Papers for Wednesday, May 25 2022

The Euclid mission $-$ with its spectroscopic galaxy survey covering a sky area over $15\,000 \ \mathrm{deg}^2$ in the redshift range $0.9<z<1.8\ -$ will provide a sample of tens of thousands of cosmic voids. This paper explores for the first time the constraining power of the void size function on the properties of dark energy (DE) from a survey mock catalogue, the official Euclid Flagship simulation. We identify voids in the Flagship light-cone, which closely matches the features of the upcoming Euclid spectroscopic data set. We model the void size function considering a state-of-the art methodology: we rely on the volume conserving (Vdn) model, a modification of the popular Sheth & van de Weygaert model for void number counts, extended by means of a linear function of the large-scale galaxy bias. We find an excellent agreement between model predictions and measured mock void number counts. We compute updated forecasts for the Euclid mission on DE from the void size function and provide reliable void number estimates to serve as a basis for further forecasts of cosmological applications using voids. We analyse two different cosmological models for DE: the first described by a constant DE equation of state parameter, $w$, and the second by a dynamic equation of state with coefficients $w_0$ and $w_a$. We forecast $1\sigma$ errors on $w$ lower than the $10\%$, and we estimate an expected figure of merit (FoM) for the dynamical DE scenario $\mathrm{FoM}_{w_0,w_a} = 17$ when considering only the neutrino mass as additional free parameter of the model. The analysis is based on conservative assumptions to ensure full robustness, and is a pathfinder for future enhancements of the technique. Our results showcase the impressive constraining power of the void size function from the Euclid spectroscopic sample, both as a stand-alone probe, and to be combined with other Euclid cosmological probes.

We present new determinations of the rest-UV luminosity functions (LFs) at z=2-9 to extremely low luminosities (>-14 mag) from a sample of >2500 lensed galaxies found behind the HFF clusters. For the first time, we present faint-end slope results from lensed samples that are fully consistent with blank-field results over the redshift range z=2-9, while reaching to much lower luminosities than possible from the blank-field studies. Combining the deep lensed sample with the large blank-field samples allows us to set the tight constraints on the faint-end slope alpha of the z=2-9 UV LFs and its evolution. We find a smooth flattening in alpha from -2.28+/-0.10 (z=9) to -1.53+/-0.03 (z=2) with cosmic time (d(alpha)/dz=-0.11+/-0.01), fully consistent with dark matter halo buildup. We utilize these new results to present new measurements of the evolution in the UV luminosity density rho(UV) brightward of -13 mag from z~9 to z~2. Accounting for the SFR densities to faint luminosities implied by our LF results, we find that unobscured star formation dominates the SFR density at z>~4, with obscured star formation dominant thereafter. Having shown we can quantify the faint-end slope alpha of the LF accurately with our lensed HFF samples, we also quantify the apparent curvature in the shape of the UV LF through a curvature parameter delta. The constraints on the curvature delta strongly rule out the presence of a turn-over brightward of -13.1 mag at z~3, -14.3 mag at z~6, and -15.5 mag at all other redshifts between z~9 to z~2.

Observable thermodynamical properties of the intracluster medium (ICM) reflect the complex interplay between AGN feedback and the gravitational collapse of haloes. Using the large volume TNG300 simulation of the IllustrisTNG project we provide predictions for X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) scaling relations for a sample of over 30,000 haloes that cover a wide mass range from galaxies to massive galaxy clusters ($M_{\rm 500crit}$ $\in [10^{12}$ M$_{\odot} - 2\times 10^{15}$ M$_{\odot}$]). We produce mock X-ray observations of simulated haloes using methods that are consistent with observational techniques. Thus, we investigate the scaling relations between the soft-band X-ray luminosity, spectroscopic temperature, gas mass fraction, $Y_{\rm X}$ and $Y_{\rm SZ}$ as a function of halo mass, and we find broad agreement between IllustrisTNG and the observed relations. Our results highlight the scatter and bias introduced by estimated masses, and thus the importance of converting simulated ICM properties to the observable space when comparing simulations to current X-ray observations. The wide range of halo masses in our sample provides new insights into the shape of the X-ray and SZ scaling relations across three orders of magnitude in mass. Our findings show strong evidence for a break in $z=0$ scaling relations. We introduce a smoothly broken power law model which robustly captures the location of this break, the width of the transition region around the break, as well as the slope dependence on halo mass. Our results inform the next generation of subgrid black hole feedback models and provide predictions for ongoing and future observational surveys.

We compute the density and velocity power spectra at next-to-next-to-leading order taking into account the effect of time- and scale-dependent growth of massive neutrino perturbations as well as the departure from Einstein--de-Sitter (EdS) dynamics at late times non-linearly. We determine the impact of these effects by comparing to the commonly adopted approximate treatment where they are not included. For the bare cold dark matter (CDM)+baryon spectrum, we find percent deviations for $k\gtrsim 0.17h~\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$, mainly due to the departure from EdS. For the velocity and cross power spectrum the main difference arises due to time- and scale-dependence in presence of massive neutrinos yielding percent deviation above $k\simeq 0.08, 0.13, 0.16h~\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ for $\sum m_{\nu} = 0.4, 0.2, 0.1~\mathrm{eV}$, respectively. We use an effective field theory (EFT) framework at two-loop valid for wavenumbers $k \gg k_{\mathrm{FS}}$, where $k_{\mathrm{FS}}$ is the neutrino free-streaming scale. Comparing to Quijote N-body simulations, we find that for the CDM+baryon density power spectrum the effect of neutrino perturbations and exact time-dependent dynamics at late times can be accounted for by a shift in the one-loop EFT counterterm, $\Delta\bar{\gamma}_1 \simeq - 0.2~\mathrm{Mpc}^2/h^2$. We find percent agreement between the perturbative and N-body results up to $k\lesssim 0.12h~\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ and $k\lesssim 0.16h~\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ at one- and two-loop order, respectively, for all considered neutrino masses $\sum m_{\nu} \leq 0.4~\mathrm{eV}$.

Limited constraints on the evolution of the Lyman Continuum (LyC) escape fraction represent one of the primary uncertainties in the theoretical determination of the reionization history. Due to the intervening intergalactic medium (IGM), the possibility of observing LyC photons directly in the epoch of reionization is highly unlikely. For this reason, multiple indirect probes of LyC escape have been identified, some of which are used to identify low-redshift LyC leakers (e.g. O32), while others are primarily useful at $z>6$ (e.g. [OIII]/[CII] far infrared emission). The flux ratio of the resonant MgII doublet emission at 2796$\dot{\rm A}$ and 2803$\dot{\rm A}$ as well as the MgII optical depth have recently been proposed as ideal diagnostics of LyC leakage that can be employed at $z>6$ with JWST. Using state-of-the-art cosmological radiation hydrodynamics simulations post-processed with CLOUDY and resonant-line radiative transfer, we test whether MgII is indeed a useful probe of LyC leakage. Our simulations indicate that the majority of bright, star-forming galaxies with high LyC escape fractions are expected to be MgII emitters rather than absorbers at $z=6$. However, we find that the MgII doublet flux ratio is a more sensitive indicator of dust rather than neutral hydrogen, limiting its use as a LyC leakage indicator to only galaxies in the optically thin regime. Given its resonant nature, we show that MgII will be an exciting probe of the complex kinematics in high-redshift galaxies in upcoming JWST observations.

A universal stellar initial mass function (IMF) should not be expected from theoretical models of star formation, but little conclusive observational evidence for a variable IMF has been uncovered. In this paper, a parameterization of the IMF is introduced into photometric template fitting of the COSMOS2015 catalog. The resulting best-fit templates suggest systematic variations in the IMF, with most galaxies exhibiting top-heavier stellar populations than in the Milky Way. At fixed redshift, only a small range of IMFs are found, with the typical IMF becoming progressively top-heavier with increasing redshift. Additionally, subpopulations of ULIRGs, quiescent- and star-forming galaxies are compared with predictions of stellar population feedback and show clear qualitative similarities to the evolution of dust temperatures.

One of the main limitations in precision cluster cosmology arises from systematic errors and uncertainties in estimating cluster masses. Using the Mock-X pipeline, we produce synthetic X-ray images and derive cluster and galaxy group X-ray properties for a sample of over 30,000 simulated galaxy groups and clusters with $M_{\rm 500crit}$ between $10^{12}$ and $2\times 10^{15}$ M$_{\odot}$ in IllustrisTNG. We explore the similarities and differences between IllustrisTNG predictions of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich and X-ray scaling relations with mass. We find a median hydrostatic mass bias $b = 0.125 \pm 0.003$ for $M_{\rm 500crit}$ $>10^{13}$ M$_{\odot}$. The bias increases to $b = 0.17 \pm 0.004$ when masses are derived from synthetic X-ray observations. We model how different underlying assumptions about the dependence of $Y_{\rm X}$ on halo mass can generate biases in the observed $Y_{\rm SZ} - M_{Y_{\rm X}}$ scaling relation. In particular, the simplifying assumption that $Y_{\rm X} - M_{\rm tot}$ is self-similar at all mass scales largely hides the break in $Y_{\rm SZ} - M_{\rm tot}$ and overestimates $Y_{\rm SZ}$ at galaxy and groups scales. We show that calibrating the $Y_{\rm X}-$mass proxy using a new model for a smoothly broken power law reproduces the true underlying $Y_{\rm SZ} - M_{\rm tot}$ scaling relation with high accuracy. Moreover, $M_{Y_{\rm X}}$ estimates calibrated with this method lead to $Y_{\rm SZ} - M_{Y_{\rm X}}$ predictions that are not biased by the presence of lower mass clusters or galaxy groups in the sample. Finally, we show that our smoothly broken power law model provides a robust way to derive the $Y_{\rm X}-$mass proxy, significantly reducing the level of mass bias for clusters, groups, and galaxies.

Three tidal disruption event (TDE) candidates (AT2019dsg, AT2019fdr, AT2019aalc) have been associated with high energy astrophysical neutrinos in multi-messenger follow-ups. In all cases, the neutrino observation occurred O(100) days after the maximum of the optical-ultraviolet (OUV) luminosity. We discuss unified fully time-dependent interpretations of these events, where the neutrino delays are not a statistical effect, but rather the consequence of a physical scale of the post-disruption system. Noting that X-rays and infrared (IR) dust echoes have been observed in all cases, we consider three models in which quasi-isotropic neutrino emission is due to the interactions of accelerated protons of moderate, medium, and high energy energies with X-rays, OUV, and IR photons, respectively. We find that the neutrino time delays can be well described in the X-ray model assuming magnetic confinement of protons in a calorimetric approach, and in the IR model, where the delay is directly correlated with the time evolution of the echo luminosity (for which a model is developed here). The OUV model exhibits the highest neutrino production efficiency. In all three models, the highest neutrino fluence is predicted for AT2019aalc, due to its high estimated SMBH mass and low redshift. All models result in diffuse neutrino fluxes that are consistent with observations.

The Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Strategic Survey is the latest-generation multi-band optical imaging survey for galaxy evolution and structure formation. The "Ultra-Deep" component of the HSC survey provides $grizy$ broad-band images over $\sim3.4$ deg$^2$ to detection limits of $\sim26$-28 AB, along with narrow-band images, in the COSMOS and the SXDS fields. These images provide an unprecedented combination of depths and area coverage, for the studies galaxies up to $z\sim7$. However, the lack of coverage at $<4000$ Ang implies incomplete sampling of the rest-frame UV at $z\lesssim 3$, which is critically needed for understanding the buildup of stellar mass in the later cosmic time. We conducted a multi-year CFHT $u^\ast$-band imaging campaign in the two HSC Ultra-Deep fields with CFHT MegaCam. By including shallower archival data, we reach 5-$\sigma$ depths of $u^\ast=28.1$ and 28.4 (AB) at the centers of the COSMOS and SXDS fields, respectively, and $u^\ast=27.7$ and 27.8 in the central 1 deg$^2$ fields. The image quality is $\gtrsim0.90$ arcsec, fairly good for the $u^\ast$ band. Both the photometric and astrometric quality of our data are excellent. We show that the combination of our $u^\ast$-band and HSC data can lead to high-quality photometric redshifts at $z=0$-3, and robust measurements of rest-frame UV on galaxies at $0.4<z<0.6$ for distinguishing green-valley galaxies from star-forming and quiescent galaxies. We publicly release our reduced $u^\ast$-band images and reference catalogs that can be used readily for scientific studies.

We estimate the viable parameter regions for the model parameters in the degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor (DHOST) theories from Planck 2018 likelihoods with the Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo (MCMC) simulation. In our previous paper, we developed a Boltzmann solver incorporating the effective field theory (EFT) approach parameterised by the six kinds of functions of time, $\alpha_i$ $(i={\rm B},{\rm K},{\rm T},{\rm M},{\rm H})$ and $\beta_1$, which can describe the DHOST theories. Performing the MCMC simulations with the Boltzmann solver, we obtain the confidence ranges of the model parameters in the DHOST theories. We consider a simple model with $\alpha_{\rm B}=\alpha_{\rm T}=\alpha_{\rm M}=\alpha_{\rm H}=0$ and $\alpha_{\rm K},\beta_1\ne 0$, in the $\Lambda$CDM background, and then obtain $\beta_1=0.032_{-0.016}^{+0.013}$ (68\% c.l.) at the present time. Next, we consider the model proposed by Crisostomi and Koyama in which the arbitrary functions of the scalar field in the original action of the DHOST theories are fixed to be $\mathcal{L}_{\rm DHOST} = X + c_3X\Box\phi/\Lambda^3+ (M_{\rm pl}^2/2+c_4X^2/\Lambda^6)R$ so that the background self-accelerating solution exists. In this model, we consistently treat the background and the perturbations, and obtain $c_3 = 1.59^{+0.26}_{-0.28}$ and $c_4<0.0088$ (68\% c.l.).

We present the detection of neutral helium at 10833A in the atmosphere of WASP-52b and tentative evidence of helium in the atmosphere of the grazing WASP-177b, using high-resolution observations acquired with the NIRSPEC instrument on the Keck II telescope. We detect excess absorption by helium in WASP-52b's atmosphere of $3.44 \pm 0.31$% ($11\sigma$), or equivalently $66 \pm 5$ atmospheric scale heights. This absorption is centered on the planet's rest frame ($\Delta v = 0.00 \pm 1.19$km s$^{-1}$). We model the planet's escape using a 1D Parker wind model and calculate its mass-loss rate to be $\sim 1.4 \times 10^{11}$g s$^{-1}$, or equivalently 0.5% of its mass per Gyr. For WASP-177b, we see evidence for red-shifted ($\Delta v = 6.02 +/- 1.88$km s$^{-1}$) helium-like absorption of $1.28 \pm 0.29$% (equal to $23 \pm 5$ atmospheric scale heights). However, due to residual systematics in the transmission spectrum of similar amplitude, we do not interpret this as significant evidence for He absorption in the planet's atmosphere. Using a 1D Parker wind model, we set a $3\sigma$ upper limit on WASP-177b's escape rate of $7.9 \times 10^{10}$ g s$^{-1}$. Our results, taken together with recent literature detections, suggest the tentative relation between XUV irradiation and He I absorption amplitude may be shallower than previously suggested. Our results highlight how metastable helium can advance our understanding of atmospheric loss and its role in shaping the exoplanet population.

We study the properties of the type-C quasi-periodic oscillation (type-C QPO) of MAXI J1348-630 during its 2019 outburst and reflare with NICER. This is the first time that the evolution of the properties of type-C QPOs is studied during an outburst reflare. We found that the properties of the type-C QPO during the reflare are similar to those of type-C QPOs observed in other black-hole systems during outburst. This suggests that the physical processes responsible for type-C QPOs are the same in a reflare and in an outburst. We also found that the FWHM of a high-frequency broadband component observed during the reflare changes significantly with energy. We studied the energy-dependent fractional rms amplitude and phase lags of the type-C QPO from 0.5 keV to 12 keV. We found that the fractional rms amplitude increases up to 2-3 keV and then remains approximately constant above this energy, and the lag spectra of the type-C QPO are hard. We discuss the dependence of the fractional rms amplitude and phase lags with energy in the context of Comptonisation as the radiative mechanism driving the QPO rms and lag spectra.

Neural nets have become popular to accelerate parameter inferences, especially for the upcoming generation of galaxy surveys in cosmology. As neural nets are approximative by nature, a recurrent question has been how to propagate the neural net's approximation error, in order to avoid biases in the parameter inference. We present a Bayesian solution to propagating a neural net's approximation error and thereby debiasing parameter inference. We exploit that a neural net reports its approximation errors during the validation phase. We capture the thus reported approximation errors via the highest-order summary statistics, allowing us to eliminate the neural net's bias during inference, and propagating its uncertainties. We demonstrate that our method is quickly implemented and successfully infers parameters even for strongly biased neural nets. In summary, our method provides the missing element to judge the accuracy of a posterior if it cannot be computed based on an infinitely accurately theory code.

Probing the physics of the accretion flow around active galactic nuclei (AGN) is crucial to understanding their emission mechanisms as well as being able to constrain the geometrical and variability properties of the different regions around them. The soft X-ray excess -- usually observed below $\sim2\,\mathrm{keV}$ in excess of the dominant X-ray powerlaw continuum -- is one prominent feature that is commonly seen in type 1 Seyfert AGN and therefore readily provides a useful diagnostic of the accretion flow mechanism around these systems. NGC 5940 is a Seyfert 1 AGN which reveals strong, prominent soft X-ray excess below $\sim2\,\mathrm{keV}$ as seen in both its XMM-Newton and Swift observations. Model fit to the data revealed that this feature could be equally well explained by the ionised partial covering, the thermal Comptonisation and the blurred reflection models. Although the other models cannot be decisively ruled out with the data at hand, the lack of significant broad iron $K_{\alpha}$ as well as any significant emission/absorption line features in the reflection grating spectrometer (RGS) data tend to favour the thermal Comptonisation origin for the soft X-ray excess in NGC 5940.

We examine the far-IR properties of a sample of 5391 optically selected QSOs in the 0.5<z<2.65 redshift range down to log[nuLnu,2500 (erg/s)]>44.7, using SPIRE data from Herschel-ATLAS. We split the sample in a grid of 74 luminosity-redshift bins and compute the average optical-infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) in each bin. By normalising an intrinsic AGN template to the AGN optical power (at 5100A) we decompose the total infrared emission (L_IR; 8-1000um) into an AGN (L_IR,AGN) and star-forming component (L_IR,SF). We find that the AGN contribution to L_IR increases as a function of AGN power which manifests as a reduction of the `far-IR bump' in the average QSO SEDs. We note that L_IR,SF does not correlate with AGN power; the mean star formation rates (SFRs) of AGN host galaxies are a function of redshift only and they range from ~6 Msun/yr at z~0 to a plateau of <200 Msun/yr at z~2.6. Our results indicate that the accuracy of far-IR emission as a proxy for SFR decreases with increasing AGN luminosity. We show that, at any given redshift, observed trends between infrared luminosity (whether monochromatic or total) and AGN power (in the optical or X-rays) can be explained by a simple model which is the sum of two components: (A) the infrared emission from star-formation, uncorrelated with AGN power and (B) the infrared emission from AGN, directly proportional to AGN power in the optical or X-rays.

Here we report the detection of polarization variations due to nonradial modes in the beta Cephei star beta Crucis. In so doing we confirm 40-year-old predictions of pulsation-induced polarization variability and its utility in asteroseismology for mode identification. In an approach suited to other beta Cep stars, we combine polarimetry with space-based photometry and archival spectroscopy to identify the dominant nonradial mode in polarimetry, f2, as l = 3, m = -3 (in the m-convention of Dziembowski) and determine the stellar axis position angle as 25 (or 205) +/- 8 deg. The rotation axis inclination to the line of sight was derived as approx. 46 deg. from combined polarimetry and spectroscopy, facilitating identification of additional modes and allowing for asteroseismic modelling. This reveals a star of 14.5 +/- 0.5 Solar masses and a convective core containing approx. 28% of its mass -- making beta Crucis the most massive star with an asteroseismic age.

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are associated with the eruption of magnetic flux ropes (MFRs), which usually appear as hot channels in active regions and coronal cavities in quiet-Sun regions. CMEs often exhibit the classical three-part structure in the lower corona when imaged with white-light coronagraphs, including the bright front, dark cavity, and bright core. The bright core and dark cavity have been regarded as the erupted prominence and MFR, respectively, for several decades. However, recent studies clearly demonstrated that both the prominence and hot-channel MFR can be observed as the CME core. The current research presents a three-part CME resulted from the eruption of a coronal prominence cavity on 2010 October 7 with observations from two vantage perspectives, i.e., edge-on from the Earth and face-on from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). Our observations illustrates two important results: (1) For the first time, the erupting coronal cavity is recorded as a channel-like structure in the extreme-ultraviolet passband, analogous to the hot-channel morphology, and is dubbed as warm channel; (2) Both the prominence and warm-channel MFR (coronal cavity) in the extreme-ultraviolet passbands evolve into the CME core in the white-light coronagraphs of STEREO-A. The results support that we are walking toward a unified explanation for the three-part structure of CMEs, in which both prominences and MFRs (hot or warm channels) are responsible for the bright core.

CDMSlite Run 2 was a search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with a cryogenic 600 g Ge detector operated in a high-voltage mode to optimize sensitivity to WIMPs of relatively low mass from 2 - 20 GeV/$c^2$. In this article, we present an effective field theory (EFT) analysis of the CDMSlite Run 2 data using an extended energy range and a comprehensive treatment of the expected background. A binned likelihood Bayesian analysis was performed on the recoil energy data, taking into account the parameters of the EFT interactions and optimizing the data selection with respect to the dominant background components. Energy regions within 5$\sigma$ of known activation peaks were removed from the analysis. The Bayesian evidences resulting from the different operator hypotheses show that the CDMSlite Run 2 data are consistent with the background-only models and do not allow for a signal interpretation assuming any additional EFT interaction. Consequently, upper limits on the WIMP mass and coupling-coefficient amplitudes and phases are presented for each EFT operator. These limits improve previous CDMSlite Run 2 bounds for WIMP masses above 5 GeV/$c^2$.

Slow magnetoacoustic oscillations in stellar coronal loops with gravitational stratification are analyzed with a numerical solution of the boundary-value problem for eigenvalues and eigen functions. In this study, we only focus on the resonant periods. The effects of the gravitational stratification, star mass, loop temperature, and loop length on the properties of slow magnetoacoustic oscillations are investigated. It is shown that the discrepancy between stratified and non-stratified loops is higher in density perturbations than velocity perturbations. When the star has larger mass, higher coronal temperature, and longer loop, the density perturbations in stratified loop are significantly different from the harmonic functions. The periods in the stratified loop are slightly longer than in the non-stratified loop. The periods calculated in our model (14-644 min) are consistent with the periods of stellar quasi-periodic pulsations observed in both soft x-rays (2-70 min) and white lights (8-390 min).

Although the multimessenger detection of the neutron star merger event GW170817 confirmed that mergers are promising sites producing the majority of nature's heavy elements via the rapid neutron-capture process ($r$-process), a number of issues related to the production of translead nuclei -- the actinides -- remain to be answered. In this short review paper, we summarize the general requirements for actinide production in $r$-process and the impact of nuclear physics inputs. We also discuss recent efforts addressing the actinide production in neutron star mergers from different perspectives, including signatures that may be probed by future kilonova and $\gamma$-ray observations, the abundance scattering in metal-poor stars, and constraints put by the presence of short-lived radioactive actinides in the Solar system.

The diagnostic capabilities of spectral lines in far ultraviolet (FUV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength range are explored in terms of their Hanle and Zeeman sensitivity to probe vector magnetic field in the solar corona. The temperature range covered is log$_{10}(T)=5.5-6.3$. The circular polarization signal due to longitudinal Zeeman effect is estimated for spectral lines in the wavelength range of 500 to 1600 \r{A}. The Stokes $V/I$ signal for a FUV line is found to be in the order of 10$^{-4}$ for a longitudinal field strength of 10 Gauss, which further reduces to 10$^{-5}$ for wavelengths below 1200 \r{A}. Due to such low signals, the present study aims to find combination of spectral lines having different Hanle sensitivity but with identical peak formation temperature to probe coronal magnetic field vector. The combination of Hanle sensitive lines is better suited because the Hanle signals are stronger by at least an order of magnitude compared to Zeeman signals. The linear polarization signals due to Hanle effect from at least two spectral lines are required to derive information on the full vector. It is found from this study that there is always a pair of Hanle sensitive lines for a given temperature range suitable for probing coronal vector magnetic field and they are located in close proximity with each other in terms of their wavelength.

Previous analysis of AstroSat observations of the black hole system MAXI J1535-571, have revealed the presence of a strong Quasi-Periodic Oscillation (QPO) whose frequency is correlated with the high energy spectral index. Here, we fit the spectra as emitted from a truncated disc with an inner hot corona, study the QPO frequency dependence on other spectral parameters and model the energy dependent r.m.s and time-lag of the QPO to identify the physical spectral parameters whose variation are responsible for the QPO. The QPO frequency is found to also correlate with the scattering fraction (i.e. the fraction of the soft photons Comptonized) and its dependence on the accretion rate and inner disc radii is consistent with it being the dynamical frequency. The time-lag between the hard and soft photons is negative for QPO frequency > 2.2 Hz and is positive for lesser values, making this the second black hole system to show this behaviour after GRS 1915+105. Modelling the energy dependent time-lag and r.m.s requires correlated variation of the accretion rate, inner disc radii and the coronal heating rate, with the latter having a time-lag compared to the other two for QPO frequencies less than < 2.2 Hz and which changes sign (i.e. the coronal heating variation precedes the accretion rate one) for higher values. The implications of the results are discussed.

We consider the redshift drift and position drift associated with astrophysical sources in a formalism that is suitable for describing emitters and observers of light in an arbitrary spacetime geometry, while identifying emitters of a given null-geodesic bundle that arrives at the observer worldline. We then restrict the situation to the special case of a Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) geometrical structure, and solve for light rays propagating through the structure with arbitrary impact parameters, i.e., with arbitrary angles of entry into the LTB structure. The redshift drift signal emitted by comoving sources and viewed by a comoving observer turns out to be dominated by Ricci curvature and electric Weyl curvature contributions as integrated along the connecting light ray. This property simplifies the computations of the redshift drift signal tremendously, and we expect that the property extends to more complicated models including Swiss-cheese models. When considering several null rays with random impact parameters, the mean redshift drift signal is well approximated by a single Ricci focusing term. This suggests that the measurement of cosmological redshift drift can be used as a direct probe of the strong energy condition in a realistic universe where photons pass through many successive structures.

We report VLBA observations of 22 GHz H$_{2}$O and 43 GHz SiO masers toward the Mira variable RR Aql. By fitting the SiO maser emission to a circular ring, we estimate the absolute stellar position of RR Aql and find agreement with Gaia astrometry to within the joint uncertainty of $\approx1$ mas. Using the maser astrometry we measure a stellar parallax of 2.44 $\pm$ 0.07 mas, corresponding to a distance of 410$^{+12}_{-11}$ pc. The maser parallax deviates significantly from the Gaia EDR3 parallax of 1.95 $\pm$ 0.11 mas, indicating a $3.8\sigma$ tension between radio and optical measurements. This tension is most likely caused by optical photo-center variations limiting the Gaia astrometric accuracy for this Mira variable. Combining infrared magnitudes with parallaxes for RR Aql and other Miras, we fit a period-luminosity relation using a Bayesian approach with MCMC sampling and a strong prior for the slope of -3.60 $\pm$ 0.30 from the LMC. We find a $K$-band zero-point (defined at logP(days) = 2.30) of -6.79 $\pm$ 0.15 mag using VLBI parallaxes and -7.08 $\pm$ 0.29 mag using Gaia parallaxes. The Gaia zero-point is statistically consistent with the more accurate VLBI value.

After recalling some puzzles in cosmology and briefly reviewing the Friedmann-Lema\^itre cosmos a simple unified model of the ``Dark Sector'' is described. This model involves a scalar field and a pseudo-scalar axion field that give rise to Dark Energy in the form of ``quintessence'' and to ``fuzzy'' Dark Matter, respectively. Predictions of the model concerning the late-time evolution of the Universe and possible implications for the problem of the observed Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry in the Universe are sketched.

We present an in depth analysis of the transient events, or glitches, detected at a rate of about one per day in the differential acceleration data of LISA Pathfinder. We show that these glitches fall in two rather distinct categories: fast transients in the interferometric motion readout on one side, and true force transient events on the other. The former are fast and rare in ordinary conditions. The second may last from seconds to hours and constitute the majority of the glitches. We present an analysis of the physical and statistical properties of both categories, including a cross-analysis with other time series like magnetic fields, temperature, and other dynamical variables. Based on these analyses we discuss the possible sources of the force glitches and identify the most likely, among which the outgassing environment surrounding the test-masses stands out. We discuss the impact of these findings on the LISA design and operation, and some risk mitigation measures, including experimental studies that may be conducted on the ground, aimed at clarifying some of the questions left open by our analysis.

Understanding the exact extent and content of tidal tails of open clusters provide useful clues on how field stars populate the Milky Way. We reanalyse, using Gaia EDR3 data, the tails around the open cluster NGC 752. Compared to previous analyses, we look at a much wider region around the cluster and use first the convergent point method, coupled with a clustering analysis using DBSCAN. We find that the cluster, located 433 pc away and well described by a Plummer profile, has very long and asymmetric tails, extending more than 260 pc on the sky (from tip to tip) - four times larger than previously thought - and contains twice as many stars. Numerical models computed with PETAR serve as guide and confirm our analysis. The tails follows the predictions from models, but the trailing tail appears slightly distorted, possibly indicating that the cluster had a complicated history of galactic encounters. Applying an alternative method to the newly developed compact convergent method, we potentially trace the cluster's tidal tails to their full extent, covering several thousands of parsecs and more than 1,000 stars. Our analysis therefore opens a new window on the study of open clusters, whose potential will be fully unleashed with future Gaia data releases.

The binding energies (BE) of molecules on the interstellar grains are crucial in the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM). Both temperature programmed desorption (TPD) laboratory experiments and quantum chemistry computations have often provided, so far, only single values of the BE for each molecule. This is a severe limitation, as the ices enveloping the grain mantles are structurally amorphous, giving rise to a manifold of possible adsorption sites, each with different BEs. However, the ice amorphous nature prevents the knowledge of structural details, hindering the development of a common accepted atomistic icy model. In this work, we propose a computational framework that closely mimics the formation of the interstellar grain mantle through a water by water accretion. On that grain, an unbiased random (but well reproducible) positioning of the studied molecule is then carried out. Here we present the test case of NH$_3$, an ubiquitous species in the molecular ISM. We provide the BE distribution computed by a hierarchy approach, using the semiempirical xTB-GFN2 as low-level method to describe the whole icy cluster combined with the B97D3 DFT functional as high-level method on the local zone of the NH$_3$ interaction. The final ZPE corrected BE is computed at ONIOM(DLPNO-CCSD(T)//B97D3:xTB-GFN2) level, ensuring the best cost/accuracy ratio. The main peak of the predicted NH$_3$ BE distribution is in agreement with experimental TPD and literature computed data. A second broad peak at very low BE values is also present, never detected before. It may provide the solution to a long-standing puzzle about the presence of gaseous NH$_3$ observed also in cold ISM objects.

Gas cooling processes in the interstellar medium (ISM) are key to understanding how star-formation processes occur in galaxies. Far-infrared (FIR) fine-structure emission lines can be used as a tool to understand the gas conditions and trace the different phases of the ISM. We model the most important far-infrared (FIR) emission lines throughout cosmic time back to $z=6$ with cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. We study how different physical parameters, such as the interstellar radiation field (ISRF) and metallicity, impact the ISM phases traced by FIR line luminosities and connect those with the star-formation rate (SFR). We implement a physically motivated multi-phase model of the ISM by post-processing EAGLE cosmological simulation with Cloudy look-up tables. In this model, we assume four phases of the ISM: dense molecular gas, neutral atomic gas, diffuse ionised gas (DIG) and HII regions. Our model shows good agreement with the observed luminosity-SFR relation up to $z=6$ in the FIR emission lines analysed and we also provide linear fits. Our predictions also agree with observations in terms of diagnostic diagrams involving various line ratios. We find that [C II] is the best SFR tracer of the FIR lines even though it traces multiple ISM phases, while [O III] and [N II] can be used to understand the DIG-HII balance in the ionised phase. In addition, line ratios like [C II]/[O III] and [N II/[O I] are useful to trace parameters such as ISRF, metallicity and specific star-formation rate. These results help to interpret observations of FIR line emission from the local Universe to high-$z$ galaxies.

Rossby wave instabilities (RWIs) usually lead to nonaxisymmetric vortices in protoplanetary discs and some observed sub-structures of these discs can be well explained by RWIs. We explore how the cooling influences the growth rate of unstable RWI modes in terms of the linear perturbation analysis. The cooling associated with the energy equation is treated in two different ways. The first one we adopt is a simple cooling law. The perturbed thermal state relaxes to the initial thermal state on a prescribed cooling timescale. In the second, we treat the cooling as a thermal diffusion process. The difference in the growth rate between the adiabatic and isothermal modes becomes more pronounced for discs with smaller sound speed. For the simple cooling law, the growth rates of unstable modes monotonically decrease with the shorter cooling timescale in barotropic discs. But the dependence of growth rate with the cooling timescale becomes non-monotonic in non-baratopic discs. The RWI might even be enhanced in non-barotropic discs during the transition from the adiabatic state to the isothermal state. When the cooling is treated as the thermal diffusion, even in barotropic disc, the variation of growth rate with thermal diffusivity becomes non-monotonic. Further more, a maximum growth rate may appear with an appropriate value of thermal diffusivity. The angular momentum flux (AMF) is investigated to understand the angular momentum transport by RWI with cooling.

We report the near-infrared radial-velocity (RV) discovery of a super-Earth planet on a 10.77-day orbit around the M4.5 dwarf Ross 508 ($J_\mathrm{mag}=9.1$). Using precision RVs from the Subaru Telescope IRD (InfraRed Doppler) instrument, we derive a semi-amplitude of $3.92^{+0.60}_{-0.58}$ ${\rm m\,s}^{-1}$, corresponding to a planet with a minimum mass $m \sin i = 4.00^{+0.53}_{-0.55}\ M_{\oplus}$. We find no evidence of significant signals at the detected period in spectroscopic stellar activity indicators or MEarth photometry. The planet, Ross 508 b, has a semimajor-axis of $0.05366^{+0.00056}_{-0.00049}$ au. This gives an orbit-averaged insolation of $\approx$1.4 times the Earth's value, placing Ross 508 b near the inner edge of its star's habitable zone. We have explored the possibility that the planet has a high eccentricity and its host is accompanied by an additional unconfirmed companion on a wide orbit. Our discovery demonstrates that the near-infrared RV search can play a crucial role to find a low-mass planet around cool M dwarfs like Ross 508.

Type-I X-ray burst oscillations are powered by thermonuclear released on the neutron star (NS) surface in low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), where the burst oscillation frequencies are close to the NS spin rates. In this work, we report the detection of oscillation at 584.65 Hz during the cooling tail of a type-I X-ray bursts observed from the accreting NS LMXB 4U~1730--22 in 2022 March 20, by the \textit{ Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer} (\textit{NICER}) telescope. The oscillation signal showed a strong Leahy power, $P_{\rm m}\sim54.04$, around 584.65 Hz, which has single trial and multiple trials confidence levels of $7.05\sigma$ and $4.78\sigma$, respectively. The folded pulse profile of the oscillation in the 0.2--10 keV band showed a sinusoidal shape with the fraction amplitude rms of $(12.5\pm1.8)\%$. We found the oscillation frequency showed insignificant upward drifting, i.e., less than 0.3 Hz, during the cooling tail, similar as the behavior appearing in accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars (AMXP), and indicate the source could be an AMXP spinning at 1.71 ms.

Jezero, an impact crater in the Syrtis Major quadrangle of Mars, is generally thought to have amassed a large body of liquid water in its ancient past. NASA spectra of the proposed paleolake interpret the youngest surface unit as olivine-bearing minerals crystallized from magma. In early 2021, the Perseverance rover landed at the leading edge of a fan-delta deposit northwest of Jezero, an area argued to have experienced two distinct periods of fluvial activity. Surface imagery obtained by Perseverance reveal partially buried and unburied vesicular and non-vesicular rocks that appear volcanic in origin, emplaced sometime during the Noachian-Hesperian boundary. The absence of volcanic extrusive features along the fan-delta deposit, however, have made the origin of these ballast deposits a matter of contention among planetary scientists. To establish the origin of these basalt-like rocks, a comparison was made between analogous deposits on the Moenkopi Plateau in Arizona with similar deposits imaged by Perseverance on Jezero. The search for geologic analogs along the Moenkopi Plateau were guided by observable similarities in surface geomorphology, influenced and modified by fluvial, eolian, and past volcanic activity, primarily from the Late Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. By analyzing surface imagery taken by Perseverance and comparing it with the analogue site, we hypothesize that the exposed vesicular rocks imaged by Perseverance were likely transported into the paleolake by geomorphic interactions, specifically fluvial processes similarly to the deposits that were transported along drainage patterns we observed on the Moenkopi Plateau.

Using a one-dimensional stellar evolution code we simulate the response of a red supergiant (RSG) star to injection of energy and to mass removal. We take the values of the energy that we inject and the mass that we remove according to our previous three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of a neutron star (NS) on a highly eccentric orbit that enters the envelope of an RSG star for half a year and launches jets as it accretes mass via an accretion disk. We find that for injected energies of ~1e47-1e48 erg and removed mass of ~0.03-0.6Mo the RSG envelope expands to a large radius. Therefore, we expect the NS to continue to orbit inside this massive inflated envelope for several more months, up to about twice the initial RSG radius, to continue to accrete mass and launch jets for a prolonged period. Although these late jets are weaker than the jets that the NS launches while inside the original RSG envelope, the late jets might actually be more influential on the light curve, leading to a long, several months to few years, and bright, about 1e8Lo, transient event. The RSG returns to more or less a relaxed structure after about ten years, and so another transient event might occur in the next periastron passage of the NS. Our results add to the already rich variety of jet-driven explosions/outbursts that might account for many puzzling transient events.

We report results on the joint-fit of the NuSTAR and HXMT data for the black hole X-ray binary candidate MAXI J1535-571. The observations were obtained in 2017 when the source evolved through the hard, hard-intermediate and soft-intermediate states over the rising phase of the outburst. After subtracting continuum components, X-ray reflection signatures are clearly showed in those observations. By modeling the relativistic reflection in detail, we find that the inner radius $R_{\rm{in}}$ is relatively stable with $R_{\rm{in}}\lesssim 1.55 R_{\rm{g}}$ during the three states, which implies that the inner radius likely extends to the innermost stable circular orbit even in the bright hard state. When adopting $R_{\rm{in}} = R_{\rm{ISCO}}$, the spin parameter is constrained to be $0.985_{-0.004}^{+0.002}$ at 90% confidence (statistical only). The best-fitting results reveal that the inclination of the inner accretion disc is $\sim70-74$ degrees, which notably conflicts with the apparent orientation of the ballistic jet ($\leqslant$45 degrees). In addition, both the photon index and the electron temperature increase during the transition from hard to soft state. It seems that the corona evolves from dense low-temperature in the LHS to tenuous high-temperature after the state transition, which indicates that the state transition is accompanied by the evolution of the coronal properties.

We present measurements of periodicity for transverse loop oscillations during the periods of activity of two remote and separated (both temporally and spatially) flares. The oscillations are observed in the same location more than 100 Mm away from the visible footpoints of the loops. Evidence for several possible excitation sources is presented. After close examination, we find that the eruptions during the flaring activities play an important role in triggering the oscillations. We investigate periodicities using time-distance, Fast Fourier Transform, and Wavelet techniques. Despite different excitation sources in the vicinity of the loops and the changing nature of amplitudes, the periodicity of multiple oscillations is found to be 4 - 6 minutes.

The heart of the Large Magellanic Cloud, 30 Doradus, is a complex region with a clear core-halo structure. Feedback from the stellar cluster R$\,$136 has been shown to be the main source of energy creating multiple pc-scale expanding-shells in the outer region, and carving a nebula core in proximity of the ionization source. We present the morphology and strength of the magnetic fields (B-fields) of 30 Doradus inferred from the far-infrared polarimetric observations by SOFIA/HAWC+ at 89, 154, and 214$\,\mu$m. The B-field morphology is complex, showing bending structures around R$\,$136. In addition, we use high spectral and angular resolution [\textsc{CII}] observations from SOFIA/GREAT and CO(2-1) from APEX. The kinematic structure of the region correlates with the B-field morphology, and shows evidences for multiple expanding shells. Our B-field strength maps, estimated using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method and structure function, show variations across the cloud within a maximum of 600, 450, and 350$\,\mu$G at 89, 154, and 214$\,\mu$m, respectively. We estimated that the majority of the 30 Doradus clouds are sub-critical and sub-Alfv\'enic. The probability distribution function of the gas density shows that the turbulence is mainly compressively driven, while the plasma beta parameter indicates supersonic turbulence. We show that the B-field is sufficient to hold the cloud structure integrity under feedback from R$\,$136. We suggest that supersonic compressive turbulence enables the local gravitational collapse and triggers a new generation of stars to form. The gas velocity gradients are likely to confirm these results.

Polarimetry provides an avenue for probing the geometry and physical mechanisms producing optical radiation in many astrophysical objects, including stellar binary systems. We present the results of multiwavelength (BVR) polarimetric studies of a sample of historical black hole X-ray binaries, observed during their outbursts or in the quiescent (or near-quiescent) state. We surveyed both long- and short-period systems, located at different Galactic latitudes. We performed careful analysis of the interstellar polarization in the direction on the sources to reliably estimate the intrinsic source polarization. Intrinsic polarization was found to be small (< 0.2 per cent) in sources observed in bright soft states (MAXI J0637-430 and 4U 1957+115). It was found to be significant in the rising hard state of MAXI J1820+070 at the level of 0.5 per cent and negligible in the decaying hard state and during its failed outbursts, while Swift J1357.2-0933 showed its absence in the rising hard state. Three (XTE J1118+480, V4641 Sgr, V404 Cyg) sources observed during quiescence show no evidence of significant intrinsic polarization, while MAXI J1820+070 is the only black hole X-ray binary which showed substantial (> 5 per cent) intrinsic quiescent-state polarization with a blue spectrum. The absence of intrinsic polarization at the optical wavelengths puts constraints on the potential contribution of non-stellar (jet, hot flow, accretion disc) components to the total spectra of quiescent black hole X-ray binaries.

In this work, the temporal and spectral properties of the poorly studied X-ray pulsar Swift J1808.4$-$1754 were investigated in the 0.8-79 keV energy range based on the data from the NuSTAR and Swift observatories collected during the 2014 outburst. Strong pulsations with a period of $909.73\pm0.03$ s were detected in the source light curve, with the pulsed fraction demonstrating a nonmonotonic dependence on the energy with a local minimum around 17-22 keV. Phase lags in one of the pulse profile components, reaching the maximal value approximately at the same energy, were discovered. The pulse phase-averaged spectrum of the source has a power-law shape with an exponential cutoff at high energies, which is typical of X-ray pulsars. Pulse phase-resolved spectroscopy revealed the presence of a pulse phase-transient cyclotron absorption line at $\sim$21 keV, allowing us to estimate the neutron star magnetic field of $2.4\times10^{12}$ G. This makes Swift J1808.4$-$1754 a member of very small family of X-ray pulsars with a pulse-phase-transient cyclotron line in a narrow phase range. The data from the Nordic Optical Telescope allowed us to study the properties of the IR companion in the system and to conclude that most probably it is a Be-type star located at a distance of 5-8 kpc.

Afterglow radiation in gamma-ray bursts (GRB), extending from the radio band to GeV energies, is produced as a result of the interaction between the relativistic jet and the ambient medium. Although in general the origin of the emission is robustly identified as synchrotron radiation from the shock-accelerated electrons, many aspects remain poorly constrained, such as the role of inverse Compton emission, the particle acceleration mechanism, the properties of the environment and of the GRB jet itself. The extension of the afterglow emission into the TeV band has been discussed and theorized for years, but has eluded for a long time the observations. Recently the Cherenkov telescopes MAGIC and H.E.S.S. have unequivocally proven that afterglow radiation is produced also above $100$\,GeV, up to at least a few TeV. The accessibility of the TeV spectral window will largely improve with the upcoming facility CTA ({the} Cherenkov Telescope Array). In this review article, we first revise the current model for afterglow emission in GRBs, its limitations and open issues. Then we describe the recent detections of very high energy emission from GRBs and the origin of this radiation. Implications on the understanding of afterglow radiation and constraints on the physics of the involved processes will be deeply investigated, showing how future observations, especially {by} the CTA Observatory, are expected to give a key contribution in improving our comprehension of such elusive sources.

Recent observations have shown that the atmospheres of ultra hot Jupiters (UHJs) commonly possess temperature inversions, where the temperature increases with increasing altitude. Nonetheless, which opacity sources are responsible for the presence of these inversions remains largely observationally unconstrained. We used LBT/PEPSI to observe the atmosphere of the UHJ KELT-20 b in both transmission and emission in order to search for molecular agents which could be responsible for the temperature inversion. We validate our methodology by confirming a previous detection of Fe I in emission at $15.1\sigma$; however, we are unable to reproduce published detections of Fe II, Cr I, or Si I. We attribute the non-detection of Si I to the lack of lines in our bandpass, but the non-detections of Fe II and Cr I are puzzling due to our much higher signal-to-noise ratio than previous works. Our search for the inversion agents TiO, VO, FeH, and CaH results in non-detections. Using injection-recovery testing we set $4\sigma$ upper limits upon the volume mixing ratios for these constituents as low as $\sim1\times10^{-10}$ for TiO. For TiO, VO, and CaH, our limits are much lower than expectations from an equilibrium chemical model, while FeH is lower than the expectations only from a super-Solar metallicity model. We thus rule out TiO, VO, and CaH as the source of the temperature inversion in KELT-20 b, while FeH is disfavored only if KELT-20 b possesses a high-metallicity atmosphere.

We explore how the fraction of quenched galaxies changes in groups of galaxies with respect to the distance to the center of the group, redshift, and stellar mass to determine the dominant process of environmental quenching in $0.2 < z < 0.8$ groups. We use new UV data from the UVCANDELS project in addition to existing multiband photometry to derive new galaxy physical properties of the group galaxies from the zCOSMOS 20k Group Catalog. Limiting our analysis to a complete sample of log$(M_*/M_{\odot})>10.56$ group galaxies we find that the probability of being quenched increases slowly with decreasing redshift, diverging from the stagnant field galaxy population. A corresponding analysis on how the probability of being quenched increases with time within groups suggests that the dominant environmental quenching process is characterized by slow ($\sim$Gyr) timescales. We find a quenching time of approximately $4.91^{+0.91}_{-1.47} $Gyrs, consistent with the slow processes of strangulation (Larson et al. 1980) and delayed-then-rapid quenching (Wetzel et al. 2013 arXiv:1206.3571v2 [astro-ph.CO]).

In 2020, the Super-Kamiokande (SK) experiment moved to a new stage (SK-Gd) in which gadolinium (Gd) sulfate octahydrate was added to the water in the detector, enhancing the efficiency to detect thermal neutrons and consequently improving the sensitivity to low energy electron anti-neutrinos from inverse beta decay (IBD) interactions. SK-Gd has the potential to provide early alerts of incipient core-collapse supernovae through detection of electron anti-neutrinos from thermal and nuclear processes responsible for the cooling of massive stars before the gravitational collapse of their cores. These pre-supernova neutrinos emitted during the silicon burning phase can exceed the energy threshold for IBD reactions. We present the sensitivity of SK-Gd to pre-supernova stars and the techniques used for the development of a pre-supernova alarm based on the detection of these neutrinos in SK, as well as prospects for future SK-Gd phases with higher concentrations of Gd. For the current SK-Gd phase, high-confidence alerts for Betelgeuse could be issued up to nine hours in advance of the core-collapse itself.

We report on three-dimensional direct numerical simulation of wave turbulence on the free surface of a magnetic fluid subjected to an external horizontal magnetic field. A transition from capillarywave turbulence to anisotropic magneto-capillary wave turbulence is observed for an increasing field. At high enough field, wave turbulence becomes highly anisotropic, cascading mainly perpendicularly to the field direction, in good agreement with the prediction of a phenomenological model, and with anisotropic Alfv{\'e}n wave turbulence. Although surface waves on a magnetic fluid are different from Alfv{\'e}n waves in plasma, a strong analogy is found with similar wave spectrum scalings and similar magnetic-field dependent dispersionless wave velocities.

Rotating black holes (BHs) can efficiently transfer energy to the surrounding environment via superradiance. In particular, when the Compton length of a particle is comparable to the gravitational radius of a BH, the particle's occupation number can be exponentially amplified. In this work, we investigate the effect of the primordial-black-hole (PBH) superradiant instabilities on the generation of heavy bosonic dark matter (DM) with mass above $\sim$ 1 TeV. Additionally, we analyze its interplay with other purely gravitational and therefore unavoidable DM production mechanisms such as Hawking emission and the ultraviolet freeze-in. We find that superradiance can significantly increase the DM density produced by PBHs with respect to the case that only considers Hawking emission, and hence lower initial PBH densities are required.

We study the solar emission of light dark sector particles that self-interact strongly enough to self-thermalize. The resulting outflow behaves like a fluid which accelerates under its own thermal pressure to highly relativistic bulk velocities in the solar system. Compared to the ordinary non-interacting scenario, the local outflow has at least $\sim 10^3$ higher number density and correspondingly at least $\sim 10^3$ lower average energy per particle. We show how this generic phenomenon arises in a dark sector comprised of millicharged particles strongly self-interacting via a dark photon. The millicharged plasma wind emerging in this model has novel yet predictive signatures that encourages new experimental directions. This phenomenon demonstrates how a small step away from the simplest models can lead to radically different outcomes and thus motivates a broader search for dark sector particles.

We discuss domain walls from spontaneous breaking of Abelian discrete symmetries $Z_N$. A series of different domain wall structures are predicted, depending on the symmetry and charge assignments of scalars leading to the spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB). A widely-existing type of domain walls are those separating degenerate vacua which are adjacent in the field space. We denote these walls as adjacency walls. In the case that $Z_N$ terms are small compared with the $U(1)$ terms, the SSB of $U(1)$ generates strings first and then adjacency walls bounded by strings are generated after the SSB of $Z_N$. For symmetries larger than $Z_3$, non-adjacent vacua exist, we regard walls separating them as non-adjacency walls. These walls are unstable if $U(1)$ is a good approximation. If the discrete symmetry is broken via multiple steps, we arrive at a complex structure that one kind of walls wrapped by another type. On the other hand, if the symmetry is broken in different directions independently, walls generated from the different breaking chains are blind to each other.

Relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei (AGN) have been of peak interest in the high-energy astrophysics community for their uniquely dynamic nature and incredible radiative power; emanating from supermassive black holes and similarly accreting compact dense objects. An overall consensus on relativistic jet formation states that accelerated outflow at high Lorentz factors are generated by a complex relationship between the accretion disk of the system and the frame-dragging effects of the rotating massive central object. This paper will provide a basis for which circular polarization states, defined using a spin tetrad formalism, contribute to a description for the angular momentum flux in the jet emanating from the central engine. A representation of the Kerr spacetime with positive cosmological constant background is used in formulating the spin tetrad forms. A discussion on unresolved problems in jet formation and how we can use multi-method observations with polarimetry of AGN to direct future theoretical descriptions will also be given.

In this work, we shall provide an $F(R)$ gravity theoretical framework for solving the $H_0$-tension. Specifically, by exploiting the $F(R)$ gravity correspondence with a scalar-tensor theory, we shall provide a condition in which when it is satisfied, the $H_0$-tension is alleviated. The condition that remedies the $H_0$-tension restricts the corresponding $F(R)$ gravity, and we present in brief the theoretical features of the constrained $F(R)$ gravity theory in both the Jordan and Einstein frames. The condition that may remedy the $H_0$-tension is based on the existence of a metastable de Sitter point that occurs for redshifts near the recombination. This metastable de Sitter vacuum restricts the functional form of the $F(R)$ gravity in the Jordan frame. We also show that by appropriately choosing the $F(R)$ gravity, along with the theoretical solution offered for the $H_0$-tension problem, one may also provide a unified description of the inflationary era with the late-time accelerating era, in terms of two extra de Sitter vacua. We propose a new approach to $F(R)$ gravity by introducing a new class of integral $F(R)$ gravity functions, which may be wider than the usual class expressed in terms of elementary $F(R)$ gravity functions. Finally, the Einstein frame inflationary dynamics formalism is briefly discussed.

We present a well-tempered DeWitt wave function, which vanishes at the classical big-bang singularity, in Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz (HL) cosmology with tensor perturbation, both analytically and numerically. In general relativity, the DeWitt wave function is ill-behaved once the tensor perturbation is taken into account. This is essentially because the amplitude of the perturbation diverges at the singularity and the perturbative expansion completely breaks down. On the other hand, in HL gravity it is known that the higher dimensional operators required by the perturbative renormalizability render the tensor perturbation scale-invariant and regular all the way up to the singularity. In this paper we analytically show that in $d+1$ dimensional HL gravity the DeWitt wave function for tensor perturbation is indeed well-defined around the classical big-bang singularity. Also, we numerically demonstrate the well-behaved DeWitt wave function for tensor perturbation from the big-bang to a finite size of the Universe.

We present a cosmological model of an early-time scenario that incorporates a relaxation process of the would-be large vacuum energy, followed by a reheating era connecting to the standard hot big bang universe. Avoiding fine-tuning the cosmological constant is achieved by the dynamics of a scalar field whose kinetic term is modulated by an inverse power of spacetime curvature. While it is at work against radiative corrections to the dark energy, this mechanism alone would wipe out not only the vacuum energy but also all other matter contents. Our present work aims to complete the scenario by exploiting a null-energy-condition violating sector whose energy is eventually transferred to a reheating sector. We provide an explicit example of this process and thus a concrete scenario of the cosmic onset that realizes the thermal history of the Universe with a negligible cosmological constant.

We propose a novel way of probing the scale of left-right symmetry breaking in the context of left-right symmetric models (LRSM). In LRSM, the right handed fermions transform as doublets under a newly introduced $SU(2)_R$ gauge symmetry. This, along with a discrete parity symmetry $\mathcal{P}$ ensuring identical gauge couplings of left and right sectors make the model left-right symmetric, providing a dynamical origin of parity violation in electroweak interactions via spontaneous symmetry breaking. The spontaneous breaking of $\mathcal{P}$ leads to the formation of domain walls in the early universe. These walls, if made unstable by introducing an explicit parity breaking term, generate gravitational waves (GW) with a spectrum characterized by the wall tension or the spontaneous parity breaking scale, and the explicit $\mathcal{P}$ breaking term. Considering explicit $\mathcal{P}$ breaking terms to originate from Planck suppressed operators provides one-to-one correspondence between the scale of left-right symmetry and sensitivities of near future GW experiments. This is not only complementary to collider and low energy probes of TeV scale LRSM but also to GW generated from first order phase transition in LRSM with different spectral shape, peak frequencies as well as symmetry breaking scales.