Papers for Tuesday, Aug 31 2021

High-resolution optical integral field units (IFUs) are rapidly expanding our knowledge of extragalactic emission nebulae in galaxies and galaxy clusters. By studying the spectra of these objects -- which include classic HII regions, supernova remnants, planetary nebulae, and cluster filaments -- we are able to constrain their kinematics (velocity and velocity dispersion). In conjunction with additional tools, such as the BPT diagram, we can further classify emission regions based on strong emission-line flux ratios. LUCI is a simple-to-use python module intended to facilitate the rapid analysis of IFU spectra. LUCI does this by integrating well-developed pre-existing python tools such as astropy and scipy with new machine learning tools for spectral analysis (Rhea et al. 2020). Furthermore, LUCI provides several easy-to-use tools to access and fit SITELLE data cubes.

The diffuse ionized gas (DIG) is an important component of the interstellar medium that can provide insights into the different physical processes affecting the gas in galaxies. We utilise optical IFU observations of 71 gas-stripped and control galaxies from the Gas Stripping Phenomena in galaxies (GASP) survey, to analyze the gas properties of the dense ionized gas and the DIG, such as metallicity, ionization parameter log(q), and the difference between the measured $\log[OI]/H\alpha$ and the value predicted by star-forming models, given the measured log[OIII]/H$\beta$ ($\Delta log[OI]/H\alpha$). We compare these properties at different spatial scales, among galaxies at different gas-stripping stages, and between disks and tails of the stripped galaxies. The metallicity is similar between the dense gas and DIG at a given galactocentric radius. The log(q) is lower for DIG compared to dense gas. The median values of log(q) correlate best with stellar mass, and the most massive galaxies show an increase in log(q) toward their galactic centers. The DIG clearly shows higher $\Delta log[OI]/H\alpha$ values compared to the dense gas, with much of the spaxels having LIER/LINER like emission. The DIG regions in the tails of highly stripped galaxies show the highest $\Delta log[OI]/H\alpha$, exhibit high values of log(q) and extend to large projected distances from star-forming areas (up to 10 kpc). We conclude that the DIG in the tails is at least partly ionized by a process other than star-formation, probably by mixing, shocks and accretion of inter-cluster and interstellar medium gas.

In a search for short timescale astrophysical transients in time-domain data, radio-frequency interference (RFI) causes both large quantities of false positive candidates and a significant reduction in sensitivity if not correctly mitigated. Here we propose an algorithm that infers a time-variable frequency channel mask directly from short-duration ($\sim$1 s) data blocks: the method consists of computing a spectral statistic that correlates well with the presence of RFI, and then finding high outliers among the resulting values. For the latter task, we propose an outlier detection algorithm called Inter-Quartile Range Mitigation (IQRM), that is both non-parametric and robust to the presence of a trend in sequential data. The method requires no training and can in principle adapt to any telescope and RFI environment; its efficiency is shown on data from both the MeerKAT and Lovell 76-m radio telescopes. IQRM is fast enough to be used in a streaming search and has been integrated into the MeerTRAP real-time transient search pipeline. Open-source Python and C++ implementations are provided.

Study of the double detonation Type Ia supernova scenario, in which a helium shell detonation triggers a carbon core detonation in a sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf, has experienced a resurgence in the past decade. New evolutionary scenarios and a better understanding of which nuclear reactions are essential have allowed for successful explosions in white dwarfs with much thinner helium shells than in the original, decades-old incarnation of the double detonation scenario. In this paper, we present the first suite of light curves and spectra from multi-dimensional radiative transfer calculations of thin-shell double detonation models, exploring a range of white dwarf and helium shell masses. We find broad agreement with the observed light curves and spectra of non-peculiar Type Ia supernovae, from subluminous to overluminous subtypes, providing evidence that double detonations of sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs produce the bulk of observed Type Ia supernovae. Some discrepancies in spectral velocities and colors persist, but these may be brought into agreement by future calculations that include more accurate initial conditions and radiation transport physics.

We investigate the properties of anisotropic, spherically symmetric compact stars, especially neutron stars and strange quark stars, made of strongly magnetized matter. The neutron stars are described by SLy equation of state, the strange quark stars by an equation of state based on the MIT Bag model. The stellar models are based on an a priori assumed density dependence of the magnetic field and thus anisotropy. Our study shows that not only the presence of a strong magnetic field and anisotropy, but also the orientation of the magnetic field itself, have an important influence on the physical properties of stars. Two possible magnetic field orientations are considered, a radial orientation, where the local magnetic fields point in the radial direction, and a transverse orientation, where the local magnetic fields are perpendicular to the radial direction. Interestingly, we find that for a transverse orientation of the magnetic field, the stars become more massive with increasing anisotropy and magnetic field strength and increase in size, since the repulsive, effective anisotropic force increases in this case. In the case of a radially orientated magnetic field, however, the masses and radii of the stars decrease with increasing magnetic field strength, because of the decreasing effective anisotropic force. Importantly, we also show that in order to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium configurations of magnetized matter, it is essential to account for both the local anisotropy effects as well as the anisotropy effects caused by a strong magnetic field. Otherwise, hydrostatic equilibrium is not achieved for magnetized stellar models.

The fundamental metallicity relation (FMR) of galaxies is a 3D relation between the gas-phase metallicity, stellar mass and star-formation rate (SFR). It has been studied so far only for galaxies identified as star-forming (SF) on the BPT diagrams (BPT-SF), but not for galaxies with LI(N)ER/AGN classification (BPT-non-SF), mainly due to the lack of diagnostics for estimating their gas-phase metallicities in the latter cases. We extend the FMR to BPT-non-SF galaxies. To this end, we exploit the recent nebular line empirical calibrations derived specifically for galaxies classified as non-SF in the BPT diagrams. Moreover, we study an alternative representation of the FMR where we consider the offsets in metallicity and SFR with respect to Main Sequence (MS) galaxies. We find that galaxies with SFR higher than the MS are more metal-poor than their counterparts on the MS, which is interpreted in terms of gas accretion, boosting star formation and diluting the metallicity. Low-mass galaxies below the MS (i.e. towards quiescence) have metallicities higher than their MS counterparts, which is interpreted in terms of starvation, (i.e. suppression of fresh gas supply) hampering star formation and reducing the dilution effect, hence resulting in a higher level of internal chemical enrichment. Massive galaxies below the MS have gas metallicity much closer to their MS counterparts and much lower than expected from their stellar metallicities; this result suggests a scenario where massive nearly-quiescent galaxies with LI(N)ER-like nebular emission have recently accreted gas from the circum/intergalactic medium.

The shape of the ionising spectra of galaxies is a key ingredient to reveal their physical properties and to our understanding of the ionising background radiation. A long-standing unsolved problem is the presence of \heii\ nebular emission in many low-metallicity star-forming galaxies. This emission requires ionising photons with energy $>54$ eV, which are not produced in sufficient amounts by normal stellar populations. To examine if high mass X-ray binaries and ultra-luminous X-ray sources (HMXB/ULX) can explain the observed \heii\ nebular emission and how their presence alters other emission lines, we compute photoionisation models of galaxies including such sources. We combine spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of integrated stellar populations with constrained SEDs of ULXs to obtain composite spectra with varying amounts of X-ray luminosity, parametrised by $L_X/$SFR. With these we compute photoionisation models to predict the emission line fluxes of the optical recombination lines of H and He+, and the main metal lines of \oiii, \oii, \oi, and \nii. The predictions are then compared to a large sample of low-metallicity galaxies. We find that it is possible to reproduce the nebular \Heii\ and other line observations with our spectra and with amounts of $L_X/$SFR compatible with the observations. Our work suggests that HMBX/ULX could be responsible for the observed nebular \heii\ emission. However, the strengths of the high and low ionisation lines, such as \heii\ and \Oi, depend strongly on the X-ray contribution and on the assumed SEDs of the high energy source(s); the latter are poorly known.

(Abridged) We characterize a series of neutral vanadium atomic absorption lines in the 800--910nm wavelength region of high signal-to-noise, high-resolution, telluric-corrected M-dwarf spectra from the CARMENES survey. Many of these lines are prominent and exhibit a distinctive broad and flat-bottom shape, which is a result of hyperfine structure (HFS). We investigate the potential and implications of these HFS split lines for abundance analysis of cool stars. With standard spectral synthesis routines, as provided by the spectroscopy software iSpec and the latest atomic data (including HFS) available from the VALD3 database, we modeled these striking line profiles. We used them to measure V abundances of cool dwarfs. We determined V abundances for 135 early M dwarfs (M0.0V to M3.5V) in the CARMENES guaranteed time observations sample. They exhibit a [V/Fe]-[Fe/H] trend consistent with that derived from nearby FG dwarfs. The tight ($\pm$ 0.1 dex) correlation between [V/H] and [Fe/H] suggests the potential application of V as an alternative metallicity indicator in M dwarfs. We also show hints that neglecting to model HFS could partially explain the temperature correlation in V abundance measurements observed in previous studies of samples involving dwarf stars with $T_{\rm eff} \lesssim 5300$K. Our work suggests that HFS can impact certain absorption lines in cool photospheres more severely than in Sun-like ones. Therefore, we advocate that HFS should be carefully treated in abundance studies in stars cooler than $\sim 5000$K. On the other hand, strong HFS split lines in high-resolution spectra present an opportunity for precision chemical analyses of large samples of cool stars. The V-to-Fe trends exhibited by the local M dwarfs continue to challenge theoretical models of V production in the Galaxy.

The recent measurement of an ionising mean free path $\lambda_{\text{mfp}}<1$ pMpc at $z=6$ challenges our understanding of the small-scale structure of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at the end of reionisation. We introduce a new method to constrain \mfp at $z=6$ by using lower limits on the individual free paths of ionisation around quasars. Lyman-limit absorbers with a density sufficient to halt ionising photons produce strong absorption in the 6 lowest-energy Lyman transitions, in the absence of which a robust lower limit can be placed on the individual free path. Applying this method to a set of $26$ quasars at $5.5<z<6.5$, we find that $80\%$ of bright quasars ($M_{1450}<-26.5$) require individual free paths larger than $2$ pMpc. We model the relation between opacity $\kappa$ and photo-ionisation rate $\Gamma$ via the parameter $\xi$ such that $\kappa\propto\Gamma^{-\xi}$, and pose joint limits on \mfp and $\xi$. For the nominal value of $\xi=2/3$, we constrain $\lambda_{\text{mfp}}>0.31 \ (0.18)$ pMpc at $2\sigma \ (3\sigma)$: a much tighter lower bound than obtained through traditional stacking methods. Our constraints get significantly stronger for lower values of $\xi$. New constraints on \mfp and $\xi$ are crucial to our understanding of the reionisation-era IGM.

Terrestrial-type exoplanets orbiting nearby red dwarf stars (M dwarfs) are the first potentially habitable exoplanets suitable for atmospheric characterization in the near future. Understanding the stability of water in cold-trap regions on such planets is critical because it directly impacts transmission spectroscopy observations, the global energy budget, and long-term surface water evolution. Here we diagnose the humidity distribution in idealized general circulation model (GCM) simulations of terrestrial-type exoplanets. We use the `tracer of last saturation' technique to study the saturation statistics of air parcels. We find that on synchronously rotating planets, the water vapor abundance in the nightside upper troposphere depends weakly on planetary rotation, while more water vapor builds up in the nightside lower troposphere on fast-rotating planets. We then discuss how last-saturation statistics can elucidate the multiple moist climate equilibrium states on synchronously and asynchronously rotating arid planets. We show that the multiple moist climate states arise from the cold-trapping competition between the substellar upper atmosphere and cold surface regions. We find that fast synchronously rotating planets tend to trap surface water on the nightside as a result of their weak atmospheric and strong surface cold traps compared to the slow rotating case. These results elucidate the nature of the water cycle on arid rocky exoplanets and will aid interpretation of atmospheric observations in the future.

Current and future high contrast imaging instruments aim to detect exoplanets at closer orbital separations, lower masses, and/or older ages than their predecessors, with the eventual goal of directly detecting terrestrial-mass habitable-zone exoplanets. However, continually evolving speckles in the coronagraphic science image still limit state-of-the-art ground-based exoplanet imaging instruments to contrasts at least two orders of magnitude worse than what is needed to achieve this goal. For ground-based adaptive optics (AO) instruments it remains challenging for most speckle suppression techniques to attenuate both the dynamic atmospheric and quasi-static instrumental speckles. We have proposed a focal plane wavefront sensing and control algorithm to address this challenge, called the Fast Atmospheric Self-coherent camera (SCC) Technique (FAST), which enables the SCC to operate down to millisecond timescales even when only a few photons are detected per speckle. Here we present preliminary experimental results of FAST on the Santa Cruz Extreme AO Laboratory (SEAL) testbed. In particular, we illustrate the benefit "second stage" AO-based focal plane wavefront control, demonstrating FAST closed-loop compensation of evolving residual atmospheric turbulence on millisecond-timescales.

New mass estimates and cumulative mass profiles with Bayesian credible regions (c.r.) for the Milky Way (MW) are found using the Galactic Mass Estimator (GME) code and dwarf galaxy (DG) kinematic data from multiple sources. GME takes a hierarchical Bayesian approach to simultaneously estimate the true positions and velocities of the DGs, their velocity anisotropy, and the model parameters for the Galaxy's total gravitational potential. In this study, we incorporate meaningful prior information from past studies and simulations. The prior distributions for the physical model are informed by the results of Eadie & Juric (2019), which used globular clusters instead of DGs, as well as by the subhalo distributions of the Ananke Gaia-like surveys from Feedback In Realistic Environments-2 (Fire-2) cosmological simulations (see Sanderson et al. 2020). Using DGs beyond 45 kpc, we report median and 95% c.r estimates for $r_{200}$ = 212.8 (191.12,238.44) kpc, and for the total enclosed mass $M_{200}$ = 1.19 (0.87,1.68)$\times10^{12}M_{\odot}$ (adopting $\Delta_c=200$). Median mass estimates at specific radii are also reported (e.g., $M(<50\text{ kpc})=0.52\times10^{12}M_{\odot}$ and $M(100\text{ kpc})=0.78\times10^{12}M_{\odot}$). Estimates are comparable to other recent studies using GAIA DR2 and DGs, but notably different from the estimates of Eadie & Juric (2019). We perform a sensitivity analysis to investigate whether individual DGs and/or a more massive Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) on the order of $10^{11}M_{\odot}$ may be affecting our mass estimates. We find possible supporting evidence for the idea that some DGs are affected by a massive LMC and are not in equilibrium with the MW.

Primordial black holes (PBHs) can form as a result of primordial scalar perturbations at small scales. This PBH formation scenario has associated gravitational wave (GW) signatures from second-order GWs induced by the primordial curvature perturbation, and from GWs produced during an early PBH dominated era. We investigate the ability of next generation GW experiments, including BBO, LISA, and CE, to probe this PBH formation scenario in a wide mass range (10 - 1e27 g). Measuring the stochastic GW background with GW observatories can constrain the allowed parameter space of PBHs including a previously unconstrained region where light PBHs (< 1e9 g) temporarily dominate the energy density of the universe before evaporating. We also show how PBH formation impacts the reach of GW observatories to the primordial power spectrum and provide constraints implied by existing PBH bounds.

We study complete sample of spiral galaxies brighter than M$_{\mathrm{B}} \sim$-18.4 in three Abell clusters: A85 ($z=\,$0.055), A496 ($z=\,$0.033) and A2670 ($z=\,$0.076). This work is based on a large volume limited, blind Hi-survey (21cm, NRAO-VLA), on optical imaging (CFHT) and on the search for dynamical substructures. Our goal is to explore the effects of local environment on the HI gas properties and this, in turn, on the star formation activity and quenching of individual galaxies. We report significant differences among the HI properties of these clusters and we discuss the role played by the large scale structure and by the dynamical evolution of each cluster accounting for the observational evidence.

We re-examine the contentious question of constraints on anisotropic expansion from Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) in the light of a novel determination of peculiar velocities, which are crucial to test isotropy with supernovae out to distances $\lesssim 200/h$ Mpc. We re-analyze the Joint Light-Curve Analysis (JLA) Supernovae (SNe) data, improving on previous treatments of peculiar velocity corrections and their uncertainties (both statistical and systematic) by adopting state-of-the-art flow models constrained independently via the 2M$++$ galaxy redshift compilation. We also introduce a novel procedure to account for colour-based selection effects, and adjust the redshift of low-$z$ SNe self-consistently in the light of our improved peculiar velocity model. We adopt the Bayesian hierarchical model \texttt{BAHAMAS} to constrain a dipole in the distance modulus in the context of the $\Lambda$CDM model and the deceleration parameter in a phenomenological Cosmographic expansion. We do not find any evidence for anisotropic expansion, and place a tight upper bound on the amplitude of a dipole, $|D_\mu| < 5.93 \times 10^{-4}$ (95\% credible interval) in a $\Lambda$CDM setting, and $|D_{q_0}| < 6.29 \times 10^{-2}$ in the Cosmographic expansion approach. Using Bayesian model comparison, we obtain posterior odds in excess of 900:1 (640:1) against a constant-in-redshift dipole for $\Lambda$CDM (the Cosmographic expansion). In the isotropic case, an accelerating universe is favoured with odds of $\sim 1100:1$ with respect to a decelerating one.

Flowing water and brine have been proposed to cause seasonally reappearing dark streaks called recurring slope lineae (RSL) on steep warm slopes on Mars, along with other formation mechanisms that do not involve water. This study aims to examine whether the evaporation of water vapor from the RSL, whether from fresh water or brine, is detectable by observing water vapor and/or clouds. In this study, we summarize the possible rate and duration of water-vapor emission from RSL in different scenarios, simulate how the emitted water vapor behaves in a global climate model, and discuss the detectability of water vapor in nadir observations during existing and future explorations. We found that, in typical cases, rapid horizontal dissipation within the planetary boundary layer (PBL) following the release of water vapor prohibits cloud formation and the excess water vapor from being distinguished from the background with existing observations. Thus, we conclude that the lack of correlation between the RSL activities and the overlying water-vapor column density does not necessarily rule out the wet origin of RSL. Nevertheless, we also found that water vapor tends to accumulate in basins and valleys in some cases due to the combined effects of topography and low PBL; we suggest the locations of such configuration as targets for future atmospheric studies of Mars dedicated to quantifying water-vapor release (associated with RSL) to elucidate the formation mechanism(s) of the RSL on the planet.

This paper is part of an effort to correct the transmission spectra of a transiting planet orbiting an active star. In Paper I (Cracchiolo et al. 2020) we have demonstrated a methodology to minimize the potential bias induced by unocculted star spots on the transmission spectrum, assuming a spot model parameterized by filling factor and temperature. In this work we introduce the limb darkening effect, therefore the position of the spot in the stellar disk and the impact parameter of the transiting planet now play a key role. The method is tested on simulations of planetary transits of three representative kinds of planetary systems, at ARIEL resolution. We find that a realistic treatment of the limb darkening is required to reliably estimate both the spots parameters and the transmission spectrum of the transiting planet. Furthermore, we show that the influence of the spots onthe retrieval of the planetary transmission spectrum is significant for spots close to the center of the star, covering a fraction greater than 0.05 and with a temperature contrast greater than 500 K, and that for these cases our method can confidently extract the transmission spectrum and the impact parameter of the transiting planet for both cases of occulted and not occulted spots, provided that we have an accurate characterization of the stellar parameters and a reliable simulator of the instrument performances.

Magnetic chemically peculiar stars of the main sequence can present rotational periods as long as many decades. Here we report the results of an observational campaign started in 2001 aimed to establish these very long periods from the variability of the surface magnetic field, as measured from the Zeeman split of the Fe{\sc ii}\,6149.258\,\AA\ spectral line. Thirty-six stars have been monitored with several high-resolution spectrographs at different telescopes, for a total of 412 new collected spectra. To extend and fill at the best the time frame, we have also exploited all public archives containing high-resolution spectra, many not yet published. At the start of the campaign, most of the variability periods were unknown and stars selected for the sharpness of their spectral lines only, and thirteen stars were found to present variability periods on the scale of weeks. A final plot of magnetic field strength versus rotational periods is given.

One of the most important questions in the field of planet formation is how mm-cm sized dust particles overcome the radial drift and fragmentation barriers to form kilometer-sized planetesimals. ALMA observations of protoplanetary disks, in particular transition disks or disks with clear signs of substructures, can provide new constraints on theories of grain growth and planetesimal formation and therefore represent one possibility to progress on this issue. We here present ALMA band 4 (2.1 mm) observations of the transition disk system Sz 91 and combine them with previously obtained band 6 (1.3 mm) and 7 (0.9 mm) observations. Sz 91 with its well defined mm-ring, more extended gas disk, and evidence of smaller dust particles close to the star, is a clear case of dust filtering and the accumulation of mm sized particles in a gas pressure bump. We computed the spectral index (nearly constant at $\sim$3.34), optical depth (marginally optically thick), and maximum grain size ($\sim\,0.61$ mm) in the dust ring from the multi-wavelength ALMA observations and compared the results with recently published simulations of grain growth in disk substructures. Our observational results are in very good agreement with the predictions of models for grain growth in dust rings that include fragmentation and planetesimal formation through the streaming instability.

We report the discovery of a massive protostar M17 MIR embedded in a hot molecular core in M17. The multi-wavelength data of M17 MIR during 1993 to 2019 show significant mid-IR (MIR) variations, which can be split into three stages, the decreasing phase during 1993.03 to mid 2004, the quiescent phase during mid 2004 to mid 2010, and the re-brightening phase since mid 2010 untill now. The H2O maser emission variation toward M17 MIR, together with the MIR variation, indicate an enhanced disk accretion rate onto M17 MIR during the decreasing and re-brightening phase. According to the kinematics of H2O maser spots, accretion rate ~7x10^-4 Msun/yr is estimated in the initial stage of the re-brightening phase, and a higher rate ~2x10^-3 Msun/yr is obtained in later stage, given by the MIR flux increased by a factor of 3. Radiative transfer modeling of SEDs of M17~MIR in the 2005 (quiescent) and 2017 epoch (accretion outburst) constrains the basic stellar parameters of M17 MIR, which is an intermediate-mass protostar (M~5.4 Msun) with lower accretion rate ~1.1x10^-5 Msun in quiescent and two orders of magnitude higher rate ~1.7x10^-3 Msun/yr in outburst. The enhanced accretion rate during outburst induces the luminosity outburst $\Delta L\approx7600 $Lsun, and a larger stellar radius is required to produce accretion rate consistent with observations. The decreasing and re-brightening phase reflect two accretion bursts ($\Delta t\sim 9-20$ yr) with burst magnitudes of 2 mag, separated by a quiescent phase lasting $\sim6$ yr. The fraction time in accretion ourbusrt is about 83\% over 26 yr. M17 MIR is the youngest one among the six confirmed sources with accretion burst. The extreme youth of M17 MIR suggests that minor accretion bursts are frequent at the earliest stages of massive star formation.

We investigate impacts of massive neutrino on the cosmic velocity fields, employing high-resolution cosmological N-body simulations provided by the information-optimized CUBE code, where cosmic neutrinos are evolved using collisionless hydrodynamics and their perturbations can be accurately resolved. In this study we focus, for the first time, on the analysis of massive-neutrino induced suppression effects in various cosmic velocity field components of velocity magnitude, divergence, vorticity and dispersion. By varying the neutrino mass sum $M_\nu$ from 0 -- 0.4 eV, the simulations show that, the power spectra of vorticity and dispersion -- exclusively sourced by non-linear structure formation that are affected by massive neutrinos significantly -- are very sensitive to the mass sum, which potentially provide novel signatures in detecting massive neutrinos. Furthermore, using the chi-square statistic, we quantitatively test the sensitivity of the density and velocity power spectra to the neutrino mass sum. Indeed, we find that, the vorticity spectrum has the highest sensitivity, and the null hypothesis of massless neutrinos for both vorticity and dispersion spectra from $M_\nu=0.1$ eV can be rejected at high significance. These results demonstrate clearly the importance of peculiar velocity field measurements, in particular of vorticity and dispersion components, in determination of neutrino mass and mass hierarchy.

The future space-based GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope will operate onboard the Russian astrophysical observatory in a highly elliptic orbit during 7 years to observe Galactic plane, Galactic Center, Fermi Bubbles, Crab, Vela, Cygnus X, Geminga, Sun, and other regions and measure gamma- and cosmic-ray fluxes. Observations will be performed in the point-source mode continuously for a long time (~100 days). GAMMA-400 will have the unprecedented angular and energy resolutions better than the space-based and ground-based gamma-ray telescopes by a factor of 5-10. Excellent separation of gamma rays from cosmic-ray background, as well as electrons + positrons from protons will allow us to measure gamma rays in the energy range from ~20 MeV to several TeV and cosmic-ray electrons + positrons up to several tens TeV. GAMMA-400 observations will permit to resolve gamma rays from annihilation or decay of dark matter particles, identify many discrete sources, clarify the structure of extended sources, specify the data on cosmic-ray electron + positron spectra.

An Earth-analog orbiting within the habitable zone of $\alpha$ Centauri B was shown to undergo large variations in its obliquity, or axial tilt, which affects the planetary climate by altering the radiative flux for a given latitude (Quarles et al. 2019). We examine the potential implications of these obliquity variations for climate through Milankovitch cycles using an energy balance model with ice sheets. Similar to previous studies, the largest amplitude obliquity variations from spin-orbit resonances induce snowball states within the habitable zone, while moderate variations can allow for persistent ice caps or an ice belt. Particular outcomes for the global ice distribution can depend on the planetary orbit, obliquity, spin precession, binary orbit, and which star the Earth-analog orbits. An Earth-analog with an inclined orbits relative to the binary orbit can periodically transition through several global ice distribution states and risk runaway glaciation when periods of ice caps and an ice belt overlap. When determining the potential habitability for planets in stellar binaries, more care must be taken due to the orbital and spin dynamics.

Molecular oxygen, O$_2$, is vital to life on Earth and possibly on other planets. Although the biogenic processes leading to its accumulation in Earth's atmosphere are well understood, its abiotic origin is still not fully established. Here, we report combined experimental and theoretical evidence for electronic-state-selective production of O$_2$ from SO$_2$, a major chemical constituent of many planetary atmospheres and one which played an important part on Earth in the Great Oxidation event. The O$_2$ production involves dissociative double ionisation of SO$_2$ leading to efficient formation of the O$_2^+$ ion which can be converted to abiotic O$_2$ by electron neutralisation. We suggest that this formation process may contribute significantly to the abundance of O$_2$ and related ions in planetary atmospheres, especially in those where CO$_2$, which can lead to O$_2$ production by different mechanisms, is not the dominant component.

In the post-reionization era, the baryons assembled into the protogalaxies and eventually the present population of the galaxies evolved through merger and evolution. In this work, we discuss a possible probe of the statistical distribution and evolution of the H I density in the post reionization era. We introduce an estimator of the H I power spectrum from the post reionization universe by observing it through the strong gravitational lenses by the nearby galaxy cluster. We also analytically calculate the uncertainties associated with the estimates of the post-EoR power spectrum for the discussed estimator. We access the efficacy of this estimator in the context of 19 galaxy clusters for which the lensing potential has been estimated earlier by various authors. We find that by combining the lensed power spectrum through eight of these cluster lenses, it is possible to estimate the post-reionization H I power spectrum at five-sigma significance for angular multipoles < 4000 for a uGMRT observation of 16 MHz bandwidth from redshifts of 1.25, 1.5 with a total of 400 hours of observation. With the same setup, for a redshift of 3.0, we need 200 hours of total observation time. The estimator also suppresses the diffused galactic foreground, though, the latter is still a dominant contributor to the overall signal and hence need to be estimated and mitigated. We discuss the merits and demerits of the estimator.

We present a new approach to describe statistics of the non-linear matter density field that exploits a degeneracy in the impact of different cosmological parameters on the linear matter power spectrum, $P_{\rm L}(k)$, when expressed in Mpc units. We classify all cosmological parameters into two groups, shape parameters, which determine the shape of $P_{\rm L}(k)$, and evolution parameters, which only affect its amplitude at any given redshift. We show that the time evolution of $P_{\rm L}(k)$ in models with identical shape parameters but different evolution parameters can be mapped from one to the other by relabelling the redshifts that correspond to the same values of $\sigma_{12}(z)$, defined as the RMS linear variance in spheres of radius $12\,{\rm Mpc}$. We use N-body simulations to show that the same evolution mapping relation can be applied to the non-linear power spectrum, the halo mass function, or the full density field with high accuracy. The deviations from the exact degeneracy are the result of the different structure formation histories experienced by each model to reach the same value of $\sigma_{12}(z)$. This relation can be used to drastically reduce the number of parameters required to describe the cosmology dependence of the power spectrum. We show how this degeneracy can be exploited to speed up the inference of parameter constraints from cosmological observations. We also present a new design of an emulator of the non-linear power spectrum whose predictions can be adapted to an arbitrary choice of evolution parameters and redshift.

We apply a spectral stacking technique to Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope observations to measure the neutral atomic hydrogen content (HI) of nearby galaxies in and around galaxy groups at $z < 0.11$. Our sample includes 577 optically-selected galaxies (120 isolated galaxies and 457 satellites) covering stellar masses between 10$^{10}$ and 10$^{11.5}$ M$_{\odot}$, cross-matched with Yang's group catalogue, with angular and redshift positions from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that the satellites in the centres of groups have lower HI masses at fixed stellar mass and morphology (characterised by the inverse concentration index) relative to those at larger radii. These trends persist for satellites in both high-mass ($M_{\rm halo} > 10^{13.5}h^{-1}$M$_{\odot}$) and low-mass ($M_{\rm halo} \leqslant 10^{13.5}h^{-1}$M$_{\odot}$) groups, but disappear if we only consider group members in low local density ($\Sigma <$ 5 gal/Mpc$^{-2}$) environments. Similar trends are found for the specific star formation rate. Interestingly, we find that the radial trends of decreasing HI mass with decreasing group-centric radius extend beyond the group virial radius, as isolated galaxies close to larger groups lack HI compared with those located more than $\sim$3.0 $R_{180}$ away from the center of their nearest group. We also measure these trends in the late-type subsample and obtain similar results. Our results suggest that the HI reservoir of galaxies can be affected before galaxies become group satellites, indicating the existence of pre-processing in the infalling isolated galaxies.

A turbulent transport of radiation in the solar convective zone is investigated. The mean-field equation for the irradiation intensity is derived. It is shown that due to the turbulent effects, the effective penetration length of radiation can be increased in several times in comparison with the mean penetration length of radiation (defined as an inverse mean absorption coefficient). Using the model of the solar convective zone based on the mixing length theory, where the mean penetration length of radiation is usually much smaller than the turbulent correlation length, it is demonstrated that the ratio of the effective penetration length to the mean penetration length of radiation increases in 2.5 times in the vicinity of the solar surface. The main reason are the compressibility effects that become important in the vicinity of the solar surface where temperature and density fluctuations increase towards the solar surface, enhancing fluctuations of the radiation absorption coefficient and increasing the effective penetration length of radiation.

Magnetic fields in elliptical galaxies are poorly constrained due to a lack of significant synchrotron emission from them. This paper explores properties of magnetic fields in ellipticals via two methods. First, we exploit the Laing-Garrington effect (asymmetry in the observed polarization fraction between radio galaxy jets) for 55 galaxies with redshifts up to $0.5$. We use the differences in polarization fraction and rotation measure between the jet and counterjet to estimate the small- and large-scale magnetic fields in and around ellipticals (including their circumgalactic medium). We find that the small-scale field (at scales smaller than the driving scale of turbulence, approximately $300~{\rm pc}$) lies in the range $0.1~\text{-}~1.5~\mu{\rm G}$. The large-scale field (at scales of $100~{\rm kpc}$) is an order of magnitude smaller than the small-scale field. In the second method, we cross-match the Faraday rotation measures (RM) of a few hundred (out of $3098$) extragalactic radio sources with galaxy catalogs to explore the effect of the number and morphology of intervening galaxies on the observed RM distribution. We use both Gaussian and non-Gaussian functions to describe the RM distribution and derive its statistical properties. Finally, using the difference in the observed polarization fraction between the intervening spirals and ellipticals, we estimate the small-scale magnetic fields at the center of ellipticals to be $\sim6~\mu{\rm G}$. Both methods with different observations and analysis techniques give magnetic field strengths consistent with previous studies ($\leq10\mu{\rm G}$), and the results can be used to constrain dynamo theories and galaxy evolution simulations.

We present the second results of an ensemble and systematic survey of oscillation mode variability in compact pulsators observed with the original {\sl Kepler} mission. Two types of flux calibrations, raw and corrected, collected on two hot B subdwarf stars, KIC\,2438324 and KIC\,11179657, are thoroughly examined with the goal to evaluate the difference of patterns when oscillation modes modulate in amplitude (AM) and frequency (FM). We concentrate on AMs and FMs occurring in seven multiplet components in each star as representative frequencies. The analysis shows that FM measurements are independent of the flux calibration we choose. However, if flux contamination by nearby stars is large, AMs may be significantly different between raw and corrected flux. In addition, AMs suffer, to some extent, from systematic modulation pattern which is most likely induced by instrumental effects {and} differs from one star to another. Our results indicate that stars with no contamination are better candidates to quantitatively compare modulation patterns with theory and should be given a higher priority for such studies, since light contamination will destroy real amplitude modulation patterns.

Central stages in the evolution of rocky, potentially habitable planets may play out under atmospheric conditions with a large inventory of non-dilute condensable components. Variations in condensate retention and accompanying changes in local lapse rate may substantially affect planetary climate and surface conditions, but there is currently no general theory to effectively describe such atmospheres. In this article, expanding on the work by Li et al. (2018), we generalize the single-component moist pseudoadiabat derivation in Pierrehumbert (2010) to allow for multiple condensing components of arbitrary diluteness and retained condensate fraction. The introduction of a freely tunable retained condensate fraction allows for a flexible, self-consistent treatment of atmospheres with non-dilute condensable components. To test the pseudoadiabat's capabilities for simulating a diverse range of climates, we apply the formula to planetary atmospheres with compositions, surface pressures, and temperatures representing important stages with condensable-rich atmospheres in the evolution of terrestrial planets: a magma ocean planet in a runaway greenhouse state; a post-impact, late veneer-analogue planet with a complex atmospheric composition; and an Archean Earth-like planet near the outer edge of the classical circumstellar habitable zone. We find that variations in the retention of multiple non-dilute condensable species can significantly affect the lapse rate and in turn outgoing radiation and the spectral signatures of planetary atmospheres. The presented formulation allows for a more comprehensive treatment of the climate evolution of rocky exoplanets and early Earth analogues.

Current models of Titan ionosphere have difficulties in explaining the observed electron density and/or temperature. In order to get new insights, we re-analyzed the data taken in the ionosphere of Titan by the Cassini Langmuir probe (LP), part of the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument. This is the first of two papers that present the new analysis method (current paper) and statistics on the whole dataset. We suggest that between 2 and 4 electron populations are necessary to fit the data. Each population is defined by a potential, an electron density and an electron temperature and is easily visualized by a dinstinct peak in the second derivative of the electron current, which is physically related to the electron energy distribution function (Druyvesteyn method). The detected populations vary with solar illumination and altitude. We suggest that the 4 electron populations are due to photo-ionization, magnetospheric particles, dusty plasma and electron emission from the probe boom, respectively.

The ionosphere of Titan hosts a complex ion chemistry leading to the formation of organic dust below 1200 km. Current models cannot fully explain the observed electron temperature in this dusty environment. To achieve new insight, we have re-analyzed the data taken in the ionosphere of Titan by the Cassini Langmuir probe (LP), part of the Radio and Plasma Wave Science package. A first paper (Chatain et al., 2021) introduces the new analysis method and discusses the identification of 4 electron populations produced by different ionization mechanisms. In this second paper, we present a statistical study of the whole LP dataset below 1200 km which gives clues on the origin of the 4 populations. One small population is attributed to photo- or secondary electrons emitted from the surface of the probe boom. A second population is systematically observed, at a constant density (~500 cm-3), and is attributed to background thermalized electrons from the ionization process of precipitating particles fom the surrounding magnetosphere. The two last populations increase in density with pressure, solar illumination and EUV flux. The third population is observed with varying densities at all altitudes and solar zenith angles except on the far nightside (SZA > ~140{\deg}), with a maximum density of 2700 cm-3. It is therefore certainly related to the photo-ionization of the atmospheric molecules. Finally, a fourth population detected only on the dayside and below 1200 km reaching up to 2000 cm-3 could be photo- or thermo-emitted from dust grains.

A significant fraction of the most massive stars move through space with a high velocity. One of the possible physical explanations is that a supernova in a compact binary system results in a high recoil velocity of the system. If the system remains bound, it can be subsequently observed as a spectroscopic binary (SB1), a high-mass X-ray binary, a compact binary, and finally a gravitational-wave event. If such a system is traced back to its parent cluster, binary evolution models can be tested in great detail. The Gaia proper motions and parallaxes are used to demonstrate that the high-mass X-ray binary HD153919/4U 1700-37 originates from NGC6231, the nucleus of the OB association Sco OB1. The O supergiant and its compact companion, of which the physical nature (a neutron star or a black hole) is unknown, move with a space velocity of 63 km/s with respect to NGC6231. The kinematical age of the system is 2.2 Myr. The parallaxes and accurate proper motions in Gaia DR2 were used to perform a membership analysis of NGC 6231. The distance to NGC6231 is 1.63 kpc. Isochrone fitting results in an age of 4.7 Myr. With the identification of NGC6231 as the parent cluster, the upper limit on the age of the progenitor of 4U1700-37 at the moment of the supernova explosion is 3.0 Myr. With these constraints, the evolutionary history of the system can be reconstructed with an initial mass of the progenitor of the compact object >60 Msun. Given its current high space velocity and the derived evolutionary history, the compact object in the system is more likely to have received a large natal kick, which suggests that it is more likely a neutron star than a black hole. HD153919/4U1700-37 might be a prototype in the Milky Way for the progenitor of gravitational wave events such as GW190412

The PAH model predicts many weak emission features in the 1-5 $\mu$m region that can resolve significant questions that it has faced since its inception in the mid-80s. These features contain fundamental information about the PAH population that is inaccessible via the much stronger PAH bands in the 5-20 $\mu$m region. Apart from the 3.3 $\mu$m band and plateau, PAH spectroscopy across most of the 1-5 $\mu$m region has been unexplored due to its low intrinsic intensity. ISO and Akari covered some of this wavelength range, but lacked the combined sensitivity and resolution to measure the predicted bands with sufficient fidelity. The spectroscopic capabilities of the NIRSpec instrument on board JWST will make it possible to measure and fully characterize many of the PAH features expected in this region. These include the fundamental, overtone and combination C-D and C$\equiv$N stretching bands of deuterated PAHs, cyano-PAHs (PAH-C$\equiv$ N), and the overtones and combinations of the strong PAH bands that dominate the 5-20 $\mu$m region. These bands will reveal the amount of D tied up in PAHs, the PAH D/H ratio, the D distribution between PAH aliphatic and aromatic subcomponents, and delineate key stages in PAH formation and evolution on an object-by-object basis and within extended objects. If cyano-PAHs are present, these bands will also reveal the amount of cyano groups tied up in PAHs, determine the N/C ratio within that PAH subset, and distinguish between the bands near 4.5 $\mu$m that arise from CD versus C$\equiv$N.

We explore populations of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in isolated, satellite, and cluster environments using the Romulus25 and RomulusC simulations, including how the populations vary with UDG definition and viewing orientation. Using a fiducial definition of UDGs, we find that isolated UDGs have notably larger semi-major (b/a) and smaller semi-minor (c/a) axis ratios than their non-UDG counterparts, i.e., they are more oblate, or diskier. This is in line with previous results that adopted the same UDG definition and showed that isolated UDGs form via early, high spin mergers. However, the choice of UDG definition can drastically affect what subset of a dwarf population are classified as UDGs, changing the number of UDGs by up to ~45% of the dwarf population. We also find that a galaxy's classification as a UDG is dependent on its viewing orientation, and this dependence decreases as environmental density increases. Overall, we conclude that some definitions for UDG used in the literature manage to isolate a specific formation mechanism for isolated dwarfs, while less restrictive definitions erase a link to formation mechanism. Thus, how we define UDG populations must be considered if we want to understand the formation and evolution of UDGs.

We present the characteristics of DH type II bursts for the Solar Cycles 23 and 24. The bursts are classified according to their end frequencies into three categories, i.e. Low Frequency Group (LFG; 20 kHz $\leq$ $f$ $\leq$ 200 kHz), Medium Frequency Group (MFG; 200 kHz $<$ $f$ $\leq$ 1 MHz), and High Frequency Group (HFG; 1 MHz $<$ $f$ $\le$ 16 MHz). We find that the sources for LFG, MFG, and HFG events are homogeneously distributed over the active region belt. Our analysis shows a drastic reduction of the DH type II events during Solar Cycle 24 which includes only 35% of the total events (i.e. 179 out of 514). Despite having smaller number of DH type II events in the Solar Cycle 24, it contains a significantly higher fraction of LFG events compared to the previous cycle (32% $versus$ 24%). However, within the LFG group the cycle 23 exhibits significant dominance of type II bursts that extend below 50 kHz, suggesting rich population of powerful CMEs travelling beyond half of the Sun-Earth distance. The events of LFG group display strongest association with faster and wider (more than 82% events are halo) CMEs while at the source location they predominantly trigger large M/X class flares (in more than 83% cases). Our analysis also indicates that CME initial speed or flare energetics are partly related with the duration of type II burst and that survival of CME associated shock is determined by multiple factors/parameters related to CMEs, flares, and state of coronal and interplanetary medium. The profiles relating CME heights with respect to the end frequencies of DH type II bursts suggest that for HFG and MFG categories, the location for majority of CMEs ($\approx$65%-70%) is in well compliance with ten-fold Leblanc coronal density model, while for LFG events a lower value of density multiplier ($\approx$3) seems to be compatible.

The gamma-ray source 3HWC J1928+178, discovered by HAWC, is coincident with the 82 kyr pulsar PSR J1928+1746, located 4 kpc away. It has not been reported by any Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT), until the recent detection of emission from this region by H.E.S.S., using an analysis adapted to extended sources. No counterpart in GeV gamma-rays from Fermi-LAT data or in X-ray has been reported so far. In this contribution, I give the multiwavelength context of the region surrounding 3HWC J1928+178 and present a multi-component model derived using the Multi-Mission Maximum Likelihood framework (3ML). I explore the possibility to model the gamma-ray emission of 3HWC J1928+178 by an extended source with continuous diffuse emission. Together with the age of the pulsar and its extended nature, it may indicate a transition from a pulsar wind nebulae to a halo, where the electrons have started to cool and diffuse away from the source.

We study the density structures of planetary nebulae implied by four diagnostics that sample different regions within the nebulae: [S II] $\lambda6716/\lambda6731$, [O II] $\lambda3726/\lambda3729$, [Cl III] $\lambda5518/\lambda5538$, and [Ar IV] $\lambda4711/\lambda4740$. We use a sample of 46 objects with deep spectra that allow the calculation of the electron density from these four diagnostics, and explore the impact that different atomic data have on the results. We compare the observational results with those obtained from photoionization models characterized by three different density structures. We conclude that the atomic data used in the calculations of electron density fully determine the density structures that are derived for the objects. We illustrate this by selecting three combinations of atomic data that lead to observational results that are compatible with each of the three different density structures explored with the models.

We present multi-band observations of an extremely dusty star-forming lensed galaxy (HERS1) at $z=2.553$. High-resolution maps of \textit{HST}/WFC3, SMA, and ALMA show a partial Einstein-ring with a radius of $\sim$3$^{\prime\prime}$. The deeper HST observations also show the presence of a lensing arc feature associated with a second lens source, identified to be at the same redshift as the bright arc based on a detection of the [NII] 205$\mu$m emission line with ALMA. A detailed model of the lensing system is constructed using the high-resolution HST/WFC3 image, which allows us to study the source plane properties and connect rest-frame optical emission with properties of the galaxy as seen in sub-millimeter and millimeter wavelengths. Corrected for lensing magnification, the spectral energy distribution fitting results yield an intrinsic star formation rate of about $1000\pm260$ ${\rm M_{\odot}}$yr$^{-1}$, a stellar mass ${\rm M_*}=4.3^{+2.2}_{-1.0}\times10^{11} {\rm M_{\odot}}$, and a dust temperature ${\rm T}_{\rm d}=35^{+2}_{-1}$ K. The intrinsic CO emission line ($J_{\rm up}=3,4,5,6,7,9$) flux densities and CO spectral line energy distribution are derived based on the velocity-dependent magnification factors. We apply a radiative transfer model using the large velocity gradient method with two excitation components to study the gas properties. The low-excitation component has a gas density $n_{\rm H_2}=10^{3.1\pm0.6}$ cm$^{-3}$ and kinetic temperature ${\rm T}_{\rm k}=19^{+7}_{-5}$ K and a high-excitation component has $n_{\rm H_2}=10^{2.8\pm0.3}$ cm$^{-3}$ and ${\rm T}_{\rm k}=550^{+260}_{-220}$ K. Additionally, HERS1 has a gas fraction of about $0.4\pm0.2$ and is expected to last 250 Myr. These properties offer a detailed view of a typical sub-millimeter galaxy during the peak epoch of star-formation activity.

Mapping lithium evolution for evolved stars will provide restrictions and constraints on the fundamental stellar interior physical processes, which further shed light on our understanding of the theory of stellar structure and evolution. Based on a sample of 1,848 giants with known evolutionary phases and lithium abundances from the LAMOST-\kepler{} and LAMOST-\emph{K}2 fields, we construct mass-radius diagrams to characterize the evolutionary features of lithium. The stars at red giant branch (RGB) phase show natural depletion along with their stellar evolution, particularly, there is no obvious crowd stars with anomalously high Li abundances near the bump. Most of the low-mass stars reaching their zero-age sequence of core-helium-burning (ZAHeB) have Li abundances around $\sim1.0$\,dex, which show an increase of Li abundance by $\sim0.6$\,dex compared to the stars above the bump of RGB. This suggests the helium flash can be responsible for moderate Li production. While for super Li-rich stars, some special mechanisms should be considered during helium flash. Other scenarios, such as merger, could also be interpretations given the Li-rich stars can be found at anytime during the steady state phase of core He-burning. During the core He-burning (HeB) phase, there is no indication of obvious lithium depletion.

We explored the implications of the recent radius determination of PSR J0740+6620 by the NICER experiment combined with the neutron skin measurement by PREX-II experiment for the structure of hybrid stars with a strong first-order phase transition from nucleonic to quark matter. We combine a covariant density-functional nucleonic equation of state (EoS) with a constant speed of sound EoS for quark matter. We show that the radius and tidal deformability ranges obtained from GW170817 can be reconciled with the PREX-II results if there is a phase transition to quark matter in the low-mass compact star. In the high-mass segment, the EoS needs to be stiff to comply with the large-radius inference for PSR J0740+6620 and J0030+0451 with a masses $M\simeq 2M_{\odot}$ and $M\simeq 1.4M_{\odot}$. We show that twin stars are not excluded, but the mass and radius ranges (with $M \geq M_\odot$) are restricted to narrow domains $\Delta M_{\rm twin} \lesssim 0.05 M_\odot$ and $\Delta R_{\rm twin} \sim 1.0$~km. We also show that the existence of twin configurations is compatible with the light companion in GW190814 event being a hybrid star in the case of values of the sound-speed square $s \simeq 0.6$.

We aim to make use of the measurements from the Giraffe Inner Bulge Survey (GIBS) and the Gaia$-$ESO survey (GES) to study the kinematics and distance of the carrier of DIB$\,\lambda$8620, as well as other properties. We successfully detected and measured DIB$\,\lambda$8620 in 760 of 4117 GES spectra. Combined with the DIBs measured in GIBS spectra, we confirmed a tight relation between EW and $E(J-K_{\rm S})$ as well as $A_{\rm V}$, with similar fitting coefficients to those found by previous works. With a more accurate sample and the consideration of the solar motion, the rest-frame wavelength of DIB$\,\lambda$8620 was redetermined as 8620.83 \r{A}, with a mean fit error of 0.36 \r{A}. We studied the kinematics of the DIB carriers by tracing their median radial velocities in each field in the local standard of rest ($V_{\rm LSR}$) and into the galactocentric frame ($V_{\rm GC}$), respectively, as a function of the Galactic longitudes. Based on the median $V_{\rm LSR}$ and two Galactic rotation models, we obtained valid kinematic distances of the DIB carriers for nine GIBS and ten GES fields. We also found a linear relation between the DIB$\,\lambda$8620 measured in this work and the near-infrared DIB in APOGEE spectra at $1.5273\,\mu m$. We demonstrate that the DIB carriers can be located much closer to the observer than the background stars based on the following arguments: (i) qualitatively, the carriers occupy in the Galactic longitude$-$velocity diagram typical rotation velocities of stars in the local Galactic disk, while the background stars in the GIBS survey are mainly located in the Galactic bulge; (ii) quantitatively, all the derived kinematic distances of the DIB carriers are smaller than the median distances to background stars in each field.

The relationship between active galactic nuclei activity and environment has been long discussed, but it is unclear if these relations extend into the dwarf galaxy mass regime -- in part due to the limits in both observations and simulations. We aim to investigate if the merger histories and environments are significantly different between AGN and non-AGN dwarf galaxies in cosmological simulations, which may be indicative of the importance of these for AGN activity in dwarf galaxies, and whether these results are in line with observations. Using the IllustrisTNG flagship TNG100-1 run, 6\,771 dwarf galaxies are found with 3\,863 ($\sim$57 per cent) having some level of AGN activity. In order to quantify `environment', two measures are used: 1) the distance to a galaxy's 10th nearest neighbour at 6 redshifts and 2) the time since last merger for three different minimum merger mass ratios. A similar analysis is run on TNG50-1 and Illustris-1 to test for the robustness of the findings. Both measures yield significantly different distributions between AGN and non-AGN galaxies; more non-AGN than AGN galaxies have long term residence in dense environments while recent ($\leq 4 \text{ Gyr}$) minor mergers are more common for intermediate AGN activity. While no statements are made about the micro- or macrophysics from these results, it is nevertheless indicative of a non-neglible role of mergers and environments.

Marked velocity excesses of ions relative to neutrals are obtained from two time series of the neighboring emission lines He I 5015 and Fe II 5018 in a quiescent prominence. Their Doppler shifts show time variations of quasi-periodic character where the ions are faster than the neutrals 1.0 < V_macro(Fe II)/V_macro(He I) < 1.35 in series-A and, respectively, <1.25 in series-B. This 'ratio excess' confirms our earlier findings of a 1.22 ion velocity excess, but the present study shows a restriction in space and time of typically 5 Mm and 5 min. The ratio excess is superposed by a time and velocity independent 'difference excess' -0.3 < V_macro(Fe II)-V_macro(He I) < +0.7 km/s in series-A (also indicated in series-B). The high repetition rate of 3.9 sec enables the detection of high frequency oscillations with several damped 22 sec periods in series-A. These show a ratio excess with a maximum of 1.7. We confirm the absence of a significant phase delay of He neutrals with respect to the Fe ions.

We present electron temperature ($T_e$) maps for the edge-on system Mrk 1486, affording "direct-method" gas-phase metallicity measurements across $5.\!\!^{\prime\prime}8$ (4.1 kpc) along the minor axis and $9.\!\!^{\prime\prime}9$ (6.9 kpc) along the major axis. These maps, enabled by strong detections of the [OIII]$\lambda$4363 auroral emission line across a large spatial extent of Mrk 1486, reveal a clear negative minor axis $T_e$ gradient in which temperature decreases with increasing distance from the disk plane. We find that the lowest metallicity spaxels lie near the extremes of the major axis, while the highest metallicity spaxels lie at large spatial offsets along the minor axis. This is consistent with a picture in which low metallicity inflows dilute the metallicity at the edges of the major axis of the disk, while star formation drives metal-enriched outflows along the minor axis. We find that the outflow metallicity in Mrk 1486 is 0.20 dex (1.6 times) higher than the average ISM metallicity, and more than 0.80 dex (6.3 times) higher than metal-poor inflowing gas, which we observe to be below 5 % $Z_\odot$. This is the first example of metallicity measurements made simultaneously for inflowing, outflowing, and inner disk ISM gas using consistent $T_e$-based methodology. These measurements provide unique insight into how baryon cycle processes contribute to the assembly of a galaxy like Mrk 1486.

On the assumption that quasars (QSO) and gamma-ray bursts (GRB) represent standardisable candles, we provide evidence that the Hubble constant $H_0$ adopts larger values in hemispheres aligned with the CMB dipole direction. The observation is consistent with similar trends in strong lensing time delay, Type Ia supernovae (SN) and with well documented discrepancies in the cosmic dipole. Therefore, not only do strong lensing time delay, Type Ia SN, QSOs and GRBs seem to trace a consistent anisotropic Universe, but variations in $H_0$ across the sky suggest that Hubble tension is a symptom of a deeper cosmological malaise.

Hawking radiation from primordial black holes (PBH) can ionize and heat up neutral gas during the cosmic dark ages, leaving imprints on the global 21cm signal of neutral hydrogen. We use the global 21cm signal to constrain the abundance of spinning PBHs in mass range of $[2 \times 10^{13}, 10^{18}]$ grams. We consider several extended PBH distribution models. Our results show that 21cm can set the most stringent PBH bounds in our mass window. Compared with constraints set by {\it{Planck}} cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, 21-cm limits are more stringent by about two orders of magnitudes. PBHs with higher spin are typically more strongly constrained. Our 21cm constraints for the monochromatic mass distribution rule out spinless PBHs with initial mass below $1.4 \times 10^{17}\ {\rm{g}}$, whereas extreme Kerr PBHs with reduced initial spin of $a_0=0.999$ are excluded as the dominant dark matter component for masses below $6 \times 10^{17}\ {\rm{g}}$. We also derived limits for the log-normal, power-law and critical collapse distributions.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will produce several billion photometric redshifts (photo-$z$'s), enabling cosmological analyses to select a subset of galaxies with the most accurate photo-$z$. We perform initial redshift fits on Subaru Strategic Program galaxies with deep $grizy$ photometry using Trees for Photo-Z (TPZ) before applying a custom neural network classifier (NNC) tuned to select galaxies with $(z_\mathrm{phot} - z_\mathrm{spec})/(1+z_\mathrm{spec}) < 0.10$. We consider four cases of training and test sets ranging from an idealized case to using data augmentation to increase the representation of dim galaxies in the training set. Selections made using the NNC yield significant further improvements in outlier fraction and photo-$z$ scatter ($\sigma_z$) over those made with typical photo-$z$ uncertainties. As an example, when selecting the best third of the galaxy sample, the NNC achieves a 35% improvement in outlier rate and a 23% improvement in $\sigma_z$ compared to using uncertainties from TPZ. For cosmology and galaxy evolution studies, this method can be tuned to retain a particular sample size or to achieve a desired photo-$z$ accuracy; our results show that it is possible to retain more than a third of an LSST-like galaxy sample while reducing $\sigma_z$ by a factor of two compared to the full sample, with one-fifth as many photo-$z$ outliers. For surveys like LSST that are not limited by shot noise, this method enables a larger number of tomographic redshift bins and hence a significant increase in the total signal-to-noise of galaxy angular power spectra.

A current problem within the {\Lambda}CDM framework is the tension between late and early time measurements of the Hubble parameter today, H0. We entertain the possibility that dark energy modeled as multiple interacting axion-like-particle species can alleviate the current Hubble tension. We then test these parameters against the milder tension between the CMB and large scale structure (LSS) observations of {\sigma}8 to ensure that these models do not exacerbate the tension. We find that there exist parameter spaces for models of two and three axion-like-particles which can potentially alleviate the Hubble tension as well as the {\sigma}8 tension.

We perform SED fitting analysis on a COSMOS sample covering UV-to-FIR wavelengths with emission lines from the FMOS survey. The sample of 182 objects with H$\alpha$ and [OIII]$\lambda5007$ emission spans over a range of $1.40<\rm{z}<1.68$. We obtain robust estimates of stellar mass ($10^{9.5}-10^{11.5}~\rm{M_\odot}$) and SFR ($10^1-10^3~\rm{M_\odot}~\rm{yr}^{-1}$) from the Bayesian analysis with CIGALE fitting continuum photometry and H$\alpha$. We obtain a median attenuation of A$_\rm{H\alpha}=1.16\pm0.19$ mag and A$_\rm{[OIII]}=1.41\pm0.22$ mag. H$\alpha$ and [OIII]$\lambda5007$ attenuations are found to increase with stellar mass, confirming previous findings. A difference of $57$% in the attenuation experienced by emission lines and continuum is found in agreement with the lines being more attenuated than the continuum. New CLOUDY HII-region models in CIGALE enable good fits of H$\alpha$, H$\beta$, [OIII]$\lambda5007$ emission lines with differences smaller than $0.2$ dex. Fitting [NII]$\lambda6584$ line is challenging due to well-known discrepancies in the locus of galaxies in the BPT diagram at intermediate redshifts. We find a positive correlation for SFR and dust-corrected L$_\rm{[OIII]\lambda5007}$ and we derive the linear relation $\log_{10}\rm{(SFR/\rm{M}_\odot~\rm{yr}^{-1})}=\log_{10} (\rm{L}_{[\rm{OIII]}}/\rm{ergs~s^{-1}})-(41.20\pm0.02)$. Leaving the slope as a free parameter leads to $\log_{10}\rm{(SFR/\rm{M}_\odot~\rm{yr}^{-1})}=(0.83\pm0.06)\log_{10}(\rm{L}_{[\rm{OIII]}}/\rm{ergs~s^{-1}})-(34.01\pm2.63)$. Gas-phase metallicity and ionization parameter variations account for a $0.24$ dex and $1.1$ dex of the dispersion, respectively. An average value of $\log\rm{U}\approx-2.85$ is measured for this sample. Including HII-region models to fit simultaneously photometry and emission line fluxes are paramount to analyze future data from surveys such as MOONS and PFS.

In this thesis, we investigate some aspects of dark matter phenomenology and its predictive power in explaining the flattening of galaxy rotation curves at large distances. After outlining the Standard Model of particle physics, its symmetries and possible extensions in Chapter 2, we review key facts about dark matter and various types of dark matter models in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4 we discuss some alternatives to cold dark matter, which include modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND), superfluid dark matter and emergent gravity, and highlight the difficulties that are encountered in attempts to extend these frameworks to full-fledged relativistic settings. In Chapter 5 we turn to explore a completely different option, namely that flattened rotation curves reflect the presence of prolate dark-matter bulges or string-like objects around galaxies, without the need for any infrared modification of gravity. To test this model, we fit a number of galaxy rotation curves and find that the presence of a string-like filament yields improvement in fit quality of about 40-70 % in some cases, while the deformation of a dark halo yields only modest improvement by about 6-7 %. In Chapter 6 we collect some concluding remarks.

We have analyzed the parsec-scale jet kinematics of 447 bright radio-loud AGN, based on 15 GHz VLBA data obtained between 1994 August 31 and 2019 August 4. We present new total intensity and linear polarization maps obtained between 2017 January 1 to 2019 August 4 for 143 of these AGN. We tracked 1923 bright features for five or more epochs in 419 jets. A majority (60%) of the well-sampled jet features show either accelerated or non-radial motion. In 47 jets there is at least one non-accelerating feature with an unusually slow apparent speed. Most of the jets show variations of 10 to 50 deg in their inner jet position angle (PA) over time, although the overall distribution has a continuous tail out to 200 deg. AGN with SEDs peaked at lower frequencies tend to have more variable PAs, with BL Lacs being less variable than quasars. The Fermi LAT gamma-ray associated AGN also tend to have more variable PAs than the non-LAT AGN in our sample. We attribute these trends to smaller viewing angles for the lower spectral peaked and LAT-associated jets. We identified 13 AGN where multiple features emerge over decade-long periods at systematically increasing or decreasing PAs. Since the ejected features do not fill the entire jet cross-section, this behavior is indicative of a precessing flow instability near the jet base. Although some jets show indications of oscillatory PA evolution, we claim no bona fide cases of periodicity since the fitted periods are comparable to the total VLBA time coverage.

We present multi-wavelength spectral and temporal variability analysis of PKS 0027-426 using optical griz observations from DES (Dark Energy Survey) between 2013-2018 and VOILETTE (VEILS Optical Light curves of Extragalactic TransienT Events) between 2018-2019 and near infrared (NIR) JKs observations from VEILS (VISTAExtragalactic Infrared Legacy Survey) between 2017-2019. Multiple methods of cross-correlation of each combination of light curve provides measurements of possible lags between optical-optical, optical-NIR, and NIR-NIR emission, for each observation season and for the entire observational period. Inter-band time lag measurements consistently suggest either simultaneous emission or delays between emission regions on timescales smaller than the cadences of observations. The colour-magnitude relation between each combination of filters was also studied to determine the spectral behaviour of PKS 0027-426. Our results demonstrate complex colour behaviour that changes between bluer when brighter (BWB), stable when brighter (SWB) and redder when brighter (RWB) trends over different timescales and using different combinations of optical filters. Additional analysis of the optical spectra is performed to provide further understanding of this complex spectral behaviour.

We calculate the primordial correlation of gravitons with an abelian gauge field non-minimally coupled through a dynamical dilaton field or a volume moduli during inflation in the early universe. In particular, we compute the cross-correlation of a tensor mode with two gauge field modes and the corresponding correlation functions for the associated magnetic and electric fields using the in-in formalism. Moreover, using semi-classical methods, we show that the three-point cross-correlation functions satisfy new consistency relations (soft theorems) in the squeezed limit. Our findings exhibit a complete agreement of the full in-in results with the new consistency relations. An interesting consequence of our scenario is the possibility of a novel correlation of the primordial tensor mode with the primordial curvature perturbation. Finally, we discuss how these correlation functions are imprinted on cosmological observables today and the applications to scenarios of inflationary magnetogenesis.

Two recent articles \cite{ashtekar2015general, moncrief2019could} suggested an interesting dynamical mechanism within the framework of the vacuum Einstein flow (or Einstein-$\Lambda$ flow if a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$ is included) which suggests that many closed (compact without boundary) manifolds that do not support homogeneous and isotropic metrics \textit{at all} will nevertheless evolve to be asymptotically compatible with the observed approximate homogeneity and isotropy of the physical universe. These studies however did not include matter sources. Therefore the aim of the present study is to include suitable matter sources and investigate whether one is able to draw a similar conclusion.

The field of transient astronomy has seen a revolution with the first gravitational-wave detections and the arrival of multi-messenger observations they enabled. Transformed by the first detection of binary black hole and binary neutron star mergers, computational demands in gravitational-wave astronomy are expected to grow by at least a factor of two over the next five years as the global network of kilometer-scale interferometers are brought to design sensitivity. With the increase in detector sensitivity, real-time delivery of gravitational-wave alerts will become increasingly important as an enabler of multi-messenger followup. In this work, we report a novel implementation and deployment of deep learning inference for real-time gravitational-wave data denoising and astrophysical source identification. This is accomplished using a generic Inference-as-a-Service model that is capable of adapting to the future needs of gravitational-wave data analysis. Our implementation allows seamless incorporation of hardware accelerators and also enables the use of commercial or private (dedicated) as-a-service computing. Based on our results, we propose a paradigm shift in low-latency and offline computing in gravitational-wave astronomy. Such a shift can address key challenges in peak-usage, scalability and reliability, and provide a data analysis platform particularly optimized for deep learning applications. The achieved sub-millisecond scale latency will also be relevant for any machine learning-based real-time control systems that may be invoked in the operation of near-future and next generation ground-based laser interferometers, as well as the front-end collection, distribution and processing of data from such instruments.

The gauged $U(1)_{L_\mu-L_\tau}$ extension of the Standard Model is a very simple framework that can alleviate the tension in muon anomalous magnetic dipole moment, reinforced by the recent Fermilab measurement. We explore experimental probes of the $(g-2)_\mu$ target with a general treatment of kinetic mixing between the $Z'$ gauge boson and the photon. The physical value of the kinetic mixing depends on a free parameter of the model and energy scale of a process. We find neutrino constraints on the $(g-2)_\mu$ target including Borexino, CE$\nu$NS, and white dwarfs are sensitive to this freedom and can be lifted if the kinetic mixing lies in proximity of zero at low momentum transfer. As a further step, we explore $L_\mu-L_\tau$ charged dark matter with a thermal origin and show that the same scenario of kinetic mixing can relax existing direct detection constraints and predict novel recoil energy dependence in the upcoming searches. Future joint effort of neutrino and dark matter experiments and precision spectral measurement will be the key to test such a theory.

It is generally expected that in a non-singular cosmological model a cyclic evolution is straightforward to obtain on introduction of a suitable choice of a scalar field with a negative potential or a negative cosmological constant which causes a recollapse at some time in the evolution. We present a counter example to this conventional wisdom. Working in the realm of loop cosmological models with non-perturbative quantum gravity modifications we show that a modified version of standard loop quantum cosmology based on Thiemann's regularization of the Hamiltonian constraint while generically non-singular does not allow a cyclic evolution unless some highly restrictive conditions hold. Irrespective of the energy density of other matter fields, a recollapse and hence a cyclic evolution is only possible if one chooses an almost Planck sized negative potential of the scalar field or a negative cosmological constant. Further, cycles when present do not occur in the classical regime. Surprisingly, a necessary condition for a cyclic evolution, not singularity resolution, turns out to be a violation of the weak energy condition. These results are in a striking contrast to standard loop quantum cosmology where obtaining a recollapse at large volumes and a cyclic evolution is straightforward, and, there is no violation of weak energy condition. On one hand our work shows that some quantum cosmological models even though non-singular and bouncing are incompatible with a cyclic evolution, and on the other hand demonstrates that differences in various quantization prescriptions in loop cosmology need not be faint and buried in the pre-bounce regime, but can be striking and profound even in the post-bounce regime.

Assuming that superstring theory is the fundamental theory which unifies all forces of Nature at the quantum level, I argue that there are key limitations on the applicability of effective field theory techniques in describing early universe cosmology.

In this work we discuss two different phases of a complex singlet extension of the Standard Model (SM) together with an extension that also includes new fermion fields. All models allow for a strong first-order electroweak phase transition and the detection of primordial gravitational waves (GWs) in planned experiments such as LISA is shown to be possible in one of the phases of the singlet extension and also in the model with extra fermions. In the singlet extension with no additional fermions, the detection of GWs strongly depends on the phase of the Higgs potential at zero temperature. We study for the first time the impact of the precision in the determination of the SM parameters on the strength of the GWs spectrum. It turns out that the variation of the SM parameters such as the Higgs mass and top quark Yukawa coupling in their allowed experimental ranges has a notable impact on GWs detectability prospects.

Gravitational wave backgrounds generate correlated noises to separated detectors. This correlation can induce statistical losses to actual detector networks, compared with idealized noise-independent networks. Assuming that the backgrounds are isotropic, we examine the statistical losses specifically for the angular averaged sensitivity curves, and derive simple expressions that depend on the overlap reduction functions and the strength of the background noises relative to the instrumental noises. For future triangular interferometers such as ET and LISA, we also discuss preferred network geometries to suppress the potential statistical losses.

A disformal Kerr black hole solution is a rotating black hole solution in a modified gravity theory which breaks the circular condition of spacetime differently from the case of the Kerr spacetime. In this paper, assuming that Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) is a disformal Kerr black hole, we examine the potential to test the spacetime geometry with a hypothetical pulsar whose orbital elements are similar to those of the S2/S02 star. By numerically solving the equations of motion for the pulsar and photons emitted from it, we calculate the apparent position of the pulsar and the time of arrival (TOA) of the emitted pulse signals. Our analysis shows that the magnitude of the difference in the TOAs reaches the order of $10\>{\rm ms}$ if the deviation from the Kerr spacetime is significant. The time difference is mainly caused by the non-circularity of the spacetime at the $1.5$ post-Newtonian order. The accuracy of the TOA measurement by a future radio telescope named the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) is between about $0.1\>{\rm ms}$ and $10\>{\rm ms}$ for a normal pulsar. Thus, we expect that the SKA can distinguish the disformal Kerr black hole from the Kerr black hole through the non-circularity of the spacetime around Sgr A*.

In the present paper, the correction due to the thermal interaction of two charges to the recombination and ionization processes for the hydrogen atom is considered. The evaluation is based on a rigorous quantum electrodynamic (QED) approach within the framework of perturbation theory. The lowest-order radiative correction to the recombination/ionization cross-section is examined for a wide range of temperatures corresponding to laboratory and astrophysical conditions. The found thermal contribution is discussed both for specific states and for the total recombination and ionization coefficients.

We show that a nonstandard cosmological history with a period of early matter domination driven by a sub-TeV visible-sector particle can arise rather naturally. This scenario involves a long-lived standard model singlet that acquires a thermal abundance at high temperatures from decays and inverse decays of a parent particle with SM charge(s), and subsequently dominates the energy density of the Universe as a frozen species. Entropy generation at the end of early matter domination dilutes the abundance of dangerous relics (such as gravitinos) by a factor as large as $10^4$. The scenario can accommodate the correct dark matter relic abundance for cases with $\langle \sigma_{\rm ann} v \rangle_{\rm f} \lessgtr 3 \times 10^{-26}$cm$^3$s$^{-1}$. More importantly, the allowed parameter space can be directly probed by proposed searches for neutral long-lived particles at the energy frontier, allowing us to use particle physics experiments to reconstruct the cosmological history just prior to big bang nucleosynthesis.

Photonic lanterns allow the decomposition of highly multimodal light into a simplified modal basis such as single-moded and/or few-moded. They are increasingly finding uses in astronomy, optics and telecommunications. Calculating propagation through a photonic lantern using traditional algorithms takes $\sim 1$ hour per simulation on a modern CPU. This paper demonstrates that neural networks can bridge the disparate opto-electronic systems, and when trained can achieve a speed-up of over 5 orders of magnitude. We show that this approach can be used to model photonic lanterns with manufacturing defects as well as successfully generalising to polychromatic data. We demonstrate two uses of these neural network models, propagating seeing through the photonic lantern as well as performing global optimisation for purposes such as photonic lantern funnels and photonic lantern nullers.

Gamma hadron classification, a central machine learning task in gamma ray astronomy, is conventionally tackled with supervised learning. However, the supervised approach requires annotated training data to be produced in sophisticated and costly simulations. We propose to instead solve gamma hadron classification with a noisy label approach that only uses unlabeled data recorded by the real telescope. To this end, we employ the significance of detection as a learning criterion which addresses this form of weak supervision. We show that models which are based on the significance of detection deliver state-of-the-art results, despite being exclusively trained with noisy labels; put differently, our models do not require the costly simulated ground-truth labels that astronomers otherwise employ for classifier training. Our weakly supervised models exhibit competitive performances also on imbalanced data sets that stem from a variety of other application domains. In contrast to existing work on class-conditional label noise, we assume that only one of the class-wise noise rates is known.

Dark matter particles can be gravitationally trapped by celestial bodies, motivating searches for localized annihilation or decay. If neutrinos are among the decay products, then IceCube and other neutrino observatories could detect them. We investigate this scenario for dark matter particles above $m_{\chi} \gtrsim$ PeV producing tau neutrino signals. At these energies, tau neutrino regeneration is an important effect during propagation through Earth, allowing detection at distances far longer than one interaction length. We show how large energy loss of tau leptons above $\sim$ PeV drives a wide range of initial energies to the same final energy spectrum of "secondary" tau neutrinos at the detector. This enables an experiment to constrain decays that occur at very high energies, and we examine the reach of IceCube high-energy starting event (HESE) in the parameter space of trapped dark matter annihilations and decays above PeV. As a result, we see that it is difficult to explain Earth emerging taus in terms of heavy dark matter decays.