is required to understand the mechanism of the X-ray time lag.

We present the results of the ethynyl (C2H) emission line observations towards the HII regions S255 and S257 and the molecular cloud between them. Radial profiles of line brightness, column density, and abundance of C2H are obtained. We show that the radial profile of the ethynyl abundance is almost flat towards the HII regions and drops by a factor of two towards the molecular cloud. At the same time, we find that the abundance of ethynyl is at maximum towards the point sources in the molecular cloud -- the stars with emission lines or emitting in X-ray. The line profiles are consistent with the assumption that both HII regions have front and back neutral walls that move relative to each other.

We study observational constraints on the cosmographic functions up to the fourth derivative of the scale factor with respect to cosmic time, i.e., the so-called snap function, using the non-parametric method of Gaussian Processes. As observational data we use the Hubble parameter data. Also we use mock data sets to estimate the future forecast and study the performance of this type of data to constrains cosmographic functions. The combination between a non-parametric method and the Hubble parameter data is investigated as a strategy to reconstruct cosmographic functions. In addition, our results are quite general because they are not restricted to a specific type of functional dependency of the Hubble parameter. We investigate some advantages of using cosmographic functions instead of cosmographic series, since the former are general definitions free of approximations. In general, our results do not deviate significantly from $\Lambda CDM$. We determine a transition redshift $z_{tr}=-0.670^{+0.210}_{-0.120}$ with $H_{0}=67.44$ and $z_{tr}=-0.710^{+0.159}_{-0.111}$ with $H_{0}=74.03$. Our main results are summarized in table 2.

In certain pulsar timing experiments, where observations are scheduled approximately periodically (e.g. daily), timing models with significantly different frequencies (including but not limited to glitch models with different frequency increments) return near-equivalent timing residuals. The average scheduling aperiodicity divided by the phase error due to time-of-arrival uncertainties is a useful indicator of when the degeneracy is important. Synthetic data are used to explore the effect of this degeneracy systematically. It is found that phase-coherent tempo2 or temponest-based approaches are biased sometimes toward reporting small glitch sizes regardless of the true glitch size. Local estimates of the spin frequency alleviate this bias. A hidden Markov model is free from bias towards small glitches and announces explicitly the existence of multiple glitch solutions but sometimes fails to recover the correct glitch size. Two glitches in the UTMOST public data release are re-assessed, one in PSR J1709$-$4429 at MJD 58178 and the other in PSR J1452$-$6036 at MJD 58600. The estimated fractional frequency jump in PSR J1709$-$4429 is revised upward from $\Delta f/f = (54.6\pm 1.0) \times 10^{-9}$ to $\Delta f/f = (2432.2 \pm 0.1) \times 10^{-9}$ with the aid of additional data from the Parkes radio telescope. We find that the available UTMOST data for PSR J1452$-$6036 are consistent with $\Delta f/f = 270 \times 10^{-9} + N/(fT)$ with $N = 0,1,2$, where $T \approx 1\,\text{sidereal day}$ is the observation scheduling period. Data from the Parkes radio telescope can be included, and the $N = 0$ case is selected unambiguously with a combined dataset.

Tidal interactions and planet evaporation processes impact the evolution of close-in star-planet systems. We study the impact of stellar rotation on these processes. We compute the time evolution of star-planet systems consisting of a planet with initial mass between 0.02 and 2.5 M$_{ Jup}$ (6 and 800 M$_{ Earth}$), in a quasi-circular orbit with an initial orbital distance between 0.01 and 0.10 au, around a solar-type star evolving from the Pre-Main-Sequence (PMS) until the end of the Main-Sequence (MS) phase. We account for the evolution of: the stellar structure, the stellar angular momentum due to tides and magnetic braking, the tidal interactions (equilibrium and dynamical tides in stellar convective zones), the mass-evaporation of the planet, and the secular evolution of the planetary orbit. We consider that at the beginning of the evolution, the proto-planetary disk has fully dissipated and planet formation is complete. Both a rapid initial stellar rotation, and a more efficient angular momentum transport inside the star, in general, contribute toward the enlargement of the domain which is devoid of planets after the PMS phase, in the plane of planet mass vs. orbital distance. Comparisons with the observed distribution of exoplanets orbiting solar mass stars, in the plane of planet mass vs. orbital distance (addressing the "Neptunian desert" feature), show an encouraging agreement with the present simulations, especially since no attempts have been made to fine-tune initial parameters of the models to fit the observations. We also obtain an upper limit for the orbital period of bare-core planets, that agrees with observations of the "radius valley" feature in the plane of planet radius vs. orbital period. The two effects, tides and planet evaporation, should be accounted for simultaneously and in a consistent way, with a detailed model for the evolution of the star.

We present a model for the creation of non-thermal particles via diffusive shock acceleration in a colliding-wind binary. Our model accounts for the oblique nature of the global shocks bounding the wind-wind collision region and the finite velocity of the scattering centres to the gas. It also includes magnetic field amplification by the cosmic ray induced streaming instability and the dynamical back reaction of the amplified field. We assume that the injection of the ions and electrons is independent of the shock obliquity and that the scattering centres move relative to the fluid at the Alfv\'{e}n velocity (resulting in steeper non-thermal particle distributions). We find that the Mach number, Alfv\'{e}nic Mach number, and transverse field strength vary strongly along and between the shocks, resulting in significant and non-linear variations in the particle acceleration efficiency and shock nature (turbulent vs. non-turbulent). We find much reduced compression ratios at the oblique shocks in most of our models compared to our earlier work, though total gas compression ratios that exceed 20 can still be obtained in certain situations. We also investigate the dependence of the non-thermal emission on the stellar separation and determine when emission from secondary electrons becomes important. We finish by applying our model to WR 146, one of the brightest colliding wind binaries in the radio band. We are able to match the observed radio emission and find that roughly 30 per cent of the wind power at the shocks is channelled into non-thermal particles.

Constructing a fast and optimal estimator for the $B$-mode power spectrum of cosmic microwave background (CMB) is of critical importance for CMB science. For a general CMB survey, the Quadratic Maximum Likelihood (QML) estimator for CMB polarization has been proved to be the optimal estimator with minimal uncertainties, but it is computationally very expensive. In this article, we propose two new QML methods for $B$-mode power spectrum estimation. We use the Smith-Zaldarriaga approach to prepare pure-$B$ mode map, and $E$-mode recycling method to obtain a leakage free $B$-mode map. We then use the scalar QML estimator to analyze the scalar pure-$B$ map (QML-SZ) or $B$-mode map (QML-TC). The QML-SZ and QML-TC estimators have similar error bars as the standard QML estimators but their computational cost is nearly one order of magnitude smaller. The basic idea is that one can construct the pure $B$-mode CMB map by using the $E$-$B$ separation method proposed by Smith and Zaldarriaga (SZ) or the one considering the template cleaning (TC) technique, then apply QML estimator to these scalar fields. By simulating potential observations of space-based and ground-based detectors, we test the reliability of these estimators by comparing them with the corresponding results of the traditional QML estimator and the pure $B$-mode pseudo-$C_{\ell}$ estimator.

The role of bipolar jets in the formation of stars, and in particular how they are launched, is still not well understood. We probe the protostellar jet launching mechanism, via high resolution observations of the near-IR [FeII] 1.53,1.64 micron lines. We consider the bipolar jet from the Classical T Tauri star, DO Tau, & investigate jet morphology & kinematics close to the star, using AO-assisted IFU observations from GEMINI/NIFS. The brighter, blue-shifted jet is collimated quickly after launch. This early collimation requires the presence of magnetic fields. We confirm velocity asymmetries between the two jet lobes, & confirm no time variability in the asymmetry over a 20 year interval. This sustained asymmetry is in accordance with recent simulations of magnetised disk-winds. We examine the data for jet rotation. We report an upper limit on differences in radial velocity of 6.3 & 8.7 km/s for the blue & red-shifted jets, respectively. Interpreting this as an upper limit on jet rotation implies that any steady, axisymmetric magneto-centrifugal model of jet launching is constrained to a launch radius in the disk-plane of 0.5 & 0.3 au for the blue & red-shifted jets, respectively. This supports an X-wind or narrow disk-wind model. This pertains only to the observed high velocity [FeII] emission, & does not rule out a wider flow launched from a wider radius. We report detection of small amplitude jet axis wiggling in both lobes. We rule out orbital motion of the jet source as the cause. Precession can better account for the observations but requires double the precession angle, & a different phase for the counter-jet. Such non-solid body precession could arise from an inclined massive Jupiter companion, or a warping instability induced by launching a magnetic disk-wind. Overall, our observations are consistent with an origin of the DO Tau jets from the inner regions of the disk.

Natal kicks and spins are characteristic properties of neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). Both offer valuable clues to dynamical processes during stellar core collapse and explosion. Moreover, they influence the evolution of stellar multiple systems and the gravitational-wave signals from their inspiral and merger. Observational evidence of possibly generic spin-kick alignment has been interpreted as indication that NS spins are either induced with the NS kicks or inherited from progenitor rotation, which thus might play a dynamically important role during stellar collapse. Current three-dimensional supernova simulations suggest that NS kicks are transferred in the first seconds of the explosion, mainly by anisotropic mass ejection and, on a secondary level, anisotropic neutrino emission. In contrast, the NS spins are only determined minutes to hours later by angular momentum associated with fallback of matter that does not become gravitationally unbound in the supernova. Here, we propose a novel scenario to explain spin-kick alignment as a consequence of tangential vortex flows in the fallback matter that is accreted mostly from the direction of the NS's motion. For this effect the initial NS kick is crucial, because it produces a growing offset of the NS away from the explosion center, thus promoting onesided accretion. In this new scenario conclusions based on traditional concepts are reversed. For example, pre-kick NS spins are not required, and rapid progenitor-core rotation can hamper spin-kick alignment. We also discuss implications for natal BH kicks and the possibility of tossing the BH's spin axis during its formation.

The Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS) aims to map $\approx$ 9300 deg$^2$ of the Southern sky using the Javalambre filter system of 12 optical bands, 5 Sloan-like filters and 7 narrow-band filters centered on several prominent stellar features ([OII], Ca H+K, D4000, H$_{\delta}$, Mgb, H$_{\alpha}$ and CaT). S-PLUS is carried out with the T80-South, a new robotic 0.826-m telescope located on CTIO, equipped with a wide FoV camera (2 deg$^2$). In this poster we introduce project #59 of the S-PLUS collaboration aimed at studying the Fornax galaxy cluster covering an sky area of $\approx$ 11 $\times$ 7 deg$^2$, and with homogeneous photometry in the 12 optical bands of S-PLUS (Coordinator: A. Smith Castelli).

The KAGRA gravitational-wave detector in Japan is the only operating detector hosted in an underground infrastructure. Underground sites promise a greatly reduced contribution of the environment to detector noise thereby opening the possibility to extend the observation band to frequencies well below 10 Hz. For this reason, the proposed next-generation infrastructure Einstein Telescope in Europe would be realized underground aiming for an observation band that extends from 3 Hz to several kHz. However, it is known that ambient noise in the low-frequency band 10 Hz - 20 Hz at current surface sites of the Virgo and LIGO detectors is predominantly produced by the detector infrastructure. It is of utmost importance to avoid spoiling the quality of an underground site with noisy infrastructure, at least at frequencies where this noise can turn into a detector-sensitivity limitation. In this paper, we characterize the KAGRA underground site to determine the impact of its infrastructure on environmental fields. We find that while excess seismic noise is observed, its contribution in the important band below 20 Hz is minor preserving the full potential of this site to realize a low-frequency gravitational-wave detector. Moreover, we estimate the Newtonian-noise spectra of surface and underground seismic waves and of the acoustic field inside the caverns. We find that these will likely remain a minor contribution to KAGRA's instrument noise in the foreseeable future.

Remote and in-situ observations of cometary gases have revealed the presence of a wealth of complex organic molecules, including carbon chains, alcohols, imines and the amino acid glycine. Such chemical complexity in cometary material implies that impacts by comets could have supplied reagents for prebiotic chemistry to young planetary surfaces. However, the assumption that some of the molecules observed in cometary comae at millimetre wavelengths originate from ices stored inside the nucleus has not yet been proven. In fact, the comae of moderately-active comets reach sufficient densities within a few thousand kilometers of the nucleus for an active (solar radiation-driven) photochemistry to ensue. Here we present results from our latest chemical-hydrodynamic models incorporating an updated reaction network, and show that the commonly-observed HC3N (cyanoacetylene) and NH2CHO (formamide) molecules can be efficiently produced in cometary comae as a result of two-body, neutral-neutral, gas-phase reactions involving well-known coma gases. In the presence of a near-nucleus distributed source of CN (similar to that observed by the Rosetta spacecraft at comet 67P), we find that sufficient HC$_3$N and NH2CHO can be synthesized to match the abundances of these molecules in previous observations of Oort Cloud comets. The precise origin of these (and other) complex organic molecules in cometary comae can be verified through interferometric mapping observations, for example, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

Obtaining observational constraints on the role of turbulent effects for the solar dynamo is a difficult, yet crucial, task. Without such knowledge, the full picture of the operation mechanism of the solar dynamo cannot be formed. The magnetic helicity spectrum provides important information about the $\alpha$ effect. Here we demonstrate a formalism in spherical geometry to infer magnetic helicity spectra directly from observations of the magnetic field, taking into account the sign change of magnetic helicity across the Sun's equator. Using an angular correlation function of the magnetic field, we develop a method to infer spectra for magnetic energy and helicity. The retrieval of the latter relies on a fundamental definition of helicity in terms of linkage of magnetic flux. We apply the two-scale approach, previously used in Cartesian geometry, to spherical geometry for systems where a sign reversal of helicity is expected across the equator at both small and large scales. We test the method by applying it to an analytical model of a fully helical field, and to magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of a turbulent dynamo. The helicity spectra computed from the vector potential available in the models are in excellent agreement to the spectra computed solely from the magnetic field using our method. In a next test, we use our method to obtain the helicity spectrum from a synoptic magnetic field map corresponding to a Carrington rotation. We observe clear signs of a bihelical spectrum of magnetic helicity. Our formalism makes it possible to infer magnetic helicity in spherical geometry, without the necessity of computing the magnetic vector potential. This has the advantage of being gauge invariant. It has many applications in solar and stellar observations, but can also be used to analyze global magnetoconvection models of stars and compare them with observations.

Observations of the Galactic Center supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) are affected by interstellar scattering along our line of sight. At long radio observing wavelengths ($\gtrsim1\,$cm), the scattering heavily dominates image morphology. At 3.5 mm (86 GHz), the intrinsic source structure is no longer sub-dominant to scattering, and thus the intrinsic emission from Sgr A* is resolvable with the Global Millimeter VLBI Array (GMVA). Long-baseline detections to the phased Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in 2017 provided new constraints on the intrinsic and scattering properties of Sgr A*, but the stochastic nature of the scattering requires multiple observing epochs to reliably estimate its statistical properties. We present new observations with the GMVA+ALMA, taken in 2018, which confirm non-Gaussian structure in the scattered image seen in 2017. In particular, the ALMA-GBT baseline shows more flux density than expected for an anistropic Gaussian model, providing a tight constraint on the source size and an upper limit on the dissipation scale of interstellar turbulence. We find an intrinsic source extent along the minor axis of $\sim100\,\mu$as both via extrapolation of longer wavelength scattering constraints and direct modeling of the 3.5 mm observations. Simultaneously fitting for the scattering parameters, we find an at-most modestly asymmetrical (major-to-minor axis ratio of $1.5\pm 0.2$) intrinsic source morphology for Sgr A*.

As potential progenitors of several exotic phenomena including gravitational wave sources, magnetic stars, and Be stars, close massive binary systems probe a crucial area of the parameter space in massive star evolution. Despite the importance of these systems, large uncertainties regarding the nature and efficiency of the internal mixing mechanisms still exist. In this work, we aim to provide robust observational constraints on the internal mixing processes by spectroscopically analyzing a sample of three massive overcontact binaries at different metallicities. Using optical phase-resolved spectroscopic data, we perform an atmosphere analysis using more traditional 1D techniques and using state-of-the-art 3D techniques. We compare and contrast the assumptions and results of each technique and investigate how the assumptions affect the final derived atmospheric parameters. We find that in all three cases, both components of system are highly overluminous indicating either efficient internal mixing of helium or previous non-conservative mass transfer. However, we do not find strong evidence of helium or CNO surface abundance changes usually associated with mixing. Additionally, we find that in unequal mass systems, the measured effective temperature and luminosity of the less massive component places it very close to the more massive component on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. These results were obtained independently using both of the techniques mentioned above, which suggests that these measurements are robust. The observed discrepancies between the temperature and the surface abundance measurements when compared to theoretical expectations indicate that unaccounted for additional physical mechanisms may be at play.

Chemically peculiar stars in eclipsing binary systems are rare objects that allow the derivation of fundamental stellar parameters and important information on the evolutionary status and the origin of the observed chemical peculiarities. Here we present an investigation of the known eclipsing binary system BD+09 1467 = V680 Mon. Using spectra from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and own observations, we identify the primary component of the system as a mercury-manganese (HgMn/CP3) star (spectral type kB9 hB8 HeB9 V HgMn). Furthermore, photometric time series data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) indicate that the system is a "heartbeat star", a rare class of eccentric binary stars with short-period orbits that exhibit a characteristic signature near the time of periastron in their light curves due to the tidal distortion of the components. Using all available photometric observations, we present an updated ephemeris and binary system parameters as derived from modelling of the system with the ELISa code, which indicates that the secondary star has an effective temperature of Teff = 8300+-200 K (spectral type of about A4). V680 Mon is only the fifth known eclipsing CP3 star and the first one in a heartbeat binary. Furthermore, our results indicate that the star is located on the zero-age main sequence and a possible member of the open cluster NGC 2264. As such, it lends itself perfectly for detailed studies and may turn out to be a keystone in the understanding of the development of CP3 star peculiarities.

Using new, homogeneous, long-slit spectroscopy in the wavelength range from ~0.35 to ~1micron, we study radial gradients of optical and near-infrared (NIR) IMF-sensitive features along the major axis of the bulge of M31, out to a galacto-centric distance of ~200'' (~800pc). Based on state-of-the-art stellar population synthesis models with varying Na abundance ratio, we fit a number of spectral indices, from different chemical species (including TiO's, Ca, and Na indices), to constrain the low-mass (<0.5M_Sun) end slope (i.e. the fraction of low-mass stars) of the stellar IMF, as a function of galacto-centric distance. Outside a radial distance of ~10'', we infer an IMF similar to a Milky-Way-like distribution, while at small galacto-centric distances, an IMF radial gradient is detected, with a mildly bottom-heavy IMF in the few inner arcsec. We are able to fit Na features (both NaD and NaI8190), without requiring extremely high Na abundance ratios. [Na/Fe] is ~0.4dex for most of the bulge, rising up to ~0.6dex in the innermost radial bins. Our results imply an overall, luminosity-weighted, IMF and mass-to-light ratio for the M31 bulge, consistent with those for a Milky-Way-like distribution, in contrast to results obtained, in general, for most massive early-type galaxies.

Thermal plasma of solar atmosphere includes a wide range of temperatures. This plasma is often quantified, both in observations and models, by a differential emission measure (DEM). DEM is a distribution of the thermal electron density square over temperature. In observations, the DEM is computed along a line of sight, while in the modeling -- over an elementary volume element (voxel). This description of the multi-thermal plasma is convenient and widely used in the analysis and modeling of extreme ultraviolet emission (EUV), which has an optically thin character. However, there is no corresponding treatment in the radio domain, where optical depth of emission can be large, more than one emission mechanism are involved, and plasma effects are important. Here, we extend the theory of the thermal gyroresonance and free-free radio emissions in the classical mono-temperature Maxwellian plasma to the case of a multi-temperature plasma. The free-free component is computed using the DEM and temperature-dependent ionization states of coronal ions, contributions from collisions of electrons with neutral atoms, exact Gaunt factor, and the magnetic field effect. For the gyroresonant component, another measure of the multi-temperature plasma is used which describes the distribution of the thermal electron density over temperature. We give representative examples demonstrating important changes in the emission intensity and polarization due to considered effects. The theory is implemented in available computer code.

We investigate the performance of group finding algorithms that reconstruct galaxy groups from the positional information of tracer galaxies that are observed in redshift surveys carried out with multiplexed spectrographs. We use mock light-cones produced by the L-Galaxies semi-analytic model of galaxy evolution in which the underlying reality is known. We particularly focus on the performance at high redshift, and how this is affected by choices of the mass of the tracer galaxies (largely equivalent to their co-moving number density) and the (assumed random) sampling rate of these tracers. We first however compare two different approaches to group finding as applied at low redshift, and conclude that these are broadly comparable. For simplicity we adopt just one of these, "Friends-of-Friends" (FoF) as the basis for our study at high redshift. We introduce 12 science metrics that are designed to quantify the performance of the group-finder as relevant for a wide range of science investigations with a group catalogue. These metrics examine the quality of the recovered group catalogue, the median halo masses of different richness structures, the scatter in dark matter halo mass and how successful the group-finder classifies singletons, centrals and satellites. We analyze how these metrics vary with the limiting stellar mass and random sampling rate of the tracer galaxies, allowing quantification of the various trade-offs between different possible survey designs. Finally, we look at the impact of these same design parameters on the relative "costs" in observation time of the survey using as an example the potential MOONRISE survey using the MOONS instrument.

Excess transient noise events, or glitches, impact the data quality of ground-based ravitational-wave (GW) detectors and impair the detection of signals produced by astrophysical sources. Identification of the causes of these glitches is a crucial starting point for the improvement of GW signal detectability. However, glitches are the product of linear and non-linear couplings among the interrelated detector-control systems that include mitigation of ground motion and regulation of optic motion, which generally makes it difficult to find their origin. We present a new software called PyChChoo which uses time series recorded in the instrumental control systems and environmental sensors around times when glitches are present in the detector's output to reveal essential clues about their origin. Applying PyChChoo on the most adversely affecting glitches on background triggers generated by one of unmodeled GW detection pipelines called coherent WaveBurst (cWB) operated in the data from the LIGO detectors between January 1st, 2020 and February 3rd, 2020, we find that 80% of triggers are marked as either being vetoed or unvetoed in common between our analysis and the current LIGO infrastructure.

An Electromagnetic (EM) pulse falling on a plasma medium from vacuum can either reflect or propagate inside the plasma depending on whether it is overdense or underdense. In a magnetised plasma, however, there are usually several pass and stop bands for the EM wave depending on the orientation of the magnetic field with respect to the propagation direction. The EM wave while propagating in a plasma can excite electrostatic disturbances in the plasma [1, 2]. In this work Particle - In - Cell simulations have been carried out to illustrate the complete transparency of the EM wave propagation inside a strongly magnetised plasma. The external magnetic field is chosen to be perpendicular to both the wave propagation direction and the electric field of the EM wave, which is the X mode configuration. Despite the presence of charged electron and ion species the plasma medium behaves like a vacuum. The observation is understood with the help of particle drifts. It is shown that though the two particle species move under the influence of EM fields their motion does not lead to any charge or current source to alter the dispersion relation of the EM wave propagating in the medium. Furthermore, it is also shown that the stop band for EM wave in this regime shrinks to a zero width as both the resonance and cut-off points approach each other. Thus transparency to the EM radiation in such a strongly magnetised case appears to be a norm. This may have important implications in astrophysical scenarios. For instance, the plasma surrounding objects like pulsars and magnetars is often threaded with strong magnetic fields.

We perform an analysis of the supercooled state in an analogue of an early universe phase transition based on a one dimensional, two-component Bose gas with time-dependent interactions. We demonstrate that the system behaves in the same way as a thermal, relativistic Bose gas undergoing a first order phase transition. We propose a way to prepare the state of the system in the metastable phase as an analogue to supercooling in the early universe. While we show that parametric resonances in the system can be suppressed by thermal damping, we find that the theoretically estimated thermal damping in our model is too weak to suppress the resonances for realistic experimental parameters. However, we propose that experiments to investigate the effective damping rate in experiments would be worthwhile.

In $f(R)$ gravity, the metric, presented in the form of the multipole expansion, for the external gravitational field of a spatially compact supported source up to $1/c^3$ order is provided, where $c$ is the velocity of light in vacuum. The metric consists of General Relativity-like part and $f(R)$ part, where the latter is the correction to the former in $f(R)$ gravity. At the leading pole order, the metric can reduce to that for a point-like or ball-like source. For the gyroscope moving around the source without experiencing any torque, the multipole expansions of its spin's angular velocities of gravitoelectric-type precession, gravitomagnetic-type precession, $f(R)$ precession, and Thomas precession are all derived. The first two types of precession are collectively called General Relativity-like precession, and the $f(R)$ precession is the correction in $f(R)$ gravity. At the leading pole order, these expansions can recover the results for the gyroscope moving around a point-like or ball-like source. If the gyroscope has a nonzero four-acceleration, its spin's total angular velocity of precession up to $1/c^3$ order in $f(R)$ gravity is the same as that in General Relativity.

Gravitational-wave data can be used to test general relativity in the extreme, highly nonlinear, and strong-field regime. Modified gravity theories such as Einstein-dilation-Gauss-Bonnet and dynamical Chern-Simons gravity are supposed to be well checked with some specific signals. We analyze gravitational-wave data from the first half of the third observing run of Advanced LIGO/Virgo to place constraints on the parameters of these two theories. The dynamical Chern-Simons gravity remains unconstrained. While for the Einstein-dilation-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, we have $\sqrt{\alpha_{\rm EdGB}}\lesssim 0.40\,\rm km$ with the data of GW190814 and $\sqrt{\alpha_{\rm EdGB}}\lesssim 0.24\,\rm km$ if GW190425 is a neutron star$-$black hole merger event, as allowed by the current observations. Such constraints are improved by a factor of $\sim 10-20$ in comparison to that set by the GWTC-1 events. We also demonstrate that the Bayes approach is more effective than the reweight method to constrain the Einstein-dilation-Gauss-Bonnet model.

We develop an analytical approach, verified by the nice agreement with the numerical relativity simulation results, to calculate the quasinormal mode spectrum of the Kerr-Newman black hole. Then we analyze the gravitational wave data with the ringdown waveform model including both the fundamental mode and the overtone modes, and find that it can efficiently constrain the charge of the source. For GW150914, the charge-to-mass ratio of the remnant black hole is constrained to be $\leq 0.38$ at $90\%$ credibility. Our waveform model can be widely applied to other GW150914 like events. With the sole ringdown data, it is capable of constraining the electric, magnetic, or other $U(1)$ dark charges carried by black holes, as well as the deviation parameter ($\alpha$) of the scalar-tensor-vector gravity. Indeed, a constraint of $\alpha\leq 0.17$ is achieved with the ringdown data alone for the first time.

We revisit the problem of building the Lagrangian of a large class of metric theories that respect spatial covariance, which propagate at most two degrees of freedom and in particular no scalar mode. The Lagrangians are polynomials built of the spatially covariant geometric quantities. By expanding the Lagrangian around a cosmological background and focusing on the scalar modes only, we find the conditions for the coefficients of the monomials in order to eliminate the scalar mode at the linear order in perturbations. We find the conditions up to $d=4$ with $d$ the total number of derivatives in the monomials and determine the explicit Lagrangians for the cases of $d=2$, $d=3$ as well as the combination of $d=2$ and $d=3$. We also expand the Lagrangian of $d=2$ to the cubic order in perturbations, and find additional conditions for the coefficients such that the scalar mode is eliminated up to the cubic order. This perturbative analysis can be performed order by order, and one expects to determine the final Lagrangian at some finite order such that the scalar mode is fully eliminated. Our analysis provides an alternative and complimentary approach to building spatially covariant gravity with only tensorial degrees of freedom. The resulting theories can be used as alternatives to the general relativity to describe the tensorial gravitational waves in a cosmological setting.

This Report provides an extensive review of the experimental programme of direct detection searches of particle dark matter. It focuses mostly on European efforts, both current and planned, but does it within a broader context of a worldwide activity in the field. It aims at identifying the virtues, opportunities and challenges associated with the different experimental approaches and search techniques. It presents scientific and technological synergies, both existing and emerging, with some other areas of particle physics, notably collider and neutrino programmes, and beyond. It addresses the issue of infrastructure in light of the growing needs and challenges of the different experimental searches. Finally, the Report makes a number of recommendations from the perspective of a long-term future of the field. They are introduced, along with some justification, in the opening Overview and Recommendations section and are next summarised at the end of the Report. Overall, we recommend that the direct search for dark matter particle interactions with a detector target should be given top priority in astroparticle physics, and in all particle physics, and beyond, as a positive measurement will provide the most unambiguous confirmation of the particle nature of dark matter in the Universe.