Papers for Thursday, Mar 02 2023

We evaluate the effectiveness of deep learning (DL) models for reconstructing the masses of galaxy clusters using X-ray photometry data from next-generation surveys. We establish these constraints using a catalog of realistic mock eROSITA X-ray observations which use hydrodynamical simulations to model realistic cluster morphology, background emission, telescope response, and AGN sources. Using bolometric X-ray photon maps as input, DL models achieve a predictive mass scatter of $\sigma_{\ln M_\mathrm{500c}} = 18.3\%$, a factor of two improvements on scalar observables such as richness $N_\mathrm{gal}$, 1D velocity dispersion $\sigma_\mathrm{v,1D}$, and photon count $N_\mathrm{phot}$ as well as a $31\%$ improvement upon idealized, volume-integrated measurements of the bolometric X-ray luminosity $L_X$. We then show that extending this model to handle multichannel X-ray photon maps, separated in low, medium, and high energy bands, further reduces the mass scatter to $16.4\%$. We also tested a multimodal DL model incorporating both dynamical and X-ray cluster probes and achieved marginal gains at a mass scatter of $16.2\%$. Finally, we conduct a quantitative interpretability study of our DL models and find that they greatly down-weight the importance of pixels in the centers of clusters and at the location of AGN sources, validating previous claims of DL modeling improvements and suggesting practical and theoretical benefits for using DL in X-ray mass inference.

We have introduced self-consistent spin, tidal and dynamical equations of motion into REBOUNDx, a library of additional effects for the popular N-body integrator REBOUND. The equations of motion used are derived from the constant time lag approximation to the equilibrium tide model of tidal friction. These effects will allow the study of a variety of systems where the full dynamical picture cannot be encapsulated by point particle dynamics. We provide several test cases and benchmark the code's performance against analytic predictions. The open-source code is available in the most recent release of REBOUNDx.

Using data from the Gaia satellite's Radial Velocity Spectrometer Data Release 3 (RVS, DR3), we find a new and robust feature in the phase space distribution of halo stars. It is a prominent ridge at energies $E\approx-1.4\times10^5$ km$^2$ s$^{-2}$ and with angular momemtum $L_z>0$. We run test particle simulations of a stellar halo-like distribution of particles in a realistic Milky Way potential with a rotating bar. We observe similar structures generated in the simulations from the trapping of particles in resonances with the bar, particularly at the corotation resonance. Many of the orbits trapped at the resonances are halo-like, with large vertical excursions from the disc. The location of the observed structure in energy space is consistent with a bar pattern speed in the range $\Omega_\mathrm{b}\approx35-40$ km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$. Overall, the effect of the resonances is to give the inner stellar halo a mild, net spin in the direction of the bar's rotation. As the distribution of the angular momentum becomes asymmetric, a population of stars with positive mean $L_z$ and low vertical action is created. The variation of the average rotational velocity of the simulated stellar halo with radius is similar to the behaviour of metal-poor stars in data from the APOGEE survey. Though the effects of bar resonances have long been known in the Galactic disc, this is strong evidence that the bar can drive changes even in the diffuse and extended stellar halo through its resonances.

We develop and disseminate effective point-spread functions and geometric-distortion solutions for high-precision astrometry and photometry with the JWST NIRISS instrument. We correct field dependencies and detector effects, and assess the quality and the temporal stability of the calibrations. As a scientific application and validation, we study the proper motion (PM) kinematics of stars in the JWST calibration field near the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) center, comparing to a first-epoch Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archival catalog with a 16-yr baseline. For stars with G~20, the median PM uncertainty is ~13 $\mu$as yr$^{-1}$ (3.1 km s$^{-1}$), better than Gaia DR3 typically achieves for its very best-measured stars. We kinematically detect the known star cluster OGLE-CL LMC 407, measure its absolute PM for the first time, and show how this differs from other LMC populations. The inferred cluster dispersion sets an upper limit of 24 $\mu$as yr$^{-1}$ (5.6 km s$^{-1}$) on systematic uncertainties. Red-giant-branch stars have a velocity dispersion of 33.8 $\pm$ 0.6 km s$^{-1}$, while younger blue populations have a narrower velocity distribution, but with a significant kinematical substructure. We discuss how this relates to the larger velocity dispersions inferred from Gaia DR3. These results establish JWST as capable of state-of-the-art astrometry, building on the extensive legacy of HST. This is the first paper in a series by our JWST Telescope Scientist Team (TST), in which we will use Guaranteed Time Observations to study the PM kinematics of various stellar systems in the Local Group.

The direct detection of core-collapse supernova (SN) progenitor stars is a powerful way of probing the last stages of stellar evolution. However, detections in archival Hubble Space Telescope images are limited to about one per year. Here, we explore whether we can increase the detection rate by using data from ground-based wide-field surveys. Due to crowding and atmospheric blurring, progenitor stars can typically not be identified in pre-explosion images alone. Instead, we combine many pre-SN and late-time images to search for the disappearance of the progenitor star. As a proof of concept, we implement our search for ZTF data. For a few hundred images, we achieve limiting magnitudes of about 23 mag in the g and r band. However, no progenitor stars or long-lived outbursts are detected for 29 SNe within z<0.01, and the ZTF limits are typically several magnitudes less constraining than detected progenitors in the literature. Next, we estimate progenitor detection rates for the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) with the Vera C. Rubin telescope by simulating a population of nearby SNe. The background from bright host galaxies reduces the nominal LSST sensitivity by, on average, 0.4 mag. Over the ten-year survey, we expect the detection of about 50 red supergiant progenitors and several yellow and blue supergiants. The progenitors of SNe Ib and Ic are detectable if they are brighter than -4.7 mag or -4.0 mag in the LSST i band, respectively. In addition, we expect the detection of hundreds of pre-SN outbursts depending on their brightness and duration.

Aoyama et al. (2021, ApJL) provided scaling relations between hydrogen-line luminosities and the accretion luminosity for planetary-mass objects. These fits should be an improvement over blind extrapolations of stellar relations. The fits go up only to the n = 8 electron energy level, but higher-n Balmer lines have been observed in the near-UV at Delorme 1 (AB)b with UVES (Ringqvist et al. 2023). We extend the scaling relations to higher-n levels for the Balmer and other series by fitting the fit coefficients (a, b) themselves and extrapolating them. Within the assumption of an accretion shock as the source of line emission, these fits should be robust for accreting planetary-mass objects.

Planetary population synthesis is a tool to understand the physics of planetary system formation. It builds on a model that includes a multitude of physical processes. The outcome can be statistically compared with exoplanet observations. Here, we review the population synthesis method and then use one population to explore how different planetary system architectures emerge and which conditions lead to their formation. The systems can be classified into four main architectures: Class I of near-in situ compositionally ordered terrestrial and ice planets, Class II of migrated sub-Neptunes, Class III of mixed low-mass and giant planets, broadly similar to the Solar System, and Class IV of dynamically active giants without inner low-mass planets. These four classes exhibit distinct typical formation pathways and are characterised by certain mass scales. Class I systems form from the local accretion of planetesimals followed by a giant impact phase, and the final planet masses correspond to the `Goldreich mass'. Class II systems form when planets reach the `equality mass' (equal accretion and migration timescales) before the dispersal of the gas disc, but not large enough to allow for rapid gas accretion. Giant planets form when the `equality mass' allows for rapid gas accretion while the planet are migrating, i.e. when the critical core mass is reached. The main discriminant of the four classes is the initial mass of solids in the disc, with contributions from the lifetime and mass of the gas disc. The breakdown into classes allows to better understand which physical processes are dominant. Comparison with observations reveals certain differences to the actual population, pointing at limitation of theoretical understanding. For example, the overrepresentation of synthetic super Earths and sub-Neptunes in Class I causes these planets to be found at lower metallicities than in observations.

The existence of quark matter inside the heaviest neutron stars has been the topic of numerous recent studies, many of them suggesting that a phase transition to strongly interacting conformal matter inside neutron stars is feasible. Here we examine this hybrid star scenario using various hadronic models, a constituent quark model with three quark flavours, and applying a smooth crossover transition between the two. Within a Bayesian framework, we rigorously study the effect of up-to-date constraints from neutron star observations on the equation-of-state parameters and various neutron star observables. Our results show that a pure quark core is only possible if the maximum mass of neutron stars is below $\sim2.3~M_\odot$. We also find, however, consistently with other studies, that a peak in the speed of sound, exceeding $1/3$, is highly favoured by astrophysical measurements, which might indicate the percolation of hadrons at $\sim3-4n_0$. Even though our prediction for the phase transition parameters varies depending on the specific astrophysical constraints utilized, the position of the speed of sound peak only changes slightly, while the existence of pure quark matter below $\sim4 n_0$ is disfavoured. Additionally, we present the difference in the upper bounds of radius estimates using the full probability density data and sharp cut-offs, and stress the necessity of using the former.

Galactic nuclei are potential hosts for intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), whose gravitational field can affect the motion of stars and compact objects. The absence of observable perturbations in our own Galactic Centre has resulted in a few constraints on the mass and orbit of a putative IMBH. Here, we show that the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) can further constrain these parameters if the IMBH forms a binary with a compact remnant (a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a stellar-mass black hole), as the gravitational-wave signal from the binary will exhibit Doppler-shift variations as it orbits around Sgr A$^\star$. We argue that this method is the most effective for IMBHs with masses $10^3\,M_\odot\lesssim M_{\rm IMBH}\lesssim 10^5\,M_\odot$ and distances of $0.1$ mpc to $2$ mpc with respect to the supermassive black hole, a region of the parameter space partially unconstrained by other methods. We show that in this region the Doppler shift is most likely measurable whenever the binary is detected in the LISA band, and it can help constrain the mass and orbit of a putative IMBH in the centre of our Galaxy. We also discuss possible ways for an IMBH to form a binary in the Galactic Centre, showing that gravitational-wave captures of stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars are the most efficient channel.

We have for the first time identified the early stellar disk in the Milky Way by using a combination of elemental abundances and kinematics. Using data from APOGEE DR17 and Gaia we select stars in the Mg-Mn-Al-Fe plane with elemental abundances indicative of accreted origin and find stars with both halo-like and disk-like kinematics. The stars with halo-like kinematics lie along a lower sequence in [Mg/Fe], while the stars with disk-like kinematics lie along a higher sequence. Through with asteroseismic observations, we determine the stars with halo-like kinematics are old, 9-11 Gyr and that the more evolved stellar disk is about 1-2 Gyr younger. We show that the in situ fraction of stars on deeply bound orbits is not small, in fact the inner Galaxy likely harbours a genuine in-situ population together with an accreted one. In addition, we show that the selection of Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus in the En-Lz plane is not very robust. In fact, radically different selection criteria give almost identical elemental abundance signatures for the accreted stars.

Several radio sources have been detected in the HMSFR W75N(B), among them the massive YSOs VLA1 and VLA2 are of great interest. These are thought to be in different evolutionary stages. In particular, VLA1 is at the early stage of the photoionization and it is driving a thermal radio jet, while VLA2 is a thermal, collimated ionized wind surrounded by a dusty disk or envelope. In both sources 22 GHz water masers have been detected in the past. Those around VLA1 show a persistent distribution along the radio jet and those around VLA2 have instead traced the evolution from a non-collimated to a collimated outflow over a period of 20 years. By monitoring the polarized emission of the water masers around both VLA1 and VLA2 over a period of 6 years, we aim to determine whether the maser distributions show any variation over time and whether the magnetic field behaves accordingly. The EVN was used in full polarization and phase-reference mode to measure the absolute positions of the masers and to determine both the orientation and the strength of the magnetic field. We observed four epochs separated by two years from 2014 to 2020. We detected polarized emission from the water masers around both the YSOs in all the epochs. We find that the masers around VLA1 are tracing a nondissociative shock originating from the expansion of the thermal radio jet, while the masers around VLA2 are tracing an asymmetric expansion of the gas that is halted in the northeast where the gas likely encounters a very dense medium. We also found that the magnetic field inferred from the water masers in each epoch can be considered as a portion of a quasi-static magnetic field estimated in that location rather than in that time. This allowed us to study locally the morphology of the magnetic field around both YSOs in a larger area by considering the vectors estimated in all the epochs as a whole.

Accretion disks around compact objects are expected to enter an unstable phase at high luminosity. One instability may occur when the radiation pressure generated by accretion modifies the disk viscosity, resulting in the cyclic depletion and refilling of the inner disk on short timescales. Such a scenario, however, has only been quantitatively verified for a single stellar-mass black hole. Although there are hints of these cycles in a few isolated cases, their apparent absence in the variable emission of most bright accreting neutron stars and black holes has been a lingering puzzle. Here we report the presence of the same multiwavelength instability around an accreting neutron star. Moreover, we show that the variability across the electromagnetic spectrum-from radio to X-ray-of both black holes and neutron stars at high accretion rates can be explained consistently if the accretion disks are unstable, producing relativistic ejections during transitions that deplete or refill the inner disk. Such new association allows us to identify the main physical components responsible for the fast multiwavelength variability of highly accreting compact objects.

We report the discovery of a triply-imaged active galactic nucleus (AGN), lensed by the galaxy cluster MACS J0035.4-2015 ($z_{\mathrm{d}}=0.352$). The object is detected in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging taken for the RELICS program. It appears to have a quasi-stellar nucleus consistent with a point-source, with a de-magnified radius of $r_e\lesssim100$ pc. The object is spectroscopically confirmed to be an AGN at $z_{\mathrm{spec}}=2.063\pm0.005$ showing broad rest-frame UV emission lines, and is detected in both X-ray observations with \textit{Chandra} and in ALCS ALMA band 6 (1.2 mm) imaging. It has a relatively faint rest-frame UV luminosity for a quasar-like object, $M_{\mathrm{UV},1450}=-19.7\pm0.2$. The object adds to just a few quasars or other X-ray sources known to be multiply lensed by a galaxy cluster. Some faint, diffuse emission from the host galaxy is also seen around the nucleus, and nearby there is another fainter object sharing the same multiple-imaging symmetry and geometric redshift, which may be an interacting galaxy or a star-forming knot in the host. We present an accompanying lens model, calculate the magnifications and time delays, and infer physical properties for the source. We find the rest-frame UV continuum and emission lines to be dominated by the AGN, and the optical emission to be dominated by the relatively young ($\sim100$ Myr) host galaxy of modest stellar mass $M_{\star}\simeq10^{9.2} \mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. We also observe variations in the AGN's emission, which may suggest that the AGN used to be more active. This object adds a low-redshift counterpart to several relatively faint AGN recently uncovered at high redshifts with HST and JWST.

We develop a linear perturbative formalism to compute the response of an inhomogeneous stellar disk embedded in a non-responsive dark matter halo to perturbations like bars, spiral arms and satellite galaxy encounters. Without self-gravity to reinforce it, the response of a Fourier mode phase mixes away due to an intrinsic spread in the vertical ($\Omega_z$), radial ($\Omega_r$) and azimuthal ($\Omega_\phi$) frequencies, giving rise to local phase-space spirals. Collisional diffusion due to scattering of stars by structures like giant molecular clouds causes super-exponential damping of the phase-spiral amplitude. The $z-v_z$ phase-spiral is 1-armed (2-armed) for vertically anti-symmetric (symmetric) bending (breathing) modes. Only transient perturbations with timescales ($\tau_{\mathrm{P}}$) comparable to the vertical oscillation period ($\tau_z \sim 1/\Omega_z$) trigger $z-v_z$ phase-spirals. Each $(n,l,m)$ mode of the response to impulsive ($\tau_{\mathrm{P}}<\tau=1/(n\Omega_z+l\Omega_r+m\Omega_\phi)$) perturbations is power law ($\sim \tau_{\mathrm{P}}/\tau$) suppressed, but that to adiabatic ($\tau_{\mathrm{P}}>\tau$) perturbations is exponentially weak ($\sim \exp{\left[-\left(\tau_{\mathrm{P}}/\tau\right)^\alpha\right]}$) except resonant ($\tau\to \infty$) modes. Slower ($\tau_{\mathrm{P}}>\tau_z$) perturbations, e.g., distant encounters with satellite galaxies, induce stronger bending modes. If the Gaia phase-spiral was triggered by a satellite, Sagittarius is the leading contender as it dominates the Solar neighborhood response of the Milky Way disk to satellite encounters. However, survival against collisional damping necessitates that the impact occurred within $\sim 0.6-0.7$ Gyr ago. We discuss how the detailed galactic potential dictates the phase-spiral shape: phase mixing occurs slower and phase-spirals are less wound in the outer disk and in presence of an ambient halo.

General relativity manifests very similar equations in different regimes, notably in large scale cosmological perturbation theory, non-linear cosmological structure formation, and in weak field galactic dynamics. The same is not necessarily true in alternative gravity theories, in particular those that possess MONDian behaviour ("relativistic extensions" of MOND). In these theories different regimes are typically studied quite separately, sometimes even with the freedom in the theories chosen differently in different regimes. If we wish to properly and fully test complete cosmologies containing MOND against the $\Lambda$CDM paradigm then we need to understand cosmological structure formation on all scales, and do so in a coherent and consistent manner. We propose a method for doing so and apply it to generalised Einstein-Aether theories as a case study. We derive the equations that govern cosmological structure formation on all scales in these theories and show that the same free function (which may contain both Newtonian and MONDian branches) appears in the cosmological background, linear perturbations, and non-linear cosmological structure formation. We show that MONDian behaviour on galactic scales does not necessarily result in MONDian behaviour on cosmological scales, and for MONDian behaviour to arise cosmologically, there will be no modification to the Friedmann equations governing the evolution of the homogeneous cosmological background. We comment on how existing N-body simulations relate to complete and consistent generalised Einstein-Aether cosmologies. The equations derived in this work allow consistent cosmological N-body simulations to be run in these theories whether or not MONDian behaviour manifests on cosmological scales.

The Hydra I cluster offers an excellent opportunity to study and compare the relic old stellar populations in the core of its two brightest galaxies. In addition, the differing kinematics of the two galaxies allows a test of the local validity of general scaling relations. In this work we present a direct comparison employing full spectral fitting of new high-quality long-slit optical and NIR spectroscopic data. We retrieve age, metallicity and 19 elemental abundances out to about 12 kpc within each galaxy, as well as the IMF in their central regions. Our results suggest that the inner 5 kpc region of both galaxies, despite their different masses, formed at the same time and evolved with a similar star formation time-scale and chemical enrichment, confirming their early formation in the cluster build up. Only the overall metallicity and IMF radial profiles show differences connected with their different velocity dispersion profiles. The radial trend of the IMF positively correlates with both [Z/H] and velocity dispersion. While the trends of the IMF with metallicity agree with a global trend for both galaxies, the trends with the velocity dispersion exhibit differences. The outer regions show signs of mixed stellar populations with large differences in chemical content compared to the centers, but with similar old ages.

The mass-loss mechanisms in M-type AGB stars are not well understood, in particular, the formation of dust-driven winds from the innermost gaseous layers around these stars. One way to understand the gas-dust interaction in these regions and its impact on the mass-loss mechanisms is through the analysis of high-resolution observations of the stellar surface and its closest environment. We aim at characterizing the inner circumstellar environment (~3 R*) of the M-type Mira star R Car in the near-infrared at different phases of a pulsation period. We used GRAVITY interferometric observations in the K-band obtained at two different epochs over 2018. Those data were analyzed using parametric models and image reconstruction of both the pseudo-continuum and the CO band-heads observed. The reported data are the highest angular resolution observations on the source in the K-band. We determine sizes of R Car's stellar disk of 16.67 +- 0.05 mas (3.03 au) in January 2018 and 14.84+-0.06 mas (2.70 au) in February 2018, respectively. From our physical model, we determined temperatures and size ranges for the innermost CO layer detected around R Car. We find that magnesium composites, Mg2SiO4 and MgSiO3, have temperatures and condensation distances consistent with the ones obtained for the CO layer model and pure-line reconstructed images, being them the most plausible dust types responsible of wind formation. Our reconstructed images show evidence of asymmetrical and inhomogeneous structures, which might trace a complex and perhaps clumpy structure of the CO molecule distribution. Our work demonstrates that the conditions for dust nucleation and thus for initialising dust-driven winds in M-type AGB stars are met in R Car and we identify Magnesium composites as the most probable candidates. This observational evidence is crucial to constrain the role of convection and pulsation in M-type stars.

Stars with initial masses 7 Msun . MZAMS . 9 Msun reach temperatures high enough to ignite C under degenerate conditions after the end of He-core burning (Garcia-Berro & Iben 1994). These isolated stars are expected to evolve into the so-called super AGB (SAGB) phase and may end their lives as ultra-massive ONe WDs (see Siess 2006,2007, 2010; Camisassa et al. 2019, and references therein). The exact proportions of O and Ne found in the core at the end of the SAGB phase will determine the cooling times and pulsational properties of these WDs. Uncertainties affecting the rates of nuclear reactions occurring during the C burning phase should have a measurable impact on the distribution of 16O, 20Ne, 23Na and 24Mg and, consequently, on the evolution of the WD. Here we present a study of the impact of uncertainties in the 12C(12C, {\alpha})20Ne and 12C(12C, p)23Na nuclear reaction rates (and their branching ratios) on the chemical structure of intermediate- to high-mass progenitors at the end of the C-burning phase. Using the stellar evolution code Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) we computed evolutionary sequences for stars with initial masses 7.25<= MZAMS /Msun <=8.25, from the ZAMS to the SAGB phase, adopting different prescriptions for the 12C+12C burning rates. We found that adopting lower reaction rates for the 12C+12C burning delays C-ignition by at most 2700 yrs, and the ignition takes place in a position further from the center. Our results shows that differences in the 20Ne central abundances remain modest, below 14%.

Titan's organic aerosols are formed in the ionosphere, a layer ionized by solar VUV photons and energetic particles from the magnetosphere of Saturn, forming a natural N2-CH4-H2 plasma. Previous works showed some chemical evolution processes: VUV photons slightly alter the aerosols nitrile bands, hydrogen atoms tend to hydrogenate their surface and carbon-containing species participate to the growth of the aerosols. This work investigates the effect of the other plasma species, namely the N2-H2 derived ions, radicals and excited states. Industrial plasmas often use N2-H2 discharges to form ammonia-based fertilizers, for metal nitriding, and to erode organic surfaces. Consequently, these are likely to affect Titan's organic aerosols. We therefore developed the THETIS experiment to study the interactions between analogues of Titan's aerosols (tholins) and the erosive N2-H2 plasma species found in Titan's ionosphere. Following a first paper on the evolution of the solid phase by Scanning Electron Microscopy and IR transmission spectroscopy (Chatain et al., Icarus, 2020), this paper focuses on evolution of the gas phase composition, by neutral and ion mass spectrometry. Newly formed HCN, NH3-CN and C2N2 are extracted from the tholins as well as some other carbon-containing species and their derived ions. On the other hand, the production of ammonia strongly decreases, probably because the H, NH and N radicals are rather used for the production of HCN at the surface of tholins. Heterogeneous processes are suggested: chemical processes induced by radicals at the surface would modify and weaken the tholin structure, while ion sputtering would desorb small molecules and highly unsaturated ions. The effect of plasma erosion on aerosols in Titan's ionosphere could therefore lead to the formation of CN bonds in the aerosol structure and the production of HCN or R-CN species in the gas phase.

We present observations and analyses of eight white dwarf stars that have accreted rocky material from their surrounding planetary systems. The spectra of these helium-atmosphere white dwarfs contain detectable optical lines of all four major rock-forming elements (O, Mg, Si, Fe). This work increases the sample of oxygen-bearing white dwarfs with parent body composition analyses by roughly thirty-three percent. To first order, the parent bodies that have been accreted by the eight white dwarfs are similar to those of chondritic meteorites in relative elemental abundances and oxidation states. Seventy-five percent of the white dwarfs in this study have observed oxygen excesses implying volatiles in the parent bodies with abundances similar to those of chondritic meteorites. Three white dwarfs have oxidation states that imply more reduced material than found in CI chondrites, indicating the possible detection of Mercury-like parent bodies, but are less constrained. These results contribute to the recurring conclusion that extrasolar rocky bodies closely resemble those in our solar system, and do not, as a whole, yield unusual or unique compositions.

The arrival of powerful instruments will provide valuable data for the characterization of rocky exoplanets. It is then crucial to accurately model the dynamical state of exoplanets. Rocky planets with sufficiently large orbits should have non-zero eccentricities and/or obliquities. Realistic models of tides for rocky planets can allow for higher spin states than the synchronization state in the presence of eccentricities or obliquities. This work explores the secular evolution of a star-planet system under tidal interactions, both gravitational and thermal, induced respectively by the quadrupolar component of the gravitational potential and the irradiation of the planet's surface. We use the formalism of Kaula associated with an Andrade rheology to model a relevant response of a rocky planet to gravitational tides and a prescription of thermal tides fitted for Venus to model the response of the atmosphere to the thermal tides. We implemented the general secular evolution equations of tidal interactions in the secular code ESPEM (French acronym for Evolution of Planetary System and Magnetism). We show the possible spin-orbit evolution and resonances for eccentric orbits and explore the possible spin orbit resonances raised by the obliquity of the planet. Our simulations have shown that the secular evolution of the spin and obliquity can lead to the retrograde spin of the Venus-like planet if the system starts from a high spin obliquity, in agreement to previous studies. Taking into account the luminosity evolution of the Sun changes the picture. We find that the planet never reaches the equilibrium: the timescale of rotation evolution is longer than the luminosity variation timescale, which suggests that Venus may never reach a spin equilibrium state but may still evolve.

We propose that coronal heating in EUV coronal plumes is weaker, not stronger, than in adjacent non-plume coronal magnetic funnels. This expectation stems from (i) the observation that an EUV plume is born as the magnetic flux at the foot of the plume's magnetic funnel becomes tightly packed together, and (ii) the observation that coronal heating in quiet regions increases in proportion to the coast-line length of the underlying magnetic network. We do not rule out the possibility that coronal heating in EUV plumes might be stronger, not weaker, but we point out how the opposite is plausible. We reason that increasing coronal heating during plume birth would cause co-temporal increasing net upward mass flux in the plume, whereas decreasing coronal heating during plume birth would cause co-temporal net downward mass flux in quiet-region plumes and co-temporal decrease in net upward mass flux or even net downward mass flux in coronal-hole plumes. We further reason that conclusive evidence of weaker coronal heating in EUV plumes would strengthen the possibility that magnetic twist waves from fine-scale magnetic explosions at the edges of the magnetic network (1) power much of the coronal heating in quiet regions, and (2) power most of the coronal heating and solar wind acceleration in coronal holes, with many twist waves surviving to become magnetic-field switchbacks in the solar wind from coronal holes.

With the goal of elucidating the effects of low metallicity on the star formation activity, feedback and interstellar medium of low metallicity environments, SOFIA has observed a 40' x 20' (60 pc x 30 pc) area of our neighboring metal-poor Large Magellanic Cloud in 158 micron [CII] and 88 micron [OIII], targeting the southern molecular ridge just south of 30Doradus. We find extensive [CII] emission over the region, which encompasses a wide variety of local physical conditions, from bright compact star forming regions to lower density environments beyond, much of which does not correspond to CO structures. Preliminary analyses indicates that most of the molecular hydrogen is in a CO-dark gas component.

Characterisation of atmospheric optical turbulence is crucial for the design and operation of modern ground-based optical telescopes. In particular, the effective application of adaptive optics correction on large and extremely large telescopes relies on a detailed knowledge of the prevailing atmospheric conditions, including the vertical profile of the optical turbulence strength and the atmospheric coherence timescale. The Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) has been employed as a facility seeing monitor at many astronomical observing sites across the world for several decades, providing a reliable estimate of the seeing angle. Here we present the Shack-Hartmann Image Motion Monitor (SHIMM), which is a development of the DIMM instrument, in that it exploits differential image motion measurements of bright target stars. However, the SHIMM employs a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor in place of the two-hole aperture mask utilised by the DIMM. This allows the SHIMM to provide an estimate of the seeing, unbiased by shot noise or scintillation effects. The SHIMM also produces a low-resolution (three-layer) measure of the vertical turbulence profile, as well as an estimate of the coherence timescale. The SHIMM is designed as a low-cost, portable, instrument. It is comprised of off-the-shelf components so that it is easy to duplicate and well-suited for comparisons of atmospheric conditions within and between different observing sites. Here, the SHIMM design and methodology for estimating key atmospheric parameters will be presented, as well as initial field test results with comparisons to the Stereo-SCIDAR instrument.

Recently, from 12 $\gamma$-ray Galactic sources, the LHAASO has detected ultrahigh-energy photons up to 1.4PeV. The $\gamma$-ray spectra of the sources J2226+6057, J1908+0621, J1825-1326 and the suggested origin pulsars near the sources have been published. In our previous work, we studied the hadronic $\gamma$-ray spectra of the sources J2226+6057, J1908+0621, J1825-1326 in terms of the Hertzian dipole model of pulsar. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of the leptonic origin of the $\gamma$-ray. We use the Hertzian dipole model to describe the pulsars around the sources. The electrons around the pulsars can be accelerated to PeV by the electromagnetic fields of pulsars. Under the assumption that the initial electrons are uniform distributed in a spherical shell between $10^{7}$ to $10^{9}$m around the pulsar, we obtain the energy distribution of electrons. The leptonic $\gamma$-ray spectra can be calculated through inverse Compton scattering processes. It finds that the leptonic $\gamma$-ray spectra can fit the observations of LHAASO very well.

The Makani galaxy hosts the poster child of a galactic wind on scales of the circumgalactic medium. It consists of a two-episode wind in which the slow, outer wind originated 400 Myr ago (Episode I; R_I = 20-50 kpc) and the fast, inner wind is 7 Myr old (Episode II; R_II = 0-20 kpc). While this wind contains ionized, neutral, and molecular gas, the physical state and mass of the most extended phase--the warm, ionized gas--is unknown. Here we present Keck optical spectra of the Makani outflow. These allow us to detect hydrogen lines out to r = 30-40 kpc and thus constrain the mass, momentum, and energy in the wind. Many collisionally-excited lines are detected throughout the wind, and their line ratios are consistent with 200-400 km/s shocks that power the ionized gas, with v_shock = $\sigma$_wind. Combining shock models, density-sensitive line ratios, and mass and velocity measurements, we estimate that the ionized mass and outflow rate in the Episode II wind could be as high as that of the molecular gas: M_II(HII) ~ M_II(H_2) = (1-2)x10^9 Msun and dM/dt_II(HII) ~ dM/dt_II(H_2) = 170-250 Msun/yr. The outer wind has slowed, so that dM/dt_I(HII) ~ 10 Msun/yr, but it contains more ionized gas: M_I(HII) = 5x10^9 Msun. The momentum and energy in the recent Episode II wind imply a momentum-driven flow (p ``boost" ~ 7) driven by the hot ejecta and radiation pressure from the Eddington-limited, compact starburst. Much of the energy and momentum in the older Episode I wind may reside in a hotter phase, or lie further into the CGM.

Jupiter-family comet (JFC) P/2021 HS (PANSTARRS) only exhibits a coma within a few weeks of its perihelion passage at 0.8~au, which is atypical for a comet. Here we present an investigation into the underlying cause using serendipitous survey detections as well as targeted observations. We find that the detection of the activity is caused by an extremely faint coma being enhanced by forward scattering effect due to the comet reaching a phase angle of $\sim140^\circ$. The coma morphology is consistent with sustained, sublimation-driven activity produced by a small active area, $\sim700~\mathrm{m^2}$, one of the smallest values ever measured on a comet. The phase function of the nucleus shows a phase coefficient of $0.035\pm0.002~\mathrm{mag/deg}$, implying an absolute magnitude of $H=18.31\pm0.04$ and a phase slope of $G=-0.13$, with color consistent with typical JFC nuclei. Thermal observations suggest a nucleus diameter of 0.6--1.1~km, implying an optical albedo of 0.04--0.23 which is higher than typical cometary nuclei. An unsuccessful search for dust trail and meteor activity confirms minimal dust deposit along the orbit, totaling $\lesssim10^8$~kg. As P/2021 HS is dynamically unstable, similar to typical JFCs, we speculate that it has an origin in the trans-Neptunian region, and that its extreme depletion of volatiles is caused by a large number of previous passages to the inner Solar System. The dramatic discovery of the cometary nature of P/2021 HS highlights the challenges of detecting comets with extremely low activity levels. Observations at high phase angle where forward scattering is pronounced will help identify such comets.

Although the ultraluminous infrared radio galaxy 4C12.50 at z=0.12 is a promising candidate to reveal how radio induced feedback may regulate star formation in galaxies, we find no solid evidence for current or past impact of this mechanism on the evolution of this system, neither by clearing out the dusty central cocoon efficiently, nor by suppressing star formation. We study in detail for the first time the hot (>~1500 K) molecular gas in this object. The potential impact of the radio jet on this gas phase, as well as on the star formation activity, are investigated. 4C12.50 hosts (2.1+/-0.4)x1e4 Msun of hot molecular gas. An unusually high rotational temperature T =3020+/-160 K is inferred. The molecular gas mass obeys a power law temperature distribution d(M(H2))/dT ~ T^-5 from T~300 K and up to ~3000 K. Both results support that shocks (probably induced by the radio jet) contribute to the heating and excitation of the hot molecular gas. A molecular outflow is not detected. The coupling of the outflowing ionized and neutral outflows with the hot molecular gas is poor. We find no evidence for star formation supression. NIR and MIR integral field spectroscopy at very high spatial resolution (for instance, with the JWST) would be of key value to further investigate these issues.

JWST observations confirm the existence of galaxies as early as 300Myr and at a higher number density than expected based on galaxy formation models and HST observations. Yet, sources confirmed spectroscopically in the first 500Myr have estimated stellar masses $<5\times10^8M_\odot$, limiting the signal to noise ratio (SNR) for investigating substructure. We present a high-resolution spectroscopic and spatially resolved study of a rare bright galaxy at $z=9.3127\pm0.0002$ with a stellar mass of $(2.5^{+0.7}_{-0.5})\times10^9M_\odot$, forming $25^{+3}_{-4}M_\odot/yr$ and with a metallicity of $\sim0.1Z_\odot$- lower than in the local universe for the stellar mass but in line with expectations of chemical enrichment in galaxies 1-2Gyr after the Big Bang. The system has a morphology typically associated to two interacting galaxies, with a two-component main clump of very young stars (age$<10$Myr) surrounded by an extended stellar population ($130\pm20$Myr old, identified by modeling the NIRSpec spectrum) and an elongated clumpy tidal tail. The spectroscopic observations identify O, Ne and H emission lines, and the Lyman break, where there is evidence of substantial Ly$\alpha$ absorption. The [OII] doublet is resolved spectrally, enabling an estimate of the electron number density and ionization parameter of the interstellar medium and showing higher densities and ionization than in lower redshift analogs. For the first time at $z>8$, we identify evidence of absorption lines (Si, C and Fe), with low confidence individual detections but SNR$>6$ when stacked. The absorption features suggest that Ly$\alpha$ is damped by the interstellar and circumgalactic medium. Our observations provide evidence of rapid efficient build-up of mass and metals in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang through mergers, demonstrating that massive galaxies with several billion stars exist earlier than expected.

The first X-ray source catalog of Insight-HXMT Galactic Plane (|b|<10deg) Scanning Survey (GPSS) is presented based on the data accumulated from June 2017 to August 2021. The 4 yr limit sensitivities at main energy bands can reach 8.2x10^(-12) erg/s/cm^2} (2-6 keV), 4.21x10^(-11) erg/s/cm^2 (7-40 keV) and 2.78x10^(-11) erg/s/cm^2 (25-100 keV). More than 1300 sources have been monitored at a wide band (1$-$100\,keV), of which 223 sources have a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 5. We combined the GPSS data of Insight-HXMT and MAXI and found it is feasible to obtain more complete long-term light curves from their scanning results. The flux variabilities at different energy bands of the 223 bright sources are analyzed based on the excess variances. It is found that the fluxes of X-ray binaries are more active than those of supernova remnants and isolated pulsars. Different types of binaries, e.g., low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), neutron star binaries, and black hole binaries, also distinctively show different regularities. In addition, the relations between the hardness ratio (HR) and excess variances, and HR and source types are analyzed. It is obvious that the HRs of HMXBs tend to be harder than those of LMXBs and HMXBs tend to be more active than those of LMXBs.

Mergers play a complex role in galaxy formation and evolution. Continuing to improve our understanding of these systems require ever larger samples, which can be difficult (even impossible) to select from individual surveys. We use the new platform ESA Datalabs to assemble a catalogue of interacting galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope science archives; this catalogue is larger than previously published catalogues by nearly an order of magnitude. In particular, we apply the Zoobot convolutional neural network directly to the entire public archive of HST $F814W$ images and make probabilistic interaction predictions for 126 million sources from the Hubble Source Catalogue. We employ a combination of automated visual representation and visual analysis to identify a clean sample of 21,926 interacting galaxy systems, mostly with $z < 1$. Sixty five percent of these systems have no previous references in either the NASA Extragalactic Database or Simbad. In the process of removing contamination, we also discover many other objects of interest, such as gravitational lenses, edge-on protoplanetary disks, and `backlit' overlapping galaxies. We briefly investigate the basic properties of this sample, and we make our catalogue publicly available for use by the community. In addition to providing a new catalogue of scientifically interesting objects imaged by HST, this work also demonstrates the power of the ESA Datalabs tool to facilitate substantial archival analysis without placing a high computational or storage burden on the end user.

To research the burst phenomenon of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in depth, it is necessary to explore an effective and accurate identification of GRBs. Onboard blind search, ground blind search, and target search method are popular methods in identifying GRBs. However, they undeniably miss GRBs due to the influence of threshold, especially for sub-threshold triggers. We present a new approach to distinguish GRB by using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to classify count maps that contain bursting information in more dimensions. For comparison, we design three supervised CNN models with different structures. Thirteen years Time-Tagged Event (TTE) format data from Fermi/GBM is employed to construct useful data sets and to train, validate and test these models. We find an optimal model, i.e. the ResNet-CBAM model trained on the 64 ms data set, which contains residual and attention mechanism modules. We track this deep learning model through two visualization analysis methods separately, Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM) and T-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) method, and find it focused on the main features of GRBs. By applying it on one-year data, about 96% of GRBs in the Fermi burst catalog were distinguished accurately, six out of ten GRBs of sub-threshold triggers were identified correctly, and meaningfully thousands of new candidates were obtained and listed according to their SNR information. Our study implies that the deep learning method could distinguish GRBs from background-like maps effectively and reliably. In the future, it can be implemented into real-time analysis pipelines to reduce manual inspection and improve accuracy, enabling follow-up observations with multi-band telescopes.

We select 753 S0 galaxies from the internal Product Lauch-10 of MaNGA survey (MPL-10) and find that $\sim$11% of S0 galaxies show gas-star kinematic misalignments, which is higher than the misaligned fraction in spiral ($\sim$1%) and elliptical galaxies ($\sim$6%) in MPL-10. If we only consider the emission-line galaxies (401 emission-line S0s), the misaligned fraction in S0s increases to $\sim$20%. In S0s, the kinematic misalignments are more common than the merger remnant features ($\sim$8%). Misaligned S0s have lower masses of stellar components and dark matter halos than S0s with merger remnant features. Based on the $NUV-r$ versus $M_*$ diagram, we split galaxies into three populations: blue cloud (BC), green valley (GV) and red sequence, finding that BC and GV misaligned S0s have positive $\mathrm{D}_n4000$ radial gradients which indicates younger stellar population in the central region than the outskirts. Through comparing the misaligned S0s with a control sample for the whole S0 galaxy sample, we find that the BC and GV misaligned S0s show younger stellar population at $R\lesssim R_e$ and older population at $R\gtrsim R_e$ than the control samples. Considering the high incidence of kinematic misalignments in S0 galaxies and the properties of environments and stellar populations, we propose misaligned gas accretion as an important formation pathway for S0s.

A gap in exoplanets' radius distribution has been widely attributed to the photo-evaporation threshold of their progenitors' gaseous envelope. Giant impacts can also lead to substantial mass-loss. The outflowing gas endures tidal torque from the planets and their host stars. Alongside the planet-star tidal and magnetic interaction, this effect leads to planets' orbital evolution. In multiple super-Earth systems, especially in those which are closely spaced and/or contain planets locked in mean motion resonances (MMRs), modest mass-loss can lead to dynamical instabilities. In order to place some constraints on the extent of planets' mass-loss, we study the evolution of a series of idealized systems of multiple planets with equal masses and a general scaled separation. We consider mass-loss from one or more planets either in the conservative limit or with angular momentum loss from the system. We show that the stable preservation of idealized multiple planetary systems requires either a wide initial separation or a modest upper limit in the amount of mass-loss. This constraint is stringent for the multiple planetary systems in compact and resonant chains. Perturbation due to either impulsive giant impacts between super-Earths or greater than a few percent mass-loss can lead to dynamical instabilities.

We analyze the rest-optical emission-line ratios of star-forming galaxies at 2.7<=z<6.5 drawn from the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey, and their relationships with stellar mass (M_*). Our analysis includes both line ratios based on the [NII]6583 feature -- [NII]6583/Ha, ([OIII]5007/Hb)/([NII]6583/Ha) (O3N2), and [NII]6583/[OII]3727 -- and those those featuring alpha elements -- [OIII]5007/Hb, [OIII]5007/[OII]3727 (O_32), ([OIII]4959,5007+[OII]3727)/Hb (R_23), and [NeIII]3869/[OII]3727. Given the typical flux levels of [NII]6583 and [NeIII]3869, which are undetected in the majority of individual CEERS galaxies at 2.7<=z<6.5, we construct composite spectra in bins of M_* and redshift. Using these composite spectra, we compare the relationships between emission-line ratios and M_* at 2.7<=z<6.5 with those observed at lower redshift. While there is significant evolution towards higher excitation (e.g., higher [OIII]5007/Hb, O_32, O3N2), and weaker nitrogen emission (e.g., lower [NII]6583/Ha and [NII]6583/[OII]3727) between z~0 and z~3, we find in most cases that there is no significant evolution in the relationship between line ratio and M_* beyond z~3. The [NeIII]3869/[OII]3727 ratio is anomalous in showing significant elevation at 4.0<=z<6.5 at fixed mass, relative to z~3.3. Collectively, however, our empirical results suggest that there is no significant evolution in the mass-metallicity relationship at 2.7<=z<6.5. Metallicity calibrations based on existing and upcoming JWST/NIRSpec observations will be required to translate these empirical scaling relations into ones tracing chemical enrichment and gas cycling, and distinguish among the descriptions of star-formation feedback in simulations of galaxy formation at z>3.

Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) detect very high energetic (VHE) gamma rays. They observe the Cherenkov light emitted in electromagnetic shower cascades that gamma rays induce in the atmosphere. A precise reconstruction of the primary photon energy and the source flux depends heavily on accurate Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of the shower propagation and the detector response, and therefore also on adequate assumptions about the atmosphere at the site and time of a measurement. Here, we present the results of an extensive validation of the MC simulations for an analysis chain of the H.E.S.S. experiment with special focus on the recently installed FlashCam camera on the large 28 m telescope. One goal of this work was to create a flexible and easy-to-use framework to facilitate the detailed validation of MC simulations also for past and future phases of the H.E.S.S. experiment. Guided by the underlying physics, the detector simulation and the atmospheric transmission profiles were gradually improved until low level parameters such as cosmic ray (CR) trigger rates matched within a few percent between simulations and observational data. This led to instrument response functions (IRFs) with which the analysis of current H.E.S.S. data can ultimately be carried out within percent accuracy, substantially improving earlier simulations.

We study the Satellite Plane Problem (SP) of the Milky Way (MW) by using the recently published simulation data of TNG50-1. Here, we only consider the satellite plane consisting of the brightest 14 MW satellites (11 classical satellites plus Canes Venatici I(CVn I), Crater II and Antlia II). Only one (among 231 candidates) MW-like halo (haloID=395, at z=0, hereafter halo395 ) possesses a satellite plane as spatially thin and kinematically coherent as the observed one has been found. Halo395 resembles the MW in a number of intriguing ways: it hosts a spiral central galaxy and its satellite plane is almost ($\sim 87^{\circ}$) perpendicular to the central stellar disk. In addition, halo395 is embedded in a sheet plane, with a void on the top and bottom, similar to the local environment of MW. More interestingly, we found that the major subset (11 of 14) of the satellite plane of halo395 arise precisely from the peculiar geometry of its large-scale environment (e.g. sheet and voids). However, the other three members just appeared at the right places with the right velocities by chance at z=0. Although the satellite plane of halo395 is transient and came into existence at z=0, the MW-like Large-scale environment indeed promotes the formation of the satellite plane. Our results support previous conclusions: SP is not a serious challenge to the $\Lambda$CDM model and its formation is ascribed to the right environment.

After decades of experimental projects and fast-paced technical advances, optical / infrared (O/IR) interferometry has seen a revolution in the last years. The GRAVITY instrument at the VLTI with four 8 meter telescopes reaches thousand times fainter objects than possible with earlier interferometers, and the CHARA array routinely offers up to 330 meter baselines and aperture-synthesis with six 1 meter telescopes. The observed objects are fainter than 19 magnitude, the images have sub-milliarcsecond resolution, and the astrometry reaches micro-arcsecond precision. We give an overview of breakthrough results from the past 15 years in O/IR interferometry on the Galactic Center, exo-planets and their atmospheres, active galactic nuclei, young stellar objects, and stellar physics. Following a primer in interferometry, we summarize the technical and conceptual advances which led to the boosts in sensitivity, precision, and imaging of modern interferometers. Single-mode beam combiners now combine all available telescopes of the major interferometers for imaging, and specialized image reconstruction software advances over earlier developments for radio interferometry. With a combination of large telescopes, adaptive optics, fringe-tracking, and especially dual-beam interferometry, GRAVITY has boosted the sensitivity by many orders of magnitudes. Another order of magnitude improvement will come from upgrades with laser guide star adaptive optics. In combination with large separation fringe-tracking, O/IR interferometry will then provide complete sky coverage for observations in the Galactic plane, and substantial coverage for extragalactic targets. VLTI and CHARA will remain unique in the era of upcoming 30-40m extremely large telescopes (ELTs).

Automated analysis of Gaia astrometric data has led to the discovery of many new high-quality open cluster candidates. With a good determination of their parameters, these objects become excellent tools to investigate the properties of our Galaxy. We explore whether young open clusters can be readily identified from Gaia data alone by studying the properties of their Gaia colour-magnitude diagrams. We also want to compare the results of a traditional cluster analysis with those of automated methods. We selected three young open cluster candidates from the UBC catalogue, ranging from a well-populated object with a well-defined sequence to a poorly-populated, poorly-defined candidate. We obtained classification spectra for the brightest stars in each. We redetermined members based on EDR3 data and fitted isochrones to derive age, distance and reddening. All three candidates are real clusters with age below 100 Ma. UBC103 is a moderately populous cluster, with an age around 70 Ma. At a distance of $\sim$ 3 kpc, it forms a binary cluster with the nearby NGC6683. UBC114 is a relatively nearby ($\sim1.5$kpc) poorly-populated cluster containing two early-B stars. UBC587 is a dispersed, very young ($<$ 10 Ma) cluster located at $\sim3$ kpc, behind the Cygnus~X region, and may be a valuable tracer of the Orion arm. The OCfinder methodology for the identification of new open clusters is extremely successful, with even poor candidates resulting in interesting detections. The presence of an almost vertical photometric sequence in the Gaia colour-magnitude diagram is a safe way to identify young open clusters. Automated methods for the determination of cluster properties give approximate solutions, but are still subject to some difficulties. There is some evidence suggesting that artificial intelligence systems may systematically underestimate extinction, which may impact in the age determination.

Astrophysical surveys rely heavily on the classification of sources as stars, galaxies or quasars from multi-band photometry. Surveys in narrow-band filters allow for greater discriminatory power, but the variety of different types and redshifts of the objects present a challenge to standard template-based methods. In this work, which is part of larger effort that aims at building a catalogue of quasars from the miniJPAS survey, we present a Machine Learning-based method that employs Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to classify point-like sources including the information in the measurement errors. We validate our methods using data from the miniJPAS survey, a proof-of-concept project of the J-PAS collaboration covering $\sim$ 1 deg$^2$ of the northern sky using the 56 narrow-band filters of the J-PAS survey. Due to the scarcity of real data, we trained our algorithms using mocks that were purpose-built to reproduce the distributions of different types of objects that we expect to find in the miniJPAS survey, as well as the properties of the real observations in terms of signal and noise. We compare the performance of the CNNs with other well-established Machine Learning classification methods based on decision trees, finding that the CNNs improve the classification when the measurement errors are provided as inputs. The predicted distribution of objects in miniJPAS is consistent with the putative luminosity functions of stars, quasars and unresolved galaxies. Our results are a proof-of-concept for the idea that the J-PAS survey will be able to detect unprecedented numbers of quasars with high confidence.

Rapidly growing catalogs of compact binary mergers from advanced gravitational-wave detectors allow us to explore the astrophysics of massive stellar binaries. Merger observations can constrain the uncertain parameters that describe the underlying processes in the evolution of stars and binary systems in population models. In this paper, we demonstrate that binary black hole populations - namely, detection rates, chirp masses, and redshifts - can be used to measure cosmological parameters describing the redshift-dependent star formation rate and metallicity distribution. We present a method that uses artificial neural networks to emulate binary population synthesis computer models, and construct a fast, flexible, parallelisable surrogate model that we use for inference.

The Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network (BiSON) observes acoustic oscillations of the Sun. The dominant noise source is caused by fluctuations of Earth's atmosphere, and BiSON seeks to mitigate this effect by combining multiple rapid observations in alternating polarisation states. Current instrumentation uses bespoke Pockels-effect cells to select the polarisation state. Here, we investigate an alternative off-the-shelf solution, a liquid crystal retarder, and discuss the potential impact of differences in performance. We show through electrical simulation of the photodiode-based detectors, and assessment of both types of polarisation device, that although the switching rate is slower the off-the-shelf LCD retarder is a viable replacement for a bespoke Pockels-effect cell. The simplifications arising from the use of off-the-shelf components allows easier and quicker instrumentation deployment.

As a new member of GECAM mission, the GECAM-C (also called High Energy Burst Searcher, HEBS) is a gamma-ray all-sky monitor onboard SATech-01 satellite, which was launched on July 27th, 2022 to detect gamma-ray transients from 6 keV to 6 MeV, such as Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), high energy counterpart of Gravitational Waves (GWs) and Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), and Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs). Together with GECAM-A and GECAM-B launched in December 2020, GECAM-C will greatly improve the monitoring coverage, localization, as well as temporal and spectral measurements of gamma-ray transients. GECAM-C employs 12 SiPM-based Gamma-Ray Detectors (GRDs) to detect gamma-ray transients . In this paper, we firstly give a brief description of the design of GECAM-C GRDs, and then focus on the on-ground tests and in-flight performance of GRDs. We also did the comparison study of the SiPM in-flight performance between GECAM-C and GECAM-B. The results show GECAM-C GRD works as expected and is ready to make scientific observations.

In order to recognize a habitable exoplanet from future observed spectra, we present new model reflected spectra and geometric albedo for modern and prebiotic (3.9 Ga) Earth-like exoplanets orbiting within the habitable zone of stars of spectral types F, G, K and M. We compute this for various atmospheric and surface compositions of the planets. Molecules that are potential biosignatures and act as greenhouse agents are incorporated in our model atmosphere. Various combinations of solid and liquid materials such as ocean, coast, land consisting of trees, grass, sand or rocks determine the surface albedo of the planet. Geometric albedo and model reflected spectra for a set of nine potential habitable planets, including Proxima Centauri b, TRAPPIST-1d, Kepler-1649c and Teegarden's Star-b, are also presented. We employ the opacity data derived by using the open-source package Exo-Transmit and adopt different atmospheric Temperature-Pressure profiles depending on the properties of the terrestrial exoplanets. The model reflected spectra are constructed by numerically solving the multiple scattering radiative transfer equations. We verified our model reflected spectra for a few specific cases by comparing with those published by other researchers. We demonstrate that prebiotic Earth-like exoplanets and present Earth-like exoplanets with increased amount of greenhouse gases in their atmospheres scatter more starlight in the optical. We also present the transmission spectra for modern and prebiotic Earth-like exoplanets with cloudy and cloudless atmospheres.

We study the impact of galaxy mergers on stellar population profiles/gradients of early-type galaxies (ETGs) using ETGs at $z<0.055$ in the Stripe 82 region of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and MaNGA integral field unit spectroscopic data. Tidal features around ETGs, which are detected from deep coadded images, are regarded as direct observational evidence for recent mergers. We find that ETGs with tidal features have less negative metallicity gradients and more positive age gradients than ETGs without tidal features at $M_\mathrm{star}\gtrsim10^{10.6}M_\odot$. Moreover, when integrating all the resolved stellar populations, ETGs with tidal features have lower metallicities by $\sim0.07$ dex and younger ages by $\sim1$ - $2$ Gyr than ETGs without tidal features. Analyzing star formation histories, we discover that the mass fraction of young stellar populations with age $<5$ Gyr is higher in the central regions of ETGs with tidal features than in the same regions of the counterparts without tidal features. Compared to normal ETGs, ETGs with tidal features have a slow metal-enrichment history in the early universe, but they have been accelerating the metal enrichment through recently formed stars over the last few billion years. Many of our results can be explained if the effects of recently occurred mergers are different from those in the early universe, which are more likely to be rich in gas.

We present a chemical abundance analysis of seven A-type stars with no detailed chemical abundance measurements in the literature. High-resolution spectra of the targets HD 2924, HD 4321, HD 26553, HD 125658, HD 137928, HD 154713, and HD 159834 were obtained using the Coude Echelle Spectrograph at the TUBITAK National Observatory. We determined the atmospheric abundances of the samples and measured the elemental abundances of C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, and Gd. The masses of the stars were estimated based on their evolutionary tracks, and their ages were calculated using isochrones. We also calculated the radii of the stars. The abundance patterns of HD 4321, HD 125658, and HD 154713 were found to be in agreement with those of classical Am stars, with underabundant Ca and Sc, overabundant heavier elements, and moderate overabundance of iron-peak elements. We found that HD 137928 and HD 159834 have similar abundance characteristics to marginal Am-type stars. The elemental distributions of HD 2924 and HD 26553 are consistent with the pattern of normal A-type stars. The iron, nickel, and zinc abundances of HD 125658 and HD 137928 are significantly higher than other Am stars. These values suggest that they are among the most metal-rich Am stars

We discuss the observational manifestations of an isolated stellar mass black hole - the recently discovered microlens MOA-2011-BLG-191/OGLE-2011-BLG-0462. The data available for this object are used to calculate the density, temperature, and sound speed in its local interstellar medium, as well as estimate its velocity. We obtain the accretion rate and luminosity of the object, and construct its theoretical spectrum. A comparison of the spectrum with the sensitivity levels of current and future instruments in different frequency ranges has shown that direct detection of the emission from this black hole is possible for several future observing missions.

The Hawking evaporation of ultra-light primordial black holes (PBH) dominating the early Universe before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis can potentially increase the effective number of extra neutrino species $\Delta N_\mathrm{eff}$ through the emission of dark radiation degrees of freedom alleviating in this way the $H_0$ tension problem. Interestingly, these light PBHs can form a gas of Poisson distributed compact objects which can induce a gravitational-wave (GW) background due to second order gravitational interactions. Therefore, by considering the contribution to $\Delta N_\mathrm{eff}$ due to the production of the aforementioned GW background we revisit in this work the constraints on the relevant parameters at hand, namely the PBH mass, $m_\mathrm{PBH}$, the initial PBH abundance at PBH formation time, $\Omega_\mathrm{PBH,f}$ and the number of DR radiation degrees of freedom, $g_\mathrm{DR}$ by accounting at the same time for the relevant upper bounds constraints on $\Delta N_\mathrm{eff}$ from the Planck collaboration.

We report four novel position angle measurements of the core region of M81* at 5GHz and 8GHz, which confirm the presence of sinusoidal jet precession of the M81 jet region as suggested by \cite{Marti-Vidal2011}. The model makes three testable predictions on the evolution of the jet precession, which we test in our data with observations in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Our data confirms a precession period of $\sim7~\mathrm{yr}$ on top of a small linear drift. We further show that two 8 GHz observation are consistent with a precession period of $\sim 7~\mathrm{yr}$, but show a different time-lag w.r.t. to the 5 GHz and 1.7 GHz observations. We do not find a periodic modulation of the light curve with the jet precession, and therefore rule out a Doppler nature of the historic 1998-2002 flare. Our observations are consistent with either a binary black hole origin of the precession or the Lense-Thirring effect.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission is providing the scientific community with millions of light curves of stars spread across the whole sky. Since 2018 the telescope has detected thousands of planet candidates that need to be meticulously scrutinized before being considered amenable targets for follow-up programs. We present the second catalog of the Plant Patrol citizen science project containing 999 uniformly-vetted exoplanet candidates within the TESS ExoFOP archive. The catalog was produced by fully exploiting the power of the Citizen Science Planet Patrol project. We vetted TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs) based on the results of Discovery And Vetting of Exoplanets DAVE pipeline. We also implemented the Automatic Disposition Generator, a custom procedure aimed at generating the final classification for each TOI that was vetted by at least three vetters. The majority of the candidates in our catalog, $752$ TOIs, passed the vetting process and were labelled as planet candidates. We ruled out $142$ candidates as false positives and flagged $105$ as potential false positives. Our final dispositions and comments for all the planet candidates are provided as a publicly available supplementary table.

We present the highest resolution and sensitivity $\sim1.4\,$GHz continuum observations of the Eridanus supergroup obtained as a part of the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY (WALLABY) pre-pilot observations using the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). We detect 9461 sources at 1.37 GHz down to a flux density limit of $\sim0.1$ mJy at $6.1''\times 7.9''$ resolution with a mean root-mean-square (RMS) of 0.05 mJy/beam. We find that the flux scale is accurate to within 5% (compared to NVSS at 1.4 GHz). We then determine the global properties of eight Eridanus supergroup members, which are detected in both radio continuum and neutral hydrogen (HI) emission, and find that the radio-derived star formation rates (SFRs) agree well with previous literature. Using our global and resolved radio continuum properties of the nearby Eridanus galaxies, we measure and extend the infrared-radio correlation (IRRC) to lower stellar masses and inferred star formation rates than before. We find the resolved IRRC to be useful for: 1) discriminating between AGN and star-forming galaxies (SFGs); 2) identifying background radio sources; and 3) tracing the effects of group environment pre-processing in NGC 1385. We find evidence for tidal interactions and ram-pressure stripping in the HI, resolved spectral index and IRRC morphologies of NGC 1385. There appears to be a spatial coincidence (in projection) of double-lobed radio jets with the central HI hole of NGC 1367. The destruction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by merger-induced shocks may be driving the observed WISE W3 deficit observed in NGC 1359. Our results suggest that resolved radio continuum and IRRC studies are excellent tracers of the physical processes that drive galaxy evolution and will be possible on larger sample of sources with upcoming ASKAP radio continuum surveys.

We present a detailed analysis of numerical discreteness errors in two-species, gravity-only, cosmological simulations using the density power spectrum as a diagnostic probe. In a simple setup where both species are initialized with the same total matter transfer function, biased growth of power forms on small scales when the solver force resolution is finer than the mean interparticle separation. The artificial bias is more severe when individual density and velocity transfer functions are applied. In particular, significant large-scale offsets in power are measured between simulations with conventional offset grid initial conditions when compared against converged high-resolution results where the force resolution scale is matched to the interparticle separation. These offsets persist even when the cosmology is chosen so that the two particle species have the same mass, indicating that the error is sourced from discreteness in the total matter field as opposed to unequal particle mass. We further investigate two mitigation strategies to address discreteness errors: the frozen potential method and softened interspecies short-range forces. The former evolves particles under the approximately "frozen" total matter potential in linear theory at early times, while the latter filters cross-species gravitational interactions on small scales in low density regions. By modeling closer to the continuum limit, both mitigation strategies demonstrate considerable reductions in large-scale power spectrum offsets.

We present an application of autoencoders to the problem of noise reduction in single-shot astronomical images and explore its suitability for upcoming large-scale surveys. Autoencoders are a machine learning model that summarises an input to identify its key features, then from this knowledge predicts a representation of a different input. The broad aim of our autoencoder model is to retain morphological information (e.g., non-parametric morphological information) from the survey data whilst simultaneously reducing the noise contained in the image. We implement an autoencoder with convolutional and maxpooling layers. We test our implementation on images from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) that contain varying levels of noise and report how successful our autoencoder is by considering Mean Squared Error (MSE), Structural Similarity Index (SSIM), the second-order moment of the brightest 20 percent of the galaxy's flux M20, and the Gini coefficient, whilst noting how the results vary between the original images, stacked images, and noise reduced images. We show that we are able to reduce noice, over many different targets of observations, whilst retaining the galaxy's morphology, with metric evaluation on a target by target analysis. We establish that this process manages to achieve a positive result in a matter of minutes, and by only using one single shot image compared to multiple survey images found in other noise reduction techniques.

We present a systematic search for transiting giant planets ($0.6 R_{\rm J} \leq R_{\rm P} \leq 2.0 R_{\rm J}$) orbiting nearby low-mass stars ($M_{*} \leq 0.71 M_{\odot}$). The formation of giant planets around low-mass stars is predicted to be rare by the core-accretion planet formation theory. We search 91,306 low-mass stars in the TESS 30 minute cadence photometry detecting fifteen giant planet candidates, including seven new planet candidates which were not known planets or identified as TOIs prior to our search. Our candidates present an exciting opportunity to improve our knowledge of the giant planet population around the lowest mass stars. We perform planet injection-recovery simulations and find that our pipeline has a high detection efficiency across the majority of our targeted parameter space. We measure the occurrence rates of giant planets with host stars in different stellar mass ranges spanning our full sample. We find occurrence rates of $0.137 \pm 0.097$% (0.088 - 0.26 $M_{\odot}$), $0.108 \pm 0.083$% (0.26 - 0.42 $M_{\odot}$), and $0.29 \pm 0.15$% (0.42 - 0.71 $M_{\odot}$). For our full sample (0.088 - 0.71 $M_{\odot}$) we find a giant planet occurrence rate of $0.194 \pm 0.072$%. We have measured for the first time the occurrence rate for giant planets orbiting stars with $M_{*} \leq 0.4 M_{\odot}$ and we demonstrate this occurrence rate to be non-zero. This result contradicts currently accepted planet formation models and we discuss some possibilities for how these planets could have formed.

We present current and future activities regarding lunar impact flash and NEO observations and satellite tracking from Kryoneri Observatory. In particular, we present results from the ESA-funded NELIOTA program, which has been monitoring the Moon for impact flashes since early 2017. Using the 1.2 m Kryoneri telescope, which is equipped with two high frame-rate cameras recording simultaneously in two optical bands, NELIOTA has recorded over 170 validated lunar impact flashes, while another ~90 have been characterized as suspected. We present statistical results concerning the sizes, the masses and the appearance frequency of the meteoroids in the vicinity of the Earth, as well as the temperatures developed during the impacts. Moreover, we present the capabilities of the Kryoneri telescope as a sensor for satellite tracking and the future plans regarding the provision of high-quality services for both the Planetary Defense activities of ESA (S2P/PDO) and the European Union's Space Surveillance and Tracking programme (EU/SST).

Recent studies focusing on the use of radio data in indirect dark matter detection have led to a set of highly competitive limits on the WIMP annihilation cross-section, especially in light of high-resolution data from instruments like ASKAP and MeerKAT. In this work we present an analysis of radio observations of the RXC J0225.1-2928 galaxy cluster, taken from the recent MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey public data release. We adopt a robust morphological analysis of this source that allows us to derive a set of upper-limits on the annihilation cross-section, and in our most constraining scenario these results are comparable to the most stringent limits yet found in the literature.

As a new member of GECAM mission, GECAM-C (also named High Energy Burst Searcher, HEBS) was launched onboard the SATech-01 satellite on July 27th, 2022, which is capable to monitor gamma-ray transients from $\sim$ 6 keV to 6 MeV. As the main detector, there are 12 gamma-ray detectors (GRDs) equipped for GECAM-C. In order to verify the GECAM-C GRD detector performance and to validate the Monte Carlo simulations of detector response, comprehensive on-ground calibration experiments have been performed using X-ray beam and radioactive sources, including Energy-Channel relation, energy resolution, detection efficiency, SiPM voltage-gain relation and the non-uniformity of positional response. In this paper, the detailed calibration campaigns and data analysis results for GECAM-C GRDs are presented, demonstrating the excellent performance of GECAM-C GRD detectors.

The gamma-ray detectors (GRDs) of GECAM-C onborad SATech-01 satellite is designed to monitor gamma-ray transients all over the sky from 6 keV to 6 MeV. The energy response matrix is the key to do spectral measurements of bursts, which is usually generated from GEANT4 simulation and partially verified by the ground calibration. In this work, energy response matrix of GECAM-C GRD is cross-calibrated with Fermi/GBM and Swift/BAT using a sample of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) and Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters (SGRs). The calibration results show there is a good agreement between GECAM-C and other reasonably well calibrated instrument (i.e. Fermi/GBM and Swift/BAT). We also find that different GRD detectors of GECAM-C also show consistency with each other. All these results indicate that GECAM-C GRD can provide reliable spectral measurements.

Astrophysical jets are present in a range of environments, including young stellar objects, X-ray binaries, and active galactic nuclei, but their formation is still not fully understood. As one of the nearest symbiotic binary stars, R Aquarii ($D \sim 220$ pc) offers a unique opportunity to study the inner region within $\sim$ 600 AU of the jet source, which is particularly crucial to our understanding of non-relativistic jet formation and origin. We present high-angular resolution ultraviolet and optical imaging from the \emph{Hubble} Space Telescope in six emission-line regions of the inner jet. Using these observations to obtain a range of representative line ratios for our system and kinematic data derived from a comparison with previous studies, we model the shocked gas in order to determine the relative roles of shock heating and photoionization in the R Aquarii system. We find that our shock models suggest a nonzero magnetic field is needed to describe the measured line ratios. We also find that the Mg~II$\lambda\lambda$2795,2802 intensities are overpredicted by our models for most of the jet regions, perhaps because of depletion onto grains or to opacity in these resonance lines.

Current cosmological data exhibit discordance between indirect and some direct inferences of the present-day expansion rate, $H_0$. Early dark energy (EDE), which briefly increases the cosmic expansion rate prior to recombination, is a leading scenario for resolving this "Hubble tension'' while preserving a good fit to cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. However, this comes at the cost of changes in parameters that affect structure formation in the late-time universe, including the spectral index of scalar perturbations, $n_s$. Here, we present the first constraints on axion-like EDE using data from the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest, i.e., absorption lines imprinted in background quasar spectra by neutral hydrogen gas along the line of sight. We consider two independent measurements of the one-dimensional Ly$\alpha$ forest flux power spectrum, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS eBOSS) and from the MIKE/HIRES and X-Shooter spectrographs. We combine these with a baseline dataset comprised of Planck CMB data and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements. Combining the eBOSS Ly$\alpha$ data with the CMB and BAO dataset reduces the 95\% upper bound on the maximum fractional contribution of EDE to the cosmic energy budget, $f_{\rm EDE}$, from 0.08 to 0.03 and constrains $H_0=67.9_{-0.4}^{+0.4}~{\rm km/s/Mpc}$ (68\% confidence level), with maximum a posteriori value $H_0=67.9~{\rm km/s/Mpc}$. Similar results are obtained for the MIKE/HIRES and X-Shooter Ly$\alpha$ data. Our Ly$\alpha$-based EDE constraints yield $H_0$ values that are in $>4\sigma$ tension with the SH0ES distance-ladder measurement and are driven by the preference of the Ly$\alpha$ forest data for $n_s$ values lower than those required by EDE cosmologies that fit Planck CMB data. Taken at face value, the Ly$\alpha$ forest severely constrains canonical EDE models that could resolve the Hubble tension.

This paper studies the effect of turbulence in the formation process of the Population III (Pop III) stars as known as the first stars, which play a key role in the cosmic evolution. Previous cosmological simulations of Pop III star formation suggested these stars would have a typical mass of $\mathrm{\sim 100 \, M_\odot}$. However, this mass scale is inconsistent with the recent observations of the extremely metal-poor stars that infer the mass scale of the Pop III stars to be around $\mathrm{25 \, M_\odot}$. This mass discrepancy may be due to the unresolved turbulence of the Pop III star-forming cloud driven by the accrecting primordial gas during the mini-halo formation in the previous cosmological simulations. Unfortunately, such turbulent flow cannot be resolved in these simulations. To examine the effect of the turbulence in the Pop III star-forming cloud, we use the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) code, $\texttt{Enzo}$ to model the turbulent Pop III star-forming cloud using an artificial-driven turbulence scheme and including the relevant gas physics. This artificial-driven turbulence uses the stochastic forcing model to mimic the unresolved turbulence inside mini-halos. We find that several clumps with dense cores of $\mathrm{22.7 - 174.9 \, M_\odot}$ form in the turbulent Pop III star-forming cloud. These cores are subjected to the Jeans instability, and they will soon collapse to form stars. As turbulence becomes stronger and more compressive, the number of clumps increases. Our results suggest strong and compressive turbulence can effectively fragment primordial star-forming clouds and decrease the theoretical mass scale of Pop III stars that possibly resolves the mass discrepancy between simulations and observations.

Since the first detection of gravitational waves in 2015, gravitational-wave astronomy has emerged as a rapidly advancing field that holds great potential for studying the cosmos, from probing the properties of black holes to testing the limits of our current understanding of gravity. One important aspect of gravitational-wave astronomy is the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, where massive intervening objects can bend and magnify gravitational waves, providing a unique way to probe the distribution of matter in the universe, as well as finding applications to fundamental physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. However, current models for gravitational-wave millilensing - a specific form of lensing where small-scale astrophysical objects can split a gravitational wave signal into multiple copies - are often limited to simple isolated lenses, which is not realistic for complex lensing scenarios. In this paper, we present a novel phenomenological approach to incorporate millilensing in data analysis in a model-independent fashion. Our approach enables the recovery of arbitrary lens configurations without the need for extensive computational lens modeling, making it a more accurate and computationally efficient tool for studying the distribution of matter in the universe using gravitational-wave signals. When gravitational-wave lensing observations become possible, our method can provide a powerful tool for studying complex lens configurations, including dark matter subhalos and MACHOs.

In this paper, we present a refined calculation of the atmospheric neutrino flux spanning from GeV to PeV energies. Our method, Daemonflux, utilizes data-driven inputs and incorporates adjustable parameters to take their uncertainties into account. By optimizing these parameters using a combination of muon data and constraints from fixed-target experiments, we achieve uncertainties in the calculated neutrino fluxes of less than 10% up to 1 TeV, with neutrino ratios constrained to below 10%. Our model performs particularly well at energies below 100 GeV, where the smallest errors are obtained. We make our model available as a software package that provides access to predictions of fluxes, ratios, and errors, including the covariance matrix obtained from the fit.

We investigate the gravitational lensing effect around a spherically symmetric black hole, whose metric is obtained from the Einstein field equation with electric charge and perfect-fluid dark matter contributing to its energy-momentum tensor. We do the calculation analytically in the weak field limit and we assume that both the charge and the dark matter are much less abundant (only give rise to the next-leading-order contribution) in comparison to the black hole mass. In particular, we derive the light deflection angle and the size of the Einstein ring, where approximations up to the next-leading order are done with extra care, especially for the logarithmic term from perfect-fluid dark matter. We expect our results will be useful in the future to relate the theoretical model of perfect fluid dark matter with observations of celestial bodies immersed in thin dark matter.

Primordial black holes (PBHs) can be formed from the collapse of large-amplitude perturbation on small scales in the early universe. Such an enhanced spectrum can be realized by introducing a flat region in the potential of single-field inflation, which makes the inflaton go into a temporary ultraslow-roll (USR) period. In this paper, we calculate the bispectrum of curvature perturbation in such a scenario. We explicitly confirm that bispectrum satisfies Maldacena's theorem. At the end of the USR period, the bispectrum is generated by bulk interaction and field redefinition. At the end of inflation, bispectrum is generated only by bulk interaction. We also calculate the one-loop correction to the power spectrum from the bispectrum, called the source method. We find it consistent with the calculation of one-loop correction from the second-order expansion of in-in perturbation theory. In the last section of this paper, we write our response to criticism to our letter [arXiv:2211.03395] by [arXiv:2301.00599]. We argue that the criticism is based on the incorrect use of Maldacena's theorem. After fixing such a mistake, we show that the one-loop correction in our letter is reproduced in the source method as well. This confirms our letter's conclusion that rules out PBH formation from single-field inflation.

We revisit a cosmological scenario based on the classically conformal $U(1)_{B-L}$-extension of the Standard Model. Our focus is on the mechanism of reheating after inflation and the constraints on the model parameters. In this scenario, the inflationary dynamics is driven by the $U(1)_{B-L}$ Higgs field that is nonminimally coupled to gravity and breaks the $U(1)_{B-L}$ symmetry spontaneously as it acquires a vacuum expectation value through the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. It is found that the reheating process proceeds stepwise, and as the decay channels of the $U(1)_{B-L}$ Higgs field are known, the reheating temperature is evaluated. The relation between the e-folding number of inflation and the reheating temperature provides a strong consistency condition on the model parameters, and we find that the recent cosmological data gives an upper bound on the $U(1)_{B-L}$ breaking scale $v_{BL}\lesssim 10^{12}$ GeV. The lower bound is $v_{BL}\gtrsim 10^6$ GeV, obtained as the condition for successful reheating in this model. The prediction for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum of this model fits extremely well with today's cosmological data. The model can be tested and is falsifiable by near future CMB observations, including the LiteBIRD and CMB-S4.

First principles of electromagnetism impose that the tangential electric field must be continuous at the interface between two media. The definition of the electric field depends on the frame of reference leading to an ambiguity in the mathematical expression of the continuity condition when the two sides of the interface do not share the same rest frame. We briefly review the arguments supporting each choice of interface condition and illustrate how the most theoretically consistant choice leads to a paradox in induction experiments. We then present a model of sliding contact between two solids and between a fluid and a solid, and show how this paradox can be lifted by taking into account the shear induced by the differential motion in a thin intermediate viscous layer at the interface, thereby also lifting the ambiguity in the electric interface condition. We present some guidelines regarding the appropriate interface condition to employ in numerical simulations where sliding contact is used as an approximation to the viscous interface between a conducting solid and a fluid of very low viscosity such as in planetary interior simulations.