Papers for Friday, Mar 01 2024

Methods. We algorithmically tracked thousands of individual particles through four OSIRIS/NAC image sequences of 67P's near-nucleus coma. We then traced concentrated particle groups back to the nucleus surface, and estimated their potential source regions, size distributions, and projected dynamical parameters. Finally, we compared the observed activity to dust coma simulations. Results. We traced back 409 decimeter-sized particles to four suspected source regions. The regions strongly overlap and are mostly confined to the Khonsu-Atum-Anubis area. The activity may be linked to rugged terrain, and the erosion of fine dust and the ejection of large boulders may be mutually exclusive. Power-law indices fitted to the particle size--frequency distributions range from $3.4 \pm 0.3$ to $3.8 \pm 0.4$. Gas drag fits to the radial particle accelerations provide an estimate for the local gas production rates ($Q_\text{g} = 3.6 \cdot 10^{-5}$ kg s$^{-1}$ m$^{-2}$), which is several times higher than our model predictions based on purely insolation-driven water ice sublimation. Our observational results and our modeling results both reveal that our particles were likely ejected with substantial nonzero initial velocities of around 0.5$-$0.6 m s$^{-1}$. Conclusions. Our findings strongly suggest that the observed ejection of decimeter-sized particles cannot be explained by water ice sublimation and favorable illumination conditions alone. Instead, the local structures and compositions of the source regions likely play a major role. In line with current ejection models of decimeter-sized particles, we deem an overabundance of CO$_2$ ice and its sublimation to be the most probable driver. In addition, because of the significant initial velocities, we suspect the ejection events to be considerably more energetic than gradual liftoffs.

The origin of radio emission in different populations of radio-quiet quasars is relatively unknown, but recent work has uncovered various drivers of increased radio-detection fraction. In this work, we pull together three known factors: optical colour ($g-i$), \CIV Distance (a proxy for $L/L_{Edd}$) and whether or not the quasar contains broad absorption lines (BALQSOs) which signify an outflow. We use SDSS DR14 spectra along with the LOFAR Two Metre Sky Survey Data Release 2 and find that each of these properties have an independent effect. BALQSOs are marginally more likely to be radio-detected than non-BALQSOs at similar colours and $L/L_{Edd}$, moderate reddening significantly increases the radio-detection fraction and the radio-detection increases with $L/L_{Edd}$ above a threshold for all populations. We test a widely used simple model for radio wind shock emission and calculate energetic efficiencies that would be required to reproduce the observed radio properties. We discuss interpretations of these results concerning radio-quiet quasars more generally. We suggest that radio emission in BALQSOs is connected to a different physical origin than the general quasar population since they show different radio properties independent of colour and \CIV distance.

We use rest-frame optical and near-infrared (NIR) observations of 42 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the Carnegie Supernova Project at low-$z$ and 37 from the RAISIN Survey at high-$z$ to investigate correlations between SN Ia host galaxy dust, host mass, and redshift. This is the first time the SN Ia host galaxy dust extinction law at high-$z$ has been estimated using combined optical and rest-frame NIR data ($YJ$-band). We use the BayeSN hierarchical model to leverage the data's wide rest-frame wavelength range (extending to $\sim$1.0-1.2 microns for the RAISIN sample at $0.2\lesssim z\lesssim0.6$). By contrasting the RAISIN and CSP data, we constrain the population distributions of the host dust $R_V$ parameter for both redshift ranges. We place a limit on the difference in population mean $R_V$ between RAISIN and CSP of $-1.16<\Delta\mu(R_V)<1.38$ with 95% posterior probability. For RAISIN we estimate $\mu(R_V)=2.58\pm0.57$, and constrain the population standard deviation to $\sigma(R_V)<0.90~[2.42]$ at the 68 [95]% level. Given that we are only able to constrain the size of the low- to high-$z$ shift in $\mu(R_V)$ to $\lesssim1.4$ - which could still propagate to a substantial bias in the equation of state parameter $w$ - these and other recent results motivate continued effort to obtain rest-frame NIR data at low and high redshifts (e.g. using the Roman Space Telescope).

Magnetic fields (B-fields) in galaxies have recently been traced using far-infrared and sub-mm polarimetric observations with SOFIA, JCMT, and ALMA. The main assumption is that dust grains are magnetically aligned with the local B-field in the interstellar medium (ISM). However, the range of physical conditions of the ISM, dust grain sizes, and B-field strengths in galaxies where this assumption is valid has not been characterized yet. Here, we use the well-studied spiral galaxy M51 as a case study. We find that the timescale for the alignment mechanism arising from magnetically aligned dust grains (B-RAT) dominates over other alignment mechanisms, including radiative precession (k-RAT) and mechanical alignment (v-MAT), as well as the randomization effect (gas damping). We estimate the sizes of the aligned dust grain to be in the range of 0.009-0.182 $\mu$m and 0.019-0.452 $\mu$m for arms and inter-arms, respectively. We show that the difference in the polarization fraction between arms and interarms can arise from the enhancement of small dust grain sizes in the arms as an effect of the grain alignment disruption (RAT-D). We argue that the RAT-D mechanism needs to have additional effects, e.g., intrinsic variations of the B-field structure and turbulence, in the galaxy's components to fully explain the polarization fraction variations within the arms and inter-arms.

Protostellar disks are known to accrete, however, the exact mechanism that extracts the angular momentum and drives accretion in the low-ionization "dead" region of the disk is under debate. In recent years, magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) disk winds have become a popular solution. Yet, observations of these winds require both high spatial resolution (${\sim}10$s au) and high sensitivity, which has resulted in only a handful of MHD disk wind candidates so far. In this work we present high angular resolution (${\sim}30$ au) ALMA observations of the emblematic L1448-mm protostellar system and find suggestive evidence for an MHD disk wind. The disk seen in dust continuum (${\sim}0.9$ mm) has a radius of ${\sim}23$ au. Rotating infall signatures in H$^{13}$CO$^+$ indicate a central mass of $0.4\pm 0.1$ M$_\odot$ and a centrifugal radius similar to the dust disk radius. Above the disk, we unveil rotation signatures in the outflow traced by H$^{13}$CN, CH$_3$OH, and SO lines and find a kinematical structure consistent with theoretical predictions for MHD disk winds. This is the first detection of an MHD disk wind candidate in H$^{13}$CN and CH$_3$OH. The wind launching region estimated from cold MHD wind theory extends out to the disk edge. The magnetic lever arm parameter would be $\lambda_{\phi} \simeq 1.7$, in line with recent non-ideal MHD disk models. The estimated mass-loss rate is ${\sim}4$ times the protostellar accretion rate ($\dot{M}_{\rm acc} \simeq 2 \times 10^{-6} M_{\odot}/yr$) and suggests that the rotating wind could carry enough angular momentum to drive disk accretion.

We apply a toy model based on 'pendulum waves' to gas sloshing in galaxy clusters. Starting with a galaxy cluster potential filled with a hydrostatic intra-cluster medium (ICM), we perturb all ICM by an initial small, unidirectional velocity, i.e., an instantaneous kick. Consequently, each parcel of ICM will oscillate due to buoyancy with its local Brunt-V\"ais\"al\"a (BV) period, which we show to be approximately proportional to the cluster radius. The oscillation of gas parcels at different radii with different periods leads to a characteristic, outwards-moving coherent pattern of local compressions and rarefactions; the former form the sloshing cold fronts (SCFs). Our model predicts that SCFs (i) appear in the cluster centre first, (ii) move outwards on several Gyr timescales, (iii) form a staggered pattern on opposite sides of a given cluster, (iv) each move outwards with approximately constant speed; and that (v) inner SCFs form discontinuities more easily than outer ones. These features are well known from idealised (magneto)-hydrodynamic simulations of cluster sloshing. We perform comparison hydrodynamic+N-body simulations where sloshing is triggered either by an instantaneous kick or a minor merger. Sloshing in these simulations qualitatively behaves as predicted by the toy model. However, the toy model somewhat over-predicts the speed of sloshing fronts, and does not predict that inner SCFs emerge with a delay compared to outer ones. In light of this, we identify the outermost cold front, which may be a 'failed' SCF, as the best tracer of the age of the merger that set a cluster sloshing.

The average matter density within the turnaround scale, which demarcates where galaxies shift from clustering around a structure to joining the expansion of the Universe, is an important cosmological probe. However, a measurement of the mass enclosed by the turnaround radius is difficult. Analyses of the turnaround scale in simulated galaxy clusters place the turnaround radius at about three times the virial radius in a \(\Lambda CDM\) universe and at a (present-day) density contrast with the background matter density of the Universe of \(\delta \sim 11\). Assessing the mass at such extended distances from a cluster's center is a challenge for current mass measurement techniques. Consequently, there is a need to develop and validate new mass-scaling relations, to connect observable masses at cluster interiors with masses at greater distances. Our research aims to establish an analytical framework for the most probable mass profile of galaxy clusters, leading to novel mass scaling relations, allowing us to estimate masses at larger scales. We derive such analytical mass profiles and compare them with those from cosmological simulations. We use excursion set theory, which provides a statistical framework for the density and local environment of dark matter halos, and complement it with the spherical collapse model to follow the non-linear growth of these halos. The profile we developed analytically shows a good agreement (better than 30\%, and dependent on halo mass) with the mass profiles of simulated galaxy clusters. Mass scaling relations are obtained from the analytical profile with offset better than 15\% from the simulated ones. This level of precision highlights the potential of our model for probing structure formation dynamics at the outskirts of galaxy clusters.

Gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters involves hundreds of galaxies over a large redshift range and increases the likelihood of rare phenomena (supernovae, microlensing, dark substructures, etc.). Characterizing the mass and light distributions of foreground and background objects often requires a combination of high-resolution data and advanced modeling techniques. We present the detailed analysis of El Anzuelo, a prominent quintuply imaged dusty star forming galaxy ($z_{\rm s}=2.29$), mainly lensed by three members of the massive galaxy cluster ACT-CL$\,$J0102$-$4915, also known as El Gordo ($z_{\rm d}=0.87$). We leverage JWST/NIRCam data containing previously unseen lensing features using a Bayesian, multi-wavelength, differentiable and GPU-accelerated modeling framework that combines Herculens (lens modeling) and NIFTy (field model and inference) software packages. For one of the deflectors, we complement lensing constraints with stellar kinematics measured from VLT/MUSE data. In our lens model, we explicitly include the mass distribution of the cluster, locally corrected by a constant shear field. We find that the two main deflectors (L1 and L2) have logarithmic mass density slopes steeper than isothermal, with $\gamma_{\rm L1} = 2.23\pm0.05$ and $\gamma_{\rm L2} = 2.21\pm0.04$. We argue that such steep density profiles can arise due to tidally truncated mass distributions, which we probe thanks to the cluster lensing boost and the strong asymmetry of the lensing configuration. Moreover, our three-dimensional source model captures most of the surface brightness of the lensed galaxy, revealing a clump of at most $400$ parsecs at the source redshift, visible at wavelengths $\lambda_{\rm rest}\gtrsim0.6$ $\mu$m. Finally, we caution on using point-like features within extended arcs to constrain galaxy-scale lens models before securing them with extended arc modeling.

Star-forming and starburst galaxies (SFGs and SBGs) are considered to be powerful emitters of non-thermal gamma-rays and neutrinos. On this regard, the Fermi-LAT collaboration has found a correlation between the gamma-ray and infrared luminosities for a sample of local sources. Yet, the physics behind these non-thermal emissions is still under debate. Using the publicly-available fermitools, we analyse 15.3 years of gamma-ray between 1-1000 GeV data for 70 sources, 56 of which were not previously detected. We relate this emission to a physically-motivated model for SBGs in order to constrain Fcal for each source and then study its correlation with the star formation rate of the sources. We find at 4sigma level an indication of gamma-ray emission for other two SBGs, namely M 83 and NGC 1365. By contrast, we find that, with the new description of background, the significance for the gamma-ray emission of the previously detected M 33 reduces at $4\sigma$. We also find that the physically-motivated model for Fcal correctly describes the $\gamma$-ray observations, and it is crucial to assess the systematic uncertainty on the star formation rate. Finally, undiscovered sources strongly constraints Fcal at 95\% CL, providing fundamental information when we interpret the results as common properties of SFGs and SBGs. Hence, we find that these sources might contribute 20% to the EGB, while the corresponding diffuse neutrino flux strongly depends on the spectral index distribution along the source class.

Unveiling the chemical fingerprints of the first (Pop III) stars is crucial for indirectly studying their properties and probing their massive nature. In particular, very massive Pop III stars explode as energetic Pair-Instability Supernovae (PISNe), so their chemical products might escape in the diffuse medium around galaxies, opening the possibility to observe their fingerprints in distant gas clouds. Recently, three z > 6.3 absorbers with abundances consistent with an enrichment from PISNe have been observed with JWST. In this Letter, we present novel chemical diagnostics to uncover environments mainly imprinted by PISNe. Furthermore, we revise the JWST low-resolution measurements by analysing the publicly available high-resolution X-Shooter spectra for two of these systems. Our results reconcile the chemical abundances of these absorbers with those from literature, which are found to be consistent with an enrichment dominated (> 50% metals) by normal Pop II SNe. We show the power of our novel diagnostics in isolating environments uniquely enriched by PISNe from those mainly polluted by other Pop III and Pop II SNe. When the subsequent enrichment from Pop II SNe is included, however, we find that the abundances of PISN-dominated environments partially overlap with those predominantly enriched by other Pop III and Pop II SNe. We dub these areas confusion regions. Yet, the odd-even abundance ratios [Mg,Si/Al] are extremely effective in pinpointing PISNedominated environments and allowed us to uncover, for the first time, an absorber consistent with a PISN enrichment for all the six measured elements.

The Early Data Release (EDR) of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) comprises spectroscopy obtained from 2020 December 14 to 2021 June 10. White dwarfs were targeted by DESI both as calibration sources and as science targets and were selected based on Gaia photometry and astrometry. Here we present the DESI EDR white dwarf catalogue, which includes 2706 spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs of which approximately 1630 (roughly 60 per cent) have been spectroscopically observed for the first time, as well as 66 white dwarf binary systems. We provide spectral classifications for all white dwarfs, and discuss their distribution within the Gaia Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We provide atmospheric parameters derived from spectroscopic and photometric fits for white dwarfs with pure hydrogen or helium photospheres, a mixture of those two, and white dwarfs displaying carbon features in their spectra. We also discuss the less abundant systems in the sample, such as those with magnetic fields, and cataclysmic variables. The DESI EDR white dwarf sample is significantly less biased than the sample observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which is skewed to bluer and therefore hotter white dwarfs, making DESI more complete and suitable for performing statistical studies of white dwarfs.

There is overwhelming evidence that white dwarfs host planetary systems; revealed by the presence, disruption, and accretion of planetary bodies. A lower limit on the frequency of white dwarfs that host planetary material has been estimated to be roughly 25-50 per cent; inferred from the ongoing or recent accretion of metals onto both hydrogen-atmosphere and warm helium-atmosphere white dwarfs. Now with the unbiased sample of white dwarfs observed by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey in their Early Data Release (EDR), we have determined the frequency of metal-enrichment around cool-helium atmosphere white dwarfs as 21 $\pm$ 3 per cent using a sample of 234 systems. This value is in good agreement with values determined from previous studies. With the current samples we cannot distinguish whether the frequency of planetary accretion varies with system age or host-star mass, but the DESI data release 1 will contain roughly an order of magnitude more white dwarfs than DESI EDR and will allow these parameters to be investigated.

Submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths can reveal a vast range of objects and phenomena that are either too cold, too distant, or too hot and energetic to be measured at visible wavelengths. For decades the astronomical community has highlighted the need for a large, high-throughput submm single dish that can map statistically significant portions of the sky with sufficient surface brightness sensitivity and angular and spectral resolution to probe truly representative source populations. The Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST), with its 50-m aperture and $2^\circ$ maximal field of view, aims to be such a facility. We present here the full design concept for AtLAST, developed through an EU-funded project. Our design approach begins with a long lineage of submm telescopes, relies on calculations and simulations to realize the optics, and uses finite element analysis to optimize the mechanical structure and subsystems. The result is an innovative rocking chair design with six instrument bays, two of which are mounted on Nasmyth platforms. AtLAST will be capable of $3^\circ\,\rm s^{-1}$ scanning and $1^\circ\,\rm s^{-2}$ acceleration, and will feature a surface accuracy of $\leq 20~\mu$m half wavefront error allowing observations up to $\approx 950$~GHz. Further, AtLAST will be a sustainable, visionary facility that will allow upgrades for decades to come. The demanding design requirements for AtLAST, set by transformative science goals, were met by combining novel concepts with lessons learned from past experience. While some aspects require further testing, prototyping, and field demonstrations, we estimate that the design will be construction-ready this decade.

The "Cluster HEritage project with \xmm: Mass Assembly and Thermodynamics at the Endpoint of structure formation" (CHEX-MATE) is a multi-year Heritage program, to obtain homogeneous XMM-Newton observations of a representative sample of 118 galaxy clusters. The observations are tuned to reconstruct the distribution of the main thermodynamic quantities of the ICM up to $R_{500}$ and to obtain individual mass measurements, via the hydrostatic-equilibrium equation, with a precision of 15-20%. Temperature profiles are a necessary ingredient for the scientific goals of the project and it is thus crucial to derive the best possible temperature measurements from our data. This is why we have built a new pipeline for spectral extraction and analysis of XMM-Newton data, based on a new physically motivated background model and on a Bayesian approach with Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, that we present in this paper for the first time. We applied this new method to a subset of 30 galaxy clusters representative of the CHEX-MATE sample and show that we can obtain reliable temperature measurements up to regions where the source intensity is as low as 20% of the background, keeping systematic errors below 10%. We compare the median profile of our sample and the best fit slope at large radii with literature results and we find a good agreement with other measurements based on XMM-Newton data. Conversely, when we exclude from our analysis the most contaminated regions, where the source intensity is below 20 of the background, we find significantly flatter profiles, in agreement with predictions from numerical simulations and independent measurements with a combination of Sunyaev-Zeldovich and X-ray imaging data.

The connection between the thermal and non-thermal properties in galaxy clusters hosting radio halos seems fairly well established. However, a comprehensive analysis of such a connection has been made only for integrated quantities (e.g. $L_X - P_{radio}$ relation). In recent years new-generation radio telescopes have enabled the unprecedented possibility to study the non-thermal properties of galaxy clusters on a spatially resolved basis. Here, we perform a pilot study to investigate the mentioned properties on five targets, by combining X-ray data from the CHEX-MATE project with the second data release from the LOFAR Two meter Sky survey. We find a strong correlation ($r_s \sim 0.7$) with a slope less than unity between the radio and X-ray surface brightness. We also report differences in the spatially resolved properties of the radio emission in clusters which show different levels of dynamical disturbance. In particular, less perturbed clusters (according to X-ray parameters) show peaked radio profiles in the centre, with a flattening in the outer regions, while the three dynamically disturbed clusters have steeper profiles in the outer regions. We fit a model to the radio emission in the context of turbulent re-acceleration with a constant ratio between thermal and non-thermal particles energy density and a magnetic field profile linked to the thermal gas density as $B(r) \propto n_{th}^{0.5}$. We found that this simple model cannot reproduce the behaviour of the observed radio emission.

The detection of a subsolar object in a compact binary merger is regarded as one of the smoking gun signatures of a population of primordial black holes (PBHs). We critically assess whether these systems could be distinguished from stellar binaries, for example composed of white dwarfs or neutron stars, which could also populate the subsolar mass range. At variance with PBHs, the gravitational-wave signal from stellar binaries is affected by tidal effects, which dramatically grow for moderately compact stars as those expected in the subsolar range. We forecast the capability of constraining tidal effects of putative subsolar neutron star binaries with current and future LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) sensitivities as well as next-generation experiments. We show that, should LVK O4 run observe subsolar neutron-star mergers, it could measure the (large) tidal effects with high significance. In particular, for subsolar neutron-star binaries, O4 and O5 projected sensitivities would allow measuring the effect of tidal disruption on the waveform in a large portion of the parameter space, also constraining the tidal deformability at ${\cal O}(10\%)$ level, thus excluding a primordial origin of the binary. Viceversa, for subsolar PBH binaries, model-agnostic upper bounds on the tidal deformability can rule out neutron stars or more exotic competitors. Assuming events similar to the sub-threshold candidate SSM200308 reported in LVK O3b data are PBH binaries, O4 projected sensitivity would allow ruling out the presence of neutron-star tidal effects at $\approx 3 \sigma$ C.L., thus strengthening the PBH hypothesis. Future experiments would lead to even stronger ($>5\sigma$) conclusions on potential discoveries of this kind.

Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs), thought to be produced during core-collapse supernovae, may have a prominent neutron component in the outflow material. If present, neutrons can change how photons scatter in the outflow by reducing its opacity, thereby allowing the photons to decouple sooner than if there were no neutrons present. Understanding the details of this process could therefore allow us to probe the central engine of LGRBs, which is otherwise hidden. Here, we present results of the photospheric emission from an LGRB jet, using a combination of relativistic hydrodynamic simulations and radiative transfer post-processing using the Monte Carlo Radiation Transfer (MCRaT) code. We control the size of the neutron component in the jet material by varying the equilibrium electron fraction $Y_{e}$, and we find that the presence of neutrons in the GRB fireball affects the Band parameters $\alpha$ and $E_{0}$, while the picture with the $\beta$ parameter is less clear. In particular, the break energy $E_{0}$ is shifted to higher energies. Additionally, we find that increasing the size of the neutron component also increases the total radiated energy of the outflow across multiple viewing angles. Our results not only shed light on LGRBs, but are also relevant to short-duration gamma-ray bursts associated with binary neutron star mergers, due to the likelihood of a prominent neutron component in such systems.

Cosmic filaments, the most prominent features of the cosmic web, possibly hold untapped potential for cosmological inference. While it is natural to expect the structure of filaments to show universality similar to that seen in dark matter halos, the lack of agreement between different filament finders on what constitutes a filament has hampered progress on this topic. We initiate a programme to systematically investigate and uncover possible universal features in the phase space structure of cosmic filaments, by generating particle realizations of mock filaments with $\textit{a priori}$ known properties. Using these, we identify an important source of bias in the extraction of radial density profiles, which occurs when the local curvature $\kappa$ of the spine exceeds a threshold determined by the filament thickness. This bias exists even for perfectly determined spines, thus affecting $\textit{all}$ filament finders. We show that this bias can be nearly eliminated by simply discarding the regions with the highest $\kappa$, with little loss of precision. An additional source of bias is the noise generated by the filament finder when identifying the spine, which depends on both the finder algorithm as well as intrinsic properties of the individual filament. We find that, to mitigate this bias, it is essential not only to smooth the estimated spine, but to $\textit{optimize}$ this smoothing separately for each filament. We propose a novel optimization based on minimizing the estimated filament thickness, along with Fourier space smoothing. We implement these techniques using two tools, $\texttt{FilGen}$ which generates mock filaments and $\texttt{FilAPT}$ which analyses and processes them. We expect these tools to be useful in calibrating the performance of filament finders, thereby enabling searches for filament universality.

Despite the importance of the dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at $z$>2 for understanding the galaxy evolution in the early Universe, their stellar distributions traced by the near-IR emission were spatially unresolved until the arrival of the JWST. In this work we present, for the first time, a spatially-resolved morphological analysis of the rest-frame near-IR (~1.1-3.5$\mu$m) emission in DSFGs traced with the JWST/MIRI. In particular, we study the mature stellar component for the three DSFGs and a Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) present in an overdensity at $z$=4.05. Moreover, we use MIRI images along with UV to (sub)-mm ancillary photometric data to model their SEDs and extract their main physical properties. The sub-arcsec resolution MIRI images have revealed that the stellar component present a wide range of morphologies, from disc-like to compact and clump-dominated structures. These near-IR structures contrast with their UV emission, which is usually diffuse and off-centered. The SED fitting analysis shows that GN20 dominates the total SFR with a value ~2500 $M_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ while GN20.2b has the highest stellar mass in the sample ($M_*$~2$\times$10$^{11}$ $M_\odot$). The two DSFGs classified as LTGs (GN20 and GN20.2a) show high specific SFR (sSFR>30 Gyr$^{-1}$) placing them above the star-forming main sequence (SFMS) at z~4 by >0.5 dex while the ETG (i.e.,GN20.2b) is compatible with the high-mass end of the main sequence. When comparing with other DSFGs in overdensities at $z$~2-7 we observe that our objects present similar SFRs, depletion times and projected separations. Nevertheless, the effective radii computed for our DSFGs (~3 kpc) are up to two times larger than those of isolated galaxies observed in CEERS and ALMA-HUDF at similar redshifts. We interpret this difference as an effect of rapid growth induced by the dense environment.

The Quantitative Reflectance Imaging System (QRIS) is a laboratory-based spectral imaging system constructed to image the sample of asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. The system was installed in the OSIRIS-REx cleanroom at NASA's Johnson Space Center to collect data during preliminary examination of the Bennu sample. QRIS uses a 12-bit machine vision camera to measure reflectance over wavelength bands spanning the near ultraviolet to the near infrared. Raw data are processed by a calibration pipeline that generates a series of monochromatic, high-dynamic-range reflectance images, as well as band ratio maps, band depth maps, and 3-channel color images. The purpose of these spectral reflectance data is to help characterize lithologies in the sample and compare them to lithologies observed on Bennu by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. This initial assessment of lithological diversity was intended to help select the subsamples that will be used to address mission science questions about the early solar system and the origins of life and to provide important context for the selection of representative subsamples for preservation and distribution to international partners. When QRIS imaged the Bennu sample, unexpected calibration issues arose that had not been evident at imaging rehearsals and negatively impacted the quality of QRIS data. These issues were caused by stray light within the lens and reflections off the glovebox window and interior, and were exacerbated by the sample's extremely low reflectance. QRIS data were useful for confirming conclusions drawn from other data, but reflectance and spectral data from QRIS alone unfortunately have limited utility.

Icy moons with subsurface oceans of liquid water rank among the most promising astrobiological targets in our Solar System. In this work, we assess the feasibility of deploying laser sail technology in precursor life-detection missions. We investigate such laser sail missions to Enceladus and Europa, as these two moons emit plumes that seem accessible to in situ sampling. Our study suggests that GigaWatt laser technology could accelerate a $100$ kg probe to a speed of $\sim{30}\, \mathrm{km\, s^{-1}}$, thereupon reaching Europa on timescales of $1$-$4$ years and Enceladus with flight times of $3$-$6$ years. Although the ideal latitudes for the laser array vary, placing the requisite infrastructure close to either the Antarctic or Arctic Circles might represent technically viable options for an Enceladus mission. Crucially, we determine that the minimum encounter velocities with these moons (about ${6}\,\mathrm{km\,s^{-1}}$) may be near-optimal for detecting biomolecular building blocks (e.g., amino acids) in the plumes by means of a mass spectrometer akin to the Surface Dust Analyzer onboard the \emph{Europa Clipper} mission. In summary, icy moons in the Solar System are potentially well-suited for exploration via the laser sail architecture approach, especially where low encounter speeds and/or multiple missions are desirable.

The presence of dark matter (DM) within neutron stars (NSs) can be introduced by different accumulation scenarios in which DM and baryonic matter (BM) may interact only through the gravitational force. In this work, we consider asymmetric self-interacting bosonic DM which can reside as a dense core inside the NS or form an extended halo around it. It is seen that depending on the boson mass ($m_{\chi}$), self-coupling constant ($\lambda$) and DM fraction ($F_{\chi}$), the maximum mass, radius and tidal deformability of NSs with DM admixture will be altered significantly. The impact of DM causes some modifications in the observable features induced solely by the BM component. Here, we focus on the widely used nuclear matter equation of state (EoS) called DD2 for describing NS matter. We show that by involving DM in NSs, the corresponding observational parameters will be changed to be consistent with the latest multi-messenger observations of NSs. It is seen that for $m_{\chi}\gtrsim200$ MeV and $\lambda\lesssim2\pi$, DM admixed NSs with $4\%\lesssim F_{\chi}\lesssim20\%$ are consistent with the maximum mass and tidal deformability constraints.

High-angular resolution imaging by ALMA has revealed the near-universality and diversity of substructures in protoplanetary disks. However, disks around M-type pre-main-sequence stars are still poorly sampled, despite the prevalence of M-dwarfs in the galaxy. Here we present high-resolution (~50 mas, 8 au) ALMA Band 6 observations of six disks around mid-M stars in Taurus. We detect dust continuum emission in all six disks, 12CO in five disks, and 13CO line in two disks. The size ratios between gas and dust disks range from 1.6 to 5.1. The ratio of about 5 for 2M0436 and 2M0450 indicates efficient dust radial drift. Four disks show rings and cavities and two disks are smooth. The cavity sizes occupy a wide range: 60 au for 2M0412, and ~10 au for 2M0434, 2M0436 and 2M0508. Detailed visibility modeling indicates that small cavities of 1.7 and 5.7 au may hide in the two smooth disks 2M0450 and CIDA 12. We perform radiative transfer fitting of the infrared SEDs to constrain the cavity sizes, finding that micron-sized dust grains may have smaller cavities than millimeter grains. Planet-disk interactions are the preferred explanation to produce the large 60 au cavity, while other physics could be responsible for the three ~10 au cavities under current observations and theories. Currently, disks around mid-to-late M stars in Taurus show a higher detection frequency of cavities than earlier type stars, although a more complete sample is needed to evaluate any dependence of substructure on stellar mass.

Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed active galactic nuclei (AGN) powered by supermassive black holes with estimated masses of $10^7-10^8$ M$_\odot$ at redshifts $z\sim7-9$. Some reside in overmassive systems with higher AGN to stellar mass ratios than locally. Understanding how massive black holes could form so early in cosmic history and affect their environment to establish the observed relations today are some of the major open questions in astrophysics and cosmology. One model to create these massive objects is through direct collapse black holes (DCBHs) that provide massive seeds ($\sim10^5-10^6$ M$_\odot$), able to reach high masses in the limited time available. We use the cosmological simulation code GIZMO to study the formation and growth of DCBH seeds in the early Universe. To grow the DCBHs, we implement a gas swallowing model that is set to match the Eddington accretion rate as long as the nearby gaseous environment, affected by stellar and accretion disk feedback, provides sufficient fuel. We find that to create massive AGN in overmassive systems at high redshifts, massive seeds accreting more efficiently than the fiducial Bondi-Hoyle model are needed. We assess whether the conditions for such enhanced accretion rates are realistic by considering limits on plausible transport mechanisms. We also examine various DCBH growth histories and find that mass growth is more sustained in overdense cosmological environments, where high gas densities are achieved locally. We discuss the exciting prospect to directly probe the assembly history of the first SMBHs with upcoming, ultra-deep JWST surveys.

We present near-infrared JHK photometry for the resolved stellar populations in 13 nearby galaxies: NGC 6822, IC 1613, NGC 3109, Sextans B, Sextans A, NGC 300, NGC 55, NGC 7793, NGC 247, NGC 5253, Cen A, NGC 1313, and M83, acquired from the 6.5m Baade-Magellan telescope. We measure distances to each galaxy using the J-region asymptotic giant branch (JAGB) method, a new standard candle that leverages the constant luminosities of color-selected, carbon-rich AGB stars. While only single-epoch, random-phase photometry is necessary to derive JAGB distances, our photometry is time-averaged over multiple epochs, thereby decreasing the contribution of the JAGB stars' intrinsic variability to the measured dispersions in their observed luminosity functions. To cross-validate these distances, we also measure near-infrared tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) distances to these galaxies. The residuals obtained from subtracting the distance moduli from the two methods yield an RMS scatter of $\sigma_{JAGB - TRGB}= \pm 0.07$ mag. Therefore, all systematics in either the JAGB method and TRGB method (e.g., crowding, differential reddening, star formation histories) must be contained within these $\pm0.07$ mag bounds for this sample of galaxies because the JAGB and TRGB distance indicators are drawn from entirely distinct stellar populations, and are thus affected by these systematics independently. Finally, the composite JAGB star luminosity function formed from this diverse sample of galaxies is well-described by a Gaussian function with a modal value of $M_J = -6.20 \pm 0.003$ mag (stat), indicating the underlying JAGB star luminosity function of a well-sampled full star formation history is highly symmetric and Gaussian, based on over 6,700 JAGB stars in the composite sample.

Dynamics of Langmuir modes - Langmuir waves (LW) and shear Langmuir vortices (SLV) - in kinematically complex astrophysical plasma flows is studied. It is found that they exhibit a number of peculiar, velocity shear induced, asymptotically persistent phenomena: efficient energy exchange with the background flow, various kinds of instabilities, leading to their exponential growth; echoing solutions with persistent wave-vortex-wave conversions. Remarkable similarity of these phenomena with ones happening with compressible acoustic modes, revealed in (Mahajan and Rogava 1999) is pointed out. The relevance and possible importance of these phenomena for different types of astrophysical plasma flow patterns with kinematic complexity is discussed. In particular, we argue that these physical processes may account for the persistent appearance of plasma oscillations in the heliosphere and in interstellar plasma flows. In particular, we believe that kinematically complex motion of plasma may naturally lead to asymptotically persistent appearance of Langmuir modes born, grown, fed, sustained and maintained by these flows.

In the centers of galaxies, stars that orbit supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) can undergo tidal disruptions due to the Lidov-Kozai mechanism. Nevertheless, most previous researches have predominantly focused on full tidal disruption events (FTDEs). In this study, we employ N-body simulations to investigate partial tidal disruption events (PTDEs) induced by intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in SMBH-IMBH binaries, taking into account consideration the IMBH's mass, semi-major axis, and eccentricity of the outer orbit. Our findings indicate that, in comparison to FTDEs, the majority of tidal disruption events are actually PTDEs. Furthermore, we find that a significant number of stars experiencing partial disruption ultimately get captured by the IMBH, potentially leading to repeating flares. By comparing the period of the periodic eruptions observed in ASASSN-14ko, we find that PTDEs in a specific SMBH-IMBH binary system can align with the observed period if the SMBH has a mass of $10^7\rm{\ M_\odot}$, the IMBH has a mass smaller than approximately $10^5\rm{\ M_\odot}$, the eccentricity of the SMBH-IMBH binary exceeds approximately $0.5$, and the semi-major axis of the SMBH-IMBH binary is larger than approximately $0.001\rm{\ pc}$. Moreover, our model effectively accounts for the observed period derivative for ASASSN-14ko ($\dot{P}=-0.0026\pm 0.0006$), and our results also imply that some quasi-periodic eruptions may be attributed to PTDEs occurring around SMBH-IMBH binaries.

We use a galaxy sample derived from the DECaLS DR9 to measure the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). The magnitude-limited sample consists of 10.6 million galaxies in an area of 4974 deg$^2$ over the redshift range of [0.6, 1]. A key novelty of this work is that the true redshift distribution of the photo-$z$ sample is derived from the self calibration method, which determines the true redshift distribution using the clustering information of the photometric data alone. Through the angular correlation function in four tomographic bins, we constrain the BAO scale dilation parameter $\alpha$ to be $1.025\pm 0.033 $, consistent with the fiducial Planck cosmology. Alternatively, the ratio between the comoving angular diameter distance and the sound horizon, $D_{\rm M} / r_{\rm s}$ is constrained to be $18.94 \pm 0.61 $ at the effective redshift of 0.749. We corroborate our results with the true redshift distribution obtained from a weighted spectroscopic sample, finding very good agreement. We have conducted a series of tests to demonstrate the robustness of the measurement. Our work demonstrates that the self calibration method can effectively constrain the true redshift distribution in cosmological applications, especially in the context of photometric BAO measurement.

Molecular clouds are prime locations to study the process of star formation. These clouds contain filamentary structures and cores, which are crucial sites for the formation of young stars. The star-formation process has been investigated using various techniques, including polarimetry for tracing magnetic fields. In this small review-cum-short report, we put together the efforts (mainly from the Indian community) to understand the roles of turbulence and magnetic fields in star formation. These are two components of the ISM competing against gravity, which is primarily responsible for the collapse of gas to form stars. We also include attempts made using simulations of molecular clouds to study this competition. Studies on feedback and magnetic fields are combined and listed to understand the importance of the interaction between two energies in setting the current observed star formation efficiency. We have listed available and upcoming facilities with the polarization capabilities needed to trace magnetic fields. We have also stated the importance of ongoing and desired collaborations between Indian communities and facilities abroad to shed more light on the roles of turbulence and magnetic fields in the process of star formation.

We conduct a thorough examination of cosmological parameters within the context of $f(R)$ gravity coupled with neutrinos, leveraging a diverse array of observational datasets, including Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), Cosmic Chronometers (CC), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and Pantheon supernova data. Our analysis unveils compelling constraints on pivotal parameters such as the sum of neutrino masses ($\sum m_{\nu}$), the interaction strength parameter ($\Gamma$), sound speed ($c_s$), Jean's wavenumbers ($k_J$), redshift of non-relativistic matter ($z_{\rm nr}$), and the redshift of the Deceleration-Acceleration phase transition ($z_{\rm DA}$). The incorporation of neutrinos within the $f(R)$ gravity framework emerges as a key factor significantly influencing cosmic evolution, intricately shaping the formation of large-scale structures and the dynamics of cosmic expansion. Additionally, a detailed analysis of bulk flow direction and amplitude across various redshifts provides valuable insights into the nature of large-scale structures. A notable aspect of our model is the nuanced integration of $f(R)$ gravity theory with neutrinos, representing a distinctive approach to unraveling cosmological phenomena. This framework, unlike previous models, explicitly considers the impact of neutrinos on gravitational interactions, the formation of large-scale structures, and the overarching dynamics of cosmic expansion within the $f(R)$ gravity paradigm. Furthermore, our study addresses the Hubble tension problem by comparing $H_0$ measurements within our model, offering a potential avenue for reconciling discrepancies. Our findings not only align with existing research but also contribute novel perspectives to our understanding of dark energy, gravitational interactions, and the intricate challenges posed by the Hubble tension.

We propose a spectropolarimeter a covering wavelength range of 3200--7000 {\AA} [3200{\AA} chosen as lower limit to go to the atmospheric cut-off. It's ``needed" for some Serkowski curves and would make the instrument even more unique] for a 2-4~m class telescope. In this article, we discuss the science cases which will be covered with this proposed instrument. The technical requirements and analysis plan for each science case is also discussed. This spectropolarimeter targeting exciting galactic and extra-galactic research, will be unique instrument on a 2-4~m facilities.

We investigate the elastic scattering cross section between dark matter and protons using the DES Year 3 weak lensing data. This scattering induces a dark acoustic oscillation structure in the matter power spectra. To address non-linear effects at low redshift, we utilize principal component analysis alongside a limited set of $N$-body simulations, improving the reliability of our matter power spectrum prediction. We further perform a robust Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to derive the upper bounds on the DM-proton elastic scattering cross-section, assuming different velocity dependencies. Our results, presented as the first Frequentist upper limits, are compared with the ones obtained by Bayesian approach. Compared with the upper limits derived from the Planck cosmic microwave background data, our findings from DES Year 3 data exhibit improvements of up to a factor of five. In addition, we forecast the future sensitivities of the China Space Station Telescope, the upcoming capabilities of this telescope could improve the current limits by approximately one order of magnitude.

Until now, how the magnetic fields in M/X-class flaring active regions (ARs) differ from C-class flaring ARs remains unclear. Here, we calculate the key magnetic field parameters within the area of high photospheric free energy density (HED region) for 323 ARs (217 C- and 106 M$/$X-flaring ARs), including total photospheric free magnetic energy density E$_{free}$, total unsigned magnetic flux $\Phi$$_{HED}$, mean unsigned current helicity h$_{c}$, length of the polarity inversion lines $L$$_{PIL}$ with a steep horizontal magnetic gradient, etc., and compare these with flare/coronal mass ejection (CME) properties. We first show the quantitative relations among the flare intensity, the eruptive character and $\Phi$$_{HED}$. We reveal that $\Phi$$_{HED}$ is a measure for the GOES flux upper limit of the flares in a given region. For a given $\Phi$$_{HED}$, there exists the lower limit of F$_\mathrm{SXR}$ for eruptive flares. This means that only the relatively strong flares with the large fraction of energy release compared to the total free energy are likely to generate a CME. We also find that the combinations of E$_{free}$-$L$$_{PIL}$ and E$_{free}$-h$_{c}$ present a good ability to distinguish between C-class and M$/$X-class flaring ARs. Using determined critical values of E$_{free}$ and $L$$_{PIL}$, one predicts correctly 93 out of 106 M/X-class flaring ARs and 159/217 C-class flaring ARs. The large $L$$_{PIL}$ or h$_{c}$ for M$/$X-class flaring ARs probably implies the presence of a compact current with twisted magnetic fields winding about it.

Many instruments for astroparticle physics are primarily geared towards multi-messenger astrophysics, to study the origin of cosmic rays (CR) and to understand high-energy astrophysical processes. Since these instruments observe the Universe at extreme energies and in kinematic ranges not accessible at accelerators these experiments provide also unique and complementary opportunities to search for particles and physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. In particular, the reach of IceCube, Fermi and KATRIN to search for and constrain Dark Matter, Axions, heavy Big Bang relics, sterile neutrinos and Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) will be discussed. The contents of this article are based on material presented at the Humboldt-Kolleg "Clues to a mysterious Universe - exploring the interface of particle, gravity and quantum physics" in June 2022.

The evolution of halos with masses around $M_\textrm{h} \approx 10^{11}\; \textrm{M}_\odot$ and $M_\textrm{h} \approx 10^{12}\; \textrm{M}_\odot$ at redshifts $z>9$ is examined using constrained N-body simulations. The specific mass accretion rates, $\dot{M}_\textrm{h} / M_\textrm{h}$, exhibit minimal mass dependence and agree with existing literature. Approximately one-third of simulations reveal an increase in $\dot{M}_\textrm{h}$ around $z\approx 13$, possibly implying a dual-age stellar population. Comparing simulated halos with observed galaxies having spectroscopic redshifts, we find that for galaxies at $z\gtrsim9$, the ratio between observed star formation rate (SFR) and $\dot{M}_\textrm{h}$ is approximately $2\%$. This ratio remains consistent for the stellar-to-halo mass ratio (SHMR) but only for $z\gtrsim10$. At $z\simeq 9$, the SHMR is notably lower by a factor of a few. At $z\gtrsim10$, there is an agreement between specific star formation rates (sSFRs) and $\dot{M}_\textrm{h} / M_\textrm{h}$ of halos. However, at $z\simeq 9$, observed sSFRs exceed simulated values by a factor of two. To explain the relatively high star formation efficiencies in high-$z$ halos with $M_\textrm{h} \approx 10^{11} M_{\odot}$, a simplified model is proposed, assuming the applicability of the local Kennicutt-Schmidt law. The enhanced efficiency relative to low-$z$ is mainly driven by the reduced effectiveness of stellar feedback due to deeper gravitational potential for halos of a fixed mass.

We thoroughly study the induced gravitational wave interpretation of the possible gravitational wave background reported by PTA collaborations, considering the unknown equation of state $w$ of the early universe. We perform a Bayesian analysis of the NANOGrav data using the publicly available \textsc{PTArcade} code together with \textsc{SIGWfast} for the numerical integration of the induced gravitational wave spectrum. We focus on two cases: a monochromatic and a log-normal primordial spectrum of fluctuations. For the log-normal spectrum, we show that, while the results are not very sensitive to $w$ when the GW peak is close to the PTA window, radiation domination is out of the $2\sigma$ contours when only the infra-red power-law tail contributes. For the monochromatic spectrum, the $2\sigma$ bounds yield $0.1\lesssim w\lesssim0.9$ so that radiation domination is close to the central value. We also investigate the primordial black hole (PBH) counterpart using the peak formalism. We show that, in general terms, a larger width and stiffer equation of state alleviates the overproduction of PBHs. No PBH overproduction requires $w\gtrsim0.42$ up to 2-$\sigma$ level for the monochromatic spectrum. Furthermore, including bounds from the cosmic microwave background, we find in general that the mass range of the PBH counterpart is bounded by $10^{-5} M_\odot\lesssim M_{\rm PBH}\lesssim10^{-1} M_\odot$. Lastly, we find that the PTA signal can explain the microlensing events reported by OGLE for $0.42\lesssim w\lesssim 0.50$. Our work showcases a complete treatment of induced gravitational waves and primordial black holes for general $w$ for future data analysis.

The redshift $z_t$ and the jerk parameter $j_t$ of the transition epoch are constrained by using two model-independent approaches involving the direct expansion of the Hubble rate and the expansion of the deceleration parameter around $z=z_t$. To extend our analysis to high-redshifts, we employ the \emph{Amati}, \emph{Combo}, \emph{Yonetoku} and \emph{Dainotti} gamma-ray burst correlations. The \textit{circularity problem} is prevented by calibrating these correlations through the B\'ezier interpolation of the updated observational Hubble data. Each gamma-ray burst data set is jointly fit with type Ia supernovae and baryonic acoustic oscillations through a Monte Carlo analysis, based on the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, to obtain $z_t$, $j_t$ and the correlation parameters. The overall results are compatible with the concordance model with some exceptions. We also focus on the behaviors of the dark energy, verifying its compatibility with a cosmological constant, and the matter density $\Omega_m$ and compare them with the expectations of the concordance paradigm.

We present spectroscopy of three hydrogen-deficient central stars of faint planetary nebulae, with effective temperatures ($T_\mathrm{eff}$) in excess of 100,000 K. The nucleus of RaMul 2 is a Population II Wolf-Rayet star of spectral type [WC], and the central stars of Abell 25 and StDr 138 are two new members of the PG1159 class. Our spectral analyses reveal that their atmospheres have a similar chemical composition. They are dominated by helium and carbon, which was probably caused by a late helium-shell flash. Coincidentally, the three stars have similar masses of about $M=0.53\,M_\odot$ and, hence, form a post-AGB evolutionary sequence of an initially early-K type main-sequence star with $M=0.8\,M_\odot$. The central stars cover the period during which the luminosity fades from about $3000$ to $250\,L_\odot$ and the radius shrinks from about $0.15$ to $0.03\,R_\odot$. The concurrent increase of the surface gravity during this interval from $\log g$ = 5.8 to 7.2 causes the shutdown of the stellar wind from an initial mass-loss rate of $\log (\dot{M}/M_\odot\,$${\rm yr}^{-1}) = -6.4$, as measured for the [WC] star. Along the contraction phase, we observe an increase of $T_\mathrm{eff}$ from 112,000 K, marked by the [WC] star, to the maximum value of 140,000 K and a subsequent cooling to 130,000 K, marked by the two PG1159 stars.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) allows for solar observations in the wavelength range of 0.3$-$10 mm, giving us a new view of the chromosphere. The measured brightness temperature at various frequencies can be fitted with theoretical models of density and temperature versus height. We use the available ALMA and Mets\"ahovi measurements of selected solar structures (quiet sun (QS), active regions (AR) devoid of sunspots, and coronal holes (CH)). The measured QS brightness temperature in the ALMA wavelength range agrees well with the predictions of the semiempirical Avrett$-$Tian$-$Landi$-$Curdt$-$W\"ulser (ATLCW) model, better than previous models such as the Avrett$-$Loeser (AL) or Fontenla$-$Avrett$-$Loeser model (FAL). We scaled the ATLCW model in density and temperature to fit the observations of the other structures. For ARs, the fitted models require 9%$-$13% higher electron densities and 9%$-$10% higher electron temperatures, consistent with expectations. The CH fitted models require electron densities 2%$-$40% lower than the QS level, while the predicted electron temperatures, although somewhat lower, do not deviate significantly from the QS model. Despite the limitations of the one-dimensional ATLCW model, we confirm that this model and its appropriate adaptations are sufficient for describing the basic physical properties of the solar structures.

The chemically peculiar (CP) stars of the upper main sequence are excellent astrophysical laboratories for investigating the diffusion, mass loss, rotational mixing, and pulsation in the presence and absence of a stable local magnetic field. For this, we need a homogeneous set of parameters, such as effective temperature and surface gravity, to locate the stars in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram so that we can then estimate the mass, radius, and age. In recent years, the results of several automatic pipelines have been published; these use various techniques and data sets, including effective temperature and surface gravity values for millions of stars. Because CP stars are known to have flux anomalies, these astrophysical parameters must be tested for their reliability and usefulness. If the outcome is positive, these can be used to analyse the new and faint CP stars published recently. I compared published effective temperature and surface gravity values of a set of CP stars, which are mostly based on high-resolution spectroscopy, with values from four automatic pipeline approaches. In doing so, I searched for possible correlations and offsets. I present a detailed statistical analysis of a comparison between the `standard' and published effective temperature and surface gravity values. The accuracy depends on the presence of a magnetic field and the spectral type of the CP subgroups. However, I obtain standard deviations of between 2% and 20%. Considering the statistical errors, the astrophysical parameters from the literature can be used for CP stars, although caution is advised for magnetic CP stars.

Shock breakout is the first electromagnetic signal from supernovae (SNe), which contains important information on the explosion energy and the size and chemical composition of the progenitor star. This paper presents the first two-dimensional (2D) multi-wavelength radiation hydrodynamics simulations of SN 1987A shock breakout by using the $\texttt{CASTRO}$ code with the opacity table, $\texttt{OPAL}$, considering eight photon groups from infrared to X-ray. To investigate the impact of the pre-supernova environment of SN 1987A, we consider possible three cases of circumstellar medium (CSM) environments: only a steady wind; an eruptive mass loss; and the existence of a companion star. In sum, the resulting breakout light curve has an hour duration and its peak luminosity of $\sim 6\times 10^{46} \mathrm{erg}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ following efficient post-breakout X-ray cooling of $\sim 3.5$ mag hour$^{-1}$. The dominant band transits to UV after around 3 hours of shock breakout and its luminosity has a decay rate of $\sim 1.5$ mag hour$^{-1}$ that agrees well with the observed shock breakout tail. The detailed features of breakout emission are sensitive to the pre-explosion environment. Our 2D simulations also demonstrate the importance of post-breakout mixing and its impacts on shock dynamics and radiation emission. The mixing driven by the shock breakout may lead to a global asymmetry of SN ejecta and affect its later supernova remnant formation.

This study introduces an approach to detecting exocomet transits in the dataset of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), specifically within its Sector 1. Given the limited number of exocomet transits detected in the observed light curves, creating a sufficient training sample for the machine learning method was challenging. We developed a unique training sample by encapsulating simulated asymmetric transit profiles into observed light curves, thereby creating realistic data for the model training. To analyze these light curves, we employed the TSFresh software, which was a tool for extracting key features that were then used to refine our Random Forest model training. Considering that cometary transits typically exhibit a small depth, less than 1% of the star's brightness, we chose to limit our sample to the CDPP parameter. Our study focused on two target samples: light curves with a CDPP of less than 40 ppm and light curves with a CDPP of up to 150 ppm. Each sample was accompanied by a corresponding training set. This methodology achieved an accuracy of approximately 96%, with both precision and recall rates exceeding 95% and a balanced F1-score of around 96%. This level of accuracy was effective in distinguishing between 'exocomet candidate' and 'non-candidate' classifications for light curves with a CDPP of less than 40 ppm, and our model identified 12 potential exocomet candidates. However, when applying machine learning to less accurate light curves (CDPP up to 150 ppm), we noticed a significant increase in curves that could not be confidently classified, but even in this case, our model identified 20 potential exocomet candidates. These promising results within Sector 1 motivate us to extend our analysis across all TESS sectors to detect and study comet-like activity in the extrasolar planetary systems.

Using long-term X-ray observations, we present the short-term and long-term X-ray variability analysis of the ultra-fast rotating active star AB Dor. Flaring events are common in X-ray observations of AB Dor and occupy a substantial portion of the total observation time, averaging around 57$\pm$23\%. The flare-free X-ray light curves show rotational modulation, indicating the presence of highly active regions in its corona. We have developed a light curve inversion code to image the corona of active fast rotating stars. The results of coronal imaging reveal the presence of two active regions of different brightness that are separated by $\sim$180\deg in longitude. These active regions are also found to migrate along the longitude and also show variation in their brightness. Our analysis of long-term X-ray data spanning from 1979 to 2022 shows multiple periodicities. The existence of a $\sim$19.2 yr cycle and its first harmonic indicates the presence of a Solar-like, long-term pattern. In comparison, the periodicities of $\sim$3.6 and $\sim$5.4 yr are possibly due to the presence of a flip-flop cycle in X-rays, which is also supported by similar periods findings from the optical data in the earlier studies. Further confirmation of the existence of the X-ray flip-flop cycle requires long-term observations at regular intervals in the quiescent state.

Streamers bring gas from outer regions to protostellar systems and could change the chemical composition around protostars and protoplanetary disks. We have carried out mapping observations of carbon-chain species (HC$_3$N, HC$_5$N, CCH, and CCS) in the 3mm and 7mm bands toward the streamer flowing to the Class 0 young stellar object (YSO) Per-emb-2 with the Nobeyama 45m radio telescope. A region with a diameter of $\sim0.04$ pc is located north with a distance of $\sim 20,500$ au from the YSO. The streamer connects to this north region which is the origin of the streamer. The reservoir has high density and low temperature ($n_{\rm {H}_2} \approx 1.9 \times 10^4$ cm$^{-3}$, $T_{\rm {kin}} = 10$ K), which are similar to those of early stage starless cores. By comparisons with the observed abundance ratios of CCS/HC$_3$N to the chemical simulations, the reservoir and streamer are found to be chemically young. The total mass available for the streamer is derived to be $24-34$ M$_{\odot}$. If all of the gas in the reservoir will accrete onto the Per-emb-2 protostellar system, the lifetime of the streamer has been estimated at ($1.1 - 3.2$)$\times10^{5}$ yr, suggesting that the mass accretion via the streamer would continue until the end of the Class I stage.

Tensions between cosmological parameters derived through different channels can be a genuine signature of new physics that $\Lambda$CDM as the standard model is not able to reproduce, in particular in the missing consistency between parameter estimates from measurements the early and late Universe. Or, they could be caused by yet to be understood systematics in the measurements as a more mundane explanation. Commonly, cosmological tensions are stated in terms of mismatches of the posterior parameter distributions, often assuming Gaussian statistics. More importantly, though, would be a quantification if two data sets are consistent to each other before combining them into a joint measurement, ideally isolating hints at individual data points that have a strong influence in generating the tension. For this purpose, we start with statistical divergences applied to posterior distributions following from different data sets and develop the theory of a Fisher metric between two data sets, in analogy to the Fisher metric for different parameter choices. As a topical example, we consider the tension in the Hubble-Lema\^itre constant $H_0$ from supernova and measurements of the cosmic microwave background, derive a ranking of data points in order of their influence on the tension on $H_0$. For this particular example, we compute Bayesian distance measures and show that in the light of CMB data, supernovae are commonly too bright, whereas the low-$\ell$ CMB spectrum is too high, in agreement with intuition about the parameter sensitivity.

The abundances of volatile CHNOS have a profound effect on the interior structure and evolution of a planet. Therefore, it is key to investigate the behavior of the abundances of these elements in the solid phase in the earliest stages of planet formation. However, the processes in planet-forming disks that shape these abundances are highly coupled and nonlocal. We aim to quantify the effects of the interplay between dynamical, collision, ice processing on the abundances of CHNOS in local disk solids as a function of position throughout the planet-forming region. We used SHAMPOO (StocHAstic Monomer PrOcessOr), which tracks the ice budgets of CHNOS-bearing molecules of a dust monomer as it undergoes nonlocal disk processing in a Class I disk. We used a large set of individual monomer evolutionary trajectories to make inferences about the properties of the local dust populations. We find that spatially, monomers can travel larger distances farther out in the disk, leading to a larger spread in positions of origin for a dust population at, for example, r=50 AU compared to r=2 AU. However, chemically, the inner disk (r<10 AU) is more nonlocal due to the closer spacing of ice lines in this disk region. We find that the ice mass associated with individual chemical species can change significantly. The largest differences with local dust were found near ice lines where the collisional timescale is comparable to the adsorption and desorption timescales. Here, aggregates may become significantly depleted in ice as a consequence of microscopic collisional mixing, a previously unknown effect where monomers are stored away in aggregate interiors through rapid cycles of coagulation and fragmentation. This suggests that ice processing is highly coupled to collisional processing in this disk region, which implies that the interiors of dust aggregates must be considered and not just their surfaces.

Aims. The X-ray luminous and radio-loud AGN SRGE J170245.3+130104 discovered at z $\sim$ 5.5 provides unique chances to probe the SMBH growth and evolution with powerful jets in the early Universe. Methods. We present 1.35 - 5.1 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) results on the radio continuum emission and spectrum analysis for this quasar in a low flux density state. Results. This source is unresolved at three frequencies with the total flux densities of 8.35$\pm$0.09 mJy beam-1, 7.47$\pm$0.08 mJy beam-1, and 6.57$\pm$0.02 mJy beam-1 at 1.73 GHz, 2.26 GHz, and 4.87 GHz, respectively. Meanwhile, the brightness temperature is higher than 109 K. Conclusions. Compared with previous radio observations with arcsec-scale resolution, nearly all the radio emission from this source concentrates in the very central milli-arcsecond (mas) scale area. We confirm this source is a bright blazar at z > 5. This young AGN provide us the great chances to understand the first generation of strong jets in the early Universe.

An updated catalog consisting of 1092 6.7-GHz methanol maser sources was reported in this work. Additionally, the NH3 (1, 1), NH3 (2, 2), and NH3 (3, 3) transitions were observed towards 214 star forming regions using the Shanghai Tianma radio telescope (TMRT) in order to examine the differences in physical environments, such as excitation temperature and column density of molecular clouds associated with methanol masers on the Galactic scale. Statistical results reveal that the number of 6.7 GHz methanol masers in the Perseus arm is significantly lower than that in the other three main spiral arms. In addition, the Perseus arm also has the lowest gas column density among the main spiral arms traced by the NH3 observations. Both of these findings suggest that the Perseus arm has the lowest rate of high-mass star formation compared to the other three main spiral arms. We also observed a trend in which both the luminosity of 6.7 GHz methanol masers and the ammonia gas column density decreased as the galactocentric distances. This finding indicates that the density of material in the inner Milky Way is generally higher than that in the outer Milky Way. It further suggests that high-mass stars are more easily formed at the head of spiral arms. Furthermore, we found that the column density of ammonia gas is higher in the regions on the arms than that in the inter-arm regions, supporting that the former is more likely to be the birthplace of high-mass stars.

This research studies the intricate interplay between dark and baryonic matter within hybrid neutron stars enriched by anisotropic bosonic dark matter halos. Our modelling, guided by the equation of state with a free parameter, reveals diverse mass-radius correlations for these astronomical objects. A pivotal result is the influence of dark matter characteristics - whether condensed or dispersed - on the observable attributes of neutron stars based on their masses. Our investigation into anisotropic models, which offer a notably authentic representation of dark matter anisotropy, reveals a unique low-density core halo profile, distinguishing it from alternative approaches. Insights gleaned from galactic clusters have further refined our understanding of the bosonic dark matter paradigm. Observational constraints derived from the dynamics of galaxy clusters have been fundamental in defining the dark matter particle mass to lie between 0.05 GeV and 0.5 GeV and the scattering length to range from 0.9 fm to 3 fm. Using terrestrial Bose-Einstein condensate experiments, we have narrowed down the properties of bosonic dark matter, especially in the often overlooked 3 to 30 GeV mass range. Our findings fortify the understanding of dark and baryonic matter synergies in hybrid neutron stars, establishing a robust foundation for future astrophysical pursuits.

Fast flavor conversions (FFCs) of neutrinos, which can occur in core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), are multiangle effects. They depend on the angular distribution of the neutrino's electron lepton number (ELN). In this work, we present a comprehensive study of the FFCs by solving the multienergy and multiangle quantum kinetic equations with an extended set of collisional weak processes based on a static and spherically symmetric CCSN matter background profile. We investigate the emergence and evolution of FFCs in models featuring different ELN angular distributions, considering scenarios with two and three neutrino flavors. The spectrogram method is utilized to illustrate the small-scale spatial structure, and we show that this structure of neutrino flavor coherence and number densities in the nonlinear regime is qualitatively consistent with the dispersion relation analysis. On the coarse-grained level, we find that different asymptotic states can be achieved following the FFCs depending on the locations and shapes of the ELN distributions, despite sharing a common feature of the elimination of the ELN angular crossing. While equilibration among different neutrino flavors may be achieved immediately after the prompt FFCs, it is not a general outcome of the asymptotic state, as subsequent feedback effects from collisional neutrino-matter interactions come into play, particularly for cases where FFCs occur inside the neutrinosphere. The impacts of FFCs and the feedback effect on the net neutrino heating rates, the equilibrium electron fraction of CCSN matter, and the free-streaming neutrino energy spectra are quantitatively assessed. Other aspects including the impact of the vacuum term and the coexistence with other type of flavor instabilities are also discussed.

The luminosity of Type IIP supernovae (SNe IIP) primarily arises from the recombination of hydrogen ionized by the explosion shock and the radioactive decay of \Co. However, the physical connections between SNe IIP and their progenitor stars remain unclear. This paper presents a comprehensive grid of stellar evolution models and their corresponding supernova light curves (LCs) to investigate the physical properties of observed SNe IIP. The study employs the one-dimensional stellar evolution code, \texttt{MESA}. Our models consider the effects of stellar metallicity, mass, and rotation in the evolution of massive stars, as well as explosion energy and \Ni\ production in modeling supernovae. To elucidate the observed LCs of SNe IIP and to probe their progenitor stars, we fit the observed SNe IIP with our multi-color LCs and discuss their physical origins. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of stellar parameters on LCs. Factors such as the progenitor star's mass, rotation, metallicity, explosion energy, and \Ni\ production influence the light curve's shape and duration. We find that higher-mass stars exhibit longer plateaus due to increased photon diffusion time caused by massive ejecta, impacting the duration of the light curve. Rapid rotation affects internal stellar structures, enhancing convective mixing and mass loss, potentially affecting the plateau's brightness and duration. Higher metallicity leads to increased opacity, altering energy transport and luminosity. Higher explosion energy results in brighter but shorter plateaus due to faster ejecta. \Ni\ production affects late-time luminosity and plateau duration, with larger masses leading to slower declines.

Convective processes are crucial in shaping exoplanetary atmospheres but are computationally expensive to simulate directly. A novel technique of simulating moist convection on tidally locked exoplanets is to use a global 3D model with a stretched mesh. This allows us to locally refine the model resolution to 4.7 km and resolve fine-scale convective processes without relying on parameterizations. We explore the impact of mesh stretching on the climate of a slowly rotating TRAPPIST-1e-like planet, assuming it is 1:1 tidally locked. In the stretched-mesh simulation with explicit convection, the climate is 5 K colder and 25% drier than that in the simulations with parameterized convection. This is due to the increased cloud reflectivity and exacerbated by the diminished greenhouse effect due to less water vapor. At the same time, our stretched-mesh simulations reproduce the key characteristics of the global climate of tidally locked rocky exoplanets, without any noticeable numerical artifacts. Our methodology opens an exciting and computationally feasible avenue for improving our understanding of 3D mixing in exoplanetary atmospheres. Our study also demonstrates the feasibility of a global stretched mesh configuration for LFRic-Atmosphere, the next-generation Met Office climate and weather model.

We discuss recent results in neutrino astronomy and their implications for the cosmic-ray acceleration in relativistic outflows, such as in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) jets, Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), and Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs). We especially focus on challenges at the interface to particle acceleration which can be inferred from the multi-messenger context, such as the paradigm that the sources power the Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs). We demonstrate that both AGN blazars (in the context of neutrino observations) and GRBs (as UHECR sources in the context of neutrino-non-observations) point towards acceleration spectra harder than $E^{-2}$, or relatively high minimal cosmic-ray injection energies, to meet the respective energy budget requirements. We furthermore speculate that neutrino flares in AGN blazars may be related to super-Eddington accretion flares, or that GRBs are powered by significantly higher kinetic energies than typically assumed in electromagnetic models. For internal shock models, the UHECR paradigm for GRBs can only be maintained in the light of neutrino stacking limits in multi-zone models. While relativistic outflows in TDEs have become recently interesting per se and models for the neutrino emission from jetted TDEs exist, a direct connection between TDE jets pointing in our direction and astrophysical neutrinos has not been identified yet.

Chemical anomalies in planet-hosting stars (PHSs) are studied in order to assess how the planetary nature and multiplicity affect the atmospheric chemical abundances of their host stars. We employ APOGEE DR17 to select thin-disk stars of the Milky Way, and cross-match them with the Kepler Input Catalog to identify confirmed PHSs, which results in 227 PHSs with available chemical-abundance ratios for six refractory elements. We also examine an ensemble of stars without planet signals, which are equivalent to the selected PHSs in terms of evolutionary stage and stellar parameters, to correct for Galactic chemical-evolution effects, and derive the abundance gradient of refractory elements over the condensation temperature for the PHSs. Using the Galactic chemical-evolution corrected abundances, we found that PHSs do not show a significant difference in abundance slope from the stars without planets. Furthermore, we examine the depletion trends of refractory elements of PHSs depending on total number of planets and their types, and find that the PHSs with giant planets are more depleted in refractory elements than those with rocky planets. Among the PHSs with rocky planets, the refractory-depletion trends are potentially correlated with the terrestrial planets' radii and multiplicity. In the cases of PHSs with giant planets, sub-Jovian PHSs demonstrated more depleted refractory trends than stars hosting Jovian-mass planets, raising questions on different planetary-formation processes for Neptune-like and Jupiter-like planets.

The spatial coherence wavefront outer scale (L_0) characterizes the size of the largest turbulence eddies in Earth's atmosphere, determining low spatial frequency perturbations in the wavefront of the light captured by ground-based telescopes. The motivation of this work is to introduce a novel technique for estimating L_0 from seeing-limited integral field spectroscopic (IFS) data. This approach is based on the impact of a finite L_0 on the light collected by the pupil entrance of a ground-based telescope. We take advantage of the homogeneity of IFS to generate band filter images spanning a wide wavelength range, enabling the assessment of image quality (IQ) at the telescope's focal plane. Comparing the measured wavelength-dependent IQ variation with predictions from Tokovinin (2002) analytical approach offers valuable insights into the prevailing L_0 parameter during the observations. We applied the proposed technique to observations from MUSE in the Wide Field Mode obtained at the Paranal Observatory. Our analysis successfully validates Tokovinin's analytical expression, which combines the seeing (E_0) and the L_0 parameters, to predict the IQ variations with the wavelength in ground-based astronomical data. However, we observed some discrepancies between the measured and predictions of the IQ that are analyzed in terms of uncertainties in the estimated E_0 and dome-induced turbulence contributions. This work constitutes the empirical validation of the analytical expression for estimating IQ at the focal plane of ground-based telescopes under specific E_0 and finite L_0 conditions. Additionally, we provide a simple methodology to characterize the L_0 and dome-seeing (E_d) as by-products of IFS observations routinely conducted at major ground-based astronomical observatories.

Ultra-hot Jupiters (UHJs) undergo intense irradiation by their host stars and are expected to experience non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) effects in their atmospheres. Such effects are computationally intensive to model but, at the low pressures probed by high-resolution cross-correlation spectroscopy (HRCCS), can significantly impact the formation of spectral lines. The UHJ WASP-121 b exhibits a highly inflated atmosphere, making it ideal for investigating the impact of NLTE effects on its transmission spectrum. Here, we formally introduce Cloudy for Exoplanets, a Cloudy-based modelling code, and use it to generate 1-D LTE and NLTE atmospheric models and spectra to analyse archival HARPS WASP-121 b transmission spectra. We assessed the models using two HRCCS methods: i) Pearson cross-correlation, and ii) a method that aims to match the average observed line depth for given atmospheric species. All models result in strong detections of Fe I ($7.5<S/N<10.5$). However, the highest S/N model (LTE) does not agree with the best-matching model of the average line depth (NLTE). We also find degeneracy, such that increasing the isothermal temperature and metallicity of the LTE models can produce average line depths similar to cooler, less metal rich NLTE models. Thus, we are unable to conclusively remark on the presence of NLTE effects in the atmosphere of WASP-121 b. We instead highlight the need for standardised metrics in HRCCS that enable robust statistical assessment of complex physical models, e.g. NLTE or 3-D effects, that are currently too computationally intensive to include in HRCCS atmospheric retrievals.

Gamma-ray Burst afterglows are emissions from ultra-relativistic blastwaves produced by a narrow jet interacting with surrounding matter. Since the first multi-messenger observation of a neutron star merger, hydrodynamic modeling of GRB afterglows for structured jets with smoothly varying angular energy distributions has gained increased interest. While the evolution of a jet is well described by self-similar solutions in both ultra-relativistic and Newtonian limits, modeling the transitional phase remains challenging. This is due to the non-linear spreading of a narrow jet to a spherical configuration and the breakdown of self-similar solutions. Analytical models are limited in capturing these non-linear effects, while relativistic hydrodynamic simulations are computationally expensive which restricts the exploration of various initial conditions. In this work, we introduce a reduced hydrodynamic model that approximates the blastwave as an infinitely thin two-dimensional surface. Further assuming axial-symmetry, this model simplifies the simulation to one dimension and drastically reduces the computational costs. We have compared our modeling to relativistic hydrodynamic simulations, semi-analytic methods, and applied it to fit the light curve and flux centroid motion of GW170817. These comparisons demonstrate a high level of agreement and validate our approach. We have developed this method into a numerical tool, jetsimpy, which models the synchrotron GRB afterglow emission from a blastwave with arbitrary angular energy and Lorentz factor distribution. Although the code is built for GRB afterglow in mind, it is applicable to any relativistic jets. This tool is particularly useful in Markov Chain Monte Carlo studies and is provided to the community.

Low-frequency radio observations of diffuse synchrotron radiation offer a unique vantage point for investigating the intricate relationship between gas and magnetic fields in the formation of structures within the Galaxy, spanning from the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) to star-forming regions. Achieving this pivotal objective hinges on a comprehensive understanding of cosmic-ray properties, which dictate the effective energy distribution of relativistic electrons, primarily responsible for the observable synchrotron radiation. Notably, cosmic-ray electrons (CRe) with energies between 100 MeV and 10 GeV play a crucial role in determining the majority of the sky brightness below the GHz range. However, their energy flux ($j_e$) remains elusive due to solar modulation. We propose deriving observational constraints on this energy gap of interstellar CRe through the brightness temperature spectral index of low-frequency radio emission, here denoted as $\beta_{\rm obs}$. We introduce a new parametric analytical model that fits available data of $j_e$ in accordance with the $\beta_{\rm obs}$ values measured in the literature between 50 MHz to 1 GHz for diffuse emission in the Milky Way. Our model allows to account for multiple observations considering magnetic-field strengths consistent with existing measurements below 10 $\mu$G. We present a first all-sky map of the average component of the magnetic field perpendicular to the line of sight and validate our methodology against state-of-the art numerical simulations of the diffuse ISM. This research makes headway in modeling Galactic diffuse emission with a practical parametric form. It provides essential insights in preparation for the imminent arrival of the Square Kilometre Array.

The dynamic spectra of pulsars frequently exhibit diverse interference patterns, often associated with parabolic arcs in the Fourier-transformed (secondary) spectra. In our approach, we extend beyond the traditional Fresnel-Kirchhoff method by using the Green's function of the Helmholtz equation. Through advanced numerical techniques, we model both the dynamic and secondary spectra, providing a comprehensive framework that describes all components of the latter spectra in terms of physical quantities. Additionally, we provide a thorough analytical explanation of the secondary spectrum.

By studying the variability of blazars across the electromagnetic spectrum, it is possible to resolve the underlying processes responsible for rapid flux increases, so-called flares. We report on an extremely bright X-ray flare in the high-peaked BL Lacertae object Mrk 421 that occurred simultaneously with enhanced $\gamma$-ray activity detected at very high energies (VHE) by FACT on 2019 June 9. We triggered an observation with XMM-Newton, which observed the source quasi-continuously for 25 hours. We find that the source was in the brightest state ever observed using XMM-Newton, reaching a flux of $2.8\times10^{-9}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ over an energy range of 0.3 - 10 keV. We perform a spectral and timing analysis to reveal the mechanisms of particle acceleration and to search for the shortest source-intrinsic time scales. Mrk 421 exhibits the typical harder-when-brighter behaviour throughout the observation and shows a clock-wise hysteresis pattern, which indicates that the cooling dominates over the acceleration process. While the X-ray emission in different sub-bands is highly correlated, we can exclude large time lags as the computed zDCFs are consistent with a zero lag. We find rapid variability on time scales of 1 ks for the 0.3 - 10 keV band and down to 300s in the hard X-ray band (4 - 10 keV). Taking these time scales into account, we discuss different models to explain the observed X-ray flare, and find that a plasmoid-dominated magnetic reconnection process is able to describe our observation best.

We report on the finding of a newborn AGN, i.e. current AGN activity in a galaxy previously classified as non-active, and characterize its evolution. Black hole ignition event candidates were selected from a parent sample of spectrally classified non-active galaxies (2.394.312 objects), that currently show optical flux variability indicative of a type I AGN, according to the ALeRCE light curve classifier. A second epoch spectrum for a sample of candidate newborn AGN were obtained with the SOAR telescope to search for new AGN features. We present spectral results for the most convincing case of new AGN activity, for a galaxy with a previous star-forming optical classification, where the second epoch spectrum shows the appearance of prominent, broad Balmer lines without significant changes in the narrow line flux ratios. Long term optical lightcurves show a steady increase in luminosity starting 1.5 years after the SDSS spectrum was taken and continuing for at least 7 years. MIR colors from the WISE catalog have also evolved from typical non active galaxy colors to AGN-like colors and recent X-ray flux detections confirm its AGN nature.

We investigate the nature of low-luminosity radio-loud active galactic nuclei (RLAGN) selected from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) first data release (DR1). Using optical, mid-infrared, and radio data, we have conservatively selected 55 radiative AGN candidates from DR1 within the redshift range $0.03<z<0.1$. We show using high-frequency {\it Karl G. Jansky} Very Large Array (VLA) observations that 10 out of 55 objects show radio emission on scales $>$$1-3$ kpc, 42 are compact at the limiting resolution of 0.35 arcsec (taking an upper limit on the projected physical size, this corresponds to less than 1 kpc), and three are undetected. The extended objects display a wide range of radio morphologies: two-jet (5), one-jet (4), and double-lobed (1). We present the radio spectra of all detected radio sources which range from steep to flat/inverted and span the range seen for other compact radio sources such as compact symmetric objects (CSOs), compact steep spectrum (CSS) sources, and gigahertz peaked-spectrum (GPS) sources. Assuming synchrotron self-absorption (SSA) for flat/inverted radio spectrum sources, we predict small physical sizes for compact objects to range between $2-53$ pc. Alternatively, using free-free absorption (FFA) models, we have estimated the free electron column depth for all compact objects, assuming a homogeneous absorber. We find that these objects do not occupy a special position on the power/linear size ($P-D$) diagram but some share a region with radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) and so-called `FR0' sources in terms of radio luminosity and linear size.

It was recently proposed that the electric field oscillation as a result of self-consistent $e^{\pm}$ pair production may be the source of coherent radio emission from pulsars. Direct Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations of this process have shown that the screening of the parallel electric field by this pair cascade manifests as a limit cycle, as the parallel electric field is recurrently induced when pairs produced in the cascade escape from the gap region. In this work, we develop a simplified time-dependent kinetic model of $e^{\pm}$ pair cascades in pulsar magnetospheres that can reproduce the limit-cycle behavior of pair production and electric field screening. This model includes the effects of a magnetospheric current, the escape of $e^{\pm}$, as well as the dynamic dependence of pair production rate on the plasma density and energy. Using this simple theoretical model, we show that the power spectrum of electric field oscillations averaged over many limit cycles is compatible with the observed pulsar radio spectrum.

We are interested in the influence of cloudy atmospheres on the thermal radius evolution of warm exoplanets from an interior modelling perspective. By applying a physically motivated but simple parameterized cloud model, we obtain the atmospheric $P$-$T$ structure that is connected to the adiabatic interior at the self-consistently calculated radiative-convective boundary. We investigate the impact of cloud gradients, with the possibility of inhibiting superadiabatic clouds. Furthermore, we explore the impact on the radius evolution for a cloud base fixed at a certain pressure versus a subsiding cloud base during the planets' thermal evolution. We find that deep clouds clearly alter the evolution tracks of warm giants, leading to either slower/faster cooling than in the cloudless case (depending on the cloud model used). When comparing the fixed versus dynamic cloud base during evolution, we see an enhanced behaviour resulting in a faster or slower cooling in the case of the dynamic cloud base. We show that atmospheric models including deep clouds can lead to degeneracy in predicting the bulk metallicity of planets, $Z_\mathrm{P}$. For WASP-10b, we find a possible span of $\approx {Z_\mathrm{P}}_{-0.06}^{+0.10}$. For TOI-1268b, it is $\approx {Z_\mathrm{P}}_{-0.05}^{+0.10}$. Further work on cloud properties during the long-term evolution of gas giants is needed to better estimate the influence on the radius evolution.

Gravitational waves from binary mergers at cosmological distances will experience weak lensing by large scale structure. This causes a (de-)magnification, $\mu$, of the wave amplitude, and a degenerate modification to the inferred luminosity distance $d_L$. To address this the uncertainty on $d_L$ is increased according to the dispersion of the magnification distribution at the source redshift, $\sigma_\mu$. But this term is dependent on cosmological parameters that are being constrained by gravitational wave "standard sirens", such as the Hubble parameter $H_0$, and the matter density fraction $\Omega_m$. $\sigma_\mu$ is also sensitive to the resolution of the simulation used for its calculation. Tension in the measured value of $H_0$ from independent datasets, and the present use of outdated cosmological simulations, suggest $\sigma_\mu$ could be underestimated. We consider two classes of standard siren, supermassive black hole binary and binary neutron star mergers. Underestimating $H_0$ and $\Omega_m$ when calculating $\sigma_\mu$ increases the probability of finding a residual lensing bias on these parameters greater than $1\sigma$ by 1.5-3 times. Underestimating $\sigma_\mu$ by using low resolution/small sky-area simulations can also significantly increase the probability of biased results. For neutron star mergers, the spread of possible biases is 0.25 km/s/Mpc, comparable to the forecasted uncertainty. Left uncorrected this effect limits the use of BNS mergers for precision cosmology. For supermassive black hole binaries, the spread of possible biases on $H_0$ is significant, 5 km/s/Mpc, but $O(200)$ observations are needed to reduce the variance below the bias. To achieve accurate sub-percent level precision on cosmological parameters using standard sirens, first much improved knowledge on the form of the magnification distribution and its dependence on cosmology is needed.

We study anisotropic solutions for the pure $R^2$ gravity model with a scalar field in the Bianchi I metric. The evolution equations have a singularity at zero value of the Ricci scalar $R$ for anisotropic solutions, whereas these equations are smooth for isotropic solutions. So, there is no anisotropic solution with the Ricci scalar smoothly changing its sign during evolution. We have found anisotropic solutions using the conformal transformation of the metric and the Einstein frame. The general solution in the Einstein frame has been found explicitly. The corresponding solution in the Jordan frame has been constructed in quadratures.

We solve the first-order relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) within the linear-mode analysis performed near an equilibrium configuration in the fluid rest frame. We find two complete sets of analytic solutions for the four and two coupled modes with seven dissipative transport coefficients. The former set has been missing in the literature for a long time. Our method provides a simple and general algorithm for the solution search on an order-by-order basis in the derivative expansion, and can be applied to general sets of hydrodynamic equations. We also find that the small-momentum expansions of the solutions break down when the momentum direction is nearly perpendicular to an equilibrium magnetic field due to the presence of another small quantity, that is, a trigonometric function representing the anisotropy. We elaborate on the angle dependence of the solutions and provide alternative series representations that work near the right angle. Finally, we discuss the issues of causality and stability based on our analytic solutions and recent developments in the literature.

Background cosmological dynamics for a universe with matter, a scalar field non-minimally derivative coupling to Einstein tensor under power-law potential and holographic vacuum energy is considered here. The holographic IR cutoff scale is apparent horizon which, for accelerating universe, forms a trapped null surface in the same spirit as blackhole's event horizon. For non-flat case, effective gravitational constant can not be expressed in the Friedmann equation. Therefore holographic vacuum density is defined with standard gravitational constant in stead of the effective one. Dynamical and stability analysis shows four independent fixed points. One fixed point is stable and it corresponds to $w_{\text{eff}} = -1$. One branch of the stable fixed-point solutions corresponds to de-Sitter expansion. The others are either unstable or saddle nodes. Numerical integration of the dynamical system are performed and plotted confronting with $H(z)$ data. It is found that for flat universe, $H(z)$ observational data favors large negative value of $\kappa$. Larger holographic contribution, $c$, and larger negative NMDC coupling increase slope and magnitude of the $w_{\text{eff}}$ and $H(z)$. Negative NMDC coupling can contribute to phantom equation of state, $w_{\text{eff}} < -1$. The NMDC-spatial curvature coupling could also have phantom energy contribution. Moreover, free negative spatial curvature term can also contribute to phantom equation of state, but only with significantly large negative value of the spatial curvature.

We report the first experimental results obtained with the new haloscope of the QUAX experiment located at Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati of INFN (LNF). The haloscope is composed of a OFHC Cu resonant cavity cooled down to about 30 mK and immersed in a magnetic field of 8 T. The cavity frequency was varied in a 6 MHz range between 8.831496 and 8.83803 GHz. This corresponds to a previously unprobed mass range between 36.52413 and 36.5511 $\mu$eV. We don't observe any excess in the power spectrum and set limits on the axion-photon coupling in this mass range down to $g_{a\gamma\gamma} < 0.861 \times 10^{-13}$ GeV$^{-1}$ with the confidence level set at $90\%$.

How the solar wind influences the magnetospheres of the outer planets is a fundamentally important question, but is difficult to answer in the absence of consistent, simultaneous monitoring of the upstream solar wind and the large-scale dynamics internal to the magnetosphere. To compensate for the relative lack of in-situ data, propagation models are often used to estimate the ambient solar wind conditions at the outer planets for comparison to remote observations or in-situ measurements. This introduces another complication: the propagation of near-Earth solar wind measurements introduces difficult-to-assess uncertainties. Here, we present the Multi-Model Ensemble System for the outer Heliosphere (MMESH) to begin to address these issues, along with the resultant multi-model ensemble (MME) of the solar wind conditions near Jupiter. MMESH accepts as input any number of solar wind models together with contemporaneous in-situ spacecraft data. From these, the system characterizes typical uncertainties in model timing, quantifies how these uncertainties vary under different conditions, attempts to correct for systematic biases in the input model timing, and composes a MME with uncertainties from the results. For the case of the Jupiter-MME presented here, three solar wind propagation models were compared to in-situ measurements from the near-Jupiter spacecraft Ulysses and Juno which span diverse geometries and phases of the solar cycle, amounting to more than 14,000 hours of data over 2.5 decades. The MME gives the most-probable near-Jupiter solar wind conditions for times within the tested epoch, outperforming the input models and returning quantified estimates of uncertainty.

In astronomy, we frequently face the decision problem: does this data contain a signal? Typically, a statistical approach is used, which requires a threshold. The choice of threshold presents a common challenge in settings where signals and noise must be delineated, but their distributions overlap. Gravitational-wave astronomy, which has gone from the first discovery to catalogues of hundreds of events in less than a decade, presents a fascinating case study. For signals from colliding compact objects, the field has evolved from a frequentist to a Bayesian methodology. However, the issue of choosing a threshold and validating noise contamination in a catalogue persists. Confusion and debate often arise due to the misapplication of statistical concepts, the complicated nature of the detection statistics, and the inclusion of astrophysical background models. We introduce Conformal Prediction (CP), a framework developed in Machine Learning to provide distribution-free uncertainty quantification to point predictors. We show that CP can be viewed as an extension of the traditional statistical frameworks whereby thresholds are calibrated such that the uncertainty intervals are statistically rigorous and the error rate can be validated. Moreover, we discuss how CP offers a framework to optimally build a meta-pipeline combining the outputs from multiple independent searches. We introduce CP with a toy cosmic-ray detector, which captures the salient features of most astrophysical search problems and allows us to demonstrate the features of CP in a simple context. We then apply the approach to a recent gravitational-wave Mock Data Challenge using multiple search algorithms for compact binary coalescence signals in interferometric gravitational-wave data. Finally, we conclude with a discussion on the future potential of the method for gravitational-wave astronomy.

We construct a kinetic model for matter-radiation interactions where the hydrodynamic gradient expansion can be computed analytically up to infinite order in derivatives, in the fully non-linear regime, and for arbitrary flows. The frequency dependence of the opacity of matter is chosen to mimic the relaxation time of a self-interacting scalar field. In this way, the transient sector simulates that of a realistic quantum field theory. As expected, the gradient series is divergent for most flows. We identify the mechanism at the origin of the divergence, and we provide a successful regularization scheme. Additionally, we propose a universal qualitative framework for predicting the breakdown of the gradient expansion of an arbitrary microscopic system undergoing a given flow. This framework correctly predicts the factorial divergence of the gradient expansion in most non-linear flows and its breakdown due to stochastic fluctuations. It also predicts that jets may induce an ultraviolet divergence in the gradient expansion of quark matter hydrodynamics.

We extend the anholonomic frame and connection deformation method, AFCDM, for constructing exact and parametric solutions in general relativity, GR, to geometric flow models and modified gravity theories, MGTs, with nontrivial torsion and nonmetricity fields. Following abstract geometric or variational methods, we can derive corresponding systems of nonmetric gravitational and matter field equations which consist of very sophisticated systems of coupled nonlinear PDEs. Using nonholonomic frames with dyadic spacetime splitting and applying the AFCDM, we prove that such systems of PDEs can be decoupled and integrated in general forms for generic off-diagonal metric structures and generalized affine connections. We generate new classes of quasi-stationary solutions (which do not depend on time like coordinates) and study the physical properties of some physically important examples. Such exact or parametric solutions are determined by nonmetric solitonic distributions and/or ellipsoidal deformations of wormhole hole configurations. It is not possible to describe the thermodynamic properties of such solutions in the framework of the Bekenstein-Hawking paradigm because such metrics do not involve, in general, certain horizons, duality, or holographic configurations. Nevertheless, we can always elaborate on associated Grigori Perelman thermodynamic models elaborated for nonmetric geometric flows. In explicit form, applying the AFCDM, we construct and study the physical implications of new classes of traversable wormhole solutions describing solitonic deformation and dissipation of non-Riemannian geometric objects. Such models with nontrivial gravitational off-diagonal vacuum are important for elaborating models of dark energy and dark matter involving wormhole configurations and solitonic-type structure formation.

Light primordial black holes (PBHs) with masses $M_\mathrm{PBH}<10^9\mathrm{g}$ can interestingly dominate the Universe's energy budget and give rise to early matter-dominated (eMD) eras before Big Bang Nucleosyntesis (BBN). During this eMD era, one is met with an abundant production of induced gravitational waves (GWs) serving as a portal to constrain the underlying theory of gravity. In this work, we study this type of induced GWs within the context of string-inspired running-vaccuum models (StRVMs), which, when expanded around de Sitter backgrounds, include logarithmic corrections of the space-time curvature. In particular, we discuss in detail the effects of StRVMs on the source as well as on the propagation of these PBH-induced GWs. Remarkably, under the assumption that the logarithmic terms represent quantum gravity corrections in the PBH era, we show that GW overproduction can be avoided if one assumes a coefficient of these logarithmic corrections that is much larger than the square of the reduced Planck mass. The latter cannot characterise quantum gravity corrections, though, prompting the need for revision of the quantisation of StRVMs in different than de Sitter backgrounds, such as those characterising PBH-driven eMD eras. This non trivial result suggests the importance of light PBHs as probes of new physics.

We perform a comprehensive analysis of state-of-the-art waveform models, focusing on their predictions concerning kick velocity and inferred gravitational wave memory. In our investigation we assess the accuracy of waveform models using energy-momentum balance laws, which were derived in the framework of full, non-linear General Relativity. The numerical accuracy assessment is performed for precessing as well as non-precessing scenarios for models belonging to the \textit{EOB}, \textit{Phenom}, and \textit{Surrogate} families. We analyze the deviations of these models from each other and from Numerical Relativity waveforms. Our analysis reveals statistically significant deviations, which we trace back to inaccuracies in modelling subdominant modes and inherent systematic errors in the chosen models. We corroborate our findings through analytical considerations regarding the mixing of harmonic modes in the computed kick velocities and inferred memories.

In recent years, denoising problems have become intertwined with the development of deep generative models. In particular, diffusion models are trained like denoisers, and the distribution they model coincide with denoising priors in the Bayesian picture. However, denoising through diffusion-based posterior sampling requires the noise level and covariance to be known, preventing blind denoising. We overcome this limitation by introducing Gibbs Diffusion (GDiff), a general methodology addressing posterior sampling of both the signal and the noise parameters. Assuming arbitrary parametric Gaussian noise, we develop a Gibbs algorithm that alternates sampling steps from a conditional diffusion model trained to map the signal prior to the family of noise distributions, and a Monte Carlo sampler to infer the noise parameters. Our theoretical analysis highlights potential pitfalls, guides diagnostic usage, and quantifies errors in the Gibbs stationary distribution caused by the diffusion model. We showcase our method for 1) blind denoising of natural images involving colored noises with unknown amplitude and spectral index, and 2) a cosmology problem, namely the analysis of cosmic microwave background data, where Bayesian inference of "noise" parameters means constraining models of the evolution of the Universe.

We consider a proposed alternative to quantum gravity, in which the spacetime metric is treated as classical, even while matter fields remain quantum. Consistency of the theory necessarily requires that the metric evolve stochastically. Here, we show that this stochastic behaviour leads to a modification of general relativity at low accelerations. In the low acceleration regime, the variance in the acceleration produced by the gravitational field is high in comparison to that produced by the Newtonian potential, and acts as an entropic force, causing a deviation from Einstein's theory of general relativity. We show that in this "diffusion regime", the entropic force acts from a gravitational point of view, as if it were a contribution to the matter distribution. We compute how this modifies the expectation value of the metric via the path integral formalism, and find that an entropic force driven by a stochastic cosmological constant can explain galactic rotation curves without needing to evoke dark matter. We caution that a greater understanding of this effect is needed before conclusions can be drawn, most likely through numerical simulations, and provide a template for computing the deviation from general relativity which serves as an experimental signature of the Brownian motion of spacetime.