Papers for Tuesday, May 24 2022

A compact object with a mass $\mathcal{O}(1 \sim 1000) M_{\odot}$, such as a black hole of stellar or primordial origin or a neutron star, and a much lighter exotic compact object with a subsolar mass could form a non-standard mini extreme mass ratio inspiral (EMRI) and emit gravitational waves within the frequency band of ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. These systems are extremely interesting because detecting them would definitively point to new physics. We study the capability of using LIGO/Virgo to search for mini-EMRIs and find that a large class of exotic compact objects can be probed at current and design sensitivities using a method based on the Hough Transform that tracks quasi power-law signals during the inspiral phase of the mini-EMRI system.

Current sheets (CSs), long stretching structures of magnetic reconnection above solar flare loops, are usually observed to oscillate, their origins, however, are still puzzled at present. Based on a high-resolution 2.5-dimensional MHD simulation of magnetic reconnection, we explore the formation mechanism of the CS oscillations. We find that large-amplitude transverse waves are excited by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) at the highly turbulent cusp-shaped region. The perturbations propagate upward along the CS with a phase speed close to local Alfv\'{e}n speed thus resulting in the CS oscillations we observe. Though the perturbations damp after propagating for a long distance, the CS oscillations are still detectable. In terms of detected CS oscillations, with a combination of differential emission measure technique, we propose a new method for measuring the magnetic field strength of the CSs and its distribution in height.

Backsplash galaxies are galaxies that once resided inside a cluster, and have migrated back outside as they move towards the apocenter of their orbit. The kinematic properties of these galaxies are well understood, thanks to the significant study of backsplashers in dark matter-only simulations, but their intrinsic properties are not well constrained due to modeling uncertainties in sub-grid physics, ram pressure stripping, dynamical friction, and tidal forces. In this paper, we use the Illustris-TNG-300-1 simulation, with a baryonic resolution of $M_{\rm b} \approx 1.1\times 10^7$ M$_\odot$, to study backsplash galaxies around 1302 isolated galaxy clusters with mass $10^{13.0} < M_{\rm 200,mean} / {\rm M}_\odot< 10^{15.5}$. We employ a decision tree classifier to extract features of galaxies that make them likely to be backsplash galaxies, compared to nearby field galaxies, and find that backsplash galaxies have low gas fractions, high mass-to-light ratios, large stellar sizes, and low black hole occupation fractions. We investigate in detail the origins of these large sizes, and hypothesise their origins are linked to the tidal environments in the cluster. We show that the black hole recentering scheme employed in many cosmological simulations leads to the loss of black holes from galaxies accreted into clusters, and suggest improvements to these models. Generally, we find that backsplash galaxies are a useful population to test and understand numerical galaxy formation models.

The extinction law from $0.9$ to $8$ microns in the inner $3\times3$ deg$^2$ of the Milky Way is measured using data from VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea, GLIMPSE and WISE. Absolute extinction ratios are found by requiring that the observed red clump density peaks at the GRAVITY collaboration distance to the Galactic centre. When combined with selective extinction ratios measured from the bulge giant colour-colour diagrams, we find an extinction law of $A_Z:A_Y:A_J:A_H:A_{K_s}:A_{W1}:A_{[3.6]}:A_{[4.5]}:A_{W2}:A_{[5.8]}:A_{[8.0]} =7.19(0.30):5.11(0.20):3.23(0.11):1.77(0.04):1:0.54(0.02):0.46(0.03):0.34(0.03):0.32(0.03):0.24(0.04):0.28(0.03)$ valid for low extinctions where non-linearities are unimportant. These results imply an extinction law from the Rayleigh Jeans colour excess method (RJCE) of $A_{K_s}=0.677(H-[4.5]-0.188)$. We find little evidence for significant selective extinction ratio variation over the inspected region (around $5\%$). Assuming the absolute extinction ratios do not vary across the inspected region gives an independent measurement of the absolute $K_s$ magnitude of the red clump at the Galactic Centre of $(-1.61\pm0.07)\,\mathrm{mag}$. This is very similar to the value measured for solar neighbourhood red clump stars giving confidence in the use of red clump stars as standard candles across the Galaxy. As part of our analysis, we inspect the completeness of PSF photometry from the VVV survey using artificial star tests, finding $90\%$ completeness at $K_s\approx16 \,(17)$ in high (low) density regions and good agreement with the number counts with respect to the GALACTICNUCLEUS and DECAPS catalogues over small regions of the survey.

We investigate the properties of stars born via gravitational instability in accretion discs around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in active galactic nuclei (AGN), and how this varies with the SMBH mass, accretion rate, or viscosity. We show with geometrically thin, steady-state disc solutions that fragmentation results in different populations of stars when one considers the initial conditions (e.g. density and temperature of the gravitationally unstable regions). We find that opacity gaps in discs around $10^6 \rm M_{\odot}$ SMBHs can trigger fragmentation at radii $\lesssim 10^{-2}$ pc, although the conditions lead to the formation of initially low stellar masses primarily at $0.1-0.5 M_{\odot}$. Discs around more massive SMBHs ($M_{\rm BH} =10^{7-8} M_{\odot}$) form moderately massive or supermassive stars (the majority at $10^{0-2} M_{\odot}$). Using linear migration estimates, we discuss three outcomes: stars migrate till they are tidally destroyed, accreted as extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs), or leftover after disc dispersal. For a single AGN activity cycle, we find a lower-limit for the EMRI rate $R_{\rm emri}\sim 0-10^{-4} \rm yr^{-1}$ per AGN assuming a SF efficiency $\epsilon=1 \%$. In cases where EMRIs occur, this implies a volumetric rate up to $0.5-10 \rm yr^{-1} Gpc^{-3}$ in the local Universe. The rates are particularly sensitive to model parameters for $M_{\rm BH}=10^6 M_{\odot}$, for which EMRIs only occur if stars can accrete to $10$s of solar masses. Our results provide further evidence that gas-embedded EMRIs can contribute a substantial fraction of events detectable by milliHz gravitational wave detectors such as LISA. Our disc solutions suggest the presence of migration traps, as has been found for more massive SMBH discs. Finally, the surviving population of stars after the disc lifetime leaves implications for stellar disc populations in galactic nuclei.

A set of 464-min high-resolution high-cadence observations were acquired for a region near the Sun's disk center using the Interferometric BI-dimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) installed at the Dunn Solar Telescope. Ten sets of Dopplergrams are derived from the bisector of the spectral line corresponding approximately to different atmospheric heights, and two sets of Dopplergrams are derived using MDI-like algorithm and center-of-gravity method. These data are then filtered to keep only acoustic modes, and phase shifts are calculated between Doppler velocities of different atmospheric heights as a function of acoustic frequency. The analysis of the frequency- and height-dependent phase shifts shows that for evanescent acoustic waves, oscillations in the higher atmosphere lead those in the lower atmosphere by an order of 1 s when their frequencies are below about 3.0 mHz, and lags behind by about 1 s when their frequencies are above 3.0 mHz. Non-negligible phase shifts are also found in areas with systematic upward or downward flows. All these frequency-dependent phase shifts cannot be explained by vertical flows or convective blueshifts, but are likely due to complicated hydrodynamics and radiative transfer in the non-adiabatic atmosphere in and above the photosphere. These phase shifts in the evanescent waves pose great challenges to the interpretation of some local helioseismic measurements that involve data acquired at different atmospheric heights or in regions with systematic vertical flows. More quantitative characterization of these phase shifts is needed so that they can either be removed during measuring processes or be accounted for in helioseismic inversions.

One of the key mysteries of star formation is the origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF). The IMF is observed to be nearly universal in the Milky Way and its satellites, and significant variations are only inferred in extreme environments, such as the cores of massive elliptical galaxies. In this work we present simulations from the STARFORGE project that are the first cloud-scale RMHD simulations that follow individual stars and include all relevant physical processes. The simulations include detailed gas thermodynamics, as well as stellar feedback in the form of protostellar jets, stellar radiation, winds and supernovae. In this work we focus on how stellar radiation, winds and supernovae impact star-forming clouds. Radiative feedback plays a major role in quenching star formation and disrupting the cloud, however the IMF peak is predominantly set by protostellar jet physics. We find the effect of stellar winds is minor, and supernovae occur too late}to affect the IMF or quench star formation. We also investigate the effects of initial conditions on the IMF. The IMF is insensitive to the initial turbulence, cloud mass and cloud surface density, even though these parameters significantly shape the star formation history of the cloud, including the final star formation efficiency. The characteristic stellar mass depends weakly depends on metallicity and the interstellar radiation field. Finally, while turbulent driving and the level of magnetization strongly influences the star formation history, they only influence the high mass slope of the IMF.

Historically, a lack of cross-disciplinary communication has led to the development of statistical methods for detecting exoplanets by astronomers, independent of the contemporary statistical literature. The aim of our paper is to investigate the properties of such methods. Many of these methods (both transit- and radial velocity-based) have not been discussed by statisticians despite their use in thousands of astronomical papers. Transit methods aim to detect a planet by determining whether observations of a star contain a periodic component. These methods tend to be overly rudimentary for starlight data and lack robustness to model misspecification. Conversely, radial velocity methods aim to detect planets by estimating the Doppler shift induced by an orbiting companion on the spectrum of a star. Many such methods are unable to detect Doppler shifts on the order of magnitude consistent with Earth-sized planets around Sun-like stars. Modern radial velocity approaches attempt to address this deficiency by adapting tools from contemporary statistical research in functional data analysis, but more work is needed to develop the statistical theory supporting the use of these models, to expand these models for multiplanet systems, and to develop methods for detecting ever smaller Doppler shifts in the presence of stellar activity.

Despite recent progress, the astrophysical channels responsible for rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis remain an unsettled question. Observations of kilonovae following gravitational wave-detected neutron star mergers established mergers as one site of the r-process, but additional sources may be needed to fully explain r-process enrichment in the Universe. One intriguing possibility is that rapidly rotating massive stars undergoing core collapse launch r-process-rich outflows off the accretion disks formed from their infalling matter. In this scenario, r-process winds comprise one component of the supernova (SN) ejecta produced by "collapsar" explosions. We present the first systematic study of the effects of r-process enrichment on the emission from collapsar-generated SNe. We semi-analytically model r-process SN emission from explosion out to late times, and determine its distinguishing features. The ease with which r-process SNe can be identified depends on how effectively wind material mixes into the initially r-process-free outer layers of the ejecta. In many cases, enrichment produces a near infrared (NIR) excess that can be detected within ~75 days of explosion. We also discuss optimal targets and observing strategies for testing the r-process collapsar theory, and find that frequent monitoring of optical and NIR emission from high-velocity SNe in the first few months after explosion offers a reasonable chance of success while respecting finite observing resources. Such early identification of r-process collapsar candidates also lays the foundation for nebular-phase spectroscopic follow-up in the near- and mid-infrared, for example with the James Webb Space Telescope.

We report new VLA and e-MERLIN high resolution and sensitivity images of the Triple Radio continuum Source in the Serpens star forming region. These observations allowed us to perform a deep multi-frequency, multi-epoch study by exploring the innermost regions (<~100 au) of an intermediate-mass YSO for the first time, with a physical resolution of ~15 au. The kinematic analysis of knots recently ejected by the protostar indicates that the jet is undergoing episodic variations in velocity. In addition, our multi-frequency images reveal striking characteristics, e.g., a highly collimated ionized stream that would be launched at a radial distance of ~0.4 au from the protostar, and a narrow (~28 au wide) ionized cavity that would be excited by the interaction of a wide-angle component with the surrounding toroid of infalling material. In light of these results, we propose the scenario in which both a highly-collimated jet and a wide-angle wind coexist to be the most plausible to explain our observations, either launched by the X-wind or X- plus Disk-wind mechanism.

We present a study of the filamentary structure in the atomic hydrogen (HI) emission at the 21 cm wavelength toward the Galactic plane using the observations in the HI4PI survey. Using the Hessian matrix method across radial velocity channels, we identified the filamentary structures and quantified their orientations using circular statistics. We found that the regions of the Milky Way's disk beyond 10 kpc and up to roughly 18 kpc from the Galactic center display HI filamentary structures predominantly parallel to the Galactic plane. For regions at lower Galactocentric radii, we found that the HI filaments are mostly perpendicular or do not have a preferred orientation with respect to the Galactic plane. We interpret these results as the imprint of supernova feedback in the inner Galaxy and Galactic rotation in the outer Milky Way. We found that the HI filamentary structures follow the Galactic warp and that they highlight some of the variations interpreted as the effect of the gravitational interaction with satellite galaxies. In addition, the mean scale height of the filamentary structures is lower than that sampled by the bulk of the HI emission, thus indicating that the cold and warm atomic hydrogen phases have different scale heights in the outer galaxy. Finally, we found that the fraction of the column density in HI filaments is almost constant up to approximately 18 kpc from the Galactic center. This is possibly a result of the roughly constant ratio between the cold and warm atomic hydrogen phases inferred from the HI absorption studies. Our results indicate that the HI filamentary structures provide insight into the dynamical processes shaping the Galactic disk. Their orientations record how and where the stellar energy input, the Galactic fountain process, the cosmic ray diffusion, and the gas accretion have molded the diffuse interstellar medium in the Galactic plane.

Observed supermassive black holes in the early universe have several proposed formation channels, in part because most of these channels are difficult to probe. One of the more promising channels, the direct collapse of a supermassive star, has several possible probes including the explosion of a helium-core supermassive star triggered by a general relativistic instability. We develop a straightforward method for evaluating the general relativistic radial instability without simplifying assumptions and apply it to population III supermassive stars taken from a post Newtonian stellar evolution code. This method is more accurate than previous determinations and it finds that the instability occurs earlier in the evolutionary life of the star. Using the results of the stability analysis, we perform 1D general relativistic hydrodynamical simulations and we find two general relativistic instability supernovae fueled by alpha capture reactions as well as several lower mass pulsations, analogous to the puslational pair instability process. The mass range for the events (2.6-3.0 $\times 10^4$ ${\rm M}_\odot$) is lower than had been suggested by previous works (5.5 $\times 10^4$ ${\rm M}_\odot$) because the instability occurs earlier in the star's evolution. The explosion may be visible to, among others, JWST, while the discovery of the pulsations opens up additional possibilities for observation.

We study time-dependent relativistic jets under the influence of radiation field of the accretion disk. The accretion disk consists of an inner compact corona and an outer sub-Keplerian disk. The thermodynamics of the fluid is governed by a relativistic equation of state (EoS) for multispecies fluid which enables to study the effect of composition on jet-dynamics. Jets originate from the vicinity of the central black hole where the effect of gravity is significant and traverses large distances where only special relativistic treatment is sufficient. So we have modified the flat metric to include the effect of gravity. In this modified relativistic framework we have developed a new total variation diminishing (TVD) routine along with multispecies EoS for the purpose. We show that the acceleration of jets crucially depends on flow composition. All the results presented are transonic in nature, starting from very low injection velocities, the jets can achieve high Lorentz factors. For sub-Eddington luminosities, lepton dominated jets can be accelerated to Lorentz factors > 50. The change in radiation field due to variation in the accretion disk dynamics will be propagated to the jet in a finite amount of time. Hence any change in radiation field due to a change in disk configuration will affect the lower part of the jet before it affects the outer part. This can drive shock transition in the jet flow. Depending upon the disk oscillation frequency, amplitude and jet parameters these shocks can collide with each other and may trigger shock cascades.

With the aim of finding short-term planetary signals, we investigated the data collected from the high-cadence microlensing surveys. From this investigation, we found four planetary systems with low planet-to-host mass ratios, including OGLE-2017-BLG-1691L, KMT-2021-BLG-0320L, KMT-2021-BLG-1303L, and KMT-2021-BLG-1554L. Despite the short durations, ranging from a few hours to a couple of days, the planetary signals were clearly detected by the combined data of the lensing surveys. It is found that three of the planetary systems have mass ratios of the order of $10^{-4}$ and the other has a mass ratio slightly greater than $10^{-3}$. The estimated masses indicate that all discovered planets have sub-Jovian masses. The planet masses of KMT-2021-BLG-0320Lb, KMT-2021-BLG-1303Lb, and KMT-2021-BLG-1554Lb correspond to $\sim 0.10$, $\sim 0.38$, and $\sim 0.12$ times of the mass of the Jupiter, and the mass of OGLE-2017-BLG-1691Lb corresponds to that of the Uranus. The estimated mass of the planet host KMT-2021-BLG-1554L, $M_{\rm host}\sim 0.08~M_\odot$, corresponds to the boundary between a star and a brown dwarf. Besides this system, the host stars of the other planetary systems are low-mass stars with masses in the range of $\sim [0.3$--$0.6]~M_\odot$. The discoveries of the planets well demonstrate the capability of the current high-cadence microlensing surveys in detecting low-mass planets.

We investigate polarized gravitational waves generated by chiral fermions in the early Universe. In particular, we focus on the contribution from left-handed neutrinos in thermal equilibrium with finite temperature and chemical potential in the radiation dominated era. We compute the correlation functions of gravitational fields pertinent to the Stokes parameter $V$ characterizing the circular polarization of gravitational waves in the Minkowski and expanding spacetime backgrounds. In the expanding universe, we find that the thermalized neutrinos induce a non-vanishing $V$ linear to the neutrino degeneracy parameter and wavenumber of gravitational waves in the long wavelength region. Possible future observations of such chiral gravitational waves could provide the information of the neutrino degeneracy parameter in the early Universe.

Episodic ejections of blobs (episodic jets) are widely observed in black hole sources and usually associated with flares. In this paper, by performing and analyzing three dimensional general relativity magnetohydrodynamical numerical simulations of accretion flows, we investigate their physical mechanisms. We find that magnetic reconnection occurs in the accretion flow, likely due to the turbulent motion and differential rotation of the accretion flow, resulting in flares and formation of flux ropes. Flux ropes formed inside of 10-15 gravitational radii are found to mainly stay within the accretion flow, while flux ropes formed beyond this radius are ejected outward by magnetic forces and form the episodic jets. These results confirm the basic scenario proposed in Yuan et al.(2009). Moreover, our simulations find that the predicted velocity of the ejected blobs is in good consistency with observations of Sgr A*, M81, and M87. The whole processes are found to occur quasi-periodically, with the period being the orbital time at the radius where the flux rope is formed. The predicted period of flares and ejections is consistent with those found from the light curves or image of Sgr A*, M87, and PKS 1510-089. The possible applications to protostellar accretion systems are discussed.

Aim: We aim to refine the orbital and physical parameters and determine the sky-projected planet orbital obliquity of five eccentric transiting planetary systems: HAT-P-15, HAT-P-17, HAT-P-21, HAT-P-26, and HAT-P-29. Each of the systems hosts a hot Jupiter, except for HAT-P-26 that hosts a Neptune-mass planet. Methods: We observed transit events of these planets with the HARPS-N spectrograph, obtaining high-precision radial velocity measurements that allow us to measure the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for each of the target systems. We used these new HARPS-N spectra and archival data, including those from Gaia, to better characterise the stellar atmospheric parameters. The photometric parameters for four of the hot Jupiters were recalculated using 17 new transit light curves, obtained with an array of medium-class telescopes, and data from the TESS space telescope. HATNet time-series photometric data were checked for the signatures of rotation periods of the target stars and their spin axis inclination. Results: From the analysis of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect we derived a sky-projected obliquity of 13, -26.3, -0.7, -26 degree for HAT-P-15b, HAT-P-17b, HAT-P-21b and HAT-P-29b, respectively. Due to the quality of the data, we were not able to well constrain the sky-projected obliquity for HAT-P-26b, although a prograde orbit is favoured. The stellar activity of HAT-P-21 indicates a rotation period of 15.88 days, which allowed us to determine its true misalignment angle 25 degree. Our new analysis of the physical parameters of the five exoplanetary systems returned values compatible with those existing in the literature. Using TESS and the available transit light curves, we reviewed the orbital ephemeris for the five systems and confirmed that the HAT-P-26 system shows transit timing variations, which may tentatively be attributed to the presence of a third body.

We present an axi-symmetric model for the ultraviolet (UV)-to-submillimetre (submm) images of the nearly face-on spiral galaxy NGC 628. It was calculated using a radiative transfer (RT) code, accounting for the absorption and re-emission of starlight by dust in the interstellar medium of this galaxy. The code incorporates emission from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, anisotropic scattering and stochastic heating of the grains. This is the second successful modelling of a face-on spiral galaxy with RT methods, whereby the large-scale geometry of stars and dust is self-consistently determined. The solution was obtained by fitting azimuthally averaged profiles in the UV, optical and submm. The model predicts remarkably well all characteristics of the profiles, including the increase by a factor of 1.8 of the scale-length of the infrared emissivity between 70 and 500 $\mu$m. We find that NGC 628 did not undergo an efficient inside-out disk growth, as predicted by semi-analytical hierarchical models for galaxy formation. We also find large amounts of dust grains at large radii, that could involve efficient transport mechanisms from the inner disk. Our results show that 71% of the dust emission in NGC 628 is powered by the young stellar populations, with the old stellar populations from the bulge contributing 65% to the heating of the dust in the central region ($R<0.5$ kpc). The derived star formation rate is $\rm SFR=2.00\pm0.15\,{\rm M}_{\odot}{\rm yr}^{-1}$..

I show that interstellar films of material thinner than a micron, drift away from the Galactic plane as a result of stellar radiation pressure. Such films, whether produced naturally by dust coagulation in proto-planetary disks or artificially by technological civilizations, would accumulate over the age of the Milky-Way and hover above the Galactic disk at a scale-height set gravitationally by the dark matter halo. Limits on scattered starlight imply that this population carries a fraction below 2x10^{-3} of the interstellar medium mass.

We estimated the radiative efficiency and spin value for a number of local active galactic nuclei with z < 0.34 using 3 popular models connecting the radiative efficiency with such parameters of AGNs as mass of supermassive black hole, angle between the line of sight and the axis of the accretion disk and bolometric luminosity. Analysis of the obtained data shown that the spin value decreases with cosmic time, which is in agreement with results of theoretical calculations for low redshift AGNs of other authors. Also we found that the spin value increases with the increasing mass of SMBH and bolometric luminosity. This is the expected result that corresponds to theoretical calculations. Analysis of the distribution of the spin values shown a pronounced peak in the distribution in 0.75 < a < 1.0 range. ~ 40% of objects have spin a > 0.75 and ~ 50% of objects have spin a > 0.5. This results are in a good agreement with our previous results and with the results of other authors.

We present a spectral and temporal analysis of XMM-Newton data from a sample of six galaxies (NGC 3783, Mrk 279, Mrk 766, NGC 3227, NGC 7314, and NGC 3516). Using the hardness-ratio curves, we identify time-intervals in which clouds are eclipsing the central X-ray source in five of the six sources. We detect three occultations in NGC 3227 and one occultation in NGC 3783, NGC 7314, and NGC 3516, together with the well-known occultations in Mrk 766. We estimate the physical properties of the eclipsing clouds. The derived physical size of the X-ray sources ($\sim$(3-28)$\times$10$^{13}$ cm) is less than that of the eclipsing clouds with column densities of $\sim$10$^{22}$-10$^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$, thus a single cloud may block the X-ray source, leading to notorious temporal variability of the X-ray flux. The eclipsing clouds in Mrk 766, NGC 3227, NGC 7314, and NGC 3516 with distances from the X-ray source of $\sim$(0.3-3.6)$\times$10$^4$ $R_g$ are moving at Keplerian velocities $>$1122 km s$^{-1}$, typical parameters of broad-line region clouds, while the eclipsing cloud in NGC 3783 is likely located in the dusty torus. We also find a good anti-correlation with a slope of -187$\pm$62 between the known masses of the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxies with the equivalent width (EW) of the 6.4 keV Fe line for the five Seyfert 1 galaxies of our sample, while the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7314 shows an average EW value of 100$\pm$11 eV inconsistent with the above anti-correlation.

Hyperons are essential constituents in the neutron star interior. The poorly-known hyperonic interaction is a source of uncertainty for studying laboratory hypernuclei and neutron star observations. In this work, we perform Bayesian inference of phenomenological hyperon-nucleon interactions using the tidal-deformability measurement of the GW170817 binary neutron star merger as detected by LIGO/Virgo and the mass-radius measurements of PSR J0030+0541 and PSR J0740+6620 as detected by NICER. The analysis is based on six relativistic neutron-star-matter equation of states with hyperons from the relativistic mean-field theory, naturally fulfilling the causality requirement and empirical nuclear matter properties. We specifically utilize the strong correlation recently deduced between the scalar and vector meson hyperon couplings, imposed by the measured $\Lambda$ separation energy in single-$\Lambda$ hypernuclei, and perform four different tests with or without the strong correlation. We find that the laboratory hypernuclear constraint ensures a large enough $\Lambda$-scalar-meson coupling to match the large vector coupling in hyperon star matter. When adopting the current most probable intervals of hyperon couplings from the joint analysis of laboratory and astrophysical data, we find the maximum mass of hyperon stars is at most $2.176^{+0.085}_{-0.202}M_{\odot}$ ($1\sigma$ credible interval) from the chosen set of stiff equation of states. The reduction of the stellar radius due to hyperons is quantified based on our analysis and various hyperon star properties are provided.

We present a catalogue of isolated field elliptical (IfE) galaxies drawn from the W1 field of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). 228 IfEs were identified from a flux-limited (r<21.8) galaxy catalogue which corresponds to a density of 3 IfE/sq.deg. For comparison we consider a sample of elliptical galaxies living in dense environments, based on identification of the brightest cluster galaxies (BGCs) in the same survey. Using the same dataset for the comparison sample ensures a uniform selection, including in the redshift range as IfEs (i.e. 0.1 < z < 0.9). A comparison of elliptical galaxies in different environments reveals that IfEs and BCGs have similar behaviours in their colours, star formation activities, and scaling relations of mass-size and size-luminosity. IfEs and BCGs have similar slopes in the scaling relations with respect to cluster ellipticals within the $-24 \leq M_{r} \leq -22$ magnitude and $10.2< \textrm{log}( \textrm M_{*}/ \textrm M_\odot)\leq12.0$ mass ranges. Three IfEs identified in this study can be associated with fossil groups found in the same survey area which gives clues for future studies.

We observe the brightest member of the Praesepe cluster, Epsilon Cancri, to precisely measure the characteristics of the stars in this binary system, en route to a new measurement of the cluster's age. We present spectroscopic radial velocity measurements and interferometric observations of the sky-projected orbit to derive the masses, which we find to be M_1/M_sun = 2.420 +/- 0.008 and M_2/M_sun = 2.226 +/- 0.004. We place limits on the color-magnitude positions of the stars by using spectroscopic and interferometric luminosity ratios while trying to reproduce the spectral energy distribution of Epsilon Cancri. We re-examine the cluster membership of stars at the bright end of the color-magnitude diagram using Gaia data and literature radial velocity information. The binary star data are consistent with an age of 637 +/- 19 Myr, as determined from MIST model isochrones. The masses and luminosities of the stars appear to select models with the most commonly used amount of convective core overshooting.

Electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations indicate that there is dearth of compact objects with mass $\sim 2.5-5~{\rm M_\odot}$. This so-called "mass gap" may be linked to the supernova explosion mechanisms that produce neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). However, the existence of a few mass-gap compact objects, some of which have been confirmed to be BHs, poses a challenge to the traditional theory of black hole formation. In this work we investigate the possible formation channel of BHs from accretion-induced collapse (AIC) of NSs in X-ray binaries. In particular, we consider the influence of super-Eddington accretion of NSs. Recent observations of ultraluminous X-ray pulsars suggest that their apparent luminosities may reflect the true accretion luminosities of the accreting NSs, even exceeding the Eddington limit by a factor of $\gtrsim 100$. Thus, NSs accreting at a super-Eddington accretion rate may rapidly grow into BHs in intermediate/low-mass X-ray binaries. Based on the super-Eddington accretion disk models, we have investigated the evolution of NSs in intermediate/low-mass X-ray binaries by combining binary population synthesis and detailed stellar evolutionary calculations. We show that super-Eddington accretion plays a critical role in mass growth of NSs, and the final masses of the descendant BHs are heavily dependent on the NS magnetic fields, the metallicity of the donor star, and the bifurcation period of the binaries. AIC of NSs may account for some of the observed mass-gap BHs like GRO J0422+32. We also present the parameter distributions of the potential mass-gap BHs in a Milky Way-like galaxy, and point out that future space-based gravitational wave observations may provide important test of or constraints on the formation of mass-gap BHs from the AIC channel.

In the era of large sky surveys, photometric redshifts (photo-z) represent crucial information for galaxy evolution and cosmology studies. In this work, we propose a new Machine Learning (ML) tool called Galaxy morphoto-Z with neural Networks (GaZNet-1), which uses both images and multi-band photometry measurements to predict galaxy redshifts, with accuracy, precision and outlier fraction superior to standard methods based on photometry only. As a first application of this tool, we estimate photo-z of a sample of galaxies in the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS). GaZNet-1 is trained and tested on $\sim140 000$ galaxies collected from KiDS Data Release 4 (DR4), for which spectroscopic redshifts are available from different surveys. This sample is dominated by bright (MAG$\_$AUTO$<21$) and low redshift ($z < 0.8$) systems, however, we could use $\sim$ 6500 galaxies in the range $0.8 < z < 3$ to effectively extend the training to higher redshift. The inputs are the r-band galaxy images plus the 9-band magnitudes and colours, from the combined catalogs of optical photometry from KiDS and near-infrared photometry from the VISTA Kilo-degree Infrared survey. By combining the images and catalogs, GaZNet-1 can achieve extremely high precision in normalized median absolute deviation (NMAD=0.014 for lower redshift and NMAD=0.041 for higher redshift galaxies) and low fraction of outliers ($0.4$\% for lower and $1.27$\% for higher redshift galaxies). Compared to ML codes using only photometry as input, GaZNet-1 also shows a $\sim 10-35$% improvement in precision at different redshifts and a $\sim$ 45% reduction in the fraction of outliers. We finally discuss that, by correctly separating galaxies from stars and active galactic nuclei, the overall photo-z outlier fraction of galaxies can be cut down to $0.3$\%.

We present a uniform analysis of transit observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope of two warm gas giants orbiting K-type stars - WASP-29b and WASP-80b. The transmission spectra, which span 0.4-5.0 $\mu$m, are interpreted using a suite of chemical equilibrium PLATON atmospheric retrievals. Both planets show evidence of significant aerosol opacity along the day-night terminator. The spectrum of WASP-29b is flat throughout the visible and near-infrared, suggesting the presence of condensate clouds extending to low pressures. The lack of spectral features hinders our ability to constrain the atmospheric metallicity and C/O ratio. In contrast, WASP-80b shows a discernible, albeit muted H$_2$O absorption feature at 1.4 $\mu$m, as well as a steep optical spectral slope that is caused by fine-particle aerosols and/or contamination from unocculted spots on the variable host star. WASP-80b joins the small number of gas-giant exoplanets that show evidence for enhanced atmospheric metallicity: the transmission spectrum is consistent with metallicities ranging from $\sim$30-100 times solar in the case of cloudy limbs to a few hundred times solar in the cloud-free scenario. In addition to the detection of water, we infer the presence of CO$_2$ in the atmosphere of WASP-80b based on the enhanced transit depth in the Spitzer 4.5 $\mu$m bandpass. From a complementary analysis of Spitzer secondary eclipses, we find that the dayside emission from WASP-29b and WASP-80b is consistent with brightness temperatures of $937 \pm 48$ and $851 \pm 14$ K, respectively, indicating relatively weak day-night heat transport and low Bond albedo.

Multi-messenger astronomy is becoming a major avenue to explore the Universe. Several well known astrophysical sources are also expected to emit other 'messenger' than photons: namely cosmic rays, gravitational waves and neutrinos. These additional messengers bring complementary pieces of information to the ones carried by electromagnetic radiation and concur to draw a complete phenomenological picture of several astrophysical events as well as to measure key cosmological parameters. Indeed, it is widely believed in the astronomical community that several aspects of fundamental physics and cosmology will be unveiled only within the framework of multi-messenger astronomy. The most recent breakthrough discoveries of a gravitational wave source associated with a short gamma-ray burst, and of a neutrino event found to be spatially consistent with a flaring blazar, have already shown the key role that high-energy sources will play in multi-messenger observations. The first part of this chapter provides a description of the main properties of gamma-ray bursts, blazars, and other high-energy sources from which we expect to detect gravitational waves and/or neutrinos in the next years, and the achievements that will be reached from multi-messenger observations. The second part of the chapter is focused on the major facilities that are playing and that will play a crucial role in multi-messenger observational campaigns. More specifically, we provide an overview of current and next generation ground-based gravitational wave interferometers and neutrino telescopes, as well as the major X-ray and gamma-ray observatories that will be crucial for multi-messenger observations in the coming years.

In this Paper we consider a problem of formation and evolution of orbital parameters of a binary primordial black hole (PBH) due to gravitational interaction with clustering cold dark matter (CDM). Mass and initial separation have values, which are appropriate for the problem of explanation of the LIGO events by coalescing binary PBHs. We consider both radiation dominated and CDM dominated stages of the evolution using numerical and semi-analytical means. We show that at the end time of our numerical simulations binary's semi-major axis decreases by approximately one hundred times, while its angular momentum decreases by ten times, in comparison to the standard values, which do not take into account effects associated with CDM clustering. We check that our conclusions are hardly affected by numerical artefacts. We estimate the merger rate of binary PBHs due to emission of gravitational wave at the present time both in the standard case when the effects associated with clustering are neglected and in the case when they are taken into account and show, that these effects could increase the merger rate at least by $6-8$ times in comparison to the standard estimate. This, in turn, means, that a mass fraction of PBHs, $f$, should be smaller than it was assumed before.

Recent observations have shown that besides the characteristic multi-million degree component the corona also contains a large amount of cool material called coronal rain, whose clumps are 10 - 100 times cooler and denser than the surroundings and are often organised in larger events termed showers. Thermal instability (TI) within a coronal loop in a state of thermal non-equilibrium (TNE) is the leading mechanism behind the formation of coronal rain but no investigation on showers exists to date. In this study, we conduct a morphological and thermodynamic multi-wavelength study of coronal rain showers observed in an active region (AR) off-limb with IRIS and SDO, spanning chromospheric to transition region and coronal temperatures. Rain showers were found to be widespread across the AR over the 5.45-hour observing time, with average length, width and duration of 27.37$\pm$11.95 Mm, 2.14$\pm$0.74 Mm, and 35.22$\pm$20.35 min, respectively. We find a good correspondence between showers and the cooling coronal structures consistent with the TNE-TI scenario, thereby properly identifying coronal loops in the 'coronal veil', including the strong expansion at low heights and an almost zero expansion in the corona. This agrees with previous work suggesting that the observed zero expansion in the EUV is due to specific cross-field temperature distribution. We estimate the total number of showers to be 155$\pm$40, leading to a TNE volume of 4.56$\pm$3.71 $\times$ $10^{28}$cm$^{3}$, i.e. on the same order of the AR volume. This suggests a prevalence of TNE over the AR indicating strongly stratified and high-frequency heating on average.

The detection and characterization of exoplanets and brown dwarfs (BDs) around massive AF-type stars is essential to investigate and constrain the impact of stellar mass on planet properties. However, such targets are still poorly explored in radial velocity (RV) surveys because they only feature a small number of stellar lines and those are usually broadened and blended by stellar rotation as well as stellar jitter. As a result, the available information about the formation and evolution of planets and BDs around hot stars is limited. We aim to increase the sample and precisely measure the masses and eccentricities of giant planets and BDs transiting AF-type stars detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We followed bright (V < 12 mag) stars with $T_{\mathrm{eff}}$ > 6200 K that host giant companions (R > 7 $\mathrm{R_{\rm \oplus}}$) using ground-based photometric observations as well as high precision RV measurements from the CORALIE, CHIRON, TRES, FEROS, and MINERVA-Australis spectrographs. In the context, we present the discovery of three BD companions, TOI-629b, TOI-1982b, and TOI-2543b, and one massive planet, TOI-1107b. From the joint analysis we find the BDs have masses between 66 and 68 $\mathrm{M_{\rm Jup}}$, periods between 7.54 and 17.17 days, and radii between 0.95 and 1.11 $\mathrm{R_{\rm Jup}}$. The hot Jupiter TOI-1107b has an orbital period of 4.08 days, a radius of 1.30 $\mathrm{R_{\rm Jup}}$, and a mass of 3.35 $\mathrm{M_{\rm Jup}}$. As a by-product of this program, we identified four low-mass eclipsing components (TOI-288b, TOI-446b, TOI-478b, and TOI-764b). Both TOI-1107b and TOI-1982b present an anomalously inflated radius with respect to the age of these systems. TOI-629 is among the hottest stars with a known transiting brown dwarf. TOI-629b and TOI-1982b are among the most eccentric brown dwarfs.

We present angular power spectra and cosmological parameter constraints derived from the Planck PR4 (NPIPE) maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background. NPIPE, released by the Planck Collaboration in 2020, is a new processing pipeline for producing calibrated frequency maps from Planck data. We have created new versions of the CamSpec likelihood using these maps and applied them to constrain LCDM and single-parameter extensions. We find excellent consistency between NPIPE and the Planck 2018 maps at the parameter level, showing that the Planck cosmology is robust to substantial changes in the mapmaking. The lower noise of NPIPE leads to 10% tighter constraints, and we see both smaller error bars and a shift toward the LCDM values for beyond-LCDM parameters including Omega_K and A_Lens.

For direct imaging of exoplanets, Scalar Vortex Coronagraphs (SVCs) are an attractive alternative to the popularly used Vector Vortex Coronagraphs (VVCs). This is primarily because they are able to induce the same phase ramp regardless of the incoming light's polarization state. We tested a set of stepped SVC staircase masks in the Exoplanet Technology Laboratory (ET Lab) at Caltech on the High-Contrast Spectroscopy Testbed (HCST). Here we present some preliminary findings of their starlight suppression ability, achieving raw contrasts on the order of 1e-5 for 7 to 9 lambda/D. We also characterized their chromatic performance and performed wavefront control to achieve preliminary contrasts on the order of 1e-7 with EFC. These initial experimental results with SVCs have shown scalar vortex technology has a great potential for future exoplanet direct imaging missions.

Cosmological covariance matrices are fundamental for parameter inference, since they are responsible for propagating uncertainties from the data down to the model parameters. However, when data vectors are large, in order to estimate accurate and precise matrices we need huge numbers of observations, or rather costly simulations - neither of which may be viable. In this work we propose a machine learning approach to alleviate this problem in the context of the matrices used in the study of large-scale structure. With only a small amount of data (matrices built with samples of 50-200 halo power spectra) we are able to provide significantly improved matrices, which are almost indistinguishable from the ones built from much larger samples (thousands of spectra). In order to perform this task we trained convolutional neural networks to denoise the matrices, using in the training process a data set made up entirely of spectra extracted from simple, inexpensive halo simulations (mocks). We then show that the method not only removes the noise in the matrices of the cheap simulation, but it is also able to successfully denoise the matrices of halo power spectra from N-body simulations. We compare the denoised to the other matrices using several metrics, and in all of them they score better, without any signs of spurious artifacts. With the help of the Wishart distribution we derive an analytical extrapolation for the effective sample augmentation allowed by the denoiser. Finally, we show that, by using the denoised matrices, the cosmological parameters can be recovered with nearly the same accuracy as when using matrices built with a sample of 30,000 spectra in the case of the cheap simulations, and with 15,000 spectra in the case of the N-body simulations. Of particular interest is the bias in the Hubble parameter $H_0$, which was significantly reduced after applying the denoiser.

All-sky imagers (ASIs) are used to record auroral activities from the ground but are often contaminated by the moon. Here, we studied the THEMIS ASIs data and developed an algorithm to eliminate the moon which can be generalized to other types of ASIs. With our algorithm, the ASI pixels within the moon's surface are typically saturated and thus removed by the algorithm. The ASI pixels within the moon's glow are close to but not saturated and thus can be calibrated by the algorithm to recover auroral structures within the glow. For pixels far away from the moon or when there is no moon, the algorithm preserves typical auroral forms, from the transient features of auroral streamers and pulsating aurora to more stable features of pre-onset arcs. Note that the algorithm does not treat clouds, which is a known limitation.

We have developed an improved model of X-ray emission from optically thin, two-temperature accretion flows, \texttt{kerrflow}, using an exact Monte Carlo treatment of global Comptonization as well as with a fully general relativistic description of both the radiative and hydrodynamic processes. It also includes pion-decay electrons, whose synchrotron emission dominates the seed photons yield at high accretion rates in flows around supermassive black holes. We consider in detail the dependence of the model spectra on the black hole spin, the electron heating efficiency, the plasma magnetization and the accretion rate, and we discuss feasibility of constraining these parameters by analyzing X-ray spectra of nearby low-luminosity active galactic nuclei. We note some degeneracies which hinder precise estimations of these parameters when individual X-ray spectra are analyzed. These degeneracies are eliminated when several spectra from a given source are fitted jointly, which then allows us to reliably measure the model parameters. We find significant differences with previous spectral models of hot-flow emission, related with the computational methods for Comptonization. Finally, we briefly consider and discuss the dependence on the viscosity parameter and on the outflow strength.

For many years proto-planetary discs have been thought to evolve viscously: angular momentum redistribution leads to accretion and outward disc spreading. Recently, the hypothesis that accretion is due, instead, to angular momentum removal by magnetic winds gained new popularity: no disc spreading is expected in this case. In this paper, we run several one-dimensional gas and dust simulations to make predictions on the time-evolution of disc sizes \textit{in the dust} and to assess whether they can be used to understand how discs evolve. We show that viscous and magnetic wind models have very different dust disc radii. In particular, MHD wind models are compact and their sizes either remain constant or decrease with time. On the contrary, discs become larger with time in the viscous case (when $\alpha\gtrsim10^{-3}$). Although current observations lack enough sensitivity to discriminate between these two scenarios, higher-sensitivity surveys could be fruitful to this goal on a $1\,{\rm to}\,10\,{\rm Myr}$ age range. When compared with the available ALMA Band~7 data, both viscous and magnetic wind models are compatible with the observationally-inferred dust radii in Lupus, Chamaeleon~I and Upper Sco. Furthermore, in the drift-dominated regime, the size-luminosity correlation is reproduced in Lupus, both in Band~7 and 3, while in Upper Sco a different slope than in the data is predicted. Sub-structures (potentially undetected) can explain several outliers with large observed sizes. Higher-angular-resolution observations will be helpful to test our predictions in the case of more compact discs, expected in both frameworks, particularly at the age of Upper Sco.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has embarked on an ambitious five-year survey to explore the nature of dark energy with spectroscopy of 40 million galaxies and quasars. DESI will determine precise redshifts and employ the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation method to measure distances from the nearby universe to z > 3.5, as well as measure the growth of structure and probe potential modifications to general relativity. In this paper we describe the significant instrumentation we developed for the DESI survey. The new instrumentation includes a wide-field, 3.2-deg diameter prime-focus corrector that focuses the light onto 5020 robotic fiber positioners on the 0.812 m diameter, aspheric focal surface. The positioners and their fibers are divided among ten wedge-shaped petals. Each petal is connected to one of ten spectrographs via a contiguous, high-efficiency, nearly 50 m fiber cable bundle. The ten spectrographs each use a pair of dichroics to split the light into three channels that together record the light from 360 - 980 nm with a resolution of 2000 to 5000. We describe the science requirements, technical requirements on the instrumentation, and management of the project. DESI was installed at the 4-m Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak, and we also describe the facility upgrades to prepare for DESI and the installation and functional verification process. DESI has achieved all of its performance goals, and the DESI survey began in May 2021. Some performance highlights include RMS positioner accuracy better than 0.1", SNR per \sqrt{\AA} > 0.5 for a z > 2 quasar with flux 0.28e-17 erg/s/cm^2/A at 380 nm in 4000s, and median SNR = 7 of the [OII] doublet at 8e-17 erg/s/cm^2 in a 1000s exposure for emission line galaxies at z = 1.4 - 1.6. We conclude with highlights from the on-sky validation and commissioning of the instrument, key successes, and lessons learned. (abridged)

The chemical evolution of an exoplanetary Venus-like atmosphere is dependent upon the ultraviolet to near ultraviolet (FUV-NUV) radiation ratio from the parent star, the balance between CO$_{2}$ photolysis and recombination via reactions that depend on the water abundance, and various catalytic chemical cycles. In this study, we use a three-dimensional (3-D) model to simulate conditions for a Venus-like exoplanet orbiting the M-dwarf type star GJ 436 by varying the star/planet distance and considering the resultant effects on heating/cooling and dynamics. The simulation includes the middle and upper atmosphere (<40 mbar). Overall, these model comparisons reveal that the impact of extreme ultraviolet to ultraviolet (EUV-UV) heating on the energy balance shows both radiative and dynamical processes are responsible for driving significant variations in zonal winds and global temperature profiles at < 10$^{-5}$ mbar. More specifically, CO$_{2}$ 15-${\mu}$m cooling balances EUV/UV and Near InfraRed (NIR) heating at altitudes below 10$^{-7}$ mbar pressure with a strong maximum balance for pressures at ~10$^{-5}$ mbar, thus explaining the invariance of the temperature distribution at altitudes below 10$^{-5}$mbar pressure for all cases. Our model comparisons also show that moderate changes in NIR heating result in relatively small changes in neutral temperature in the upper atmosphere, and virtually no change in the middle atmosphere. However, with larger changes in the NIR heating profile, much greater changes in neutral temperature occur in the entire upper and middle atmosphere studied.

Context: The study of radio emission from core-collapse supernovae (SNe) probes the interaction of the ejecta with the circumstellar medium (CSM) and reveals details of the mass-loss history of the progenitor. Aims: We report observations of the type IIP supernova SN\,2016X during the plateau phase, at ages between 21 and 75 days, obtained with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) radio observatory. Methods: We modelled the radio spectra as self-absorbed synchrotron emission, and we characterised the shockwave and the mass-loss rate of the progenitor. We also combined our results with previously reported X-ray observations to verify the energy equipartition assumption. Results: The properties of the shockwave are comparable to other type IIP supernovae. The shockwave expands according to a self-similar law $R \propto t^m$ with $m=0.76 \pm 0.08$, which is notably different from a constant expansion. The corresponding shock velocities are approximately 10700 - 8000 km s$^{-1}$ during the time of our observations. The constant mass-loss rate of the progenitor is $\dot{M}=$ (7.8 $\pm$ 0.9)\,$\times 10^{-7} \alpha^{-8/19} (\epsilon_B/0.1)^{-1} M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, for an assumed wind velocity of 10 km s$^{-1}$. We observe spectral steepening in the optically thin regime at the earlier epochs, and we demonstrate that it is caused by electron cooling via the inverse Compton effect. We show that the shockwave is characterised by a moderate deviation from energy equipartition by a factor of $\epsilon_e / \epsilon_B \approx 28$, being the second type IIP supernova to show such a feature.

We present a precise thermometry system to monitor room-temperature components of a telescope for radio-astronomy such as cosmic microwave background (CMB) observation. The system realizes precision of 1 mK${\rm \sqrt{s}}$ on a timescale of 20 seconds at 300 K. We achieved this high precision by tracking only relative fluctuation and combining thermistors with a low-noise measurement device. In this paper we show the required precision of temperature monitors for CMB observation and introduce the performance of our thermometry system. This precise room-temperature monitoring system enables us to reduce the low-frequency noise in a wide range of radio-astronomical detector signals observation and to operate a large detector array perform at its designed high sensitivity.

We simulate the response of a main sequence star to the explosion of a stripped-envelope (type Ib or Ic) core collapse supernova (CCSN) when the main sequence star orbits the core at a distance of 10Ro or 20Ro at explosion. We use the stellar evolution code MESA to follow the response of main sequence stars of masses 3Mo and 7Mo to energy deposition and mass removal. The collision of the CCSN ejecta with the main sequence star deposits energy and inflate the main sequence star. If the binary system stays bound after the CCSN explosion the inflated main sequence star might engulf the newly born neutron star (NS). We assume that the NS accretes mass through an accretion disk and launches jets. The jets remove mass from the inflated main sequence star and collide with the CCSN ejecta. Although this scenario is rare, it adds up to other rare scenarios to further support the notion that many stripped envelope CCSNe are powered by late jets. The late jets can power these CCSNe-I for a long time and might power bumps in their light curve. The jets might also shape the inner ejecta to a bipolar morphology. Our results further support suggestions that there are several ways to feed a NS (or a black hole) to launch the late jets in superluminous supernovae.

The Serpens Molecular Cloud is one of the most active star-forming regions within 500 pc, with over one thousand of YSOs at different evolutionary stages. The ages of the member stars inform us about the star formation history of the cloud. In this paper, we develop a spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting method for nearby evolved (diskless) young stars from members of the Pleiades to estimate their ages, with a temperature scale adopted from APOGEE spectra. When compared with literature temperatures of selected YSOs in Orion, the SED fits to cool (<5000 K) stars have temperatures that differ by an average of <~ 50 K and have a scatter of ~ 210 K for both disk-hosting and diskless stars. We then apply this method to YSOs in the Serpens Molecular Cloud to estimate ages of optical members previously identified from Gaia DR2 astrometry data. The optical members in Serpens are concentrated in different subgroups with ages from ~4 Myr to ~22 Myr; the youngest clusters, W40 and Serpens South, are dusty regions that lack enough optical members to be included in this analysis. These ages establish that the Serpens Molecular Cloud has been forming stars for much longer than has been inferred from infrared surveys.

GRB 211211A was accompanied by a kilonova, implying a merger origin for the event. A precursor flare, modulated by quasi-periodic oscillations at $\approx 22\, \mbox{Hz}$, was also seen $\approx 1\, \mbox{s}$ prior to the main emission. It is suggested here that the precursor resulted from the resonant shattering of one star's crust prior to coalescence. Seismic aftershocks and low-frequency torsional modes may emanate from the rupture site in this case, explaining the underlying oscillations. This interpretation is directly analogous to proposals for giant flares from soft gamma repeaters, where oscillations at similar frequencies have been observed, involving starquakes followed by crustal vibrations. Torsional mode properties are computed for sequences of slowly-rotating, magnetised neutron stars in general relativity. The $\approx 22\, \mbox{Hz}$ modulations in the precursor matches that of nodeless, $\ell =2$ torsional modes for a wide variety of stellar parameters. Additionally, an analysis of the X-ray afterglow suggests that the merger remnant was a millisecond magnetar.

Active regions on the photosphere of a star have been the major obstacle for detecting Earth-like exoplanets with the radial velocity (RV) method. A commonly employed solution to addressing stellar activity is to assume a linear relationship between the RV observations and the activity indicators along the entire time series, and then remove the estimated contribution of activity from the variation in RV data (overall correction method). However, since active regions evolve on the photosphere over time, correlations between the RV observations and the activity indicators will correspondingly be anisotropic. We present an approach which recognizes the RV locations where the correlations between the RV and the activity indicators significantly change, to better account for variations in RV caused by stellar activity. The proposed approach uses a general family of statistical breakpoint methods, often referred to as Change-Point Detection (CPD) algorithms. A thorough comparison is made between the breakpoint-based approach and the overall correction method. To ensure wide representativity we use measurements from real stars having different levels of stellar activity and whose spectra have different signal-to-noise ratios. When the corrections for stellar activity are applied separately on each temporal segment identified by the breakpoint method, the corresponding residuals in the RV time series are typically much smaller if compared to those obtained with the overall correction method. Consequently the Generalized Lomb-Scargle periodogram contains a smaller number of peaks caused by active regions. The CPD algorithm is particularly effective when focusing on active stars with long time series, such as Alpha Cen B. In that case we demonstrate that the breakpoint method improves the detection limit of exoplanets on average by 74% with respect to the overall correction method.

SN\,2020qlb (ZTF20abobpcb) is a hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN-I) that is among the most luminous (maximum M$_{g} = -22.25$ mag) and that has one of the longest rise times (77 days from explosion to maximum). We estimate the total radiated energy to be $>2.1\times10^{51}$ ergs. SN\,2020qlb has a well-sampled light curve that exhibits clear undulations, a phenomenon seen in other SLSNe, whose physical origin is still unknown. We discuss the potential power source of this immense explosion as well as the mechanisms behind its observed light curve undulations. We analyze photospheric spectra and compare them to other SLSNe-I. We construct the bolometric light curve using photometry from a large data set of observations from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), Liverpool Telescope (LT) and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and compare it with radioactive, circumstellar interaction and magnetar models. Model residuals and light curve polynomial fit residuals are analyzed to estimate the undulation timescale and amplitude. We also determine host galaxy properties based on imaging and spectroscopy data, including a detection of the [O III]$\lambda$4363\AA\, auroral line, allowing for a direct metallicity estimate. We rule out the Arnett $^{56}$Ni decay model for SN\,2020qlb's light curve due to unphysical parameter results. Our most favored power source is the magnetic dipole spin-down energy deposition of a magnetar. Two to three near peak oscillations, intriguingly similar to those of SN\,2015bn, were found in the magnetar model residuals with a timescale of $32\pm6$ days and an amplitude of 6$\%$ of peak luminosity. We rule out centrally located undulation sources due to timescale considerations; and we favor the result of ejecta interactions with circumstellar material (CSM) density fluctuations as the source of the undulations.

We present radio continuum observations of NGC 2082 using ASKAP, ATCA and Parkes telescopes from 888 MHz to 9000 MHz. Some 20 arcsec from the centre of this nearby spiral galaxy, we discovered a bright and compact radio source, J054149.24-641813.7, of unknown origin. To constrain the nature of J054149.24-641813.7, we searched for transient events with the Ultra-Wideband Low Parkes receiver, and compare its luminosity and spectral index to various nearby supernova remnants (SNRs), and fast radio burst (FRB) local environments. Its radio spectral index is flat ({\alpha} = 0.02 \pm 0.09) which is unlikely to be either an SNR or pulsar. No transient events were detected with the Parkes telescope over three days of observations, and our calculations show J054149.24-641813.7 is two orders of magnitude less luminous than the persistent radio sources associated with FRB 121102 & 190520B. We find that the probability of finding such a source behind NGC 2082 is P = 1.2%, and conclude that the most likely origin for J054149.24-641813.7 is a background quasar or radio galaxy.

Advances in high-precision spectrographs have paved the way for the search for an Earth analogue orbiting a Sun-like star within its habitable zone. However, the research community remains limited by the presence of stellar noise produced by stellar magnetic activity. These activity phenomena can obscure the detection of Earth-mass exoplanets and can create parasitic signals in transmission spectra. In this paper, we outline the need for a public forecast of stellar activity, and produce a proof of principle. Using publicly available spectra we are able to forecast stellar minima several years ahead and reach a typical uncertainty on the timing of these minima of ~0.5 year, similar to the precision reached on our own Sun's magnetic cycle. Furthermore, we use our toy model to show that knowing when to observe can improve the sensitivity of HARPS-North's Solar telescope to low mass planets by up to an order of magnitude, and we show that the majority of exoplanets selected for Early Release Science and Guaranteed Time Observations on the James Webb will be observed close or during stellar maxima, incurring a higher risk of stellar contamination. We finish our paper by outlining a number of next steps to create a public forecast usable by teams around the globe, by telescope time allocation committees, and in preparation for spacecrafts such as Ariel.

This paper is part of a study of the apsidal motion in close eccentric massive binary systems, which aims to constrain the internal structure of the stars. We focus on the binary CPD-41{\deg}7742 and revisit HD152218. Independent studies of CPD-41{\deg}7742 in the past showed large discrepancies in the longitude of periastron of the orbit, hinting at the presence of apsidal motion. We perform a consistent analysis of all observational data, explicitly accounting for the apsidal motion. We use spectroscopic and photometric observations of CPD-41{\deg}7742 to infer values for the fundamental stellar and binary parameters. We apply a disentangling method to the spectra to simultaneously derive the RVs at the times of observation and reconstruct the individual stellar spectra. These are analysed by means of CMFGEN to determine the stellar properties. We determine the apsidal motion rate in two ways: We complement our RVs with those reported in the literature and we use the phase shifts between the primary and secondary eclipses. The light curves are analysed by means of Nightfall to constrain the orbital inclination and stellar masses. Stellar structure and evolution models are constructed with Cles. Different prescriptions for the mixing are adopted. Photometric data of HD152218 are analysed and stellar evolution models are built. The binary CPD-41{\deg}7742 displays apsidal motion at a rate of 15.38+0.42-0.51{\deg} yr-1. Our analysis of the observational data of CPD-41{\deg}7742 explicitly accounting for the apsidal motion allows us to explain the discrepancy in periastron longitudes. The age estimates are in good agreement with estimates obtained for other massive binaries in NGC 6231. This study confirms the need for enhanced mixing in the stellar evolution models to reproduce the observational stellar properties; this points towards larger convective cores than usually considered.

We investigate the capability of Einstein Telescope to constrain the cosmological parameters of the non-flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model. Two types of mock datasets are considered depending on whether or not a short Gamma-Ray Burst is detected and associated with the gravitational wave event using the THESEUS satellite. Depending on the mock dataset, different statistical estimators are applied: one assumes that the redshift is known, and another one marginalizes over it assuming a specific prior distribution. We demonstrate that {\em (i)} using mock catalogs collecting gravitational wave events to which a short Gamma-Ray Burst has been associated, Einstein Telescope may achieve an accuracy on the cosmological parameters of $\sigma_{H_0}\approx 0.40$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, $\sigma_{\Omega_{k,0}}\approx 0.09$, and $\sigma_{\Omega_{\Lambda,0}}\approx 0.07$; while {\em (ii)} using mock catalogs collecting also gravitational wave events without a detected electromagnetic counterpart, Einstein Telescope may achieve an accuracy on the cosmological parameters of $\sigma_{H_0}\approx 0.04$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, $\sigma_{\Omega_{k,0}}\approx 0.01$, and $\sigma_{\Omega_{\Lambda,0}}\approx 0.01$. These results show an improvement of a factor 2-75 with respect to earlier results using complementary datasets.

Some intermediate polars show outbursts that are much shorter than those observed in normal dwarf novae, and whose origin has remained unelucidated for a long time. We examine here the case of V1223 Sgr, an intermediate polar that showed a short outburst in 1984, and compare the outburst characteristics with the predictions of the magnetospheric gating model. We use the archival data from the AAVSO from which we extract the outburst profiles. We use our code for computing the time-dependent evolution of an accretion disc truncated by the white dwarf magnetic field, using a simple description of the interaction between the disc and the magnetic field, as in D'Antona and Spruit (2010). We find that V1223 Sgr underwent a series of short outbursts, with a rise lasting for typically two to three hours, and a slightly longer decay. When applied to intermediate polars, the model by D'Antona and Spruit (2010) accounts well for the observed outburst duration and intensity. We confirm, however, that the model outcome depends sensitively on the rather poorly constrained model's assumptions. We have also searched the AAVSO database for short outbursts in other IPs, identifying individual short outbursts in FO Aqr, TV Col, NY Lup and EI UMa, but no series as those observed in V1223 Sgr. We also found a superoutburst, followed by a reflare in CTCV J2056-3014. Although the magnetic-gating accretion instability model is clearly responsible for the series of V1223 Sgr short outbursts and most probably for similar events in other intermediate polars, the model describing this process needs improving, in particular concerning the interaction of the white-dwarf's magnetic field with the accretion disc. This difficult task might benefit from further comparison of the model outcome with additional observations having good time coverage and time resolution.

Aim. The eccentric von Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai (ZLK) effect is widely used to explain dynamical phenomena in varieties of astrophysical systems. The purpose of this work is to make clear the dynamical essence of the eccentric ZLK effect by constructing an inherent connection between such an effect and dynamics of secular resonance in restricted hierarchical planetary systems. Methods. Dynamical structures of apsidal resonance are analytically studied by means of perturbative treatments. The resonant model is formulated by averaging the Hamiltonian (up to octupole order) over rotating ZLK cycles, producing an additional motion integral. The phase portraits under the resonant model can be used to analyse dynamical structures, including resonant centres, dynamical separatrices and islands of libration. Results. By analysing phase portraits, five branches of libration centres and eight libration zones are found in the eccentricity--inclination space. There is an excellent agreement between analytical results of libration zone and numerical distributions of resonant orbit, indicating that the resonant model for apsidal resonances is valid and applicable. Additionally, it is found that, in the test-particle limit, distributions of flipping orbits are dominated by those apsidal resonances centred at the inclination of i = 90 deg. Conclusions. The eccentric ZLK effect is dynamically equivalent to the effect of apsidal resonance in restricted hierarchical planetary systems. The dynamical response of the eccentric ZLK effect (or effect of apsidal resonance) is to significantly excite eccentricities and/or inclinations of test particles in the very long-term evolution.

The observable characteristics of the charged black hole (BH) surrounded by a thin disk accretion are investigated in the Rastall gravity. We found that the radii of the direct emission, lensing ring, and photon ring dramatically increased as the radiation field parameter increases, but they only weakly depend on the BH charge. Three positions of the radiation accretion disk relative to the BH are considered, i.e., the innermost accretion disk is closed to the radii of the innermost stable circular orbit, the photon ring of the BH, and the event horizon of the BH. The observed images in three cases respectively are obtained. It is found that the total observed flux is dominated by the direct emission, the lensing ring provides a small contribution, and the photon ring is negligible. The lensing and photon rings could not be observed in the blurred image with the EHT resolution. Our results suggest that the observable characteristics of the charged BH surrounded by the thin disk accretion in the Rastall gravity depend on both the BH space-time structure and the position of the radiating accretion disk with respect to the BH. The research of these BH images may serve as a probe for the BH-disk structure in M87$^{*}$ like nearby active galactic nuclei.

The geologically active south pole of Enceladus generates a plume of micron-sized particles, which likely form Saturn's tenuous E-ring extending from the orbit of Mimas to Titan. Interactions between these particles and satellites have been suggested, though only as very thin surficial phenomena. We scrutinize high-resolution images with a newly developed numerical shape model of Helene and find that the leading hemisphere of Helene is covered by thick deposits of E-ring particles, which occasionally collapse to form gully-like depressions. The depths of the resultant gullies and near-absence of small craters on the leading hemisphere indicate that the deposit is tens to hundreds of meters thick. The ages of the deposits are less than several tens of My, which coincides well with similar deposits found on Telesto and Calypso. Our findings as well as previous theoretical work collectively indicate that the cryovolcanic activity currently occurring on Enceladus is ephemeral.

Gravitational waves (GWs) from compact binary coalescences provide an independent probe of the cosmic expansion history other than electromagnetic waves. In this work, we assume the binary black holes (BBHs) detected by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaborations are of primordial origin and constrain the population parameters of primordial black holes (PBHs) and Hubble parameter $H(z)$ using $42$ BBHs from third LVK GW transient catalog (GWTC-3). Three PBH mass models are considered: lognormal, power-law, and critical collapse PBH mass functions. By performing a hierarchical Bayesian population analysis, the Bayes factor strongly disfavors the power-law PBH mass function for the other two in GWTC-3. The constraints on standard $\Lambda{\rm CDM}$ cosmological parameters are rather weak and in agreement with current results. When combining the multi-messenger standard siren measurement from GW170817, the Hubble constant $H_0$ is constrained to be $69^{+19}_{-8}\, \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}\, \mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ and $70^{+26}_{-8}\, \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}\, \mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ at $68\%$ confidence for the lognormal and critical collapse mass functions, respectively. Our results are comparable with those assuming the phenomenological mass models inspired by the astrophysical BH scenario.

Studies of the most distant AGNs allow us to test our current understanding of the physics present in radio-jetted AGNs across a range of environments. The decrease in apparent luminosity with distance is the primary difficulty to overcome in the study of these distant AGNs, which requires highly sensitive instruments. Our goal is to employ new long wavelength radio data to better parametrise the broad-band SED of GB 1508+5714, a high-redshift (z=4.30) AGN. Its high redshift, high intrinsic luminosity, and classification as a blazar allow us to test emission models that consider the efficient cooling of jet electrons via inverse Compton losses in interactions with the dense CMB photon field at high redshifts. A significant detection of this effect in GB 1508+5714 may partly explain the apparent sparsity of high-redshift radio galaxies in wide-field surveys; detections of this kind are only becoming possible with the current generation of SKA precursors. We used international LOFAR telescope to image the long wavelength radio emission around the high-redshift blazar GB 1508+5714 on arcsecond scales at frequencies between 128 MHz and 160 MHz. This allowed us to compare the spatially resolved structure with higher frequency observations, and to construct spectral index maps. The LOFAR image shows a compact unresolved core and two resolved emission regions around 2 arcsec to the east and to the west of the radio core. We find structure consistent with previous VLA observations, as well as a previously unreported emission region to the east. We interpret the arcsecond-scale radio structure of GB 1508+5714 as a FR II-like radio galaxy at a small viewing angle. Our SED modelling shows that a scenario featuring significant quenching effects caused by interaction with the CMB provides a good description of the data, and notably explains the suppressed radio emission.

Several works over the past years have discussed the possibility of testing fundamental physics using Very Long Baseline Interferometry horizon-scale black hole (BH) images, such as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) images of M87$^*$ and Sagittarius A$^*$ (Sgr A$^*$), using the size $r_{\rm sh}$ and deviation from circularity $\Delta \mathcal{C}$ of the BH shadow. For the case of the EHT image of Sgr A$^*$, limits on $\Delta \mathcal{C}$ are not available due to the sparse interferometric coverage of the 2017 observations, alongside the short variability timescale of Sgr A$^*$ compared to M87$^*$. Concerning this point, we comment on the results of a recent preprint which purports to have derived new limits on extra dimensions using the deviation from circularity of Sgr A$^*$'s shadow. The latter is quoted to be $\lesssim 10\%$ as with M87$^*$, based on the "similarity" of the two shadows: however, this is an incorrect assumption, invalidating the subsequent results. In the immediate future, the simplest tests of fundamental physics from Sgr A$^*$'s image will therefore mostly have to rely on $r_{\rm sh}$, whereas additional observables such as the photon ring and azimuthal angle lapse should soon be available and allow for novel tests.

Star-forming galaxies are considered the likeliest source of the H I ionizing Lyman Continuum (LyC) photons that reionized the intergalactic medium at high redshifts. However, above z >~ 6, the neutral intergalactic medium prevents direct observations of LyC. Therefore, recent years have seen the development of indirect indicators for LyC that can be calibrated at lower redshifts and applied in the Epoch of Reionization. Emission from Mg II \ly\ly 2796, 2803 doublet has been proposed as a promising LyC proxy. In this paper, we present new Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph observations for 8 LyC emitter candidates, selected to have strong Mg II emission lines. We securely detect LyC emission in 50% (4/8) galaxies with 2$\sigma$ significance. This high detection rate suggests that strong Mg II emitters might be more likely to leak LyC than similar galaxies without strong Mg II. Using photoionization models, we constrain the escape fraction of Mg II as ~ 15 -- 60%. We confirm that the escape fraction of Mg II correlates tightly with that of Lyman-alpha (LyA), which we interpret as an indication that the escape fraction of both species is controlled by resonant scattering in the same low column density gas. Furthermore, we show that the combination of the Mg II emission and dust attenuation can be used to estimate the escape fraction of LyC statistically. These findings confirm that Mg II emission can be adopted to estimate the escape fraction of LyA and LyC in local star-forming galaxies and may serve as a useful indirect indicator at the Epoch of Reionization.

We present the analysis of the optical variability of the early, nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet (WR) star WR7. The analysis of multi-sector Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) light curves and high-resolution spectroscopic observations confirm multi-periodic variability that is modulated on time-scales of years. We detect a dominant period of $2.6433 \pm 0.0005$ d in the TESS sectors 33 and 34 light curves in addition to the previously reported high-frequency features from sector 7. We discuss the plausible mechanisms that may be responsible for such variability in WR7, including pulsations, binarity, co-rotating interacting regions (CIRs) and clumpy winds. Given the lack of strong evidence for the presence of a stellar or compact companion, we suggest that WR7 may pulsate in quasi-coherent modes in addition to wind variability likely caused by CIRs on top of stochastic low-frequency variability. WR7 is certainly a worthy target for future monitoring in both spectroscopy and photometry to sample both the short ($\lesssim 1$ d) and long ($\gtrsim 1000$ d) variability time scales.

The J-region asymptotic giant branch (JAGB) method is a new standard candle that is based on the stable intrinsic J-band magnitude of color-selected carbon stars, and has a precision comparable to other primary distance indicators such as Cepheids and the TRGB. We further test the accuracy of the JAGB method in the Local Group Galaxy M33. M33's moderate inclination, low metallicity, and nearby proximity make it an ideal laboratory for tests of systematics in local distance indicators. Using high-precision optical BVI and near-infrared JHK photometry, we explore the application of three independent distance indicators: the JAGB method, the Cepheid Leavitt Law, and the TRGB. We find: $\mu_0$ (TRGB I) = 24.72 +/- 0.02 (stat) +/- 0.07 (sys) mag, $\mu_0$ (TRGB NIR) = 24.72 +/- 0.04 (stat) +/- 0.10 (sys) mag, $\mu_0$ (JAGB) = 24.67 +/- 0.03 (stat) +/- 0.04 (sys) mag, $\mu_0$ (Cepheid) = 24.71 +/- 0.04 (stat) +/- 0.01 (sys) mag. For the first time, we also directly compare a JAGB distance using ground-based and space-based photometry. We measure: $\mu_0$ (JAGB F110W) = 24.71 +/- 0.06 (stat) +/- 0.05 (sys) mag using the (F814-F110W) color combination to effectively isolate the JAGB stars. In this paper, we measure a distance to M33 accurate to 2% and provide further evidence that the JAGB method is a powerful extragalactic distance indicator that can effectively probe a local measurement of the Hubble constant using spaced-based observations. We expect to measure the Hubble constant via the JAGB method in the near future, using observations from JWST.

In this work, we performed an analysis of the X-ray morphology of the 118 CHEX-MATE (Cluster HEritage project with XMM-Newton - Mass Assembly and Thermodynamics at the Endpoint of structure formation) galaxy clusters, with the aim to provide a classification of their dynamical state. To investigate the link between the X-ray appearance and the dynamical state, we considered four morphological parameters: the surface brightness concentration, the centroid shift, and the second- and third-order power ratios. These indicators result to be: strongly correlated with each other, powerful in identifying the disturbed and relaxed population, characterised by a unimodal distribution and not strongly influenced by systematic uncertainties. In order to obtain a continuous classification of the CHEX-MATE objects, we combined these four parameters in a single quantity, M, which represents the grade of relaxation of a system. On the basis of the M value, we identified the most extreme systems of the sample, finding 15 very relaxed and 27 very disturbed galaxy clusters. From a comparison with previous analysis on X-ray selected samples, we confirmed that the Planck Early Sunyaev-Zeldovich (ESZ) clusters tend to be more disturbed. Finally, by applying our analysis on a simulated sample, we found a general agreement between the observed and simulated results, with the only exception of the concentration. This latter behaviour, is partially related to the presence of particles with high smoothed-particle hydrodynamics density in the central regions of the simulated clusters due to the action of the idealised isotropic thermal Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) feedback.

A simple, novice-friendly scheme for classifying the image configurations of quadruply lensed quasars is proposed. With only six classes, it is intentionally coarse-grained. Readers are invited to test drive the scheme on a sample of 12 quadruply lensed quasar systems. The taxonomy is effectively 2+1 dimensional in that the angular configuration of the images couples only weakly to the non-circularity of the configuration. The scheme can be extended to systems for which the lensing galaxy is observed, at the price of an added dimension.

The amount of sparse asteroid photometry being gathered by both space- and ground-based surveys is growing exponentially. This large volume of data poses a computational challenge owing to both the large amount of information to be processed and the new methods needed to combine data from different sources (e.g. obtained by different techniques, in different bands, and having different random and systematic errors). The main goal of this work is to develop an algorithm capable of merging sparse and dense data sets, both relative and differential, in preparation for asteroid observations originating from, for example, Gaia, TESS, ATLAS, LSST, K2, VISTA, and many other sources. We present a novel method to obtain asteroid phase curves by combining sparse photometry and differential ground-based photometry. In the traditional approach, the latter cannot be used for phase curves. Merging those two data types allows for the extraction of phase-curve information for a growing number of objects. Our method is validated for 26 sample asteroids observed by the Gaia mission.

The cosmological fluid equations describe the early gravitational dynamics of cold dark matter (CDM), exposed to a uniform component of dark energy, the cosmological constant $\Lambda$. Perturbative predictions for the fluid equations typically assume that the impact of $\Lambda$ on CDM can be encapsulated by a refined growing mode $D$ of linear density fluctuations. Here we solve, to arbitrary high perturbative orders, the nonlinear fluid equations with an {\it Ansatz} for the fluid variables in increasing powers of $D$. We show that $\Lambda$ begins to populate the solutions starting at the fifth order in this strict $D$-expansion. By applying suitable resummation techniques, we recast these solutions to a standard perturbative series where not $D$, but essentially the initial gravitational potential serves as the bookkeeping parameter within the expansion. Then, by using the refined growth functions at second and third order in standard perturbation theory, we determine the matter power spectrum to one-loop accuracy as well as the leading-order contribution to the matter bispectrum. We find that employing our refined growth functions impacts the total power- and bispectra at a precision that is below one percent at late times. However, for the power spectrum, we find a characteristic scale-dependent suppression that is fairly similar to what is observed in massive neutrino cosmologies. Therefore, we recommend employing our refined growth functions in order to reduce theoretical uncertainties for analysing data in related pipelines.

Wave emissions at frequencies near electron gyrofrequency harmonics are observed at small heliocentric distances below about 40 solar radii and are known to occur in regions with quiescent magnetic fields. We show the close connection of these waves with the large-scale properties of the magnetic field. Near electron gyrofrequency harmonics emissions occur only when the ambient magnetic field points to a narrow range of directions bounded by polar and azimuthal angular ranges in the RTN coordinate system of correspondingly $80^{\circ} \lesssim \theta_B \lesssim 100^{\circ}$ and $10^{\circ} \lesssim \phi_B \lesssim 30^{\circ}$. We show that the amplitudes of wave emissions are highest when both angles are close to the center of their respective angular interval favorable to wave emissions. The intensity of wave emissions correlates with the magnetic field angular changes at both large and small time scales. Wave emissions intervals correlate with intervals of decreases in the amplitudes of broadband magnetic fluctuations at low frequencies of 10Hz-100Hz. We discuss possible generation mechanisms of the waves.

Nuclear reactions may affect gravitational-wave signals from neutron-star mergers, but the impact is uncertain. In order to quantify the effect, we compare two numerical simulations representing intuitive extremes. In one case reactions happen instantaneously. In the other case, they occur on timescales much slower than the evolutionary timescale. We show that, while the differences in the two gravitational-wave signals are small, they should be detectable by third-generation observatories. To avoid systematic errors in equation of state parameters inferred from observed signals, we need to accurately implement nuclear reactions in future simulations.

Recent studies have reported the detection of the galactic stellar halo wake and dipole triggered by the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), mirroring the corresponding response from dark matter (DM). These studies open up the possibility of adding constraints on the global mass distribution of the Milky Way (MW), and even on the nature of DM itself, with current and upcoming stellar surveys reigniting the discussion on response modes in dynamical friction. However, the simulation of such features remains computationally challenging. We used a collisionless Boltzmann equation (CBE)+Poisson solver based on an existing method from the literature. We investigated the density and velocity response modes in simulations of Galactic-type DM halos accreting LMC-sized satellites, including the dependence on the halo density profile. We successfully captured both the local wake and the global over- and underdensity induced in the host halo. We also captured the velocity response. In line with previous studies, we find that the code can reproduce the core formation in the cuspy profile and the satellite core stalling. The angular power spectrum (APS) response is shown to be sensitive to each density profile. The cored Plummer density profile seems the most responsive, displaying a richness of modes. At the end of the simulation, the central halo acquires cylindrical rotation. The CBE description makes it tenable to capture the response modes with a better handling of noise in comparison to traditional N-body simulations. Hence, given a certain noise level, BPM has a lower computational cost than N-body simulations, making it feasible to explore large parameter sets. We anticipate that stellar spheroids in the MW or external galaxies could show central cylindrical rotation if they underwent a massive accretion event. The code can be adjusted to include a variety of DM physics.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are considered as promising sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) due to their large power output. Observing a neutrino flux from GRBs would offer evidence that GRBs are hadronic accelerators of UHECRs. Previous IceCube analyses, which primarily focused on neutrinos arriving in temporal coincidence with the prompt gamma rays, found no significant neutrino excess. The four analyses presented in this paper extend the region of interest to 14 days before and after the prompt phase, including generic extended time windows and targeted precursor searches. GRBs were selected between May 2011 and October 2018 to align with the data set of candidate muon-neutrino events observed by IceCube. No evidence of correlation between neutrino events and GRBs was found in these analyses. Limits are set to constrain the contribution of the cosmic GRB population to the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux observed by IceCube. Prompt neutrino emission from GRBs is limited to $\lesssim$1% of the observed diffuse neutrino flux, and emission on timescales up to $10^4$ s is constrained to 24% of the total diffuse flux.

We present $\sim10-40\,\mu$m \textit{SOFIA}-FORCAST images of 11 "isolated" protostars as part of the \textit{SOFIA} Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey, with this morphological classification based on 37\,$\mu$m imaging. We develop an automated method to define source aperture size based on the gradient of its background-subtracted enclosed flux and apply this to build spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We fit the SEDs with radiative transfer models, based on the Turbulent Core Accretion (TCA) theory, to estimate key protostellar properties. Here we release the \textit{sedcreator} python package that carries out these methods. The SEDs are generally well-fit by the TCA models, from which we infer initial core masses $M_c$ ranging from $50-430\:M_\odot$, clump mass surface densities $\Sigma_{\rm cl}\sim0.1-3\:{\rm{g\:cm}}^{-2}$ and current protostellar masses $m_*\sim2-40\:M_\odot$. From an uniform analysis of the 40 sources in the full SOMA survey to date, we find that massive protostars form across a wide range of clump mass surface density environments, placing constraints on theories that predict a minimum threshold $\Sigma_{\rm cl}$ for massive star formation. However, the upper end of the $m_*-\Sigma_{\rm cl}$ distribution follows trends predicted by models of internal protostellar feedback that find greater star formation efficiency in higher $\Sigma_{\rm cl}$ conditions. We also investigate protostellar FIR variability by comparison with IRAS data, finding no significant variation over a $\sim$40-year baseline.

29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 is a distant Centaur/comet, showing persistent CO-driven activity and frequent outbursts. We used the Herschel space observatory in 2010, 2011, and 2013 to observe H$_2$O and NH$_3$ and to image the dust coma. Observations with the IRAM 30 m were undertaken in 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2021 to monitor the CO production rate and to search for HCN. Modeling was performed to constrain the size of the sublimating icy grains and to derive the dust production rate. HCN is detected for the first time in comet 29P (at 5$\sigma$ in the line area). H$_2$O is detected as well, but not NH$_3$. H$_2$O and HCN line shapes differ strongly from the CO line shape, indicating that these two species are released from icy grains. CO production rates are in the range (2.9--5.6) $\times$ 10$^{28}$ s$^{-1}$ (1400--2600 kg s$^{-1}$). A correlation between the CO production rate and coma brightness is observed, as is a correlation between CO and H$_2$O production. The correlation obtained between the excess of CO production and excess of dust brightness with respect to the quiescent state is similar to that established for the continuous activity of comet Hale-Bopp. The measured $Q$(H$_2$O)/$Q$(CO) and $Q$(HCN)/$Q$(CO) production rate ratios are 10.0 $\pm$ 1.5 \% and 0.12 $\pm$ 0.03 \%, respectively, averaging the April-May 2010 measurements ($Q$(H$_2$O) = (4.1 $\pm$ 0.6) $\times$ 10$^{27}$ s$^{-1}$, $Q$(HCN) = (4.8 $\pm$ 1.1) $\times$ 10$^{25}$ s$^{-1}$). We derive three independent and similar values of the effective radius of the nucleus, $\sim$ 31 $\pm$ 3 km. The inferred dust mass-loss rates during quiescent phases are in the range 30--120 kg s$^{-1}$, indicating a dust-to-gas mass ratio $<$ 0.1 during quiescent activity. We conclude that strong local heterogeneities exist on the surface of 29P, with quenched dust activity from most of the surface, but not in outbursting regions.

Classical T Tauri stars are low-mass objects, which are still accreting material from the surrounding circumstellar disk. The accretion process is essential in the formation of Sun-like stars and in setting the properties of the disk at the time when planet formation occurs. We constructed a complex dataset in order to examine the accretion process of VW Cha, a classical T Tauri multiple system with the aim of studying the physical origin of the photometric and spectroscopic variability of the system. The TESS Space Telescope observed VW Cha between 2019 April 22 and June 19, and we complemented these data with contemporaneous ground-based $I_CJHK$ band photometric measurements. In addition, we obtained high-resolution optical spectra with the VLT/ESPRESSO and the 2.2\,m/FEROS instruments. Analyzing these data, we found that the TESS light curve shows photometric variations on timescales from minutes to weeks with a peak-to-peak amplitude of $\sim$0.8 mag. The near-infrared light curves follow the shape of the optical measurements, however, the peak-to-peak amplitudes are slightly increasing towards the longer wavelengths. We took spectra in both fainter and brighter photometric states of the system, allowing us to examine the origin of a photometric brightening event. Our results show that this brightening event can be explained by increased accretion. In addition, our spectroscopic data also suggest that the primary component of VW Cha is a spectroscopic binary, as it was proposed in earlier works.

Coronal active regions are studied using Hinode/EIS observations in the EUV line Fe XII {\lambda}195.12 by analyzing their line profiles from 2006 December to 2019 December. The period covers the last 2 yr of solar cycle 23 and solar cycle 24 fully. Active regions are the main source of magnetic field in the solar atmosphere, important in its heating and dynamics. Line profiles were obtained from various active regions spread across the Sun on a monthly basis from which we obtained the intensity, line width, Doppler velocity, and centroid and examined their variation during the solar cycle. The histograms of the Doppler velocity and centroid show that they behave in six different ways with respect to the position of rest wavelength. In addition, the shifts in the centroid were found to be more compared to the Doppler velocity. The variation of the line width with respect to the Doppler velocity or the centroid mostly follows a second-degree polynomial. A multicomponent line profile is simulated to explain the difference in the behavior of the Doppler velocity and the centroid with respect to the line width. We also find that the intensity and the line width of the different data sets show a global dependence on the solar cycle with a good correlation. The implications of the results for the coronal heating and dynamics are pointed out.

High-precision photometric data from space missions have improved our understanding of stellar granulation. These observations have shown with precision the stochastic brightness fluctuations of stars across the HR diagram, allowing us to better understand how stellar surface convection reacts to a change in stellar parameters. These fluctuations need to be understood and quantified in order to improve the detection and characterization of exoplanets. In this work, we provide new scaling relations of two characteristic properties of the brightness fluctuations time series, the standard deviation ($\sigma$) and the auto-correlation time ($\tau\rm_{eff}$). This was done by using long time series of 3D stellar atmosphere models at different metallicities and across the HR diagram, generated with a 3D radiative hydrodynamical code: the STAGGER code. We compared our synthetic granulation properties with the values of a large sample of Kepler stars, and analyzed selected stars with accurate stellar parameters from the Kepler LEGACY sample. Our 3D models showed that $\sigma\propto\nu\rm_{max}^{-0.567\pm0.012}$ and $\tau\rm_{eff}\propto\nu\rm_{max}^{-0.997\pm0.018}$ for stars at solar metallicity. We showed that both $\sigma$ and $\tau\rm_{eff}$ decrease with metallicity, although the metallicity dependence is more significant on $\sigma$. Unlike previous studies, we found very good agreement between $\sigma$ from Kepler targets and the 3D models at $\log{g}\leq3.5$, and a good correlation between the stars and models with $\log{g}\geq3.5$. For $\tau\rm_{eff}$, we found that the 3D models reproduced well the Kepler LEGACY star values. Overall, this study shows that 3D stellar atmosphere models reproduce the granulation properties of stars across the HR diagram.

The optical depth $\tau$ is the least well determined parameter in the standard model of cosmology, and one whose precise value is important for both understanding reionization and for inferring fundamental physics from cosmological measurements. We forecast how well future epoch of reionization experiments could constraint $\tau$ using a symmetries-based bias expansion that highlights the special role played by anisotropies in the power spectrum on large scales. Given a parametric model for the ionization evolution inspired by the physical behavior of more detailed reionization simulations, we find that future 21cm experiments could place tight constraints on the timing and duration of reionization and hence constraints on $\tau$ that are competitive with proposed, space-based CMB missions provided they can measure $k\approx 0.1\,h\,\text{Mpc}^{-1}$ with a clean foreground wedge across redshifts spanning the most active periods of reionization, corresponding to ionization fractions $0.2 \lesssim x \lesssim 0.8$. Precise measurements of smaller scales will not improve constraints on $\tau$ until a better understanding of the astrophysics of reionization is achieved. In the presence of noise and foregrounds even future 21cm experiments will struggle to constrain $\tau$ if the ionization evolution deviates significantly from simple parametric forms.

The ultrahigh energy range of neutrino physics (above $\sim 10^{7} \, \mathrm{GeV}$), as yet devoid of detections, is an open landscape with challenges to be met and discoveries to be made. Neutrino-nucleon cross sections in that range - with center-of-momentum energies $\sqrt{s} \gtrsim 4 \, \mathrm{TeV}$ - are powerful probes of unexplored phenomena. We present a simple and accurate model-independent framework to evaluate how well these cross sections can be measured for an unknown flux and generic detectors. We also demonstrate how to characterize and compare detector sensitivity. We show that cross sections can be measured to $\simeq ^{+65}_{-30}$% precision over $\sqrt{s} \simeq$ 4-140 TeV ($E_\nu = 10^7$-$10^{10}$ GeV) with modest energy and angular resolution and $\simeq 10$ events per energy decade. Many allowed novel-physics models (extra dimensions, leptoquarks, etc.) produce much larger effects. In the distant future, with $\simeq 100$ events at the highest energies, the precision would be $\simeq 15\%$, probing even QCD saturation effects.

Speed matters. How the masses and spins of new particles active during inflation can be read off from the statistical properties of primordial density fluctuations is well understood. However, not when the propagation speeds of the new degrees of freedom and of the curvature perturbation differ, which is the generic situation in the effective field theory of inflationary fluctuations. Here we use bootstrap techniques to find exact analytical solutions for primordial 2-,3- and 4-point correlators in this context. We focus on the imprints of a heavy relativistic scalar coupled to the curvature perturbation that propagates with a reduced speed of sound $c_s$, hence strongly breaking de Sitter boosts. We show that akin to the de Sitter invariant setup, primordial correlation functions can be deduced by acting with suitable weight-shifting operators on the four-point function of a conformally coupled field induced by the exchange of the massive scalar. However, this procedure requires the analytical continuation of this seed correlator beyond the physical domain implied by momentum conservation. We bootstrap this seed correlator in the extended domain from first principles, starting from the boundary equation that it satisfies due to locality. We further impose unitarity, reflected in cosmological cutting rules, and analyticity, by demanding regularity in the collinear limit of the four-point configuration, in order to find the unique solution. Equipped with this, we unveil that heavy particles that are lighter than $H/c_s$ leave smoking gun imprints in the bispectrum in the form of resonances in the squeezed limit, a phenomenon that we call the low speed collider. We characterise the overall shape of the signal as well as its unusual logarithmic mass dependence, both vividly distinct from previously identified signatures of heavy fields. (abridged)

The core-collapse of massive stars and merger of neutron star binaries are among the most promising candidate sites for the production of high-energy cosmic neutrinos. We demonstrate that the high-energy neutrinos produced in such extreme environments can experience efficient flavor conversions on scales much shorter than those expected in vacuum, due to their coherent forward scatterings with the bath of decohered low-energy neutrinos emitted from the central engine. These low-energy neutrinos, which exist as mass eigenstates, provide a very special and peculiar dominant background for the propagation of the high-energy ones. We point out that the high-energy neutrino flavor ratio is modified to a value independent of neutrinos energies, which is distinct from the conventional prediction with the matter effect. We also suggest that the signals can be used as a novel probe of new neutrino interactions beyond the Standard Model. This is yet another context where neutrino-neutrino interactions can play a crucial role in their flavor evolution.

Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) has recently been used in several space-borne missions for scintillator readout, thanks to its solid state, compact size, low operating voltage and insensitivity to magnetic fields. However, a known issue of operating SiPM in space environment is the radiation damage and thus the performance degradation. In-orbit quantitative study of these effects is still very limited. In this work we present in-orbit SiPM characterization results obtained by the second detector of Gamma-Ray Integrated Detectors (GRID-02), which was launched on Nov. 6, 2020. An increase in dark current of $\sim$100 $\mu$A/year per SiPM chip (model MicroFJ-60035-TSV) at 28.5 V and 5$^{\circ}$C is observed, and consequently the overall noise level (sigma) of GRID-02 detector increases $\sim$7.5 keV/year. The estimate of this increase is $\sim$50 $\mu$A/year per SiPM chip at -20$^{\circ}$C, which indicates good effect of using a cooling system.

Since the eigenfrequency of gravitational waves from cold neutron stars becomes a complex number, where the real and imaginary parts respectively correspond to an oscillation frequency and damping rate, one has to somehow solve the eigenvalue problem concerning the eigenvalue in two-dimensional parameter space. To avoid this bother, one sometimes adopts an approximation, where the eigenvalue is in one-dimensional parameter space. In this study, first, we show the accuracy of the zero-damping approximation, which is one of the one-dimensional approximations, for the fundamental and 1st pressure modes. But, this approximation is not applicable to the spacetime mode, because the damping rate of the spacetime mode is generally comparable to the oscillation frequency. Nevertheless, we find the empirical relation for the ratio of the imaginary part to the real part of the eigenfrequency, which is expressed as a function of the steller compactness almost independently of the adopted equations of state for neutron star matter. Adopting this empirical relation, one can express the eigenfrequency in terms of just the real part, i.e., the problem to solve becomes an eigenvalue problem with a one-dimensional eigenvalue. Then, we find that the frequencies are estimated with good accuracy even with such approximations even for the 1st spacetime mode.

We study the impact of a binary companion on black hole superradiance at orbital frequencies away from the gravitational-collider-physics (GCP) resonance bands. A superradiant state can couple to a strongly absorptive state via the tidal perturbation of the companion, thereby acquiring a suppressed superradiance rate. Below a critical binary separation, this superradiance rate becomes negative, and the boson cloud gets absorbed by the black hole. This critical binary separation leads to tight constraints on GCP. Especially, a companion with mass ratio $q>10^{-3}$ invalidates all GCP fine structure transitions, as well as almost all Bohr transitions except those from the $|\psi_{211}\rangle$ state. Meanwhile, the backreaction on the companion manifests itself as a torque acting on the binary, producing floating/sinking orbits that can be verified via pulsar timing. In addition, the possible termination of cloud growth may help to alleviate the current bounds on the ultralight boson mass from various null detections.

In the present work, we examine the following points in the context of the recently proposed curvature coupling helical magnetogenesis scenario \cite{Bamba:2021wyx} -- (1) whether the model is consistent with the predictions of perturbative quantum field theory (QFT), and (2) whether the curvature perturbation induced by the generated electromagnetic (EM) field during inflation is consistent with the Planck data. Such requirements are well motivated in order to argue the viability of the magnetogenesis model under consideration. Actually, the magnetogenesis scenario proposed in \cite{Bamba:2021wyx} seems to predict sufficient magnetic strength over the large scales and also leads to the correct baryon asymmetry of the universe for a suitable range of the model parameter. However in the realm of inflationary magnetogenesis, these requirements are not enough to argue the viability of the model, particularly one needs to examine some more important requirements in this regard. We may recall that the calculations generally used to determine the magnetic field's power spectrum are based on the perturbative QFT -- therefore it is important to examine whether the predictions of such perturbative QFT are consistent with the observational bounds of the model parameter. On other hand, the generated gauge field acts as a source of the curvature perturbation which needs to be suppressed compared to that of contributed from the inflaton field in order to be consistent with the Planck observation. These set our motivation. Interestingly, both the aforementioned requirements in the context of the curvature coupling helical magnetogenesis scenario are found to be simultaneously satisfied by that range of the model parameter which leads to the correct magnetic strength over the large scale modes.

The interface effects of quark matter play important roles in the properties of compact stars and small nuggets such as strangelets and $ud$QM nuggets. By introducing a density derivative term to the Lagrangian density and adopting Thomas-Fermi approximation, we find it is possible to reproduce the results obtained by solving Dirac equations. Adopting certain parameter sets, the energy per baryon of $ud$QM nuggets decreases with baryon number $A$ and become more stable than nuclei at $A\gtrsim 300$. The effects of quark matter symmetry energy are examined, where $ud$QM nuggets at $A\approx 1000$ can be more stable than others if large symmetry energy is adopted. In such cases, larger $ud$QM nuggets will decay via fission and the surface of an $ud$QM star will fragment into a crust made of $ud$QM nuggets and electrons, which resembles the cases of a strange star's crust. The corresponding microscopic structures are then investigated adopting spherical and cylindrical approximations for the Wigner-Seitz cell, where the droplet phase is found to be the most stable configuration with $ud$QM stars' crusts and $ud$QM dwarfs made of $ud$QM nuggets ($A\approx 1000$) and electrons. For the cases considered here, the crust thickness of $ud$QM stars is typically $\sim$200 m, which reaches a few kilometers if we neglect the interface effects and adopt Gibbs construction. The masses and radii of $ud$QM dwarfs are smaller than typical white dwarfs, which would increase if the interface effects are neglected.

Calculations of the superfluid density in the inner crust of neutron stars by different approaches are in strong disagreement, which causes a debate on the accountability of pulsar glitches based on superfluidity. Taking a simple unified model, we study the dependence on approximation of the superfluid density in a periodic potential. In comparison with the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HF-Bogoliubov) theory which treats the effects of the band gap and the pairing gap on equal footing, we examine the HF-BCS-type approximation in which the former is incorporated in priority, and another approximation in which the latter is incorporated in priority. We find that, when the pairing gap and the band gap are comparable as in the inner crust of neutron stars, they need to be treated on equal footing, and the HF-BCS approximation can considerably underestimate the superfluid density even if the pairing gap is much smaller than the Fermi energy. Our result suggests that the validity of the HF-BCS approximation for evaluating the superfluid density in neutron star crusts is questionable.

Dark matter annihilation might power the first luminous stars in the Universe. This type of stars, known as Dark Stars, could form in 10^6-10^8 solar mass protohalos at redshifts z around 20, and they could be much more luminous and larger in size than ordinary stars powered by nuclear fusion. We investigate the formation of Dark Stars in the self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) scenario. We present a concrete particle physics model of SIDM that can simultaneously give rise to the observed dark matter density, satisfy constraints from astrophysical and terrestrial searches, and address the various small-scale problems of collisionless dark matter via the self-interactions. In this model, the power from dark matter annihilation is deposited in the baryonic gas in environments where Dark Stars could form. We further study the evolution of SIDM density profiles in the protohalos at z around 20. As the baryon cloud collapses due to the various cooling processes, the deepening gravitational potential can speed up gravothermal evolution of the SIDM halo, yielding sufficiently high dark matter densities for Dark Stars to form. We find that SIDM-powered Dark Stars can have similar properties, such as their luminosity and size, as Dark Stars predicted in collisionless dark matter models.

Large scale structures in the Universe, ranging from globular clusters to entire galaxies, are the manifestation of relaxation to out-of-equilibrium states that are not described by standard statistical mechanics at equilibrium. Instead, they are formed through a process of a very different nature, i.e. violent relaxation. However, astrophysical time-scales are so large that it is not possible to directly observe these relaxation dynamics and therefore verify the details of the violent relaxation process. We develop a table-top experiment and model that allows us to directly observe effects such as mixing of phase space, and violent relaxation, leading to the formation of a table-top analogue of a galaxy. The experiment allows us to control a range of parameters, including the nonlocal (gravitational) interaction strength and quantum effects, thus providing an effective test-bed for gravitational models that cannot otherwise be directly studied in experimental settings.

Nonlinear interaction between the electromagnetic fields (EMF) are occurred when vacuum polarization in quantum electrodynamics (QED) happens. The field of nonlinear electrodynamics which may be resulting from this interaction could have important effects on black hole physics. In this paper, we consider the asymptotically flat black hole solution in Einstein-nonlinear electrodynamics (NLE) fields. We study the effect of the NLE parameters on the black hole deflection angle using Gauss-bonnet theorem in weak field limits, shadow cast using null geodesics method, and thin accretion disk using the Novikov-Thorne model, in particular, the time averaged energy flux, the disk temperature, the differential luminosity, the different emission profiles, and infalling spherical accretion are studied. Then we show how the physical quantities dependence on $\beta$ and $C$ parameters of NLE and provide some constraints on the NLE parameters using the observations of M87* and Sgr A* from EHT.

Plasmoid-mediated fast magnetic reconnection plays a fundamental role in driving explosive dynamics and heating, but relatively little is known about how it develops in partially ionised plasmas (PIP) of the solar chromosphere. Partial ionisation might largely alter the dynamics of the coalescence instability, which promotes fast reconnection and forms a turbulent reconnecting current sheet through plasmoid interaction, but it is still unclear to what extent PIP effects influence this process. We investigate the role of collisional ionisation and recombination in the development of plasmoid coalescence in PIP through 2.5D simulations of a two-fluid model. The aim is to understand whether these two-fluid coupling processes play a role in accelerating reconnection. We find that in general ionisation-recombination process slow down the coalescence. Unlike the previous models in G. Murtas, A. Hillier \& B. Snow, Physics of Plasmas 28, 032901 (2021) that included thermal collisions only, ionisation and recombination stabilise current sheets and suppress non-linear dynamics, with turbulent reconnection occurring in limited cases: bursts of ionisation lead to the formation of thicker current sheets, even when radiative losses are included to cool the system. Therefore, the coalescence time scale is very sensitive to ionisation-recombination processes. However, reconnection in PIP is still faster than in a fully ionised plasma environment having the same bulk density: the PIP reconnection rate ($M_{_{\operatorname{IRIP}}} = 0.057$) increases by a factor of $\sim 1.2$ with respect to the MHD reconnection rate ($M_{_{\operatorname{MHD}}} = 0.047$).

In the framework of the upgrade of the Pierre Auger Observatory, a new high voltage module is being employed for the power supply of the 1-inch photomultiplier added to each water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array with the aim of increasing the dynamic range of the measurements. This module is located in a dedicated box near the electronics and comprises a low consumption DC-DC converter hosted inside an aluminum box. All the modules have undergone specific tests to verify their reliability in the extreme environmental conditions of the Argentinian pampa. In this paper, we describe the validation procedure and the facility developed to this aim. The successful results of the tests on the HVPS modules are presented and discussed.

The $f(Q)$ theories of modified gravity arise from the consideration of non-metricity as the basic geometric quantity, and have been proven to be very efficient in describing the late-time Universe. We use the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) formalism and observations in order to extract constraints on various classes of f(Q) models. In particular, we calculate the deviations that f(Q) terms bring on the freeze-out temperature in comparison to that of the standard $\Lambda CDM$ evolution, and then we impose the observational bound on $ |\frac{\delta {T}_f}{{T}_f}|$ to extract constraints on the involved parameters of the considered models. Concerning the polynomial model, we show that the exponent parameter should be negative, while for the power-exponential model and the new hyperbolic tangent - power model we find that they pass the BBN constraints trivially. Finally, we examine two DGP-like $f(Q)$ models, and we extract the bounds on their model parameters. Since many gravitational modifications, although able to describe the late-time evolution of the Universe, produce too-much modification at early times and thus fall to pass the BBN confrontation, the fact that $f(Q)$ gravity can safely pass the BBN constraints is an important advantage of this modified gravity class.

A review of the spatially flat cosmological model SU(2)$_{\rm CMB}$, minimally induced by the postulate that the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is subject to an SU(2) rather than a U(1) gauge principle, is given. Cosmological parameter values, which are determined from the Planck CMB power spectra at small angular scales, are compared to their values in spatially flat $\Lambda$CDM from both local and global extractions. As a global model SU(2)$_{\rm CMB}$ leans towards local $\Lambda$CDM cosmology and is in tension with some global $\Lambda$CDM parameter values. We present spectral antiscreening / screening effects in SU(2)$_{\rm CMB}$ radiance within the Rayleigh-Jeans regime in dependence on temperature and frequency. Such radiance anomalies can cause CMB large-angle anomalies. Therefore, it is pointed out how SU(2)$_{\rm CMB}$ modifies the Boltzmann equation for the perturbations of the photon phase space distribution at low redshift and why this requires to the solve the $\ell$-hierarchy on a comoving momentum grid ($q$-grid) for all $z$.