Papers for Friday, Dec 01 2023

Excursion set theory is a powerful and widely used tool for describing the distribution of dark matter haloes, but it is normally applied with simplifying approximations. We use numerical sampling methods to study the mass functions predicted by the theory without approximations. With a spherical top-hat window and a constant $\delta=1.5$ threshold, the theory accurately predicts mass functions with the $M_{200}$ mass definition, both unconditional and conditional, in simulations of a range of matter-dominated cosmologies. For $\Lambda$CDM at the present epoch, predictions lie between the $M_\mathrm{200m}$ and $M_\mathrm{200c}$ mass functions. In contrast, with the same window function, a nonconstant threshold based on ellipsoidal collapse predicts uniformly too few haloes. This work indicates a new way to simply and accurately evaluate halo mass functions, clustering bias, and assembly histories for a range of cosmologies. We provide a simple fitting function that accurately represents the predictions of the theory for a wide range of parameters.

The $\Lambda$ cold dark matter ($\Lambda$CDM) standard cosmological model is in severe tension with several cosmological observations. Foremost is the Hubble tension, which exceeds $5\sigma$ confidence. Galaxy number counts show the Keenan-Barger-Cowie (KBC) supervoid, a significant underdensity out to 300~Mpc that cannot be reconciled with $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. Haslbauer et al. previously showed that a high local Hubble constant arises naturally due to gravitationally driven outflows from the observed KBC supervoid. The main prediction of this model is that peculiar velocities are typically much larger than expected in the $\Lambda$CDM framework. This agrees with the recent discovery by Watkins et al. that galaxies in the CosmicFlows-4 catalogue have significantly faster bulk flows than expected in the $\Lambda$CDM model on scales of $100-250 \, h^{-1}$~Mpc. The rising bulk flow curve is unexpected in standard cosmology, causing $4.8\sigma$ tension at $200 \, h^{-1}$~Mpc. In this work, we determine what the semi-analytic void model of Haslbauer et al. predicts for the bulk flows on these scales. We find qualitative agreement with the observations, especially if our vantage point is chosen to match the observed bulk flow on a scale of $50 \, h^{-1}$~Mpc. This represents a highly non-trivial success of a previously published model that was not constrained by bulk flow measurements, but which was shown to solve the Hubble tension and explain the KBC void consistently with the peculiar velocity of the Local Group. Our results suggest that several cosmological tensions can be simultaneously resolved if structure grows more efficiently than in the $\Lambda$CDM paradigm on scales of tens to hundreds of Mpc.

We report the finding of a new, local diffusion instability in a protoplanetary disk, which can operate in a dust fluid, subject to mass diffusion, shear viscosity, and dust-gas drag, provided diffusivity, viscosity, or both decrease sufficiently rapidly with increasing dust surface mass density. We devise a vertically averaged, axisymmetric hydrodynamic model to describe a dense, mid-plane dust layer in a protoplanetary disk. The gas is modeled as a passive component, imposing an effective, diffusion-dependent pressure, mass diffusivity, and viscosity onto the otherwise collisionless dust fluid, via turbulence excited by the gas alone, or dust and gas in combination. In particular, we argue that such conditions are met when the dust-gas mixture generates small-scale turbulence through the streaming instability, as supported by recent measurements of dust mass diffusion slopes in simulations. We hypothesize that the newly discovered instability may be the origin of filamentary features, almost ubiquitously found in simulations of the streaming instability. In addition, our model allows for growing oscillatory modes, which operate in a similar fashion as the axisymmetric viscous overstability in dense planetary rings. However, it remains speculative if the required conditions for such modes can be met in protoplanetary disks.

We present GausSN, a Bayesian semi-parametric Gaussian Process (GP) model for time-delay estimation with resolved systems of gravitationally lensed supernovae (glSNe). GausSN models the underlying light curve non-parametrically using a GP. Without assuming a template light curve for each SN type, GausSN fits for the time delays of all images using data in any number of wavelength filters simultaneously. We also introduce a novel time-varying magnification model to capture the effects of microlensing alongside time-delay estimation. In this analysis, we model the time-varying relative magnification as a sigmoid function, as well as a constant for comparison to existing time-delay estimation approaches. We demonstrate that GausSN provides robust time-delay estimates for simulations of glSNe from the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (Rubin-LSST). We find that up to 43.6% of time-delay estimates from Roman and 52.9% from Rubin-LSST have fractional errors of less than 5%. We then apply GausSN to SN Refsdal and find the time delay for the fifth image is consistent with the original analysis, regardless of microlensing treatment. Therefore, GausSN maintains the level of precision and accuracy achieved by existing time-delay extraction methods with fewer assumptions about the underlying shape of the light curve than template-based approaches, while incorporating microlensing into the statistical error budget rather than requiring post-processing to account for its systematic uncertainty. GausSN is scalable for time-delay cosmography analyses given current projections of glSNe discovery rates from Rubin-LSST and Roman.

Atomic hydrogen (HI) serves a crucial role in connecting galactic-scale properties such as star formation with the large-scale structure of the Universe. While recent numerical simulations have successfully matched the observed covering fraction of HI near Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) and in the foreground of luminous quasars at redshifts $z \lesssim 3$, the low-mass end remains as-of-yet unexplored in observational and computational surveys. We employ a cosmological, hydrodynamical simulation (FIREbox) supplemented with zoom-in simulations (MassiveFIRE) from the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project to investigate the HI covering fraction of Lyman Limit Systems ($N_{\mathrm{HI}} \gtrsim 10^{17.2}$ cm$^{-2}$) across a wide range of redshifts ($z=0-6$) and halo masses ($10^8-10^{13} M_{\odot}$ at $z=0$, $10^8-10^{11} M_{\odot}$ at $z=6$) in the absence of feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN). We find that the covering fraction inside haloes exhibits a strong increase with redshift, with only a weak dependence on halo mass for higher-mass haloes. For massive haloes ($M_{\mathrm{vir}} \sim 10^{11}-10^{12} M_{\odot}$), the radial profiles showcase scale-invariance and remain independent of mass. The radial dependence is well-captured by a fitting function. The covering fractions in our simulations are in good agreement with measurements of the covering fraction in LBGs. Our comprehensive analysis unveils a complex dependence with redshift and halo mass for haloes with $M_{\mathrm{vir}} \lesssim 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ that future observations aim to constrain, providing key insights into the physics of structure formation and gas assembly.

The tension between recent observations and theories on cosmic ray (CR) diffusion necessitates exploration of new CR diffusion mechanisms. We perform the first numerical study on the mirror diffusion of CRs that is recently proposed by Lazarian & Xu (2021). We demonstrate that the perpendicular superdiffusion of turbulent magnetic fields and magnetic mirroring that naturally arise in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence are the two essential physical ingredients for the mirror diffusion to happen. In supersonic, subsonic, and incompressible MHD turbulence, with the pitch angles of CRs repeatedly crossing $90^\circ$ due to the mirror reflection, we find that the mirror diffusion strongly enhances the confinement of CRs, and their pitch-angle-dependent parallel mean free path can be much smaller than the injection scale of turbulence. With the stochastic change of pitch angles due to gyroresonant scattering, CRs stochastically undergo slow mirror diffusion at relatively large pitch angles and fast scattering diffusion at smaller pitch angles, resulting in a L\'{e}vy-flight-like propagation.

Examining the detailed structure of galaxy populations provides valuable insights into their formation and evolution mechanisms. Significant barriers to such analysis are the non-trivial noise properties of real astronomical images and the point spread function (PSF) which blurs structure. Here we present a framework which combines recent advances in score-based likelihood characterization and diffusion model priors to perform a Bayesian analysis of image deconvolution. The method, when applied to minimally processed \emph{Hubble Space Telescope} (\emph{HST}) data, recovers structures which have otherwise only become visible in next-generation \emph{James Webb Space Telescope} (\emph{JWST}) imaging.

We observed the high-mass star-forming core G336.01-0.82 at 1.3 mm and 0.05'' (~150 au) angular resolution with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) as part of the Digging into the Interior of Hot Cores with ALMA (DIHCA) survey. These high-resolution observations reveal two spiral streamers feeding a circumstellar disk at opposite sides in great detail. Molecular line emission from CH$_3$OH shows velocity gradients along the streamers consistent with infall. Similarly, a flattened envelope model with rotation and infall implies a mass larger than 10 M$_\odot$ for the central source and a centrifugal barrier of 300 au. The location of the centrifugal barrier is consistent with local peaks in the continuum emission. We argue that gas brought by the spiral streamers is accumulating at the centrifugal barrier, which can result in future accretion burst events. A total high infall rate of ~$4\times10^{-4}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ is derived by matching models to the observed velocity gradient along the streamers. Their contribution account for 20-50% the global infall rate of the core, indicating streamers play an important role in the formation of high-mass stars.

The generalization of machine learning (ML) models to out-of-distribution (OOD) examples remains a key challenge in extracting information from upcoming astronomical surveys. Interpretability approaches are a natural way to gain insights into the OOD generalization problem. We use Centered Kernel Alignment (CKA), a similarity measure metric of neural network representations, to examine the relationship between representation similarity and performance of pre-trained Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) on the CAMELS Multifield Dataset. We find that when models are robust to a distribution shift, they produce substantially different representations across their layers on OOD data. However, when they fail to generalize, these representations change less from layer to layer on OOD data. We discuss the potential application of similarity representation in guiding model design, training strategy, and mitigating the OOD problem by incorporating CKA as an inductive bias during training.

Indirect diagnostics of ionizing photons (Lyman continuum, LyC) escape are needed to constrain which sources reionized the universe. We used Mg II to predict the LyC escape fraction fesc(LyC) in 14 galaxies selected from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) solely based upon their Mg II properties. Using the Low Resolution Spectrograph (LRS2) on HET, we characterized the Mg II emission lines and identified possible LyC leakers using two distinct methods. We found 7 and 5 candidate LyC leakers depending on the method, with fesc(LyC) ranging from 3 to 80%. Interestingly, our targets display diverse [O III]/[O II] ratios (O32), with strong inferred LyC candidates showing lower O32 values than previous confirmed LyC leaker samples. Additionally, a correlation between dust and fesc(LyC) was identified. Upcoming HST/COS LyC observations of our sample will confirm Mg II and dust as predictors of fesc(LyC) , providing insights for future JWST studies of high-redshift galaxies.

Chaotic systems such as the gravitational N-body problem are ubiquitous in astronomy. Machine learning (ML) is increasingly deployed to predict the evolution of such systems, e.g. with the goal of speeding up simulations. Strategies such as active Learning (AL) are a natural choice to optimize ML training. Here we showcase an AL failure when predicting the stability of the Sitnikov three-body problem, the simplest case of N-body problem displaying chaotic behavior. We link this failure to the fractal nature of our classification problem's decision boundary. This is a potential pitfall in optimizing large sets of N-body simulations via AL in the context of star cluster physics, galactic dynamics, or cosmology.

The inverse imaging task in radio interferometry is a key limiting factor to retrieving Bayesian uncertainties in radio astronomy in a computationally effective manner. We use a score-based prior derived from optical images of galaxies to recover images of protoplanetary disks from the DSHARP survey. We demonstrate that our method produces plausible posterior samples despite the misspecified galaxy prior. We show that our approach produces results which are competitive with existing radio interferometry imaging algorithms.

We investigate the evolution of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries and the possibility that their merger is facilitated by ultralight dark matter (ULDM). When ULDM is the main dark matter (DM) constituent of a galaxy, its wave nature enables the formation of massive quasiparticles throughout the galactic halo. Here we show that individual encounters between quasiparticles and a SMBH binary can lead to the efficient extraction of energy and angular momentum from the binary. The relatively short coherence time of ULDM provides a steady-state population of massive quasiparticles, and consequently a potential solution to the final parsec problem. Furthermore, we demonstrate that, in the presence of stars, ULDM quasiparticles can also act as massive perturbers to enhance the stellar relaxation rate locally, replenish the stellar loss cone efficiently, and consequently resolve the final parsec problem.

In the realm of X-ray spectral analysis, the true nature of spectra has remained elusive, as observed spectra have long been the outcome of convolution between instrumental response functions and intrinsic spectra. In this study, we employ a recurrent neural network framework, the Recurrent Inference Machine (RIM), to achieve the high-precision deconvolution of intrinsic spectra from instrumental response functions. Our RIM model is meticulously trained on cutting-edge thermodynamic models and authentic response matrices sourced from the Chandra X-ray Observatory archive. Demonstrating remarkable accuracy, our model successfully reconstructs intrinsic spectra well below the 1-sigma error level. We showcase the practical application of this novel approach through real Chandra observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 1550 - a vital calibration target for the recently launched X-ray telescope, XRISM. This work marks a significant stride in the domain of X-ray spectral analysis, offering a promising avenue for unlocking hitherto concealed insights into spectra.

Entering the era of large-scale galaxy surveys which will deliver unprecedented amounts of photometric and spectroscopic data, there is a growing need for more efficient, data driven, and less model-dependent techniques to analyze spectral energy distribution of galaxies. In this work, we demonstrate that by taking advantage of manifold learning approaches, we can estimate spectroscopic features of large samples of galaxies from their broadband photometry when spectroscopy is available only for a fraction of the sample. This will be done by applying the Self Organizing Map (SOM) algorithm on broadband colors of galaxies and mapping partially available spectroscopic information into the trained maps. In this pilot study, we focus on estimating 4000A break in a magnitude-limited sample of galaxies in the COSMOS field. We use observed galaxy colors (ugrizYJH) as well as spectroscopic measurements for a fraction of the sample from LEGA-C and zCOSMOS spectroscopic surveys to estimate this feature for our parent photometric sample. We recover the D4000 feature for galaxies which only have broadband colors with uncertainties about twice of the uncertainty of the employed spectroscopic surveys. Using these measurements we observe a positive correlation between D4000 and stellar mass of the galaxies in our sample with weaker D4000 features for higher redshift galaxies at fixed stellar masses. These can be explained with downsizing scenario for the formation of galaxies and the decrease in their specific star formation rate as well as the aging of their stellar populations over this time period.

Intracluster Light (ICL) provides an important record of the interactions galaxy clusters have undergone. However, we are limited in our understanding by our measurement methods. To address this we measure the fraction of cluster light that is held in the Brightest Cluster Galaxy and ICL (BCG+ICL fraction) and the ICL alone (ICL fraction) using observational methods (Surface Brightness Threshold-SB, Non-Parametric Measure-NP, Composite Models-CM, Multi-Galaxy Fitting-MGF) and new approaches under development (Wavelet Decomposition-WD) applied to mock images of 61 galaxy clusters (14<log10 M_200c/M_solar <14.5) from four cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. We compare the BCG+ICL and ICL fractions from observational measures with those using simulated measures (aperture and kinematic separations). The ICL fractions measured by kinematic separation are significantly larger than observed fractions. We find the measurements are related and provide equations to estimate kinematic ICL fractions from observed fractions. The different observational techniques give consistent BCG+ICL and ICL fractions but are biased to underestimating the BCG+ICL and ICL fractions when compared with aperture simulation measures. Comparing the different methods and algorithms we find that the MGF algorithm is most consistent with the simulations, and CM and SB methods show the smallest projection effects for the BCG+ICL and ICL fractions respectively. The Ahad (CM), MGF and WD algorithms are best set up to process larger samples, however, the WD algorithm in its current form is susceptible to projection effects. We recommend that new algorithms using these methods are explored to analyse the massive samples that Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time will provide.

Particle-mesh simulations trade small-scale accuracy for speed compared to traditional, computationally expensive N-body codes in cosmological simulations. In this work, we show how a data-driven model could be used to learn an effective evolution equation for the particles, by correcting the errors of the particle-mesh potential incurred on small scales during simulations. We find that our learnt correction yields evolution equations that generalize well to new, unseen initial conditions and cosmologies. We further demonstrate that the resulting corrected maps can be used in a simulation-based inference framework to yield an unbiased inference of cosmological parameters. The model, a network implemented in Fourier space, is exclusively trained on the particle positions and velocities.

We describe a technique for measuring focus errors in a cryogenic, wide-field, near-infrared space telescope. The measurements are made with a collimator looking through a large vacuum window, with a reflective cold filter to reduce background thermal infrared loading on the detectors and optics. For the $300\textrm{ mm}$ diameter aperture $f/3$ space telescope, SPHEREx, we achieve a focus position measurement with $\sim \! 5\textrm{ }\mu \textrm{m statistical}$ and $\sim \! 15 \textrm{ }\mu \textrm{m systematic}$ error.

We aim at developing a robust methodology for constraining the luminosity and stellar mass functions (LMFs) of galaxies by solely using data from multi-filter surveys and testing the potential of these techniques for determining the evolution of the miniJPAS LMFs up to $z\sim0.7$. Stellar mass and $B$-band luminosity for each of the miniJPAS galaxies are constrained using an updated version of the SED-fitting code MUFFIT, whose values are based on composite stellar population models and the probability distribution functions of the miniJPAS photometric redshifts. Galaxies are classified through the stellar mass versus rest-frame colour diagram corrected for extinction. Different stellar mass and luminosity completeness limits are set and parametrised as a function of redshift, for setting limits in our flux-limited sample ($r_\mathrm{SDSS}<22$). The miniJPAS LMFs are parametrised according to Schechter-like functions via a novel maximum likelihood method accounting for uncertainties, degeneracies, probabilities, completeness, and priors. Overall, our results point to a smooth evolution with redshift ($0.05<z<0.7$) of the miniJPAS LMFs in agreement with previous work. The LMF evolution of star-forming galaxies mainly involve the bright and massive ends of these functions, whereas the LMFs of quiescent galaxies also exhibit a non-negligible evolution on their faint and less massive ends. The cosmic evolution of the global $B$-band luminosity density decreases ~0.1 dex from $z=0.7$ to 0, whereas for quiescent galaxies this quantity roughly remains constant. In contrast, the stellar mass density increases ~0.3 dex at the same redshift range, where such evolution is mainly driven by quiescent galaxies owing to an overall increasing number of this kind of galaxies, which in turn includes the majority and most massive galaxies (60-100% fraction of galaxies at $\log_{10}(M_\star/M_\odot)>10.7$).

Mirror Stars are a generic prediction of dissipative dark matter models, including minimal atomic dark matter and twin baryons in the Mirror Twin Higgs. Mirror Stars can capture regular matter from the interstellar medium through extremely suppressed kinetic mixing interactions between the regular and the dark photon. This accumulated "nugget" will draw heat from the mirror star core and emit highly characteristic X-ray and optical signals. In this work, we devise a general parameterization of mirror star nugget properties that is independent of the unknown details of mirror star stellar physics, and use the Cloudy spectral synthesis code to obtain realistic and comprehensive predictions for the thermal emissions from optically thin mirror star nuggets. We find that mirror star nuggets populate an extremely well-defined and narrow region of the HR diagram that only partially overlaps with the white dwarf population. Our detailed spectral predictions, which we make publicly available, allow us to demonstrate that optically thin nuggets can be clearly distinguished from white dwarf stars by their continuum spectrum shape, and from planetary nebulae and other optically thin standard sources by their highly exotic emission line ratios. Our work will enable realistic mirror star telescope searches, which may reveal the detailed nature of dark matter.

The X-ray emission from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is believed to come from a combination of inverse Compton scattering of photons from the accretion disk and reprocessing of the direct X-ray emission by reflection. We present hard (10-80 keV) and soft (0.5-8 keV) X-ray monitoring of a gravitationally lensed quasar RX J1131-1231 with NuSTAR, Swift, and XMM-Newton between 10 June 2016 and 30 November 2020. Comparing the amplitude of quasar microlensing variability at the hard and soft bands allows a size comparison, where larger sources lead to smaller microlensing variability. During the period between 6 June 2018 and 30 November 2020, where both the hard and soft light curves are available, the hard and soft bands varied by factors of 3.7 and 5.5, respectively, with rms variability of $0.40\pm0.05$ and $0.57\pm0.02$. Both the variability amplitude and rms are moderately smaller for the hard X-ray emission, indicating that the hard X-ray emission is moderately larger than the soft X-ray emission region. We found the reflection fraction from seven joint hard and soft X-ray monitoring epochs is effectively consistent with a constant with low significance variability. After decomposing the total X-ray flux into direct and reprocessed components, we find a smaller variability amplitude for the reprocessed flux compared to the direct emission. The power-law cutoff energy is constrained at 96$^{+47}_{-24}$ keV, which position the system in the allowable parameter space due to the pair production limit.

Modern astronomical experiments are designed to achieve multiple scientific goals, from studies of galaxy evolution to cosmic acceleration. These goals require data of many different classes of night-sky objects, each of which has a particular set of observational needs. These observational needs are typically in strong competition with one another. This poses a challenging multi-objective optimization problem that remains unsolved. The effectiveness of Reinforcement Learning (RL) as a valuable paradigm for training autonomous systems has been well-demonstrated, and it may provide the basis for self-driving telescopes capable of optimizing the scheduling for astronomy campaigns. Simulated datasets containing examples of interactions between a telescope and a discrete set of sky locations on the celestial sphere can be used to train an RL model to sequentially gather data from these several locations to maximize a cumulative reward as a measure of the quality of the data gathered. We use simulated data to test and compare multiple implementations of a Deep Q-Network (DQN) for the task of optimizing the schedule of observations from the Stone Edge Observatory (SEO). We combine multiple improvements on the DQN and adjustments to the dataset, showing that DQNs can achieve an average reward of 87%+-6% of the maximum achievable reward in each state on the test set. This is the first comparison of offline RL algorithms for a particular astronomical challenge and the first open-source framework for performing such a comparison and assessment task.

In the upcoming decades, one of the primary objectives in exoplanet science is to search for habitable planets and signs of extraterrestrial life in the universe. Signs of life can be indicated by thermal-dynamical imbalance in terrestrial planet atmospheres. O$_2$ and CH$_4$ in the modern Earth's atmosphere are such signs, commonly termed biosignatures. These biosignatures in exoplanetary atmospheres can potentially be detectable through high-contrast imaging instruments on future extremely large telescopes (ELTs). To quantify the signal-to-noise ($S/N$) ratio with ELTs, we select up to 10 nearby rocky planets and simulate medium resolution (R $\sim$ 1000) direct imaging of these planets using the Mid-infrared ELT Imager and Spectrograph (ELT/METIS, 3-5.6 $\mu$m) and the High Angular Resolution Monolithic Optical and Near-infrared Integral field spectrograph (ELT/HARMONI, 0.5-2.45 $\mu$m). We calculate the $S/N$ for the detection of biosignatures including CH$_4$, O$_2$, H$_2$O, and CO$_2$. Our results show that GJ 887~b has the highest detection $S/N$ for biosignatures and Proxima Cen b exhibits the only detectable CO$_2$ among the targets for ELT/METIS direct imaging. We also investigate the TRAPPIST-1 system, the archetype of nearby transiting rocky planet systems, and compare the biosignature detection $S/N$ of transit spectroscopy with JWST versus direct spectroscopy with ELT/HARMONI. Our findings indicate JWST is more suitable for detecting and characterizing the atmospheres of transiting planet systems such as TRAPPIST-1 that are relatively further away and have smaller angular separations than more nearby non-transiting planets.

NASA's Stardust mission returned rocky material from the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2 (pronounced "Vilt 2") to Earth for laboratory study on January 15, 2006. Comet Wild 2 contains volatile ices and likely accreted beyond the orbit of Neptune. It was expected that the Wild 2 samples would contain abundant primordial molecular cloud material--interstellar and circumstellar grains. Instead, the interstellar component of Wild 2 was found to be very minor, and nearly all of the returned particles formed in broad and diverse regions of the solar nebula. While some characteristics of the Wild 2 material are similar to primitive chondrites, its compositional diversity testifies to a very different origin and evolution history than asteroids. Comet Wild 2 does not exist on a continuum with known asteroids. Collisional debris from asteroids is mostly absent in Wild 2, and it likely accreted dust from the outer and inner Solar System (across the putative gap created by a forming Jupiter) before dispersal of the solar nebula. Comets are a diverse set of bodies, and Wild 2 may represent a type of comet that accreted a high fraction of dust processed in the young Solar System.

It is natural to wonder whether there may be observational relics of new fundamental fields, beyond the inflaton, in large scale structure. Here we discuss the phenomenology of a model in which compensated isocurvature perturbations (CIPs) arise through the action of a primordial vector field that displaces dark matter relative to baryons. The model can be tested best by kinematic-Sunyaev-Zeldovich tomography, which involves the cross-correlation of cosmic microwave background and galaxy surveys, with next-generation observatories. There are also signatures of the vectorial nature of the new field that may be detectable in forthcoming galaxy surveys, but the galaxy survey cannot alone indicate the presence of a CIP. Models that induce a parity breaking four-point correlation in the galaxy distribution are also possible.

Transient Low-Mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) are discovered largely by X-ray and gamma-ray all-sky monitors. The X-ray outburst is also accompanied by an optical brightening, which empirically can precede detection of X-rays. Newly sensitive optical synoptic surveys may offer a complementary pathway for discovery, and potential for insight into the initial onset and propagation of the thermal instability that leads to the ionization of the accretion disk. We use the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) alert stream to perform a comprehensive search at optical wavelengths for previously undiscovered outbursting LMXBs. Our pipeline first crossmatches the positions of the alerts to cataloged X-ray sources, and then analyzes the 30-day lightcurve of matched alerts by thresholding on differences with an 8-day exponentially weighted moving average. In addition to an nineteen month-long live search, we ran our pipeline over four years of ZTF archival data, recovering 4 known LMXBs. We also independently detected an outburst of MAXI J1957+032 in the live search and found the first outburst of Swift J1943.4+0228, an unclassified X-ray transient, in 10 years. Using Monte Carlo simulations of the Galactic LMXB population, we estimate that 29% of outbursting LMXBs are detectable by ZTF and that 4.4% of LMXBs would be present in the crossmatched X-ray catalogs, giving an estimated Galactic population of $3390^{+3980}_{-1930}$. We estimate that our current pipeline can detect 1.3% of all outbursting LMXBs, including those previously unknown, but that Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will be able to detect 43% of outbursting LMXBs.

This work presents four high-amplitude variable YSOs ($\simeq$ 3 mag at near- or mid-IR wavelengths) arising from the SPICY catalog. Three outbursts show a duration that is longer than 1 year, and are still ongoing. And additional YSO brightened over the last two epochs of NEOWISE observations and the duration of the outburst is thus unclear. Analysis of the spectra of the four sources confirms them as new members of the eruptive variable class. We find two YSOs that can be firmly classified as bona fide FUors and one object that falls in the V1647 Ori-like class. Given the uncertainty in the duration of its outburst, an additional YSO can only be classified as a candidate FUor. Continued monitoring and follow-up of these particular sources is important to better understand the accretion process of YSOs.

Astrometric perturbations of critical curves in strong lens systems are thought to be one of the most promising probes of substructures down to small-mass scales. While a smooth mass distribution creates a symmetric geometry of critical curves with radii of curvature about the Einstein radius, substructures introduce small-scale distortions on critical curves, which can break the symmetry of gravitational lensing events near critical curves, such as highly magnified individual stars. We derive a general formula that connects the fluctuation of critical curves with the fluctuation of the surface density caused by substructures, which is useful when constraining models of substructures from observed astrometric perturbations of critical curves. We numerically check that the formula is valid and accurate as long as substructures are not dominated by a small number of massive structures. As a demonstration of the formula, we also explore the possibility that an anomalous position of an extremely magnified star, recently reported as `Mothra', can be explained by fluctuations in the critical curve due to substructures. We find that cold dark matter subhalos with masses ranging from $5 \times 10^7 M_{\odot}/h$ to $10^9 M_{\odot}/h$ can well explain the anomalous position of Mothra, while in the fuzzy dark matter model, the very small mass of $\sim 10^{-24}~\mathrm{eV}$ is needed to explain it.

Sky survey telescopes play a critical role in modern astronomy, but misalignment of their optical elements can introduce significant variations in point spread functions, leading to reduced data quality. To address this, we need a method to obtain misalignment states, aiding in the reconstruction of accurate point spread functions for data processing methods or facilitating adjustments of optical components for improved image quality. Since sky survey telescopes consist of many optical elements, they result in a vast array of potential misalignment states, some of which are intricately coupled, posing detection challenges. However, by continuously adjusting the misalignment states of optical elements, we can disentangle coupled states. Based on this principle, we propose a deep neural network to extract misalignment states from continuously varying point spread functions in different field of views. To ensure sufficient and diverse training data, we recommend employing a digital twin to obtain data for neural network training. Additionally, we introduce the state graph to store misalignment data and explore complex relationships between misalignment states and corresponding point spread functions, guiding the generation of training data from experiments. Once trained, the neural network estimates misalignment states from observation data, regardless of the impacts caused by atmospheric turbulence, noise, and limited spatial sampling rates in the detector. The method proposed in this paper could be used to provide prior information for the active optics system and the optical system alignment.

Gravitational waves are emitted from deep within a core-collapse supernova, which may enable us to determine the mechanism of the explosion from a gravitational-wave detection. Previous studies suggested that it is possible to determine if the explosion mechanism is neutrino-driven or magneto-rotationally powered from the gravitational-wave signal. However, long duration magneto-rotational waveforms, that cover the full explosion phase, were not available during the time of previous studies, and explosions were just assumed to be magneto-rotationally driven if the model was rapidly rotating. Therefore, we perform an updated study using new 3D long-duration magneto-rotational core-collapse supernova waveforms that cover the full explosion phase, injected into noise for the Advanced LIGO, Einstein Telescope and NEMO gravitational-wave detectors. We also include a category for failed explosions in our signal classification results. We then determine the explosion mechanism of the signals using three different methods: Bayesian model selection, dictionary learning, and convolutional neural networks. The three different methods are able to distinguish between neutrino-driven driven explosions and magneto-rotational explosions, however they can only distinguish between the non-exploding and neutrino-driven explosions for signals with a high signal to noise ratio.

Massive black hole (MBH) binaries can form following a galaxy merger, but this may not always lead to a MBH binary merger within a Hubble time. The merger timescale depends on how efficiently the MBHs lose orbital energy to the gas and stellar background, and to gravitational waves (GWs). In systems where these mechanisms are inefficient, the binary inspiral time can be long enough for a subsequent galaxy merger to bring a third MBH into the system. In this work, we identify and characterize the population of triple MBH systems in the Illustris cosmological hydrodynamic simulation. We find a substantial occurrence rate of triple MBH systems: in our fiducial model, 22% of all binary systems form triples, and $>70$% of these involve binaries that would not otherwise merge by $z=0$. Furthermore, a significant subset of triples (6% of all binaries, or more than a quarter of all triples) form a triple system at parsec scales, where the three BHs are most likely to undergo a strong three-body interaction. Crucially, we find that the rate of triple occurrence has only a weak dependence on key parameters of the binary inspiral model (binary eccentricity and stellar loss-cone refilling rate). We also do not observe strong trends in the host galaxy properties for binary versus triple MBH populations. Our results demonstrate the potential for triple systems to increase MBH merger rates, thereby enhancing the low-frequency GW signals detectable with pulsar timing arrays and with LISA.

Core segregation and atmosphere formation are two of the major processes that redistribute the volatile elements-hydrogen (H), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S)-in and around rocky planets during their formation. The volatile elements by definition accumulate in gaseous reservoirs and form atmospheres. However, under conditions of early planet formation, these elements can also behave as siderophiles (i.e., iron-loving) and become concentrated in core-forming metals. Current models of core formation suggest that metal-silicate reactions occurred over a wide pressure, temperature, and compositional space to ultimately impose the chemistries of the cores and silicate portions of rocky planets. Additionally, the solubilities of volatile elements in magmas determine their transfer between the planetary interiors and atmospheres, which has recently come into sharper focus in the context of highly irradiated, potentially molten exoplanets. Recently, there has been a significant push to experimentally investigate the metal-silicate and magma-gas exchange coefficients for volatile elements over a wide range of conditions relevant to rocky planet formation. Qualitatively, results from the metal-silicate partitioning studies suggest that cores of rocky planets could be major reservoirs of the volatile elements though significant amounts will remain in mantles. Results from solubility studies imply that under oxidizing conditions, most H and S are sequestered in the magma ocean, while most N is outgassed to the atmosphere, and C is nearly equally distributed between the atmosphere and the interior. Under reducing conditions, nearly all N dissolves in the magma ocean, the atmosphere becomes the dominant C reservoir, while H becomes more equally distributed between the interior and the atmosphere, and S remains dominantly in the interior.

We introduce a number of new theoretical approaches and improvements to the thermo-chemical disc modelling code ProDiMo to better predict and analyse the JWST line spectra of protoplanetary discs. We develop a new line escape probability method for disc geometries, a new scheme for dust settling, and discuss how to apply UV molecular shielding factors to photorates in 2D disc geometry. We show that these assumptions are crucial for the determination of the gas heating/cooling rates and discuss how they affect the predicted molecular concentrations and line emissions. We apply our revised 2D models to the protoplanetary disc around the T Tauri star EX Lupi in quiescent state. We calculate infrared line emission spectra between 5 and 20 mic by CO, H2O, OH, CO2, HCN, C2H2 and H2, including lines of atoms and ions, using our full 2D predictions of molecular abundances, dust opacities, gas and dust temperatures. We develop a disc model with a slowly increasing surface density structure around the inner rim that can simultaneously fit the spectral energy distribution, the overall shape of the JWST spectrum of EX Lupi, and the main observed molecular characteristics in terms of column densities, emitting areas and molecular emission temperatures, which all result from one consistent disc model. The spatial structure of the line emitting regions of the different molecules is discussed. High abundances of HCN and C2H2 are caused in the model by stellar X-ray irradiation of the gas around the inner rim.

Spectroscopy and photometry of the Asymptotic Giant Branch star T Cephei were recorded concurrently on 36 nights during its 387 day pulsation cycle in 2022. Photometry was used to calibrate all spectra in absolute flux. We report on the variation of B and V magnitudes, B-V colour index, spectral type, effective temperature and Balmer emission line flux during one complete pulsation cycle.

The BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) mission collects photometric time series in two passbands aiming to investigate stellar structure and evolution. Since their launches in the years 2013 and 2014, the constellation of five BRITE nano-satellites has observed a total of more than 700 individual bright stars in 64 fields. Some targets have been observed multiple times. Thus, the total time base of the data sets acquired for those stars can be as long as nine years. Our aim is to provide a complete description of ready-to-use BRITE data, to show the scientific potential of the BRITE-Constellation data by identifying the most interesting targets, and to demonstrate and encourage how scientists can use these data in their research. We apply a decorrelation process to the automatically reduced BRITE-Constellation data to correct for instrumental effects. We perform a statistical analysis of the light curves obtained for the 300 stars observed in the first 14 fields during the first ~2.5 years of the mission. We also perform cross-identification with the International Variable Star Index. We present the data obtained by the BRITE-Constellation mission in the first 14 fields it observed from November 2013 to April 2016. We also describe the properties of the data for these fields and the 300 stars observed in them. Using these data, we detected variability in 64% of the presented sample of stars. Sixty-four stars or 21.3% of the sample have not yet been identified as variable in the literature and their data have not been analysed in detail. They can therefore provide valuable scientific material for further research. All data are made publicly available through the BRITE Public Data Archive and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.

We present a systematic study of the environmental impact on star formation activities of galaxies using a mass-complete sample of $\sim$170k galaxies at $z<4$ from the latest COSMOS2020 catalog. At $z<1$, we find that the mean star-formation rate (SFR) of all galaxies decreases with increasing density of the environment. However when we consider only star-forming galaxies, the mean SFR becomes independent of the environment at $z<1$. At $z>2$ we observe a clear positive correlation between the SFR and density of the environment for all the galaxies. On the other hand, stellar mass of the galaxies increases significantly with the environments at all redshifts except for star-forming galaxies at $z<1$. The fraction of quiescent galaxies increases with increasing density of environment at $z<2$, and the ``morphology-density'' relation is confirmed to be present up to $z\sim1$. We also find that environmental quenching is negligible at $z>1$, whereas mass quenching is the dominant quenching mechanism for massive galaxies at all redshifts. Based on these results, we argue that stellar mass regulated physical processes might be the major driving force for star formation activities of galaxies. At low redshift ($z<1$) massive galaxies are quenched primarily due to their high mass, resulting in a normal ``SFR-density'' relation. At high redshift ($z>2$) most of the galaxies are star-forming ones tightly following the star-forming main sequence, and the difference in their stellar mass at different environments naturally leads to a reversal of ``SFR-density'' relation.

We calculate new evolutionary models of rotating primordial very massive stars, with initial mass from ${100\,M_{\odot}}$ to ${200\,M_{\odot}}$, for two values of the initial metallicity ${Z=0}$ and ${Z=0.0002}$. For the first time in this mass range, we consider stellar rotation and pulsation-driven mass loss, along with radiative winds. The models evolve from the zero-age main sequence, until the onset of pair instability. We discuss the main properties of the models during their evolution and then focus on the final fate and the possible progenitors of jet-driven events. All tracks that undergo pulsational-pair instability produce successful gamma-ray bursts (GRB) in the collapsar framework, while those that collapse directly to black holes (BH) produce jet-driven supernova events. In these latter cases, the expected black hole mass changes due to the jet propagation inside the progenitor, resulting in different models that should produce BH within the pair-instability black-hole mass gap. Successful GRBs predicted here from zero-metallicity and very metal-poor progenitors may be bright enough to be detected even up to redshift ${\sim20}$ using current telescopes such as the Swift-BAT X-ray detector and the JWST.

The orbital dynamic of very young asteroid pair (5026) Martes and 2005 WW113 is studied by numerical integrations. We discover strong resonant perturbations of the larger member of pair (5026) Martes by the mean motion resonance 3:11 with Earth. The unbounded secondary (2005 WW113) moved far from the resonance and is not perturbed.

In order to investigate the potential Hubble tension, we compile a catalogue of 216 measurements of the Hubble--Lema\^itre constant $H_0$ between 2012 and 2022, which includes 109 model-independent measurements and 107 $\Lambda$CDM model-based measurements. Statistical analyses of these measurements show that the deviations of the results with respect to the average $H_0$ are far larger than expected from their error bars if they follow a Gaussian distribution. We find that $x\sigma $ deviation is indeed equivalent in a Gaussian distribution to $x_{\rm eq}\sigma$ deviation in the frequency of values, where $x_{\rm eq}=0.72x^{0.88}$. Hence, a tension of 5$\sigma$, estimated between the Cepheid-calibrated type Ia supernovae and cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, is indeed a 3$\sigma$ tension in equivalent terms of a Gaussian distribution of frequencies. However, this recalibration should be independent of the data whose tension we want to test. If we adopt the previous analysis of data of 1976-2019, the equivalent tension is reduced to $2.25\sigma$. Covariance terms due to correlations of measurements do not significantly change the results. Nonetheless, the separation of the data into two blocks with $H_0<71$ and $H_0\ge 71$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ finds compatibility with a Gaussian distribution for each of them without removing any outlier. These statistical results indicate that the underestimation of error bars for $H_0$ remains prevalent over the past decade, dominated by systematic errors in the methodologies of CMB and local distance ladder analyses.

TCP J18224935-2408280 was reported to be in outburst on 2021 May 19. Follow-up spectroscopic observations confirmed that the system was a symbiotic star. We present optical spectra obtained from the Himalayan Chandra Telescope during 2021-22. The early spectra were dominated by Balmer lines, He I lines and high ionization lines such as He II. In the later observations, Raman scattered O VI was also identified. Outburst in the system started as a disc instability, and later the signature of enhanced shell burning and expansion of photospheric radius of the white dwarf was identified. Hence we suggest this outburst is of combination nova type. The post-outburst temperature of the hot component remains above 1.5 x 10$^5$ K indicating a stable shell burning in the system for a prolonged time after the outburst. Based on our analysis of archival multiband photometric data, we find that the system contains a cool giant of M1-2 III spectral type with a temperature of $\sim$ 3600K and a radius of $\sim$ 69 R$_\odot$. The pre- and post-outburst light curve shows a periodicity of 631.25 $\pm$ 2.93 d; we consider this as the orbital period.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond transient astrophysical phenomena and bright at radio frequencies. The emission mechanism, however, remains unsolved yet. One scenario is a coherent emission associated with the magnetar flares and resulting relativistic shock waves. Here, we report unprecedentedly large-scale simulations of relativistic magnetized ion-electron shocks, showing that strongly linear-polarized electromagnetic waves are excited. The kinetic energy conversion to the emission is so efficient that the wave amplitude is responsible for the brightness. We also find a polarization angle swing reflecting shock front modulation, implicating the polarization property of some repeating FRBs. The results support the shock scenario as an origin of the FRBs.

The presence of massive neutrinos has still not been revealed by the cosmological data. We consider a novel method based on the two-point line-of-sight correlation function of high-resolution Lyman-$\alpha$ data to achieve this end in the paper. We adopt semi-analytic models of Lyman-$\alpha$ clouds for the study. We employ Fisher matrix technique to show that it is possible to achieve a scenario in which the covariance of the two-point function nearly vanishes for both the spectroscopic noise and the signal. We analyze this near 'zero noise' outcome in detail to argue it might be possible to detect neutrinos of mass range $m_\nu \simeq 0.05 \hbox{--}0.1 \, \rm eV$ with signal-to-noise of unity with a single QSO line of sight. We show that this estimate can be improved to SNR $\simeq 3\hbox{--}6$ with data along multiple line of sights within the redshift range $z \simeq 2 \hbox{--} 2.5$. Such data sets already exist in the literature. We further carry out principal component analysis of the Fisher matrix to study the degeneracies of the neutrino mass with other parameters. We show that Planck priors lift the degeneracies between the neutrino mass and other cosmological parameters. However, the prospects of the detection of neutrino mass are driven by the poorly-determined parameters characterizing the ionization and thermal state of Lyman-$\alpha$ clouds.

The presence of inhomogeneities in a spatially unresolved source is often hard to establish. This limits the accuracy with which the source properties can be determined. It is shown how observed features not expected for a homogeneous model can be used to infer the properties of the inhomogeneities in radio supernovae. Furthermore, the observed consequences of radiative cooling can be seriously affected by inhomogeneities. It is shown that the deduced source properties are very sensitive to the observed value of the cooling frequency; even a lower limit is often useful to constrain its characteristics. It is argued that the main synchrotron emission region in SN 2003L has a small volume filling factor, possibly as low as a few per cent. On the contrary, deviations from homogeneity are substantially smaller in SN 2002ap. The observed properties of type Ib/c radio supernovae in general indicate the volume filling factor to remain rather constant with time for individual sources but those peaking later at radio frequencies have lower filling factors. The conditions in the main synchrotron component in both SN 2003L and SN 2002ap are consistent with equipartition of energy between relativistic electrons and magnetic fields.

Context. The impact of stellar feedback on the Kennicutt-Schmidt law (KS law), which relates star formation rate (SFR) to surface gas density, is a topic of ongoing debate. The interpretation of individual cloud observations is challenging due to the various processes at play simultaneously and inherent biases. Therefore, a numerical investigation is necessary to understand the role of stellar feedback and identify observable signatures. Aims. We investigate the role of stellar feedback on the KS law, aiming to identify distinct signatures that can be observed and analysed. Methods. We analyse MHD numerical simulations of a $10^4\,M_{\odot}$ cloud evolving under different feedback prescriptions. The set of simulations contains four types of feedback: with only protostellar jets, with ionising radiation from massive stars $(>8\,M_{\odot})$, with both of them and without any stellar feedback. To compare these simulations with the existing observational results, we analyse their evolution by adopting the same techniques applied in observational studies. Then, we simulate how the same analyses would change if the data were affected by typical observational biases. Conclusions. The presence of stellar feedback strongly influences the KS relation and the star formation efficiency per free-fall time ($\epsilon_\mathrm{ff}$). Its impact is primarily governed by its influence on the cloud's structure. Although the $\epsilon_\mathrm{ff}$ measured in our clouds results to be higher than what is usually observed in real clouds, upon applying prescriptions to mimic observational biases we recover good agreement with the expected values. Therefore, we can infer that observations tend to underestimate the total SFR. Moreover, this likely indicates that the physics included in our simulations is sufficient to reproduce the basic mechanisms contributing to set $\epsilon_\mathrm{ff}$.

Hierarchical black hole (BH) mergers in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are unique among formation channels of binary black holes (BBHs) because they are likely associated with electromagnetic counterparts and can efficiently lead to the mass growth of BHs. Here, we explore the impact of gas accretion and migration traps on the evolution of BBHs in AGNs. We have developed a new fast semi-analytic model, which allows us to explore the parameter space while capturing the main physical processes involved. We find that effective exchange of energy and angular momentum between the BBH and the surrounding gas (hereafter, gas hardening) during inspiral greatly enhances the efficiency of hierarchical mergers, leading to the formation of intermediate-mass BHs (up to 10.000 solar masses) and triggering spin alignment. Moreover, our models with efficient gas hardening show both an anti-correlation between BBH mass ratio and effective spin, and a correlation between primary BH mass and effective spin. In contrast, if gas hardening is inefficient, the hierarchical merger chain is already truncated after the first two or three generations. We compare the BBH population in AGNs with other dynamical channels as well as isolated binary evolution.

N-bearing molecules (like N2H+ or NH3) are excellent tracers of high-density, low-temperature regions like dense cloud cores and could shed light into snowlines in protoplanetary disks and the chemical evolution of comets. However, uncertainties exist about the grain surface chemistry of these molecules -- which could play an important role in their formation and evolution. This study explores experimentally the behaviour of NH$_3$ on surfaces mimicking grains under interstellar conditions alongside other major interstellar ice components (ie. H$_2$O, CO, CO$_2$). We performed co-deposition experiments using the Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) setup VENUS (VErs des NoUvelles Syntheses) of NH$_3$ along with other adsorbates (here, H$_2$O, $^{13}$CO and CO$_2$) and performed Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD) and Temperature Programmed-During Exposure Desorption (TP-DED) experiments. We obtained binding Energy (BE) distribution of NH$_3$ on Crystalline Ice(CI) and compact-Amorphous Solid Water (c-ASW) by analyses of the TPD profiles of NH3 on the substrates. We observe a significant delay in the desorption and a decrease in the desorption rate of NH$_3$ when H$_2$O is introduced into the co-deposited mixture of NH$_3$-$^{13}$Co or NH$_3$-CO$_2$, absent without H$_2$O. Secondly, H$_2$O traps nearly 5-9 per cent of the co-deposited NH3, released during water's amorphous-to-crystalline phase change. Thirdly, for CI, we obtained a BE distribution between 3780K-4080K, and c-ASW between 3780K-5280K -- using a pre-exponential factor A = 1.94$\times 10^{15}$/s. We conclude that NH$_3$ behaviour is significantly influenced by the presence of H$_2$O due to the formation of hydrogen bonds, in line with quantum calculations. This interaction preserves NH$_3$ on grain surfaces to higher temperatures making it available to the central protostar in protoplanetary disks. It also explains why NH$_3$ freeze out in pre-stellar cores is efficient.

In this work, we report on activities focusing on improving the observation strategy of the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Global Observing System (VGOS). During six dedicated 24-hour Research and Development (R&D) sessions conducted in 2022, the effectiveness of a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)-based scheduling approach with observation times as short as 5-20 seconds was explored. The sessions utilized a full 8 Gbps observing mode and incorporated elements such as dedicated calibration scans, a VGOS frequency source-flux catalog, improved sky-coverage parameterization, and more. The number of scans scheduled per station increased by 2.34 times compared to operational VGOS-OPS sessions, resulting in a 2.58 times increase in the number of observations per station. Remarkably, the percentage of successful observations per baseline matched the fixed 30-second observation approach employed in VGOS-OPS, demonstrating the effectiveness of the SNR-based scheduling approach. The impact on the geodetic results was examined based on statistical analysis, revealing a significant improvement when comparing the VGOS-R\&D program with VGOS-OPS. The formal errors in estimated station coordinates decreased by 50 %. The repeatability of baseline lengths improved by 30 %, demonstrating the enhanced precision of geodetic measurements. Furthermore, Earth orientation parameters exhibited substantial improvements, with a 60 % reduction in formal errors, 27 % better agreement w.r.t. IVS-R1/R4, and 13 % better agreement w.r.t. IERS EOP 20C04. Overall, these findings strongly indicate the superiority of the VGOS-R&D program, positioning it as a role model for future operational VGOS observations.

Microlensing has a unique advantage for detecting dark objects in the Milky Way, such as free floating planets, neutron stars, and stellar-mass black holes. Most microlensing surveys focus towards the Galactic bulge, where higher stellar density leads to a higher event rate. However, microlensing events in the Galactic plane are closer, and take place over longer timescales. This enables a better measurement of the microlensing parallax, which serves as an independent constraint on the mass of the dark lens. In this work, we systematically searched for microlensing events in Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) Data Release 17 from 2018--2023 in the Galactic plane region $|b| < 20^\circ$. We find 124 high-confidence microlensing events and 54 possible events. In the event selection, we use the efficient \texttt{EventFinder} algorithm to detect microlensing signals, which could be used for large datasets such as future ZTF data releases or data from the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). With detection efficiencies of ZTF fields from catalog-level simulations, we calculate the mean Einstein timescale to be $\langle t_\mathrm{E}\rangle = 51.7 \pm 3.3$ days, smaller than previous results of the Galactic plane to within 1.5-$\sigma$. We calculate optical depths and event rates, which we interpret with caution due to the use of visual inspection in creating our final sample. With two years of additional ZTF data in DR17, we have more than doubled the amount of microlensing events (60) found in the three-year DR5 search and found events with longer Einstein timescales than before.

Low-mass (< 1.2 Solar mass) main-sequence stars lose angular momentum over time, leading to a decrease in their magnetic activity. The details of this rotation-activity relation remain poorly understood. Using observations of members of the $\approx$700 Myr-old Praesepe and Hyades open clusters, we aim to characterize the rotation-activity relation for different tracers of activity at this age. To complement published data, we obtained new optical spectra for 250 Praesepe stars, new X-ray detections for ten, and new rotation periods for 28. These numbers for Hyads are 131, 22, and 137, respectively. The latter increases the number of Hyads with periods by 50%. We used these data to measure the fractional H$\alpha$ and X-ray luminosities, $\mathit{L}_{H\alpha}/\mathit{L}_{bol}$ and $\mathit{L}_X/\mathit{L}_{bol}$, and to calculate Rossby numbers $\mathit{R}_o$. We found that at $\approx$700 Myr almost all M dwarfs exhibit H$\alpha$ emission, with binaries having the same overall color-H$\alpha$ equivalent width distribution as single stars. In the $\mathit{R}_o-\mathit{L}_{H\alpha}/\mathit{L}_{bol}$ plane, unsaturated single stars follow a power-law with index $\beta = -5.9 \pm 0.8$ for $\mathit{R}_o > 0.3$. In the $\mathit{R}_o-\mathit{L}_X/\mathit{L}_{bol}$ plane, we see evidence for supersaturation for single stars with $\mathit{R}_o \lesssim 0.01$, following a power-law with index $\beta_{sup} = 0.5^{+0.2}_{-0.1}$, supporting the hypothesis that stellar coronae are being centrifugally stripped. We found that the critical $\mathit{R}_o$ value at which activity saturates is smaller for $\mathit{L}_X/\mathit{L}_{bol}$ than for $\mathit{L}_{H\alpha}/\mathit{L}_{bol}$. Finally, we observed an almost 1:1 relation between $\mathit{L}_{H\alpha}/\mathit{L}_{bol}$ and $\mathit{L}_X/\mathit{L}_{bol}$, suggesting that both the corona and the chromosphere experience similar magnetic heating.

The NASA K2 mission obtained high precision time-series photometry for four young clusters, including the near-twin 600-800 Myr-old Praesepe and Hyades clusters. Hot sub-Neptunes are highly prone to mass-loss mechanisms, given their proximity to the the host star and the weakly bound gaseous envelopes, and analyzing this population at young ages can provide strong constraints on planetary evolution models. Using our automated transit detection pipeline, we recover 15 planet candidates across the two clusters, including 10 previously confirmed planets. We find a hot sub-Neptune occurrence rate of 79-107% for GKM stars in the Praesepe cluster. This is 2.5-3.5 sigma higher than the occurrence rate of 16.54+1.00-0.98% for the same planets orbiting the ~3-9 Gyr-old GKM field stars observed by K2, even after accounting for the slightly super-solar metallicity ([Fe/H]~0.2 dex) of the Praesepe cluster. We examine the effect of adding ~100 targets from the Hyades cluster, and extending the planet parameter space under examination, and find similarly high occurrence rates in both cases. The high occurrence rate of young, hot sub-Neptunes could indicate either that these planets are undergoing atmospheric evolution as they age, or that planetary systems that formed when the Galaxy was much younger are substantially different than from today. Under the assumption of the atmospheric mass-loss scenario, a significantly higher occurrence rate of these planets at the intermediate ages of Praesepe and Hyades appears more consistent with the core-powered mass loss scenario sculpting the hot sub-Neptune population, compared to the photoevaporation scenario.

This paper investigates the distribution and implications of cosmic ray electrons within the intergalactic medium (IGM). Utilizing a synthesis model of the extragalactic background, we evolve the spectrum of Compton-included cosmic rays. The energy density distribution of cosmic ray electrons peaks at redshift $z \approx2$, and peaks in the $\sim$MeV range. The fractional contribution of cosmic ray pressure to the general IGM pressure progressively increases toward lower redshift. At mean density, the ratio of cosmic ray electron to thermal pressure in the IGM $ P_{\rm CRe} / P_{\rm th}$ is 0.3% at $z=2$, rising to 1.0% at $z=1$, and 1.8% at $z=0.1$. We compute the linear Landau damping rate of plasma oscillations in the IGM caused by the $\sim$MeV cosmic ray electrons, and find it to be of order $\sim 10^{-6}\,\rm s^{-1}$ for wavenumbers $1.2\lesssim ck/\omega_{\rm p}\lesssim 5$ at $z=2$ and mean density (where $\omega_{\rm p}$ is the plasma frequency). This strongly affects the fate of TeV $e^+e^-$ pair beams produced by blazars, which are potentially unstable to oblique instabilities involving plasma oscillations with wavenumber $ck/\omega_{\rm p}\approx\sec\theta$ ($\theta$ being the angle between the beam and wave vector). Linear Landau damping is at least thousands of times faster than either pair beam instability growth or collisional effects; it thus turns off the pair beam instability except for modes with very small $\theta$ ($ck/\omega_{\rm p}\rightarrow 1$, where linear Landau damping is kinematically suppressed). This leaves open the question of whether the pair beam instability is turned off entirely, or can still proceed via the small-$\theta$ modes.

We present the identification of 42 narrow-line active galactic nuclei (type-2 AGN) candidates in the two deepest observations of the JADES spectroscopic survey with JWST/NIRSpec. The spectral coverage and the depth of our observations allow us to select narrow-line AGNs based on both rest-frame optical and UV emission lines up to z=10. Due to the metallicity decrease of galaxies, at $z>3$ the standard optical diagnostic diagrams (N2-BPT or S2-VO87) become unable to distinguish many AGN from other sources of photoionisation. Therefore, we also use high ionisation lines, such as HeII$\lambda$4686, HeII$\lambda$1640, NeIV$\lambda$2422, NeV$\lambda$3420, and NV$\lambda$1240, also in combination with other UV transitions, to trace the presence of AGN. Out of a parent sample of 209 galaxies, we identify 42 type-2 AGN (although 10 of them are tentative), giving a fraction of galaxies in JADES hosting type-2 AGN of about $20\pm3$\%, which does not evolve significantly in the redshift range between 2 and 10. The selected type-2 AGN have estimated bolometric luminosities of $10^{41.3-44.9}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and host-galaxy stellar masses of $10^{7.2-9.3}$ M$_{\odot}$. The star formation rates of the selected AGN host galaxies are consistent with those of the star-forming main sequence. The AGN host galaxies at z=4-6 contribute $\sim$8-30 \% to the UV luminosity function, slightly increasing with UV luminosity.

Chromospheric differential rotation is a key component in comprehending the atmospheric coupling between the chromosphere and the photosphere at different phases of the solar cycle. In this study, we therefore utilize the newly calibrated multidecadal Ca II K spectroheliograms (1907-2007) from the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KoSO) to investigate the differential rotation of the solar chromosphere using the technique of image cross-correlation. Our analysis yields the chromospheric differential rotation rate $\Omega (\theta) = (14.61\pm 0.04 - 2.18\pm 0.37\sin^2{\theta} - 1.10 \pm 0.61\sin^4{\theta})^\circ{\rm /day}$. These results suggest the chromospheric plages exhibit an equatorial rotation rate 1.59% faster than the photosphere when compared with the differential rotation rate measured using sunspots and also a smaller latitudinal gradient compared to the same. To compare our results to those from other observatories, we have applied our method on a small sample of Ca II K data from Rome, Meudon, and Mt. Wilson observatories, which support our findings from KoSO data. Additionally, we have not found any significant north-south asymmetry or any systematic variation in chromospheric differential rotation over the last century.

Polarized general-relativistic radiative transfer in the vicinity of black holes and other compact objects has become a crucial tool for probing the properties of relativistic astrophysics plasmas. Instruments like GRAVITY, the Event Horizon telescope, ALMA, or IXPE make it very timely to develop such numerical frameworks. In this article, we present the polarized extension of the public ray-tracing code Gyoto, and offer a python notebook allowing to easily perform a first realistic computation. The code is very modular and allows to conveniently add extensions for the specific needs of the user. It is agnostic about the spacetime and can be used for arbitrary compact objects. We demonstrate the validity of the code by providing tests, and show in particular a perfect agreement with the ipole code. Our article also aims at pedagogically introducing all the relevant formalism in a self-contained manner.

We present the first results from Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations as a part of the Fundamental Reference Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) Monitoring Experiment (FRAMEx), a program to understand the relationship between AGN accretion physics and wavelength-dependent position as a function of time. With this VLA survey, we investigate the radio properties from a volume-complete sample of 25 hard X-ray-selected AGNs using the VLA in its wideband mode. We observed the targets in the A-array configuration at $4-12$ GHz with all polarization products. In this work, we introduce our calibration and imaging methods for this survey, and we present our results and analysis for the radio quiet AGN NGC 4388. We calibrated and imaged these data using the multi-term, multi-frequency synthesis imaging algorithm to determine its spatial, spectral and polarization structure across a continuous $4-12$ GHz band. In the AGN, we measure a broken power law spectrum with $\alpha=-0.06$ below a break frequency of 7.3 GHz and $\alpha=-0.34$ above. We detect polarization at sub-arcsecond resolution across both the AGN and a secondary radio knot. We compare our results to ancillary data and find that the VLA radio continuum is likely due to AGN winds interacting with the local interstellar medium that gets resolved away at sub-parsec spatial scales as probed by the Very Long Baseline Array. A well-known ionization cone to the southwest of the AGN appears likely to be projected material onto the underside of the disk of the host galaxy.

Recently, models obtained with MESA and Genec detailed evolutionary codes indicated that black holes formed at solar metallicity (Z = 0.014) may reach 35 M$_\odot$ or even higher masses. We perform a replication study to assess the validity of these results. We use MESA and Genec to calculate a suite of massive stellar models at solar metallicity. In our calculations we employ updated physics important for massive star evolution (moderate rotation, high overshooting, magnetic angular momentum transport). The key feature of our models is a new prescription for stellar winds for massive stars that updates significantly previous calculations. We find a maximum BH mass of 28 M$_\odot$ at Z = 0.014. The most massive BHs are predicted to form from stars with initial mass $M_{\rm zams}\sim$40 M$_\odot$ and for stars with $M_{\rm zams}$ above 200 M$_\odot$. The lower mass BHs found in our study mostly result from the updated wind mass loss prescriptions. While we acknowledge the inherent uncertainties in stellar evolution modelling, our study underscores the importance of employing the most up-to-date knowledge of key physics (e.g., stellar wind mass loss rates) in BH mass predictions.

Typically, regular black holes are described by a regulator $\ell$ that is much smaller than the horizon radius $r_\text{h}$; taking the regulator scale large removes the black hole horizon, leaving a compact, horizonless object. This seemingly justifies the well-known lore that horizon scale effects for astrophysical black holes are suppressed by the dimensionless ratio $\ell/r_\text{h} \ll 1$. We show explicitly that regular black hole metrics with $\sim 50\%$ corrections near the horizon are, in fact, possible, without prohibiting a range in black hole masses that would conflict with observation. This opens the doors to potentially observable horizon-scale effects for the light deflection and the shadow around such regular, astrophysical black holes.

In this Letter, we propose to detect the interaction of a hypothetical coherently evolving cosmological scalar field with an orbital network of quantum sensors, focusing on the GPS satellite network as a test example. Cosmological scenarios, such as a scalar-tensor theory for dark energy or the axi-Higgs model, suggest that such a field may exist. As this field would be (approximately) at rest in the CMB frame, it would exhibit a dipole as a result of the movement of our terrestrial observers relative to the CMB. While the current sensitivity of the GPS network is insufficient to detect a cosmological dipole, future networks of quantum sensors on heliocentric orbits, using state-of-the-art atomic clocks, can reach and exceed this requirement.

We have determined the most probable date for the catalog of 34 stars that was used in the construction of a Latin astrolabe originally owned by the Dominican preacher friars and presently at Mus\'ee des Arts pr\'ecieux Paul-Dupuy (Toulouse, France). To this end we digitized a photograph of the rete and the rule of the astrolabe, computed the equatorial coordinates of the ends of the 34 star pointers of the rete, and produced a list of 113 reference stars taken from several lists of stars on astrolabes. We then compared the coordinates of the ends of the pointers and those of the reference stars for dates between 1400 and 1700. The most probable date for this astrolabe is 1550.

In many applications, Neural Nets (NNs) have classification performance on par or even exceeding human capacity. Moreover, it is likely that NNs leverage underlying features that might differ from those humans perceive to classify. Can we "reverse-engineer" pertinent features to enhance our scientific understanding? Here, we apply this idea to the notoriously difficult task of galaxy classification: NNs have reached high performance for this task, but what does a neural net (NN) "see" when it classifies galaxies? Are there morphological features that the human eye might overlook that could help with the task and provide new insights? Can we visualize tracers of early evolution, or additionally incorporated spectral data? We present a novel way to summarize and visualize galaxy morphology through the lens of neural networks, leveraging Dataset Distillation, a recent deep-learning methodology with the primary objective to distill knowledge from a large dataset and condense it into a compact synthetic dataset, such that a model trained on this synthetic dataset achieves performance comparable to a model trained on the full dataset. We curate a class-balanced, medium-size high-confidence version of the Galaxy Zoo 2 dataset, and proceed with dataset distillation from our accurate NN-classifier to create synthesized prototypical images of galaxy morphological features, demonstrating its effectiveness. Of independent interest, we introduce a self-adaptive version of the state-of-the-art Matching Trajectory algorithm to automate the distillation process, and show enhanced performance on computer vision benchmarks.

For dark matter to be detectable with gravitational waves from binary black holes, it must reach higher than average densities in their vicinity. In the case of light (wave-like) dark matter, the density of dark matter between the binary can be significantly enhanced by accretion from the surrounding environment. Here we show that the resulting dephasing effect on the last ten orbits of an equal mass binary is maximized when the Compton wavelength of the scalar particle is comparable to the orbital separation, $2\pi/\mu\sim d$. The phenomenology of the effect is different to the channels that are usually discussed, where dynamical friction (along the orbital path) and radiation of energy and angular momentum drive the dephasing, and is rather dominated by the radial force (the spacetime curvature in the radial direction) towards the overdensity between the black holes. Whilst our numerical studies limit us to scales of the same order, this effect may persist at larger separations and/or particle masses, playing a significant role in the merger history of binaries.

Our research objective is to characterize Mars' low-altitude (250 km) induced magnetic fields using data from NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) Mission. We aim to assess how the induced magnetic fields behave under different solar zenith angles and solar wind conditions, and additionally, understand how planet-specific properties (such as Mars crustal magnetism) alter the formation and structure of the magnetic fields. We then use data from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter to compare induced magnetic fields at Venus with those at Mars. At Venus, the vertical structure of the magnetic field tends to exist in one of two states (magnetized or unmagnetized) but we find the induced fields at Mars are more complicated, and we are unable to use this simple classification scheme. We also find the low-altitude induced field strength in the ionospheres of both Venus and Mars vary with as cosine of the angle between solar wind velocity and the magnetic pileup boundary. The low-altitude field strength at Venus tends to be higher than Mars. However, Venus field strengths are lower than theoretical predictions assuming pressure balance and negligible thermal pressure. For Mars, low-altitude field strengths are higher than expected given these assumptions. Induced field strengths exhibit a trend with solar wind dynamic pressure that is consistent with pressure balance expectations at both planets, however there is significant uncertainty in the Venus fit due to lack of upstream solar wind data. Our results highlight major differences between the induced magnetic fields at Venus and Mars, suggesting planet-specific properties such as size and the presence of crustal magnetism affect the induced ionospheric magnetic fields at non magnetized planets.

Purpose: Chaotic diffusion in the non-linear systems is commonly studied in the action framework. In this paper, we show that the study in the frequency domain provides good estimates of the sizes of the chaotic regions in the phase space, also as the diffusion timescales inside these regions. Methods: Applying the traditional tools, such as Poincar\'e Surfaces of Section, Lyapunov Exponents and Spectral Analysis, we characterise the phase space of the Planar Circular Restricted Three Body Problem (PCR3BP). For the purpose of comparison, the diffusion coefficients are obtained in the action domain of the problem, applying the Shannon Entropy Method (SEM), also as in the frequency domain, applying the Mean Squared Displacement (MSD) method and Laskar's Equation of Diffusion. We compare the diffusion timescales defined by the diffusion coefficients obtained to the Lyapunov times and the instability times obtained through direct numerical integrations. Results: Traditional tools for detecting chaos tend to misrepresent regimes of motion, in which either slow-diffusion or confined-diffusion processes dominates. The SEM shows a good performance in the regions of slow chaotic diffusion, but it fails to characterise regions of strong chaotic motion. The frequency-based methods are able to precisely characterise the whole phase space and the diffusion times obtained in the frequency domain present satisfactory agreement with direct integration instability times, both in weak and strong chaotic motion regimes. The diffusion times obtained by means of the SEM fail to match correctly the instability times provided by numerical integrations. Conclusion: We conclude that the study of dynamical instabilities in the frequency domain provides reliable estimates of the diffusion timescales, and also presents a good cost-benefit in terms of computation-time.

Gravitational waves offer a potent mean to test the underlying theory of gravity. In general theories of gravity, such as scalar-tensor theories, one expects modifications in the friction term and the sound speed in the gravitational wave equation. In that case, rapid oscillations in such coefficients, e.g. due to an oscillating scalar field, may lead to narrow parametric resonances in the gravitational wave strain. We perform a general analysis of such possibility within DHOST theories. We use disformal transformations to find the theory space with larger resonances, within an effective field theory approach. We then apply our formalism to a non-minimally coupled ultra-light dark matter scalar field, assuming the presence of a primordial gravitational wave background, e.g., from inflation. We find that the resonant peaks in the spectral density may be detectable by forthcoming detectors such as LISA, Taiji, Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer.

We demonstrate a general relativistic approach to model dark matter halos using the Einstein cluster, with the matter stress-energy generated by collisionless particles moving on circular geodesics in all possible angular directions and orbital radii. Such matter, as is known, allows an anisotropic pressure profile with non-zero tangential but zero radial pressure. We use the Einasto density profile for the Einstein cluster. Analytical studies on its properties (metric functions) and stability issues are investigated. Further, to establish this model (with the Einasto profile) as one for a dark matter halo, we use the SPARC galactic rotation curve data and estimate the best-fit values for the model parameters. General relativistic features (beyond the Keplerian velocities) such as the tangential pressure profile, are quantitatively explored. Thus, Einstein clusters with the Einasto profile, which tally well with observations, may be considered as a viable model for dark matter halos.

One of the primary goals of space-borne gravitational wave detectors is to detect and analyze extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs). This endeavor presents a significant challenge due to the complex and lengthy EMRI signals, further compounded by their inherently faint nature. In this letter, we introduce a 2-layer Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) approach to detect EMRI signals for space-borne detectors, achieving a true positive rate (TPR) of 96.9 % at a 1 % false positive rate (FPR) for signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from 50 to 100. Especially, the key intrinsic parameters of EMRIs such as mass and spin of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) and the initial eccentricity of the orbit can be inferred directly by employing a VGG network. The mass and spin of the SMBH can be determined at 99 % and 92 % respectively. This will greatly reduce the parameter spaces and computing cost for the following Bayesian parameter estimation. Our model also has a low dependency on the accuracy of the waveform model. This study underscores the potential of deep learning methods in EMRI data analysis, enabling the rapid detection of EMRI signals and efficient parameter estimation .

The stability of a dark matter detector on the timescale of a few years is a key requirement due to the large exposure needed to achieve a competitive sensitivity. It is especially crucial to enable the detector to potentially detect any annual event rate modulation, an expected dark matter signature. In this work, we present the performance history of the DarkSide-50 dual-phase argon time projection chamber over its almost three-year low-radioactivity argon run. In particular, we focus on the electroluminescence signal that enables sensitivity to sub-keV energy depositions. The stability of the electroluminescence yield is found to be better than 0.5%. Finally, we show the temporal evolution of the observed event rate around the sub-keV region being consistent to the background prediction.

We summarize our work on a consistency condition for inflation in two-field cosmological models, in the regime of rapid turn and third-order slow roll. To ensure a sustained inflationary period of this type, one needs to satisfy a certain relation between the scalar potential and the scalar field-space metric. We explain the derivation of this condition. Furthermore, we argue that, generically, the rapid-turn phase tends to be short-lived.

Noble gas and liquid detectors rely on high chemical purity for successful operation. While gaseous purification has emerged as a reliable method of producing high-purity noble fluids, the requirement for large mass flows drives the development of liquid-phase purification. We constructed a medium-scale liquid argon (LAr) purification system based on a copper catalyst and 4 A molecular sieve capable of purifying 1 t of commercial LAr 5.0 to a long effective triplet lifetime of $\tau_3 \sim 1.3 \mu$s. We further demonstrate that a quenched effective triplet lifetime of $\tau_3 \sim 1 \mu$s, due to contamination by air, can be recovered in loop-mode purification to $\tau_3 \sim 1.3 \mu$s after > 20 volume exchanges.

Perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (pQCD) corrections and color superconductivity predict that strongly interacting matter can reveal new physical phenomena under extreme conditions. Taking into account these interaction effects, we investigate the role of anisotropic pressure in quark stars composed of interacting quark matter. Adopting two physically well-motivated anisotropy profiles, we numerically solve the stellar structure equations in order to explore the consequences of anisotropic pressure on various macroscopic properties such as radius, gravitational mass, surface redshift, moment of inertia, tidal Love number and oscillation spectrum. Remarkably, for both anisotropy models, negative anisotropies increase the radial stability of interacting quark stars, while the opposite occurs for positive anisotropies. However, for the Bowers-Liang profile, the central density corresponding to the maximum-mass point does not coincide with the central density where the squared oscillation frequency vanishes, indicating that the existence of stable anisotropic interacting quark stars is possible beyond the maximum mass for negative anisotropies. Additionally, we compare our theoretical predictions with several observational mass-radius measurements and tidal deformability constraints, which suggest that both strong interaction effects and anisotropy effects play a crucial role in describing compact stars observed in the Universe.

Axion-like particles are predicted in many physics scenarios beyond the Standard Model (SM). Their interactions with SM particles may arise from the triangle anomaly of the associated global symmetry, along with other SM global and gauge symmetries, including anomalies with the global baryon number and electromagnetic gauge symmetries. We initiate the phenomenological study of the corresponding ``electrobaryonic axion", a particle that couples with both the baryon chemical potential and the electromagnetic field. Neutron stars, particularly magnetars, possessing high baryon density and strong magnetic fields, can naturally develop a thin axion hair around their surface. In this study, we calculate this phenomenon, considering the effects of neutron star rotation and general relativity. For axion particles lighter than the neutron star rotation frequency, the anomalous interaction can also induce the emission of axion particles from the neutron star. This emission, in the light axion regime, can have a significant contribution to the neutron star cooling rate.

From the observation of both heavy neutron stars and light ones with small radii, one anticipates a steep rise in the speed of sound of nuclear matter as a function of baryon density up to values close to the causal limit. However, arguments have been made that this may be incompatible with the equation of state extracted from low-energy heavy-ion collisions. In this work, we consider a family of neutron star equations of state characterized by a steep rise in the speed of sound, and use the symmetry energy expansion to obtain equations of state applicable to the almost-symmetric nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions. We then compare collective flow data from low-energy heavy-ion experiments with results of simulations obtained using the hadronic transport code SMASH with the mean-field potential reproducing the density-dependence of the speed of sound. We show that equations of state featuring a peak in the speed of sound squared occurring at densities between 2-3 times the saturation density of normal nuclear matter, producing neutron stars of nearly M_max~2.5 M_Sun, are consistent with heavy-ion collision data.