Papers for Tuesday, Dec 07 2021

The Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal (Sgr) is a dissolving galaxy being tidally disrupted by the Milky Way (MW). Its stellar stream still poses serious modelling challenges, which hinders our ability to use it effectively as a probe of the MW gravitational potential. Our goal is to construct the best possible sample of stars with which we can advance our understanding of the Sgr-MW interaction, focusing on the characterisation of the bifurcations. We improve on previous methods based on the use of the wavelet transform to systematically search for the kinematic signature of the Sgr stream in the Gaia data. We refine our selection via the use of a clustering algorithm on the statistical properties of the colour-magnitude diagrams. Our final sample contains > 700k candidate stars, 3x larger than previous samples. We have been able to detect the bifurcation of the stream in both the northern and southern hemispheres, requiring four branches to fully describe this system. We present the detailed proper motion distribution of the trailing arm as a function of Lambda showing the presence of a sharp edge (on the side of the small proper motions) beyond which there are no Sgr stars. We also characterise the correlation between kinematics and distance. The chemical analysis of our sample shows a significant difference between the faint and bright branches. We provide analytical descriptions for the proper motion trends as well as for the sky distribution of the four branches of the stream. We interpret the bifurcations as the misaligned overlap of the material stripped at the antepenultimate pericentre (faint branches) with the stars ejected at the penultimate pericentre (bright branch). The source of this misalignment is still unknown but we argue that models with some internal rotation in the progenitor, at least during the time of stripping of the stars in the faint branches, are worth exploring.

A promising way to measure the distribution of matter on small scales (k ~ 10 hMpc^-1) is to use gravitational lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). CMB-HD, a proposed high-resolution, low-noise millimeter survey over half the sky, can measure the CMB lensing auto spectrum on such small scales enabling measurements that can distinguish between a cold dark matter (CDM) model and alternative models designed to solve problems with CDM on small scales. However, extragalactic foregrounds can bias the CMB lensing auto spectrum if left untreated. We present a foreground mitigation strategy that provides a path to reduce the bias from two of the most dominant foregrounds, the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (tSZ) and the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB). Given the level of realism included in our analysis, we find that the tSZ alone and the CIB alone bias the lensing auto spectrum by 0.6 sigma and 1.1 sigma respectively, in the lensing multipole range of L in [5000,20000] for a CMB-HD survey; combined these foregrounds yield a bias of only 1.3 sigma. Including these foregrounds, we also find that a CMB-HD survey can distinguish between a CDM model and a 10^-22 eV FDM model at the 5 sigma level. These results provide an important step in demonstrating that foreground contamination can be sufficiently reduced to enable a robust measurement of the small-scale matter power spectrum with CMB-HD.

We have created a show about the Solar System, freely available for both planetariums and home viewing, where objects in space are represented with sound as well as with visuals. For example, the audience listens to the stars appear above the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and they hear the planets orbit around their heads. The aim of this show is that it can be enjoyed and understood, irrespective of level of vision. Here we describe how we used our new computer code, STRAUSS, to convert data into sound for the show. We also discuss the lessons learnt during the design of the show, including how it was imperative to obtain a range of diverse perspectives from scientists, a composer and representatives of the blind and vision impaired community.

We present a detailed physical analysis of the jet launching mechanism of a circum-stellar disk that is located in a binary system. Applying 3D resistive MHD simulations, we investigate the local and global properties of the system, such as the angular momentum transport and the accretion and ejection mass fluxes. In comparison to previous works, for the first time, we have considered the full magnetic torque, the presence of an outflow, thus the angular momentum transport by vertical motion, and the binary torque. We discuss its specific 3D structure, and how it is affected by tidal effects. We find that the spiral structure evolving in the disk is {\em launched into the outflow}. We propose to call this newly discovered structure a {\em jet spiral wall}. These spiral features follow the same time evolution, with the jet spiral somewhat lagging the disk spiral. We find that the vertical transport of angular momentum has a significant role in the total angular momentum budget also in a binary system. The same holds for the magnetic torque, however, the contribution from the $\phi$-derivative of magnetic pressure and the $B_{\phi}B_r$ stresses are small. The gravity torque arising from the time-dependent 3D Roche potential becomes essential, as it constitutes the fundamental cause for all 3D effects appearing in our disk-jet system. Quantitatively, we find that the disk accretion rate in a binary system increases by $20\%$ compared to a disk around a single star. The disk wind mass flux increases by even 50\%.

In this work, we have implemented a detailed physical model of galaxy chemical enrichment into the ${\it Astraeus}$ (semi-numerical rAdiative tranSfer coupling of galaxy formaTion and Reionization in N-body dark matter simUlationS) framework which couples galaxy formation and reionization in the first billion years. Simulating galaxies spanning over 2.5 orders of magnitude in halo mass with $M_h \sim 10^{8.9-11.5} M_\odot$ ($M_h \sim 10^{8.9-12.8} M_\odot$) at $z \sim 10 ~ (5)$, we find: (i) smooth-accretion of metal-poor gas from the intergalactic medium (IGM) plays a key role in diluting the interstellar medium (ISM) metallicity which is effectively restored due to self-enrichment from star formation; (ii) a redshift averaged gas-mass loading factor that depends on the stellar mass as $\eta_g \approx 1.38 ({M_*}/{10^{10} M_\odot})^{-0.43}$; (iii) the mass-metallicity relation is already in place at $z \sim 10$ and shows effectively no redshift evolution down to $z \sim 5$; (iv) for a given stellar mass, the metallicity decreases with an increase in the star formation rate (SFR); (v) the key properties of the gas-phase metallicity (in units of 12+log(O/H), stellar mass, SFR and redshift are linked through a high-redshift fundamental plane of metallicity (HFPZ) for which we provide a functional form; (vi) the mass-metallicity-SFR relations are effectively independent of the reionization radiative feedback model for $M_* \geq 10^{6.5} M_\odot$ galaxies; (vii) while low-mass galaxies ($M_h \leq 10^9 M_\odot$) are the key contributors to the metal budget of the IGM at early times, higher mass halos provide about 50% of the metal budget at lower-redshifts.

Utilizing low-luminosity star-forming systems discovered in the H$\alpha$ Dots survey, we present spectroscopic observations undertaken using the KPNO 4m telescope for twenty-six sources. With determinations of robust, "direct"-method metal abundances, we examine the properties of these dwarf systems, exploring their utility in characterizing starburst galaxies at low luminosities and stellar masses. We find that the H$\alpha$ Dots survey provides an effective new avenue for identifying star-forming galaxies in these regimes. In addition, we examine abundance characteristics and metallicity scaling relations with these sources, highlighting a flattening of both the luminosity-metallicity ($L$-$Z$) and stellar mass-metallicity ($M_{*}$-$Z$) relation slopes in these regimes as compared with those utilizing samples covering wider respective dynamic ranges. These local, accessible analogues to the kinds of star-forming dwarfs common at high redshift will help shed light on the building blocks which assembled into the massive galaxies common today.

Observations of solar flare reconnection at very high spatial and temporal resolution can be made indirectly at the footpoints of reconnected loops into which flare energy is deposited. The response of the lower atmosphere to this energy input includes a downward-propagating shock called chromospheric condensation, which can be observed in the UV and visible. In order to characterize reconnection using high-resolution observations of this response, one must develop a quantitative relationship between the two. Such a relation was recently developed and here we test it on observations of chromospheric condensation in a single footpoint from a flare ribbon of the X1.0 flare on 25 Oct. 2014 (SOL2014-10-25T16:56:36). Measurements taken of Si iv 1402.77 {\AA} emission spectra using the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) in a single pixel show red-shifted component undergoing characteristic condensation evolution. We apply the technique called the Ultraviolet Footpoint Calorimeter (UFC) to infer energy deposition into the one footpoint. This energy profile, persisting much longer than the observed condensation, is input into a one-dimensional, hydrodynamic simulation to compute the chromospheric response, which contains a very brief condensation episode. From this simulation we synthesize Si iv spectra and compute the time-evolving Doppler velocity. The synthetic velocity evolution is found to compare reasonably well with the IRIS observation, thus corroborating our reconnection-condensation relationship. The exercise reveals that the chromospheric condensation characterizes a particular portion of the reconnection energy release rather than its entirety, and that the time scale of condensation does not necessarily reflect the time scale of energy input.

Models for cosmic ray (CR) dynamics fundamentally depend on the rate of CR scattering from magnetic fluctuations. In the ISM, for CRs with energies ~MeV-TeV, these fluctuations are usually attributed either to 'extrinsic turbulence' (ET) -- a cascade from larger scales -- or 'self-confinement' (SC) -- self-generated fluctuations from CR streaming. Using simple analytic arguments and detailed 'live' numerical CR transport calculations in galaxy simulations, we show that both of these, in standard form, cannot explain even basic qualitative features of observed CR spectra. For ET, any spectrum that obeys critical balance or features realistic anisotropy, or any spectrum that accounts for finite damping below the dissipation scale, predicts qualitatively incorrect spectral shapes and scalings of B/C and other species. Even if somehow one ignored both anisotropy and damping, observationally-required scattering rates disagree with ET predictions by orders-of-magnitude. For SC, the dependence of driving on CR energy density means that it is nearly impossible to recover observed CR spectral shapes and scalings, and again there is an orders-of-magnitude normalization problem. But more severely, SC solutions with super-Alfvenic streaming are unstable. In live simulations, they revert to either arbitrarily-rapid CR escape with zero secondary production, or to bottleneck solutions with far-too-strong CR confinement and secondary production. Resolving these fundamental issues without discarding basic plasma processes requires invoking different drivers for scattering fluctuations. These must act on a broad range of scales with a power spectrum obeying several specific (but plausible) constraints.

We have used X-ray data from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) to search for long time-scale, correlated variations ("red noise") in the pulse times of arrival from the millisecond pulsars PSR J1824$-$2452A and PSR B1937+21. These data more closely track intrinsic noise because X-rays are unaffected by the radio-frequency dependent propagation effects of the interstellar medium. Our Bayesian search methodology yields strong evidence (natural log Bayes factor of $9.634 \pm 0.016$) for red noise in PSR J1824$-$2452A, but is inconclusive for PSR B1937+21. In the interest of future X-ray missions, we devise and implement a method to simulate longer and higher precision X-ray datasets to determine the timing baseline necessary to detect red noise. We find that the red noise in PSR B1937+21 can be reliably detected in a 5-year mission with a time-of-arrival (TOA) error of 2 microseconds and an observing cadence of 20 observations per month compared to the 5 microsecond TOA error and 11 observations per month that NICER currently achieves in PSR B1937+21. We investigate detecting red noise in PSR B1937+21 with other combinations of observing cadences and TOA errors. We also find that an injected stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB) with an amplitude of $A_{\rm GWB}=2\times10^{-15}$ and spectral index of $\gamma_{\rm GWB}=13/3$ can be detected in a pulsar with similar TOA precision to PSR B1937+21, but with no additional red noise, in a 10-year mission that observes the pulsar 15 times per month and has an average TOA error of 1 microsecond.

We present the astrometry of the five largest satellites of Uranus from observations spread over almost three decades with photographic plates and CCDs (mainly), taken at the Pico dos Dias Observatory - Brazil. All positions presented here are obtained from the reanalysis of measurements and images used in previous publications. Reference stars are those from the Gaia Early Data Release 3 (Gaia EDR3) allowing, in addition to a higher accuracy, a larger number of positions of the largest satellites as compared to our previous works. From 1982 to 1987, positions were obtained from photographic plates. From 1989 to 2011, CCDs were used. On average, we obtained $\Delta\alpha{\rm cos}\delta=-11~(\pm52)$ milli-arcseconds and $\Delta\delta=-14~(\pm43)$ milli-arcseconds for the differences in the sense observation minus ephemerides (DE435$+$ura111). Comparisons with different ephemerides (DE440, INPOP21a, INPOP19a and NOE-7-2013-MAIN) and results from stellar occultations indicate a possible offset in the (Solar System) barycentric position of the Uranian system barycenter. Overall, our results are useful to improve dynamical models of the Uranian largest satellites as well as the orbit of Uranus.

The first directly imaged exoplanets indicated that wide-orbit giant planets could be more common around A-type stars. However, the relatively small number of nearby A-stars has limited the precision of exoplanet demographics studies to $\gtrsim$10%. We aim to constrain the frequency of wide-orbit giant planets around A-stars using the VLT/SPHERE extreme adaptive optics system, which enables targeting $\gtrsim$100 A-stars between 100$-$200 pc. We present the results of a survey of 84 A-stars within the nearby $\sim$5$-$17 Myr-old Sco OB2 association. The survey detected three companions$-$one of which is a new discovery (HIP75056Ab), whereas the other two (HD 95086b and HIP65426b) are now-known planets that were included without a priori knowledge of their existence. We assessed the image sensitivity and observational biases with injection and recovery tests combined with Monte Carlo simulations to place constraints on the underlying demographics. We measure a decreasing frequency of giant planets with increasing separation, with measured values falling between 10$-$2% for separations of 30$-$100 au, and 95% confidence-level (CL) upper limits of $\lesssim$45$-$8% for planets on 30$-$100 au orbits, and $\lesssim$5% between 200$-$500 au. These values are in excellent agreement with recent surveys of A-stars in the solar neighborhood$-$supporting findings that giant planets at $\lesssim$100 au are more frequent around A-stars than around solar-type hosts. Finally, the relatively low occurrence rate of super-Jupiters on wide orbits, the positive correlation with stellar mass, and the inverse correlation with orbital separation are consistent with core accretion being their dominant formation mechanism.

Swift J1842.5$-$1124 is a transient Galactic black hole X-ray binary candidate, which underwent a new outburst in May 2020. We performed multi-epoch MeerKAT radio observations under the ThunderKAT Large Survey Programme, coordinated with quasi-simultaneous Swift/XRT X-ray observations during the outburst, which lasted nearly a month. We were able to make the first-ever radio detection of this black hole binary with the highest flux density of 229$\pm$31 $\mu$Jy when the source was in the hard state, after non-detection in the radio band in the soft state which occurred immediately after its emergence during the new X-ray outburst. Therefore, its radio and X-ray properties are consistent with the disk-jet coupling picture established in other black hole X-ray binaries. We place the source's quasi-simultaneous X-ray and radio measurements on the radio/X-ray luminosity correlation plane; two quasi-simultaneous radio/X-ray measurements separated by 11 days were obtained, which span $\sim$ 2 dex in the X-ray luminosity. If the source follows the black hole track in the radio/X-ray correlation plane during the outburst, it would lie at a distance beyond $\sim$ 5 kpc.

Large Fabry-Perot Interferometers are used in a variety of astronomical instrumentation, including spectro-polarimeters for 4-meter class solar telescopes. In this work we comprehensively characterize the cavity of a prototype 150 mm Fabry-Perot interferometer, sporting a novel, fully symmetric design. Of note, we define a new method to properly assess the gravity effects on the interferometer's cavity when the system is used in either the vertical or horizontal configuration, both typical of solar observations. We show that the symmetric design very effectively limits the combined effects of pre-load and gravity forces to only a few nm over a 120 mm diameter illuminated surface, with gravity contributing about 2 nm peak-to-valley (0.3 nm rms) in either configuration. We confirm a variation of the tilt between the plates of the interferometer during the spectral scan, which can be mitigated with appropriate corrections to the spacing commands. Finally, we show that the dynamical response of the new system fully satisfies typical operational scenarios. We conclude that large, fully symmetric Fabry-Perot interferometers can be safely used within solar instrumentation in both, horizontal and vertical position, with the latter better suited to limiting the overall volume occupied by such an instrument.

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are highly energetic transient events with duration of order of microseconds to milliseconds and of unknown origin. They are known to lie at cosmological distances, through localisation to host galaxies. Recently, an FRB-like event was seen from the Milky Way magnetar SGR 1935+2154 by the CHIME and STARE2 telescopes. This is the only magnetar that has produced FRB events in our galaxy. Finding similar events in the Milky Way is of great interest to understanding FRB progenitors. Such events will be strongly affected by the turbulent interstellar medium in the Milky Way, their intrinsic energy distribution and their spatial locations within the plane of the Milky Way. We examine these effects using models for the distribution of electrons in the ISM to estimate the dispersion measure and pulse scattering of mock events, and a range of models for the spatial distribution and luminosity functions, including models motivated by the spatial distribution of the Milky Way's magnetars. We evaluate the fraction of FRB events in the Milky Way that are detectable by STARE2 for a range of ISM models, spatial distributions and burst luminosity functions. In all the models examined, only a fraction of burst events are detectable, mainly due to the scattering effects of the ISM. We find that GReX, a proposed all-sky experiment, could increase the detection rate of Milky Way FRB events by an order of magnitude, depending on assumptions made about the luminosity function and scale-height of the FRBs.

Dark Matter searches have been ongoing for three decades; the lack of a positive discovery of the main candidate, the WIMP, after dedicated efforts, has put axions and axion-like-particles in the spotlight. The three main techniques employed to search for them complement each other well in covering a wide range in the parameter space defined by the axion decay constant and the axion mass. The International AXion Observatory (IAXO) is an international collaboration planning to build the fourth generation axion helioscope, with an unparalleled expected sensitivity and discovery potential. The distinguishing characteristic of IAXO is that it will feature an axion-specific magnet, with a large axion-sensitive cross-section, and will be equipped with x-ray focusing devices and detectors that have been developed for axion physics. In this paper, we review aspects that motivate IAXO and its prototype, BabyIAXO, in the axion and ALPs landscape. As part of this Special Issue, some emphasis is given on the Spanish participation in the project, of which CAPA is a strong promoter

Recent in-situ observations from the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission in the inner heliosphere near perihelia show evidence of ion beams, temperature anisotropies, and kinetic wave activity, which are likely associated with kinetic heating and acceleration processes of the solar wind. In particular, the proton beams were detected by PSP/SPAN-I and related magnetic fluctuation spectra associated with ion-scale waves were observed by the FIELDS instrument. We present the ion velocity distribution functions (VDFs) from SPAN-I and the results of 2.5D and 3D hybrid-particle-in-cell (hybrid-PIC) models of proton and alpha particle super-Alfvenic beams that drive ion kinetic instabilities and waves in the inner-heliospheric solar wind. We model the evolution of the ion VDFs with beams, ion relative drifts speeds, and ion temperature anisotropies for solar wind conditions near PSP perihelia. We calculate the partition of energies between the particles (ions) along and perpendicular to the magnetic field, as well as the evolution of magnetic energy and compare to observationally deduced values. We conclude that the ion beam driven kinetic instabilities in the solar wind plasma near perihelia are important components in the cascade of energy from fluid to kinetic scale, an important component in the solar wind plasma heating process.

ISCEA (Infrared Satellite for Cosmic Evolution Astrophysics) is a small astrophysics mission whose Science Goal is to discover how galaxies evolved in the cosmic web of dark matter at cosmic noon. Its Science Objective is to determine the history of star formation and its quenching in galaxies as a function of local density and stellar mass when the Universe was 3-5 Gyrs old (1.2<z<2.1). ISCEA is designed to test the Science Hypothesis that during the period of cosmic noon, at 1.7 < z < 2.1, environmental quenching is the dominant quenching mechanism for typical galaxies not only in clusters and groups, but also in the extended cosmic web surrounding these structures. ISCEA meets its Science Objective by making a 10% shot noise measurement of star formation rate down to 6 solar masses per year using H-alpha out to a radius > 10 Mpc in each of 50 protocluster (cluster and cosmic web) fields at 1.2 < z < 2.1. ISCEA measures the star formation quenching factor in those fields, and galaxy kinematics with a precision < 50 km/s to deduce the 3D spatial distribution in each field. ISCEA will transform our understanding of galaxy evolution at cosmic noon. ISCEA is a small satellite observatory with a 30cm equivalent diameter aperture telescope with a FoV of 0.32 deg^2, and a multi-object spectrograph with a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) as its programmable slit mask. ISCEA will obtain spectra of 1000 galaxies simultaneously at an effective resolving power of R=1000, with 2.8"x2.8" slits, over the NIR wavelength range of 1.1 to 2.0 microns, a regime not accessible from the ground without large gaps in coverage. ISCEA will achieve a pointing accuracy of <= 2" FWHM over 200s. ISCEA will be launched into a Low Earth Orbit, with a prime mission of 2.5 years. ISCEA's space-qualification of DMDs opens a new window for spectroscopy from space, enabling revolutionary advances in astrophysics.

Context: Despite the observed signs of large impacts on the surface of Ceres, there is no confirmed collisional family associated with this dwarf planet. After a dynamical and photometric study, a sample of 156 asteroids was proposed as candidate members of a Ceres collisional family. Aims: Our main objective is to study the connection between Ceres and a total of 14 observed asteroids among the candidate's sample to explore their genetic relationships with Ceres. Methods: We obtained visible spectra of these 14 asteroids using the OSIRIS spectrograph at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias(GTC). We computed spectral slopes in two different wavelength ranges, from 0.49 to 0.80{\mu}m and from 0.80 to 0.92{\mu}m, to compare the values obtained with those on Ceres' surface previously computed using the Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (VIR) instrument onboard the NASA Dawn spacecraft. We also calculated the spectral slopes in the same range for ground-based observations of Cerescollected from the literature. Results: We present the visible spectra and the taxonomy of 14 observed asteroids. We found that only two of the asteroids are spectrally compatible with Ceres' surface. Further analysis of those two asteroids indicates that they are spectrally young and thus less likely to be members of the Ceres family. Conclusions: All in all, our results indicate that most of the 14 observed asteroids are not likely to belong to a Ceres collisional family. Despite two of them being spectrally compatible with the young surface of Ceres, further evaluation is needed to confirm or reject their origin from Ceres.

A recent publication (Li et al. 2021) discovered one of the largest filamentary neutral hydrogen features dubbed Cattail from high resolution FAST observations that might be a new galactic arm of our own Milky Way. However in the analysis, it was suggested that this neutral hydrogen feature is cold despite having 12km/s total linewidth. We evaluate the probability whether the Cattail is actually cold neutral media via the newly developed Velocity Decomposition Algorithm (Yuen et al. 2021a) and Force Balancing Model (Ho et al. 2021a). We discovered that even with the inclusion of the galactic shear term, the feature is still at the unstable neutral media regime. Moreover, we also discover that the Cattail is two disjoint features in caustics space, suggesting that the Cattail might have two different turbulent systems. We check the spectra of the individual system separated via VDA to confirm this argument. We do not exclude the existence of smaller scale cold media being embedded within this structure.

Only a few wide-orbit planets around old stars have been detected, which limits our statistical understanding of this planet population. Following the systematic search for planetary anomalies in microlensing events found by the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), we present the discovery and analysis of three events that were initially thought to contain wide-orbit planets. The anomalous feature in the light curve of OGLE-2018-BLG-0383 is caused by a planet with mass ratio $q=2.1\times 10^{-4}$ and a projected separation $s=2.45$. This makes it the lowest mass-ratio microlensing planet at such wide orbits. The other two events, KMT-2018-BLG-0998 and OGLE-2018-BLG-0271, are shown to be stellar binaries ($q>0.1$) with rather close ($s<1$) separations. We briefly discuss the properties of known wide-orbit microlensing planets and show that the survey observations are crucial in discovering and further statistically constraining such a planet population.

Detailed simulations of the arrival directions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays are performed under the assumption of strong and structured extragalactic magnetic field (EGMF) models. Particles leaving Centaurus A, Virgo A, and Fornax A are propagated to Earth, and the simulated anisotropic signal is compared to the dipole and hotspots published by the Pierre Auger and Telescope Array Collaborations. The dominance of the EGMF structure on the arrival directions of events generated in local sources is shown. The absence of events from the Virgo A direction is related to the strong deviation caused by the EGMF. Evidence that these three sources contribute to an excess of events in the direction of the three detected hotspots is presented. Under the EGMF considered here, M82 is shown to have no contribution to the hotspot measured by the Telescope Array Observatory.

A strong electromagnetic field polarizes the vacuum and in the presence of an electric field creates pairs of a charged particle and its anti-particle. Magnetars, highly magnetized neutron stars with magnetic field comparable to or greater than the Schwinger field, give a significant amount of the vacuum polarization and vacuum birefringence and the induced electric field can create the electron-positron pairs, which are strong field quantum electrodynamics (QED) processes. In this paper, we use a closed formula for the one-loop effective action in the presence of a supercritical magnetic field and a subcritical electric field, find the vacuum birefringence analytically and numerically, and then discuss possible measurements in magnetars.

Artificial neural networks are finding increasing use in astronomy, but understanding the limitations of these models can be difficult. We utilize a statistical method, a sensitivity probe, designed to complement established methods for interpreting neural network behavior by quantifying the sensitivity of a model's performance to various properties of the inputs. We apply this method to neural networks trained to classify images of galaxy-galaxy strong lenses in the Dark Energy Survey. We find that the networks are highly sensitive to color, the simulated PSF used in training, and occlusion of light from a lensed source, but are insensitive to Einstein radius, and performance degrades smoothly with source and lens magnitudes. From this we identify weaknesses in the training sets used to constrain the networks, particularly the over-sensitivity to PSF, and constrain the selection function of the lens-finder as a function of galaxy photometric magnitudes, with accuracy decreasing significantly where the g-band magnitude of the lens source is greater than 21.5 and the r-band magnitude of the lens is less than 19.

Many Sun-like stars are observed to host close-in super-Earths (SEs) as part of a multi-planetary system. In such a system, the spin of the SE evolves due to spin-orbit resonances and tidal dissipation. In the absence of tides, the planet's obliquity can evolve chaotically to large values. However, for close-in SEs, tidal dissipation is significant and suppresses the chaos, instead driving the spin into various steady states. We find that the attracting steady states of the SE's spin are more numerous than previously thought, due to the discovery of a new class of "mixed-mode" high-obliquity equilibria. These new equilibria arise due to subharmonic responses of the parametrically-driven planetary spin, an unusual phenomenon that arises in nonlinear systems. Many SEs should therefore have significant obliquities, with potentially large impacts on the physical conditions of their surfaces and atmospheres.

This paper is devoted to the memory of Dr. Victor Afanasiev and his immense legacy. The report highlights the capabilities of two new instruments tested at the 1-meter Zeiss-1000 telescope of SAO RAS: the Stokes Polarimeter (StoP) and the MAGIC focal reducer. Optimized for the study of active galactic nuclei (AGN), methodically, these instruments are suitable for a wide range of small telescope tasks. The fields of view of StoP and MAGIC are 6' and 13' for direct images, respectively. The StoP device allows one to conduct photometric observations and polarimetric ones with a double Wollaston prism; the spectral mode was added to MAGIC. For a starlike target up to 14 mag in medium-band filters with a seeing of 1" for 20 minutes of total exposure, the photometry accuracy is better than 0.01 mag and the polarization accuracy is better than 0.6%. The available spectral range obtained with the volume phase holographic grating in MAGIC is 4000-7200AA with a dispersion of 2A/px. StoP and MAGIC received the first light in 2020 and are used in test mode at the Zeiss-1000. The report discusses the first results obtained by the authors with new instruments, as well as further prospects

We use type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) data obtained by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey (SDSS-II/SNe) in combination with the publicly available SDSS DR16 fiber spectroscopy of their host galaxies to correlate SNe Ia light-curve parameters and Hubble residuals to several host galaxy properties. Fixed-aperture fiber spectroscopy suffers from aperture effects: the fraction of the galaxy covered by the fiber varies depending on its projected size on the sky, thus measured properties are not representative of the whole galaxy. The advent of Integral Field Spectroscopy has provided a way for correcting the missing light, by studying how these galaxy parameters change with the aperture size. Here we study how the standard SN host galaxy relations change once global host galaxy parameters are corrected for aperture effects. We recover previous trends on SN Hubble residuals with host galaxy properties, but we find that discarding objects with poor fiber coverage instead of correcting for aperture loss introduces biases in the sample that affect SN host galaxy relations. The net effect of applying the commonly used $g$-band fraction criterion is discarding intrinsically faint \mbox{SNe~Ia} in high-mass galaxies, thus artificially increasing the height of the mass step by 0.02 mag and its significance. Current and next generation of fixed-aperture fiber spectroscopy surveys, such as DES, DESI or TiDES in 4MOST, that aim at study SN and galaxy correlations must consider, and correct for, these effects.

We consider the role of secondary infall and accretion onto an initially overdense perturbation in matter-dominated eras, like the one which is likely to follow the end of inflation. We show that primordial black holes may form through post-collapse accretion, namely the accretion onto an initial overdensity whose collapse has not given rise to a primordial black hole. Accretion may be also responsible for the growth of the primordial black hole masses by orders of magnitude till the end of the matter-dominated era.

Alkali metal lines are one of the most important key opacity sources for understanding exoplanetary atmospheres because the Na I resonance doublets are thought to be the cause of low albedo, as the alkali metal's wide line wings absorb almost all of the incoming stellar irradiation. High-resolution transmission spectroscopy of Na absorption lines can be used to investigate the temperature of the thermosphere of hot Jupiters, which is increased by stellar X-ray and EUV irradiation. We applied high-resolution transmission spectroscopy to the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-76 b with the High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS) on the Subaru 8.2 m telescope. We report the detection of strong Na D excess absorption with line contrasts of 0.42 $\pm$ 0.03 % (D1 at 5895.92 \r{A}) and 0.38 $\pm$ 0.04 % (D2 at 5889.95 \r{A}), FWHMs of 1.63 $\pm$ 0.13 \r{A} (D1) and 1.87 $\pm$ 0.22 \r{A} (D2), and EWs of (7.29 $\pm$ 1.43) $\times$ 10$^{-3}$ \r{A} (D1) and (7.56 $\pm$ 2.38) $\times$ 10$^{-3}$ \r{A} (D2). These results show that the Na D absorption lines are shallower and broader than those in previous work, whereas the absorption signals over the same passband are consistent with those in previous work. We derive the best-fitted isothermal temperature of 3700 K (without rotation) and 4200 K (with rotation). These results suggest the possibility of the existence of a thermosphere because the derived atmospheric temperature is higher than the equilibrium temperature ($\sim$ 2160 K).

We report on the spectral confirmation of 18 QSO candidates from the "QUasars as BRIght beacons for Cosmology in the Southern hemisphere'' survey (QUBRICS), previously observed in the optical band, for which we acquired new spectroscopic data in the near-infrared band with the Folded-port InfraRed Echellette spectrograph (FIRE) at the Magellan Baade telescope. In most cases, further observations were prompted by the peculiar nature of the targets, whose optical spectra displayed unexpected absorption features. All candidates have been confirmed as bona fide QSOs, with average emission redshift $z\simeq 2.1$. The analysis of the emission and absorption features in the spectra, performed with Astrocook and QSFit, reveals that the large majority of these objects are broad-absorption line (BAL) QSOs, with almost half of them displaying strong Fe II absorption (typical of the so-called FeLoBAL QSOs). The detection of such a large fraction of rare objects (which are estimated to account for less than one percent of the general QSO population) is interpreted as an unexpected (yet favourable) consequence of the particular candidate selection procedure adopted within the QUBRICS survey. The measured properties of FeLoBAL QSOs observed so far provide no evidence that they are a manifestation of a particular stage in AGN evolution. In this paper we present an explorative analysis of the individual QSOs, to serve as a basis for a further, more detailed investigation.

Over the course of the third observing run of LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration, several gravitational-wave (GW) neutron star--black hole (NSBH) candidates have been announced. By assuming these candidates are of astrophysical origins, we analyze the population properties of the mass and spin distributions for GW NSBH mergers. We find that the primary BH mass distribution of NSBH systems, whose shape is consistent with that inferred from the GW binary BH (BBH) primaries, can be well described as a power-law with an index of $\alpha = 4.8^{+4.5}_{-2.8}$ plus a high-mass Gaussian component peaking at $\sim33^{+14}_{-9}\,M_\odot$. The NS mass spectrum could be shaped as a near flat distribution between $\sim1.0-2.1\,M_\odot$. The constrained NS maximum mass agrees with that inferred from NSs in our Galaxy. If GW190814 and GW200210 are NSBH mergers, the posterior results of the NS maximum mass would be always larger than $\sim2.5\,M_\odot$ and significantly deviate from that inferred in the Galactic NSs. The effective inspiral spin and effective precession spin of GW NSBH mergers are measured to potentially have near-zero distributions. The negligible spins for GW NSBH mergers imply that most events in the universe should be plunging events, which supports the standard isolated formation channel of NSBH binaries. More NSBH mergers to be discovered in the fourth observing run would help to more precisely model the population properties of cosmological NSBH mergers.

We analyze low resolution Spitzer infrared (IR) 5-14 micron spectra of the diffuse emission toward a carefully selected sample of stars. The sample is composed of sight lines toward stars that have well determined ultraviolet (UV) extinction curves and which are shown to lie beyond effectively all of the extinguishing and emitting dust along their lines of sight. Our sample includes sight lines whose UV curve extinction curves exhibit a wide range of curve morphology and which sample a variety of interstellar environments. As a result, this unique sample enabled us to study the connection between the extinction and emission properties of the same grains, and to examine their response to different physical environments. We quantify the emission features in terms of the PAH model given by Draine & Li (2007) and a set of additional features, not known to be related to PAH emission. We compare the intensities of the different features in the Spitzer mid-IR spectra with the Fitzpatrick & Massa (2007) parameters which describe the shapes of UV to near-IR extinction curves. Our primary result is that there is a strong correlation between the area of the 2175 A UV bump in the extinction curves of the program stars and the strengths of the major PAH emission features in the mid-IR spectra for the same lines of sight.

The issue of the difference between optical and UV properties of radio-quiet and radio-loud (relativistically "jetted") active galactic nuclei (AGN) is a long standing one, related to the fundamental question of why a minority of powerful AGN possess strong radio emission due to relativistic ejections. This paper examines a particular aspect: the singly-ionized iron emission in the spectral range 4400 -- 5600 A, where the prominent HI H$\beta$ and [OIII] 4959, 5007 lines are also observed. We present a detailed comparison of the relative intensity of Fe II multiplets in the spectral types of the quasar main sequence where most jetted sources are found, and afterwards discuss radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) nuclei with $\gamma$-ray detection and with prominent Fe II emission. An Fe II template based on I Zw 1 provides an accurate representation of the optical Fe II emission for RQ and, with some caveats, also for RL sources. CLOUDY photoionization simulations indicate that the observed spectral energy distribution can account for the modest Fe II emission observed in composite radio-loud spectra. However, spectral energy differences alone cannot account for the stronger Fe II emission observed in radio-quiet sources, for similar physical parameters. As for RL NLSy1s, they do not seem to behave like other RL sources, likely because of their different physical properties that could be ultimately associated with a higher Eddington ratio.

Numerous complex organic molecules have been detected in the universe among which amides are considered as models for species containing the peptide linkage. Acrylamide bears in its backbone not only the peptide bond, but also the vinyl functional group which is a common motif in many interstellar compounds. This makes acrylamide an interesting target for a search in space. In addition, a tentative detection of the related molecule propionamide has been recently claimed toward Sgr B2(N). We report accurate laboratory measurements and analyses of thousands rotational transitions for the syn and skew forms of acrylamide between 75 and 480 GHz. Tunneling through a low energy barrier between two symmetrically equivalent configurations has been revealed for the higher-energy skew species. We searched for emission of acrylamide in the imaging spectral line survey ReMoCA performed with ALMA toward Sgr B2(N). We also searched for propionamide in the same source. Neither acrylamide nor propionamide were detected toward the two main hot molecular cores of Sgr B2(N). We did not detect propionamide either toward a position located to the east of the main hot core, thereby not confirming the recent claim of its interstellar detection toward this position. We find that acrylamide and propionamide are at least 26 and 14 times, respectively, less abundant than acetamide toward the main hot core Sgr B2(N1S), and at least 6 and 3 times, respectively, less abundant than acetamide toward the secondary hot core Sgr B2(N2). A comparison with results of astrochemical kinetics model for related species suggests that acrylamide may be a few hundred times less abundant than acetamide, corresponding to a value at least an order of magnitude lower than the observational upper limits. Propionamide may be as little as only a factor of two less abundant than the upper limit derived toward Sgr B2(N1S).

A long-standing issue in solar ground-based observations has been the contamination of data due to stray light, which is particularly relevant in inversions of spectropolarimetric data. We aim to build on a statistical method of correcting stray-light contamination due to residual high-order aberrations and apply it to ground-based slit spectra. The observations were obtained at the Swedish Solar Telescope, and restored using the multi-frame blind deconvolution restoration procedure. Using the statistical properties of seeing, we created artificially degraded synthetic images generated from magneto-hydrodynamic simulations. We then compared the synthetic data with the observations to derive estimates of the amount of the residual stray light in the observations. In the final step, the slit spectra were deconvolved with a stray-light point spread function to remove the residual stray light from the observations. The RMS granulation contrasts of the deconvolved spectra were found to increase to approximately 12.5%, from 9%. Spectral lines, on average, were found to become deeper in the granules and shallower in the inter-granular lanes, indicating systematic changes to gradients in temperature. The deconvolution was also found to increase the redshifts and blueshifts of spectral lines, suggesting that the velocities of granulation in the solar photosphere are higher than had previously been observed.

While the Milky Way Nuclear star cluster has been studied extensively, how it formed is uncertain. Studies have shown it contains a solar and supersolar metallicity population that may have formed in-situ, along with a subsolar metallicity population that may have formed via mergers of globular clusters and dwarf galaxies. Stellar abundance measurements are critical to differentiate between formation scenarios. We present new measurements of [$M/H$] and $\alpha$-element abundances [$\alpha/Fe$] of two subsolar-metallicity stars in the Galactic Center. These observations were taken with the adaptive-optics assisted high-resolution (R=24,000) spectrograph NIRSPEC in the K-band (1.8 - 2.6 micron). These are the first $\alpha$-element abundance measurements of sub-solar metallicity stars in the Milky Way nuclear star cluster. We measure [$M/H$]=$-0.59\pm 0.11$, [$\alpha/Fe$]=$0.05\pm 0.15$ and [$M/H$]= $-0.81\pm 0.12$, [$\alpha/Fe$]= $0.15\pm 0.16$ for the two stars at the Galactic center; the uncertainties are dominated by systematic uncertainties in the spectral templates. The stars have an [$\alpha/Fe$] in-between the [$\alpha/Fe$] of globular clusters and dwarf galaxies at similar [$M/H$] values. Their abundances are very different than the bulk of the stars in the nuclear star cluster. These results indicate that the sub-solar metallicity population in the Milky Way nuclear star cluster likely originated from infalling dwarf galaxies or globular clusters and are unlikely to have formed in-situ.

In recent years, technical and theoretical work to detect moons and rings around exoplanets has been attempted. The small mass/size ratios between moons and planets means this is very challenging, having only one exoplanetary system where spotting an exomoon might be feasible (i.e. Kepler-1625b i). In this work, we study the dynamical evolution of ringed exomoons, dubbed "cronomoons" after their similarity with Cronus (Greek for Saturn), and after Chronos (the epitome of time), following the Transit Timing Variations (TTV) and Transit Duration Variation (TDV) that they produce on their host planet. Cronomoons have extended systems of rings that make them appear bigger than they actually are when transiting in front of their host star. We explore different possible scenarios that could lead to the formation of such circumsatellital rings, and through the study of the dynamical/thermodynamic stability and lifespan of their dust and ice ring particles, we found that an isolated cronomoon can survive for time-scales long enough to be detected and followed up. If these objects exist, cronomoons' rings will exhibit gaps similar to Saturn's Cassini Division and analogous to the asteroid belt's Kirkwood gaps, but instead raised due to resonances induced by the host planet. Finally, we analyse the case of Kepler-1625b i under the scope of this work, finding that the controversial giant moon could instead be an Earth-mass cronomoon. From a theoretical perspective, this scenario can contribute to a better interpretation of the underlying phenomenology in current and future observations.

Adopting the MPI-AMRVAC code, we present a 2.5-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation, which includes thermal conduction and radiative cooling, to investigate the formation and evolution of the coronal rain phenomenon. We perform the simulation in initially linear force-free magnetic fields which host chromospheric, transition region, and coronal plasma, with turbulent heating localized on their footpoints. Due to thermal instability, condensations start to occur at the loop top, and rebound shocks are generated by the siphon inflows. Condensations fragment into smaller blobs moving downwards and as they hit the lower atmosphere, concurrent upflows are triggered. Larger clumps show us clear "coronal rain showers" as dark structures in synthetic EUV hot channels and bright blobs with cool cores in the 304 {\AA} channel, well resembling real observations. Following coronal rain dynamics for more than 10 hours, we carry out a statistical study of all coronal rain blobs to quantify their widths, lengths, areas, velocity distributions, and other properties. The coronal rain shows us continuous heating-condensation cycles, as well as cycles in EUV emissions. Compared to previous studies adopting steady heating, the rain happens faster and in more erratic cycles. Although most blobs are falling downward, upward-moving blobs exist at basically every moment. We also track the movement of individual blobs to study their dynamics and the forces driving their movements. The blobs have a prominence-corona transition-region-like structure surrounding them, and their movements are dominated by the pressure evolution in the very dynamic loop system.

Knowledge of a star's evolutionary history combined with estimates of planet occurrence rates allows one to infer its relative quality as a location in the search for biosignatures, and to quantify this intuition using long-term habitability metrics. In this study, we analyse the sensitivity of the biosignature yield metrics formulated by Tuchow & Wright (2020) to uncertainties in observable stellar properties and to model uncertainties. We characterize the uncertainties present in fitting a models to stellar observations by generating a stellar model with known properties and adding synthetic uncertainties in the observable properties. We scale the uncertainty in individual observables and observe the the effects on the precision of properties such as stellar mass, age, and our metrics. To determine model uncertainties we compare four well accepted stellar models using different model physics and see how they vary in terms of the values of our metrics. We determine the ability of future missions to rank target stars according to these metrics, given the current precision to which host star properties can be measured. We show that obtaining independent age constraints decreases both the model and systematic uncertainties in determining these metrics and is the most powerful way to improve assessments of the long-term habitability of planets around low mass stars.

MAXI J1803-298, a newly-discovered Galactic transient and black hole candidate, was first detected by \emph{MAXI}/GSC on May 1st, 2021. In this paper, we present a detailed spectral analysis of MAXI J1803-298. Utilizing the X-ray reflection fitting method, we perform a joint fit to the spectra of MAXI J1803-298, respectively, observed by \emph{NuSTAR} and \emph{NICER}/XTI on the same day over the energy range between 0.7-79.0 keV, and found its spin (and the inclination angle i) can be constrained to be close to an extreme value, 0.991 ($i\sim$ $70 ^{\circ}$), at 68\% confidence interval. The results suggest that MAXI J1803-298 may be a fast-rotating black hole with a large inclination angle.

The evolution of massive stars is the basis of several astrophysical investigations, from predicting gravitational-wave event rates to studying star-formation and stellar populations in clusters. However, uncertainties in massive star evolution present a significant challenge when accounting for these models' behaviour in stellar population studies. In this work, we present a comparison between five published sets of stellar models from the BPASS, BoOST, Geneva, MIST and PARSEC simulations at near-solar metallicity. The different sets of stellar models have been computed using slightly different physical inputs in terms of mass-loss rates and internal mixing properties. Moreover, these models also employ various pragmatic methods to overcome the numerical difficulties that arise due to the presence of density inversions in the outer layers of stars more massive than 40 M$_\odot$. These density inversions result from the combination of inefficient convection in the low-density envelopes of massive stars and the excess of radiative luminosity to the Eddington luminosity. We find that the ionizing radiation released by the stellar populations can change by up to $\sim$15 percent, the maximum radial expansion of a star can differ between $\sim$100--2000 R$_\odot$, and the mass of the stellar remnant can vary up to 20 M$_\odot$ between the five sets of simulations. We conclude that any attempts to explain observations that rely on the use of models of stars more massive than 40 M$_\odot$ should be made with caution.

Proximity to the Eddington luminosity has been attributed as the cause of several observed effects in massive stars. Computationally, if the luminosity carried through radiation exceeds the local Eddington luminosity in the low-density envelopes of massive stars, it can result in numerical difficulties, inhibiting further computation of stellar models. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that very few massive stars are observed beyond the Humphreys-Davidson limit, the same region in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram where the aforementioned numerical issues relating to the Eddington luminosity occur in stellar models. Thus 1D stellar evolution codes have to use pragmatic solutions to evolve massive stars through this computationally difficult phase. In this work, we quantify the impact of these solutions on the evolutionary properties of massive stars. Using the stellar evolution code MESA with commonly used input parameters for massive stellar models, we compute the evolution of stars in the initial mass range of 10-110 M$_\odot$ at one-tenth of solar metallicity. We find that numerical difficulties in stellar models with initial masses greater than or equal to 30 M$_\odot$ cause these models to fail before the end of core helium burning. Recomputing these models using the same physical inputs but three different numerical methods to treat the numerical instability, we find that the maximum radial expansion achieved by stars can vary by up to 2000 R$_\odot$ while the remnant mass of the stars can vary by up to 14 M$_\odot$ between the sets. These differences can have implications on studies such as binary population synthesis.

In this paper, we revisit the evaporation and accretion of PBHs during cosmic history and compare them to see if both of these processes are constantly active for PBHs or not. Our calculations indicate that during the radiation-dominated era, PBHs absorb ambient radiation due to accretion, and their apparent horizon grows rapidly. This growth causes the Hawking radiation process to practically fail and all the particles that escape as radiation from PBHs to fall back into them. Nevertheless, our emphasis is that the accretion efficiency factor also plays a very important role here and its exact determination is essential. We have shown that the lower mass limit for PBHs that have not yet evaporated should approximately be $10^{14}g$ rather than $10^{15}g$. Finally, we study the effects of Hawking radiation quiescence in cosmology and reject models based on the evaporation of PBHs in the radiation-dominated era.

The observed lensed fraction of high-redshift quasars $(\sim0.2\%)$ is significantly lower than previous theoretical predictions $(\gtrsim4\%)$. We revisit the lensed fraction of high-redshift quasars predicted by theoretical models, where we adopt recent measurements of galaxy velocity dispersion functions (VDFs) and explore a wide range of quasar luminosity function (QLF) parameters. We use both analytical methods and mock catalogs which give consistent results. For ordinary QLF parameters and the depth of current high-redshift quasar surveys $(m_z\lesssim22)$, our model suggests a multiply-imaged fraction of $F_\text{multi}\sim 0.4\%-0.8\%$. The predicted lensed fraction is $\sim1\%-6\%$ for the brightest $z_s\sim6$ quasars $(m_z\lesssim19)$, depending on the QLF. The systematic uncertainties of the predicted lensed fraction in previous models can be as large as $2-4$ times and are dominated by the VDF. Applying VDFs from recent measurements decreases the predicted lensed fraction and relieves the tension between observations and theoretical models. Given the depth of current imaging surveys, there are $\sim15$ lensed quasars at $z_s>5.5$ detectable over the sky. Upcoming sky surveys like the LSST survey and the {\em Euclid} survey will find several tens of lensed quasars at this redshift range.

Understanding the origin of accretion and dispersal of protoplanetary disks is fundamental for investigating planet formation. Recent numerical simulations show that launching winds are unavoidable when disks undergo magnetically driven accretion and/or are exposed to external UV radiation. Observations also hint that disk winds are common. We explore how the resulting wind mass loss rate can be used as a probe of both disk accretion and dispersal. As a proof-of-concept study, we focus on magnetocentrifugal winds, MRI (magnetorotational instability) turbulence, and external photoevapotaion. By developing a simple, yet physically motivated disk model and coupling it with simulation results available in the literature, we compute the mass loss rate as a function of external UV flux for each mechanism. We find that different mechanisms lead to different levels of mass loss rate, indicating that the origin of disk accretion and dispersal can be determined, by observing the wind mass loss rate resulting from each mechanism. This determination provides important implications for planet formation, as disk accretion and dispersal not only impact directly upon the gas kinematics (e.g., turbulent vs laminar), but also uncover a disk's ability to retain/lose mass due to its surrounding environment (i.e., external UV radiation fields). This work shows that the ongoing and future observations of the wind mass loss rate for protoplanetary disks are paramount to reliably constrain how protoplanetary disks evolve with time and how planet formation takes place in the disks.

We report the detection of X-ray polarization in the neutron star low mass X-ray binary Scorpius (Sco) X-1 with PolarLight. The result is energy dependent, with a non-detection in 3-4 keV but a 4$\sigma$ detection in 4-8 keV; it is also flux dependent in the 4-8 keV band, with a non-detection when the source displays low fluxes but a 5$\sigma$ detection during high fluxes, in which case we obtain a polarization fraction of $0.043 \pm 0.008$ and a polarization angle of $52.6^\circ \pm 5.4^\circ$. This confirms a previous marginal detection with OSO-8 in the 1970s, and marks Sco X-1 the second astrophysical source with a significant polarization measurement in the keV band. The measured polarization angle is in line with the jet orientation of the source on the sky plane ($54^\circ$), which is supposedly the symmetric axis of the system. Combining previous spectral analysis, our measurements suggest that an optically thin corona is located in the transition layer under the highest accretion rates, and disfavor the extended accretion disk corona model.

We discuss the results of a proton irradiation campaign of a GAGG:Ce (Cerium-doped Gadolinium Aluminium Gallium Garnet) scintillation crystal, carried out in the framework of the HERMES-TP/SP (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites -- Technological and Scientific Pathfinder) mission. A scintillator sample was irradiated with 70 MeV protons, at levels equivalent to those expected in equatorial and sun-synchronous low-Earth orbits over orbital periods spanning 6 months to 10 years. The data we acquired are used to introduce an original model of GAGG:Ce afterglow emission. Results from this model are applied to the HERMES-TP/SP scenario, aiming at an upper-bound estimate of the detector performance degradation resulting from afterglow emission.

2MASS J050051.85$-$093054.9 is the closest known low-mass helium-core white dwarf in a binary system. We used three high-band international LOFAR stations to perform a targeted search for a pulsar companion, reaching sensitivities of ~3 mJy for a 10-ms pulsar at a DM = 1 pc$\cdot$cm$^{-3}$. No pulsed signal was detected, confidently excluding the presence of a detectable radio pulsar in the system.

We develop a model to explain the flaring activity in gamma-ray burst X-ray afterglows within the framework of slightly misaligned observers to structured jets. We suggest that flares could be the manifestation of prompt dissipation within the core of the jet, appearing to a misaligned observer in the X-ray band because of less favorable Doppler boosting. These flares appear during the afterglow phase because of core--observer light travel delays. In this picture, the prompt emission recorded by this observer comes from material along their line of sight, in the lateral structure of the jet, outside the jet's core. We start by laying down the basic analytical framework to determine the flares characteristics as a function of those of the gamma-ray pulse an aligned observer would have seen. We show that, for typical flare observing times and luminosities, there is indeed viable parameter space to explain flares in this way. We then analytically explore this model and show that it naturally produces flares with small width, a salient observed property of flares. We perform fits of our model to two Swift/XRT flares representing two different types of morphology, to show that our model can capture both. The ejection time of the core jet material responsible of the flare is a critical parameter. While it always remains small compared to the observed time of the flare, confirming that our model does not require very late central engine activity, late ejection times are strongly favored, sometimes larger than the observed duration of the parent gamma-ray burst's prompt phase as measured by $T_{90}$.

The interaction of exoplanets with their host stars causes a vast diversity in bulk and atmospheric compositions, and physical and chemical conditions. Stellar radiation, especially at the shorter wavelengths, drives the chemistry in the upper atmospheric layers of close orbiting gaseous giants, providing drastic departures from equilibrium. In this study, we aim at unfolding the effects caused by photons in different spectral bands on the atmospheric chemistry, with particular emphasis on the molecular synthesis induced by X-rays. This task is particularly difficult because the characteristics of chemical evolution emerge from many feedbacks on a wide range of time scales, and because of the existing correlations among different portions of the stellar spectrum. The weak X-ray photoabsorption cross-sections of the atmospheric constituents boost the gas ionization to pressures inaccessible to vacuum and extreme ultraviolet photons. Although X-rays interact preferentially with metals, they produce a secondary electron cascade able to ionize efficiently hydrogen and helium bearing species, giving rise to a distinctive chemistry.

In accreting WDs approaching the Chandrasekhar limit, hydrostatic carbon burning precedes the dynamical breakout. During this \textit{simmering} phase, $e-$captures are energetically favored in the central region of the star, while $\beta-$decays are favored more outside, and the two zones are connected by a growing convective instability. We analyze the interplay between weak interactions and convection, the so-called convective URCA process, during the simmering phase of SNe Ia progenitors and its effects on the physical and chemical properties at the explosion epoch. At variance with previous studies, we find that the convective core powered by the carbon burning remains confined within the ${^{21}(Ne,F)}$ URCA shell. As a result, a much larger amount of carbon has to be consumed before the explosion which eventually occurs at larger density than previously estimated. In addition, we find that the extension of the convective core and its average neutronization depend on the the WD progenitor initial metallicity. For the average neutronization in the convective core at the explosion epoch we obtain ${\overline{\eta}_{exp}} = (1.094\pm 0.143)\times 10^{-3} + (9.168\pm 0.677)\times 10^{-2}\times Z$. Outside the convective core, the neutronization is instead determined by the initial amount of C+N+O in the progenitor star. Since S, Ca, Cr and Mn, the elements usually exploited to evaluate the pre-explosive neutronization, are mainly produced outside the heavily neutronized core, the problem of too high metallicity estimated for the progenitors of the historical Tycho and Kepler SNe Ia remains unsolved.

We constrain the rest-UV size-luminosity relation for star-forming galaxies at z~4 and z~6, 7, and 8 identified behind clusters from the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) program. The size-luminosity relation is key to deriving accurate luminosity functions (LF) for faint galaxies. Making use of the latest lensing models and full data set for these clusters, lensing-corrected sizes and luminosities are derived for 68 z~4, 184 z~6, 93 z~7, and 53 z~8 galaxies. We show that size measurements can be reliably measured up to linear magnifications of 30x, where the lensing models are well calibrated. The sizes we measure span a >1-dex range, from <50 pc to >~500 pc. Uncertainties are based on both the formal fit errors and systematic differences between the public lensing models. These uncertainties range from ~20 pc for the smallest sources to 50 pc for the largest. Using a forward-modeling procedure to model the impact of incompleteness and magnification uncertainties, we characterize the size-luminosity relation at both z~4 and z~6-8. We find that the source sizes of star-forming galaxies at z~4 and z~6-8 scale with luminosity L as L^{0.54\pm0.08} and L^{0.40+/-0.04}, respectively, such that lower luminosity (>~-18 mag) galaxies are smaller than expected from extrapolating the size-luminosity relation at high luminosities (<~-18 mag). The new evidence for a steeper size-luminosity relation (3 sigma) adds to earlier evidence for small sizes based on the prevalence of highly magnified galaxies in high shear regions, theoretical arguments against upturns in the LFs, and other independent determinations of the size-luminosity relation from the HFF clusters.

The high-z submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) can be used as background sample for gravitational lensing studies thanks to their magnification bias, which can manifest itself through a non-negligible measurement of the cross-correlation function between a background and a foreground source sample with non-overlapping redshift distributions. In particular, the choice of SMGs as background sample enhances the cross-correlation signal so as to provide an alternative and independent observable for cosmological studies regarding the probing of mass distribution. In particular the magnification bias can be exploited in order to constrain the free astrophysical parameters of a Halo Occupation Distribution model and some of the main cosmological parameters. Urged by the improvements obtained when adopting a pseudo-tomographic analysis, It has been adopted a tomographic set-up to explore not only a $\Lambda$CDM scenario, but also the possible time evolution of the dark energy density in the $\omega_0$CDM and $\omega_0\omega_a$CDM frameworks.

The location of surface brightness maxima (e.g. apocentre and pericentre glow) in eccentric debris discs are often used to infer the underlying orbits of the dust and planetesimals that comprise the disc. However, there is a misconception that eccentric discs have higher surface densities at apocentre and thus necessarily exhibit apocentre glow at long wavelengths. This arises from the expectation that the slower velocities at apocentre lead to a "pile up'" of dust, which fails to account for the greater area over which dust is spread at apocentre. Instead we show with theory and by modelling three different regimes that the morphology and surface brightness distributions of face-on debris discs are strongly dependent on their eccentricity profile (i.e. whether this is constant, rising or falling with distance). We demonstrate that at shorter wavelengths the classical pericentre glow effect remains true, whereas at longer wavelengths discs can either demonstrate apocentre glow or pericentre glow. We additionally show that at long wavelengths the same disc morphology can produce either apocentre glow or pericentre glow depending on the observational resolution. Finally, we show that the classical approach of interpreting eccentric debris discs using line densities is only valid under an extremely limited set of circumstances, which are unlikely to be met as debris disc observations become increasingly better resolved.

Wide-field near-infrared (NIR) polarimetry was used to examine disk systems around two brown dwarfs (BD) and two young stellar objects (YSO) embedded in the Heiles Cloud 2 (HCl2) dark molecular cloud in Taurus as well as numerous stars located behind HCl2. Inclined disks exhibit intrinsic NIR polarization due to scattering of photospheric light which is detectable even for unresolved systems. After removing polarization contributions from magnetically aligned dust in HCl2 determined from the background star information, significant intrinsic polarization was detected from the disk systems of of one BD (ITG~17) and both YSOs (ITG~15, ITG~25), but not from the other BD (2M0444). The ITG~17 BD shows good agreement of the disk orientation inferred from the NIR and from published ALMA dust continuum imaging. ITG~17 was also found to reside in a 5,200~au wide binary (or hierarchical quad star system) with the ITG~15 YSO disk system. The inferred disk orientations from the NIR for ITG~15 and ITG~17 are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the local magnetic field direction. The multiplicity of the system and the large BD disk nature could have resulted from formation in an environment characterized by misalignment of the magnetic field and the protostellar disks.

We present long-term numerical three-dimensional simulations of a relativistic outflow propagating through a galactic ambient medium and environment, up to distances $\sim 100$~kpc. Our aim is to study the role of dense media in the global dynamics of the radio source. We use a relativistic gas equation of state, and a basic description of thermal cooling terms. In previous work, we showed that a linear perturbation could enhance the jet propagation during the early phases of evolution, by introducing obliquity to the jet reverse shock. Here, we show that this effect is reduced in denser media. We find that the \emph{dentist-drill} effect acts earlier, due to slower jet propagation and an increased growth of the helical instability. The global morphology of the jet is less elongated, with more prominent lobes. The fundamental physical parameters of the jet generated structure derived from our simulations fall within the estimated values derived for FRII jets in the 3C sample. In agreement with previous axisymmetric and three dimensional simulations in lower density media, we conclude that shock heating of the interstellar and intergalactic media is very efficient in the case of powerful, relativistic jets.

The measurements of Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies made by the Planck satellite provide extremely tight upper bounds on the total neutrino mass scale ($\Sigma m_{\nu}<0.26 eV$ at $95\%$ C.L.). However, as recently discussed in the literature, Planck data show anomalies that could affect this result. Here we provide new constraints on neutrino masses using the recent and complementary CMB measurements from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope DR4 and the South Polar Telescope SPT-3G experiments. We found that both the ACT-DR4 and SPT-3G data, when combined with WMAP, mildly suggest a neutrino mass with $\Sigma m_{\nu}=0.68 \pm 0.31$ eV and $\Sigma m_{\nu}=0.46_{-0.36}^{+0.14}$ eV at $68 \%$ C.L, respectively. Moreover, when CMB lensing from the Planck experiment is included, the ACT-DR4 data now indicates a neutrino mass above the two standard deviations, with $\Sigma m_{\nu}=0.60_{-0.50}^{+0.44}$ eV at $95 \%$, while WMAP+SPT-3G provides a weak upper limit of $\Sigma m_{\nu}<0.37$ eV at $68 \%$ C.L.. Interestingly, these results are consistent with the Planck CMB+Lensing constraint of $\Sigma m_{\nu} = 0.41_{-0.25}^{+0.17}$ eV at $68 \%$ C.L. when variation in the $A_{\rm lens}$ parameter are considered. We also show that these indications are still present after the inclusion of BAO or SN-Ia data in extended cosmologies that are usually considered to solve the so-called Hubble tension. A combination of ACT-DR4, WMAP, BAO and constraints on the Hubble constant from the SH0ES collaboration gives $\Sigma m_{\nu}=0.39^{+0.13}_{-0.25}$ eV at $68 \%$ C.L. in extended cosmologies. We conclude that a total neutrino mass above the $0.26$ eV limit still provides an excellent fit to several cosmological data and that future data must be considered before safely ruling it out.

The composition of the surface of the Galilean icy moons has been debated since the Galileo mission. Several chemistries have been proposed to explain the composition of the non-icy component of the moon's surfaces, notably, sulphuric acid hydrates and magnesium and sodium sulphates. More recently, magnesium and sodium chlorides have been proposed to explain features observed in ground-based observations. We have considered four salts (NaCl, Na2SO4, MgSO4 and MgCl2) with various concentrations, to produce salty ice analogues. Granular particles were produced by a flash-freezing procedure. Additionally, compact slabs of salty ices were produced by a slow crystallisation of salty liquid solution. These two methods mimic the end-members (plumes and slow ice block formation) for producing hydrated salty ices on the surface of icy moons such as Europa and Ganymede. We have monitored the near-infrared (NIR) evolution of our salty ices during sublimation, revealing differences between the granular particles and the slabs. The slabs formed a higher amount of hydrates and the most highly hydrated compounds. Granular ices must be formed from a more concentrated salty solution to increase the amount of hydrates within the ice particles. The sublimation of salty ices removed all excess water ice efficiently, but the dehydration of the salts was not observed. The final spectra of the slabs were most flattened around 1.5 and 2.0 {\mu}m, especially for the Na2SO4, MgCl2 and MgSO4, suggesting the presence of stable, highly hydrated compounds. We find that Na2SO4, MgCl2 and MgSO4 are most compatible with the non-icy component at the surface of the icy moons as observed by the NIMS instrument on Galileo and by ground-based observations.

The ASTROMOVES project studies the career moves and the career decision-making of astrophysicists. The astrophysicists participating have to have made at least two career moves after receiving their doctorates, which is usually between 4 and 8 years post PhD. ASTROMOVES is funded via the European Union and thus each participant must have worked or lived in Europe. Gender, ethnicity, nationality, marital status, and if they have children are some of the many factors for analysis. Other studies of the careers of astronomers and astrophysicists have taken survey approaches (Fohlmeister & Helling, 2012, 2014; Ivie et al., 2013; Ivie & White, 2015) laying a foundation upon which ASTROMOVES builds. For ASTROMOVES qualitative interviews are combined with publicly available information for the project, rather than surveys. Valuable information about career options and the decisions about where not to apply will be gathered for the first time. Those few studies that have used qualitative interviews often include both physicists and astrophysicists, nonetheless they have revealed issues that are important to ASTROMOVES such as the role of activism and the nuances of having children related to the long work hours culture (Ong, 2001; Rolin & Vainio, 2011). The global COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down the project; however, at the time of this writing 20 interviews have been completed. These interviews support previous research findings on how having a family plays an important role in career decision making, as well as the importance of mobility in building a career in astrophysics. Cultural Astronomy spans all aspects of the relationship between humans and the sky as well as all times ancient to the present; and thus, studying astronomers & astrophysicists who have a professional relationship to the sky is part of cultural astronomy, too.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be launched in December 2021, with four instruments to perform imaging and spectroscopy. This paper presents work which is part of the Early Release Science (ERS) program "PDRs4All" aimed at observing the Orion Bar. It focuses on the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) imaging which will be performed as part of this project. The aim of this paper is to illustrate a methodology to simulate observations of an extended source that is similar to the Orion Bar with NIRCam, and to run the pipeline on these simulated observations. These simulations provide us with a clear idea of the observations that will be obtained, based on the "Astronomer's proposal tool" settings. The analysis also provides an assessment of the risks of saturation. The methodology presented in this document can be applied for JWST observing programs of extended objects containing bright point sources, e.g. for observations of nebulae or nearby galaxies.

We present detailed investigation of a specific $i$-band light-curve feature in Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) using the rapid cadence and high signal-to-noise ratio light-curves obtained by the Carnegie Supernova Project. The feature is present in most SNe Ia and emerges a few days after the $i$-band maximum. It is an abrupt change in curvature in the light-curve over a few days and appears as a flattening in mild cases and a strong downward concave shape, or a "kink", in the most extreme cases. We computed the second derivatives of Gaussian Process interpolations to study 54 rapid-cadence light-curves. From the second derivatives we measure: 1) the timing of the feature in days relative to $i$-band maximum; tdm$_{2}$($i$) and 2) the strength and direction of the concavity in mag d$^{-2}$ ; dm$_{2}$($i$). 76$\%$ of the SNe Ia show a negative dm$_{2}$($i$), representing a downward concavity - either a mild flattening or a strong "kink". The tdm$_{2}$($i$) parameter is shown to correlate with the color-stretch parameter s$_{\mathrm{BV}}$, a SN Ia primary parameter. The dm$_{2}$($i$) parameter shows no correlation with s$_{\mathrm{BV}}$ and therefore provides independent information. It is also largely independent of the spectroscopic and environmental properties. Dividing the sample based on the strength of the light-curve feature as measured by dm$_{2}$($i$), SNe Ia with strong features have a Hubble diagram dispersion of 0.107 mag, 0.075 mag smaller than the group with weak features. Although larger samples should be obtained to test this result, it potentially offers a new method for improving SN Ia distance determinations without shifting to more costly near-infrared or spectroscopic observations.

In this work we investigate the nature of multi-wavelength variability of blazars from a purely numerical approach. We use a time-dependent one-zone leptonic blazar emission model to simulate multi-wavelength variability by introducing stochastic parameter variations in the emission region. These stochastic parameter variations are generated by Monte Carlo methods and have a characteristic power law index of $\alpha=-2$ in their power spectral densities. We include representative blazar test cases for a flat spectrum radio quasar and a high synchrotron peaked BL Lacertae object for which the high energy component of the Spectral Energy Distribution is dominated by external Compton and synchrotron self-Compton emission, respectively. The simulated variability is analyzed in order to characterise the distinctions between the two blazar cases and the physical parameters driving the variability. We show that the variability's power spectrum is closely related to underlying stochastic parameter variations for both cases. Distinct differences between the different progenitor variations are present in the multi-wavelength cross-correlation functions.

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

We present the identification and analysis of an unbiased sample of AGN that lie within the local galaxy population. Using the MPA-JHU catalogue (based on SDSS DR8) and 3XMM DR7 we define a parent sample of 25,949 local galaxies ($z \leq 0.33$). After confirming that there was strictly no AGN light contaminating stellar mass and star-formation rate calculations, we identified 917 galaxies with central, excess X-ray emission likely originating from an AGN. We analysed their optical emission lines using the BPT diagnostic and confirmed that such techniques are more effective at reliably identifying sources as AGN in higher mass galaxies: rising from 30% agreement in the lowest mass bin to 93% in the highest. We then calculated the growth rates of the black holes powering these AGN in terms of their specific accretion rates ($\propto L_X/M_*$). Our sample exhibits a wide range of accretion rates, with the majority accreting at rates $\leq 0.5\%$ of their Eddington luminosity. Finally, we used our sample to calculate the incidence of AGN as a function of stellar mass and redshift. After correcting for the varying sensitivity of 3XMM, we split the galaxy sample by stellar mass and redshift and investigated the AGN fraction as a function of X-ray luminosity and specific black hole accretion rate. From this we found the fraction of galaxies hosting AGN above a fixed specific accretion rate limit of $10^{-3.5}$ is constant (at $\approx 1\%$) over stellar masses of $8 < \log \mathrm{M_*/M_\odot} < 12$ and increases (from $\approx 1\%$ to $10\%$) with redshift.

Weak gravitational lensing is one of the few direct methods to map the dark-matter distribution on large scales in the Universe, and to estimate cosmological parameters. We study a Bayesian inference problem where the data covariance $\mathbf{C}$, estimated from a number $n_{\textrm{s}}$ of numerical simulations, is singular. In a cosmological context of large-scale structure observations, the creation of a large number of such $N$-body simulations is often prohibitively expensive. Inference based on a likelihood function often includes a precision matrix, $\Psi = \mathbf{C}^{-1}$. The covariance matrix corresponding to a $p$-dimensional data vector is singular for $p \ge n_{\textrm{s}}$, in which case the precision matrix is unavailable. We propose the likelihood-free inference method Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) as a solution that circumvents the inversion of the singular covariance matrix. We present examples of increasing degree of complexity, culminating in a realistic cosmological scenario of the determination of the weak-gravitational lensing power spectrum for the upcoming European Space Agency satellite Euclid. While we found the ABC parameter estimate variances to be mildly larger compared to likelihood-based approaches, which are restricted to settings with $p < n_{\textrm{s}}$, we obtain unbiased parameter estimates with ABC even in extreme cases where $p / n_{\textrm{s}} \gg 1$. The code has been made publicly available to ensure the reproducibility of the results.

The recently proposed "dynamically driven double-degenerate double-detonation" (D6) scenario posits that Type Ia supernovae (SNe) may occur during dynamically unstable mass transfer between two white dwarfs (WDs) in a binary. This scenario predicts that the donor WD may then survive the explosion and be released as a hypervelocity runaway, opening up the exciting possibility of identifying remnant stars from D6 SNe and using them to study the physics of detonations that produce Type Ia SNe. Three candidate D6 runaway objects have been identified in Gaia data. The observable runaway velocity of these remnant objects represents their orbital speed at the time of SN detonation. The orbital dynamics and Roche lobe geometry required in the D6 scenario place specific constraints on the radius and mass of the donor WD that becomes the hypervelocity runaway. In this letter, we calculate the radii required for D6 donor WDs as a function of the runaway velocity. Using mass-radius relations for WDs, we then constrain the masses of the donor stars as well. With measured velocities for each of the three D6 candidate objects based on Gaia EDR3, this work provides a new probe of the masses and mass ratios in WD binary systems that produce SN detonations and hypervelocity runaways.

The Chandra Deep Field-South and North surveys (CDFs) provide unique windows into the cosmic history of X-ray emission from normal (non-active) galaxies. Scaling relations of normal galaxy X-ray luminosity (L_X) with star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass (M_star) have been used to show that the formation rates of low-mass and high-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs and HMXBs, respectively) evolve with redshift across z = 0-2 following L_HMXB/SFR ~ 1 + z and L_LMXB/M_star ~ (1 + z)^{2-3}. However, these measurements alone do not directly reveal the physical mechanisms behind the redshift evolution of X-ray binaries (XRBs). We derive star-formation histories for a sample of 344 normal galaxies in the CDFs, using spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of FUV-to-FIR photometric data, and construct a self-consistent, age-dependent model of the X-ray emission from the galaxies. Our model quantifies how X-ray emission from hot gas and XRB populations vary as functions of host stellar-population age. We find that (1) the ratio L_X/M_star declines by a factor of ~1000 from 0-10 Gyr and (2) the X-ray SED becomes harder with increasing age, consistent with a scenario in which the hot gas contribution to the X-ray SED declines quickly for ages above 10 Myr. When dividing our sample into subsets based on metallicity, we find some indication that L_X/M_star is elevated for low-metallicity galaxies, consistent with recent studies of X-ray scaling relations. However, additional statistical constraints are required to quantify both the age and metallicity dependence of X-ray emission from star-forming galaxies.

Venus' mass and radius are similar to those of Earth. However, dissimilarities in atmospheric properties, geophysical activity and magnetic field generation could hint towards significant differences in the chemical composition and interior evolution of the two planets. Although various explanations for the differences between Venus and Earth have been proposed, the currently available data are insufficient to discriminate among the different solutions. Here we investigate the possible range of Venus structure models. We assume that core segregation happened as a single-stage event. The mantle composition is inferred from the core composition using a prescription for metal-silicate partitioning. We consider three different cases for the composition of Venus defined via the bulk Si and Mg content, and the core's S content. Permissible ranges for the core size, mantle and core composition as well as the normalized moment of inertia (MoI) are presented for these compositions. A solid inner core could exist for all compositions. We estimate that Venus' MoI is 0.317-0.351 and its core size 2930-4350 km for all assumed compositions. Higher MoI values correspond to more oxidizing conditions during core segregation. A determination of the abundance of FeO in Venus' mantle by future missions could further constrain its composition and internal structure. This can reveal important information on Venus' formation and evolution, and possibly, the reasons for the differences between Venus and our home planet.

The NASA InSight mission payload includes the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package HP^3 to measure the surface heat flow. The package was designed to use a small penetrator - nicknamed the mole - to implement a string of temperature sensors in the soil to a depth of 5m. The mole itself is equipped with sensors to measure a thermal conductivity as it proceeds to depth. The heat flow would be calculated from the product of the temperature gradient and the thermal conductivity. To avoid the perturbation caused by annual surface temperature variations, the measurements would be taken at a depth between 3 m and 5 m. The mole was designed to penetrate cohesionless soil similar to Quartz sand which was expected to provide a good analogue material for Martian sand. The sand would provide friction to the buried mole hull to balance the remaining recoil of the mole hammer mechanism that drives the mole forward. Unfortunately, the mole did not penetrate more than a mole length of 40 cm. The failure to penetrate deeper was largely due to a few tens of centimeter thick cohesive duricrust that failed to provide the required friction. Although a suppressor mass and spring in the hammer mechanism absorbed much of the recoil, the available mass did not allow a system that would have eliminated the recoil. The mole penetrated to 40 cm depth benefiting from friction provided by springs in the support structure from which it was deployed. It was found in addition that the Martian soil provided unexpected levels of penetration resistance that would have motivated to designing a more powerful mole. It is concluded that more mass would have allowed to design a more robust system with little or no recoil, more energy of the mole hammer mechanism and a more massive support structure.

The Genetically Evolved NEutrino Telescopes for Improved Sensitivity, or GENETIS, project seeks to optimize detectors in physics for science outcomes in high dimensional parameter spaces. In this project, we designed an antenna using a genetic algorithm with a science outcome directly as the sole figure of merit. This paper presents initial results on the improvement of an antenna design for in ice neutrino detectors using the current Askaryan Radio Array, or ARA, experiment as a baseline. By optimizing for the effective volume using the evolved antenna design in ARA, we improve upon ARAs simulated sensitivity to ultra high energy neutrinos by 22 percent, despite using limited parameters in this initial investigation. Future improvements will continue to increase the computational efficiency of the genetic algorithm and the complexity and fitness of the antenna designs. This work lays the foundation for continued research and development of methods to increase the sensitivity of detectors in physics and other fields in parameter spaces of high dimensionality.

Understanding how the Galactic magnetic field threads the multi-phase interstellar medium (ISM) remains a considerable challenge, as different magnetic field tracers probe dissimilar phases and field components. We search for evidence of a common magnetic field shared between the ionized and neutral ISM by comparing 1.4 GHz radio continuum polarization and HI line emission from the Galactic Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Continuum Transit Survey (GALFACTS) and Galactic Arecibo L-Band Feed Array HI (GALFA-HI) survey, respectively. We compute the polarization gradient of the continuum emission and search for associations with diffuse/translucent HI structures. The polarization gradient is sensitive to changes in the integrated product of the thermal electron density and line-of-sight field strength ($B_\parallel$) in warm ionized gas, while narrow HI structures highlight the plane-of-sky field orientation in cold neutral gas. We identified one region in the high-Galactic latitude Arecibo sky, G216+26 centered on $(\ell,b)\sim(216\deg,+26\deg)$, containing filaments in the polarization gradient that are aligned with narrow HI structures roughly parallel to the Galactic plane. We present a comparison of multi-phase observations and magnetic field tracers of this region, demonstrating that the warm ionized and cold neutral media are connected likely via a common magnetic field. We quantify the physical properties of a polarization gradient filament associated with H$\alpha$ emission, measuring a line-of-sight field strength $B_\parallel=6{\pm}4 \mu$G and a plasma beta $\beta=2.1^{+3.1}_{-2.1}$. We discuss the lack of widespread multi-phase magnetic field alignments and consider whether this region is associated with a short-timescale or physically rare phenomenon. This work highlights the utility of multi-tracer analyses for understanding the magnetized ISM.

Since it was proposed the exomoon candidate Kepler-1625 b-I changed the way we see satellite systems. Because of its unusual physical characteristics, many questions about the stability and origin of this candidate were raised. Currently, we have enough theoretical studies to assure that if Kepler-1625 b-I is indeed confirmed, it will be stable. The origin of this candidate was also explored. Previous works indicated that the most likely scenario is capture, even though conditions for in situ formation were also investigated. In this work, we assume that Kepler-1625 b-I is an exomoon and studied the possibility of an additional, massive exomoon being stable in the same system. To model this scenario we perform N-body simulations of a system including the planet, Kepler-1625 b-I and one extra Earth-like satellite. Based on previous results, the satellites in our system will be exposed to tidal interactions with the planet and gravitation effects due to the rotation of the planet. We found that the satellite system around Kepler-1625 b is capable of harbouring two massive satellites. The extra Earth-like satellite would be stable in different locations between the planet and Kepler-1625 b-I, with a preference for regions inside $25$ $R_p$. Our results suggest that the strong tidal interactions between the planet and the satellites is an important mechanism to assure the stability of satellites in circular orbits closer to the planet, while the 2:1 mean motion resonance between the Earth-like satellite and Kepler-1625 b-I would provide stability for satellites in wider orbits.

We use separate universe simulations with the IllustrisTNG galaxy formation model to predict the local PNG bias parameters $b_\phi$ and $b_{\phi\delta}$ of atomic neutral hydrogen, ${\rm H_I}$. These parameters and their relation to the linear density bias parameter $b_1$ play a key role in observational constraints of the local PNG parameter $f_{\rm NL}$ using the ${\rm H_I}$ power spectrum and bispectrum. Our results show that the popular calculation based on the universality of the halo mass function overpredicts the $b_\phi(b_1)$ and $b_{\phi\delta}(b_1)$ relations measured in the simulations. In particular, our results show that at $z \lesssim 1$ the ${\rm H_I}$ power spectrum is more sensitive to $f_{\rm NL}$ compared to previously thought ($b_\phi$ is more negative), but is less sensitive at other epochs ($b_\phi$ is less positive). We discuss how this can be explained by the competition of physical effects such as that large-scale gravitational potentials with local PNG (i) accelerate the conversion of hydrogen to heavy elements by star formation, (ii) enhance the effects of baryonic feedback that eject the gas to regions more exposed to ionizing radiation, and (iii) promote the formation of denser structures that shield the ${\rm H_I}$ more efficiently. Our numerical results can be used to revise existing forecast studies on $f_{\rm NL}$ using 21cm line-intensity mapping data. Despite this first step towards predictions for the local PNG bias parameters of ${\rm H_I}$, we emphasize that more work is needed to assess their sensitivity on the assumed galaxy formation physics and ${\rm H_I}$ modeling strategy.

We analyze Hamiltonian equivalence between Jordan and Einstein frames considering a mini-superspace model of flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) Universe in Brans-Dicke theory. Hamiltonian equations of motion are derived in the Jordan, Einstein, and in the anti-gravity (or anti-Newtonian) frames. We show that applying the Weyl (conformal) transformations to the equations of motion in the Einstein frame we did not get the equations of motion in the Jordan frame. Vice-versa, we re-obtain the equations of motion in the Jordan frame applying the anti-gravity inverse transformation to the equation of motion in the anti-gravity frame.

We study the formation and evolution of topological defects that arise in the post-recombination phase transition predicted by the gravitational neutrino mass model in [Dvali, Funcke, 2016]. In the transition, global skyrmions, monopoles, strings, and domain walls form due to the spontaneous breaking of the neutrino flavor symmetry. These defects are unique in their softness and origin, as they appear at a very low energy scale, they only require Standard Model particle content, and they differ fundamentally depending on the Majorana or Dirac nature of the neutrinos. One of the observational signatures is the time- and space-dependence of the neutrino mass matrix, which could be observable in future experiments such as DUNE or in the event of a near-future galactic supernova explosion. Already existing data rules out parts of the parameter space in the Majorana case. The detection of this effect could shed light onto the open question of the Dirac versus Majorana neutrino nature.

The sky localization of the gravitational wave (GW) source is an important scientific objective for GW observations. A network of space-based GW detectors dramatically improves the sky localization accuracy compared with an individual detector not only in the inspiral stage but also in the ringdown stage. It is interesting to explore what plays an important role in the improvement. We find that the angle between the detector planes dominates the improvement, and the time delay is the next important factor. A detector network can dramatically improve the source localization for short signals and long signals with most contributions to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) coming from a small part of the signal in a short time, and the more SNR contributed by smaller parts, the better improvement by the network. We also find the effect of the arm length in the transfer function is negligible for the detector network.

The tension between the Hubble constant obtained from the local measurements and from cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements motivated us to consider the cosmological model beyond $\Lambda$CDM one. We investigate the cosmology in the large scale Lorentz violation model with non-vanishing spatial curvature. The degeneracy among spatial curvature, cosmological constant and cosmological contortion distribution makes the model viable in describing the known observation date. We get some constraints on the spatial curvature by the comparison of the relation between measured distance modulus and red-shift with the predicted one, the evolution of matter density over time and the evolution of effective cosmological constant. The performance of large scale Lorentz violation model with non-vanishing spatial curvature under these constrains is discussed.

Digital Frequency-Domain Multiplexing (DfMux) is a technique that uses MHz superconducting resonators and Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) arrays to read out sets of Transition Edge Sensors. DfMux has been used by several Cosmic Microwave Background experiments, including most recently POLARBEAR-2 and SPT-3G with multiplexing factors as high as 68, and is the baseline readout technology for the planned satellite mission LiteBIRD. Here, we present recent work focused on improving DfMux readout noise, reducing parasitic impedance, and improving sensor operation. We have achieved a substantial reduction in stray impedance by integrating the sensors, resonators, and SQUID array onto a single carrier board operated at 250 mK. This also drastically simplifies the packaging of the cryogenic components and leads to better-controlled crosstalk. We demonstrate a low readout noise level of 8.6 pA/Hz$^{-1/2}$, which was made possible by operating the SQUID array at a reduced temperature and with a low dynamic impedance. This is a factor of two improvement compared to the achieved readout noise level in currently operating Cosmic Microwave Background experiments using DfMux and represents a critical step toward maturation of the technology for the next generation of instruments.

This article will review quantum particle creation in expanding universes. The emphasis will be on the basic physical principles and on selected applications to cosmological models. The needed formalism of quantum field theory in curved spacetime will be summarized, and applied to the example of scalar particle creation in a spatially flat universe. Estimates for the creation rate will be given and applied to inflationary cosmology models. Analog models which illustrate the same physical principles and may be experimentally realizable are also discussed.

Although the gravity dependence of granular friction is crucial to understand various natural phenomena, its precise characterization is difficult. We propose a method to characterize granular friction under various gravity (body force) conditions controlled by centrifugal force; specifically, the deformation of a rotated granular pile was measured. To understand the mechanics governing the observed nontrivial deformation of this pile, we introduced an analytic model considering local force balance. The excellent agreement between the experimental data and theoretical model suggests that the deformation is simply governed by the net body force (sum of gravity and centrifugal force) and friction angle. The body-force dependence of granular friction was precisely measured from the experimental results. The results reveal that the grain shape affects the degree of body-force dependence of the granular friction.

In this work we introduce a novel approach to the pulsar classification problem in time-domain radio astronomy using a Born machine, often referred to as a \emph{quantum neural network}. Using a single-qubit architecture, we show that the pulsar classification problem maps well to the Bloch sphere and that comparable accuracies to more classical machine learning approaches are achievable. We introduce a novel single-qubit encoding for the pulsar data used in this work and show that this performs comparably to a multi-qubit QAOA encoding.

The mechanisms and pathways of magnetic energy conversion are an important subject for many laboratory, space and astrophysical systems. Here, we present a perspective on magnetic energy conversion in MHD through magnetic field curvature relaxation (CR) and perpendicular expansion (PE) due to magnetic pressure gradients, and quantify their relative importance in two representative cases, namely 3D magnetic reconnection and 3D kink-driven instability in an astrophysical jet. We find that the CR and PE processes have different temporal and spatial evolution in these systems. The relative importance of the two processes tends to reverse as the system enters the nonlinear stage from the instability growth stage. Overall, the two processes make comparable contributions to the magnetic energy conversion with the PE process somewhat stronger than the CR process. We further explore how these energy conversion terms can be related to particle energization in these systems.

We present a scalar-tensor gravity that achieves slow-roll inflation leaving right amount of dark energy and dark matter in the present universe consistent with observations; $O({\rm a \; few\; meV})^4$. The key for simultaneous realization of dark energy and dark matter is a mechanism of bifurcated symmetry breaking in a multi-scalar field sector that separates dark matter from dark energy with cosmological evolution. Proposed theories are made consistent with general relativity tests at small cosmological distances, yet are different from general relativity at cosmological scales. Cosmological bifurcation of symmetry breaking may be triggered by the spontaneous breaking of electroweak SU(2) $\times $ U(1) gauge symmetry, hence the separation occurring simultaneously at the electroweak phase transition. The inevitable consequence of a theory using SU(2) $\times $ U(1) doublet for dark scalars is existence of bound state of ultralight charged pairs left over to the present universe, annihilating into two photons that might have escaped detection due to its very long wavelength, for instance, in a range $100 \sim 1000 $ km. How to experimentally falsify or verify these models in laboratories is also discussed.

We have studied quasi-periodic oscillations frequencies in a rotating black hole in Einstein-bumblebee gravity by relativistic precession model. We find that in the case with non-zero spin parameter both of the periastron and nodal precession frequencies increase with the Lorentz symmetry breaking parameter, but the azimuthal frequency decreases. In the non-rotating black hole case, the nodal precession frequency disappears for arbitrary Lorentz symmetry breaking parameter. With the observation data of GRO J1655-40, we constrain the parameters of the rotating black hole in Einstein-bumblebee gravity, and find that the Lorentz symmetry breaking parameter is negative in the range of $3 \sigma$. The negative breaking parameter, comparing with the usual Kerr black hole, leads to that the rotating black hole in Einstein-bumblebee gravity owns the higher Hawking temperature and the stronger Hawking radiation, but the lower possibility of exacting energy by Penrose process.

Power in density fluctuations at frequencies to 10,000 Hz have been determined through least squares fits of a function of the spacecraft potential to the plasma density measured on the Parker Solar Probe. The break in the -5/3 electric field and density spectra at kinetic scales is not well measured in the presence of higher frequency electrostatic waves that contain both electric field and density fluctions of a few percent. An example of such fluctuations in triggered ion acoustic waves is presented.

The solar gravitational lens (SGL) offers unique capabilities for high-resolution imaging of faint, distant objects, such as exoplanets. In the near future, a spacecraft carrying a meter-class telescope with a solar coronagraph would be placed in the focal region of the SGL. That region begins at ~547 astronomical units from the Sun and occupies the vicinity of the target-specific primary optical axis - the line that connects the center of the target and that of the Sun. This axis undergoes complex motion as the exoplanet orbits its host star, as that star moves with respect to the Sun, and even as the Sun itself moves with respect to the solar system's barycenter due to the gravitational pull of planets in our solar system. An image of an extended object is projected by the SGL into an image plane and moves within that plane, responding to the motion of the optical axis. To sample the image, a telescope must follow the projection with precise knowledge of its own position with respect to the image. We consider the dominant motions that determine the position of the focal line as a function of time. We evaluate the needed navigational capability for the telescope to conduct a multiyear exoplanet imaging mission. We show that even in a rather conservative case, when an Earth-like exoplanet is in our stellar neighborhood at $\sim10$ light years, the motion of the image is characterized by a small total acceleration $\sim 6.1\,\mu {\rm m/s}^2$ that is driven primarily by the orbital motion of the exoplanet and by the reflex motion of our Sun. We discuss how the amplified light of the host star allows establishing a local reference frame thus relaxing navigational requirements. We conclude that the required navigation in the SGL's focal region, although complex, can be accurately modeled and a $\sim 10$-year imaging mission is achievable with the already available propulsion technology.

The exchange of a pair of neutrinos between two objects, seperated by a distance $r$, leads to a long-range effective potential proportional to $1/r_{}^5$, assuming massless neutrinos and four-fermion contact interactions. In this paper, we investigate how this known form of neutrino-mediated potentials might be altered if the distance $r$ is sufficiently short, corresponding to a sufficiently large momentum transfer which could invalidate the contact interactions. We consider two possible scenarios to open up the contact interactions by introducing a $t$-channel or an $s$-channel mediator. We derive a general formula that is valid to describe the potential in all regimes as long as the external particles remain non-relativistic. In both scenarios, the potential decreases as $1/r_{}^5$ in the long-range limit as expected. In the short-range limit, the $t$-channel potential exhibits the Coulomb-like behavior (i.e. proportional to $1/r$), while the $s$-channel potential exhibits $1/r_{}^4$ and $1/r_{}^2$ behaviors.