Papers for Wednesday, Aug 16 2023

The [CII] 157.74 $\mu$m fine structure transition is one of the brightest and most well-studied emission lines in the far-infrared (FIR), produced in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies. We study its properties in sub-pc resolution hydrodynamical simulations for an ISM patch with gas surface density of $\Sigma_{\rm{g}}=10\;M_{\odot}\;\rm{pc}^{-2}$, coupled with time-dependent chemistry, far-ultraviolet (FUV) dust and gas shielding, star formation, photoionization and supernova (SN) feedback, and full line-radiative transfer. The [CII] 157.74 $\mu$m line intensity correlates with star formation rate (SFR), and scales linearly with metallicity, and is, therefore, a good SFR tracer even in metal-poor environments, where molecular lines might be undetectable. We find a [CII]-to-H$_2$ conversion factor that is well described by the power law $X_{\rm{[CII]}}=6.31\times 10^{19} \;Z^{\prime\;0.17}\; (\rm{cm}^{-2}\;(\rm{K}\;\rm{km}\;\rm{s}^{-1})^{-1})$. Our results are in agreement with galaxy surveys in all but the lowest metallicity run. We find that resolving the clumpy structure of the dense interstellar medium (ISM) is important as it dominates [CII] 157.74 $\mu$m emission. We compare our full radiative transfer computation with the optically-thin limit, and find that [CII] emission only begins approaching the optically thick limit at super-solar metallicity, for our assumed gas surface density.

The double neutron star (DNS) merger event GW170817 signifies the first multimessenger (MM) event with electromagnetic-gravitational (EM-GW) observations. LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observational runs O4-5 promise to detect similar events and as yet unknown GW signals, which require confirmation in two or more detectors with comparable performance. To this end, we quantify duty cycles of comparable science quality of data in coincident H1L1-observations, further to seek consistent event rates of astrophysical transients in upcoming EM-GW surveys. Quite generally, discovery power scales with exposure time, sensitivity, and critically depends on the percentage of time when detectors operate at high quality. We quantify coincident duty cycles over a time-frequency domain $W\times B$, defined by segments of duration $W=8$s, motivated by a long-duration descending GW-chirp during GRB170817A, and the minimum detector noise over about $B=100-250\,$Hz. This detector yield factor satisfies $1\%-25 \%$ in S5-6 and O1-O3ab, significantly different from duty cycles of H1 and L1 individually with commensurable impact on consistency in event rates in EM-GW surveys. Significant gain in discovery power for signals whose frequency varies slowly in time may be derived from improving detector yield factors by deploying time-symmetric data analysis methods. For O4-5, these can yield improvements by factors up to $\mathcal{O}(10^5)$ relative to existing data and methods. Furthermore, the diversity of MM afterglows to DNS mergers may be greatest for systems similar to GW170817 but possibly less so for systems of substantially different mass such as GW190425. We summarize our findings with an outlook on EM-GW surveys during O4-5 and perspectives for next-generation GRB missions like THESEUS.

Rotation is a key ingredient in the theory of stellar structure and evolution. Until now, stellar evolution codes operate in a 1-D framework for which the validity domain in regards to the rotation rate is not well understood. This letter aims at presenting the first results of self-consistent stellar models in two spatial dimensions that compute the time evolution of a star and its rotation rate along the main sequence together with a comparison to observations. We make use of an extended version of the ESTER code that solves the stellar structure of a rotating star in two dimensions with time evolution, including chemical evolution, and an implementation of rotational mixing. We have computed evolution tracks for a 12Msun model, once for an initial rotation rate equal to 15% of the critical frequency, and once for 50%. We first show that our model initially rotating at 15% of the critical frequency is able to reproduce all the observations of the $\beta$ Cephei star HD 192575 recently studied by Burssens et al. with asteroseismology. Beyond the classical surface parameters like effective temperature or luminosity, our model also reproduces the core mass along with the rotation rate of the core and envelope at the estimated age of the star. This particular model also shows that the meridional circulation has a negligible influence on the transport of chemical elements, like nitrogen, for which the abundance may be increased at the stellar surface. Furthermore, it shows that in the late main sequence, nuclear evolution is faster than the relaxation time needed to reach a steady state of the star angular momentum distribution. We have demonstrated that we have successfully taken the new step towards 2-D evolutionary modelling of rotating stars. It opens new perspectives on the understanding of the dynamics of fast rotating stars and on the way rotation impacts stellar evolution.

This study focuses on Pristine$\_180956.78$$-$$294759.8$ (hereafter P180956, [Fe/H] $=-1.95\pm0.02$), a star selected from the Pristine Inner Galaxy Survey (PIGS), and followed-up with the recently commissioned Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST) at the Gemini South telescope. The GHOST spectrograph's high efficiency in the blue spectral region ($3700-4800$~\AA) enables the detection of elemental tracers of early supernovae (e.g. Al, Mn, Sr, Eu), which were not accessible in the previous analysis of P180956. The star exhibits chemical signatures resembling those found in ultra-faint dwarf systems, characterised by very low abundances of neutron-capture elements (Sr, Ba, Eu), which are uncommon among stars of comparable metallicity in the Milky Way. Our analysis suggests that P180956 bears the chemical imprints of a small number (2 or 4) of low-mass hypernovae ($\sim10-15\msun$), which are needed to reproduce the abundance pattern of the light-elements (e.g. [Si, Ti/Mg, Ca] $\sim0.6$), and one fast-rotating intermediate-mass supernova ($\sim300\kms$, $\sim80-120\msun$). Both types of supernovae explain the high [Sr/Ba] of P180956 ($\sim1.2$). The small pericentric ($\sim0.7\kpc$) and apocentric ($\sim13\kpc$) distances and its orbit confined to the plane ($\lesssim 2\kpc$), indicate that this star was likely accreted during the early Galactic assembly phase. Its chemo-dynamical properties suggest that P180956 formed in a system similar to an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy accreted either alone, as one of the low-mass building blocks of the proto-Galaxy, or as a satellite of Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus. The combination of Gemini's large aperture with GHOST's high efficiency and broad spectral coverage makes this new spectrograph one of the leading instruments for near-field cosmology investigations.

Understanding the nature of high-$z$ dusty galaxies requires a comprehensive view of their ISM and molecular complexity. However, the molecular ISM at high redshifts is commonly studied using only a few species beyond CO, limiting our understanding of the ISM in these objects. In this paper, we present the results of deep 3 mm spectral line surveys using the NOEMA targeting two lensed dusty galaxies: APM 08279+5255 (APM), a quasar at redshift $z=3.911$, and NCv1.143 (NC), a $z=3.565$ starburst galaxy. The spectral line surveys cover rest-frame frequencies from about 330-550 GHz. We report the detection of 38 and 25 emission lines in APM and NC, respectively. The spectra reveal the chemical richness and the complexity of the physical properties of the ISM. By comparing the spectra of the two sources and combining the gas excitation analysis, we find that the physical properties and the chemical imprints of the ISM are different between them: the molecular gas is more excited in APM, exhibiting higher molecular-gas temperatures and densities compared to NC; the chemical abundances in APM are akin to the values of local AGN, showing boosted relative abundances of the dense gas tracers that might be related to high-temperature chemistry and/or XDRs, while NC more closely resembles local starburst galaxies. The most significant differences are found in H2O, where the 448 GHz H2O line is significantly brighter in APM, likely linked to the intense far-infrared radiation from the dust powered by AGN. Our astrochemical model suggests that, at such high column densities, UV radiation is less important in regulating the ISM, while CRs (and/or X-rays and shocks) are the key players in shaping the abundance of the molecules. Such deep spectral line surveys open a new window to study the physical and chemical properties of the ISM and the radiation field of galaxies in the early Universe. (abridged)

The Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) hosts protoplanetary disks experiencing external photoevaporation by the cluster's intense UV field. These ``proplyds" are comprised of a disk surrounded by an ionization front. We present ALMA Band 3 (3.1 mm) continuum observations of 12 proplyds. Thermal emission from the dust disks and free-free emission from the ionization fronts are both detected, and the high-resolution (0.057") of the observations allows us to spatially isolate these two components. The morphology is unique compared to images at shorter (sub)millimeter wavelengths, which only detect the disks, and images at longer centimeter wavelengths, which only detect the ionization fronts. The disks are small ($r_d$ = 6.4--38 au), likely due to truncation by ongoing photoevaporation. They have low spectral indices ($\alpha \lesssim 2.1$) measured between Bands 7 and 3, suggesting the dust emission is optically thick. They harbor tens of Earth masses of dust as computed from the millimeter flux using the standard method, although their true masses may be larger due to the high optical depth. We derive their photoevaporative mass-loss rates in two ways: first, by invoking ionization equilibrium, and second using the brightness of the free-free emission to compute the density of the outflow. We find decent agreement between these measurements and $\dot M$ = 0.6--18.4 $\times$ 10$^{-7}$ $M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. The photoevaporation timescales are generally shorter than the $\sim$1 Myr age of the ONC, underscoring the known ``proplyd lifetime problem." Disk masses that are underestimated due to being optically thick remains one explanation to ease this discrepancy.

The peculiar supernova (SN) 2009ip is an ambiguous event that spurred many questions regarding its true origins. Here, we present very late-time spectroscopic and photometric observations of SN 2009ip, obtained 9 years (3274 days) after the 2012B outburst. We analyze the H$\alpha$ emission still present in the very late-time spectrum of SN 2009ip. We also obtain photometric measurements in the $r$, $g,$ and $i$ bands. We obtained observations of SN 2009ip on 2021 September 10 with the IMACS instrument at the 6.5 m Magellan Baade Telescope, located at the Las Campanas Observatory. SN 2009ip was detected in the $r$, $g,$ and $i$ bands, with an absolute magnitude in $r$ band of $\sim -8.66$~mag. We show that the source faded significantly since the last observations in these bands. We further show that the very late-time spectrum contains a persistent H$\alpha$ emission, although no other emission lines were detected. We measured a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of $930 \pm 40 \ \textrm{km s}^{-1}$ and luminosity of $\sim 8.0 \times 10^{37} \ \textrm{erg s}^{-1}$ for the H$\alpha$ emission. The luminosity decreased relatively slowly in comparison to the last observations and its fading rate is very similar to other long-living interacting transients, such as SN 2005ip. Finally, we conclude that although these properties could be consistent with a non-regular core-collapse SN, they may also be explained through non-terminal explosion scenarios.

In this paper, we study compact binary millisecond pulsars with low- and very low-mass companion stars (spiders) in the Galactic field, using data from the latest Gaia data release (DR3). We infer the parallax distances of the optical counterparts to spiders, which we use to estimate optical and X-ray luminosities. We compare the parallax distances to those derived from radio pulse dispersion measures and find that they have systematically larger values, by 40% on average. We also test the correlation between X-ray and spin-down luminosities, finding that most redbacks have a spin-down to X-ray luminosity conversion efficiency of $\sim$0.1%, indicating a contribution from the intrabinary shock. On the other hand, most black widows have an efficiency of $\sim$0.01%, similar to the majority of the pulsar population. Finally, we find that the bolometric optical luminosity significantly correlates with the orbital period, with a large scatter due to different irradiated stellar temperatures and binary properties. We interpret this correlation as the effect of the increasing size of the Roche Lobe radius with the orbital period. With this newly found correlation, an estimate of the optical magnitude can be obtained from the orbital period and a distance estimate.

We present the matter power spectrum in redshift space including two-loop corrections. We follow a strictly perturbative approach incorporating all non-linearities entering both via the redshift-space mapping and within real space up to the required (fifth) order, complemented by suitable effective field theory (EFT) corrections. This approach can a priori be viable up to scales of order $0.2h~\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ beyond which power suppression related to the finger-of-God effect becomes non-perturbatively strong. We extend a simplified treatment of EFT corrections at two-loop order from real to redshift space, making sure that the leading UV-sensitivity of both the single-hard and double-hard limit of the two-loop contributions to the power spectrum is accounted for, and featuring two free parameters for each multipole. Taking also infrared-resummation into account, we calibrate with and compare to Quijote $N$-body simulations for the monopole and quadrupole at redshifts $z=0$ and $z=0.5$. We find agreement within sample variance (at percent-level) up to $0.18h~\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ at two-loop order, compared to $0.1h~\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ at one-loop. We also investigate the role of higher-derivative corrections.

The bright, blue, rapidly evolving AT2018cow is a well-studied peculiar extragalactic transient. Despite an abundance of multi-wavelength data, there still is no consensus on the nature of the event. We present our analysis of three epochs of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations spanning the period from 713-1474 days post burst, paying particular attention to uncertainties of the transient photometry introduced by the complex background in which AT2018cow resides. Photometric measurements show evident fading in the UV and more subtle but significant fading in the optical. During the last HST observation, the transient's optical/UV colours were still bluer than those of the substantial population of compact, young, star-forming regions in the host of AT2018cow, suggesting some continued transient contribution to the light. However, a compact source underlying the transient would substantially modify the resulting spectral energy distribution, depending on its contribution in the various bands. In particular, in the optical filters, the complex, diffuse background poses a problem for precise photometry. An underlying cluster is expected for a supernova occurring within a young stellar environment or a tidal-disruption event (TDE) within a dense older one. While many recent works have focused on the supernova interpretation, we note the substantial similarity in UV light-curve morphology between AT2018cow and several tidal disruption events around supermassive black holes. Assuming AT2018cow arises from a TDE-like event, we fit the late-time emission with a disc model and find $M_{BH} = 10^{3.2{\pm}0.8}$ M$_{\odot}$. Further observations are necessary to determine the late-time evolution of the transient and its immediate environment.

Dwarf galaxies are valuable laboratories for dynamical studies related to dark matter and galaxy evolution, yet it is currently unknown just how physically extended their stellar components are. Satellites orbiting the Galaxy's potential may undergo tidal stripping by the host, or alternatively, may themselves have accreted smaller systems whose debris populates the dwarf's own stellar halo. Evidence of these past interactions, if present, is best searched for in the outskirts of the satellite. However, foreground contamination dominates the signal at these large radial distances, making observation of stars in these regions difficult. In this work, we introduce an updated algorithm for application to Gaia data that identifies candidate member stars of dwarf galaxies, based on spatial, color-magnitude and proper motion information, and which allows for an outer component to the stellar distribution. Our method shows excellent consistency with spectroscopically confirmed members from the literature despite having no requirement for radial velocity information. We apply the algorithm to all $\sim$60 Milky Way dwarf galaxy satellites, and we find 9 dwarfs (Bo\"otes 1, Bo\"otes 3, Draco 2, Grus 2, Segue 1, Sculptor, Tucana 2, Tucana 3, and Ursa Minor) that exhibit evidence for a secondary, low-density outer profile. We identify many member stars which are located beyond 5 half-light radii (and in some cases, beyond 10). We argue these distant stars are likely tracers of dwarf stellar haloes or tidal streams, though ongoing spectroscopic follow-up will be required to determine the origin of these extended stellar populations.

Ultra-High Energy (UHE) neutrinos over $10^{16}$ eV have yet to be observed but the Askaryan Radio Array (ARA) is one in-ice neutrino observatory attempting to make this discovery. In anticipation of a thorough full-observatory and full-livetime neutrino search, we estimate how many neutrino events can be detected accounting for secondary interactions, which are typically ignored in UHE neutrino simulations. Using the NuLeptonSim and PyREx simulation frameworks, we calculate the abundance and usefulness of cascades viewed by multiple ARA stations and observations made of taus, muons, and neutrinos generated during and after initial neutrino cascades. Analyses that include these scenarios benefit from a considerable increase in effective area at key ARA neutrino energies, one example being a 30% increase in ARA's effective area when simulating taus and muons produced in $10^{19}$ eV neutrino interactions. These analysis techniques could be utilized by other in-ice radio neutrino observatories, as has been explored by NuRadioMC developers. Our contribution showcases full simulation results of neutrinos with energies $3\times10^{17}$ - $10^{21}$ eV and visualizations of interesting triggered event topologies.

White dwarfs, the extremely dense remnants left behind by most stars after their death, are characterised by a mass comparable to that of the Sun compressed into the size of an Earth-like planet. In the resulting strong gravity, heavy elements sink toward the centre and the upper layer of the atmosphere contains only the lightest element present, usually hydrogen or helium. Several mechanisms compete with gravitational settling to change a white dwarf's surface composition as it cools, and the fraction of white dwarfs with helium atmospheres is known to increase by a factor ~2.5 below a temperature of about 30,000 K; therefore, some white dwarfs that appear to have hydrogen-dominated atmospheres above 30,000 K are bound to transition to be helium-dominated as they cool below it. Here we report observations of ZTF J203349.8+322901.1, a transitioning white dwarf with two faces: one side of its atmosphere is dominated by hydrogen and the other one by helium. This peculiar nature is likely caused by the presence of a small magnetic field, which creates an inhomogeneity in temperature, pressure or mixing strength over the surface. ZTF J203349.8+322901.1 might be the most extreme member of a class of magnetic, transitioning white dwarfs -- together with GD 323, a white dwarf that shows similar but much more subtle variations. This new class could help shed light on the physical mechanisms behind white dwarf spectral evolution.

Accurately quantifying the rates dM/dt at which massive stars lose mass is essential to any understanding of their evolution. All dM/dt estimates to date assume wind clumping factors; not allowing for clumping leads to overestimates of dM/dt and underestimates of lifetimes and masses when these stars explode as supernovae. Mid-IR spectroscopy suggested that the wind of the nearest Wolf-Rayet star, Gamma2 Vel, is resolved with a Full Width at 10 per cent intensity of 0.5 arcsec, or 171 AU at the 342 pc distance of the star. As the Zorro speckle imager on Gemini-South is capable of 0.02 arcsec resolution, we have used it to image Gamma2 Vel at two orbital phases (0.30 and 0.44) with two narrowband and two intermediate-band filters in an attempt to resolve its wind. Our observations demonstrate that the wind of Gamma2 Vel may be resolved as a 0.07 arcsec westward elongation through an 832 nm filter at orbital phase 0.3 . If confirmed, this is the smallest scale (24 AU) at which a WR star wind asymmetry has been directly imaged. Similar imaging at multiple phases is needed to determine if the asymmetry is due to stochastic wind clumping, co-rotating interaction regions or colliding-wind, cone-shaped shocks.

This paper presents a data processing pipeline designed to extract information from the hyperspectral signature of unknown space objects. The methodology proposed in this paper determines the material composition of space objects from single pixel images. Two techniques are used for material identification and classification: one based on machine learning and the other based on a least square match with a library of known spectra. From this information, a supervised machine learning algorithm is used to classify the object into one of several categories based on the detection of materials on the object. The behaviour of the material classification methods is investigated under non-ideal circumstances, to determine the effect of weathered materials, and the behaviour when the training library is missing a material that is present in the object being observed. Finally the paper will present some preliminary results on the identification and classification of space objects.

We summarize the main results within the Scale Invariant Vacuum (SIV) paradigm as related to the Weyl Integrable Geometry (WIG) as an extension to the standard Einstein General Relativity (EGR). After a short sketch of the mathematical framework, the main results until 2023 [1] are highlighted in relation to: the inflation within the SIV [2], the growth of the density fluctuations [3], the application of the SIV to scale-invariant dynamics of galaxies, MOND, dark matter, and the dwarf spheroidals [4],and the most recent results on the BBNS light-elements' abundances within the SIV [5]. Keywords: cosmology: theory, dark matter, dark energy, inflation, BBNS; galaxies: formation, rotation; Weyl integrable geometry; Dirac co-calculus.

Meridional circulation in the solar convection zone plays a profound role in regulating the interior dynamics of the Sun and its magnetism. While it is well accepted that meridional flows move from the equator towards the poles at the Sun's surface, helioseismic observations have yet to provide a definitive answer for the depth at which those flows return to the equator, or the number of circulation cells in depth. In this work, we investigate whether the discrepancies regarding the nature of the return flow are intrinsic to how helioseismic observations are made. We examine the seismic signature of possible meridional flow profiles by convolving time-distance averaging kernels with the mean flows obtained from 3-D hydrodynamic simulations of the solar convection zone. At mid and high latitudes, we find that weak flow structures in the deeper regions of the convection zone can be strongly obscured by signal from the much stronger surface flows. This contamination is the result of extended side lobes in the averaging kernels and generates a spurious equatorward signal of 2--3 m s$^{-1}$ at those latitudes, and at $\approx 70~\mathrm{Mm}$ depth. At low latitudes, however, the flows in the simulations tend to be stronger and multiple cells across the shell depth can produce a sufficiently strong seismic signal to survive the convolution process. The signal associated with the deep equatorward return flow in the Sun is expected to be weak and in the same sense as the contamination from the surface. Hence, the return flow needs to exceed $\sim 2$--$3~ \mathrm{m~s^{-1}}$ in magnitude for reported detections to be considered significant.

The exploration of the redshift drift, a direct measurement of cosmological expansion, is expected to take several decades of observation with stable, sensitive instruments. We introduced a new method to probe cosmology which bypasses the long-period observation by observing the redshift difference, an accumulation of the redshift drift, in multiple-image gravitational lens systems. With this, the photons observed in each image will have traversed through different paths between the source and the observer, and so the lensed images will show different redshifts when observed at the same instance. Here, we consider the impact of the underlying cosmology on the observed redshift difference in gravitational lens systems, generating synthetic data for realistic lens models and exploring the accuracy of determined cosmological parameters. We show that, whilst the redshift difference is sensitive to the densities of matter and dark energy within a universe, it is independent of the Hubble constant. Finally, we determine the observational considerations for using the redshift difference as a cosmological probe, finding that one thousand lensed sources are enough to make robust determinations of the underlying cosmological parameters. Upcoming cluster lens surveys, such as the Euclid, are expected to detect a sufficient number of such systems.

The Sun's magnetic field is strongly structured over a broad range of scales. The magnetic spatial power spectral analysis provides a powerful tool to understand the various scales of magnetic fields and their interaction with plasma motion. We aim to investigate the power spectra using spherical harmonic decomposition of high-resolution SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI synoptic magnetograms covering three consecutive solar cycle minima in a series of papers. As the first of the series, we calibrate and analyze the power spectra based on co-temporal SDO/HMI and SOHO/MDI data in this paper. For the first time, we find that the calibration factor $r$ between SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI varies with the spatial scale $l$ of the magnetic field, where $l$ is the degree of a spherical harmonics. The calibration factor satisfies $r(l)=\sqrt{-0.021 l^{0.64}+2} \quad(5<\mathrm{l}\leq539)$. With the calibration function, most contemporaneous SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI magnetograms show consistent power spectra from about 8 Mm to the global scales over about 3 orders of magnitudes. Moreover, magnetic power spectra from SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI maps show peaks/knees at $l\approx120$ corresponding to the typical supergranular scale (about 35 Mm) constrained from direct velocimetric measurements. This study paves the way for investigating the solar-cycle dependence of supergranulation and magnetic power spectra in subsequent studies.

Although close-orbiting, massive exoplanets -- known as hot and warm Jupiters -- are among the most observationally accessible known planets, their formation pathways are still not universally agreed upon. One method to constrain the possible dynamical histories of such planets is to measure the systems' sky-projected spin-orbit angles using the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. By demonstrating whether planets orbit around the stellar equator or on offset orbits, Rossiter-McLaughlin observations offer clues as to whether the planet had a quiescent or violent formation history. Such measurements are, however, only a reliable window into the history of the system if the planet in question orbits sufficiently far from its host star; otherwise, tidal interactions with the host star can erase evidence of past dynamical upheavals. We present a WIYN/NEID Rossiter-McLaughlin measurement of the tidally detached warm Jupiter WASP-106 b, which orbits a star along the Kraft break ($T_{\mathrm{eff}}=6002\pm164$ K). We find that WASP-106 b is consistent with a low spin-orbit angle ($\lambda=6^{+17}_{-16}\,^{\circ}$ and $\psi = 26^{+12}_{-17}\,^{\circ}$), suggesting a relatively quiescent formation history for the system. We conclude by comparing the stellar obliquities of hot and warm Jupiter systems, with the WASP-106 system included, to gain insight into the possible formation routes of these populations of exoplanets.

Time domain astronomy is advancing towards the analysis of multiple massive datasets in real time, prompting the development of multi-stream machine learning models. In this work, we study Domain Adaptation (DA) for real/bogus classification of astronomical alerts using four different datasets: HiTS, DES, ATLAS, and ZTF. We study the domain shift between these datasets, and improve a naive deep learning classification model by using a fine tuning approach and semi-supervised deep DA via Minimax Entropy (MME). We compare the balanced accuracy of these models for different source-target scenarios. We find that both the fine tuning and MME models improve significantly the base model with as few as one labeled item per class coming from the target dataset, but that the MME does not compromise its performance on the source dataset.

Analyzing the high-resolution CO-line survey of the Galactic plane with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope (FUGIN), we show that the star-forming complex G18.15-0.30+51 (G18) at radial velocity of 51 \kms is {a tight triple association of a giant molecular cloud (GMC), HII regions, and a supernova remnant (SNR).} The kinematical distance of G18 is determined to be $d=3.9\pm 0.2$ kpc for near solution for circular rotation, $12\pm 0.2$ kpc for far solution, or $d=6.1\pm 0.1$, if it is in the 3-kpc expanding ring. The HI-line absorption of radio continuum from the HII regions constrains the distance to $5.6 \lesssim d_{\rm SNR}\le 7.6$ kpc. The $\Sigma-D$ (radio brightness-diameter) relation yields the distance to the SNR of $d_{\rm SNR}=10.1^{+11.5}_{-4.7}$ kpc, allowing for a minimum distance of 5.4 kpc. From these we uniquely determined the distance of G18 to be $6.07\pm 0.13$ kpc in the 3-kpc expanding ring with the SNR being physically associated. The molecular mass of the GMC is estimated to be $M_{\rm mol}\sim 3\times 10^5 M_\odot$. The ratio of Virial to luminous molecular masses is greater than unity in the central region and decreases outward to $\lesssim 0.2$ at the cloud edge, indicating that the central region is dynamic, while the entire cloud is stable. We discuss the origin of the G18 triple system and propose a sustainable GMC model with continuous star formation.

Next generation gravitational wave (GW) detectors are expected to detect $10^4 \mbox{-} 10^5$ binary black holes (BBHs) per year. Understanding the formation pathways of these binaries is an open question. Orbital eccentricity can be used to distinguish between the formation channels of compact binaries as different formation channels are expected to yield distinct eccentricity distributions. Due to the rapid decay of eccentricity caused by the emission of GWs, measuring smaller values of eccentricity poses a challenge for current GW detectors due to their limited sensitivity. In this study, we explore the potential of next generation GW detectors such as Voyager, Cosmic Explorer (CE), and Einstein Telescope (ET) to resolve the eccentricity of BBH systems. Considering a GWTC-3 like population of BBHs and assuming some fiducial eccentricity distributions as well as an astrophysically motivated eccentricity distribution (Zevin et $al.$ (2021)), we calculate the fraction of binaries that can be confidently distinguished as eccentric. We find that for Zevin eccentricity distribution, Voyager, CE, and ET can confidently measure the non-zero eccentricity for $\sim 3\%$, $9\%$, and $13\%$ of the detected BBHs, respectively. In addition to the fraction of resolvable eccentric binaries, our findings indicate that Voyager, CE, and ET require minimum eccentricities $\gtrsim 0.02$, $5\times 10^{-3}$, and $10^{-3}$ at a GW frequency of $10$ Hz, respectively, to identify a BBH system as eccentric. The better low-frequency sensitivity of ET significantly enhances its capacity to accurately measure eccentricity.

Turbulence introduced into the intra-cluster medium (ICM) through cluster merger events transfers energy to non-thermal components, and can trigger the formation of diffuse synchrotron radio sources. Typical diffuse sources in the forms of giant radio halos and mini-halos are found in merging and relaxed cool core galaxy clusters, respectively. On the other hand, recent observations have revealed an increasing complexity of the non-thermal phenomenology. Abell 2142 (A2142) is a mildly disturbed cluster that exhibits uncommon thermal and non-thermal properties. It is known to host a hybrid halo consisting of two components (H1 and H2), namely a mini-halo-like and an enigmatic elongated radio halo-like structure. We aim to investigate the properties, origin, and connections of each component. We present deep LOFAR observations of A2142 in the frequency ranges $30-78$ MHz and $120-168$ MHz. With complementary multi-frequency radio and X-ray data, we analyse the radio spectral properties of the halo and assess the connection between the non-thermal and thermal components of the ICM. We detected a third radio component (H3), which extends over the cluster volume on scales $\sim 2$ Mpc, embeds H1 and H2, and has a morphology that roughly follows the thermal ICM distribution. The radio spectral index is moderately steep in H1 ($\alpha=1.09\pm 0.02$) and H2 ($\alpha=1.15\pm 0.02$), but is steeper ($\alpha=1.57\pm 0.20$) in H3. The analysis of the thermal and non-thermal properties allowed us to discuss possible formation scenarios for each radio component. Turbulence from sloshing motions of low-entropy gas on different scales may be responsible for the origin of H1 and H2. We classified H3 as a giant ultra-steep spectrum radio halo, which could trace the residual activity from an old energetic merger and/or inefficient turbulent re-acceleration induced by ongoing minor mergers.

The next generation of telescopes will yield a substantial increase in the availability of high-resolution spectroscopic data for thousands of exoplanets. The sheer volume of data and number of planets to be analyzed greatly motivate the development of new, fast and efficient methods for flagging interesting planets for reobservation and detailed analysis. We advocate the application of machine learning (ML) techniques for anomaly (novelty) detection to exoplanet transit spectra, with the goal of identifying planets with unusual chemical composition and even searching for unknown biosignatures. We successfully demonstrate the feasibility of two popular anomaly detection methods (Local Outlier Factor and One Class Support Vector Machine) on a large public database of synthetic spectra. We consider several test cases, each with different levels of instrumental noise. In each case, we use ROC curves to quantify and compare the performance of the two ML techniques.

We report on multiwavelength target-of-opportunity observations of the blazar PKS 0735+178, located 2.2 degrees away from the best-fit position of the IceCube neutrino event 211208A. The source was in a high-flux state in the optical, ultraviolet, X-ray, and GeV gamma-ray bands around the time of the neutrino event, exhibiting daily variability in the soft X-ray flux. The X-ray data from Swift-XRT and NuSTAR characterize the transition between the low-energy and high-energy components of the broadband spectral energy distribution, and the gamma-ray data from Fermi-LAT, VERITAS, and H.E.S.S. require a spectral cut-off near 100 GeV. Both measurements provide strong constraints on leptonic and hadronic models. We analytically explore a synchrotron self-Compton model, an external Compton model, and a lepto-hadronic model. Models that are entirely based on internal photon fields face serious difficulties in matching the observed spectral energy distribution (SED). The existence of an external photon field in the source would instead explain the observed gamma-ray spectral cut-off in both leptonic and lepto-hadronic models, and it would allow a proton jet power that marginally agrees with the Eddington limit in the lepto-hadronic model. A numerical lepto-hadronic model with external target photons reproduces the observed SED and is reasonably consistent with the neutrino event despite requiring a high jet power.

Extremely high energy (EHE) neutrinos (with energies above $10^7$ GeV) are produced in interactions of the highest energy cosmic rays. A primary contribution to the EHE neutrino flux is expected from so-called cosmogenic neutrinos produced when ultra high energy cosmic rays interact with ambient photon backgrounds. Observations of these EHE neutrinos with IceCube can probe the nature of cosmic rays beyond the energies for resonant photo-pion production (GZK cutoff). We present a new event selection of extremely high energy neutrinos by more effectively identifying and rejecting high multiplicity muon bundles with respect to previous analyses. Furthermore, we show the expected improvements of the quasi-differential upper limits on the EHE neutrino flux using 12 years of IceCube data.

The hydrogen Paschen lines are known activity indicators, but studies of them in M~dwarfs during quiescence are as rare as their reports in flare studies. This situation is mostly caused by a lack of observations, owing to their location in the near-infrared regime, which is covered by few high-resolution spectrographs. We study the Pa$\beta$ line, using a sample of 360 M~dwarfs observed by the CARMENES spectrograph. Descending the spectral sequence of inactive M~stars in quiescence, we find the Pa$\beta$ line to get shallower until about spectral type M3.5 V, after which a slight re-deepening is observed. Looking at the whole sample, for stars with H$\alpha$ in absorption, we find a loose anti-correlation between the (median) pseudo-equivalent widths (pEWs) of H$\alpha$ and Pa$\beta$ for stars of similar effective temperature. Looking instead at time series of individual stars, we often find correlation between pEW(H$\alpha$) and pEW(Pa$\beta$) for stars with H$\alpha$ in emission and an anti-correlation for stars with H$\alpha$ in absorption. Regarding flaring activity, we report the automatic detection of 35 Paschen line flares in 20 stars. Additionally we found visually six faint Paschen line flares in these stars plus 16 faint Paschen line flares in another 12 stars. In strong flares, Paschen lines can be observed up to Pa 14. Moreover, we find that Paschen line emission is almost always coupled to symmetric H$\alpha$ line broadening, which we ascribe to Stark broadening, indicating high pressure in the chromosphere. Finally we report a few Pa$\beta$ line asymmetries for flares that also exhibit strong H$\alpha$ line asymmetries.

The nearby radio pulsar B0950$+$08 with full duty cycle is targeted by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST, 110 minutes allocated), via adopting polarization calibration on two ways of baseline determination, in order to understand its magnetospheric radiation geometry as well as the polar cap sparking. % The radiation of the main pulse could not be informative of magnetic field line planes due to its low linear polarization ($<10 \%$) and the position angle jumps, and the polarization position angle in the pulse longitudes whose linear fractions are larger than $ \sim 30 \%$ is thus fitted in the classical rotating vector model (RVM). % The best RVM fit indicates that the inclination angle, $\alpha$, and the impact angle, $\beta$, of this pulsar are $100.5^{\circ}$ and $-33.2^{\circ}$, respectively, suggesting that the radio emission comes from two poles. % Polar cap sparking in the vacuum gap model, either the annular gap or the core gap, is therefore investigated in this RVM geometry, resulting in a high-altitude magnetospheric emission at heights from $\sim 0.25R_{\rm LC}$ to $\sim 0.56R_{\rm LC}$, with $R_{\rm LC}$ the light cylinder radius. % It is evident that both sparking points of the main and inter pulses are located mainly away from the magnetic pole, that is meaningful in the physics of pulsar surface and is even relevant to pulsar's inner structure.

The focus of NASA's Swift telescope has been transients and target-of-opportunity observing, resulting in many observations of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) over the last ~20 years. For the vast majority of these observations, simultaneous data has been obtained using both the X-ray telescope (XRT) and the ultraviolet and optical telescope (UVOT), providing a unique opportunity to study coupled variability between these bands. Using a sample of ~40 ULXs with numerous repeat observations, we extract stacked images to characterise the spatial extent of the UV-Optical emission and extract long-term light curves to search for first-order linear correlations between the UV and X-ray emission. We find that a small subset may show weakly correlated joint variability, while other sources appear to display non-linear relationships between the bands. We discuss these observations in the context of several theoretical models: precession, irradiation of the outer accretion disc and irradiation of the companion star. We conclude that more complicated analysis or higher quality data may be required to accurately constrain the nature of the joint X-ray and UV/optical emission in these sources.

Soon, a new generation of neutrino telescopes, presently under planning, will target the discovery of ultra-high-energy (UHE) neutrinos of cosmic origin, with energies higher than 100 PeV, that promise unique insight into astrophysics and particle physics. Yet, predictions of the UHE neutrino flux and interaction cross section -- whose measurement is co-dependent -- are laden with significant uncertainty that, if unaddressed, could misrepresent the capabilities to measure one or the other. To address this, we advocate for the joint measurement of the UHE neutrino spectrum and neutrino-nucleon cross section, including of their energy dependence, without assuming prior knowledge of either. We illustrate our methods by adopting empirical parametrizations of the neutrino spectrum, in forecasts geared to the planned radio array of the IceCube-Gen2 neutrino telescope. We warn against using simple parametrizations -- a simple power law or one augmented with an exponential cut-off -- that might fail to capture features of the spectrum that are commonplace in the predictions. We argue instead for the use of flexible parametrizations -- a piecewise power law or an interpolating polynomial -- that ensure accuracy. We report loose design targets for the detector energy and angular resolution that are compatible with those under present consideration.

We present the study of multi-messenger signatures of massive black hole (MBH) binaries residing in the centres of galaxy merger remnants. In particular, we first focus on the gravitational wave background (GWB) produced by an ensemble of MBH binary inspirals in the frequency range probed by the Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) experiments. The improved estimates of the characteristic strain were obtained with the inclusion of environmental effects on the MBH binary orbital decay within the galaxy merger remnants, added in post-processing to the semi-analytic model of galaxy formation and evolution SHARK. Secondly, we explore two, intriguing in terms of the MBH binary evolution studies, hypotheses aiming to explain the origins of X-shape radio galaxies - a peculiar type of objects with double lobe structures, constituting approximately 6 - 10% of known radio loud galaxies. The two considered scenarios involve either an abrupt change in the jet direction after a MBH merger (a spin-flip) or an unresolved close binary, where each of the two components produces a jet. We find that the estimated GWB amplitude at the reference frequency $f_0=1 \,{\rm yr}^{-1}$ is in the range of $A_{\rm{ yr^{-1}}} = 1.29\cdot10^{-15} - 1.46\cdot10^{-15}$, which is 50% lower than the strain of the signal detected by the PTA experiments. We also show that the spin-flip scenario considered in gas-poor mergers reproduces the observed properties of X-shape radio galaxies well in terms of flip angle, redshift and luminosity distributions.

We present observations of the intranight brightness variability of CR Boo, a member of the AM CVn stars group. The observational data are obtained with the 2m telescope of the Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory and the 60 cm telescope of the Belogradchik Observatory, Bulgaria, in BVR bands. We report the appearance of superhumps, with an amplitude from 0.08 to 0.25 mag, when the maximum brightness reaches the magnitude 14.08 in the V band, and 14.13 in the B band. A secondary maximum of each superhump is detected with the same periodicity as the superhumps: Psh = 24.76 - 24.92 min. In our results, the post maxima are shifted in time from $\approx 7.62$ min to $\approx 16.35$ min in different nights, with an amplitude of $\approx 0.06 - 0.09$ mag and an amplitude difference of $\approx 0.035$ mag towards the superhumps' maximum. We find a correlation of the post maxima with the accretion processes at the outer side of the disc.

Utilizing a simplified quantum model approach, the low-energy inelastic collision processes between yttrium atoms (ions) and hydrogen atoms have been studied. Rate coefficients corresponding to the mutual neutralization, ion-pair formation, excitation, and de-excitation processes for the above collision systems have been provided in the temperature range of 1000-10000K. 3 ionic states and 73 covalent states are considered in calculations for the collisions of yttrium atoms with hydrogen atoms, which include 6 molecular symmetries and 4074 partial inelastic reaction processes. For the collisions of yttrium ions with hydrogen atoms, 1 ionic state and 116 covalent states are included, which related to 3 molecular symmetries and 13572 partial inelastic collision processes. It is found that the rate coefficients for the mutual neutralization process have a maximum at T = 6000K, which is an order of magnitude higher than those of other processes. Notably, the positions of optimal windows for the collisions of yttrium atoms and ions with hydrogen atoms are found near electronic binding energy -2eV (Y) and -4.4eV (Y$^+$), respectively. The scattering channels located in or near these optimal windows have intermediate-to-large rate coefficients (greater than $10^{-12}$ cm$^3$s$^{-1}$). The reported data should be useful in the study of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium modeling.

These last years several Systems with Tightly packed Inner Planets in the super-Earth mass regime have been discovered harboring chains of resonances. It is generally believed that planet pairs get trapped in MMR during the migration phase in the protoplanetary disk, while the tides raised by the host star provide a source of dissipation on very long timescales. In this work, we aim to study the departure from exact commensurabilities observed among the STIPs which harbor 3-planet resonances and analyze how tides play an important role in shaping the resonance offsets for the STIPs. We analyzed the resonance offsets between adjacent pairs for five multi-planetary systems, namely Kepler-80, Kepler-223, K2-138, TOI-178, and TRAPPIST-1, highlighting the existence of different trends in the offsets. On the one hand, we derived analytical estimates for the offsets, which confirm that the departure of the planetary pairs from the nominal MMRs are due to the 3-planet resonant dynamics. On the other hand, we performed N-body simulations including both orbital migration and tidal dissipation from the host star with simple prescriptions in order to test the effectiveness of this mechanism at shaping the observed trend in the offsets, focusing our study on the preservation of the resonant patterns in the different systems with the same general setup. We found that the trends in the offsets of the five detected systems can be produced by tidal damping effects, regardless of the considered value for the tidal factor. It is a robust mechanism that relaxes the system towards equilibrium while efficiently moving it along 3-planet resonances, which induces the observed resonance offset for each planet pair. In addition, we showed that for Kepler-80, K2-138, and TOI-178, the amplitudes of the resonant offsets can also be reproduced with appropriate tidal factor, for the estimated age of the systems.

Intense outbursts in blazars are among the most extreme phenomena seen in extragalactic objects. Studying these events can offer important information about the energetic physical processes taking place within the innermost regions of blazars, which are beyond the resolution of current instruments. This work presents some of the largest and most rapid flares detected in the optical band from the sources 3C 279, OJ 49, S4 0954+658, Ton 599, and PG 1553+113, which are mostly TeV blazars. The source flux increased by nearly ten times within a few weeks, indicating the violent nature of these events. Such energetic events might originate from magnetohydrodynamical instabilities near the base of the jets, triggered by processes modulated by the magnetic field of the accretion disc. We explain the emergence of flares owing to the injection of high-energy particles by the shock wave passing along the relativistic jets. Alternatively, the flares may have also arisen due to geometrical effects related to the jets. We discuss both source-intrinsic and source-extrinsic scenarios as possible explanations for the observed large amplitude flux changes.

This study analyzes near-infrared measurements of Io, Jupiter's moon, observed over 170 nights from 2016 to early 2022 using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). During this period, seven new volcanic outbursts, the most energetic volcanic events on Io, were discovered and characterized, increasing the total number of observed outburst events from 18 to 25. We also present simplified criteria for the thermal detection of an outburst, requiring it to be both confined to a specific location of Io and above a threshold intensity in the Lp-band (3.8 micron). Our measurements use 2 to 5 micron photometry in eclipse, Jupiter occultation, and reflected sunlight. In addition to extending the observational dataset of Io's dynamic activity, these data provide insights into the temporal and spatial distribution of outbursts on Io. Notably, all seven outbursts were detected in Io's trailing hemisphere. These include Pillan Patera and a newly discovered repeating outburst location at Acala Fluctus. We add these events to the rare category of recurring outbursts, before which Tvashtar was the only known example. We observed that another outburst at UP 254W decreased in Lp-band intensity by a factor of two in 4.5 hours. In August 2021, Io exhibited high volcanic activity when two powerful outbursts rapidly appeared, propagating East. Our findings underscore IRTF's ongoing contributions to the study of Io.

Blazars are the most common class of TeV extragalactic emitters. In the framework of the AGN unified model, they are understood as AGNs with a relativistic jet pointing close the line of sight. They are characterized by extreme variability, observed to be as fast as minutes. These flares are usually observed at multiple wavelengths and their study require fast reaction and coordination among multiwavelength observatories. An important part of blazars observations with the H.E.S.S. array of Cherenkov telescopes is thus in the form of Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations. In this contribution the H.E.S.S. blazar ToO program is presented, with a focus on recent results.

We collected the optical light curve data of 227 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed with the TAROT, COATLI, and RATIR telescopes. These consist of 133 detections and 94 upper limits. We constructed average light curves in the observer and rest frames in both X-rays (from {\itshape Swift}/XRT) and in the optical. Our analysis focused on investigating the observational and intrinsic properties of GRBs. Specifically, we examined observational properties, such as the optical brightness function of the GRBs at $T=1000$ seconds after the trigger, as well as the temporal slope of the afterglow. We also estimated the redshift distribution for the GRBs within our sample. Of the 227 GRBs analysed, we found that 116 had a measured redshift. Based on these data, we calculated a local rate of $\rho_0=0.2$ Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ for these events with $z<1$. To explore the intrinsic properties of GRBs, we examined the average X-ray and optical light curves in the rest frame. We use the {\scshape afterglowpy} library to generate synthetic curves to constrain the parameters typical of the bright GRB jet, such as energy (${\langle} {E_{0}}{\rangle}\sim 10^{53.6}$~erg), opening angle (${\langle}\theta_\mathrm{core}{\rangle}\sim 0.2$~rad), and density (${\langle}n_\mathrm{0}{\rangle}\sim10^{-2.1}$ cm$^{-3}$). Furthermore, we analyse microphysical parameters, including the fraction of thermal energy in accelerated electrons (${\langle}\epsilon_e{\rangle}\sim 10^{-1.37}$) and in the magnetic field (${\langle}\epsilon_B{\rangle}\sim10^{-2.26}$), and the power-law index of the population of non-thermal electrons (${\langle}p{\rangle}\sim 2.2$).

The composition of a forming planet is set by the material it accretes from its parent protoplanetary disk. Therefore, it is crucial to map the chemical make-up of the gas in disks to understand the chemical environment of planet formation. This paper presents molecular line observations taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array of the planet-hosting disk around the young star HD 169142. We detect N2H+, CH3OH, [CI], DCN, CS, C34S, 13CS, H2CS, H2CO, HC3N and c-C3H2 in this system for the first time. Combining these data with the recent detection of SO and previously published DCO+ data, we estimate the location of H2O and CO snowlines and investigate radial variations in the gas phase C/O ratio. We find that the HD 169142 disk has a relatively low N2H+ flux compared to the disks around Herbig stars HD 163296 and MWC 480 indicating less CO freeze-out and place the CO snowline beyond the millimetre disk at ~150 au. The detection of CH3OH from the inner disk is consistent with the H2O snowline being located at the edge of the central dust cavity at ~20 au. The radially varying CS/SO ratio across the proposed H2O snowline location is consistent with this interpretation. Additionally, the detection of CH3OH in such a warm disk adds to the growing evidence supporting the inheritance of complex ices in disks from the earlier, colder stages of star formation. Finally, we propose that the giant HD 169142 b located at 37 au is forming between the CO2 and H2O snowlines where the local elemental make of the gas is expected to have C/O=1.0.

Pulsar Timing Array collaborations have recently announced the discovery of a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) at nanoherz frequencies. We analyse the GW signals from the domination of ultra-low mass primordial black holes (PBHs) in the early universe and show that they can explain this recent discovery. This scenario requires a relatively broad peak in the power spectrum of scalar perturbations from inflation with a spectral index in a narrow range of $1.45$ to $1.6$. The resulting PBH population would have mass around $10^{8}$g, and the initial abundance $\beta_f$ lies between $10^{-10}$ and $10^{-9}$. We find that this explanation is preferred by the data over the generic model, assuming supermassive BHs as the source. These very light PBHs would decay before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN); however, upcoming third-generation terrestrial laser interferometers would be able to test the model by observing the GW spectrum produced during the formation of the PBHs. Also, the scalar power spectra associated with our scenario will be within the reach of PIXIE probing CMB spectral distortions.

This review presents an introduction to Quantum Cosmology, including the mathematical methods essential to the canonical approach, some of the existing conceptual problems and the connection of the models to possible observables.

We study the evolution of close triple black hole system with full numerical relativity techniques. We consider an equal mass non spinning hierarchical system with an inner binary ten orbits away from merger and study the effects of the third outer black hole on the binary's merger time and its eccentricity evolution. We find a generic time delay and an increase in the number of orbits to merger of the binary, that can be modeled versus the distance $D$ to the third black hole as $\sim1/D^{2.5}$. On the other hand, we find that the orientation of the third black hole orbit has little effect on the binary's merger time when considering a fiducial initial distance of $D=30M$ to the binary (with initial orbital separation $d=8M$). In those scenarios the evolution of the inner binary eccentricity presents a steady decay, roughly as expected, but in addition shows a modulation with the time scale of the outer third black hole orbital semiperiod around the binary, resembling a beating frequency.

There has recently been some considerable interest expressed in a highly speculative model of black hole evolution -- allegedly by a postulated direct coupling between black holes and cosmological expansion independently of accretion or mergers. We wish to make several cautionary comments in this regard -- at least three exact solutions corresponding to black holes embedded in a FLRW background are known, (Kottler, McVittie, Kerr-de~Sitter), and they show no hint of this claimed effect -- thereby implying that this claimed effect (if it exists at all) is certainly nowhere near ubiquitous.

The theoretical prediction that magnetic reconnection spontaneously drives turbulence has been supported by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and kinetic simulations. While reconnection with externally driven turbulence is accepted as an effective mechanism for particle acceleration, the acceleration during the reconnection with self-driven turbulence is studied for the first time in this work. By using high-resolution 3D MHD simulations of reconnection with self-generated turbulence, we inject test particles into the reconnection layer to study their acceleration process. We find that the energy gain of the particles takes place when they bounce back and forth between converging turbulent magnetic fields. The particles can be efficiently accelerated in self-driven turbulent reconnection with the energy increase by about 3 orders of magnitude in the range of the box size. The acceleration proceeds when the particle gyroradii become larger than the thickness of the reconnection layer. We find that the acceleration in the direction perpendicular to the local magnetic field dominates over that in the parallel direction. The energy spectrum of accelerated particles is time-dependent with a slope that evolves toward -2.5. Our findings can have important implications for particle acceleration in high-energy astrophysical environments.

The minimal $U(1)_{L_\mu-L_\tau}$ gauge symmetry extended Standard Model (SM) is a well motivated framework that resolves the discrepancy between the theoretical prediction and experimental observation of muon anomalous magnetic moment. We envisage the possibility of identifying the beyond Standard Model Higgs of $U(1)_{L_\mu-L_\tau}$ sector, non-minimally coupled to gravity, as the inflaton in the early universe, while being consistent with the $(g-2)_\mu$ data. Although the structure seems to be trivial, we observe that taking into consideration of a complete cosmological history starting from inflation through the reheating phase to late-time epoch along with existing constraints on $U(1)_{L_\mu-L_\tau}$ model parameters leave us a small window of allowed reheating temperature. This further results into restriction of $(n_s-r)$ plane which is far severe than the one in a generic non-minimal quartic inflationary set up.