Papers for Tuesday, Jan 21 2025

Nova shells are the remnants of a nova eruption in a cataclysmic variable system. By studying their geometry we can better understand the physical mechanisms that shape them during the nova eruption. A nova shell that challenges our current understanding of these processes is the shell observed around V1425 Aql. It has at least two different components: an inner and symmetric shell, and an outer and asymmetric shell, with the latter expanding faster than the former. The physical reason behind the asymmetric ejecta is not clear. We aim to characterize the properties and differences between these two components to understand the origin behind the unusual shape. We acquired MUSE data to study the spatial position and kinematics of the expanding gas across the shell. Our analysis includes channel maps, position-velocity diagrams, and the reconstruction of the 3D geometry of the nova shell. Several emission lines are detected within the MUSE wavelength coverage, including but not limited to Balmer, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Helium lines. There are significant differences in the spectra of the inner and outer shells, with the latter being observed only in forbidden transitions, while the inner shows a mix of forbidden and allowed ones. Our analysis reveals that the outer shell has a geometry consistent with an arc-shaped structure that partially encircles the more spherical inner shell. Within the inner shell, clumpy structures start to be noticeable in the lines of H$\alpha$+[Nii]. We have constrained the geometry of the outer shell to an arc-shaped structure, although the physical reason behind its origin is still eluding us. Further monitoring of the evolution of both shells in this object might help to clarify the mechanism behind this unusual configuration.

Numerous observations confirm the existence of dark matter (DM) at astrophysical and cosmological scales. Theory and simulations of galaxy formation predict that DM should cluster on small scales in bound structures called sub-halos or DM clumps. While the most massive DM sub-halos host baryonic matter, less massive, unpopulated sub-halos could be abundant in the Milky Way (MW), as well and yield high-energy gamma rays as final products of DM annihilation. Recently, it has been highlighted that the brightest halos should also have a sizeable extension in the sky. In this study, we examine the prospects offered by the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), a next-generation gamma-ray instrument, for detecting and characterizing such objects. Previous studies have primarily focused on high-latitude observations; here, we assess the potential impact of the CTAO's Galactic Plane Survey, which will provide unprecedentedly deep survey data for the inner five degrees of the Galactic plane. Our modeling accounts for tidal effects on the sub-halo population, examining the conditions under which DM sub-halos can be detected and distinguished from conventional astrophysical sources. We find that regions a few degrees above or below the Galactic plane offer the highest likelihood for DM sub-halo detection. For an individual sub-halo -- the brightest from among various realizations of the MW subhalo population -- we find that detection at the 5$\sigma$ level is achievable for an annihilation cross section of $\langle \sigma v \rangle \sim 3\times10^{-25}$ cm$^3$/s for TeV-scale DM annihilating into $b\bar{b}$. For a full population study, depending on the distribution and luminosity model of Galactic sub-halos, yet unconstrained cross sections in the range $\langle \sigma v \rangle \sim 10^{-23}-10^{-22}$ cm$^3$/s for TeV DM candidates are necessary for the brightest sub-halos to be detected.

Effectively finding and identifying active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in dwarf galaxies is an important step in studying black hole formation and evolution. In this work, we examine four mid-IR-selected AGN candidates in dwarf galaxies with stellar masses between $M_\star \sim 10^8 - 10^9 M_\odot$ , and find that the galaxies are host to nuclear star clusters (NSCs) that are notably rare in how young and massive they are. We perform photometric measurements on the central star clusters in our target galaxies galaxies using Hubble Space Telescope optical and near-IR imaging and compare their observed properties to models of stellar population evolution. We find that these galaxies are host to very massive ($\sim10^7 M_\odot$), extremely young ($\lesssim 8$ Myr), dusty ($0.6 \lesssim \mathrm{A_v} \lesssim 1.8$) nuclear star clusters. Our results indicate that these galactic nuclei have ongoing star-formation, are still at least partially obscured by clouds of gas and dust, and are most likely producing the extremely red AGN-like mid-IR colors. Moreover, prior work has shown that these galaxies do not exhibit X-ray or optical AGN signatures. Therefore, we recommend caution when using mid-IR color-color diagnostics for AGN selection in dwarf galaxies, since, as directly exemplified in this sample, they can be contaminated by massive star clusters with ongoing star formation.

Hydrodynamic instabilities likely operate in protoplanetary disks. One candidate, Convective Overstability (COS), can be triggered in regions with a negative radial entropy gradient. The ensuing turbulence and flow structures are expected to affect dust dynamics directly. We revisit the interaction between dust and the COS with high-resolution spectral simulations in the unstratified, axisymmetric Boussinesq shearing box framework. We find zonal flows, or pressure bumps, formed by the COS trap dust, as expected, but dust densities increase at most by a factor of $O(10)$ over its background value due to the zonal flows' unsteady nature. Furthermore, dust feedback can impede the formation of zonal flows, even at small dust-to-gas ratios $\epsilon \sim O(0.1)$. We interpret this phenomenon as a competition between the negative gas angular momentum flux associated with zonal flow formation and the positive dust angular momentum flux associated with its drift towards pressure maxima. Dust concentration significantly weakens when a large-scale radial pressure gradient induces a background dust drift. Ultimately, we find that dust concentration by COS-induced zonal flows is limited to $\epsilon \lesssim 1$. Whether this can be improved under more realistic geometries must be addressed with stratified and full 3D simulations at equivalent resolutions.

We present a summary of the current knowledge about Cepheids in binary systems. We focus on the most recent findings and discoveries, such as the highly increasing number of confirmed and candidate spectroscopic binary Cepheids and the progress in determining their physical parameters. This includes new and newly analyzed binary Cepheids in the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds. We will provide an update on the project to increase the number of the most valuable Cepheids in double-lined binary (SB2) systems from six to more than 100. To date, we have confirmed 60 SB2 systems, including detecting a significant orbital motion for 37. We identified systems with orbital periods up to five times shorter than the shortest period reported before and systems with mass ratios significantly different from unity (suggesting past binary interactions, including merger events). Both features are essential to understanding how multiplicity affects the formation and destruction of Cepheid progenitors and how this influences global Cepheid properties. We will also present nine new systems composed of two Cepheids. Only one such double Cepheid system was known before.

The motion of the solar system against an isotropic radiation background, such as the cosmic microwave background, induces a dipole anisotropy in the background due to the Doppler effect. Flux-limited observation of the continuum radiation from galaxies also has been studied extensively to show a dipole anisotropy due to the Doppler effect and the aberration effect. We show that a similar dipole anisotropy exists in spectral-line intensity maps, represented as either galaxy number counts or the diffuse intensity maps. The amplitude of these dipole anisotropies is determined by not only the solar velocity against the large-scale structures but also the temporal evolution of the monopole (sky-average) component. Measuring the dipole at multiple frequencies, which have mutually independent origins due to their occurrence from multiple redshifts, can provide a very accurate measure of the solar velocity thanks to the redundant information. We find that such a measurement can even constrain astrophysical parameters in the nearby universe. We explore the potential for dipole measurement of existing and upcoming surveys, and conclude that the spectral number count of galaxies through SPHEREx will be optimal for the first measurement of the dipole anisotropy in the spectral-line galaxy distribution. LIM surveys with reasonable accuracy are also found to be promising. We also discuss whether these experiments might reveal a peculiar nature of our local universe, that seems to call for a non-standard cosmology other than the simple LambdaCDM model as suggested by recent measures of the baryon acoustic oscillation signatures and the Alcock-Paczynski tests.

Context. The emergence of mixed modes during the subgiant phase, whose frequencies are characterized by a fast evolution with age, can potentially enable a precise determination of stellar properties, a key goal for future missions like PLATO. However, current modelling techniques often consider grids that lack the resolution to properly account for the fast mode frequency evolution, consequently requiring the use of interpolation algorithms to cover the parameter space in between the grid models when applying model-data comparison methods. Aims. We aim at reproducing the $\ell$=1 mode frequencies within the accuracy limits associated with the typical observational errors ($\sim$0.1 $\mu$Hz) through interpolation on a grid of subgiant models. Methods. With that aim, we used variations of a two-step interpolation algorithm, which considered linear and cubic splines interpolation methods and different age proxies (physical age, scaled age, and central density). Results. The best results were obtained using an algorithm that considers cubic splines interpolation along tracks, linear interpolation across tracks, and central density $\rho_\text{c}$ as the age proxy. This combination yielded, on average, an absolute error of 0.14 $\mu$Hz, but reached maximum absolute errors on the interpolated frequencies of 1.2 $\mu$Hz for some models, which is an order of magnitude higher than the typical observational errors. Furthermore, we investigated the impact on the accuracy of the interpolation from changes in the physical properties of the stars, showing, in particular, how the addition of core overshoot can affect significantly the interpolation results.

Redshift and luminosity distributions are essential for understanding the cosmic evolution of extragalactic objects and phenomena, such as galaxies, gamma-ray bursts, and fast radio bursts (FRBs). For FRBs, these distributions are primarily estimated using the fluence and the Dispersion Measure (DM). Calibrating their joint distribution has been challenging due to a lack of accurate fluences in the intensity data of the CHIME/FRB survey. Using the baseband update of CHIME/FRB Catalog 1, we calibrate the 2D fluence-DM distribution for the first time. We find the energy distribution is described well by a Schechter function with power-law slope of $-1.94^{+0.14}_{-0.12}$. Testing two types of redshift evolution models suggests a likely combination of young and old formation channels. $31^{+31}_{-21}$\% of FRB sources may track star formation, or correspondingly, FRB sources may have delay times of $1.94^{+1.54}_{-1.31}$ Gyr. A pure star formation tracking population is excluded by only one model at $> 2\sigma$ confidence. An updated cosmic star formation rate density evolution up to redshift 14 is constrained by compiling results from several JWST studies. Using this information, we expect next-generation radio telescopes to detect a few dozen bursts per year at $z \gtrsim 6$. A radio telescope with a system-equivalent flux density of $\leq 1$ Jy (equivalent to a detection threshold of 14 mJy ms) and instantaneous sky coverage of $\gtrsim 200$ square degrees should be able to detect $1.4^{+1.6}_{-1.0}\times 10^3$ FRBs year$^{-1}$ at $z \gtrsim 6$ and $234^{+250}_{-162}$ FRBs year$^{-1}$ at $z\gtrsim 8$, which is sufficient to differentiate between reionization histories.

Classifying galaxies is an essential step for studying their structures and dynamics. Using GalaxyZoo2 (GZ2) fractions thresholds, we collect 545 and 11,735 samples in non-galaxy and galaxy classes, respectively. We compute the Zernike moments (ZMs) for GZ2 images, extracting unique and independent characteristics of galaxies. The uniqueness due to the orthogonality and completeness of Zernike polynomials, reconstruction of the original images with minimum errors, invariances (rotation, translation, and scaling), different block structures, and discriminant decision boundaries of ZMs' probability density functions for different order numbers indicate the capability of ZMs in describing galaxy features. We classify the GZ2 samples, firstly into the galaxies and non-galaxies and secondly, galaxies into spiral, elliptical, and odd objects (e.g., ring, lens, disturbed, irregular, merger, and dust lane). The two models include the support vector machine (SVM) and one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN), which use ZMs, compared with the other three classification models of 2D-CNN, ResNet50, and VGG16 that apply the features from original images. We find the true skill statistic (TSS) greater than 0.86 for the SVM and 1D-CNN with ZMs for the oversampled galaxy-non-galaxy classifier. The SVM with ZMs model has a high-performance classification for galaxy and non-galaxy datasets. We show that the SVM with ZMs, 1D-CNN with ZMs, and VGG16 with vision transformer are high-performance (accuracy larger than 0.90 and TSS greater than 0.86) models for classifying the galaxies into spiral, elliptical, and odd objects. We conclude that these machine-learning algorithms are helpful tools for classifying galaxy images.

Elliptical galaxies often exhibit complex assembly histories, and are presumed to typically form through a combination of rapid, early star formation and subsequent accretion of material, often resulting from mergers with other galaxies. To investigate theories of spheroidal galaxy formation, the objective of this work is to analyse the star formation histories (SFHs) of a sample of three isolated elliptical galaxies in the local Universe observed with MUSE at $z<0.06$. With BUDDI, we decompose the integral field unit (IFU) datacubes into two components with Sérsic profiles, which roughly correspond to the two phases of in-situ and ex-situ star formation. To constrain the mode of growth in these galaxies, we derived the mass and light-weighted stellar ages and metallicities, and created the 2D stellar population maps of each component using pPXF. We reconstructed the mass and light-weighted SFHs to constrain the contribution of different stellar populations to the mass and luminosity of the components through cosmic time. Our results show that the ellipticals in this sample have experienced an early and rapid phase of star formation either through a rapid dissipative collapse or gas-rich major mergers concentrated in the inner component, which contributes to $\sim50$% of the galaxy stellar mass. The co-dominant outer component, however, had assembled the bulk of its stellar mass shortly after the inner component did, through accretion via dry mergers and possible gas accretion. This premise is supported by our observations of the inner component being primarily composed of old and metal-rich stars. The outer component has a combination of old and intermediate-age stars, with a moderate spread in metallicities. These results are analysed through the lens of the two-phase scenario, a framework developed over the years to explain the formation histories of elliptical galaxies.

PSR B1828-11 is a radio pulsar that undergoes periodic modulations (~500 days) of its spin-down rate and beam width, providing a valuable opportunity to understand the rotational dynamics of neutron stars. The periodic modulations have previously been attributed to planetary companion(s), precession, or magnetospheric effects and have several interesting features: they persist over 10 cycles, there are at least two harmonically related components, and the period is decreasing at a rate of about 5 days per cycle. PSR B1828-11 also experienced a glitch, a sudden increase in its rotation frequency, at 55 040.9 Modified Julian Day(MJD). By studying the interaction of the periodic modulations with the glitch, we seek to find evidence to distinguish explanations of the periodic modulation. Using a phenomenological model, we analyse a recently published open data set from Jodrell Bank Observatory, providing the longest and highest resolution measurements of the pulsar's spin-down rate data. Our phenomenological model consists of step changes in the amplitude, modulation frequency, and phase of the long-term periodic modulation and the usual spin-down glitch behaviour. We find clear evidence with a (natural-log) Bayes factor of 1486 to support that not only is there a change to these three separate parameters but that the shifts occur before the glitch. Finally, we also present model-independent evidence which demonstrates visually how and when the modulation period and amplitude change. Discontinuities in the modulation period are difficult to explain if a planetary companion sources the periodic modulations, but we conclude with a discussion on the insights into precession and magnetospheric switching.

Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered a substantial population of high-redshift broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) characterized by moderate luminosities, weak X-ray emissions, and faint high-ionization lines, challenging conventional models of black hole growth and AGN activity. In this study, we propose that these sources are accreting at super-Eddington rates and use geometrically thick, non-advective disk models to investigate the critical roles of photon scattering, reflections, and shadowing within funnel-like structures along the disk's rotation axis. Our models predict highly collimated radiation fields, with isotropic-equivalent luminosities vastly exceeding the Eddington limit in polar directions, and significant suppression of emission at higher inclination angles due to shadowing. These effects result in altered spectral energy distributions and pronounced anisotropies in observable properties. Key features include ultra-blue UV continuum slopes (alpha=+0.5 to +0.8), bolometric correction factors varying by over an order of magnitude with orientation, and suppressed coronal X-ray emissions. The anisotropy and shadowing effects may also explain the observed faintness of broad high-ionization emission lines, as the viewing angle strongly modulates both continuum brightness and the illumination of the broad-line region. These findings indicate that super-Eddington accretion flows, shaped by thick disk geometries and anisotropic radiation fields, can naturally account for many puzzling features of JWST-discovered AGNs and provide new insights into black hole growth in the early universe.

Many close-in multiple-planet systems show a peas-in-a-pod trend, where neighbouring planets have similar sizes, masses, and orbital spacing. Others, including the Solar System, have a more diverse size and mass distribution. Classical planet formation models tend to produce the former rather than the latter, and the origin of this difference remains unclear. Recent studies suggest disc evolution is largely driven by magnetic winds rather than viscosity alone. In such wind-driven accretion discs, the mass accretion rate varies radially instead of being constant, as in classical viscous discs. We investigate how the wind's efficiency in removing disc mass affects planet formation and migration. We performed single-core planet formation simulations via pebble accretion in wind-driven accretion discs. We varied wind efficiency via the magnetic lever arm parameter $ \lambda $ and studied outcomes by considering a range of initial disc masses and accretion timescales. Our simulations show that higher $ \lambda $ discs, with less wind mass loss, lead to faster formation and migration, generating similar-mass planetary systems. Lower $ \lambda $ discs lead to slower formation and migration and more diverse-mass planetary systems. A mass jump occurs for all $ \lambda $ cases when planet formation and disc accretion timescales are comparable, but is larger for lower $ \lambda $ discs. Super-Earth systems with cold Jupiters form more frequently in metal-rich discs, consistent with observations. Our simulations suggest similar-mass and diverse-mass systems are approximately separated at $ \lambda \sim 2\text{--}3 $.

We present the successful measurement of the squared visibility of Sirius at a telescope separation of 3.3 m using small 0.25 m Newtonian-style telescopes in an urban backyard setting. The primary science goal for small-scale intensity interferometers has been to measure the angular diameters of stars. Recent advances in low jitter time-tagging equipment and Single Photon Avalanche Detectors have made the detection of second-order photon correlation signals feasible with small low-cost telescopes. Using Sirius as a target star, we observe a photon count rate of $\sim$1.9 Mcps per detector with matched 1.2 nm wide filters at 589.3 nm and measured the spatial squared visibility at a telescope separation of 3.3 m to be $|V_{12}(3.3\text{m})|^2 = 0.94\pm0.16$. The measured detection significance is $\sim7 \sigma$ after 13.55 h of integration. The uncertainty in the measured visibility includes uncertainty in the instrument response this http URL squared visibility agrees closely with the expected value of $0.94\pm0.01$. These results demonstrate that using small low-cost telescopes is feasible for intensity interferometry of bright stars. This enables a simple scaling in sensitivity by further realistic improvements in the instrument response jitter as well as increasing both the number of spectral bands and the number of telescopes towards systems capable of resolving objects such as quasars, white dwarfs, and galactic Cepheid variable stars.

We report the discovery of a new binary galaxy cluster merger, the Champagne Cluster (RM J130558.9+263048.4), using a detection method that identifies dynamically active clusters in the redMaPPer SDSS DR8 photometric galaxy cluster catalog. The Champagne Cluster exhibits the classic X-ray morphology of a post-pericenter dissociative galaxy cluster merger: an X-ray peak located between two galaxy overdensities at the same redshift. We conducted a Keck/DEIMOS survey and obtained redshifts for 103 member galaxies. The redshift analysis indicates a relative velocity of 411 $\pm$ 180 km/s between the two subclusters, which suggests that the merger is happening near the plane of the sky. We used cosmological simulations to find analogous systems to constrain the time since pericenter (74-250 Myr) and the angle the merger axis makes with the plane of the sky (62$^\circ$-90$^\circ$) at the 68$\%$ confidence level. We estimated the bulk temperature (8.20 $\pm 1.2$ keV) and total X-ray luminosity (5.2 $\pm$ 0.8 $\times$ $10^{44}$ erg $\times$ $s^{-1}$) of the intracluster medium using $\textit{Chandra}$ archival data.

In a recent series of papers, supermassive black holes were used to discern pathways in galaxy evolution. By considering the black holes' coupling with their host galaxy's bulge/spheroid, the progression of mass within each component has shed light on the chronological sequence of galaxy speciation. Offsets between the galaxy-morphology-dependent M_bh-M_*,sph scaling relations trace a pattern of 'punctuated equilibrium' arising from merger-driven transitions between galaxy types, such as from spirals to dust-rich lenticulars and further to `ellicular' and elliptical galaxies. This study delves deeper into the distinction between the ellicular galaxies - characterised by their intermediate-scale discs - and elliptical galaxies. Along the way, it is shown how some anti-truncated large-scale discs in lenticular galaxies can arise from the coexistence of a steep intermediate-scale disc and a relatively shallow large-scale disc. This observation undermines application of the popular exponential-disc plus Sérsic-bulge model for lenticular galaxies and suggests some past bulge mass measurements have been overestimated. Furthermore, it is discussed how merger-driven disc-heating and blending likely leads to the spheroidalisation of discs and the conglomeration of multiple discs leads to the (high n) Sersicification of light profiles. The ellicular and elliptical galaxy distribution in the $M_{\rm bh}$-$M_{\rm\star,sph}$ diagram is explored relative to major-merger-built lenticular galaxies and brightest cluster galaxies. The (super-)quadratic $M_{\rm bh}$-$M_{\rm\star}$ relations, presented herein, for merger-built systems should aid studies of massive black hole collisions and the gravitational wave background. Finally, connections to dwarf compact elliptical and ultra-compact dwarf galaxies, with their 100-1000 times higher $M_{\rm bh}/M_{\rm\star,sph}$ ratios, are presented.

Recent ground- and space-based surveys have shown that planets between Earth and Neptune in size, known as "super-Earths," are among the most frequently found planets in the Galaxy. Although the JWST era has provided high-quality atmospheric data on several such super-Earths, modeling tools are crucial for understanding their unobservable interiors. Consequently, interior studies represent the next essential step in gaining a comprehensive understanding of this class of exoplanets. This study investigates the interior structure, thermal evolution, and atmospheric dynamics of the super-Earth GJ 486b using SERPINT, a 1-D self-consistent coupled interior structure and evolution model, aiming to understand the planet's thermal evolution based on an Earth-like structure. Our results indicate that GJ 486b's core is approximately 1.34 times larger than Earth's, with a core pressure of about 1171 GPa. The thermal evolution model predicts that the planet's mantle cools and solidifies over approximately 0.93 million years. As the magma ocean cools, water is released from the melt, forming a water-rich atmosphere during early solidification. Photolysis of water vapor and subsequent hydrogen escape lead to oxygen accumulation, forming a water- and oxygen-rich secondary atmosphere. Future high-sensitivity JWST observations, with improved wavelength coverage and the detection of additional trace gases, will enable a detailed analysis of the planet's atmospheric composition, providing crucial insights into the interior, surface, and subsurface properties of GJ 486b.

X-ray data provide insights into accretion processes and the compact objects of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), while optical and infrared (IR) observations help identify the donor star and surrounding environment. Together, these approaches shed light on the origins of the high X-ray luminosities observed in ULXs. This study examines the optical and infrared properties of eight ULXs in NGC 1559 using archival data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). To constrain the nature of the donor stars of the ULXs, photometric results were obtained from the temporal, spectral energy distributions (SEDs), and color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). Furthermore, the long-term and spectral characteristics of only a ULX X-1 were investigated. ULX counterparts were determined from astrometric calculations. The long-term light curves and SEDs were constructed to interpret the origin of the optical and IR emissions. The masses and ages of donor star candidates were determined using CMDs. To constrain the mechanism of X-ray emission, the time-averaged spectrum and long-term light curve of the X-1 were obtained. Unique optical and IR counterparts for ULXs X-14 and X-24 were determined, while only optical counterparts were detected for X-1 and X-18. Our findings indicate that the optical emission originates from the donor stars of X-14 and X-24, whereas for X-1 and X-18, it is dominated by the accretion disk. In addition, the X-1 exhibits long-term X-ray variability spanning orders of magnitude.

Assuming Galactic cosmic rays originate in supernovae and the winds of massive stars, starburst galaxies should produce very-high-energy (VHE; E$>$100 GeV) gamma-ray emission via the interaction of their copious quantities of cosmic rays with the large reservoirs of dense gas within the galaxies. Such VHE emission was detected by VERITAS from the starburst galaxy M 82 in 2008-09. An extensive, multi-year campaign followed these initial observations, yielding a total of 254 h of good quality VERITAS data on M 82. Leveraging modern analysis techniques and the larger exposure, these VERITAS data show a more statistically significant VHE signal ($\sim$6.5 standard deviations ($\sigma$)). The corresponding photon spectrum is well fit by a power law ($\Gamma = 2.3 \pm 0.3_{stat} \pm0.2_{sys}$) and the observed integral flux is F($>$450 GeV) = $(3.2 \pm0.6_{stat} \pm 0.6_{sys}) \times 10^{-13}~\mathrm{cm^{-2}~s}^{-1}$, or $\sim$0.4\% of the Crab Nebula flux above the same energy threshold. The improved VERITAS measurements, when combined with various multi-wavelength data, enable modeling of the underlying emission and transport processes. A purely leptonic scenario is found to be a poor representation of the gamma-ray spectral energy distribution (SED). A lepto-hadronic scenario with cosmic rays following a power-law spectrum in momentum (index $s\simeq 2.25$), and with significant bremsstrahlung below $1$~GeV, provides a good match to the observed SED. The synchrotron emission from the secondary electrons indicates that efficient non-radiative losses of cosmic-ray electrons may be related to advective escape from the starburst core.

The electromagnetic (EM) scattering by non-symmetric wavelength-scale particles on a planar surface has numerous applications in the remote sensing of planetary bodies, both in planetary and geo-sciences. We conduct numerical simulations of EM scattering by rough polyhedral particles (with 12 or 20 faces) using the discrete-dipole approximation and contrast the results to that of spheres. The particles have permittivities corresponding to common minerals in the microwave regime ($\epsilon_r=4.7 + 0.016$i and $7.8 + 0.09$i), and a size-frequency distribution (SFD) consistent with the observed scattering properties (power law distribution of size parameters between 0.5 and 8 with an index from $-2.5$ to $-3.5$). The assumed substrate permittivity $2.4 + 0.012$i corresponds to a powdered regolith. We present what roles the particle roundness, permittivity, and SFD for a realistic range of parameters play in the EM scattering properties as a function of incidence angle with a focus on backscattering in microwave-remote-sensing applications. The particle roundness and SFD have a clearly observable effect on the polarimetric properties, while the role of permittivity is relatively minor (in the studied range). Among various backscattering observables, the circular polarization ratio is the least sensitive to the decrease of the upper boundary (down to a size parameter of 3) and the index of the SFD.

The determination of the equation of state (EOS) of a neutron star (NS) and its maximum mass is very important for understanding the formation and properties of NSs under extreme conditions, but they remain open questions. Short-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are believed to originate from the merger of binary NSs or giant flares (GFs) of soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs). Recently, the high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) have been claimed to be identified from two short GRBs (931101B and 910711). In this paper, we propose that the observed high-frequency QPOs in these two short GRBs result from torsional oscillations in the GFs of SGRs associated with cold NSs, or from radial oscillations of hypermassive NSs (HMNSs) as the hot remnants of binary NS mergers, and then to constrain the EOS of NSs. For torsional oscillations, the six selected EOSs (TM1, NL3, APR, SLy4, DDME2, and GM1) of NSs suitable for the zero-temperature condition exhibit significant overlap in mass ranges, suggesting that we cannot constrain the EOS of NSs. For radial oscillations, the six selected EOSs (IUF, TM1, TMA, FSG, BHBLp, and NL3) of NSs suitable for the high-temperature condition cannot be ruled out when redshift is considered. However, it is found that the EOS can only be constrained if the redshift and temperature of the remnant can be measured.

In the context of the hierarchical formation of galaxies, we investigated the role played by mergers in shaping the scaling relations of galaxies, that is the projections of their Fundamental Plane onto the Ie-Re, Ie-Sigma, Ms-Re and L-Sigma planes. To this aim, based on the scalar Virial Theorem, we developed a simple theory of multiple dry mergers to read both the large scale simulations and the companion scaling relations. The aim was to compare the results of this approach with the observational data and with two of the most recent and detailed numerical cosmo-hydro-dynamical simulations, that is Illustris-TNG and EAGLE (Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments). We derived the above scaling relations for the galaxies of the MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO) and WINGS (Wide-field Imaging of Nearby Galaxy-Clusters Survey) databases and compared them with the observational data, the numerical simulations, and the results of our simple theory of dry mergers. The multiple dry merging mechanism is able to explain all the main characteristics of the observed scaling relations of galaxies, such as slopes, scatters, curvatures and zones of exclusion. The distribution of galaxies in these planes is continuously changing across time because of the merging activity and other physical processes, such as star formation, quenching, energy feedback, and so forth. The simple merger theory presented here yields the correct distribution of galaxies in the main scaling relations at all cosmic epochs. The precision is comparable with that obtained by the modern cosmo-hydro-dynamical simulations, with the advantage of providing a rapid exploratory response on the consequences engendered by different physical effects.

We combine infrared (IR) observations collected by the James Webb Space Telescope with optical deep images by the Hubble Space Telescope taken approximately 20 years earlier to compute proper-motion membership for the globular cluster (GC) M 4 (NGC 6121) along its entire white dwarf (WD) cooling sequence (CS). These new IR observations allow us, for only the second time in a GC, to compare WD models with observations over a wide range of wavelengths, constraining fundamental astrophysical properties of WDs. Furthermore, we investigate the presence of WDs with IR excess along the WD CS of M 4, similar to the recent study conducted on the GC NGC 6397. We also determine the age difference between M 4 and NGC 6397 by comparing the absolute F150W2 magnitudes of the luminosity function peak at the bottom of the observed WD CS, and find that M 4 is slightly younger, by 0.8+/-0.5 Gyr.

EllipSect is a user-friendly Python analysis tool that generates publication quality figures from the output of GALFIT 3, a popular galaxy surface brightness 2D-fitting algorithm. EllipSect allows the direct analysis of GALFIT 3 preliminary modeling, to guide optimal parameter selection. Furthermore, EllipSect generates non-parametric measurements of some useful parameters that are not provided by GALFIT 3, such as the effective radius resulting from multi-component fits, cusp radius, and the Petrosian radius. This paper provides examples and a quick guide for EllipSect.

AGB stars are the primary source of dust and complex molecules in the interstellar medium. The determination of outflow parameters is often hindered by the unknown geometry of the circumstellar environment, creating a demand for high-angular resolution observations. We use our NIR spectra and photometry of the carbon AGB star V Cyg, along with literature data, to construct its SED over a wide range of wavelengths. The dust envelope responsible for the IR excess was also resolved in scattered polarized light at angular scales of 50-80 mas using differential speckle polarimetry. We present an interpretation of the thermal and scattered radiation of the dust using models of a spherical dusty outflow (Mdust = 5.3e-7 M_sun) and an inclined equatorial density enhancement, either in the form of a disk (Mdust = 7.6e-3 M_earth) or a torus (Mdust = 5.7e-3 M_earth), which material is concentrated at stellocentric distances less than 25 AU. The dust material consists of amorphous carbon and SiC, with 84% of the dust being amorphous carbon. Dust particle radii range from 5 to 950 nm and follow a power law with an exponent of -3.5. Modeling of the envelope allowed us to improve the accuracy of stellar luminosity estimations: 21000 L_sun and 8300 L_sun at maximum and minimum brightness, respectively. The relation between the disk and the high water content in the envelope is also discussed.

The physical origin of active galactic nucleus (AGN) variability remains unclear. Here we propose that the magnetic reconnection driven by the migration of satellite black holes (sBHs) in the AGN disc can be a new plausible mechanism for AGN short-term variability. During the sBH migration, the co-moving plasmas surrounding the sBH could influence the large-scale magnetic field of the AGN disk and trigger the magnetic reconnections to contribute to AGN UV/optical variability. Meanwhile, the plasma, which is accelerated by the magnetic reconnection, will successfully escape from the disc at Alfven velocity and cause a secondary magnetic reconnection in the corona. For a $\sim 10^{2}-10^{3}~{M_\mathrm{\odot}}$ sBH (including its binding gas) in the inner regions of the disc surrounding a supermassive black hole with $\sim 10^{7}~{M_\mathrm{\odot}}$, the reconnection process occurred in the space out of the disc can produce X-ray emission, which can last $\sim 10^4-10^6~\rm s$ with the luminosity $\sim 10^{39}- 10^{43}~\rm{erg ~s^{-1}}$.

This paper investigates the effects of saturated thermal conduction (TC) and thermal-driven winds (TDWs) on magnetized advection-dominated accretion onto a rotating black hole (BH). We incorporate dissipative processes in the magnetized accretion flow and expect the accretion disk to be threaded by predominantly toroidal and turbulent magnetic fields. We solve the magnetohydrodynamics equations and construct a self-consistent steady model of the magnetized accretion flow surrounding a rotating BH, which includes TC and TDWs. We seek global accretion solutions spanning from the BH horizon to a large distance and analyze the solution's characteristics as a function of dissipation parameters. Accretion solutions with multiple critical points may exhibit shock waves if they meet the standing shock criteria. We found steady, global transonic, and shocked accretion solutions around the rotating BH. In particular, the wind parameter ($m$) and the saturated conduction parameter ($\Phi_{\rm s}$) significantly influence the dynamical behavior of shocks. The shock location moves away from the BH horizon as $\Phi_{\rm s}$ and $m$ increase, assuming fixed conditions at the disk's outer edge. Our formalism explains the declining phase of BH outbursts, characterized by a monotonic decrease in QPO frequency as the burst decays. Based on our findings, we conclude that the combined effect of $\Phi_{\rm s}$ and $m$ parameters substantially alters the steady shock specific energy vs angular momentum parameter space and also modifies the corresponding post-shock luminosity vs QPO frequency parameter space. We propose, based on our theoretical model, that the $\Phi_{\rm s}$ and $m$ parameters may significantly influence the evolution of the BH outbursts.

While stellar jets and outflows are fueled by accretion from disks, their direct influence on disks remain unexplored. Here we revisit ALMA observations of $^{12}$CO line emission for the young stellar object WSB 52. We identify an expanding bubble that interacts with its protoplanetary disk. Given that the disk axis points toward the bubble center and the kinetic energy of the bubble is roughly $10^{41}$~erg, we postulate that stellar jets, aligned with the disk axis, have triggered the bubble. The bubble morphology is consistent with uniform expansion with partial concavity, implying the bubble-disk interaction. Correspondingly, the shape and the velocity field of protoplanetary disk appear to be deformed and exhibit high-velocity components, suggesting strong interactions and mass loss from the disk. The discovery of jet feedback onto the disk via the bubble -- which we term the jet-bubble-disk interaction -- sheds new light on the dynamical processes governing star and planet formation.

The detection of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos by IceCube has opened new windows for neutrino astronomy, but their sources remains largely unresolved. We study a methodology to address this - deep-stacking - that exploits correlations between observed neutrinos and comprehensive catalogs of potential source populations, including faint, high-redshift sources. By stacking signals from numerous weak sources and optimizing source weighting, significant gains in sensitivity can be achieved, particularly in the low-background regime where individual high-energy neutrinos dominate. We provide a semi-analytic framework to estimate sensitivity improvements for populations of sources under various background scenarios and redshift evolutions. Our analysis demonstrates that deep-stacking can increase detection sensitivity by a factor of 3 to 5, enabling detailed population studies. Furthermore, we discuss the potential to resolve the diffuse neutrino flux and investigate the redshift evolution of source populations. This approach offers a direct path toward identifying the primary sites of cosmic-ray acceleration and the mechanisms responsible for high-energy neutrino production.

We present DeepSSM, an open-source code powered by neural networks (NNs) to emulate gravitational wave (GW) spectra produced by sound waves during cosmological first-order phase transitions in the radiation-dominated era. The training data is obtained from an enhanced version of the Sound Shell Model (SSM), which accounts for the effects of cosmic expansion and yields more accurate spectra in the infrared regime. The emulator enables instantaneous predictions of GW spectra given the phase transition parameters, while achieving agreement with the enhanced SSM model within 10\% accuracy in the worst-case scenarios. The emulator is highly computationally efficient and fully differentiable, making it particularly suitable for direct Bayesian inference on phase transition parameters without relying on empirical templates, such as broken power-law models. We demonstrate this capability by successfully reconstructing phase transition parameters and their degeneracies from mock LISA observations using a Hamiltonian Monte Carlo sampler. The code is available at: this https URL.

Context: Flux emergence in the solar atmosphere is a complex process that causes a release of magnetic energy as heat and acceleration of solar plasma at a variety of spatial scales. Methods: We analysed imaging spectropolarimetric data taken in the He 1083 nm line. This line is sensitive to temperatures larger than 15 kK, unlike diagnostics such as \MgIIhk, \CaIIHK, and \Halpha, which lose sensitivity already at 15 kK. The He I data is complemented by imaging spectropolarimetry in the \CaIIK, \Feline, and \Caline\ lines. We employed inversions to determine the magnetic field and vertical velocity in the solar atmosphere. We computed He 1083 nm profiles from a radiation-MHD simulation of the solar atmosphere to help interpretation of the observations. Results: We find fast-evolving blob-like emission features in the He 1083 nm triplet at locations where the magnetic field is rapidly changing direction, and these are likely sites of magnetic reconnection. We fit the line with a model consisting of an emitting layer located below a cold layer representing the fibril canopy. The modelling provides evidence that this model, while simple, catches the essential characteristics of the line formation. The morphology of the emission in the He 1083 nm line is localized and blob-like, unlike the emission in the \CaIIK\ line, which is more filamentary. Conclusions: The modelling shows that the \Heline\ emission features and their Doppler shifts can be caused by opposite-polarity reconnection and/or horizontal current sheets below the canopy layer in the chromosphere. Based on the high observed Doppler width and the blob-like appearance of the emission features, we conjecture that at least a fraction of them are produced by plasmoids. We conclude that transition-region-like temperatures in the deeper layers of the active region chromosphere are more common than previously thought.

The hierarchical interplay among gravity, magnetic fields, and turbulent gas flows in delivering the necessary material to form massive protostellar clusters remains enigmatic. We have performed high-resolution (beam size $\sim$14 arcsec $\simeq$ 0.05 pc at a distance 725 pc) 850 $\mu$m dust polarization and C$^{18}$O molecular line observations of Cepheus A (Cep A), the second closest massive star-forming region, using the 15-meter James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) along with the SCUBA-2/POL-2 and HARP instruments. Our key analyses reveal that (i) morphologically, all three fields--gravitational (G), magnetic (B), and kinetic (K) fields--are aligned with each other, and (ii) energetically, they exhibit a hierarchical relationship with gravitational ($E_{\mathrm{G}}$) > magnetic ($E_{\mathrm{B}}$) > kinetic ($E_{\mathrm{K}}$). Gravity dominates in Cep A clump and, as a primary active player, dictates the other two agents. Consequently, gravity plays two active roles: (i) induces gas flows and (ii) drags B-field lines toward the gravitational trough. Since magnetic energy dominates kinetic energy, $E_{\mathrm{B}}$ > $E_{\mathrm{K}}$, the "dragged-in" B-field as a secondary active player can mitigate turbulence and instabilities, thereby regularizing gas flows into a more ordered configuration. At the $\sim$0.60 pc clump scale, these flows deliver material at a substantially high rate of $\sim$ 2.1$\times$10$^{-4}$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ toward the cluster center. Our study, for the first time, presents new insights into how B-fields and turbulent gas flows passively assist the active role of gravity in the formation of a protostellar cluster, contrasting with the standard notion that these agents primarily oppose gravitational collapse.

The mass distribution of merging binary black holes is generically predicted to evolve with redshift, reflecting systematic changes in their astrophysical environment, stellar progenitors, and/or dominant formation channels over cosmic time. Whether or not such an effect is observed in gravitational-wave data, however, remains an open question, with some contradictory results present in the literature. In this paper, we study the ensemble of binary black holes within the latest GWTC-3 catalog released by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration, systematically surveying for possible evolution of their mass distribution with redshift. We specifically focus on two key features present in the binary black hole primary mass distribution -- (1) an excess of $35\,M_\odot$ black holes and (2) a broad power-law continuum ranging from 10 to $\gtrsim 80 M_\odot$ -- and ask if one or both of these features are observed to vary with redshift. We find no evidence that either the Gaussian peak or power-law continuum components of the mass distribution change with redshift. In some cases, we place somewhat stringent bounds on the degree of allowed redshift evolution. Most notably, we find that the mean location of the $35\,M_\odot$ peak and the slope of the power-law continuum are constrained to remain approximately constant below redshift $z\approx 1$. The data remain more agnostic about other forms of redshift dependence, such as evolution in the height of the $35\,M_\odot$ excess or the minimum and maximum black hole masses. In all cases, we conclude that a redshift-dependent mass spectrum remains possible, but that it is not required by current data.

The $\Lambda$CDM model has successfully explained a wide range of cosmological observations, but is increasingly challenged by the emergence of cosmological tensions, particularly the Hubble Tension $H_0$ and the $S_8$ tension. The Hubble Tension, with a significance above 5$\sigma$, and the $S_8$ tension, showing a discrepancy of approximately 2-4$\sigma$, highlight inconsistencies between measurements of the local and early universe. This paper expands a well-established Interacting Dark Energy (IDE) phenomenological scenario, where dark matter (DM) can transfer energy to dark energy (DE) or vice versa, depending on the sign of the coupling parameter $\xi$. The novel feature consists in a transition mechanism which reverses the direction of the energy-momentum transfer after the redshift where the densities of the dark species are the same. We evaluate this model using a comprehensive set of recent observational data, including Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) from the DESI survey, Type Ia Supernovae from the PantheonPlus, DESY5 and Union3 samples, and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data from Planck. Our analysis shows that this scenario can potentially relax both the $H_0$ and $S_8$ tensions simultaneously. We find the new model to be weakly preferred over $\Lambda$CDM by BAO-DESI data. However, we show that the IDE model features positive Bayesian evidence compared to $\Lambda$CDM only when Cepheid distance calibration in the SH0ES sample is used to calibrate SNIa data from PantheonPlus.

The torus in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is a complex dynamical structure of gas and dust. It is thought to be composed of an equatorial dusty disk and a polar dusty wind launched by radiation pressure. However, this picture is based on studies of moderately accreting AGN. Models suggest that the disk/wind structure will change with specific accretion rate. Here we examine the wind launching region in two high accretion rate objects, I Zw 1 (super-Eddington) and H0557-385 (high-Eddington), using high spatial resolution interferometric observations in the $K$-band from VLTI/GRAVITY and $LM$-bands VLTI/MATISSE. We recover wavelength-dependent sizes of the dust emission using a Gaussian and power law fit to the visibilities. Both objects are partially resolved and have radial sizes in the $KLM$-bands between 0.3 - 1.5 mas, with no signs of elongation. Combining our measurements with VLTI/MIDI $N$-band data gives a full multi-wavelength picture of the dust structure. We find that in H0557-385, the dust sizes between $3.5-8\:\mu\mathrm{m}$ are independent of the wavelength, roughly constant at $3-10$ sublimation radii. We argue that this indicates a direct view of the wind launching region and, together with an absence of polar elongation, this implies that any wind would be launched in a preferentially equatorial direction or blown out by strong radiation pressure. The size-wavelength relation for both objects shows a preferentially disky equatorial dust distribution. We conclude that there is strong evidence that the Eddington ratio shapes the inner dust structure, most notably the wind-launching region and wind direction.

By adopting a state-of-the-art parameterized model of electron antineutrino emission, we have made some steps forward in the analysis of the thermodynamical properties and temporal structure of neutrino emission from core collapse SN1987A. Our analysis, unlike similar previous ones, takes into account the times, energies and angles of arrival of the detected events in a reliable framework which includes a finite ramp in the initial stage of the neutrino emission. The existence of the accretion phase is confirmed with a confidence level of about 99%, and the neutrons involved in the emission during accretion, for the first time, do not show significant tensions with expectations, being about 0.02 $M_\odot$. We determine the parameters of the cooling emission and discuss its duration, that compares well with theoretical expectations. We estimate the delay times between the first neutrino and the first event in the detectors. The goodness of fit checks, performed on the temporal, energy and angular distributions, show that the flux resulting from the best-fit analysis is compatible with the observed data.

Long-lived heavy particles present during the big bang could have a decay channel opened by gravitons. Such decays can produce gravitational waves with large enough abundance to be detectable, and a peculiar narrow spectrum peaked today around optical frequencies. We identify which particles can decay in one or two gravitons. The maximal gravitational wave abundance arises from theories with extra hidden strong gauge dynamics, such as a confining pure-glue group. An interesting abundance also arises in theories with perturbative couplings. Future observation might shed light on early cosmology and allow some spectroscopy of sub-Planckian gravitationally-decaying particles, plausibly present in a variety of theories such as gauge unification, supersymmetry, extra dimensions, strings.

Future gravitational wave observatories open a unique avenue to study the environments surrounding black holes. Intermediate or extreme mass ratio inspirals will spend thousands to millions of cycles in the sensitivity range of detectors, allowing subtle environmental effects to accumulate in the gravitational waveform. Working in Lorenz gauge and considering equatorial circular orbits, we present the first self-consistent, fully relativistic calculation of a perturbation to a black hole environment due to an inspiraling secondary in the Kerr geometry. As an example case, we consider the environment to be that of a superradiantly grown scalar cloud, though our framework is generalizable to other scenarios. We demonstrate that the scalar field develops a rich wake structure induced by the secondary and compute scalar fluxes emitted to infinity and through the horizon. Relative differences in the fluxes compared to Schwarzschild are tens of percent on large intervals of parameter space, underscoring the importance of modeling in Kerr.

In this study, we explore a static, spherically symmetric black hole solution in the context of a self-interacting Kalb-Ramond field coupled with a global monopole. By incorporating the effects of Lorentz-violating term $\ell$ and the monopole charge $\eta$ in the KR field, we derive the modified gravitational field equations and analyze the resulting black hole spacetime. The obtained solution exhibits deviations from the Schwarzschild metric with topological defect, as it is influenced by the monopole charge and self-interaction potential. We investigate the thermodynamic properties of the black hole, including its Hawking temperature, entropy, and specific heat, revealing novel stability conditions. Additionally, we perform solar system tests such as perihelion precession, gravitational redshift, light deflection, and time delay of signals to impose constraints on the Lorentz-violating parameter and monopole charge. Our findings suggest that these parameters have to be significantly small, although there are different constraints imposed by individual tests, ranging from $10^{-9}\leq|\ell|\leq 10^{-4}$ and $10^{-9}\leq\eta\leq 10^{-6}\, \mathrm{m}^{-1}$.

Induced gravitational waves provide a powerful probe of primordial perturbations in the early universe through their distinctive spectral properties. We analyze the spectral energy density $\Omega_{\text{GW}}$ of gravitational waves induced by isocurvature scalar perturbations. In the infrared regime, we find that the spectral slope $n_{\text{GW}} \equiv \text{d} \ln\Omega_\mathrm{GW}/\text{d}\ln k$ takes the log-dependent form $3-4/ \ln (\tilde{k}_*^2 / 6k^2)$, where $\tilde{k}_*$ represents the effective peak scale of the primordial scalar power spectrum. This characteristic behavior differs markedly from that of adiabatic-induced gravitational waves, establishing a robust observational discriminant between isocurvature and adiabatic primordial perturbation modes.

Solar neutrinos, generated abundantly by thermonuclear reactions in the solar interior, offer a unique tool for studying astrophysics and particle physics. The observation of solar neutrinos has led to the discovery of neutrino oscillation, a topic currently under active research, and it has been recognized by two Nobel Prizes. In this pedagogical introduction to solar neutrino physics, we will guide readers through several key questions: How are solar neutrinos produced? How are they detected? What is the solar neutrino problem, and how is it resolved by neutrino oscillation? This article also presents a brief overview of the theory of solar neutrino oscillation, the experimental achievements, new physics relevant to solar neutrinos, and the prospects in this field.

In this paper we construct a class of Degenerate Higher-Order Scalar-Tensor (DHOST) theories with an extra scalar field, which admits viable solutions of bouncing universe satisfying the following requirements: (i) absence of Belinski-Khalatnikov-Lifshitz (BKL) instability, ghost and gradient instability, (ii) absence of superluminality, (iii) generation of nearly scale-invariant curvature perturbations and very small tensor-to-scalar ratio, and (iv) conventional asymptotics in the distant past and future, where gravity sector is described by General Relativity and the DHOST scalar has a canonical form of Lagrangian. We also expect our models to have sufficiently small non-Gaussianities of primordial curvature perturbations to be compatible with observations. As such, this work exemplifies for the first time the fully viable two-field DHOST bouncing cosmology, which is free of instability and superluminality problems as well as compatible with observations.

We study the dynamics of domain walls formed through the spontaneous breaking of an approximate $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry in a scalar field, focusing on their collapse under the influence of quantum and thermal corrections induced by a $\mathbb{Z}_2$-violating Yukawa coupling to Dirac fermions in the thermal bath. The thermal effects render the potential bias between the true and false vacua temperature-dependent and may lead to notable variations in the annihilation temperature of domain walls, in addition to the shift caused by temperature-independent quantum corrections. These modifications could substantially alter the gravitational wave spectrum produced by collapsing domain walls, potentially providing observable signatures for future gravitational wave detection experiments.

We point out a new effect on the freeze-out process of heavy particles induced by density perturbations in the early universe, which we call ``acoustically driven freeze-out.'' This beyond-linear effect is caused by the exponential decoupling of heavy particles from the thermal bath in the presence of density perturbations, and already at moderately large values $\delta T / \bar{T} = O (10^{-2})$ it cannot be captured by linear perturbation theory. We illustrate this effect with leptogenesis taking the decay and inverse decay of heavy neutrinos into account, and discuss its phenomenological implications. We found that perturbations always enhance the (spatially averaged) values of the final lepton asymmetry, and as a result, constraints on the mass of heavy neutrinos are found to be relaxed in the presence of perturbations.

Primordial black holes (PBH) offer a compelling candidate for dark matter. Within the framework of the Standard Model, the production of PBHs through well-tested physical processes is highly worthy of investigations. This work highlights the role of turbulences in the very early universe in sustaining intense and persistent fluctuations of energy or mass density, which could provide a natural mechanism for PBH formations in the primordial universe. We analyze the abundance and mass range of PBHs produced by the magnetohydrodynamic turbulence induced by the first-order electroweak phase transition, and, remarkably, without invoking any new physics beyond the Standard Model, we find that the mass range of the produced PBHs falls within the only allowed ``asteroid mass'' window from current joint observations, and their abundance constitutes approximately 20\% of the total mass and energy of the universe. These findings strongly suggest that PBHs produced by the magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the early universe could comprise the dominant part of dark matter.

In this work, we present first $^{236}$U results in the northwestern Mediterranean. $^{236}$U is studied in a seawater column sampled at DYFAMED (Dynamics of Atmospheric Fluxes in the Mediterranean Sea) station (Ligurian Sea). The obtained $^{236}$U/$^{238}$U atom ratios in the dissolved phase, ranging from about $2\times10^{-9}$ at $100$ m depth to about $1.5\times10^{-9}$ at $2350$ m depth, indicate that anthropogenic $^{236}$U dominates the whole water column. The corresponding deep-water column inventory ($12.6$ ng/m$^2$ or $32.1\times10^{12}$ atoms/m$^2$) exceeds by a factor of $2.5$ the expected one for global fallout at similar latitudes ($5$ ng/m$^2$ or $13\times10^{12}$ atoms/m$^2$), evidencing the influence of local or regional $^{236}$U sources in the western Mediterranean basin. On the other hand, the input of $^{236}$U associated to Saharan dust outbreaks is evaluated. It is estimated an additional $^{236}$U annual deposition of about $0.2$ pg/m$^2$ based on the study of atmospheric particles collected in Monaco during different Saharan dust intrusions. The obtained results in the corresponding suspended solids collected at DYFAMED station indicate that about $64$% of that $^{236}$U stays in solution in seawater. Overall, this source accounts for about $0.1$% of the $^{236}$U inventory excess observed at DYFAMED station. The influence of the so-called Chernobyl fallout and the radioactive effluents produced by the different nuclear installations allocated to the Mediterranean basin, might explain the inventory gap, however, further studies are necessary to come to a conclusion about its origin.

The recent breakthroughs regarding the detection of compact binary mergers via gravitational waves opened up a new window to the Universe. Gravitational-wave models have been essential to this success since they are necessary to infer the properties of the compact binary system from the observational data. Next-generation detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope, will allow for more observations of binary neutron star mergers with higher precision, making accurate waveform models crucial in describing these systems. In this article, we propose a novel approach for constructing phenomenological waveform models informed by observational data. Using mock data representing a one-year operation of the Einstein Telescope as our baseline, we demonstrate how the results improve as more events are included in the calibration. This method offers a new and complementary approach for developing sophisticated gravitational-wave models compared to classical techniques that employ analytical computations and numerical-relativity simulations. Improved waveform models will then yield more accurate parameter estimation.

We anticipate that the data acquired by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will be dominated by the gravitational wave signals from several astrophysical populations. The analysis of these data is a new challenge and is the main focus of this paper. Numerous gravitational wave signals overlap in the time and/or frequency domain, and the possible correlation between them has to be taken into account during their detection and characterization. In this work, we present a method to address the LISA data analysis challenge; it is flexible and scalable for a number of sources and across several populations. Its performance is demonstrated on the simulated data LDC2a.