Papers for Thursday, Mar 31 2022

We use Chandra X-ray data and Very Large Array radio observations for a sample of 20 nearby, massive, X-ray bright, early-type galaxies to investigate the relation between the Bondi accretion rates and the mechanical jet powers. We find a strong correlation ($\rho = 0.96$; BF$_{10} > 100$) between the Bondi accretion power, $P_{\text{Bondi}}$, and mechanical jet power, $P_{\text{jet}}$, for a subsample of 14 galaxies, which also host cool H$\alpha$+[NII] line emitting gas and thus likely have thermally unstable atmospheres. The results indicate that in all galaxies with thermally unstable atmospheres the cooling atmospheric gas feeds the central black holes at a similar jet-to-Bondi power ratio. For five out of six galaxies with no signs of H$\alpha$+[NII] emission, however, the behaviour is different and the jet-to-Bondi power ratio is lower by 1-2 orders of magnitude. We also investigate the dependence of jet power on individual quantities in the Bondi formula such as the supermassive black hole mass ($M_{\bullet}$) and the specific entropy of the gas ($K$) at the Bondi radius. For the subsample of H$\alpha$+[NII] emitting galaxies, we find a very tight correlation of $P_{\text{jet}}$ with $M_{\bullet}$ ($\rho = 0.92$; BF$_{10} > 100$) and, although poorly constrained, a hint of an anti-correlation for $P_{\text{jet}}$ and $K$ ($\rho = -0.46$; BF$_{10} = 1.2$).

We present a high-resolution study of the cold molecular gas as traced by CO(1-0) in the unlensed z$\sim$3.4 submillimeter galaxy SMM J13120+4242, using multi-configuration observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA). The gas reservoir, imaged on 0.39" ($\sim$3 kpc) scales, is resolved into two components separated by $\sim$11 kpc with a total extent of 16 $\sim$3 kpc. Despite the large spatial extent of the reservoir, the observations show a CO(1-0) FWHM linewidth of only 267 $\pm$ 64 km s$^{-1}$. We derive a revised line luminosity of L'$_\mathrm{CO(1-0)}$ = (10 $\pm$ 3) $\times$ 10$^{10}$ K km s$^{-1}$ pc$^2$ and a molecular gas mass of M$_\mathrm{gas}$ = (13 $\pm$ 3) $\times$ 10$^{10}$ ($\alpha_\mathrm{CO}$/1) M$_{\odot}$. Despite the presence of a velocity gradient (consistent with previous resolved CO(6-5) imaging), the CO(1-0) imaging shows evidence for significant turbulent motions which are preventing the gas from fully settling into a disk. The system likely represents a merger in an advanced stage. Although the dynamical mass is highly uncertain, we use it to place an upper limit on the CO-to-H$_2$ mass conversion factor $\alpha_\mathrm{CO}$ of 1.4. We revisit the SED fitting, finding that this galaxy lies on the very massive end of the main sequence at z = 3.4. Based on the low gas fraction, short gas depletion time and evidence for a central AGN, we propose that SMM J13120 is in a rapid transitional phase between a merger-driven starburst and an unobscured quasar. The case of SMM J13120 highlights the how mergers may drive important physical changes in galaxies without pushing them off the main sequence.

We present hydrodynamical simulations of galactic winds from star-forming galaxies including non-equilibrium ionization and frequency-dependent radiative transfer, processes that have remained largely unaccounted for in galactic wind studies. We consider radiation from massive stars, the metagalactic UV/X-ray background, and the self-radiation of the supernovae heated gas. We compare our results to classical galactic wind solutions and show the importance of our newly included physical processes toward observations of ions such as O III, O VI, O VII and O VIII plus the observable soft X-ray spectra. Non-equilibrium ionization is reflected in over-ionized gas compared to equilibrium solutions, leading to much enhanced column densities of highly ionized species. The wind produces excess soft X-ray ($E\gtrsim 100$ eV) radiation that is several orders of magnitude higher compared to the metagalactic background. This radiation ionizes the higher ions (such as O VII) somewhat, but affects the lower ions (such as O III) significantly. We predict that the observable X-ray spectra should contain the signatures of such non-equilibrium effects, especially in X-ray lines such as O VII and O VIII. Simple estimates suggest that both the temperature and density of the winds may be overestimated by factors of a few to almost 2 orders of magnitude using simple equilibrium models. We conclude that both the non-equilibrium ionization and the radiation from the wind itself need to be considered for proper modeling of the optical/UV/X-ray emitting plasma in galactic winds.

The origin of the quenching in galaxies is still highly debated. Different scenarios and processes are proposed. We use multi-band (400-1600 nm) bulge-disc decompositions of massive galaxies in the redshift range 0<z<2 to explore the distribution and the evolution of galaxies in the log SFR-logM* plane as a function of the stellar mass-weighted bulge-to-total ratio (BTM) and also for internal galaxy components (bulge/disc) separately. We find evidence of a clear link between the presence of a bulge and the flattening of the Main Sequence in the high-mass end. All bulgeless galaxies (BTM<0.2) lie on the main-sequence, and there is little evidence of a quenching channel without bulge growth. Galaxies with a significant bulge component (BTM>0.2) are equally distributed in number between star forming and passive regions. The vast majority of bulges in the Main Sequence galaxies are quiescent, while star formation is localized in the disc component. Our current findings underline a strong correlation between the presence of the bulge and the star formation state of the galaxy. A bulge, if present, is often quiescent, independently of the morphology or the star formation activity of the host galaxy. Additionally, if a galaxy is quiescent, with a large probability, is hosting a bulge. Conversely, if the galaxy has a disky shape is highly probable to be star forming.

We report the discovery of ancient massive merger events in the early-type galaxies NGC 1380 and NGC 1427 in the Fornax galaxy cluster. Both galaxies are observed by the MUSE IFU instrument on the VLT, as part of the Fornax3D project. By fitting recently-developed population-orbital superposition models to the observed surface brightness as well as stellar kinematic, age, and metallicity maps, we obtain the stellar orbits, age and metallicity distributions of each galaxy. We then decompose each galaxy into multiple orbital-based components, including a dynamically hot inner stellar halo component which is identified as the relic of past massive mergers. By comparing to analogues from cosmological galaxy simulations, chiefly TNG50, we find that the formation of such a hot inner stellar halo requires the merger with a now-destroyed massive satellite galaxy of $3.7_{-1.5}^{+2.7} \times 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ (about 1/5 of its current stellar mass) and of $1.5_{-0.7}^{+1.6} \times10^{10} M_{\odot}$ (about 1/4 of its current stellar mass) in the case of NGC 1380 and NGC 1427, respectively. Moreover, we infer that the last massive merger in NGC 1380 happened $\sim10$ Gyr ago based on the stellar age distribution of the re-grown dynamically cold disk, whereas the merger in NGC 1427 ended $t\lesssim 8$ Gyr ago based on the stellar populations in its hot inner stellar halo. The major merger event in NGC 1380 is the first one with both merger mass and merger time quantitatively inferred in a galaxy beyond the Local Volume. Moreover, it is the oldest and most massive one uncovered in nearby galaxies so far.

We report a dramatic fast X-ray dimming event in a z=2.627 radio-quiet type 1 quasar, which has an estimated supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass of $6.3\times 10^{9} M_\odot$. In the high X-ray state, it showed a typical level of X-ray emission relative to its UV/optical emission. Then its 0.5-2 keV (rest-frame 1.8-7.3 keV) flux dropped by a factor of $\approx7.6$ within two rest-frame days. The dimming is associated with spectral hardening, as the 2-7 keV (rest-frame 7.3-25.4 keV) flux dropped by only $17\%$ and the effective power-law photon index of the X-ray spectrum changed from $\approx2.3$ to $\approx0.9$. The quasar has an infrared (IR)-to-UV spectral energy distribution and a rest-frame UV spectrum similar to those of typical quasars, and it does not show any significant long-term variability in the IR and UV/optical bands. Such an extremely fast and large-amplitude X-ray variability event has not been reported before in luminous quasars with such massive SMBHs. The X-ray dimming is best explained by a fast-moving absorber crossing the line of sight and fully covering the X-ray emitting corona. Adopting a conservatively small size of $5 {G} M_{\rm BH}/c^2$ for the X-ray corona, the transverse velocity of the absorber is estimated to be $\approx 0.9c$. The quasar is likely accreting with a high or even super-Eddington accretion rate, and the high-velocity X-ray absorber is probably related to a powerful accretion-disk wind. Such an energetic wind may eventually evolve into a massive galactic-scale outflow, providing efficient feedback to the host galaxy.

We present a multi-wavelength study of the molecular gas properties of a sample of local Seyfert 2 galaxies to assess if, and to what extent, the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) can affect the Interstellar Medium (ISM) properties in a sample of 33 local Seyfert 2 galaxies. We compare the molecular gas content (MH2), derived from new and archival low-J CO line measurements of a sample of AGN and a control sample of star-forming galaxies (SFGs). Both the AGN and the control sample are characterised in terms of host-galaxy properties (e.g., stellar and dust masses, Mstar and Mdust, respectively; and star formation rate, SFR). We also investigate the effect of AGN activity onto the emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules in the mid-infrared (MIR), a waveband where the dust-reprocessed emission from the obscured AGN contributes the most. The AGN hosted in less massive galaxies (i.e., log(Mstar/Msun)<10.5; log(Mdust/Msun)<7.5) show larger molecular gas content with respect to SFGs matched in stellar and dust mass. When comparing their depletion time(tdep~MH2/SFR), AGN show tdep~0.3-1.0 Gyr, similar to those observed in the control sample of SFGs. Seyfert 2 galaxies show fainter PAH luminosity at increasingly larger dominance of the nuclear activity in the MIR. We find no clear evidence for a systematic reduction of the molecular gas reservoir at galactic scale in Seyfert galaxies with respect to SFGs. This is in agreement with recent studies showing that molecular gas content only is reduced in regions of sub-kpc size, where the emission from the accreting supermassive black hole dominates. Nonetheless, we show that the impact of AGN activity on the ISM is clearly visible as suppression of the PAH luminosity.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has detected thousands of exoplanet candidates since 2018, most of which have yet to be confirmed. A key step in the confirmation process of these candidates is ruling out false positives through vetting. Vetting also eases the burden on follow-up observations, provides input for demographics studies, and facilitates training machine learning algorithms. Here we present the TESS Triple-9 (TT9) catalog -- a uniformly-vetted catalog containing dispositions for 999 exoplanet candidates listed on ExoFOP-TESS, known as TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs). The TT9 was produced using the Discovery And Vetting of Exoplanets pipeline, DAVE, and utilizing the power of citizen science as part of the Planet Patrol project. More than 70% of the TOIs listed in the TT9 pass our diagnostic tests, and are thus marked as true planetary candidates. We flagged 144 candidates as false positives, and identified 146 as potential false positives. At the time of writing, the TT9 catalog contains ~20% of the entire ExoFOP-TESS TOIs list, demonstrates the synergy between automated tools and citizen science, and represents the first stage of our efforts to vet all TOIs. The DAVE generated results are publicly available on ExoFOP-TESS.

The author has been fortunate to observe and participate in the rise of the field of solar energetic particles (SEPs), from the early abundance studies, to the contemporary paradigm of shock acceleration in large SEP events, and element abundance enhancements that are power laws in mass-to-charge ratios from H to Pb. Through painful evolution the "birdcage" model and the "solar-flare myth" came and went, leaving us with shock waves and solar jets that can interact as sources of SEPs.

We analyse 829,481 stars from the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) to extract variability periods. We utilise a generalisation of the autocorrelation function (the G-ACF), which applies to irregularly sampled time series data. We extract variability periods for 16,880 stars from late-A through to mid-M spectral types and periods between 0.1 and 130 days with no assumed variability model. We find variable signals associated with a number of astrophysical phenomena, including stellar rotation, pulsations and multiple-star systems. The extracted variability periods are compared with stellar parameters taken from Gaia DR2, which allows us to identify distinct regions of variability in the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram. We explore a sample of rotational main-sequence objects in period-colour space, in which we observe a dearth of rotation periods between 15 and 25 days. This 'bi-modality' was previously only seen in space-based data. We demonstrate that stars in sub-samples above and below the period gap appear to arise from a stellar population not significantly contaminated by excess multiple systems. We also observe a small population of long-period variable M-dwarfs, which highlight a departure from the predictions made by rotational evolution models fitted to solar-type main-sequence objects. The NGTS data spans a period and spectral type range that links previous rotation studies such as those using data from Kepler, K2 and MEarth.

We present an analysis of Chandra grating spectra of key helium-like line complexes to put constraints on the location with respect to the photosphere of the hottest ($T \gtrsim{6 \times 10^6}$ K) plasma in the wind of the O supergiant zeta Pup and to explore changes in the 18 years between two sets of observations of this star. We fit two models -- one empirical and one wind-shock-based -- to the S XV, Si XIII, and Mg XI line complexes and show that an origin in the wind flow, above $r \approx 1.5$ R$_{\ast}$, is strongly favored over an origin less than 0.3 R$_{\ast}$ above the photosphere ($r \lesssim 1.3$ R$_{\ast}$), especially in the more recent, very long-exposure data set. There is a modest increase in the line and continuum fluxes, line widths, wind absorption signatures, and of the hot plasma's distance from the photosphere in the 18 years since the first Chandra grating observation of zeta Pup. Both modes of modeling include the effects of dielectronic recombination satellite emission line blending on the helium-like complexes -- the first time this has been accounted for in the analysis of He-like line ratios in O stars.

X-ray emission detection in a galaxy is one of the efficient tools for selecting Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). However, many X-ray-selected AGNs are not easily selected as AGNs by their optical emission. These galaxies, so-called optically dull (OD) AGNs, are fascinating since their X-ray emission is bright even though the AGN signature in the optical regime is absent. In a deep multiwavelength survey over 2 deg$^2$ of the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field, we have looked for the OD AGNs using photometric, spectroscopic, and X-ray data. We identified 310 non-broad line sources with optical spectra as AGN using X-ray selection up to redshift $z\sim 1.5$. We inspected the spectra to check for any AGN signature in their optical emission lines: [Ne V] forbidden emission line, Mass Excitation diagram (MEx), color excitation diagram (TBT), and excess in [O II ] emission line. Finally, we found 48 AGNs show AGN signatures in the optical spectrum classified as narrow-line AGN and 180 AGNs that did not show any AGN signature as OD AGN sample. The simple explanation of OD AGN's nature is due to a bright host galaxy that dilutes the AGN light or dust materials obscuring the AGN light. The bright host galaxy dilution explains nearly $70\%$ of our OD AGN sample. At the same time, the dust material obscuration is unlikely for the main reason. By estimating the Eddington ratio, we also found that 95/180 of our OD AGNs have a lower accretion rate of $(\lambda_\text{Edd})\lesssim 10^{-2}$ than the typical AGN value. We expected the lower accretion rate sources that suffer from neither host galaxy dilution nor obscuration to have Radiatively Inefficient Flow (RIAF) in their accretion disk. Finally, nine sources have been identified to be most likely host the RIAF disk.

The mark weighted correlation function (MCF) $W(s,\mu)$ is a computationally efficient statistical measure which can probe clustering information beyond that of the conventional 2-point statistics. In this work, we extend the traditional mark weighted statistics by using powers of the density field gradient $|\nabla \rho/\rho|^\alpha$ as the weight, and use the angular dependence of the scale-averaged MCFs to constrain cosmological parameters. The analysis shows that the gradient based weighting scheme is statistically more powerful than the density based weighting scheme, while combining the two schemes together is more powerful than separately using either of them. Utilising the density weighted or the gradient weighted MCFs with $\alpha=0.5,\ 1$, we can strengthen the constraint on $\Omega_m$ by factors of 2 or 4, respectively, compared with the standard 2-point correlation function, while simultaneously using the MCFs of the two weighting schemes together can be $1.25$ times more statistically powerful than using the gradient weighting scheme alone. The mark weighted statistics may play an important role in cosmological analysis of future large-scale surveys. Many issues, including the possibility of using other types of weights, the influence of the bias on this statistics, as well as the usage of MCFs in the tomographic Alcock-Paczynski method, are worth further investigations.

We provide an update on the ongoing monitoring and study of the highly-relativistic double neutron star binary system PSR J1757-1854, a 21.5-ms pulsar in a highly eccentric, 4.4-hour orbit. The extreme nature of this pulsar's orbit allows it to probe a parameter space largely unexplored by other relativistic binary pulsars. For example, it displays one of the highest gravitational wave (GW) luminosities of any known binary pulsar, as well as the highest rate or orbital decay due to GW damping. PSR J1757-1854 is also notable in that it is an excellent candidate for exploring new tests of General Relativity and other gravitational theories, with possible measurements of both Lense-Thirring precession and relativistic orbital deformation (through the post-Keplerian parameter $\delta_\theta$) anticipated within the next 3-5 years. Here we present a summary of the latest interim results from the ongoing monitoring of this pulsar as part of an international, multi-telescope campaign. This includes an update of the pulsar's long-term timing and post-Keplerian parameters, new constraints on the pulsar's proper motion and corresponding Shklovskii kinematic correction, and new limits on the pulsar's geodetic precession as determined by monitoring for secular changes in the pulse profile. We also highlight prospects for future work, including an updated timeline on new relativistic tests following the introduction of MeerKAT observations.

Unparticle cosmology gives an unconventional outlook on the dark sector of cosmology, increasingly challenging $\Lambda\mbox{CDM}$ by $H_0$-tension. This model derives from a finite temperature broken conformal symmetry of radiation, described by a non-radiative correction with unknown sign in energy density. This symmetry breaking has a sign ambiguity, in which corrections about the IR fixed point are normal or tachyonic. While the first has been ruled out in a recent study, the latter possesses a late-time temperature $T_c\simeq 4\,T_{CMB}$ associated with $\Omega_{\cal U}\simeq 1$ ($\Omega_{\cal U} \simeq 10^4 \Omega_{CMB}$), where $T_{CMB}$ denotes the temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The CMB is hereby exposed to an enormous heat bath. The age of the Universe constrained by the globular clusters, independently puts a constraint on any heat exchange from unparticles to the CMB in $\Lambda\mbox{CDM}$. Accordingly, we estimate the cross section of unparticles interactions with CMB photons to be $\sigma_{\gamma \mathcal{U}} \lesssim 10^{-40}\ \mbox{m}^2=10^{-3}\ \mbox{nb}$. This bound is in the midway of photon-neutrino and photon-photon cross sections. It puts unparticles in late-time cosmology, if present, at the edge of the standard model.

The poleward migration of the active regions' magnetic flux on the solar surface plays an important role in the development of the large-scale field development, especially the polar field reversal, which is a key process in the Babcock-Leighton-type solar dynamos. The poleward flux transport is nonuniform, centered around poleward surges as suggested by previous observations. The strong, long-lasting surges are related to activity complexes, and often result in violent polar field reversal. However, the nonuniformity of poleward flux transport has not been evaluated quantitatively. We propose a statistical method to analyze the poleward flux transport during solar cycles 21-24 by considering the frequency distributions of the magnetic field at latitudes of poleward surges occurrence during solar cycles. The nonuniformity is quantified as the kurtosis statistics representing the tailedness of the distributions. We test the method on results of surface flux transport simulations, and apply to WSO, NSO, MWO, and HMI data. We confirm that the poleward surges are of significance during solar cycles 21-24 in general. The kurtosis within a solar cycle is affected by different latitudes of the magnetic field and different data sources. The southern hemisphere of cycle 24 exhibits the largest kurtosis, agreeing the super surge concept from previous work. The significant nonuniformity of poleward flux transport originates from the nonrandomness of active regions, which favors the activity complexes origin of poleward surges.

We study the novel asteroseismology of the chiral magnetic wave (CMW) in relativistic electron matter inside neutron stars and core-collapse supernovae and the chiral vortical wave (CVW) in relativistic neutrino matter at the core of supernovae. We call the oscillation modes for these chiral waves the chiral magnetic mode (CM-mode) and chiral vortical mode (CV-mode), respectively. We derive the dispersion relations of these new modes in the presence of the chirality flipping due to the finite electron mass. We then estimate the possible frequencies of these modes and the amplitudes of the resulting gravitational waves. In particular, since the frequency of the CM-mode depends on the strength of the magnetic field, gravitational waves for the CM-mode provide a possible new probe for measuring the magnetic field in neutron stars and supernovae. This theoretical study opens up an avenue for the "chiral asteroseismology," which connects the seismic oscillations and associated gravitational waves at the macroscopic scale to the chirality of microscopic elementary particles.

Beryllium is a light element with one single stable isotope, 9Be, which is a pure product of cosmic-ray spallation in the interstellar medium. Beryllium abundances in late-type stars can be used in studies about evolutionary mixing, Galactic chemical evolution, planet engulfment, and the formation of globular clusters. Some of these uses of Be abundances figure among the science cases of the Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph (CUBES), a new near-UV low- and medium-resolution spectrograph under development for the Very Large Telescope. Here, we report on a study about beryllium abundances in extremely metal-poor stars in the context of the phase A of CUBES. Our motivation is to understand the limits for the detection of weak lines in extremely metal-poor stars of low Be abundances. We analyze simulated CUBES observations, performed in medium-resolution mode, based on synthetic spectra for four mock stars with [Fe/H] \leq -3.0. We find that detecting the Be lines is possible in certain cases, but is very challenging and requires high signal-to-noise ratio. Depending on the atmospheric parameters of the target stars, and if signal-to-noise per pixel of about 400 can be achieved, it should be possible to detect Be abundances between log(Be/H) = -13.1 and -13.6, with a typical uncertainty of \pm 0.15 dex. Using CUBES, the required data for such studies can be obtained for stars that are fainter by two magnitudes with respect to what is possible with current instrumentation.

We study the stacked filaments connecting group-mass halo pairs, using dark-matter-only N-body simulations. We calculate the dark matter over-density profile of these stacked filaments at different redshifts as a function of the distance perpendicular to the filament axis. A four-parameter universal functional form, including three comoving scale radii and one amplitude parameter (core density), provides a good fit out to a radius of 20 cMpc/h for stacked filaments over a range of redshifts, lengths and masses. The scale radii are approximately independent of redshift but increase as power-laws with the comoving filament length. Lastly, we compare the scaling of the filament mass measured directly from the simulations to the predicted scaling from the halo-halo-matter three-point correlation function as a function of redshift and of the mass of the halo pairs. We find that both measured scalings are similar to, but somewhat shallower than the predictions, by 10% and 30%, respectively. These results provide a template to interpret present and upcoming observational results based on stacking, for example, weak lensing, thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich, or X-ray observations.

We derive an analytical approximation for the linear scaling evolution of the characteristic length $L$ and the root-mean-squared velocity $\sigma_v$ of standard frictionless domain wall networks in Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker universes with a power law evolution of the scale factor $a$ with the cosmic time $t$ ($a \propto t^\lambda$). This approximation, obtained using a recently proposed parameter-free velocity-dependent one-scale model for domain walls, reproduces well the model predictions for $\lambda$ close to unity, becoming exact in the $\lambda \to 1^-$ limit. We use this approximation, in combination with the exact results found for $\lambda=0$, to obtain a fit to the model predictions valid for $\lambda \in [0, 1[$ with a maximum error of the order of $1 \%$. This fit is also in good agreement with the results of field theory numerical simulations, specially for $\lambda \in [0.9, 1[$. Finally, we explicitly show that the phenomenological energy-loss parameter of the original velocity-dependent one-scale model for domain walls vanishes in the $\lambda \to 1^-$ limit and discuss the implications of this result.

We report on the nearly simultaneous \nicer{} and \nustar{} observations of the known X-ray transient XTE~J1739-285. These observations provide the first sensitive hard X-ray spectrum of this neutron star X-ray transient. The source was observed on 2020 February 19 in the hard spectral state with a luminosity of $0.007$ of the Eddington limit. The broadband $1-70 \kev{}$ \nicer{} and \nustar{} observation clearly detects a cutoff of the hard spectral component around $34-40 \kev{}$ when the continuum is fitted by a soft thermal component and a hard power-law component. This feature has been detected for the first time in this source. Moreover, the spectrum shows evidence for disc reflection -- a relativistically broadened Fe K$\alpha$ line around $5-8 \kev{}$ and a Compton hump in the $10-20 \kev{}$ energy band. The accretion disc reflection features have not been identified before from this source. Through accretion disc reflection modeling, we constrain the radius of the inner disc to be $R_{in}=3.1_{-0.5}^{+1.8}\;R_{ISCO}$ for the first time. In addition, we find a low inclination, $i\sim 33^{0}$. The magnetosphere may be responsible for the truncation of the inner accretion disc above the stellar surface -- if so, it will provide an upper limit of the magnetic field strength of $B\le 6.2\times10^8$ G at the poles.

Compact protoplanetary disks with a radius of $\lesssim$ 50 au are common around young low-mass stars. We report high resolution ALMA dust continuum observations toward a compact disk around CW Tau at Band 4 ($\lambda=2.2$ mm), 6 (1.3 mm), 7 (0.89 mm) and 8 (0.75 mm). The SED shows the spectral slope of $2.0\pm0.24$ between 0.75 and 1.3 mm, while it is $3.7\pm0.29$ between 2.17 and 3.56 mm. The steep slope between 2.17 and 3.56 mm is consistent with that of optically thin emission from small grains ($\lesssim$ 350 ${\rm \mu m}$). We perform parametric fitting of the ALMA data to characterize the dust disk. Interestingly, if the dust-to-gas mass ratio is 0.01, the Toomre's Q parameter reaches $\sim$ 1-3, suggesting that the CW Tau disk might be marginally gravitationally unstable. The total dust mass is estimated as $\sim250M_{\oplus}$ for the maximum dust size of 140 ${\rm \mu m}$ that is inferred from the previous Band 7 polarimetric observation and at least $80M_{\oplus}$ even for larger grain sizes. This result shows that the CW Tau disk is quite massive in spite of its smallness. Furthermore, we clearly identify a gap structure located at $\sim20$ au, which might be induced by a giant planet. In spite of these interesting characteristics, the CW Tau disk has normal disk luminosity, size and spectral index at ALMA Band 6, which could be a clue to the mass budget problem in Class II disks.

About 2100 star-forming galaxy protocluster candidates at z=1-4 were identified at submillimeter (sub-mm) wavelengths in the Planck all sky survey. Follow-up spectroscopic observations of a few candidates have confirmed the presence of galaxy overdensities with large star-formation rates. In this work, we use state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations to investigate whether the Planck high-z sub-mm sources (PHz) are progenitors of massive clusters at z=0. To match the PHz sources with simulated halos, we select the most star-forming (SF) halos from z=3 to z=1.3 in the IllustrisTNG300 simulation. At each redshift, the total star formation rate (SFR) of the simulated protocluster candidates is computed from the SFR of all the galaxies within an aperture corresponding to the Planck beam size, including those along the line-of-sight. The simulations reproduce the Planck derived SFRs as the sum of both, the SFR of at least one of the most SF high-z halo, and the average contribution from SF sources along the line-of-sight. Focusing on the spectroscopically confirmed PHz protoclusters, we compare the observed properties of their galaxy members with those in the most SF simulated halos. We find a good agreement in the stellar mass and SFR distributions, and in the galaxy number counts, but the SFR-stellar mass relation of the simulated galaxies tend to be shifted to lower SFRs with respect to the observed one. Based on the estimated final masses of the simulated halos, we infer that between 63% and 72% of the Planck selected protoclusters will evolve into massive galaxy clusters by z=0. We confirm the efficiency of Planck to select star-forming protoclusters at Cosmic Noon with the simulations, and provide a new criterion for selecting the most massive cluster progenitors at high-z, using observables like the number of galaxy members and their SFR distribution.

Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms are commonly employed to explore high-dimensional parameter spaces constrained by data. All the statistical information obtained in the output of these analyses is contained in the Markov chains, which one needs to process and interpret. The marginalization technique allows us to digest these chains and compute the posterior distributions for the parameter subsets of interest. In particular, it lets us draw confidence regions in two-dimensional planes, and get the constraints for the individual parameters. It is very well known, though, that the marginalized results can suffer from volume effects, which can introduce a non-negligible bias into our conclusions. The impact of these effects are barely studied in the literature. In this paper we first illustrate the problem through a very clear and simple example in two dimensions, and suggest the use of the profile distributions (PDs) as a complementary tool to detect marginalization biases directly from the MC chains. We apply our method to four cosmological models: the standard $\Lambda$CDM, early dark energy, coupled dark energy and the Brans-Dicke model with a cosmological constant. We discuss the impact of the volume effects on each model and the cosmological tensions, using the full Planck 2018 likelihood, the Pantheon compilation of supernovae of Type Ia and data on baryon acoustic oscillations. Our test is very efficient and can be easily applied to any MC study. It allows us to estimate the PDs at a derisory computational cost not only for the main cosmological parameters, but also for the nuisance and derived ones, and to assess the need to perform a more in-depth analysis with the exact computation of the PDs.

The halo orbits of the spatial circular restricted three-body problem are largely considered in space-flight dynamics to design low-energy transfers between celestial bodies. A very efficient analytical method for the computation of halo orbits, and the related transfers, has been obtained from the high-order resonant Birkhoff normal forms defined at the Lagrangian points L1-L2. In this paper, by implementing a non-linear Floquet-Birkhoff resonant normal form, we provide the definition of orbits, as well as their manifold tubes, which exist in a large order approximation of the elliptic three-body problem and generalize the halo orbits of the circular problem. Since the libration amplitude of such halo orbits is large (comparable to the distance of L1-L2 to the secondary body), and the Birkhoff normal forms are obtained through series expansions at the Lagrangian points, we provide also an error analysis of the method with respect to the orbits of the genuine elliptic restricted three-body problem.

Surface brightness-colour relations (SBCRs) are largely used for general studies in stellar astrophysics and for determining extragalactic distances. Based on simulated spectra of late-type stars using MARCS model atmospheres, our aim is to analyse the effect of stellar fundamental parameters on the surface brightness. We also compare theoretical and recent empirical SBCRs. We used MARCS model atmospheres to compute spectra and the surface brightness of stars. We first explored the parameter space of MARCS (i.e. effective temperature, $\log g$, $\mathrm{[Fe/H]}$, microturbulence, and mass) in order to quantify their impact on the surface brightness. Then we considered a relation between the effective temperature and $\log g$ for late dwarfs and giants, as well as a solar metallicity, in order to allow a consistent comparison of theoretical and empirical SBCRs. We find that the SBCR is not sensitive to the microturbulence and mass. The effect of metallicity on the SBCR is found to be larger for dwarfs than for giants. It is also larger when considering larger $V-K_s$ values. We also find that a difference of 0.5 dex in metallicity between Galactic and LMC SBCRs does not affect the recent LMC distance determination, based on eclipsing binaries, by more than 0.4%. By comparing theoretical with empirical SBCRs, we find a good agreement of less than 2$\sigma$ for F5-K7 dwarfs and giants stars, while a larger discrepancy is found for M dwarfs and giants (about 4-6$\sigma$). The surface gravity properties, as modelled in MARCS, explain the differences in the empirical SBCRs in terms of class. We finally find that theoretical and empirical SBCRs for Cepheids are consistent. Carefully considering metallicity and $\log g$ is mandatory when calibrating or using SBCRs.

Observed and simulated galaxies exhibit correlations between stellar mass, metallicity and morphology. We use the EAGLE cosmological simulation to examine the origin of these correlations for galaxies in the stellar mass range $10^9~\rm{M_\odot} \leqslant\ M_\star \leqslant 10^{10}~\rm{M_\odot}$, and the extent to which they contribute to the scatter in the mass-metallicity relation. We find that rotationally supported disc galaxies have lower metallicity than dispersion supported spheroidal galaxies at a given mass, in agreement with previous findings. In EAGLE, this correlation arises because discs form stars at later times, redshift $z\leqslant 1$, from the accretion of low-metallicity gas, whereas spheroidal galaxies galaxies typically form stars earlier, mainly by consumption of their gas reservoir. The different behaviour reflects the growth of their host dark matter halo: at a given stellar mass, disc galaxies inhabit dark matter haloes with lower mass that formed later compared to the haloes of spheroidal galaxies. Halo concentration plays a secondary role.

Most stars with birth masses larger than that of our Sun belong to binary or higher order multiple systems. Similarly, most stars have stellar winds. Radiation pressure and multiplicity create outflows of material that remove mass from the primary star and inject it into the interstellar medium or transfer it to a companion. Both have strong impact on the subsequent evolution of the stars, yet they are often studied separately. In this short review, I will sketch part of the landscape of the interplay between stellar winds and binarity. I will present several examples where binarity shapes the stellar outflows, providing new opportunities to understand and measure mass loss properties. Stellar winds spectral signatures often help clearly identifying key stages of stellar evolution. The multiplicity properties of these stages then shed a new light onto evolutionary connections between the different categories of evolved stars.

Symbiotic X-ray binaries are systems hosting a neutron star accreting form the wind of a late type companion. These are rare objects and so far only a handful of them are known. One of the most puzzling aspects of the symbiotic X-ray binaries is the possibility that they contain strongly magnetized neutron stars. These are expected to be evolutionary much younger compared to their evolved companions and could thus be formed through the (yet poorly known) accretion induced collapse of a white dwarf. In this paper, we perform a broad-band X-ray and soft $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy of two known symbiotic binaries, Sct X-1 and 4U 1700+24, looking for the presence of cyclotron scattering features that could confirm the presence of strongly magnetized NSs. We exploited available Chandra, Swift, and NuSTAR data. We find no evidence of cyclotron resonant scattering features (CRSFs) in the case of Sct X-1 but in the case of 4U 1700+24 we suggest the presence of a possible CRSF at $\sim$16 keV and its first harmonic at $\sim$31 keV, although we could not exclude alternative spectral models for the broad-band fit. If confirmed by future observations, 4U 1700+24 could be the second symbiotic X-ray binary with a highly magnetized accretor. We also report about our long-term monitoring of the last discovered symbiotic X-ray binary IGR J17329-2731 performed with Swift/XRT. The monitoring revealed that, as predicted, in 2017 this object became a persistent and variable source, showing X-ray flares lasting for a few days and intriguing obscuration events that are interpreted in the context of clumpy wind accretion.

The recently discovered radio pulsar GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504.3 with an extremely long spin period was reported to have a radio luminosity that exceeds by orders of magnitude the spin-down power of the pulsar. In this Letter, we rigorously calculate the radio luminosity of the source taking into account the dependence of the opening angle of the pulsar-emission cone first on the spin period alone and then on both the spin parameters and the observing frequency. We also revise the value of the spin-down power reported previously. Our analysis is based on the description of the spectral data in terms of two power-law indices as well as a single power-law index. Even if the pulsar's opening angle is treated as a frequency-independent parameter in line with the usual assumption, the period dependence of this parameter implies relatively small opening angles and therefore radio luminosities well below the spin-down power. Although we estimate higher radio luminosities in the physically more plausible case of a frequency-dependent opening angle, the spin-down power is again not exceeded by the highest possible radio luminosity. The radio efficiency of GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504.3 can therefore not be used in favor of a magnetar hypothesis.

Little is known about the origin of the fastest stars in the Galaxy. Our understanding of the Milky Way and surrounding dwarf galaxies chemical evolution history allows us to use the chemical composition of a star to investigate its origin, and say whether a star was formed in-situ or was accreted. However, the fastest stars, the hypervelocity stars, are young and massive and their chemical composition has not yet been analyzed. Though it is difficult to analyze the chemical composition of a massive young star, we are well versed in the analysis of late-type stars. We have used high-resolution ARCES/3.5m Apache Point Observatory, MIKE/Magellan spectra to study the chemical details of 15 late-type hypervelocity stars candidates. With Gaia EDR3 astrometry and spectroscopically determined radial velocities we found total velocities with a range of $274$ - $520$ km s$^{-1}$ and mean value of $381$ km s$^{-1}$. Therefore, our sample stars are not fast enough to be classified as Hypervelocity stars, and are what is known as extreme-velocity stars. Our sample has a wide iron abundance range of $-2.5 \le \mathrm{[Fe/H]} \le -0.9$. Their chemistry indicate that at least 50\% of them are accreted extragalactic stars, with iron-peak elements consistent with prior sub-Chandrasekhar mass type Ia supernova enrichment. Without indication of binary companions, their chemical abundances and orbital parameters are indicative that they are the accelerated tidal debris of disrupted dwarf galaxies.

The abundance of clusters of galaxies is highly sensitive to the late-time evolution of the matter distribution, since clusters form at the highest density peaks. However, the 3D cluster mass cannot be inferred without deprojecting the observations, introducing model-dependent biases and uncertainties due to the mismatch between the assumed and the true cluster density profile and the neglected matter along the sightline. Since projected aperture masses can be measured directly in simulations and observationally through weak lensing, we argue that they are better suited for cluster cosmology. Using the Mira-Titan suite of gravity-only simulations, we show that aperture masses correlate strongly with 3D halo masses, albeit with large intrinsic scatter due to the varying matter distribution along the sightline. Nonetheless, aperture masses can be measured $\approx 2-3$ times more precisely from observations, since they do not require assumptions about the density profile and are only affected by the shape noise in the weak lensing measurements. We emulate the cosmology dependence of the aperture mass function directly with a Gaussian process. Comparing the cosmology sensitivity of the aperture mass function and the 3D halo mass function for a fixed survey solid angle and redshift interval, we find the aperture mass sensitivity is higher for $\Omega_\mathrm{m}$ and $w_a$, similar for $\sigma_8$, $n_\mathrm{s}$, and $w_0$, and slightly lower for $h$. With a carefully calibrated aperture mass function emulator, cluster cosmology analyses can use cluster aperture masses directly, reducing the sensitivity to model-dependent mass calibration biases and uncertainties.

The p-process nucleosynthesis can explain proton-rich isotopes that are heavier than iron, which are observed in the Solar System, but discrepancies still persist and important questions concerning the astrophysical site(s) of the p-process remain unanswered. We investigate how the p-process operates in exploding rotating massive stars that have experienced an enhanced s-process nucleosynthesis during their life through rotational mixing. We computed 25 $M_{\odot}$ stellar models at a metallicity of $Z=10^{-3}$ with different initial rotation velocities and rates for the uncertain $^{17}$O($\alpha$,$\gamma$)$^{21}$Ne reaction. The nucleosynthesis calculation, followed with a network of 737 isotopes, was coupled to stellar evolution, and the p-process nucleosynthesis was calculated in post-processing during both the final evolutionary stages and spherical explosions of various energies. In our models, the p-nuclides are mainly synthesized during the explosion, but not much during the ultimate hydrostatic burning stages. The p-process yields mostly depend on the initial number of trans-iron seeds, which in turn depend on the initial rotation. We found that the impact of rotation on the p-process is comparable to the impact of rotation on the s-process. From no to fast rotation, the s-process yields of nuclides with mass number $A<140$ increase by $3-4$ dex, and so do the p-process yields. Fast rotation with a lower $^{17}$O($\alpha,\gamma$) rate significantly produces s- and p-nuclides with $A\geq140$. Our results suggest that the contribution of core-collapse supernovae from massive stars to the solar (and Galactic) p-nuclei has been underestimated in the past, and more specifically, that the contribution from massive stars with sub-solar metallicities may even dominate. A more detailed study including stellar models with a wide range of masses and metallicities remains to be performed.

Predictions of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs) are a central issue in space weather forecasting. In recent years, interest in space weather predictions has expanded to include impacts at other planets beyond Earth as well as spacecraft scattered throughout the heliosphere. In this sense, the scope of space weather science now encompasses the whole heliospheric system, and multi-point measurements of solar transients can provide useful insights and validations for prediction models. In this work, we aim to analyse the whole inner heliospheric context between two eruptive flares that took place in late 2020, i.e. the M4.4 flare of November 29 and the C7.4 flare of December 7. This period is especially interesting because the STEREO-A spacecraft was located ~60{\deg} east of the Sun-Earth line, giving us the opportunity to test the capabilities of "predictions at 360{\deg}" using remote-sensing observations from the Lagrange L1 and L5 points as input. We simulate the CMEs that were ejected during our period of interest and the SEPs accelerated by their shocks using the WSA-Enlil-SEPMOD modelling chain and four sets of input parameters, forming a "mini-ensemble". We validate our results using in-situ observations at six locations, including Earth and Mars. We find that, despite some limitations arising from the models' architecture and assumptions, CMEs and shock-accelerated SEPs can be reasonably studied and forecast in real time at least out to several tens of degrees away from the eruption site using the prediction tools employed here.

Gamma-ray observations have long been used to constrain the properties of dark matter (DM), with a strong focus on weakly interacting massive particles annihilating through velocity-independent processes. However, in the absence of clear-cut observational evidence for the simplest candidates, the interest of the community in more complex DM scenarios involving a velocity-dependent cross-section has been growing steadily over the past few years. We present the first systematic study of velocity-dependent DM annihilation (in particular $p$-wave annihilation and Sommerfeld enhancement) in a variety of astrophysical objects, not only including the well-studied Milky Way dwarf satellite galaxies, but nearby dwarf irregular galaxies and local galaxy clusters as well. Particular attention is given to the interplay between velocity dependence and DM halo substructure. Uncertainties related to halo mass, phase-space and substructure modelling are also discussed in this velocity-dependent context. We show that, for $s$-wave annihilation, extremely large subhalo boost factors are to be expected, up to $10^{11}$ in clusters and up to $10^6-10^7$ in dwarf galaxies where subhalos are usually assumed not to play an important role. Boost factors for $p$-wave annihilation are smaller but can still reach $10^3$ in clusters. The angular extension of the DM signal is also significantly impacted, with e.g. the cluster typical emission radius increasing by a factor of order 10 in the $s$-wave case. We also compute the signal contrast of the objects in our sample with respect to annihilation happening in the Milky Way halo. Overall, we find that the hierarchy between the brightest considered targets depends on the specific details of the assumed particle-physics model.

This paper presents a deep investigation of two open clusters, Haffner 22 and Melotte 71, using astrometric and photometric data from Gaia EDR3. We identified 382 and 597 most probable cluster members with membership probability higher than 50 percent. Mean proper motion in RA and DEC are estimated as -1.63 and 2.889 respectively for Haffner 22 and -2.398 and 4.210 for Melotte 71. A comparison of observed CMDs with theoretical isochrones leads to an age of 2.25 and 1.27 Gyr for these clusters. The distances 2.88 and 2.28 kpc based on parallax are comparable with the values derived by isochrone fitting method. Five and four blue straggler stars are identified as cluster members in Haffner 22 and Melotte 71 respectively. Based on the relative number of high velocity (binary) and single stars, we inferred binary fractions for both clusters. We found binary content is larger in core region. Mass function slope is in good agreement with the Salpeter's value while it is flat for Haffner 22. Evidence for the existence of mass segregation effect is observed in both clusters. Using the Galactic potential models, Galactic orbits are derived, indicating that both clusters follow a circular path around the Galactic center, evolving slowly.

As searches for thermal and self-annihilating dark matter (DM) intensify, it becomes crucial to include as many relevant physical processes and ingredients as possible to refine signal predictions, in particular those which directly relate to the intimate properties of DM. We investigate the combined impact of DM subhalos and the (velocity-dependent) Sommerfeld enhancement of the annihilation cross section, in both the $s$- and $p$-wave cases. Both features are expected to play an important role in searches for thermal DM particle candidates with masses around or beyond TeV, or in scenarios with a light dark sector. We provide a detailed analytical description of the phenomena at play, and show how they scale with the subhalo masses and the main Sommerfeld parameters. We derive approximate analytical expressions for the overall boost factors resulting from these combined effects, from which the intricate phenomenology can be better understood, and which strongly increase gamma-ray signal predictions for typical targets of different masses (from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters). DM subhalos lead to an increase of the Sommerfeld effect by several orders of magnitude (for both the $s$- and $p$-wave cases), especially on resonances, which makes them critical to get sensible predictions.

Photon counting is a mode of processing astronomical observations of low-signal targets that have been observed using an electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD). In photon counting, the EMCCD amplifies the signal, and a thresholding technique effectively selects for the signal photo-electrons while drastically reducing relative noise sources. Photometric corrections have been developed which result in the extraction of a more accurate signal of photo-electrons, and the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will utilize a theoretical expression for the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) given these corrections based on well-calibrated noise parameters to plan observations taken by its coronagraph instrument. We derive here analytic expressions for the SNR for the method of photon counting, before and after these photometric corrections have been applied.

The CARMENES radial-velocity survey is currently searching for planets in a sample of 387 M dwarfs. Here we report on two Saturn-mass planets orbiting TYC 2187-512-1 ($M_\star = 0.50 M_\odot$) and TZ Ari ($M_\star = 0.15 M_\odot$), respectively. We obtained supplementary photometric time series, which we use along with spectroscopic information to determine the rotation periods of the two stars. In both cases, the radial velocities also show strong modulations at the respective rotation period. We thus modeled the radial velocities as a Keplerian orbit plus a Gaussian process representing the stellar variability. TYC 2187-512-1 is found to harbor a planet with a minimum mass of 0.33 $M_{\rm Jup}$ in a near-circular 692-day orbit. The companion of TZ Ari has a minimum mass of 0.21 $M_{\rm Jup}$, orbital period of 771 d, and orbital eccentricity of 0.46. We provide an overview of all known giant planets in the CARMENES sample, from which we infer an occurrence rate of giant planets orbiting M dwarfs with periods up to 2 years in the range between 2% to 6%. TZ Ari b is only the second giant planet discovered orbiting a host with mass less than 0.3 $M_\odot$. These objects occupy an extreme location in the planet mass versus host mass plane. It is difficult to explain their formation in core-accretion scenarios, so they may possibly have been formed through a disk fragmentation process.

This work presents the design and preliminary performance of a highly-multiplexed superconducting detector readout. The readout system is implemented on the Xilinx ZCU111 RFSoC Evaluation Board. The current design uses 12% of the DSPs, 60% of the LUTs, 20% of the FFs, and 30% of the BRAM and makes timing at 512 MHz. The system uses two integrated ADCs and DACs running at 4.096 GSPS to read out 2,048 superconducting detectors. This work targets a 2x increase in the number of superconducting detectors processed per board with 80% less power than previous readout schemes. The open-source design leverages modern FPGA productivity tools including Vivado High-Level Synthesis to create all custom IP blocks, PYNQ to test and verify individual IP and develop Python drivers, and Vivado ML Intelligent Design Runs to close timing. We emphasize strategies for achieving timing closure without custom HDL which we expect to be useful for superconducting device groups looking to utilize FPGAs in high-performance applications without specialized knowledge in FPGA design.

The nature of dark matter remains unknown, but upcoming measurements probing the high-redshift Universe may provide invaluable insight. In the presence of dark matter-baryon scattering, the suppression in the matter power spectrum and the colder mean gas temperature are expected to modify the evolution of cosmic dawn and reionization. However, the contributions from such interactions to the baryon and dark matter temperature perturbations have been neglected thus far. In this work, we derive these contributions, evolve the cosmological perturbations until the end of the dark ages and show that they may have a significant impact in the beginning of cosmic dawn. In particular, we find that the amplitude of the temperature power spectrum at large scales can change by up to 1--2 orders of magnitude and that the matter power spectrum is further suppressed with respect to $\Lambda$CDM by $5$-$10\%$ at $k\sim 200\, {\rm Mpc^{-1}}$ compared to the computation ignoring these contributions for scattering cross sections at current CMB limits. As a case example, we also compute the HI power spectrum from the dark ages, finding significant differences due to the changes in the temperature and ionization fraction power spectra. We argue that these new contributions must be included in studies of this dark matter model relying on cosmic dawn and reionization observables.

We entertain the possibility that dark energy arises from the Higgs field of quintessence type in the non-perturbative regimes. For this purpose we utilize a set of exact solutions of Higgs field theory recently devised, in terms of Jacobi elliptical function for a massless quartic scalar field, that satisfy a massive dispersion relation. In certain regions of the parameter space, determined by the quartic coupling value, we show that such solutions have the property to give the correct behavior for the equation of state of the dark energy depending on the initial $\theta$ value of periodicity of the Jacobi elliptical function solution. It is seen that on a time scale determined by the Hubble constant and the strength of the self-interaction of the scalar field, when conformal invariance is restored, the equation of state for the dark energy becomes manifest. Further we investigate scenarios within standard field theory framework and also extending to higher-derivative theories, namely infinite-derivative theory, motivated from p-adic string field theory, and Lee-Wick theories and in all cases, we find suitable choices of the parameter space leads to dark energy behavior of the Higgs field, which we compare.

We consider dark matter production during the inflaton oscillation epoch. It is conceivable that renormalizable interactions between dark matter and inflaton may be negligible. In this case, the leading role is played by higher dimensional operators generated by gravity and thus suppressed by the Planck scale. We focus on dim-6 operators and study the corresponding particle production in perturbative and non-perturbative regimes. We find that the dark matter production rate is dominated by non-derivative operators involving higher powers of the inflaton field. Even if they appear with small Wilson coefficients, such operators can readily account for the correct dark matter abundance.

We consider axions coupled to nucleons and photons only through the nucleon electric-dipole moment (EDM) portal. This coupling is a model-independent feature of QCD axions, which solve the strong CP problem, and might arise as well in more general axion-like particle setups. We revise the supernova (SN) axion emission induced by the nucleon EDM coupling and refine accordingly the SN 1987A bound. Furthermore, we calculate the axion flux from a future Galactic SN and show that it might produce a peculiar and potentially detectable gamma-ray signal in a large underground neutrino detector such as the proposed Hyper-Kamiokande. The possibility to detect such a signal offers a way to search for an oscillating nucleon EDM complementary to CASPERe, without relying on the assumption that axions are a sizeable component of the dark matter. Furthermore, if axions from SN produce an observable signal, they could also lead to an amount of cosmological extra-radiation observable in future cosmic surveys.

We build a model in which the relic abundance of axions is altered from the standard misalignment mechanism, either increased or decreased, due to the presence of a new light scalar that couples to the radial part of the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) field. The light scalar makes the effective PQ symmetry-breaking scale dynamical, altering the early-time dynamics for the axion and affecting its late-time dark matter abundance. We analyze this new mechanism semi-analytically and numerically, showing that we can accommodate both lighter or heavier axion dark matter, compared to the standard treatments. We discuss implications of the model for axion searches and fundamental physics.

The kinetic inductance detector (KID) is a versatile and scalable detector technology with a wide range of applications. These superconducting detectors offer significant advantages: simple and robust fabrication, intrinsic multiplexing that will allow thousands of detectors to be read out with a single microwave line, and simple and low cost room temperature electronics. These strengths make KIDs especially attractive for HEP science via mm-wave cosmological studies. Examples of these potential cosmological observations include studying cosmic acceleration (Dark Energy) through measurements of the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect, precision cosmology through ultra-deep measurements of small-scale CMB anisotropy, and mm-wave spectroscopy to map out the distribution of cosmological structure at the largest scales and highest redshifts. The principal technical challenge for these kinds of projects is the successful deployment of large-scale high-density focal planes -- a need that can be addressed by KID technology. In this paper, we present an overview of microstrip-coupled KIDs for use in mm-wave observations and outline the research and development needed to advance this class of technology and enable these upcoming large-scale experiments.

The current understanding of dark matter comes largely from measurements of the total matter content in the universe, from the distribution of gravitating matter on very large scales, and from rotation curves and velocity dispersions on sub-galactic scales. However, small-scale structure may well hold the key to unlocking the particle physics of the still-mysterious 85% of matter in the universe. Novel small-scale astrophysical probes of new particles and dark matter will become possible with a large data volume of high-precision measurements enabled by next-generation gravitational-wave detectors and advanced astrometry instruments. Cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure surveys will provide complementary constraints on dark matter models with unique small-scale signatures. We lay out the studies of small-scale structures and compact objects as dark matter probes, and summarize the requirements to achieve the goals.

We establish a new self-consistent model of coupling between the cosmic dark energy and dark matter in the framework of the rheological approach, which is based on the representation of the equations of state in terms of integral operators of the Volterra-type. We elaborate the so-called four-kernel model, in the framework of which both the dark energy and dark matter pressures are presented by two integrals containing the energy densities of the dark energy and dark matter. For the Volterra operators, the kernels of which are associated with the effects of fading memory, the corresponding isotropic homogeneous cosmological model is shown to be exactly integrable. We consider the classification of the model exact solutions, based on the analysis of roots of the characteristic polynomial associated with the key equation of the presented model. The scalars of the pressure and energy-density of the dark energy and dark matter, the Hubble function and acceleration parameter are presented explicitly as the functions of the dimensionless scale factor. The scale factor as the function of the cosmological time is found in quadratures and is described analytically, qualitatively and numerically. Asymptotic analysis allowed us to classify the models with respect to behavior typical for the Big Rip, Little Rip and Pseudo Rip (de Sitter type). Two intriguing exact cosmological solutions are discussed, which describe the super-exponential expansion and the symmetric bounce. New solutions are presented, which correspond to the quasi-periodic behavior of the state functions of the dark fluid and of the geometric characteristics of the Universe.

Some parts of the accretion model of the jovian planets' formation are studied in the context of Palatini gravity. We mainly focus on the critical core mass, that is, a mass for which there is no hydrostatic equilibrium solution for the planet's envelope, which is a starting point of the runaway accretion. We also discuss the conditions needed to be satisfied by a planet such that it can posses a massive gaseous envelope around a solid core.

We examine the viability of cosmological solution(s) describing a unified picture of the dark side of the universe from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of light bosons. The energy density of the BEC, together with its quantum potential, can indeed account for such a unification, in the sense that the (dust-like) cold dark matter and the dark energy components emerge from the same source. In particular, the bulk of the dark energy can be attributed to the quantum potential, in the quantum corrected Raychaudhuri-Friedmann equation, when the `macroscopic' BEC wave-function is taken to be such that the corresponding probability density is construed as the energy density of the dusty fluid. However, there arises a purely quantum mechanical back-reaction effect, of even the visible baryons, on the effective dark energy and dark matter contents, which crucially determines the mass of the BEC. We determine the constraint on such a back-reaction, and hence on the BEC mass, from physical considerations, as well as estimate the same using recent observational data.

An elementary survey of mathematical cosmology is presented. We cover certain key ideas and developments in a qualitative way, from the time of the Einstein static universe in 1917 until today. We divide our presentation into four main parts, the first part containing important cosmologies discovered until 1960. The second period (1960-80) contains discussions of geometric extensions of the standard cosmology, singularities, chaotic behaviour, and the initial input of particle physics ideas into cosmology. Our survey for the third period (1980-2000) continues with brief descriptions of the main ideas of inflation, the multiverse, quantum, Kaluza-Klein, and string cosmologies, wormholes and baby universes, cosmological stability, and modified gravity. The last period which ends today includes various more advanced topics such as M-theoretic cosmology, braneworlds, the landscape, topological issues, the measure problem, genericity, dynamical singularities, and dark energy. We emphasize certain threads that run throughout the whole period of development of theoretical cosmology and underline their importance in the overall structure of the field. We end this outline with an inclusion of the abstracts of all papers contributed to the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, Theme Issue `The Future of Mathematical Cosmology'.

We present an analysis of {\it in situ} and remote-sensing measurements of a coronal mass ejection (CME) that erupted on 2021 February 20 and impacted both the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO)-A and the {\it Wind} spacecraft, which were separated longitudinally by 55$^\circ$. Measurements on 2021 February 24 at both spacecraft are consistent with the passage of a magnetic ejecta (ME), making this one of the widest reported multi-spacecraft ME detections. The CME is associated with a low-inclined and wide filament eruption from the Sun's southern hemisphere, which propagates between STEREO-A and {\it Wind} around E34. At STEREO-A, the measurements indicate the passage of a moderately fast ($\sim 425$~km\,s$^{-1}$) shock-driving ME, occurring 2--3 days after the end of a high speed stream (HSS). At {\it Wind}, the measurements show a faster ($\sim 490$~km\,s$^{-1}$) and much shorter ME, not preceded by a shock nor a sheath, and occurring inside the back portion of the HSS. The ME orientation measured at both spacecraft is consistent with a passage close to the legs of a curved flux rope. The short duration of the ME observed at {\it Wind} and the difference in the suprathermal electron pitch-angle data between the two spacecraft are the only results that do not satisfy common expectations. We discuss the consequence of these measurements on our understanding of the CME shape and extent and the lack of clear signatures of the interaction between the CME and the HSS.