Papers for Tuesday, Jun 01 2021

Radio halos are diffuse synchrotron sources observed in dynamically unrelaxed galaxy clusters. Current observations and models suggest that halos trace turbulent regions in the intra-cluster medium where mildly relativistic particles are re-accelerated during cluster mergers. Due to the higher luminosities and detection rates with increasing cluster mass, radio halos have been mainly observed in massive systems ($M_{500} \gtrsim 5 \times10^{14}$ M$_\odot$). Here, we report the discovery of a radio halo with a largest linear scale of $\simeq$750 kpc in PSZ2G145.92-12.53 ($z=0.03$) using LOFAR observations at 120$-$168 MHz. With a mass of $M_{500} = (1.9\pm0.2) \times 10^{14}$ M$_\odot$ and a radio power at 150 MHz of $P_{150} = (3.5 \pm 0.7) \times 10^{23}$ W/Hz, this is the least powerful radio halo in the least massive cluster discovered to date. Additionally, we discover a radio relic with a mildly convex morphology at $\sim$1.7 Mpc from the cluster center. Our results demonstrate that LOFAR has the potential to detect radio halos even in low-mass clusters, where the expectation to form them is very low ($\sim$5%) based on turbulent re-acceleration models. Together with the observation of large samples of clusters, this opens the possibility to constrain the low end of the power-mass relation of radio halos.

We consider collisions between stars moving near the speed of light around supermassive black holes (SMBHs), with mass $M_{\bullet}\gtrsim10^8\,M_{\odot}$, without being tidally disrupted. The overall rate for collisions taking place in the inner $\sim1$ pc of galaxies with $M_{\bullet}=10^8,10^9,10^{10}\,M_{\odot}$ are $\Gamma\sim5,0.07,0.02$ yr$^{-1}$, respectively. We further calculate the differential collision rate as a function of total energy released, energy released per unit mass lost, and galactocentric radius. The most common collisions will release energies on the order of $\sim10^{49}-10^{51}$ erg, with the energy distribution peaking at higher energies in galaxies with more massive SMBHs. Depending on the host galaxy mass and the depletion timescale, the overall rate of collisions in a galaxy ranges from a small percentage to several times larger than that of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) for the same host galaxy. In addition, we show example light curves for collisions with varying parameters, and find that the peak luminosity could reach or even exceed that of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), although with light curves with much shorter duration. Weaker events could initially be mistaken for low-luminosity supernovae. In addition, we note that these events will likely create streams of debris that will accrete onto the SMBH and create accretion flares that may resemble tidal disruption events (TDEs).

Gaia provided the largest-ever catalogue of white dwarf stars. We use this, along with the third public data release of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), to identify new eclipsing white dwarf binaries. Our method exploits light curve statistics and the Box Least Squares algorithm to detect periodic light curve variability. The search revealed 18 new binaries, of which 17 are eclipsing. We use the position in the Gaia H-R diagram to classify these binaries and find that the majority of these white dwarfs have main sequence companions. We identify one system as a candidate eclipsing white dwarf--brown dwarf binary and a further two as extremely low mass (ELM) white dwarf binaries. Running our search method on mock light curves with real ZTF sampling, we estimate our efficiency of detecting objects with light curves similar to the ones of the newly discovered binaries. Many more binaries are to be found in the ZTF footprint as the data releases grow, so our survey is ongoing.

Using the method that was developed in the first paper of this series, we measure the vertical gravitational potential of the Galactic disk from the time-varying structure of the phase-space spiral, using data from Gaia as well as supplementary radial velocity information from legacy spectroscopic surveys. For eleven independent data samples, we inferred gravitational potentials that were in good agreement, despite the data samples' varied and substantial selection effects. Using a model for the baryonic matter densities, we inferred a local halo dark matter density of $0.0085 \pm 0.0039$ M$_\odot$/pc$^3 = 0.32 \pm 0.15$ GeV/pc$^3$. We were also able to place the most stringent constraint to the surface density of a thin dark disk with a scale height $\leq 50$ pc: an upper 95 % confidence limit of roughly 5 M$_\odot$/pc$^2$ (compared to previous limit of roughly 10 M$_\odot$/pc$^2$, given the same scale height). For the inferred halo dark matter density and thin dark disk surface density, the uncertainties are dominated by the baryonic model. With this level of precision, our method is highly competitive with traditional methods that rely on the assumption of a steady state. In a general sense, this illustrates that time-varying dynamical structures are not solely obstacles to dynamical mass measurements, but can also be regarded as assets containing useful information.

Many X-ray bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) are predicted to follow an extended stage of obscured black hole growth. In support of this picture we examine the X-ray undetected AGNs in the COSMOS field and compare their host galaxies with X-ray bright AGNs. We examine galaxies with M_\ast>10^{9.5}M_\odot for the presence of AGNs at redshifts $z=0.5-3$. We select AGNs in the infrared using \textit{Spitzer} and \textit{Herschel} detections and use color selection techniques to select AGNs within strongly star forming hosts. We stack \textit{Chandra} X-ray data of galaxies with an IR detection but lacking an X-ray detection to obtain soft and hard fluxes, allowing us to measure the energetics of these AGNs. We find a clear correlation between X-ray luminosity and IR AGN luminosity in the stacked galaxies. We also find that X-ray undetected AGNs all lie on the main sequence -- the tight correlation between SFR and $M_\ast$ that holds for the majority of galaxies, regardless of mass or redshift. This work demonstrates that there is a higher population of obscured AGNs than previously thought.

The sources of IceCube neutrinos are as yet unknown. The multi-messenger observation of their emission in $\gamma$-rays can be a guide to their identification, as exemplified by the case of TXS 0506+056. We suggest a new method of searching for $\gamma$-rays with Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes from sources in coincidence with possible astrophysical neutrinos. We propose that searches of $\gamma$-rays are extended, from the current practice of only a few days, to up to one month from a neutrino alert. We test this strategy on simulated sources modeled after the blazar \emph{TXS 0506+056-like}, emitting neutrinos and $\gamma$-rays via photohadronic interactions: the $\gamma$-rays are subsequently reprocessed in the VHE range. Using MAGIC as a benchmark example, we show that current Cherenkov Telescopes should be able to detect$\gamma$-ray counterparts to neutrino alerts with a rate of approximately one per year. It has been proposed that the high-energy diffuse neutrino flux can be explained by $\sim$ 5\% of all blazars flaring in neutrinos once every 10 years, with a neutrino luminosity similar to that of TXS 0506+056 during the 2014-2015 neutrino flare. The implementation of our strategy could lead, over a timescale of one or few years, either to the detection of this subclass of blazars contributing to the diffuse neutrino flux, or to a constraint on this model.

One of the advantages of kinetic inductance detectors is their intrinsic frequency domain multiplexing capability. However, fabrication imperfections usually give rise to resonance frequency deviations, which create frequency collision and limit the array yield. Here we study the resonance frequency deviation of a 4-inch kilo-pixel lumped-element kinetic inductance detector (LEKID) array using optical mapping. By measuring the resonator dimensions and the film thickness, most of the fractional deviation can be explained within $\pm 20\times 10^{-3}$ with a standard deviation of $8\times 10^{-3}$ ($\sim$18~MHz) of the residuals. Using the capacitor trimming technique, the fractional deviation is decreased by a factor of 10. The yield of the trimming process is found to be 97%. The mapping yield, measured under a 110~K background, is improved from 69% to 76%, which can be further improved to 81% after updating our readout system. With the improvement in yield, the capacitor trimming technique will benefit future large-format LEKID arrays.

We discuss the detection of 14 rovibrational lines of CH$^+$, obtained with the iSHELL spectrograph on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Maunakea. Our observations in the 3.49 - 4.13 $\mu$m spectral region, obtained with a 0.375" slit width that provided a spectral resolving power $\lambda/\Delta \lambda \sim 80,000$, have resulted in the unequivocal detection of the $R(0) - R(3)$ and $P(1)-P(10)$ transitions within the $v=1-0$ band of CH$^+$. The $R$-branch transitions are anomalously weak relative to the $P$-branch transitions, a behavior that is explained accurately by rovibronic calculations of the transition dipole moment reported in a companion paper (Changala et al. 2021). Nine infrared transitions of H$_2$ were also detected in these observations, comprising the $S(8)$, $S(9)$, $S(13)$ and $S(15)$ pure rotational lines; the $v=1-0$ $O(4) - O(7)$ lines, and the $v=2-1$ $O(5)$ line. We present a photodissociation region model, constrained by the CH$^+$ and H$_2$ line fluxes that we measured, that includes a detailed treatment of the excitation of CH$^+$ by inelastic collisions, optical pumping, and chemical ("formation") pumping. The latter process is found to dominate the excitation of the observed rovibrational lines of CH$^+$, and the model is remarkably successful in explaining both the absolute and relative strengths of the CH$^+$ and H$_2$ lines.

The unusual infrared emission patterns of CH$^+$, recently detected in the planetary nebula NGC 7027, are examined theoretically with high-accuracy rovibrational wavefunctions and $ab$ $initio$ dipole moment curves. The calculated transition dipole moments quantitatively reproduce the observed $J$-dependent intensity variation, which is ascribed to underlying centrifugal distortion-induced interference effects. We discuss the implications of this anomalous behavior for astrochemical modeling of CH$^+$ production and excitation, and provide a simple expression to estimate the magnitude of this effect for other light diatomic molecules with small dipole derivatives.

The Perseus-Pisces supercluster is known as one of the largest structures in the nearby Universe that has been charted by the galaxy and galaxy cluster distributions. For the latter mostly clusters from the Abell catalogue have been used. Here we take a new approach to a quantitative characterisation of the Perseus-Pisces supercluster using a statistically complete sample of X-ray luminous galaxy groups and clusters from our CLASSIX galaxy cluster redshift survey. We used a friends-of-friends technique to construct the supercluster membership. We also studied the structure of the Southern Great Wall, which merges with the Perseus-Pisces supercluster with a slightly increased friends-of-friends linking length. In this work we discuss the geometric structure of the superclusters, compare the X-ray luminosity distribution of the members with that of the surroundings, and provide an estimate of the supercluster mass. These results establish Perseus-Pisces as the largest superstructure in the Universe at redshifts z <= 0.03. With the new data this supercluster extends through the zone of avoidance, which has also been indicated by some studies of the galaxy distribution by means of HI observations. We investigated whether the shapes of the member groups and clusters in X-rays are aligned with the major axis of the supercluster. We find no evidence for a pronounced alignment, except for the ellipticities of Perseus and AWM7, which are aligned with the separation vector of the two systems and weakly with the supercluster.

Jets launched by the supermassive black holes in the centers of cool-core clusters are the most likely heat source to solve the cooling flow problem. One way for this heating to occur is through generation of a turbulent cascade by jet-inflated bubbles. Measurements of the X-ray intensity power spectra show evidence of this cascade in different regions of the cluster, constraining the role of driving mechanisms. We analyze feedback simulations of the Perseus cluster to constrain the effect of the jet activity on the intensity fluctuations and kinematics of the cluster atmosphere. We find that, within the inner 60 kiloparsecs, the power spectra of the predicted surface brightness fluctuations are broadly consistent with those measured by Chandra and that even a single episode of jet activity can generate a long-lasting imprint on the intensity fluctuations in the innermost region of the cluster. AGN-driven motions within the same region approach the values reported by Hitomi during and right after the AGN episode. However, the line-of-sight velocity dispersion excited by the jet in simulations underpredicts the Hitomi measurement. This indicates that driving a volume-filling sustained level of turbulence requires several episodes of jet activity, and/or additional processes drive turbulence outside the 60-kpc sphere. This also suggests that sharp edges of the bubbles in the innermost region of the cluster contribute substantially to the intensity of fluctuations, consistent with the Perseus observations in the inner 30-kpc region. We discuss new diagnostics to decompose annular power spectra to constrain past episodes of jet activity.

The paper analyses possible transfers of bodies from the main asteroid belt (MBA) to the Centaur region. The orbits of asteroids in the 2:1 mean motion resonance (MMR) with Jupiter are analysed. We selected the asteroids that are in resonant orbits with e > 0.3 whose absolute magnitudes H do not exceed 16m. The total number of the orbits amounts to 152. Numerical calculations were performed to evaluate the evolution of the orbits over 100,000-year time interval with projects for the future. Six bodies are found to have moved from the 2:1 commensurability zone to the Centaur population. The transfer time of these bodies to the Centaur zone ranges from 4,600 to 70,000 yr. Such transfers occur after orbits leave the resonance and the bodies approach Jupiter. Where after reaching sufficient orbital eccentricities bodies approach a terrestrial planet, their orbits go out of the MMR. Accuracy estimations are carried out to confirm the possible asteroid transfers to the Centaur region.

Using deep (11.2hr) VLT/MUSE data from the MEGAFLOW survey, we report the first detection of extended MgII emission from a galaxy's halo that is probed by a quasar sightline. The MgII $\lambda\lambda$ 2796,2803 emission around the $z = 0.702$ galaxy ($\log(M_*/\mathrm{M_\odot}) = 10.05^{+0.15}_{-0.11}$) is detected out to $\approx$25 kpc from the central galaxy and covers $1.0\times10^3$ kpc$^2$ above a surface brightness of $14\times10^{-19} \mathrm{erg} \mathrm{s}^{-1} \mathrm{cm}^{-2}\,\mathrm{arcsec}^{-2}$ ($2 \sigma$; integrated over 1200 km s$^{-1}$ =19A and averaged over $1.5 \;\mathrm{arcsec}^2$). The MgII emission around this highly inclined galaxy ($\simeq$75 deg) is strongest along the galaxy's projected minor axis, consistent with the MgII gas having been ejected from the galaxy into a bi-conical structure. The quasar sightline, which is aligned with the galaxy's minor axis, shows strong MgII $\lambda$2796 absorption (EW$_0$ = 1.8A) at an impact parameter of 39kpc from the galaxy. Comparing the kinematics of both the emission and the absorption - probed with VLT/UVES -, to the expectation from a simple toy model of a bi-conical outflow, we find good consistency when assuming a relatively slow outflow ($v_\mathrm{out}= 130\;\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}$). We investigate potential origins of the extended MgII emission using simple toy models. With continuum scattering models we encounter serious difficulties in explaining the luminosity of the MgII halo and in reconciling density estimates from emission and absorption. Instead, we find that shocks might be a more viable source to power the extended MgII (and non-resonant [OII]) emission.

Light echoes of flares on active stars offer the opportunity for direct detection of circumstellar dust. We revisit the problem of identifying faint echoes in post-flare light curves, focusing on debris disks from on-going planet formation. Starting with simulations, we develop an algorithm for estimating the radial extent and total mass from disk echo profiles. We apply this algorithm to light curves from over 2,100 stars observed by NASA's Kepler mission, selected for multiple, short-lived flares in either the long-cadence or short-cadence data sets. While flux uncertainties in light curves from individual stars preclude useful mass limits on circumstellar disks, catalog-averaged light curves yield constraints on disk mass that are comparable to estimates from known debris disks. The average mass in micron- to millimeter-sized dust around the Kepler stars cannot exceed 10% of an Earth mass in exo-Kuiper belts or 10% of a Lunar mass in the terrestrial zone. We group stars according to IR excess, based on WISE W1-W3 color, as an indicator for the presence of circumstellar dust. The mass limits are greater for stars with strong IR excess, a hint that echoes are lurking not far beneath the noise in post-flare light curves. With increased sensitivity, echo detection will let time-domain astronomy complement spectroscopic and direct-imaging studies in mapping how, when, and where planets form.

Operating in an unprecedented contrast regime ($10^{-7}$ to $10^{-9}$), the Roman Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) will serve as a pathfinder for key technologies needed for future Earth-finding missions. The Roman Exoplanet Imaging Data Challenge (Roman EIDC) was a community engagement effort that tasked participants with extracting exoplanets and their orbits for a 47 UMa-like target star, given: (1) 15 years of simulated precursor radial velocity (RV) data, and (2) six epochs of simulated imaging taken over the course of the Roman mission. The Roman EIDC simulated images include 4 epochs with CGI's Hybrid Lyot Coronagraph (HLC) plus 2 epochs with a starshade (SS) assumed to arrive as part of a Starshade Rendezvous later in the mission. Here, we focus on our in-house analysis of the outermost planet, for which the starshade's higher throughput and lower noise floor present a factor of ~4 improvement in signal-to-noise ratio over the narrow-field HLC. We find that, although the RV detection was marginal, the precursor RV data enable the mass and orbit to be constrained with only 2 epochs of starshade imaging. Including the HLC images in the analysis results in improved measurements over RV + SS alone, with the greatest gains resulting from images taken at epochs near maximum elongation. Combining the two epochs of SS imaging with the RV + HLC data resulted in a factor of ~2 better orbit and mass determinations over RV + HLC alone. The Roman CGI, combined with precursor RV data and later mission SS imaging, form a powerful trifecta in detecting exoplanets and determining their masses, albedos, and system configurations. While the Roman CGI will break new scientific and technological ground with direct imaging of giant exoplanets within ~5 AU of V~5 and brighter stars, a Roman Starshade Rendezvous mission would additionally enable the detection of planets out to ~8 AU in those systems.

Radio absorptive materials (RAMs) are key elements for receivers in the millimeter-wave range. For astronomical applications, cryogenic receivers are widely used to achieve a high-sensitivity. These cryogenic receivers, in particular the receivers for the cosmic microwave background, require that the RAM has low surface reflectance ($\lesssim 1\%$) in a wide frequency range (20--300 GHz) to minimize the undesired stray light to detectors. We develop a RAM that satisfies this requirement based on a production technology using a 3D-printed mold (named as RAM-3pm). This method allows us to shape periodic surface structures to achieve a low reflectance. A wide range of choices for the absorptive materials is an advantage. We survey the best material for the RAM-3pm. We measure the index of refraction ($n$) and the extinction coefficient ($\kappa$) at liquid nitrogen temperature as well as at room temperature of 17 materials. We also measure the reflectance at the room temperature for the selected materials. The mixture of an epoxy adhesive (STYCAST-2850FT) and a carbon fiber (K223HE) achieves the best performance. We estimate the optical performance at the liquid nitrogen temperature by a simulation based on the measured $n$ and $\kappa$. The RAM-3pm made with this material satisfies the requirement except at the lower edge of the frequency range ($\sim$20 GHz). We also estimate the reflectance of a larger pyramidal structure on the surface. We find a design to satisfy our requirement.

The Sun has a Near-Surface Shear Layer (NSSL), within which the angular velocity decreases rapidly with radius. We provide an explanation of this layer based on the thermal wind balance equation. Since convective motions are not affected by solar rotation in the top layer of the convection zone, we argue that the temperature falls at the same rate at all latitudes in this layer. This makes the thermal wind term very large in this layer and the centrifugal term has also to become very large to balance it, giving rise to the NSSL. From the values of differential rotation $\Omega (r<r_c, \theta)$ at radii less than a radius $r_c$, we can calculate the temperature difference $\Delta T (r, \theta)$ with respect to the standard solar model at different points of the convection zone, by making use of the thermal wind balance equation. Then we again use this equation in the top layer to calculate $\Omega (r>r_c, \theta)$ there from $\Delta T (r, \theta)$. We carry on this exercise using both an analytical expression of the differential rotation and the actual data provided by helioseismology. We find that our theoretical results of the NSSL match the observational data reasonably well for $r_c \approx 0.96~{\rm R_{\odot}}$, giving an estimate of the radius till which the convective motions are affected by the solar rotation.

The redshift ($z$) evolution of the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) photon density is very important to understand the history of cosmological structure formation of galaxies and stars since the epoch of recombination. The EBL photons with the characteristic spectral energy distribution ranging from ultraviolet/optical to far-infrared provide a major source of opacity of the Universe to the GeV-TeV $\gamma$-rays travelling over cosmological distances. The effect of the EBL is very significant through $\gamma \gamma \rightarrow e^- e^+$ absorption process on the propagation of the $\gamma$-ray photons with energy $E >$ 50 GeV emitted from the sources at $z \sim 1$. This effect is characterized by the optical depth ($\tau$) which strongly depends on $E$, $z$ and density of the EBL photons. The proper density of the EBL photons increases with $z$ due to expansion of the Universe whereas evolution of radiation sources contributing to the EBL leads to a decrease in the density with increasing $z$. Therefore, the resultant volumetric evolution of the EBL photon density is approximated by a modified redshift dependence. In this work, we probe evolution of the EBL photon density predicted by two prominent models using cosmic gamma-ray horizon ($\tau (E,z)=$ 1) determined by the measurements from the \emph{Fermi}-Large Area Telescope (LAT) observations. The modified redshift dependence of the EBL photon density is optimized for a given EBL model by estimating the same gamma-ray horizon as predicted by the \emph{Fermi}-LAT observations. We further compare the optical depth estimates in the energy range $E =$ 4 GeV-1 TeV and redshift range $z =0.01-1$ from the \emph{Fermi}-LAT observations with the values derived from the two EBL models to further constrain the evolution of the EBL photon density in the $z~\sim 1$ Universe.

In the context of a Hubble tension problem that is growing in its statistical significance, we reconsider the effectiveness of non-parametric reconstruction techniques which are independent of prescriptive cosmological models. By taking cosmic chronometers, Type Ia Supernovae and baryonic acoustic oscillation data, we compare and contrast two important reconstruction approaches, namely Gaussian processes (GP) and the Locally weighted Scatterplot Smoothing together with Simulation and extrapolation method (LOESS-Simex or LS). We firstly show how both GP and LOESS-Simex can be used to successively reconstruct various data sets to a high level of precision. We then directly compare both approaches in a quantitative manner by considering several factors, such as how well the reconstructions approximate the data sets themselves to how their respective uncertainties evolve. In light of the puzzling Hubble tension, it is important to consider how the uncertain regions evolve over redshift and the methods compare for estimating cosmological parameters at current times. For cosmic chronometers and baryonic acoustic oscillation compiled data sets, we find that GP generically produce smaller variances for the reconstructed data with a minimum value of $\sigma_{\rm GP-min} = 1.1$, while the situation for LS is totally different with a minimum of $\sigma_{\rm LS-min} = 50.8$. Moreover, some of these characteristics can be alliviate at low $z$, where LS presents less underestimation in comparison to GP.

Modeling the outflow of planetary atmospheres is important for understanding the evolution of exoplanet systems and for interpreting their observations. Modern theoretical models of exoplanet atmospheres become increasingly detailed and multicomponent, and this makes difficulties for engaging new researchers in the scope. Here, for the first time, we present the results of testing the gas-dynamic method incorporated in our aeronomic model, which has been proposed earlier. Undertaken tests support the correctness of the method and validate its applicability. For modeling the planetary wind, we propose a new hydrodynamic model equipped with a phenomenological function of heating by stellar UV radiation. The general flow in this model well agrees with results obtained in more detailed aeronomic models. The proposed model can be used for both methodical purposes and testing the gas-dynamic modules of self-consistent chemical-dynamic models of the planetary wind.

The primordial heavy or superheavy dark matter that could be created during the reheating or preheating stage of the Universe can undergo QCD cascade decay process to produce leptons or gamma as end products. Although these could be rare decays, the energy involved in such decay process can influence 21-cm signal of hyperfine transition of neutral hydrogen during the reionization era. We explore in this work, possible multimessenger signals of such heavy dark matter decays. One of which could be the source of ultra high energy neutrino (of $\sim$ PeV energy regime) signals at IceCube detector whereas the other signal attributes to the cooling/heating of the baryons by the exchange of energy involved in this decay process and its consequent influence on 21cm signal. The effect of evaporation of primordial black holes and baryon scattering with light cold dark matter are also included in relation to the 21cm signal temperature and their influence are also discussed.

Strong gravitational lensing of gravitational wave sources offers a novel probe of both the lens galaxy and the binary source population. In particular, the strong lensing event rate and the time delay distribution of multiply-imaged gravitational-wave binary coalescence events can be used to constrain the mass distribution of the lenses as well as the intrinsic properties of the source population. We calculate the strong lensing event rate for a range of second (2G) and third generation (3G) detectors, including Advanced LIGO/Virgo, A+, Einstein Telescope (ET), and Cosmic Explorer (CE). For 3G detectors, we find that $\sim0.3\%$ of observed events will have been strongly lensed. We predict detections of $\sim 2$ lensing pairs per year with A+, and $\sim 200$ pairs with ET/CE. These rates are highly sensitive to the characteristic galaxy velocity dispersion, $\sigma_*$, implying that observations of the rates will be a sensitive probe of lens properties. We also explore using the time delay distribution between multiply-imaged gravitational-wave sources to constrain properties of the lenses. We find that 3G detectors would constrain $\sigma_*$ to $\sim12\%$ after 5 years. Finally, we show that both the presence or absence of strong lensing provides useful insights into the source redshift and mass distribution out to redshifts beyond the peak of the star formation rate, which can be used to constrain formation channels and their relation to the star formation rate and delay time distributions for these systems.

The first repeating fast radio burst source, FRB 121102, is observed to emit bursts periodically. We show that FRB 121102 can be interpreted as an interacting neutron star binary system with an orbital period of 159 days. We develop a binary comb model by introducing an eccentricity in the orbit. Besides the original funnel mode of the binary comb model, which was applied to FRB 180916.J0158+65 by Ioka and Zhang 2020, we also identify two new modes of the binary comb model, i.e. the tau-crossing mode and the inverse funnel mode, and apply them to interpret FRB 121102. These new developments expand the applicable parameter space, allowing the companion star to be a massive star, a massive black hole, or a supermassive black hole, with the latter two having larger parameter spaces. These models are also consistent with other observations, such as the persistent bright radio counterpart associated with the source. We also argue that the observed frequency dependence of the active window does not disfavor the binary comb model, in contrast to recent claims, and propose two possible scenarios to interpret the data.

We measure the dark matter power spectrum amplitude as a function of the overdensity $\delta_W$ in $N$-body simulation subsamples. We show that the response follows a power law form in terms of $(1+\delta_W)$, and we provide a fit in terms of the perturbation theory linear response $R_1$ and the variance $\sigma(L^3)$ of a subvolume of size $L$. Our fit, especially for low overdensities, is more accurate than linear or second order calculation from perturbation theory and can be predicted from cosmological parameters with standard tools. Furthermore, the lognormal nature of the overdensity distribution causes a "super-survey" bias, i.e. the power spectrum amplitude for a subsample with average density is typically underestimated by about $-2\sigma^2$. Although this bias becomes sub-percent above characteristic scales of $200 Mpc h^{-1}$, taking it account improves the accuracy of estimating power spectra from zoom-in simulations and smaller high resolution surveys embedded in larger low resolution volumes.

One of the main possible way of creating the supermassive black hole (SMBH) is a so call hierarchical merging scenario. Central SMBHs at the final phase of interacting and coalescing host-galaxies are observed as SMBH binary (SMBHB) candidates at different separations from hundreds of pc to mpc. Today one of the strongest SMBHB candidate is a ULIRG galaxy NGC 6240 which was X-ray spatially and spectroscopically resolved by Chandra. Dynamical calculation of central SMBHBs merging in a dense stellar environment allows us to retrace their evolution from kpc to mpc scales. The main goal of our dynamical modeling was to reach the final, gravitational wave (GW) emission regime for the model BHs. We present the direct N-body simulations with up to one million particles and relativistic post-Newtonian corrections for the SMBHs particles up to 3.5 post-Newtonian terms. Generally speaking, the set of initial physical conditions can strongly effect of our merging time estimations. But in a range of our parameters, we did not find any strong correlation between merging time and BHs mass or BH to bulge mass ratios. Varying the model numerical parameters (such as particle number - N) makes our results quite robust and physically more motivated. From our 20 models we found the upper limit of merging time for central SMBHB is less than $\sim$55 Myr. This concrete number are valid only for our set of combination of initial mass ratios. Further detailed research of rare dual/multiple BHs in dense stellar environment (based on observations data) can clarify the dynamical co-evolution of central BHs and their host-galaxies.

Hubble tension and the search for preferred direction are two crucial unresolved issues in modern cosmology. Different measurements of the Hubble constant provide significantly different values, and this is known as the Hubble tension. The cosmological principle assumes that the universe is homogeneous and isotropic; however, deviations from the isotropy have often been observed. We apply the Bayesian tools and the Extreme Value theory dependent statistic to address the above issues. These techniques have been applied to the Panstarrs1 type Ia supernovae data. Our analysis for Hubble constant does not reject the Hubble tension. However, our value is smaller than that of the SHoES program and agrees with the CCHP value. Extreme value theory-based analysis indicates that the data does not show direction dependence. As a byproduct of our technique, we show that the errors in the data are non-Gaussian in nature.

Lyman-alpha photons from the first radiating sources in the Universe play a pivotal role in 21-cm radio detections of Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization. Comments are provided on the effect of the hyperfine structure of hydrogen on the rate of heating or cooling of the Intergalactic Medium. It is shown that heating of the still neutral hydrogen by the Cosmic Microwave Background is negligible, with a characteristic heating time of 1e27 s/ (1+z) at redshift z.

In this paper, the merger rate of black holes in a cluster of primordial black holes (PBHs) is investigated. The clusters have characteristics close to those of typical globular star clusters. A cluster that has a wide mass spectrum ranging from $10^{-2}$ to $10 \, M_{\odot}$ (Solar mass) and contains a massive central black hole of the mass $M_{\bullet} = 10^3 \, M_{\odot}$ is considered. It is shown that in the process of the evolution of cluster, the merger rate changed significantly, and by now, the PBH clusters have passed the stage of active merging of the black holes inside~them.

This contribution to "Solar Magnetic Variability and Climate" reviews small-scale magnetic features on the solar surface, in particular the strong-field but tiny magnetic concentrations that constitute network and plage and represent most magnetism outside sunspots and filaments. Where these are mostly of the same polarity, as in active-region plage, their occurrence varies with the activity variations measured by the sunspot number, but when they appear bipolar-mixed on small scales they can also result from granular-scale dynamo action that does not vary with the cycle.

(Abridged) Context. Massive stars form in magnetized and turbulent environments, and are often located in stellar clusters. Their accretion mechanism, as well as the origin of their system's stellar multiplicity are poorly understood. Aims. We study the influence of both magnetic fields and turbulence on the accretion mechanism of massive protostars and their multiplicity. Methods. We present a series of four Radiation-MHD simulations of the collapse of a massive magnetized, turbulent core of 100 $M_\odot$ with the AMR code Ramses, including a hybrid radiative transfer method for stellar irradiation and ambipolar diffusion. We vary the Mach and Alfvenic Mach numbers to probe sub- and superalfvenic turbulence as well as sub- and supersonic turbulence regimes. Results. Subalfvenic turbulence leads to single stellar systems while superalfvenic turbulence leads to binary formation from disk fragmentation following spiral arm collision, with mass ratios of 1.1-1.6. In those runs, infalling gas reaches the individual disks via a transient circumbinary structure. Magnetically-regulated, thermally-dominated (plasma beta $\beta>1$), Keplerian disks form in all runs, with sizes 100-200 AU and masses 1-8 $M_\odot$. The disks around primary and secondary sink particles share similar properties. We observe higher accretion rates onto the secondary stars than onto their primary star companion. The primary disk orientation is found to be set by the initial angular momentum carried by turbulence. Conclusions. Small (300 AU) massive protostellar disks as those frequently observed nowadays can only be reproduced so far in the presence of (moderate) magnetic fields with ambipolar diffusion, even in a turbulent medium. The interplay between magnetic fields and turbulence sets the multiplicity of stellar clusters. A plasma beta $\beta>1$ is a good indicator of streamers and disks.

The abundance of interstellar ice constituents is usually expressed with respect to the water ice because, in denser regions, a significant portion of the interstellar grain surface would be covered by water ice. The binding energy (BE), or adsorption energy of the interstellar species regulates the chemical complexity of the interstellar grain mantle. Due to the high abundance of water ice, the BE of surface species with the water is usually provided and widely used in astrochemical modeling. However, the hydrogen molecules would cover some part of the grain mantle in the denser and colder part of the interstellar medium. Even at around ~ 10K, few atoms and simple molecules with lower adsorption energies can migrate through the surface. The BE of the surface species with H2 substrate would be very different from that of a water substrate. However, adequate information regarding these differences is lacking. Here, we employ the quantum chemical calculation to provide the BE of 95 interstellar species with H2 substrate. These are representative of the BEs of species to a H2 overlayer on a grain surface. On average, we notice that the BE with the H2 monomer substrate is almost ten times lower than the BE of these species reported earlier with the H2 O c-tetramer configuration. The encounter desorption of H and H2 was introduced (with ED (H, H2 ) =45 K and ED (H2 , H2 ) =23 K) to have a realistic estimation of the abundances of the surface species in the colder and denser region. Our quantum chemical calculations yield higher adsorption energy of H2 than that of H (ED (H, H2 ) = 23 - 25 K and ED (H2, H2 ) =67 - 79 K). We further implement an astrochemical model to study the effect of encounter desorption with the resent realistic estimation. The encounter desorption of the N atom (calculations yield ED (N, H2 ) =83 K) is introduced to study the differences with its inclusion.

Phosphorus related species are not known to be as omnipresent in space as hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur-bearing species. Astronomers spotted very few P-bearing molecules in the interstellar medium and circumstellar envelopes. Limited discovery of the P-bearing species imposes severe constraints in modeling the P-chemistry. In this paper, we carry out extensive chemical models to follow the fate of P-bearing species in diffuse clouds, photon-dominated or photodissociation regions (PDRs), and hot cores/corinos. We notice a curious correlation between the abundances of PO and PN and atomic nitrogen. Since N atoms are comparatively abundant in diffuse clouds and PDRs than in the hot core/corino region, PO/PN reflects < 1 in diffuse clouds, << 1 in PDRs, and > 1 in the late warm-up evolutionary phase of the hot core/corino regions. During the end of the post-warm-up phase, we obtain PO/PN > 1 for hot core and < 1 for its low mass analog. We employ a radiative transfer model to investigate the transitions of some of the P-bearing species in diffuse cloud and hot core regions and estimate the line profiles. Our study estimates the required integration time to observe these transitions with ground-based and space-based telescopes. We also carry out quantum chemical computation of the infrared features of PH3 along with various impurities. We notice that SO2 overlaps with the PH3 bending-scissoring modes around ~ (1000 - 1100) cm-1. We also find that the presence of CO2 can strongly influence the intensity of the stretching modes around ~ 2400 cm-1 of PH3 .

XRT 201423 is an X-ray transient with a nearly flat plateau lasting 4.1 ks followed by a steep decay. This feature indicates that it might come from a magnetar formed through a binary neutron star merger, similar to CDF-X2 and as predicted. We test the compliance of the data with this model and use the observed duration and flux of the X-ray signal as well as upper limits of optical emission to pose constraints on the parameters of the underlying putative magnetar. Both the free-zone and trapped-zone geometric configurations are considered. We find that the data are generally consistent with such a model. The surface dipolar magnetic field and the ellipticity of the magnetar should satisfy $B_p < 7\times 10^{14}{\rm G}$ ($B_p < 4.9 \times 10^{14}{\rm G}$) and $\epsilon < 1.5 \times 10^{-3}$ ($\epsilon < 1.1 \times 10^{-3}$) under free zone (trapped zone) configurations, respectively. An upper limit on the distance (e.g. $z < 0.55$ with $\eta_x = 10^{-4}$) can be derived from the X-ray data which depends on the X-ray dissipation efficiency $\eta_x$ of the spin-down luminosity. The non-detection of optical counterpart places a conservative lower limit on the distance of the source, i.e. $z > 0.03$ regardless of the geometric configuration.

Processing astronomical data often comes with huge challenges with regards to data management as well as data processing. MeerKAT telescope is one of the precursor telescopes of the World's largest observatory - Square Kilometre Array. So far, MeerKAT data was processed using the South African computing facility i.e. IDIA, and exploited to make ground-breaking discoveries. However, to process MeerKAT data on UK's IRIS computing facility requires new implementation of the MeerKAT pipeline. This paper focuses on how to transfer MeerKAT data from the South African site to UK's IRIS systems for processing. We discuss about our RapifXfer Data transfer framework for transferring the MeerKAT data from South Africa to the UK, and the MeerKAT job processing framework pertaining to the UK's IRIS resources.

This study on plasma heating considers the time-dependent ionization process during a large solar flare on September 10, 2017, observed by Hinode/EIS. The observed FeXXIV / FeXXIII ratios increase downstream of the reconnection outflow, and they are consistent with the time-dependent ionization effect at a constant electron temperature Te = 25 MK. Moreover, this study also shows that the non-thermal velocity, which can be related to the turbulent velocity, reduces significantly along the downstream of the reconnection outflow, even when considering the time-dependent ionization process.

The appearance of interstellar objects (ISOs) in the Solar System -- and specifically the arrival of 1I/'Oumuamua -- points to a significant number density of free-floating bodies in the solar neighborhood. We review the details of 'Oumuamua's pre-encounter galactic orbit, which intersected the Solar System at very nearly its maximum vertical and radial excursion relative to the galactic plane. These kinematic features are strongly emblematic of nearby young stellar associations. We obtain an a-priori order-of-magnitude age estimate for 'Oumuamua by comparing its orbit to the orbits of 50,899 F-type stars drawn from Gaia DR2; a diffusion model then suggests a $\sim$ 35 Myr dynamical age. We compare 'Oumuamua's orbit with the trajectories of individual nearby moving groups, confirming that its motion is fully consistent with membership in the Carina (CAR) moving group with an age around 30 Myr. We conduct Monte Carlo simulations that trace the orbits of test particles ejected from the stars in the Carina association. The simulations indicate that in order to uniformly populate the $\sim10^6$ pc$^3$ volume occupied by CAR members with the inferred number density, $n=0.2\,{\rm AU}^{-3}$, of ISOs implied by Pan-STARRS' detection of 'Oumuamua, the required ejection mass is $M\sim 500$ $M_{\rm Jup}$ per known star within the CAR association. This suggests that the Pan-STARRS observation is in significant tension with scenarios that posit 'Oumuamua's formation and ejection from a protostellar disk.

We present $\texttt{KaRMMa}$, a novel method for performing mass map reconstruction from weak-lensing surveys. We employ a fully Bayesian approach with a physically motivated lognormal prior to sample from the posterior distribution of convergence maps. We test $\texttt{KaRMMa}$ on a suite of dark matter N-body simulations with simulated DES Y1-like shear observations. We show that $\texttt{KaRMMa}$ outperforms the basic Kaiser-Squires mass map reconstruction in two key ways: 1) our best map point estimate has lower residuals compared to Kaiser-Squires; and 2) unlike the Kaiser-Squires reconstruction, the posterior distribution of $\texttt{KaRMMa}$ maps are nearly unbiased in their one- and two-point statistics. In particular, $\texttt{KaRMMa}$ is successful at capturing the non-Gaussian nature of the distribution of $\kappa$ values in the simulated maps.

M dwarfs are ideal targets for the search of Earth-size planets in the habitable zone using the radial velocity method, attracting the attention of many ongoing surveys. As a by-product of these surveys, new multiple stellar systems are also found. This is the case also for the CARMENES survey, from which nine new SB2 systems have already been announced. Throughout the five years of the survey, the accumulation of new observations has resulted in the detection of several new multiple stellar systems with long periods and low radial-velocity amplitudes. Here, we newly characterise the spectroscopic orbits and constrain the masses of eight systems and update the properties of a system that we reported earlier. We derive the radial velocities of the stars using two-dimensional cross correlation techniques and template matching. The measurements are modelled to determine the orbital parameters of the systems. We combine CARMENES spectroscopic observations with archival high-resolution spectra from other instruments to increase the time-span of the observations and improve our analysis. When available, we also added archival photometric, astrometric, and adaptive optics imaging data to constrain the rotation periods and absolute masses of the components. We determine the spectroscopic orbits of nine multiple systems, eight of which are presented for the first time. The sample is composed of five SB1s, two SB2s, and two ST3s. The companions of two of the single-line binaries, GJ 3626 and GJ 912, have minimum masses below the stellar boundary and, thus, could be brown dwarfs. We find a new white dwarf in a close binary orbit around the M star GJ 207.1. From a global fit to radial velocities and astrometric measurements, we are able to determine the absolute masses of the components of GJ 282C, which is one of the youngest systems with measured dynamical masses.

Everyday thousands of meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere. The vast majority burn up harmlessly during the descent, but the larger objects survive, occasionally experiencing intense fragmentation events, and reach the ground. These events can pose a threat for a village or a small city; therefore, models of asteroid fragmentation, along with accurate post-breakup trajectory and strewn field estimation, are needed to enable a reliable risk assessment. In this work, a methodology to describe meteoroids entry, fragmentation, descent, and strewn field is presented by means of a continuum approach. At breakup, a modified version of the NASA Standard Breakup Model is used to generate the distribution of the fragments in terms of their area-to-mass ratio and ejection velocity. This distribution, combined with the meteoroid state, is directly propagated using the continuity equation coupled with the non-linear entry dynamics. At each time step, the probability density evolution of the fragments is reconstructed using GMM interpolation. Using this information is then possible to estimate the meteoroid's ground impact probability. This approach departs from the current state-of-the-art models: it has the flexibility to include large fragmentation events while maintaining a continuum formulation for a better physical representation of the phenomenon. The methodology is also characterised by a modular structure, so that updated asteroids fragmentation models can be readily integrated into the framework, allowing a continuously improving prediction of re-entry and fragmentation events. The propagation of the fragments' density and its reconstruction, currently considering only one fragmentation point, is first compared against Monte Carlo simulations, and then against real observations. Both deceleration due to atmospheric drag and ablation due to aerothermodynamics effects have been considered.

We present an auto-differentiable spectral modeling of exoplanets and brown dwarfs. This model enables a fully Bayesian inference of the high-dispersion data to fit the ab initio line-by-line spectral computation to the observed spectrum by combining it with the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo in recent probabilistic programming languages. An open source code, exojax, developed in this study, was written in Python using the GPU/TPU compatible package for automatic differentiation and accelerated linear algebra, JAX (Bradbury et al. 2018). We validated the model by comparing it with existing opacity calculators and a radiative transfer code and found reasonable agreements of the output. As a demonstration, we analyzed the high-dispersion spectrum of a nearby brown dwarf, Luhman 16 A and found that a model including water, carbon monoxide, and $\mathrm{H_2/He}$ collision induced absorption was well fitted to the observed spectrum ($R=10^5$ and $2.28-2.30 \mu\mathrm{m}$). As a result, we found that $T_0 = 1295 \pm 14 \mathrm{K}$ at 1 bar and $\mathrm{C/O} = 0.62 \pm 0.01$, which is slightly higher than the solar value. This work demonstrates the potential of full Bayesian analysis of brown dwarfs and exoplanets as observed by high-dispersion spectrographs and also directly-imaged exoplanets as observed by high-dispersion coronagraphy.

The dust content of normal galaxies and the dust mass density (DMD) at high-z (z>4) are unconstrained given the source confusion and the sensitivity limitations of previous observations. The ALMA Large Program to INvestigate [CII] at Early Times (ALPINE), which targeted 118 UV-selected star-forming galaxies at 4.4<z<5.9, provides a new opportunity to tackle this issue for the first time with a statistically robust dataset. We have exploited the rest-frame far-infrared (FIR) fluxes of the 23 continuum individually detected galaxies and stacks of continuum images to measure the dust content of the 118 UV-selected ALPINE galaxies. We have focused on the dust scaling relations and, by comparing them with predictions from chemical evolution models, we have probed the evolutionary stage of UV-selected galaxies at high-z. By using the observed correlation between the UV-luminosity and the dust mass, we have estimated the DMD of UV-selected galaxies at z~5, weighting the galaxies by means of the UV-luminosity function (UVLF). The derived DMD has been compared with the value we have estimated from the 10 ALPINE far-IR continuum blindly detected galaxies at the redshift of the ALPINE targets. The comparison of the observed dust scaling relations with chemical evolution models suggests that ALPINE galaxies are not likely progenitors of disc galaxies, but of intermediate and low mass proto-spheroids, resulting in present-day bulges of spiral or elliptical galaxies. Interestingly, this conclusion is in line with the independent morphological analysis, that shows that the majority (~70\%) of the dust-continuum detected galaxies have a disturbed morphology. The DMD obtained at z~5 from UV-selected sources is ~30% of the value obtained from blind far-IR selected sources, showing that the UV-selection misses the most dust-rich, UV-obscured galaxies.

In this PhD thesis a wide variety of cosmological models beyond the $\Lambda$CDM are studied in detail. Great emphasis is put on the running vacuum models (RVM's), which can be motivated in the context of Quantum Field Theory in curved spacetime. They consider the possibility of a smoothly evolving vacuum energy density that inherits its time-dependence from cosmological variables, such as the Hubble rate and its time derivative. The analysis presented, however, is not limited only to the dynamical vacuum models but considers also models of dark energy such as the Peebles \& Ratra scalar field model or simple parameterizations like the XCDM or the CPL. Their theoretical predictions are tested against the wealth of cosmological data and a fitting procedure is carried out in order to obtain constraints over the free parameters that characterize the models under study. Finally, an extended discussion about the $\sigma_8$ and $H_0$ tensions is provided and a possible solution for both of them is described within the framework of Brans and Dicke gravity with a cosmological constant, which mimics the RVM with a mild time-evolving gravitational coupling $G$. The main conclusion of this study is that appreciable signals in favour of a time-evolving dark energy density are found in the current data.

Recent studies by Sol\`a Peracaula, G\'omez-Valent, de Cruz P\'erez and Moreno-Pulido (2019,2020) have pointed out the intriguing possibility that Brans-Dicke cosmology with constant vacuum energy density (BD-$\Lambda$CDM) may be able to alleviate the $H_0$ and $\sigma_8$ tensions that are found in the framework of the concordance cosmological model (GR-$\Lambda$CDM). The fitting analyses presented in these works indicate a preference for values of the effective gravitational coupling appearing in the Friedmann equation, $G$, about $4-9\%$ larger than Newton's constant (as measured on Earth), and mildy evolving with the expansion of the universe. The signal reaches the $\sim 3.5\sigma$ c.l. when the prior on $H_0$ from SH0ES and the angular diameter distances to strong gravitationally lensed quasars measured by H0LICOW are considered, and the $\sim 3\sigma$ c.l. when only the former is included. Thus, the improvement in the description of the cosmological datasets relies on the existence of a mechanism capable of screening the modified gravity effects at those scales where deviations from standard General Relativity (GR) are highly constrained, as in the Solar System. In this paper we explore several extensions of BD-$\Lambda$CDM that can leave the cosmological evolution basically unaltered at the background and linear perturbations level, while being able to screen the Brans-Dicke effects inside the regions of interest, leading to standard GR. We search for weak-field solutions around spherical static massive objects with no internal pressure and show that, unfortunately, these mechanisms can only explain very tiny departures of the effective cosmological gravitational coupling from the one measured locally. This might hinder the ability of BD-$\Lambda$CDM to alleviate the cosmological tensions.

We present a comprehensive study of the eclipsing binary system KIC 10661783. The analysis of the whole Kepler light curve, corrected for the binary effects, reveals a rich oscillation spectrum with 590 significant frequency peaks, 207 of which are independent. In addition to typical $\delta$ Sct frequencies, we find small-amplitude signals in the low-frequency range that, most probably, are a manifestation of gravity-mode pulsations. We perform binary-evolution computations for this system in order to find an acceptable model describing its current stage. Our models show that the binary KIC 10661783 was formed by a rapid, almost conservative, mass transfer that heavily affected the evolution of both components in the past. One of the most important effects of binary evolution is the enormous enrichment of the outer layers of the main component with helium. This fact profoundly influences the pulsational properties of $\delta$ Scuti star models. For the first time, we demonstrate the effect of binary evolution on pulsational instability. We construct pulsational models of the main component in order to account for the mode instability of the observed frequencies. Whereas the single-star evolution model is pulsational stable in the whole frequency range, its binary-evolution counterpart has unstable modes, both, in high and low-frequency range. However, to obtain instability in almost a whole range of the observed frequencies, the modification of the mean opacity at the depth corresponding to temperatures log T = 4.69 K and log T = 5.06 K was necessary.

We present 127 new transit light curves for 39 hot Jupiter systems, obtained over the span of five years by two ground-based telescopes. A homogeneous analysis of these newly collected light curves together with archived spectroscopic, photometric, and Doppler velocimetric data using EXOFASTv2 leads to a significant improvement in the physical and orbital parameters of each system. All of our stellar radii are constrained to accuracies of better than 3\%. The planetary radii for 37 of our 39 targets are determined to accuracies of better than $5\%$. Compared to our results, the literature eccentricities are preferentially overestimated due to the Lucy-Sweeney bias. Our new photometric observations therefore allow for significant improvement in the orbital ephemerides of each system. Our correction of the future transit window amounts to a change exceeding $10\,{\rm min}$ for ten targets at the time of JWST's launch, including a $72\,{\rm min}$ change for WASP-56. The measured transit mid-times for both literature light curves and our new photometry show no significant deviations from the updated linear ephemerides, ruling out in each system the presence of companion planets with masses greater than $0.39 - 5.0\, rm M_{\oplus}$, $1.23 - 14.36\, \rm M_{\oplus}$, $1.65 - 21.18\, \rm M_{\oplus}$, and $0.69 - 6.75\, \rm M_{\oplus}$ near the 1:2, 2:3, 3:2, and 2:1 resonances with the hot Jupiters , respectively, at a confidence level of $\pm 1\,\sigma$. The absence of resonant companion planets in the hot Jupiter systems is inconsistent with the conventional expectation from disk migration.

We present optical follow-up observation results of three binary black hole merger (BBH) events, GW190408_181802, GW190412, and GW190503_185404, which were detected by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave (GW) detectors. Electromagnetic (EM) counterparts are generally not expected for BBH merger events. However, some theoretical models suggest that EM counterparts of BBH can possibly arise in special environments, prompting motivation to search for EM counterparts for such events. We observed high-credibility regions of the sky for the three BBH merger events with telescopes of the Gravitational-wave EM Counterpart Korean Observatory (GECKO), including the KMTNet. Our observation started as soon as 100 minutes after the GW event alerts and covered 29 - 63 deg$^2$ for each event with a depth of $\sim$ 22.5 mag in $R$-band within hours of observation. No plausible EM counterparts were found for these events, but from no detection in the GW190503_185404 event, for which we covered 69% credibility region, we place the BBH merger EM counterpart signal to be $M_{g}$ > -18.0 AB mag within about 1 day of the GW event. The comparison of our detection limits with light curves of several kilonova models suggests that a kilonova event could have been identified within hours from GW alert with GECKO observations if the compact merger happened at < 400 Mpc and the localization accuracy was of order of 50 deg$^2$. Our result gives a great promise for the GECKO facilities to find EM counterparts within a few hours from GW detection in future GW observation runs.

We present results from photometric monitoring of V900 Mon, one of the newly discovered and still under-studied object from FU Orionis type. FUor phenomenon is very rarely observed, but it is essential for stellar evolution. Since we only know about twenty stars of this type, the study of each new object is very important for our knowledge. Our data was obtained in the optical spectral region with BVRI Johnson-Cousins set of filters during the period from September 2011 to April 2021. In order to follow the photometric history of the object, we measured its stellar magnitudes on the available plates from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes. The collected archival data suggests that the rise in brightness of V900 Mon began after January 1989 and the outburst goes so far. In November 2009, when the outburst was registered, the star had already reached a level of brightness close to the current one. Our observations indicate that during the period 2011-2017 the stellar magnitude increased gradually in each pass band. The observed amplitude of the outburst is about 4 magnitudes (R). During the last three years, the increase in brightness has stopped and there has even been a slight decline. The comparison of the light curves of the known FUor objects shows that they are very diverse and are rarely repeated. However, the photometric data we have so far shows that the V900 Mon's light curve is somewhat similar to this of V1515 Cyg and V733 Cep.

Recently, H\"utsi et al.[arXiv:2105.09328] critiqued our work that reconsidered the mathematical description of cosmological black holes. In this short comment, we highlight some of the conceptual issues with this criticism in relation to the interpretation of the quasi-local Misner-Sharp mass, and the fact that our description of cosmological black holes does not impose any assumptions about matter accretion.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array is the future of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy. Its first prototype telescope built on-site, the Large Size Telescope 1, is currently under commissioning and taking its first scientific data. In this paper, we present for the first time the development of a full-event reconstruction based on deep convolutional neural networks and its application to real data. We show that it outperforms the standard analysis, both on simulated and on real data, thus validating the deep approach for the CTA data analysis. This work also illustrates the difficulty of moving from simulated data to actual data.

Although the discovery of the chaotic motion of the inner planets in the solar system dates back to more than thirty years ago, the secular chaos of their orbits still dares more analytical analyses. Apart from the high-dimensional structure of the motion, this is probably related to the lack of an adequately simple dynamical model. Here, we consider a new secular dynamics for the inner planets, with the aim of retaining a fundamental set of interactions responsible for their chaotic behaviour, while being consistent with the predictions of the most precise orbital solutions currently available. We exploit the regularity in the secular motion of the outer planets, to predetermine a quasi-periodic solution for their orbits. This reduces the secular phase space to the degrees of freedom dominated by the inner planets. On top of that, the smallness of the inner planet masses and the absence of strong mean-motion resonances permits to restrict ourselves to first-order secular averaging. The resulting dynamics can be integrated numerically in a very efficient way through Gauss's method, while computer algebra allows for analytical inspection of planet interactions, once the Hamiltonian is truncated at a given total degree in eccentricities and inclinations. The new model matches very satisfactorily reference orbital solutions of the solar system over timescales shorter than or comparable to the Lyapunov time. It correctly reproduces the maximum Lyapunov exponent of the inner system and the statistics of the high eccentricities of Mercury over the next five billion years. The destabilizing role of the $g_1-g_5$ secular resonance also arises. A numerical experiment, consisting of a thousand orbital solutions over one hundred billion years, reveals the essential properties of the stochastic process driving the destabilization of the inner solar system and clarifies its current metastable state.

Recent observations of the Earth's exosphere revealed the presence of an extended hydrogenic component that could reach distances beyond 40 planetary radii. Detection of similar extended exospheres around Earth-like exoplanets could reveal crucial facts in terms of habitability. The presence of these rarified hydrogen envelopes is extremely dependent of the planetary environment, dominated by the ionizing radiation and plasma winds coming from the host star. Radiation and fast wind particles ionize the uppermost layers of planetary atmospheres, especially for planets orbiting active, young stars. The survival of the produced ions in the exosphere of such these planets is subject to the action of the magnetized stellar winds, particularly for unmagnetized bodies. In order to address these star-planet interactions, we have carried out numerical 2.5D ideal MHD simulations using the PLUTO code to study the dynamical evolution of tenuous, hydrogen-rich, Earth-like extended exospheres for an unmagnetized planet, at different stellar evolutionary stages: from a very young, solar-like star of 0.1 Gyr to a 5.0 Gyr star. For each star-planet configuration, we show that the morphology of extended Earth-like hydrogen exospheres is strongly dependent of the incident stellar winds and the produced ions present in these gaseous envelopes, showing that the ionized component of Earth-like exospheres is quickly swept by the stellar winds of young stars, leading to large bow shock formation for later stellar ages.

The thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect contains information about the thermal history of the universe, observable in maps of the Compton $y$ parameter; however, it does not contain information about the redshift of the sources. Recent papers have utilized a tomographic approach, cross-correlating the Compton $y$ map with the locations of galaxies with known redshift, in order to deproject the signal along the line of sight. In this paper, we test the validity and accuracy of this tomographic approach to probe the thermal history of the universe. We use the state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulation, Magneticum, for which the thermal history of the universe is a known quantity. The key ingredient is the Compton-$y$-weighted halo bias, $b_y$, computed from the halo model. We find that, at redshifts currently available, the method reproduces the correct mean thermal pressure (or the density-weighted mean temperature) to high accuracy, validating and confirming the results of previous papers. At higher redshifts ($z\gtrsim 2.5$), there is significant disagreement between $b_y$ from the halo model and the simulation.

The Monte Carlo Ly-alpha radiative transfer (RT) code LaRT is extended to deal with the polarization of Ly-alpha using the Stokes vector formalism. LaRT is superb, compared to the preexisting codes, in that it uses a smoothly and seamlessly varying phase function as frequency changes. We also provide the scattering matrix element for the circular polarization of Ly-alpha, which may be necessary to consider a system where dust coexists with hydrogen atoms. We apply LaRT to a few models to explore the fundamental polarization properties of Ly-alpha. Interestingly, individual Ly-alpha photon packets are found to be almost completely polarized by a sufficient number of scatterings (Nscatt = 10^4-10^5 in a static medium) or Doppler shifts induced by gas motion, even starting from unpolarized light. It is also found that the polarization pattern can exhibit a non-monotonically increasing pattern in some cases, besides the commonly-known trend that the polarization monotonically increases with radius. We argue that the polarization properties are primarily determined by the degree of polarization of individual photon packets and the anisotropy of the Ly-alpha radiation field, which are eventually controlled by the medium's optical depth and velocity field. If once Ly-alpha photon packets achieve ~100% polarization, the radial profile of polarization appears to correlate with the surface brightness profile. A steep surface brightness profile tends to yield a rapid increase of the linear polarization near the Ly-alpha source location. In contrast, a shallow surface brightness profile gives rise to a slowly increasing polarization pattern.

We identify an effective proxy for the analytically-unknown second integral of motion (I_2) for rotating barred or tri-axial potentials. Planar orbits of a given energy follow a tight sequence in the space of the time-averaged angular momentum and its amplitude of fluctuation. The sequence monotonically traces the main orbital families in the Poincare map, even in the presence of resonant and chaotic orbits. This behavior allows us to define the "Calibrated Angular Momentum," the average angular momentum normalized by the amplitude of its fluctuation, as a numerical proxy for I_2. It also implies that the amplitude of fluctuation in L_z, previously under-appreciated, contains valuable information. This new proxy allows one to classify orbital families easily and accurately, even for real orbits in N-body simulations of barred galaxies. It is a good diagnostic tool of dynamical systems, and may facilitate the construction of equilibrium models.

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) span the approximate mass range $100$--$10^5\,M_\odot$, between black holes (BHs) formed by stellar collapse and the supermassive BHs at the centers of galaxies. Mergers of IMBH binaries are the most energetic gravitational-wave sources accessible by the terrestrial detector network. Searches of the first two observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo did not yield any significant IMBH binary signals. In the third observing run (O3), the increased network sensitivity enabled the detection of GW190521, a signal consistent with a binary merger of mass $\sim 150\,M_\odot\,$ providing direct evidence of IMBH formation. Here we report on a dedicated search of O3 data for further IMBH binary mergers, combining both modelled (matched filter) and model independent search methods. We find some marginal candidates, but none are sufficiently significant to indicate detection of further IMBH mergers. We quantify the sensitivity of the individual search methods and of the combined search using a suite of IMBH binary signals obtained via numerical relativity, including the effects of spins misaligned with the binary orbital axis, and present the resulting upper limits on astrophysical merger rates. Our most stringent limit is for equal mass and aligned spin BH binary of total mass $200\,M_\odot$ and effective aligned spin 0.8 at $0.056\,Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}$ (90 $\%$ confidence), a factor of 3.5 more constraining than previous LIGO-Virgo limits. We also update the estimated rate of mergers similar to GW190521 to $0.08\, Gpc^{-3}yr^{-1}$.

We present photometric and spectroscopic analyses of gravity (g-mode) long-period pulsating hot subdwarf B (sdB) stars. We perform a detailed asteroseismic and spectroscopic analysis of five pulsating sdB stars observed with {\it TESS} aiming at the global comparison of the observations with the model predictions based on our stellar evolution computations coupled with the adiabatic pulsation computations. We apply standard seismic tools for mode identification, including asymptotic period spacings and rotational frequency multiplets. We calculate the mean period spacing for $l = 1$ and $l = 2$ modes and estimate the errors by means of a statistical resampling analysis. For all stars, atmospheric parameters were derived by fitting synthetic spectra to the newly obtained low-resolution spectra. We have computed stellar evolution models using {\tt LPCODE} stellar evolution code, and computed $l = 1$ g-mode frequencies with the adiabatic non-radial pulsation code {\tt LP-PUL}. Derived observational mean period spacings are then compared to the mean period spacings from detailed stellar evolution computations coupled with the adiabatic pulsation computations of g-modes. The atmospheric parameters derived from spectroscopic data are typical of long-period pulsating sdB stars with the effective temperature ranging from 23\,700\,K to 27\,600\,K and surface gravity spanning from 5.3\,dex to 5.5\,dex. In agreement with the expectations from theoretical arguments and previous asteroseismological works, we find that the mean period spacings obtained for models with small convective cores, as predicted by a pure Schwarzschild criterion, are incompatible with the observations. We find that models with a standard/modest convective boundary mixing at the boundary of the convective core are in better agreement with the observed mean period spacings and are therefore more realistic.

Periodic quasars have been suggested as candidates for hosting binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs), although alternative scenarios remain possible to explain the optical light curve periodicity. To test the alternative hypothesis of precessing radio jet, we present deep 6 GHz radio imaging conducted with NSF's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in its C configuration for the three candidate periodic quasars, DES J024703.24$-$010032.0, DES J024944.66$-$000036.8, and DES J025214.67$-$002813.7. Our targets were selected based on their optical variability using 20-yr long multi-color light curves from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The new VLA observations show that all three periodic quasars are radio-quiet with the radio loudness parameters measured to be $R\equiv f_{6\,{\rm cm}}/f_{{\rm 2500}}$ of $\sim$1.0$-$1.8 and the $k$-corrected luminosities $\nu L_\nu$[6 GHz] of $\sim$5$-$21 $\times$ 10$^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$. They are in stark contrast to previously known periodic quasars proposed as binary SMBH candidates such as the blazar OJ287 and PG1302$-$102. Our results rule out optical emission contributed from precessing radio jets as the origin of the optical periodicity in the three DES$-$SDSS-selected candidate periodic quasars. Future continued optical monitoring and complementary multi-wavelength observations are still needed to further test the binary SMBH hypothesis as well as other competing scenarios to explain the optical periodicity.

It is well known that asymptotically flat black holes in general relativity have a vanishing static tidal response and no static hair. We show that both are a result of linearly realized symmetries governing static (spin 0,1,2) perturbations around black holes. The symmetries have a geometric origin: in the scalar case, they arise from the (E)AdS isometries of a dimensionally reduced black hole spacetime. Underlying the symmetries is a ladder structure which can be used to construct the full tower of solutions, and derive their general properties: (1) solutions that decay with radius spontaneously break the symmetries, and must diverge at the horizon; (2) solutions regular at the horizon respect the symmetries, and take the form of a finite polynomial that grows with radius. Property (1) implies no hair; (1) and (2) combined imply that static response coefficients -- and in particular Love numbers -- vanish. We also discuss the manifestation of these symmetries in the effective point particle description of a black hole, showing explicitly that for scalar probes the worldline couplings associated with a non-trivial tidal response and scalar hair must vanish in order for the symmetries to be preserved.

We examine the possibility that dark matter (DM) consists of a gapped continuum, rather than ordinary particles. A Weakly-Interacting Continuum (WIC) model, coupled to the Standard Model via a Z-portal, provides an explicit realization of this idea. The thermal DM relic density in this model is naturally consistent with observations, providing a continuum counterpart of the "WIMP miracle". Direct detection cross sections are strongly suppressed compared to ordinary Z-portal WIMP, thanks to a unique effect of the continuum kinematics. Continuum DM states decay throughout the history of the universe, and observations of cosmic microwave background place constraints on potential late decays. Production of WICs at colliders can provide a striking cascade-decay signature. We show that a simple Z-portal WIC model with the gap scale between 40 and 110 GeV provides a fully viable DM candidate consistent with all current experimental constraints.

We review the covariant density functional approach to the equation of state of the dense nuclear matter in compact stars. The main emphasis is on the hyperonization of the dense matter, and the role played by the $\Delta$-resonances. The implications of hyperonization for the astrophysics of compact stars, including the equation of state, composition, and stellar parameters are examined. The mass-radius relation and tidal deformabilities of static and rapidly rotating (Keplerian) configurations are discussed in some detail. We briefly touch upon some other recent developments involving hyperonization in hot hypernuclear matter at high- and low-densities.

In this paper, we first provide a brief review of the effective dynamics of two recently well-studied models of modified loop quantum cosmologies (mLQCs), which arise from different regularizations of the Hamiltonian constraint and show the robustness of a generic resolution of the big bang singularity, replaced by a quantum bounce due to non-perturbative Planck scale effects. As in loop quantum cosmology (LQC), in these modified models the slow-roll inflation happens generically. We consider the cosmological perturbations following the dressed and hybrid approaches and clarify some subtle issues regarding the ambiguity of the extension of the effective potential of the scalar perturbations across the quantum bounce, and the choice of initial conditions. Both of the modified regularizations yield primordial power spectra that are consistent with current observations for the Starobinsky potential within the framework of either the dressed or the hybrid approach. But differences in primordial power spectra are identified among the mLQCs and LQC. In addition, for mLQC-I, striking differences arise between the dressed and hybrid approaches in the infrared and oscillatory regimes. While the differences between the two modified models can be attributed to differences in the Planck scale physics, the permissible choices of the initial conditions and the differences between the two perturbation approaches have been reported for the first time. All these differences, due to either the different regularizations or the different perturbation approaches in principle can be observed in terms of non-Gaussianities.

We show that large-amplitude, non-planar, Alfv\'en wave (AW) packets are exact nonlinear solutions of the relativistic MHD equations when the total magnetic-field strength in the local fluid rest frame ($b$) is a constant. We derive analytic expressions relating the components of the fluctuating velocity and magnetic field. We also show that these constant-$b$ AWs propagate without distortion at the relativistic Alfv\'en velocity and never steepen into shocks. These findings and the observed abundance of large-amplitude, constant-$b$ AWs in the solar wind suggest that such waves may be present in relativistic outflows around compact astrophysical objects.

The methods to measure the polarization of the x-rays from highly charged heavy ions with a significantly higher accuracy than the existing technology is needed to explore relativistic and quantum electrodynamics (QED) effects including the Breit interaction. We developed the Electron Beam Ion Trap Compton Camera (EBIT-CC), a new Compton polarimeter with pixelated multi-layer silicon and cadmium telluride counters. The EBIT-CC detects the three-dimensional position of Compton scattering and photoelectric absorption, and thus the degree of polarization of incoming x-rays can be evaluated. We attached the EBIT-CC on the Tokyo Electron Beam Ion Trap (Tokyo-EBIT) in the University of Electro-Communications. An experiment was performed to evaluate its polarimetric capability through an observation of radiative recombination x-rays emitted from highly charged krypton ions, which were generated by the Tokyo-EBIT. The Compton camera of the EBIT-CC was calibrated for the 75 keV x-rays. We developed event reconstruction and selection procedures and applied them to every registered event. As a result, we successfully obtained the polarization degree with an absolute uncertainty of 0.02. This uncertainty is small enough to probe the difference between the zero-frequency approximation and full-frequency-dependent calculation for the Breit interaction, which is expected for dielectronic recombination x-rays of highly charged heavy ions.

We propose an $A_4$ modular invariant flavor model of leptons, in which both CP and modular symmetries are broken spontaneously by the vacuum expectation value of the modulus $\tau$. The value of the modulus $\tau$ is restricted by the observed lepton mixing angles and lepton masses for the normal hierarchy of neutrino masses at $3\,\sigma$ confidence level. The predictive Dirac CP phase $\delta_{CP}$ is in the ranges $[0^\circ,50^\circ]$, $[170^\circ,175^\circ]$ and $[280^\circ,360^\circ]$ for ${\rm Re}\,[\tau]<0$, and $[0^\circ,80^\circ]$, $[185^\circ,190^\circ]$ and $[310^\circ,360^\circ]$ for ${\rm Re}\,[\tau]>0$ at $3\,\sigma$ confidence level. The sum of three neutrino masses is predicted in $[60,\,84]$ meV, and the effective mass for the $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay is in [0.003, 3] meV. On the other hand, there is no allowed region of the modulus $\tau$ for the inverted hierarchy of neutrino masses at $3\,\sigma$ confidence level. The modulus $\tau$ links the Dirac CP phase to the cosmological baryon asymmetry (BAU) via the leptogenesis. Due to the strong wash-out effect, the predictive baryon asymmetry $Y_B$ can be at most the same order of the observed value. Then, the lightest right-handed neutrino mass is restricted in the range of $M_1 =[1.5,\,6.5] \times 10^{13}$ GeV. We find the correlation between the predictive $Y_B$ and the Dirac CP phase $\delta_{CP}$. Only two predictive $\delta_{CP}$ ranges, $[0^\circ,80^\circ]$ (${\rm Re}\,[\tau]>0$) and $[280^\circ,360^\circ]$ (${\rm Re}\,[\tau]<0$) are consistent with the BAU.

We study analytic core-envelope models obtained in Negi et al. (1989) under slow rotation. We have regarded in the present study, the lower bound on the estimate of moment of inertia of the Crab pulsar, $I_{\rm Crab,45} \geq 2$ (where $I_{45}=I/10^{45}\rm g{cm}^2$) obtained by Gunn and Ostriker (1969) as a round off value of the recently estimated value of $I_{\rm Crab,45} \geq 1.93$ (Bejger \& Haensel 2003) for the Crab pulsar. If this value of lower bound is combined with the other observational constraint obtained for the Crab pulsar (Crawford \& Demiansky 2003), $G_h = I_{\rm core}/I_{\rm total} \geq 0.7$ ( where $G_h$ is called the glitch healing parameter and represents the fractional moment of inertia of the core component in the starquake mechanism of glitch generation), the models yield the mass, $M$, and surface redshift, $z_a$, for the Crab pulsar in the range, $M = 1.79M_\odot - 1.88M_\odot$; $z_a = 0.374 - 0.393$ ($I_{45} = 2$) for an assigned value of the surface density, $E_a = 2\times 10^{14}\rm g{cm}^{-3}$ (like, Brecher and Caporaso 1976). This assigned value of surface density, in fact, is an outcome of the first observational constraint imposed on our models that further yields the mass $M = 1.96M_\odot $ and surface redshift $z_a=$ 0.414 ($I_{45}= 2$) for the values of $G_h \approx 0.12$, which actually belongs to the observed `central' weighted mean value for the Vela pulsar. These values of mass and surface redshift predict the energy of a gravitationally redshifted electron-positron annihilation line, $E (\rm {MeV}) = 0.511/(1+z_a)$ (Lindblom 1984) in the range about 0.396 - 401 MeV from the Crab and about 0.389 MeV from the Vela pulsar. The evidence of a line feature at about 0.40MeV from the Crab pulsar (Leventhal et al. 1977) agrees quite well with the finding of this study.

Volcanic eruptions are associated with a wide range of electrostatic effects. Increasing evidence suggests that high-altitude discharges (lightning) in maturing plumes are driven by electrification processes that require the formation of ice (analogous to processes underpinning meteorological thunderstorms). However, electrical discharges are also common at or near the volcanic vent. A number of "ice-free" electrification mechanisms have been proposed to account for this activity: fractocharging, triboelectric charging, radioactive charging, and charging through induction. Yet, the degree to which each mechanism contributes to a jet's total electrification and how electrification in the gas-thrust region influences electrostatic processes aloft remains poorly constrained. Here, we use a shock-tube to simulate overpressured volcanic jets capable of producing spark discharges in the absence of ice. These discharges may be representative of the continual radio frequency (CRF) emissions observed at a number of eruptions. Using a suite of electrostatic sensors, we demonstrate the presence of size-dependent bipolar charging (SDBC) in a discharge-bearing flow for the first time. SDBC has been readily associated with triboelectric charging in other contexts and provides direct evidence that contact and frictional electrification play significant roles in electrostatic processes in the vent and near-vent regions of an eruption. Additionally, we find that particles leaving the region where discharges occur remain moderately electrified. This degree of electrification may be sufficient to drive near-vent lightning higher in the column. Thus, near-vent discharges may be underpinned by the same electrification mechanisms driving CRF, albeit involving greater degrees of charge separation.

A light hidden photon or axion-like particle is a good dark matter candidate and they are often associated with the spontaneous breaking of dark global or gauged U(1) symmetry. We consider the dark Higgs dynamics around the phase transition in detail taking account of the portal coupling between the dark Higgs and the Standard Model Higgs as well as various thermal effects. We show that the (would-be) Nambu-Goldstone bosons are efficiently produced via a parametric resonance with the resonance parameter $q\sim 1$ at the hidden symmetry breaking. In the simplest setup, which predicts a second order phase transition, this can explain the dark matter abundance for the axion or hidden photon as light as sub eV. Even lighter mass, as predicted by the QCD axion model, can be consistent with dark matter abundance in the case of first order phase transition, in which case the gravitational wave signals may be detectable by future experiments such as LISA and DECIGO.

The stability conditions of a relativistic hydrodynamic theory can be derived directly from the requirement that the entropy should be maximised in equilibrium. Here we use a simple geometrical argument to prove that, if the hydrodynamic theory is stable according to this entropic criterion, then localised perturbations cannot propagate outside their future light-cone. In other words, within relativistic hydrodynamics, acausal theories must be thermodynamically unstable. We show that the physical origin of this deep connection between stability and causality lies in the relationship between entropy and information.

We revisit the structure of conformal gravity in the presence of a conformally coupled scale breaking scalar field, and in the static, spherically symmetric case find two classes of exact exterior solutions. In one solution the scalar field has a constant value and in the other solution (due to Brihaye and Verbin, Phys. Rev. D 80, 124048 (2009)) it has a dependence on the radial coordinate, with the two exterior solutions being conformally equivalent. However, the very structure of the solutions requires the presence of singular sources, with the associated sources that are needed in the two cases having different singular structures, to thereby make the interior solutions conformally inequivalent. We show for the radially dependent solution that even if the scalar field does vary macroscopically along particle trajectories, for galaxies this has a negligible effect on galactic rotation orbits. Now since these scalar fields generate particle masses they actually are microscopic not macroscopic and only vary within particle interiors, giving particles an extended, baglike structure. Being internal they anyway have no effect on galactic orbits to begin with. In a recent paper Hobson and Lasenby (arXiv:2103.13451 [gr-qc]) raised the concern that the fitting of conformal gravity to galactic rotation curves had been misapplied and thus called the successful fitting of the theory into question. Here we show that their paper as well as that of Brihaye and Verbin have some technical shortcomings, which leave the good conformal gravity fitting to galactic rotation curves intact.

The spatial distribution of energetic protons contributes towards the understanding of magnetospheric dynamics. Based upon 17 years of the Cluster/RAPID observations, we have derived machine learning-based models to predict the proton intensities at energies from 28 to 1,885 keV in the 3D terrestrial magnetosphere at radial distances between 6 and 22 RE. We used the satellite location and indices for solar, solar wind and geomagnetic activity as predictors. The results demonstrate that the neural network (multi-layer perceptron regressor) outperforms baseline models based on the k-Nearest Neighbors and historical binning on average by ~80% and ~33\%, respectively. The average correlation between the observed and predicted data is about 56%, which is reasonable in light of the complex dynamics of fast-moving energetic protons in the magnetosphere. In addition to a quantitative analysis of the prediction results, we also investigate parameter importance in our model. The most decisive parameters for predicting proton intensities are related to the location: ZGSE direction and the radial distance. Among the activity indices, the solar wind dynamic pressure is the most important. The results have a direct practical application, for instance, for assessing the contamination particle background in the X-Ray telescopes for X-ray astronomy orbiting above the radiation belts. To foster reproducible research and to enable the community to build upon our work we publish our complete code, the data, as well as weights of trained models. Further description can be found in the GitHub project at https://github.com/Tanveer81/deep_horizon.

In a relativistic context, the main purpose of Extended Irreversible Thermodynamics (EIT) is to generalize the principles of non-equilibrium thermodynamics to the domain of fluid dynamics. In particular, the theory aims at modelling any diffusion-type process (like heat as diffusion of energy, viscosity as diffusion of momentum, charge-conductivity as diffusion of particles) directly from thermodynamic laws. Although in Newtonian physics this task can be achieved with a first-order approach to dissipation (i.e. Navier-Stokes-Fourier like equations), in a relativistic framework the relativity of simultaneity poses serious challenges to the first-order methodology, originating instabilities which are, instead, naturally eliminated within EIT. The first part of this work is dedicated to reviewing the most recent progress made in understanding the mathematical origin of this instability problem. In the second part, we present the formalism that arises by promoting non-equilibrium thermodynamics to a classical effective field theory. We call this approach Unified Extended Irreversible Thermodynamics (UEIT), because it contains, as particular cases, EIT itself, in particular the Israel-Stewart theory and the divergence-type theories, plus Carter's approach and most branches of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, such as relativistic chemistry and radiation hydrodynamics. We use this formalism to explain why all these theories are stable by construction (provided that the microscopic input is correct), showing that their (Lyapunov) stability is a direct consequence of the second law of thermodynamics.