Papers for Wednesday, Mar 18 2026

We present \texttt{py5vec}, a Python package for implementing and extending the 5-vector method, used to search for continuous gravitational wave (CW) signals. We also provide a comprehensive theoretical review of the 5-vector method and extend the relative likelihood formalism by marginalizing over the noise variance, resulting in a more robust Student's t-likelihood, and over the initial phase to account for pulsar glitches. \texttt{py5vec} provides a modular architecture that separates data representation, signal demodulation, and statistical inference into independent abstract stages. It supports multiple input data formats and interoperates with existing Python software, providing a bridge between different approaches. For example, using a \texttt{bilby}-based interface, \texttt{py5vec} implements Bayesian parameter estimation within the 5-vector formalism for the first time. The modular design also allows for making exact multi-level and direct comparisons between other software, such as \texttt{cwinpy} and \texttt{SNAG} in MATLAB. In \texttt{py5vec}, we implement a multidetector targeted search for known pulsars, validated using LIGO data from the O4a run and hardware injections, demonstrating consistent reconstruction of signal parameters. This package therefore provides a flexible platform for current targeted searches and for future extensions to other CW search strategies.

We investigate the formation and relaxation of dark matter halos in the context of wave dark matter particles evolving on a background of neutrino condensate. To this aim, we solved numerically the Schrodinger-Poisson system to model the dynamical evolution of ultralight bosonic dark matter particles in the presence of neutrino condensate. The latter appears as an additional source of the gravitational field in the Poisson equation, while its dynamical evolution and interaction with the environment are neglected. We found that, depending by the value of the cutoff parameter, the presence of the background neutrino condensate can affect the formation and relaxation of wave dark matter halos. Nevertheless, for value of the cutoff of the order of a few eV, the two species can coexist showing only marginal differences with the only-wave dark matter case. These results open to the possibility of investigate about more complex cosmological scenarios involving the formation of dark matter halos.

Contemporary large-scale surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) and Euclid present an unprecedented discovery potential for studying AGNs at the population level in the big data era. However, one major challenge is the accurate identification and classification of AGNs from optical/NIR photometry, or variability data alone. In order to optimize AGN selection, classification, and systematics, as well as to test different data analysis tools, we present AGILE (AGNs In the LSST Era), an LSST end-to-end simulation software. AGILE -- developed as part of the INAF LSST in-kind contribution -- is capable of simulating the anticipated AGN population in LSST and Euclid. We based AGILE on existing simulations of galaxies and stars, while we developed an AGN recipe based on empirical relations. AGILE populates complete galaxy samples with AGNs according to the observed AGN accretion rate distribution, and each AGN is assigned an optical/UV spectral energy distribution. Optical AGN variability is added using a damped random walk model connected to the AGN physical parameters. Finally, AGILE creates both LSST-like images and related data products. Using AGILE, we build a $24$ deg$^2$ complete mock truth catalog of AGNs, galaxies, and stars with $0.2 < z < 5.5$, $\log M/M_\odot > 8.5$ (AGNs and galaxies), and $r < 27.5$ mag (stars). We perform a pilot simulation (AGILE DR1) consisting of $1$ deg$^2$ of LSST operations in the COSMOS field observed up to three years according to the survey strategy. We use AGILE DR1 to quantify the accuracy of the LSST Science Pipelines in recovering true fluxes of AGNs, galaxies, and stars. We quantify the LSST completeness and purity in recovering Type 1 AGNs using typical color-color and variability selections. We share the AGILE DR1 dataset, an ideal test-bench for further scientific exploitation.

Observations of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS have revealed a strong production of gas and dust near perihelion, together with rapid brightening. The outgassing from the nucleus has led to a detectable non-gravitational acceleration. In this work, we combine models of the mass loss rate of water and carbon dioxide to derive the non-gravitational parameters and estimate the mass and size of 3I/ATLAS. In addition, we take into account a conservative constraint on the nucleus size from the active surface area required for sublimation. If the mass loss is dominated by the sublimation of CO$_2$, then the nucleus radius and mass are $R_{\rm 3I}=0.42\,\rm{km}$ and $M_{\rm 3I}=1.6\times10^{11}\,\rm{kg}$, assuming a density of $\rho=0.5\,\rm{g\,cm}^{-3}$ and an asymmetry factor of $\zeta=0.5$. This estimate is consistent with the lower bound from the active surface and independently supported by the slight preference of the orbital fit for a $a_{\rm ng}(r)\sim 1/r^2$ scaling of the non-gravitational acceleration. Models that cover the range of reported water production near perihelion give $R_{3I}=0.74-1.15\,\rm{km}$ and $M_{\rm 3I}=8.5-32\times10^{11}\,\rm{kg}$ but require a cometary surface that is in tension with the estimate from the rocket effect. Therefore, our results indicate that a large fraction of water sublimation is occurring in the coma and that CO$_2$ dominates sublimation on the surface. The nucleus radius that we obtain is much smaller than a recent photometric estimate of $R_{\rm 3I}\sim 1.3\,\rm{km}$, which could be resolved if CO$_2$ production is larger than observed or if the density of 3I/ATLAS is significantly lower than assumed. An overall lighter nucleus of 3I/ATLAS might be favored based on its recently claimed origin from a metal-poor environment and the corresponding mass budget of interstellar objects.

The clustering of galaxies encodes key information about the structure and assembly history of their host dark matter (DM) haloes, providing a powerful probe of the origin of extreme high-redshift systems. While halo assembly bias has been extensively studied at low redshift, its behavior in the early Universe remains poorly explored. Using the large-volume, high-resolution Shin-Uchuu cosmological $N$-body simulation, we characterize halo assembly bias associated with formation time, concentration, and angular momentum across a wide range of halo masses and redshifts. We find that the sign and amplitude of assembly bias depend on halo mass for both concentration and spin. High-concentration and low-spin haloes are more strongly clustered below characteristic peak heights of $\nu \sim 1.5$ and $\sim 0.75$, respectively, while the trends weaken or reverse at higher masses. Halo age bias persists at all redshifts but decreases toward higher masses and earlier cosmic times. We apply these results to assess whether clustering can distinguish competing formation scenarios for the Little Red Dots (LRDs). We find that the direct-collapse-black-hole (DCBH) scenario predicts the strongest large-scale bias and enhanced pair fractions, the self-interacting-dark-matter (SIDM) core-collapse scenario and low-spin compact-galaxy scenarios yield weaker clustering due to lower characteristic halo masses and spin-related secondary bias, and a primordial-black-hole (PBH) scenario predicts unbiased clustering. Our results demonstrate that halo assembly bias and characteristic host masses provide powerful diagnostics for constraining the physical origin of LRDs, offering testable predictions for upcoming clustering measurements with JWST and future deep surveys.

The narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxy IRAS~17020+4544 is one of the few known sources exhibiting a multi-phase outflow detected in both highly ionized and molecular gas, consistent with AGN feedback operating in an `energy-conserving' regime. We investigate the properties and kinematics of the warm ionized gas using new optical seeing-limited integral-field spectroscopic observations obtained with MEGARA at the Gran Telescopio Canarias in both low- (R$\sim$6000) and medium-resolution (R$\sim$12000) modes. The H$\alpha$ and [OIII]$\lambda$5007 emission lines are modeled with multi-Gaussian fitting to characterize the ionized gas kinematics and derive the energetics of the outflow, which we compare with those of the X-ray and molecular phases. Ionization diagnostic diagrams (WHAN, WHaD, and BPT) are used to investigate the dominant ionization mechanism. We detect a fast ionized outflow traced by both H$\alpha$ and [OIII] emission lines, with similar spatial extensions (R$_\mathrm{out}\sim$1 kpc and $\sim$0.5 kpc) and velocities (v$_\mathrm{out}\sim$1460 and 1240 km s$^{-1}$, respectively), as well as a slower ionized outflow (v$_\mathrm{out}\sim$450 km s$^{-1}$) detected in the secondary component of the [OIII] line. The fast outflow follows an `energy-conserving' regime, while the slower component is consistent with a `momentum-driven' regime. The ionized outflows are enclosed within the molecular outflow detected with NOEMA (R$_\mathrm{CO}$=2.8$\pm$0.3 kpc), and the large momentum boosts derived in both phases suggest efficient AGN feedback, likely dominated by radiatively driven winds (quasar-mode) rather than kinetic (jet-driven) processes. Ionization diagnostics suggest that the outflow is mainly AGN-driven, with potential contributions from star formation and shocks. The molecular outflow dominates, with the ionized phase contributing less to the mass and feedback efficiency.

Next-generation gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), will observe vast numbers of overlapping signals. Disentangling these signals from instrumental noise and from one another constitutes a significant data analysis challenge. We explore a denoising technique based on embedding time series into Hankel matrices: a superposition of $n$ (damped) sinusoids corresponds to a matrix of rank $2n$. Thus, the problem of signal extraction is reduced to a structured low-rank approximation problem. Using synthetic data tailored to GW applications, we benchmark three Hankel-based algorithms: ESPRIT, Cadzow iterations, and iteratively reweighted least squares (IRLS). Our test scenarios include isolated and multi-component monochromatic signals, the resolution of sources with closely spaced frequencies, and the recovery of black hole quasinormal modes (QNM). All three algorithms achieve near-optimal performance consistent with Fisher matrix bounds, evidenced by an inverse-square scaling of the mismatch with the signal-to-noise ratio. Furthermore, a proof-of-concept application to numerical relativity waveforms validates the ability of these algorithms to extract QNM frequencies from ringdown signals. Hankel low-rank approximation therefore offers a transparent, computationally efficient avenue for preprocessing GW time series.

We investigate how Hawking radiation from low-mass primordial black holes deposits energy into the early-universe plasma and show that the resulting phenomena are hydrodynamic rather than purely diffusive. Combining analytic arguments with relativistic hydrodynamic simulations, we find that the plasma first develops a quasi-steady outflow during the slow evaporation stage, while the final runaway phase of evaporation produces an expanding fireball that launches a shock wave into the surrounding medium. We characterize the thermalization scale of the Hawking products, the conditions under which shocks form, and the evolution and propagation of shocks. Additionally, we show that these shocks can locally restore electroweak symmetry, identifying exploding PBHs as a potentially important source of out-of-equilibrium dynamics in the early universe with profound phenomenological implications.

Despite the emergence of new types of wavefront sensors, the modulated pyramid wavefront sensor remains the workhorse for ELT instrumentation, and is among the options even for advanced high-contrast, high-Strehl instrumentation like PCS and SAXO+. To achieve the required degree of wavefront control, an operation at frequencies of 3kHz, ideally up to 5kHz, is necessary, requiring an optomechanical device capable of delivering accurate circular modulation patterns with these frequencies. Here, we present tests of a novel type of high-frequency modulator based on shearing piezo actuators. The modulator prototype moves a flat circular mirror (15mm diameter) with a tip-tilt range of plus/minus 50 arcsec. At a typical 10mm pupil diameter on the modulator mirror, and operating at 2.2$\mu$m, this will create a modulation circle with a radius of slightly greater than 2 $\lambda$/D. While this is less than conventionally specified for most instruments, it should already be sufficient for any practical application except for very bad conditions or extended targets. We performed modulation tests at frequencies between 250 Hz to 5 kHz using a test setup including a modulated laser beam probed with a high-speed camera. The prototype showed stable behaviour during a one-hour-long operation at a maximum frequency of 5 kHz and with negligible heat generation. The maximum modulation amplitude was 60 arcsec. We observed very accurate reproduction of the input modulation pattern with typical ellipticities less than 1% and random deviations below 0.2% for frequencies below 4.5kHz. These tests demonstrate the prototype's capabilities and could be followed by on-sky tests or the integration of the modulator into XAO testbeds.

Host galaxies of Active Galactic Nuclei give crucial information on the interaction between accreting Supermassive Black Holes and their surroundings, and on their common evolution. Their study in the case of aligned jetted AGN - BL Lacertae objects in particular - is complicated by the non-thermal jet component, whose bright and multi-frequency emission easily dominates over the whole electromagnetic spectrum. BL Lac host galaxies have thus been sparsely studied, and their elliptical nature is currently a hypothesis supported by few observations. With the broad aim of a systematic analysis of these sources, and in light of the many optical and NIR spectroscopic facilities that are now available, we implement an easily applicable method to determine whether a BL Lac is hosted in an elliptical or spiral galaxy. Building on the only systematic study currently available on BL Lac hosts, we worked on a sample of realistic BL Lac synthetic spectra. We analysed them and characterized their statistics using QSFit, a publicly available spectroscopy software. If BL Lac host galaxies were both elliptical and spiral, our method would be able to discriminate between them, provided that BL Lac jets are fainter than $L_\gamma\sim10^{46}$erg/s. Just two runs of QSFit for each BL Lac spectrum would return a single parameter, that would allow for a first broad distinction between the two classes. We finally discuss the two galaxy types that introduce some uncertainty in their classification, that might lead to possible classification biases.

Magnetars are highly magnetised, isolated neutron stars with uncertain formation channels. They comprise a potentially significant fraction of the young neutron star population in the Milky Way, and are implicated in the explosion mechanisms of some of the most powerful explosions in nature. We aim to identify magnetars in the near-infrared with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) imaging, in order to measure their proper motions and search for their birth sites. Candidate infrared counterparts are selected based on variability, colours and proper motions which are outliers with respect to other sources in the field. Precise proper motions are obtained by tying HST/WCF3 and JWST/NIRcam images to the Gaia reference frame. We newly identify counterpart candidates for PSRJ1622-4950, 1RXSJ 170849.0-400910 and CXOUJ164710.2-455216. The past trajectory of the 1RXSJ 170849.0-400910-associated source coincides with the supernova remnant G346.6-0.2. The transverse velocity distribution of magnetars is found to be marginally inconsistent with young pulsars, due primarily to a dearth of high velocity magnetars. A candidate birth site is identified inside the cone of possible past trajectories in nearly every case. We show, based on the inferred kinematic ages, that characteristic ages may frequently be lower than the true age, but caution that this depends on the reliability of the birth site associations. We conclude that magnetars are similar in terms of their kinematics and birth sites to the wider Galactic neutron star population, consistent with magnetar formation being a common outcome of massive star core-collapse. However, tentative evidence for a dearth of high-velocity magnetars is emerging. If real, this may arise from physical differences in the progenitor population giving rise to magnetars, or from differences in their post-formation velocity evolution.

We present neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) imaging observations of 22 HI-rich ($M_{\rm HI} \gtrsim 10^{9.7} M_\odot$), hard X-ray-selected local Seyferts to explore how cool gas is supplied to active galactic nuclei (AGN) hosts. The sample predominantly resides in group-like, gas-rich environments. About 80% (18/22) of the galaxies have HI-detected neighbors, 61% (11/18) of which clearly exhibit strong lopsidedness, one-sided gas tails, and/or gas structures connecting to nearby companion galaxies, suggesting gas exchange histories. We examine the HI size-mass relation and star formation properties of these HI-rich AGN hosts, finding no systematic deviations from known scaling relations. In most cases, our samples are the most massive systems within their respective groups, implying that our sample is more likely to acquire gas rather than lose it. Interestingly, galaxies with more extended HI disks show stronger AGN activity. Considering that extended HI is often associated with external processes, this finding suggests that environmentally accreted gas - through galaxy interactions and gas exchange with neighboring systems - may have played a role in supplying additional fuel to the AGNs in our sample. Notably, the HI extent-AGN activity correlation becomes even tighter for those AGN hosts whose neighboring galaxies are gas poor or lack HI, further supporting externally supplied gas as a fuel source.

We explore the interpretation that the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux is dominated by a single standard candle-like source class. Since recent observations favor a broken power law with a spectral break around 30 TeV, we postulate that the $p\gamma$ channel is the dominant neutrino production process creating a peak at these energies. We use a SOPHIA-based photo-pion interaction model with a thermal target including high-energy processes, such as multi-pion production, which turns out to be relevant for the interpretation. We demonstrate that target photon temperatures 0.1 to 1 keV are preferred in a multi-parameter fit, whereas the maximal neutrino energies can be limited by A) soft injection spectra, B) a maximal proton energy in the PeV range, or C) magnetic field effects on the secondary muons, pions, and kaons with B in the few 10 kG range. We predict that future measurements, such as of the neutrino flavor composition or neutrino-antineutrino ratio (Glashow resonance), can discriminate scenarios. We also point out that the parameters obtained in our generic approach, such as in the strong magnetic field values, might be indicative for an AGN core origin as a driver of the diffuse flux.

JWST is beginning to uncover a population of extremely metal-poor galaxies (EMPGs, $Z < 1\%~\mathrm{Z}_\odot$) at $z > 3$, mostly through serendipitous NIRSpec discoveries and blind slitless spectroscopy. To accelerate our understanding of pristine star formation, we further develop a methodology to identify EMPG candidates from photometry, using the extensive deep medium-band imaging from JADES. Our EMPG candidates at $2.5 < z < 6.5$ exhibit strong photometric boosts by H$\alpha$, yet correspondingly weak boosts by [O III] + H$\beta$, likely indicating extremely low metallicity to explain their lack of [O III] emission. We further demand our EMPG candidates to have strong Balmer jumps, as revealed by medium-band imaging, to ensure that they are young starbursts, as opposed to broad-line AGN/LRDs, though contamination by dusty/dense-gas starbursts and highly-obscured AGN remains a concern. SED-fitting with near-pristine models (${\sim}0.1$-$1\%~\mathrm{Z}_\odot$) indicates that our 22 EMPG candidates are low-mass (median $M_* \approx 10^{6.7}~\mathrm{M}_\odot$), faint dwarf galaxies ($M_\mathrm{UV} \approx -16.6$), with high ionizing photon production efficiencies ($\log\, (\xi_\mathrm{ion, obs}/\mathrm{(Hz\ erg^{-1})}) \approx 26.0$). Hence these are plausible sites of near-pristine star formation, comprising ${\sim}0.04$-$0.6\%$ of $2.5 < z < 6.5$ galaxies at $-19 < M_\mathrm{UV} < -16$. We discuss this extremely metal-poor extension to the mass-metallicity relation. We forecast that deep (${\sim}28$ h) NIRCam slitless spectroscopy can identify bright EMPGs through strong H$\beta$ but lack of [O III] emission, or secure the redshifts of fainter systems through H$\alpha$ detections. Highly-multiplexed NIRSpec spectroscopy offers an alternate route to discovering the faintest pristine galaxies out to $z=10$, without requiring deep medium-band/MIRI imaging to identify secure candidates.

Chromatic point-spread-function (PSF) effects arise from differences between the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of stars, used to model the PSF, and galaxies, used to measure shape distortions due to weak gravitational lensing, or shear. For the Roman Space Telescope, these effects can bias shear measurement and cosmological inference, making them an important systematic effect for shear calibration. These biases depend sensitively on survey design choices, particularly filter coverage and the availability of color information. In this work, we investigate how different Roman survey strategies affect the ability to mitigate chromatic PSF effects and whether residual biases in shear propagate into cosmological inference. Using realistic image simulations, we infer per-galaxy near-infrared SED slopes via radial basis function regression for four-, three-, two-, and single-band survey configurations. We quantify residual shear calibration biases under representative and non-representative training assumptions and propagate these biases into Markov Chain Monte Carlo analyses of cosmic shear and $3\times2$-point statistics. We find that three- and four-band strategies can reduce residual shear biases to $|m|\lesssim10^{-3}$, lowering the induced shifts in the lensing amplitude from $\Delta S_8 \sim 0.6\sigma$ (cosmic shear) and $\Delta S_8 \sim 0.7\sigma$ ($3\times2$-pt) in the uncorrected case to $\Delta S_8 \lesssim 0.07\sigma$. Single-band surveys remain limited, with residual shear biases reaching or exceeding $|m|\sim 2\times 10^{-3}$ in some tomographic bins. Average, sample-wide corrections reduce but do not eliminate chromatic systematics, leaving residual biases of $\Delta S_8 \sim 0.1\sigma$. Overall, our results demonstrate that we can robustly correct for these effects in the recommended three-band medium tier, but may encounter residual biases in a single-band wide tier.

We extend the time-dependent convection treatment in \code{MESA} by introducing eddy-viscous damping. This software change brings \code{MESA-TDC} into closer alignment with the radial stellar pulsation framework of \code{MESA-RSP}. We demonstrate that the inclusion of the eddy viscosity in hydrodynamic stellar models remains stable on evolutionary timescales. We then present the first self-consistent integration of large-amplitude, nonlinear Classical Cepheid pulsations directly within a \code{MESA-star} evolutionary run, demonstrating that the time-dependent convection formalism implemented in \code{MESA-star} and the \code{MESA} radial stellar pulsation (RSP) module are physically identical. Starting from a 6~\Msun\ blue-loop stellar evolution model, we demonstrate evolving the entire stellar model through pulsations as well as pausing the evolution, excising the core, and remeshing the envelope to match the grid used by \code{MESA-RSP}. We compare the pulsation properties (e.g., period, light and radius curves, and growth rate) with a matched \code{MESA-RSP} run, and find reasonable agreement between the two modules. This unified approach eliminates the reliance on separate post-processing workflows and enables fully coupled evolution-pulsation simulations. This approach enables future studies of stellar pulsations with the inclusion of composition gradients, mass loss, or rotation. It also enables future studies of the $\epsilon$ mechanism as well as providing a physical source of viscosity for other science cases explored using \code{MESA}'s hydrodynamics solver. We have integrated these modifications into the \code{MESA-star} module, enabling open-source use by the community.

The Gao-Solomon relationship between the luminosity of the HCN $J=1-0$ line and the star formation rate (SFR) is observed to remain close to linear over scales ranging from individual star-forming clumps to entire galaxies. This is widely interpreted as the HCN line tracing the reservoir of dense gas directly associated with star formation. However, resolved observations of nearby molecular clouds have demonstrated that the threshold density above which star formation occurs is significantly higher than that of the gas traced by HCN emission. We perform radiative transfer modelling of molecular line emission from simulated clouds, based on magnetohydrodynamic simulations with realistic gas and dust thermodynamics and a time-dependent treatment of the molecular abundances. We find no correlation between HCN emission and the SFR in the simulations: the HCN line remains almost constant in brightness over several orders of magnitude in SFR. The N$_2$H$^+$ $J=1-0$ line correlates positively with the SFR, but weakly, and with a substantial dependence on environmental conditions. The strongest correlation between line emission and physical cloud properties is between the N$_2$H$^+$/HCN ratio and the dense gas fraction, which is close to linear. We argue that the observed HCN-SFR correlation on extragalactic scales is a result of each measurement integrating over many individual molecular clouds, which, on average, possess the same mass fraction of dense, star-forming gas. The HCN line does not directly trace this reservoir for star formation.

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) high-mass slope $\alpha$ is routinely measured by fitting single-star models to photometric samples that contain 20-90% unresolved binaries. This practice introduces a systematic negative bias on $\alpha$ that is constant with sample size $N$. Because posterior credible intervals shrink as $1/\sqrt{N}$, at sufficiently large $N$ the bias exceeds the reported uncertainty and the true value falls outside the credible interval - a regime we call "confidently wrong." We bracket this bias between two limiting observation operators: mass-addition $(m_\text{obs} = m_1 + m_2)$, a formal upper bound on unresolved-system mass overestimation, and luminosity-addition $(m_\text{obs} = L^{-1}(L_1 + L_2))$, an idealized lower-bias photometric case based on the ZAMS mass-luminosity relation. Across four astrophysical environments spanning $\alpha = 1.60-2.30$, we find: (1) mass-addition bias of $0.054-0.086$ with crossover to confidently wrong at $N_\text{cross} \sim 5{,}000-10{,}000$; (2) luminosity-addition bias of $0.011-0.021$ with $N_\text{cross} \sim 75{,}000-150{,}000$; and (3) a binary-aware mixture likelihood that marginalizes over the Moe & Di Stefano (2017) binary population model recovers the true slope in the synthetic tests presented here. Published single-star IMF slopes can therefore plausibly carry systematic errors of order $0.01-0.09$ if unresolved binaries are not modeled, comparable to or exceeding reported uncertainties in some regimes. Since current and upcoming surveys (Gaia, JWST, Roman, LSST) will deliver $N = 10^4-10^6$ resolved stars per rich cluster, binary-aware inference is likely necessary to avoid binary-driven systematic bias in the large-$N$ single-star-fitting regime.

We show that delayed (weeks-months) energy injection into expanding Type Ic supernova (SN) ejecta can reproduce the luminosity and spectral evolution of hydrogen-poor superluminous SNe (SLSNe-I). Late-time reheating sets the radiation temperature and density needed for the W-shaped OII absorption near peak, explaining its disappearance as the ejecta cools without extra excitation mechanisms. In our model, the neutron star (NS) undergoes a core phase transition to deconfined quark matter at time t_QN, triggering rapid magnetic field amplification and forming a hybrid star (HS; a QCD-magnetar). This Quark-Nova (QN) resets the central engine, weeks to months after the SN, by converting the NS rotational energy into renewed energy injection, producing two powering epochs separated by a delay determined by hadron-to-quark microphysics. The model reproduces photometric and spectroscopic evolution of SLSNe-I such as iPTF13ajg, SN2010gx, PTF09cnd, and PTF09atu. We predict a systematic offset between spectroscopic and photometric ages when pre-QN emission is below detection limits, and discuss observational signatures distinguishing QCD-magnetars from standard magnetars. Double-peaked SLSNe-I may probe the hadron-quark transition, constraining quark-matter parameters like deconfinement density and surface tension.

We investigate the impact of massive neutrinos on cosmological models in which dark energy, described by a quintessence scalar field $\phi$ with an exponential potential, interacts with dark matter through both energy and momentum transfers. Previous analyses have shown that the inclusion of low-redshift data tends to favour the detection of a pure momentum transfer between the dark sectors, consistent with the fact that such a transfer generically suppresses the growth of cosmic structures. Since massive neutrinos also reduce matter clustering, a potential degeneracy between the interaction parameters and the neutrino mass may arise. After updating the observational constraints on the model parameters obtained in earlier studies, we investigate the effect of allowing the neutrino mass to vary. We find that the detection of momentum transfer degrades once massive neutrinos are included. This occurs because a new degeneracy emerges between the neutrino mass and the parameter governing the energy exchange between dark energy and dark matter. Our findings differ from previous results in the literature, where the detection of momentum transfer was reported to be robust against varying neutrino masses. This suggests that the robustness of such detections depends on the underlying model and should therefore be carefully reassessed for each specific interacting scenario.

Stability analysis of two-fluid protoplanetary disc models has enriched our understanding of how solids can grow into larger bodies called planetesimals. Dust particles entrained in a gas stream modify the flow, creating shear layers prone to instability. In such environments, drag occurs in the free-molecular (Epstein) regime. Recreating these two-phase flows on Earth is difficult due to gravity-driven buoyancy. Here, we use particle image velocimetry to study a low-pressure dust-gas mixture at Knudsen numbers up to 10 in microgravity. We observe a granular shear flow instability, characterized by a periodic velocity field, which can be modeled to first order as a Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability. This behavior resembles a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and provides a benchmark for two-fluid theories relevant to planet formation.

We present optical spectroscopic observations of the supernova remnants (SNRs) G107.7$-$5.1 and G150.3+4.5, each spanning nearly 3 degree. Both remnants were recently examined in the optical band through a deep H$\alpha$ and [OIII] emission-line imaging survey, which led to the discovery of G107.7$-$5.1. Using long-slit spectra obtained with the 1.5-m Russian-Turkish Telescope (RTT150), we investigate the physical conditions of the pre-shock and post-shock gas in the optical filamentary regions of the SNRs. The SNR nature of G107.7$-$5.1 is confirmed by the measured [SII]/H$\alpha$ and [NII]/H$\alpha$ ratios, which range from 0.56 to 0.86 and from 0.7 to 1.4, respectively. A similar conclusion is reached for G150.3+4.5, where the observed [SII]/H$\alpha$ (0.43-0.92) and [NII]/H$\alpha$ (0.49-1.29) ratios likewise support a shock-excitation origin. Further confirmation of the shock-excited nature of both SNRs comes from their consistency with recent diagnostic diagrams based on multiple emission-line ratios. The [OIII]/H$\beta$ line ratios measured in both remnants indicate shocks with complete recombination zones and are consistent with shock velocities of $\gtrsim$100 km s$^{-1}$. The electron densities ($n_{\rm e}$), derived from the [SII] $\lambda$6716/$\lambda$6731 line ratios, exhibit substantial variation in the spectra of both SNRs. Additionally, extinction variations observed across the remnants suggest the presence of significant dust structures along the line of sight. We conclude that these two remnants display remarkable similarities across multiple diagnostic spectral properties, consistent with previous reports indicating comparable GeV gamma-ray characteristics.

We investigated Lyman-continuum (LyC) emission from Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) at $z=4.5$, identified in the One-hundred-deg$^2$ DECam Imaging in Narrowbands (ODIN) survey. Of the 7,498 LAEs (4,101 in COSMOS and 3,397 in XMM-LSS), we excluded LAEs that are either likely low-z objects or contaminated by neighboring sources. Additional background modeling process with thorough quality assessments leaves a final sample of 851 galaxies. We then performed forced photometry on $u/u^*$-band images from the CFHT large area $u$-band deep survey (CLAUDS) to measure their LyC fluxes. This represents the largest sample of $z=4.5$ LAEs searched for such a purpose. Within this sample, we identified 12 `gold' and 39 `silver' LyC-emitting candidates, with LyC fluxes detected of $>3\sigma$ and between $2\sigma$ and $3\sigma$, respectively, in the range of 5.16--55.29 nJy. No LyC signal is detected in the weighted mean stack of the final sample ($0.20 \pm 0.37$ nJy). Given the UVC magnitudes of LAEs in our sample, the expected LyC emission is likely below the detection limit even when stacking the full sample of ODIN LAEs. Nevertheless, having a large sample of LAEs remains valuable for identifying individual LyC leaker candidates. Among the gold and silver candidates, the LyC flux appears to correlate positively with UVC flux and negatively with Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width, although the correlations are weak. A larger sample of LyC leakers will allow a more robust confirmation of these trends and provide better insights into their physical origins.

Quantum backreaction effects may quench Hawking evaporation through a ``memory burden'', allowing primordial black holes (PBHs) with formation masses well below $10^{15}~\mathrm{g}$ to survive to the present and contribute to the dark matter. We show that ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) provide a powerful and previously unexplored probe of this scenario. We compute the proton and neutron emission from memory-burdened PBHs, including the Galactic-halo contribution and the extragalactic proton component, and confront it with the Pierre Auger Observatory proton spectrum and its EeV neutron limits from the Galactic plane. This yields new constraints on the PBH dark-matter fraction as a function of the PBH formation mass and the evaporation-suppression parameter $k$. For $k\gtrsim 3$ the non-observation of ultra-high-energy protons leads to bounds competitive with those from UHE gamma rays, while neutron limits remain comparable to high-energy neutrino constraints. Our results highlights the key role of multi-messenger astronomy in constraining beyond-the-standard-model scenarios.

We introduce a spectral hierarchy of cosmic-web classifications obtained by applying simple scale-weighting kernels to the density field before performing a standard eigenvalue-based web classification. This unifies and extends several widely used web definitions within a single framework: the familiar potential/tidal web (large-scale, nonlocal), a curvature-based web (more local, peak- and ridge-sensitive), and additional higher-derivative levels that progressively emphasize smaller-scale structure. Because the classification is built from second derivatives of the filtered field, successive hierarchy levels align naturally with operator families that appear in renormalised bias and effective descriptions of large-scale structure, providing an explicit bridge between cosmic-web environments and long- and short-range nonlocal bias ingredients. We quantify the information content of the hierarchy with a compact statistic: we map each cell to one of four ordered web types (void, sheet, filament, knot), construct a corresponding ``web contrast'' field, and measure its cross-correlation with halos from the AbacusSummit simulation suite on a coarse mesh with $\Delta L\simeq 5.5\,h^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}$. We find that the hierarchy retains significant tracer-relevant information from very large scales down to the mesh Nyquist limit, with the more local (curvature/higher-derivative) levels dominating toward nonlinear scales. This makes the spectral hierarchy a practical, interpretable conditioning basis for fast mock-galaxy production and field-level modelling, and a flexible tool for studying environment-dependent clustering and assembly bias.

We study the effects of oscillating, ultralight scalar and pseudoscalar fields on the propagation of gravitational waves (GWs). We consider two potential couplings of the (pseudo)scalars to gravity; a parity-even Gauss-Bonnet coupling, and parity-odd Chern-Simons coupling. We find several effects at both the population and individual GW event level, characterized by oscillatory features controlled by the (pseudo)scalar mass. In the parity-even case, this feature can be seen in the observed GW redshift and speed distributions, as well as in the dispersion relation and phase of individual events. We use the observation of the GW170817 multimessenger binary neutron star event to place constraints on the parity-even scalar-graviton coupling. In the parity-odd case, the effects are birefringent, but we find an overall washout of polarization at the population level. Oscillatory features can be seen in the observed GW amplitude and inclination distributions. Finally, we find that continuous, monochromatic GW sources are a promising target to observe these effects. The presence of a (pseudo)scalar field imprints a modulation of the GW waveform in the time domain, which can potentially be observed with space-based detectors such as LISA.

Context. Galaxies discovered by JWST at z > 10 are predominantly characterized by extremely blue rest-frame UV slopes. Conversely, the existence of dust-reddened systems at such early epochs has remained largely unconfirmed spectroscopically. Aims. We present the spectroscopic confirmation of EGS-z11-R0 at z = 11.45, the most distant red galaxy identified to date, discovered serendipitously through inspection of publicly available JWST/NIRSpec data. Methods. We analyze JWST/NIRSpec PRISM and G395M spectroscopy together with multiwavelength HST, NIRCam, and MIRI photometry. We identify significant detections of the C IV 1548,1551 and C III] 1908 transitions, yielding a redshift of zspec = 11.452 +/- 0.021. We measure rest-frame UV emission-line fluxes and equivalent widths and use these diagnostics to constrain the nature of the ionizing radiation field. Finally, we perform spectral energy distribution modeling with CIGALE, combining spectroscopy with photometry and including stellar, nebular, dust, and active galactic nuclei (AGN) components. Results. EGS-z11-R0 exhibits a red UV continuum slope (betaUV approximately -1.0), placing it well above the canonical MUV-betaUV relation at z~10-12 and making it the highest-z spectroscopically confirmed member of the emerging "red monster" population. Emission-line diagnostics reveal a hard ionizing spectrum consistent with extreme star formation and compatible with a composite stellar plus AGN scenario. The best-fit SED solution favors a stellar mass of log(M*/Msun) ~ 9.2-9.6, a SFR of 10-40 Msun yr^-1, and substantial dust attenuation (AV~1.2 mag). We further detect the high-ionization forbidden line [Fe V] 4227, providing direct evidence for early iron enrichment. Conclusions. The confirmation of EGS-z11-R0 establishes that chemically evolved, dust-enriched galaxies were already in place at z approximately 11.5. [abridged]

While most dwarf galaxies are strongly dark matter dominated, two remarkable objects in the NGC 1052 field, DF2 and DF4, appear to lack dark matter. DF2 and DF4 were recently found to be part of a trail of low luminosity galaxies that follow a linear relation between their position on the trail and their radial velocity. If the other galaxies on this trail formed together with DF2 and DF4, e.g., from gas that was separated from dark matter through a 'bullet dwarf' collision, they may lack dark matter as well. Here we constrain the dark matter content of DF9, the galaxy on the trail that most closely resembles DF2 and DF4. Using Keck/KCWI absorption line spectroscopy we find that DF9's stellar velocity dispersion is $6.4^{+4.0}_{-4.3}$ km s$^{-1}$. This is consistent with the $8.3^{+0.9}_{-1.4}$ km s$^{-1}$ dispersion that is expected from DF9's $1.4\times 10^8$ M$_\odot$ stellar mass alone, and we conclude that -- like DF2 and DF4 -- dark matter is not required to explain the kinematics of DF9. The dispersion is far below the $27\pm3$ km s$^{-1}$ expected if DF9 fell on the stellar mass--halo mass relation. Our results are further evidence that the trail of low mass galaxies in the NGC 1052 field formed together in a unique galaxy formation channel, and are consistent with the prediction of the bullet dwarf scenario that other trail galaxies should show the same lack of dark matter as DF2 and DF4.

We present updated observational constraints on the simple-gDE model, characterized by a constant inertial mass density (IMD) $\rho_{\rm DE}+p_{\rm DE}$,which belongs to the broader graduated dark energy family, and compare its cosmological implications with those of the $w$CDM and the $\Lambda$CDM models. This parametrization provides a physically motivated, one-parameter extension of $\Lambda$CDM, perspective on DE dynamics beyond the usual equation-of-state approach. We use the newly released DESI DR2 BAO data in combination with either CMB measurements from Planck 2018 or late-time probes, CC and the Pantheon+ SNe Ia sample, considered both with and without SH0ES calibration in this analysis. The data favor a small positive IMD, and Bayesian evidence indicates that the models remain statistically indistinguishable within spatially flat scenarios. Consequently, none of these models exhibits a sign transition in the DE energy density, and no improvement in $H_0$ tension. Allowing spatial curvature qualitatively enlarges the phenomenology of the dark sector. In particular, the interplay between spatial curvature and a nonzero IMD permits sign transitions in both the effective dark-energy density and the IMD during cosmic evolution. For the BAO+CC+SN+SH0ES dataset, the $o$Simple-gDE model yields a transition redshift $z^\dagger = 1.51^{+0.68}_{-0.34}$, while the crossing of the Null Energy Condition boundary (NECB), defined by $\rho_{\rm DE}+p_{\rm DE}=0$, occurs at $z_{\rm NECB}=2.36^{+1.48}_{-1.48}$. The model is statistically favored over $o\Lambda$CDM and $ow$CDM. These results highlight the potential role of IMD as a fundamental parameter in DE phenomenology and demonstrate that geometric effects, such as spatial curvature, can reveal dynamical features of the dark sector that remain hidden within the spatially flat $\Lambda$CDM framework.

We characterize the spatially resolved stellar population and emission-line properties of galaxies in the M51 group using the same methodology previously applied to the M101 group, aiming to understand how environmental processes shape galaxy properties across different groups. Properties are derived by applying the \textsc{AlStar} spectral fitting code to multi-band datacubes from the Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS). We present spatially resolved maps of the main stellar population and emission-line properties for the M51 group galaxies. The interacting pair M51a/b displays clearly distinct properties: M51a shows prominent star-forming spiral arms, while its companion is essentially an early-type retired galaxy. M63 exhibits asymmetries in stellar age, dust attenuation, and H$_\alpha$ equivalent width, consistent with outside-in quenching likely related to a past interaction. Relations between physical properties and stellar mass surface density ($\Sigma_\star$) were investigated. The age-$\Sigma_\star$ and nebular metallicity-$\Sigma_\star$ relations are flatter than those in the M101 group. In addition, all galaxies align with the resolved star-forming main sequence, except M51b, which shows the properties of a retired galaxy. Overall, the M51 group displays signatures of more advanced dynamical evolution than the M101 group. This is evidenced by flattened age and nebular metallicity gradients, enhanced dust content, and signs of environmental quenching in some members. In contrast, the less dynamically evolved M101 group largely preserves its inside-out formation signatures. While these results suggest that group mass and interactions influence galaxy evolution even in low-mass environments, the comparison of two systems remains limited by small-number statistics. This study highlights the potential of J-PLUS data for IFS-like analyses of nearby galaxies.

We present spectro-photometric griz colors for 189 near-Earth objects (NEOs) collected by the Mission Accessible Near-Earth Object Survey (MANOS). Data acquisition involved non-simultaneous multi-band exposures, thus particular attention was given to the influence of rotational lightcurves on the derived colors. We show that colors measured without accounting for lightcurve variations can significantly influence results for individual objects and potentially have systematic offsets for ensemble studies. Color-based taxonomic classifications were used to investigate the distribution of spectral types. Our results were combined with other visible wavelength surveys to highlight a previously reported change in the observed taxonomic distribution of NEOs as a function of size, namely a decrease in S complex and an increase in X complex objects with increasing absolute magnitude. Plausibility arguments are given to suggest that Main Belt source region, thermal modification, discovery bias, tidal resurfacing, regolith grain size, and impact shock darkening are unlikely explanations for this size-dependent trend. Consistent with recent NEO population models and work on the connection between meteorites and young asteroid families in the Main Belt, this trend is best explained by a compositional gradient in the NEO population. In particular, the observed abundance of S complex or ordinary chondrite-like NEOs decreases by a factor of two from ~65% of the population at km-scales down to a third at sizes <50m. This result has implications for understanding the initial pre-impact population of meteorite parent bodies prior to atmospheric filtering. Furthermore, this will have implications for probabilistic impact risk assessment models.

Galaxy mergers can both trigger star formation and rearrange where stars live, producing long-lived tidal structures and collisionally driven density waves (known as collisional rings) that can extend for tens of kpc from their host galaxy centers. Here we report the discovery of SN 2025adpq, a Type Ia supernova at $z=0.1540$, found within a collisional ring, which we call Pika's Halo, with circumference $\sim$70 kpc that was produced by a major merger between two comparable mass galaxies ($\log(M_*/M_\odot)\approx10.5)$. The supernova lies along the ring at a projected offset of $\sim$11.4 kpc from the nucleus of the primary galaxy (hereafter G1). Optical spectroscopy obtained with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and Gemini South reveal signatures consistent with merger induced ongoing star formation, while prominent Calcium H and K absorption indicates a substantial old stellar population within the ring. Given the long delay times expected for most SN Ia progenitors, we argue that SN 2025adpq most likely arose from an old progenitor system that was displaced from G1 during the head-on encounter. The progenitor was likely stripped from its parent galaxy by the collisionally induced pressure wave and exploded far from its birthplace. This event highlights collisional rings as a pathway for producing large offset SNe Ia, and it motivates targeted searches for faint, dynamically displaced old populations in seemingly hostless SN Ia environments. We additionally identify other supernovae, including supernova siblings, in the low redshift sample of collisional ring galaxies, and find that SN 2025adpq is one of only a handful of classified supernova identified in the expanding ring of a collisional ring complex.

A fundamental problem of solar physics is understanding the transition from the closed-loop magnetic environment of the corona to the open, radial structure of the heliospheric current sheet. While the large-scale heliospheric dynamics are in the MHD regime, the outer corona physics must involve non-MHD processes, none of which have been directly resolved in-situ until now. To approach this problem, 15 streamer structures observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) during Orbits 16 through 23, at radial distances of 11.7 to 17 solar radii, have been measured. DC electric fields in the plasma rest frame, reaching magnitudes up to 400 mV/m, the largest electric fields measured in the PSP mission, were observed. They do not result in an ExB drift because that component of the electric field was removed in transforming the data from the spacecraft frame to the plasma rest frame. Instead, these fields are interpreted via the Generalized Ohms Law. . The Hall term in this law produces estimates of the local current density that show it primarily flows in the meridional direction at amplitudes of several mA/m2, to support the forming heliospheric current sheet (HCS). ). In addition, it was found that the plasma flow speeds inside the current sheets exceeded those outside the sheets in six of the 15 examples, and the 326 km/sec average speed inside the current sheet exceeded the average speed of 266 km/second outside the region. Such findings challenge the traditional consensus that streamers are the source of the "slow" solar wind.

Relative abundances of refractory elements in planets are commonly assumed to reflect those of their host stars. However, because elements are classified according to their behaviour in the solar nebula, this implicitly assumes condensation is independent of nebular chemistry, despite evidence to the contrary in chemically reduced systems with high molar carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratios. We investigate how variations in stellar C/O ratio and disk pressure modify condensation chemistry and assess the reliability of mapping stellar compositions to planetary building blocks in reduced environments. For a sample of FGK stars with C/O ratios spanning 0.65-0.95 (solar = 0.50), we compute equilibrium phase stability using FactSage over 1900-400 K at total pressures of 1e-2, 1e-4, and 1e-6 bar. Bulk planetesimal compositions are derived using a stochastic accretion framework aggregating condensates from temperature-dependent feeding zones. We identify three distinct condensation regimes: (i) solar-like (C/O < 0.7), (ii) transitional (C/O ~0.7-0.91), and (iii) reduced (C/O > 0.92). Relative to solar sequences, oxygen-bearing silicates condense at lower temperatures in transitional and reduced regimes, while carbides, silicides, and sulfides appear. Bulk planetesimal Fe/Mg, Fe/Si, and Fe/O ratios deviate substantially from host stellar values, producing more diverse rocky building blocks within a single disk. Condensation sequences are not universal across stellar compositions. In reduced disks, elemental ratios commonly treated as refractory may not reliably trace planetary bulk composition, providing potential formation pathways for metal-enriched super-Mercury analogues and C- and S-rich rocky planets.

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) bridge the gap between stellar-mass and supermassive black holes, but remain challenging to detect electromagnetically. Gravitational-wave observations provide a direct means of detecting IMBHs and their mergers. We simulate the gravitational-wave signals of IMBH binaries under different population models and assess their detectability with the space-based detector Taiji alone and in a multiband network combining Taiji with third-generation ground-based detectors. Taiji performs well in detecting high-mass IMBH binaries, while ground-based detectors compensate for its reduced sensitivity to lower-mass systems. Their combination expands the accessible parameter space and improves the constraints on cosmological parameters. In particular, multiband observations improve the constraint accuracy on $H_0$ by $36.5\%$ and $31.0\%$ compared with Taiji and ET2CE alone, respectively. We further examine the dependence of parameter accuracy on the number of simulated events, finding that improvements are most pronounced for small samples and gradually saturate as the number of events increases. We conclude that multiband observations enhance the detectability of IMBH binaries and reinforce their role as probes of precision cosmology.

We present neural networks to generate redshift-space galaxy power spectrum multipoles for multiple tracer and redshift bins simultaneously given a set of input cosmology and galaxy bias parameters. This emulator utilizes a combination of fully-connected layers and transformer architecture to accurately predict galaxy power spectrum multipoles $900$ times faster than the SPHEREx pipeline. We quantify network performance using both $\Delta \chi^2$, and likelihood contours for simulated SPHEREx analyses, using two correlated tracer bins and two independent redshift bins. After optimizing network architecture, the loss function, and training set sampling strategy, we achieve $\operatorname{Med}\left( \Delta \chi^2\right) = 0.069$ when comparing to our testing set. At the contour-level our emulator agrees with EFT predictions over a realistic parameter range, with an average 1D best-fit shift of $0.078\sigma$ and $0.82 \%$ change in 1D error bars. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using neural-network emulators to accelerate SPHEREx redshift-space power-spectrum analyses.

The Galactic plane survey conducted by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) has revealed numerous teraelectronvolt (TeV) sources, many of which remain unidentified. HESS~J1832$-$085 is a point-like TeV source lacking a confirmed multiwavelength (MWL) counterpart. In this paper, we present evidence that HESS~J1832$-$085 is likely a gamma-ray binary. We aim to investigate the nature of HESS~J1832$-$085 using {\it Fermi}-LAT and X-ray data, complemented by broadband radiative modeling, to assess its classification as a potential gamma-ray binary. We analyzed $\sim$17.3~yr of {\it Fermi}-LAT data between 0.1 and 500~GeV to establish the gigaelectronvolt (GeV) counterpart of HESS~J1832$-$085, including performing spectral, spatial, and periodicity analyses. Archival X-ray observations were examined to search for a counterpart and to characterize its spectrum and potential variability. The broadband emission was interpreted using models commonly applied to gamma-ray binaries. We detect a point-like GeV gamma-ray source spatially consistent with HESS~J1832$-$085, with spectral properties compatible with known gamma-ray binaries. No significant GeV periodic modulation is detected. A potential X-ray counterpart is identified in archival X-ray data, exhibiting a hard, absorbed spectrum and moderate variability. The broadband spectral energy distribution is reproduced by the adopted binary radiative model. Our results indicate that HESS~J1832$-$085 is likely a gamma-ray binary candidate, motivating dedicated MWL follow-up observations to confirm the source nature.

We investigate the structural evolution of young star clusters forming within centrally concentrated molecular clouds. Our simulations use the Torch framework, which integrates the FLASH magnetohydrodynamics code with the AMUSE environment, enabling a self-consistent treatment of gas dynamics, star formation, stellar evolution, radiative transfer, and gravitational interactions. We quantify cluster structure using the $Q$ parameter for fractality and compute fractal dimensions via two methods: box-counting and correlation dimension. Our results show that clusters generally inherit fractal substructure from their parental clouds, which is typically erased within $\sim 2.5\,t_\mathrm{ff}$ through dynamical relaxation. Massive stars can induce the formation of secondary subclusters via feedback, with outcomes strongly dependent on stellar mass and formation timing. Interactions among subclusters, including mergers and dispersal, can extend fractal structure beyond $4\,t_\mathrm{ff}$. We also find systematic correlations between the fractality parameter $Q$ and the fractal dimension: fractality is positively correlated with both the correlation and box-counting dimensions, with the correlation dimension exhibiting a stronger correlation. These results demonstrate how stellar feedback and internal dynamics jointly shape the measurable fractal properties of embedded star clusters.

We present the first cosmological simulations that consistently include nonlinear clustering dark energy evolved as a fluid with the numerical hydrodynamics code Nefertiti. Dark energy perturbations become fully nonlinear on small scales, developing significant density fluctuations without exhibiting the catastrophic instabilities previously reported. We show results for the density distribution, power spectrum, and halo profiles of dark energy. Clustering dark energy contributes to the total density perturbation at the $\sim 10\%$ level inside and around massive halos in our simulations with constant $w=-0.9$, a significant potential signal for lensing and dynamical probes. These simulations pave the way to robust constraints on the speed of sound of dark energy perturbations from large-scale structure data.

We report evidence for the resonant scattering effect at the center of the galaxy cluster PKS 0745-191 with XRISM. We analyzed XRISM/Resolve commissioning-phase observations of the distant cluster PKS 0745-191 (z = 0.103) with a 54 ks exposure. The gain drift was corrected using the onboard modulated X-ray source (MXS), and spectra were extracted from all pixels well illuminated by MXS, the core region (four central pixels, about 100 kpc), and the surrounding region. A single-temperature collisional ionization equilibrium (CIE) model fits the full field-of-view spectrum with kT about 6 keV and a turbulent velocity of about 120 km/s. From the core (r < 50 kpc) spectrum, we detect about 22 percent suppression of the Fe XXV He-alpha resonance (w) line relative to the CIE prediction. We performed Monte Carlo simulations to calculate the resonant scattering (RS) effect using radial profiles from Chandra data. The RS-inferred turbulence agrees with that inferred from Resolve line broadening, demonstrating that RS provides an independent and consistent constraint on ICM turbulence. These results highlight the potential of XRISM/Resolve for turbulence studies in galaxy clusters.

We present a comprehensive analysis of Low Frequency Quasi-periodic Oscillation (LFQPO) associated time-lags in the persistently variable black hole binary GRS 1915+105 using 441 ks of \textit{AstroSat} observations from March 2016 to March 2019. LFQPO frequency ($1.38-7.38$ Hz) are detected across the $\theta$, $\beta$, $\rho$, and $\chi$ classes, with the $\chi$ class further subdivided into $\chi_1$, $\chi_2$, $\chi_3$, and $\chi_4$ based on spectro-temporal characteristics. Class transitions occur on timescales of a few hours, appearing either as a simultaneous increase in X-ray count rate and QPO frequency, or vice versa, indicating rapid changes in the accretion flow geometry. The $\text{rms}_{\rm QPO}$ increases with QPO frequency up to $\sim 3.4$ Hz and declines at higher frequencies, a trend similar to \textit{RXTE} observations, where peak occurred at $\sim 2$ Hz. Spectro-temporal correlations reveal that increasing $F_{\rm Comp}$ drives higher $\text{rms}_{\rm QPO}$ and decreases the soft-lag magnitude, while $\nu_{\rm QPO}$ and $\Gamma$ also decline, suggesting that the observed time lag may result from the combined effects of multiple physical mechanisms. The consistent increase of $\text{rms}_{\rm QPO}$ with $F_{\rm Comp}$ provides clear evidence that modulated Comptonized photons enhance the rms power ($\text{rms}_{\rm QPO}$). Moreover, the soft-lag ($1.59-13.49$ ms) observed across all QPO frequencies, without the sign reversal at $\sim$ 2 Hz observed in \textit{RXTE} observations, is interpreted within the framework of a dynamical accretion disk model around the black hole.

FRB search pipelines are being developed to operate under strict real-time constraints while maintaining sensitivity to short-duration transient signals. In incoherent dedispersion based pipelines such as Heimdall, apart from observation bandwidth and number of beams, detection performance and computational throughput are strongly dependent on the choice of processing parameters, which are often selected heuristically. In this work, we present a systematic evaluation of key dedispersion and matched filtering parameters and quantify their impact on both detection accuracy and runtime performance. A controlled synthetic injection framework is developed in which artificial FRB pulses with known DMs, SNRs, and pulse widths are embedded into realistic filterbank data containing instrumental noise representative of observations from the Northern Cross radio telescope. Using this framework, a grid of Heimdall configurations is explored, spanning DM tolerance, boxcar filter width, and processing gulp size. Detection performance is assessed by comparing recovered and injected signal properties, while computational performance is evaluated through end-to-end processing time measurements. The results reveal clear trade-offs between sensitivity and throughput across parameter choices. We identify an empirically optimal configuration that provides burst recovery while maintaining processing speeds exceeding real-time requirements. While the specific optimal parameters are derived for the Northern Cross, the methodology and findings are broadly applicable to any real-time transient detection pipeline employing matched-filtering and dedispersion, and are particularly relevant for low-frequency radio telescopes with similar observing configurations. These findings demonstrate the value of data-driven parameter evaluation for improving the performance of real-time transient detection pipelines.

Radio astronomy relies heavily on efficient and accurate processing pipelines to deliver science ready data. With the increasing data flow of modern radio telescopes, manual configuration of such data processing pipelines is infeasible. Machine learning (ML) is already emerging as a viable solution for automating data processing pipelines. However, almost all existing ML enabled pipelines are of black-box type, where the decisions made by the automating agents are not easily deciphered by astronomers. In order to improve the explainability of the ML aided data processing pipelines in radio astronomy, we propose the joint use of fuzzy rule based inference and deep learning. We consider one application in radio astronomy, i.e., calibration, to showcase the proposed approach of ML aided decision making using a Takagi-Sugeno-Kang (TSK) fuzzy system. We provide results based on simulations to illustrate the increased explainability of the proposed approach, not compromising on the quality or accuracy.

Modern scientific CMOS cameras offer very fast readout speeds and low read noise. In this study, we evaluate the performance of the Andor Marana CMOS camera through on-sky testing carried out at the NGTS facility at the ESO Paranal Observatory in Chile. We mount the Marana camera to an NGTS telescope, and conduct photometric observations of bright stars. In particular, we target transit events around eight known bright exoplanet host stars. Simultaneous observations are carried out using an existing Andor iKon-L CCD camera on a neighbouring NGTS telescope. This allows for a direct comparison of the photometric precision between the CMOS and CCD cameras. We find that the Marana CMOS exhibits a similar level of photometric performance to the CCD camera, achieving 500\,ppm at a 30-minute timescale for a T $=10$\,mag star. Although the CCD has a slightly better quantum efficiency over the NGTS filter range (520-890\,nm), we find that the faster readout speed of the CMOS compared to the CCD means that the CMOS camera detects 20\,\% more photons per unit time for a solar-type star in our standard 10\,s exposure time operation mode. This results in the CMOS performing slightly better photometry in the photon-limited regime. We conclude that modern CMOS cameras, such as the Marana, are very well-suited for astronomical time-series photometry applications.

Binary neutron stars (BNSs) are one of the most important gravitational wave (GW) sources, which provide key insights to evolution of massive binary stars and nuclear physics. Beyond Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), Taiji, and Tianqin missions, proposed concepts for next generation space-based GW observatories, including LISAmax, Folkner, and eASTROD, aim to explore the sub-millihertz (mHz) to microhertz ($\mu$ Hz) frequency band. Because the proposed designs substantially suppress low-frequency noise, these detectors are expected to outperform LISA, Taiji, and Tianqin in detecting eccentric Galactic BNS systems. In this paper, we estimate the detectability of nearby inspiraling BNSs using future sub-mHz GW detectors. By utilizing compact binary population synthesis simulations to generate mock BNS samples and estimate their signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) correspondingly for each GW detector over an observation period of $5-10$\,years, we find that LISAmax may detect $\sim 520-900$ Galactic BNSs, whereas Folkner and eASTROD may detect $\sim 780-1370$ Galactic BNSs. Notably, LISAmax excels in detecting highly eccentric systems $(e>0.90)$ owing to its higher sensitivity at relatively higher sub-mHz frequencies. We further identify seven observed radio BNSs as viable candidates for validation, in particular J0737-3039, which reaches an SNR of $\sim 100$. The expected detection number of LMC inspiraling BNSs is about $\sim 4-18$ for these sub-mHz detectors over an observation period of $5-10$\,years, while detecting inspiraling BNSs in SMC is challenging. This study highlights the significant potential of future sub-mHz GW missions in unraveling BNS formation and evolution physics.

Solar prominence threads are typically located around magnetic dips, where cold and dense plasma is suspended against gravity in the hot corona thanks to the upward magnetic force. Because prominences are partially ionized, ambipolar diffusion can deposit part of the energy of their non-force-free magnetic field into the plasma. This ambipolar heating may therefore play a role in the energy balance of prominences. In this proof-of-concept work, we explore the effect of ambipolar diffusion in one-dimensional models that satisfy both mechanical equilibrium and energy balance. The magnetic configuration is based on the classic Kippenhahn-Schlüter model, incorporating a sheared magnetic field. The temperature profile along the magnetic field is computed numerically by balancing radiative losses, thermal conduction, and ambipolar heating. The resulting models consistently consist of a cold, dense, partially ionized thread with prominence core conditions, a very thin prominence-corona transition region, and an extended, hot, fully ionized region with coronal conditions. In addition to providing heating that partly compensates for radiative losses, ambipolar diffusion also gives rise to stationary flows associated with the gravitational drainage of neutrals in the partially ionized region. We investigate how the length of the cold threads depends on the central temperature, central pressure, magnetic field strength, and shear angle, and show that thread lengths compatible with observations are obtained for realistic values of these parameters. Therefore, we demonstrate that ambipolar diffusion plays a relevant role in this simple configuration, indicating that this effect should be incorporated into more elaborate multi-dimensional models and simulations.

We present a time-resolved analysis of the persistent emission in 4U 1728--34 using AstroSat observations from 2016 to 2019. We detect kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) during all epochs, with centroid frequencies ranging from $\sim 350$ to $1180~\mathrm{Hz}$, although some detections are of lower significance ($< 3\sigma$). We model the simultaneous spectra from the Soft X-ray Telescope and the Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter using a combination of an absorbed disk component (diskbb), a blackbody component (bbodyrad), a thermal Comptonization model (thcomp), and a broad Gaussian line. From the diskbb parameters, we estimate the accretion rate and find that all observations fall into two accretion regimes, namely AR1 and AR2, with accretion rates of $\sim 3 \times 10^{16}~\mathrm{g\,s^{-1}}$ and $\sim 7 \times 10^{16}~\mathrm{g\,s^{-1}}$, respectively. Interestingly, we find that for AR1, the lower kHz QPO frequency ($\nu_{\mathrm{L}}$) is always $< 500~\mathrm{Hz}$, while for AR2 it is $\gtrsim 500~\mathrm{Hz}$. We found that the spectral index showed no clear correlation with $\nu_{\mathrm{L}}$. For AR1, the coronal electron temperature ($kT_{\mathrm{e}}$) and optical depth ($\tau$) are $\sim 10~\mathrm{keV}$ and $\sim 5$, respectively. In contrast, for AR2, $kT_{\mathrm{e}}$ decreases to $\sim 3~\mathrm{keV}$ and $\tau$ increases to $\sim 12$, showing correlations with $\nu_{\mathrm{L}}$, with Spearman's rank correlation coefficients of $-0.78$ and $0.71$, respectively. The transition in spectral parameters at $\nu_{\mathrm{L}} \sim 500~\mathrm{Hz}$ indicates the existence of a critical QPO frequency governed or influenced by the accretion state of the source.

Constructing spacetime solutions that describe black holes embedded in dark matter environments is a crucial step toward probing the properties of dark matter in the strong-field regime of gravity. At present, however, there is no unique or systematic framework to model such configurations, and several commonly adopted approaches raise methodological ambiguities. Motivated by these challenges, we build upon a perturbative framework to describe deformations of static, spherically symmetric black holes induced by a surrounding dark matter distribution. Within this framework, we compute the leading-order corrections to both the photon-sphere radius and the radius of the black hole shadow, assuming a generic dark matter halo profile. We then apply the formalism to physically motivated density profiles, including the Hernquist and Navarro-Frenk-White models, obtaining closed-form analytical expressions for the perturbed metric functions and for the critical impact parameter in the Schwarzschild background. Using these results, we obtain quantitative estimates for the corresponding shadow deviations and find that they lie well beyond the current observational bounds set by Keck and VLTI measurements. As a consistency check, we further estimate the total dark matter mass enclosed within the orbital radius of the S2 star and show that it remains well below the $0.1\%$ upper limit reported by the GRAVITY collaboration. Overall, this approach offers a systematic avenue to investigate perturbative effects of dark matter on black hole phenomenology, including potential implications for gravitational wave observations.

We present the SOFIA/HAWC+ 214 $\mu$m polarimetric observations toward the infrared dark cloud G351.77-0.53 (hereafter G351), complemented by existing multi-wavelength data sets. Infrared excess from the embedded sources indicate ongoing star formation activity in the cloud. The G351 cloud hosts two prominent star-forming clumps, i.e., c1 and c2. The plane-of-the-sky magnetic field lines from Planck observations are predominantly oriented perpendicular to the filament's major axis. Magnetic field orientations from SOFIA/HAWC+ 214 $\mu$m observations reveal distinct hourglass-shaped field configuration toward c1, while the field lines remain perpendicular to the rest of the filament. Using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, we estimate a mean plane-of-the-sky magnetic field strength of $\sim$147 $\pm$ 60 $\mu$G in the G351 filament, with values reaching $\sim$0.8 mG toward c1. The mass-to-flux ratio analysis indicates that the filament is magnetically transcritical, where the gravitational and magnetic field energies are comparable. The hourglass-shaped magnetic field observed toward c1 could result from magnetically regulated gravitational collapse, the alignment of converging sub-filaments with the magnetic field, or a combination of both processes. The energy budget analysis further indicates that magnetic fields play an important role in governing the cloud's gas dynamics, followed by contributions from turbulence and gravity.

Ground-based time-domain observatories require minute-by-minute, site-scale awareness of cloud cover, yet existing all-sky datasets are short, daylight-biased, or lack astrometric calibration. We present LenghuSky-8, an eight-year (2018-2025) all-sky imaging dataset from a premier astronomical site, comprising 429,620 $512 \times 512$ frames with 81.2% night-time coverage, star-aware cloud masks, background masks, and per-pixel altitude-azimuth (Alt-Az) calibration. For robust cloud segmentation across day, night, and lunar phases, we train a linear probe on DINOv3 local features and obtain 93.3% $\pm$ 1.1% overall accuracy on a balanced, manually labeled set of 1,111 images. Using stellar astrometry, we map each pixel to local alt-az coordinates and measure calibration uncertainties of approximately 0.37 deg at zenith and approximately 1.34 deg at 30 deg altitude, sufficient for integration with telescope schedulers. Beyond segmentation, we introduce a short-horizon nowcasting benchmark over per-pixel three-class logits (sky/cloud/contamination) with four baselines: persistence (copying the last frame), optical flow, ConvLSTM, and VideoGPT. ConvLSTM performs best but yields only limited gains over persistence, underscoring the difficulty of near-term cloud evolution. We release the dataset, calibrations, and an open-source toolkit for loading, evaluation, and scheduler-ready alt-az maps to boost research in segmentation, nowcasting, and autonomous observatory operations.

The growing sample of Giant Exoplanets around M-dwarf Stars (GEMS) helps probe the extremes of giant planet formation. Comparing the properties of this sample with their FGK counterparts can help us understand how planet formation and migration depend on stellar mass. We initiated a large Cycle 2 JWST transmission spectroscopy survey of seven GEMS. Here we present the atmospheric characterization using two JWST transits of TOI-5293Ab, a 0.5 $M_J$ planet orbiting an early M-dwarf with a period of $\sim$ 3 days. The two NIRSpec/PRISM transits indicate the planet is eclipsing a rapidly changing (heterogeneous) stellar photosphere. We see that Visit 1 had heterogeneity crossings across the entire transit chord, rendering inferences from it to be unreliable. The Visit 1 spectrum exhibits a downward slope ${<1}$ $\mu$m suggestive of stellar contamination from faculae. In contrast, for Visit 2 we are able to model the heterogeneity crossings and obtain a transmission spectrum free from stellar contamination. We therefore limit our conclusions to a detailed analysis of Visit 2, and using Bayesian free chemistry retrievals, we find a low atmospheric metallicity ($\log [\mathrm{M/H}] = -1.03^{+0.53}_{-0.44}$ $\times$ Solar) and slightly super-solar C/O ratio ($1.23^{+2.94}_{-0.75}$). The retrievals yield Bayes factors that indicate strong evidence for \ce{CH4} as well as low significance detections of \ce{CO2}, \ce{H2O}, \ce{NH3}. Finally, using thermal evolution models we find that the radius of TOI-5293Ab is inflated above theoretical expectations ($\sim$ 1.07 $R_J$), despite it having an temperature of $\sim$ 700 K, and hence we were unable to constrain its bulk composition.

Attempts to reveal the spectroscopic diversity of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have led to subclassification schemes such as the Branch system, which classifies SNe Ia into four categories: core normal (CN), broad line (BL), cool (CL), and shallow silicon (SS). The physical origin of these spectroscopic differences, including progenitor channels, explosion mechanisms, or other parameters, however, remains unclear. Moreover, previous work has concentrated primarily on properties near peak luminosity, yielding limited insight into their behavior at later epochs. In this study, we compile $UBVRI$ photometry for 109 SNe Ia and construct the first set of average light curves for each Branch subgroup, spanning from pre-maximum through the late tail. We find pronounced diversity in the $I$-band, especially in the timing of the secondary maximum across subgroups and in the late-time decline of CL events. After correcting for light curve stretch, which reflects the combined influence of ${}^{56}$Ni and ejecta masses, we show that the secondary maximum is powered by Fe II recombination, and its timing is particularly sensitive to the amount of stable iron-group elements (IGEs) synthesized in the explosion. This implies an anti-correlation between the mass of stable IGEs and ${}^{56}$Ni: CL (and possibly BL) events have a larger mass ratio of IGEs/$^{56}$Ni resulting in earlier secondary maxima, while SS events have a smaller ratio and thus later secondary maxima. This trend is naturally explained within the near-$M_{\rm Ch}$ delayed-detonation scenario, whereas it is inconsistent with the positive correlation predicted by the sub-$M_{\rm Ch}$ double-detonation scenario. Finally, we show that stretch-corrected late-time slopes provide a practical diagnostic for CL events, likely linked to an emission feature around $7,200$ Angstroms.

We conducted a two-band imaging survey observation using the Subaru Telescope and its wide-field camera, Suprime-Cam, to study the visible colors and size distribution of Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. The survey covered an area around Jupiter's L4 Lagrange point totaling 9.2 square degrees. We detected 120 Trojan asteroids in this survey. From these Trojan asteroids, we extracted 44 unbiased samples with absolute magnitudes in the $g^\prime$ band ranging from 12.9 to 16.9 mag (corresponding to diameter ranges of approximately $\sim$3 - 16 km assuming an albedo of 0.05) and analyzed their $g^\prime - i^\prime$ color and size distributions. Large Jupiter Trojan asteroids are known to be classified into two color groups, ''red'' and ''less red''. We found that such bimodality in the color distribution is absent for small Jupiter Trojan asteroids, which is consistent with previous studies. Previous studies have also shown that these two groups have different slopes in the magnitude distributions from each other, which was explained by conversion of red objects to less-red fragments through catastrophic disruptions. In contrast, we found that the size frequency distributions of our two sample groups divided by the color of $g^\prime - i^\prime$ = 0.7 (in AB magnitude) are quite similar. Our results can provide new insights into collisional evolution of color and size distribution of small Jupiter Trojans.

A nearby primordial-black-hole (PBH) evaporation burst would produce a curved gamma-ray wavefront, leading to detectable departures from plane-wave inter-satellite delays. We introduce a purely geometric method that combines imaging localizations with multi-spacecraft timing to determine the distance of a gamma-ray transient. Applied to \textit{Swift}-localized short GRBs, the current sample shows no significant deviation from the plane-wave expectation, with the most constraining event reaching $1.2$ AU and already probing a meaningful Solar-System-scale regime. Our analysis shows that direct distance measurements are achievable to $10^3$ AU scales with the current and near-future technical capabilities. Once a finite source distance is measured, the corresponding PBH mass and lifetime can be directly inferred. Future wide-field localization and long-baseline deep-space gamma-ray detectors could extend such searches to $10^5$ AU and beyond.

The paper is devoted to the consideration of the role of the donor stellar wind in the matter exchange between the components of detached binary systems. A classification of close binary systems with interacting components is proposed. A list of potential donors and accretors of such systems, including X-ray binary and symbiotic stars, is given. Analytical tasks have been completed to evaluate the conditions and efficiency of interaction through the stellar wind, a criterion was found for maintaining the self-induced stellar wind of X-ray binaries, and a condition for the formation of an accretion disk during accretion of stellar wind matter by a compact accretor. Three-dimensional gas dynamic models of component interaction are constructed for the five initial velocities of the stellar wind using the example of Sco X-1 type systems. The simulation results are illustrated by pictures of streamlines, temperature distribution, and wind gas densities in the orbital and frontal planes. Model focusing of the donor wind flow by the accretor is confirmed by the observed phase X-ray light curve of Vela X-1.

Analyses of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) data for extended $\gamma$-ray sources face the issue that the field of view does not offer sufficient regions for background estimations. In cases where the source angular size exceeds or occupies a significant part of the field of view, an independent background estimation method is necessary to carry out IACT analyses and to have a better understanding of the systematic uncertainties. The proposed new method utilizes Singular Value Decomposition to extract the low-dimension representations of the distribution of cosmic-ray events in OFF runs and uses cosmic-ray-like events in the ON runs to estimate the background of $\gamma$-like events. Using VERITAS archival data, we demonstrate that the new method is capable of providing reliable background modeling for observations across a wide range of observing conditions.

We explore a hybrid expansion of the disturbing function in planetary dynamics that combines elements of the classical Laplace and Legendre developments. This formulation retains the structure of the Laplace expansion, but expresses the inverse of the mutual distance as a series whose terms keep an exact dependence on both the eccentricity and the semi-major axis ratio. We use it to construct the first-order secular Hamiltonian of the planar 3-body problem, relevant for modeling the long-term evolution of planetary systems. We assess the convergence of the new expansion numerically and compare it with that of the Laplace and Legendre series across a range of orbital configurations. The results show that the new expansion provides consistent performance across diverse dynamical regimes, bridging the domains of applicability of the two classical approaches.

We investigate the viability of a cosmological scenario with interacting dark sector, which can describe the coexistence between dark energy and dark matter. The model possesses an analytical solution for the Hubble function and we constrain the free parameters by applying the newly released cosmic chronometers data (31 old data and 3 new data from DESI), the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillators from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Survey (DESI DR2 BAO), along with Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and Supernova catalogues (Pantheon Plus, Union3, and DES-Dovekie). We find that the coexistence model fits the data sets in a better way than the reference models - the $\Lambda$CDM and $w$CDM models. The analysis shows that the coexistence scenario can provide a cosmologically viable model for the description of the late-time acceleration of the universe. Nevertheless, for large redshifts, the model has a similar behaviour to that of the $w$CDM model, as the introduction of the GRB data indicates in the statistical parameters. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the coexistence model provides a statistically smaller value for the $H_{0}$ parameter.

The quest to identify the true nature of dark matter remains one of the most pressing challenges in modern physics. We present a novel approach to probe the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) paradigm by analyzing density enhancements, or ``mini-spikes,'' around stellar-mass black holes (sBHs) using 17 years of data from the \textit{Fermi} Large Area Telescope. Motivated by the anomalous orbital decay observed in the black hole low-mass X-ray binaries A0620--00 and XTE J1118+480, we model these systems under the hypothesis of adiabatic spike formation around primordial black holes, incorporating the effects of tidal disruption in the Galactic disk. Finding no statistically significant gamma-ray excess at either location ($TS < 1$), we derive 95\% C.L. upper limits on the WIMP annihilation cross section. Our results exclude the canonical thermal relic cross section ($3 \times 10^{-26} \, \text{cm}^3\text{s}^{-1}$) across the 10~GeV to 10~TeV mass range for $b\bar{b}$ and $W^+W^-$ channels, and up to $\sim$6~TeV for the $\tau^+\tau^-$ channel. Recasting these results into a Galactic discovery reach, we demonstrate that \textit{Fermi}-LAT is sensitive to $10\,M_\odot$ mini-spikes even at distances surpassing the Galactic Center, provided the WIMP mass is below 1~TeV. These findings establish a significant tension between the dynamical friction interpretation of orbital decay in these systems and the WIMP hypothesis, providing robust observational constraints on the coexistence of primordial black holes and annihilating dark matter.

Short-period comet P/2010 H2 (Vales) underwent a significant outburst of $>7.5$~mag in 2010 and has not been detected since that apparition. Here we report our recovery attempt of P/Vales using the 4.3-m Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT) during its 2015 and 2025 apparitions, as well as the data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) taken in 2023. With the LDT data, we did not detect the comet within the $3\sigma$ positional uncertainty ellipse to a $3\sigma$ limiting magnitude of $r\sim25$, corresponding to an absolute nuclear magnitude of $20.6$, or a diameter of $0.5$~km assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04. Similarly, the TESS data reveals no comet or debris trail, providing no direct evidence for a disruption event although not precluding one. The new constraint on the nucleus size tightens the range of viable activity mechanisms for P/Vales and is most consistent with a recently implanted, weakly processed nucleus. Our non-detection of P/Vales down to $m_r=25$ shows that objects like this are difficult to detect in their inactive state with Rubin Observatory, but shift-and-stack techniques and targeted observations on 10-m-class telescopes can provide more useful constraints on these objects.

In the convective envelopes of relatively cool stars, oscillations are excited by turbulent convection. In these so-called solar-like oscillators, radial oscillation modes appear at nearly equally spaced frequencies. This spacing is referred to as the `large frequency separation'. Deviations from equally-spaced frequencies are a result of the internal structure of a star being different from a sphere of ideal gas at constant temperature. Hence, these deviations provide information on the internal structure of the star. In this work, we investigate the second-order deviation from uniform spacing, referred to as curvature. We aim to provide homegeneous values for observed red-giant stars, understand differences between the results from observations and predictions from stellar models, and reveal the connection between curvature and stellar structure. We used Kepler data of red-giant stars and computed the curvature for several thousand stars. We compared these to the curvature derived from MESA models. We subsequently investigated the trends and differences between results from observations and models. Finally, we computed sensitivity kernels to identify the stellar region to which the curvature is most sensitive and performed a glitch analysis. We found that the curvature is sensitive to evolutionary phase and mass. The observed values and values from models show discrepancies. The glitch analysis shows that in theory this provides information on the location and strength of the HeI and HI ionisation layers. The curvature provides a probe into the near-surface structure of the star. The deviations between the curvature derived from observations and models call henceforth for improvements in the near-surface layers of stellar models.

Context: Growing observational evidence suggests that sub-relativistic astrophysical jets may accelerate particles at slowly evolving standing shocks. Recollimation shocks are expected to develop when jets expand in dense environments; their formation may be mediated by the pressure of the cocoon surrounding the jet, while remaining compatible with a quasi-stationary behavior. Despite their high inclination relative to the jet axis, such shocks can be strong and enable efficient particle acceleration. Aims: The aim of this work is to improve the general understanding of particle acceleration via diffusive shock acceleration at recollimation shocks by developing a versatile modeling framework applicable to different classes of astrophysical jets, including Seyfert galaxies, microquasars, and protostellar systems. Methods: We extend an analytic jet hydrodynamics model previously introduced in the literature to the sub-relativistic regime and use it to identify the expected locations of the recollimation shock and the jet head. Within this framework, we formulate a semi-analytic acceleration and transport model for particles injected at the recollimation shock via diffusive shock acceleration. Results: By solving the space-dependent transport equation, we obtain particle distributions and spectra along the jet, as well as robust predictions for the maximum energies achievable as a function of the intrinsic properties of the system and the source class. Conclusions: Our results indicate that recollimation shocks may play a central role in particle acceleration in sub-relativistic jets. In Seyfert galaxies, such shocks may accelerate particles from PeV up to EeV energies, while in microquasars and protostellar jets maximum energies of tens of PeV and up to TeV are expected, respectively. Protons escaping the jets may diffuse through the cocoon, leading to possible hadronic signatures.

Common-envelope evolution (CEE) is one of the biggest open questions in binary stellar evolution, despite being the main channel for the formation of close binaries. One of the main reasons CEE is difficult to model is the lack of direct observations that could constrain numerical simulations. One exception is luminous red novae, which are thought to represent CEEs that end in mergers. Unfortunately, there are no confirmed direct detections of ongoing events that result in the survival of a close binary, and we must rely on observations of post-CEE systems. Among these, planetary nebulae (PNe) are particularly important because their morphologies can probe how the envelope is ejected. However, post-CEE PNe do not reflect the ejected envelope in its pristine form, as winds from the central core also affect their morphology. In this context, Water Fountains (WFs), a class of objects proposed to form during CEE, provide an ideal comparison. They are identified by their collimated water masers, and most are still in the post-AGB phase. As such, WFs provide some of the best observational constraints for simulations, since they likely capture a snapshot of the envelope ejection while it is still happening. In this paper, we show that the formation of a circumbinary disk with collimated outflows surrounding the central binary arises naturally from hydrodynamical simulations of CEE, and that their morphology and kinematics are consistent with observations of WFs. We also present insights into how the properties of WFs may provide clues to understanding how CEE proceeds and help guide future simulations.

Near-Earth asteroid (275677) 2000 RS11 was observed over 5 days in March 2014 with both the Arecibo (2380 MHz, 12.6 cm) and Goldstone (8560 MHz, 3.5 cm) planetary radar systems. The continuous-wave spectra and delay-Doppler images collected revealed a sub-km-sized object with a strongly bifurcated shape. We used these radar observations, in combination with 7 optical lightcurves collected in 2014 and one lightcurve from 2023, to create a comprehensive shape and spin-state model for RS11. We find a rotation period of P = (4.445+-0.001) hours around a pole of lambda = (225+-80) and beta = (-80+-9) relative to the plane of the ecliptic. The shape of RS11 is unusual in that it does not resemble many of the other near-Earth asteroids modelled with ground-based radar. Whilst RS11 consists of a largely spherical, smaller lobe attached to an elongated, larger lobe via a narrow neck, the smaller lobe is not aligned with the long axis of the larger lobe, but is closer to the larger lobe's shortest principal axis. In combination with a large concavity observed on the outer face of the larger lobe, this may point to an unusual formation or event in the object's past. We estimate that RS11 has an geometric albedo of (0.16+-0.06) and a radar albedo between 0.08 and 0.16. Analysis of its gravitational environment reveals that for standard S-type asteroid densities, we would not expect rotational instability and it is possible for RS11 to be a low tensile strength rubble-pile asteroid.

We investigate the kinematic properties of the Coma galaxy cluster using a new, large spectroscopic sample of member galaxies, from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). By means of the MG-MAMPOSSt code, based on the Jeans equation, we jointly reconstruct the total cluster mass profile and the velocity anisotropy profile. Assuming a Navarro-Frenk-White model, we estimate a virial mass $M_{200}=1.08_{-0.09}^{+0.08}~({\rm stat})\pm 0.09~({\rm syst})\times 10^{15}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot $, corresponding to $r_{200}=2.12 \pm 0.06\,\mathrm{Mpc}$ and a scale radius for the mass profile $r_{\rm s}=0.48^{+0.27}_{-0.13}\,\mathrm{Mpc}$, which provides the tightest robust kinematic mass profile constraint to date. By considering separately the mass of the hot gas and the galaxy stellar mass, we determine the dark matter mass profile, with $M_{200}^{\rm DM}=8.6^{+1.2}_{-0.8}\times 10^{14}\,\text{M}_\odot$. We discuss the impact of the mass and number density parametrisations, the effect of different choices of the cluster's rest frame and of the radial range of the kinematic analysis, further comparing our results with previous estimates from the literature. The cluster dynamical state has also been assessed, using the spatial and line-of-sight velocity distributions of the members. We perform a kinematic study of different subsamples of galaxy populations, based on their colour (red sequence, green valley, and blue cloud), focusing on the anisotropy profiles and line-of-sight velocity distributions. The orbits of green valley and blue cloud galaxies appear to be more radial in the centre and in the outskirts, respectively, with the latter predicting a higher cluster virial mass. This study provides new insights on the interplay between dynamical and intrinsic properties of galaxies in massive structures, fundamental to verify the tight connection between galaxy evolution and environment.

Recent observations by LHAASO and HAWC have revealed extended ultrahigh-energy (UHE; $E>100$ TeV) gamma-ray emission assoicated to the black-hole X-ray binary (BHXRB) V4641 Sgr, with a spectrum extending up to $\sim0.8$ PeV. Interpreting this emission requires a very {high time-averaged non-thermal particle power}, significantly exceeding the long-term observed X-ray luminosity which is commonly used as a proxy for the accretion power, leading to an apparent ``energy crisis''. To address this, we perform detailed binary-evolution simulations with \textit{MESA}, constrained by the known system parameters. The simulations suggest that V4641 Sgr is likely in a long-lasting, slow mass-transfer phase, with a time-averaged intrinsic X-ray luminosity of over evolutionary timescales of order $L_X\sim10^{38}$ erg/s, far above the observed luminosity over the last few decades. This is consistent with earlier suggestions of an extended obscuring/reprocessing envelope or outflow in V4641 Sgr. The inferred intrinsic accretion power can then readily supply the energy required to explain the UHE emission under the leptonic model, and is also marginally consistent with the requirement from the hadronic model, resolving the energy crisis. This supports V4641 Sgr as a Galactic PeV particle accelerator.

The cosmic dipole in galaxy number counts is traditionally described by the Ellis--Baldwin (EB) formula under simplifying assumptions of power-law source counts and flux-limited selection. We reformulate the EB dipole as a symmetry response of observed counts to a Lorentz boost, leading to the general expression $D=\beta R$, where $R=\partial\ln N/\partial\ln\beta$ encodes the underlying population and selection effects. The classical EB formula is recovered as a limiting case. We show that this response framework extends beyond one-point statistics: Lorentz boosts induce a dipole component in the two-point correlation function and, more generally, a hierarchy of responses in $n$-point statistics. We further clarify the relation to redshift-space distortions and relativistic galaxy clustering, and provide a unified description in which observer- and source-induced dipoles contribute to the same multipole component. This establishes the cosmic dipole as a symmetry response of finite-sample point-process statistics, offering a new perspective on dipole anisotropies and their observational interpretation.

We present multi-frequency polarimetric observations of 3C 84 obtained with the Korean VLBI Network at 43-141 GHz, the Very Long Baseline Array at 43 GHz, and the High Sensitivity Array at 8 GHz from 2015 to 2024. We find that the Faraday rotation measure (RM) decreases systematically with distance from the black hole over 1-8 pc, following a single power-law trend of RM proportional to r^{-2.7+/-0.2}. Notably, RM measurements from earlier studies across the same distance range follow the same relation. This consistency across epochs, frequencies, and independent datasets indicates a common and stable external Faraday screen. These results naturally identify the circumnuclear ambient medium within the parsec-scale Bondi radius of the host galaxy NGC 1275 as the origin of the Faraday rotation, thereby resolving a long-standing question about its physical origin. From the RM profile, we derive radial distributions of the electron density and magnetic-field strength in the circumnuclear ambient medium that are consistent with independent constraints. The derived density lies below that of the free-free absorption disk and, when extrapolated inward, remains below the density of the broad-line region. The magnetic-field strength gradually increases from 0.1-1.5 microgauss at the Bondi radius to milligauss-to-gauss levels toward the black hole, providing the first spatially resolved constraint on the magnetic-field strength at parsec-scale distances in an elliptical galaxy. Together, these results present a spatially resolved and physically consistent picture of the circumnuclear environment in NGC 1275.

I show that a newly estimated fraction of normal type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) that interact within about 100 days of explosion with circumstellar material (CSM), called SNe Ia-CSM, is compatible with a recently estimated fraction of normal SNe Ia that interact with an old planetary nebula, hence, supporting the core-degenerate (CD) scenario for normal SNe Ia. According to the CD scenario, a white dwarf (WD) merges with the core of an asymptotic giant branch star at the end of common envelope evolution (CEE) and forms a massive WD remnant close to the Chandrasekhar mass. The CEE ejects a planetary nebula that the WD remnant ionizes. Most explosions occur within a merger-to-explosion delay (MED) time of less than a million years, before the planetary nebula material disperses to the interstellar medium, leading to a SN Ia inside a planetary nebula (SNIP). I discuss two plausible MED time distributions and show that the newly determined SNe Ia-CSM fraction of all normal SNe Ia, ~0.04%, is compatible with the SNIP fraction of ~80%. Therefore, although the fraction of SNe Ia-CSM is very small, it does not require a rare evolutionary pathway. I argue that SNe Ia-CSM follow the same scenario that accounts for 70%-90% of all normal SNe Ia, namely, the CD scenario.

Recent cosmological observations show hints for possible deviations from the standard $\Lambda$CDM paradigm at late times. To study such deviation, we introduce a minimal phenomenological framework in which the total equation of state of the Universe, $w_{\rm T}(z)$, follows a logistic evolution motivated by a renormalization group like flow between cosmological fixed points. This approach directly reconstructs $w_{\rm T}(z)$ probed by background observables, without assuming a specific dark energy model. Using DESI-DR2 baryon acoustic oscillation measurements, DES-Dovekie latest supernova data, and CMB distance priors, we find that the logistic parametrization provides an improved fit compared to $\Lambda$CDM and remains competitive with standard dynamical dark energy models. The inferred expansion history exhibits noticeable deviations from $\Lambda$CDM at low redshifts, reflected in the reconstructed jerk parameter. While the statistical significance of these deviations is model-dependent, our results highlight the potential of flow-inspired parametrizations as a complementary and physically interpretable framework for probing late-time cosmic dynamics.

The optical Magnus effect refers to transverse shift of a trajectory of light caused by its polarization and appears as a correction to geometrical optics at the linear order in wavelength. Here, we start from Maxwell's equations in a curved spacetime to derive the equation of motion for a wave packet of circularly polarized light, which confirms the known result involving the helicity-dependent anomalous velocity with some generalization and clarification. We then study possible consequences of the optical Magnus effect on gravitational lensing in the Schwarzschild spacetime as well as under a weak gravitational potential in an expanding spacetime. Among others, by formulating the lens equation modified to incorporate the optical Magnus effect, the Einstein ring is found impossible to emerge from a point source for any axially symmetric thin lens. Analytic solutions to the modified lens equation are also obtained for simple lens models, illuminating how image formation is affected by the optical Magnus effect.

Primordial micro black holes can constitute dark matter if short-distance gravity is modified by extra dimensions or a large number of species and if the memory-burden effect sufficiently suppresses Hawking evaporation. The resulting black holes in the transition regime differ from their four-dimensional Einsteinian counterparts through their mass--radius relation, temperature, entropy, and lifetime, which can render even very light objects cosmologically stable. The most promising observational consequences of such micro black holes dark matter are analysed. Neutron star survival yields the most robust constraints, while a narrow region of parameter space can simultaneously remain viable and address the missing-pulsar problem in the Galactic center. Diffuse evaporation signals in neutrino telescopes are found to be relevant mainly in extra-dimensional scenarios, whereas in generic species models, visible emission is strongly suppressed by evaporation into dark sectors. Merger-induced evaporation bursts can provide an additional probe in extra-dimensional realisations if the post-merger remnant briefly returns to the semiclassical phase. Overall, micro black holes dark matter remains phenomenologically viable in constrained regions, with neutron stars, neutrino telescopes, and merger signatures providing complementary tests.

We study quintessential inflation in the framework of metric-affine gravity. It is well known that non-minimal couplings with the Holst invariant can generate a quasi-pole inflationary behaviour resulting in a Starobinsky-like phenomenology. The same quasi-pole behaviour can also be used in order to "flatten" the scalar potential in the Dark Energy era providing a successful framework for quintessential inflation. Agreement with all the observational constraints, reduces the predicted scalar spectral index to a narrow window: $0.966 \lesssim n_s \lesssim 0.967$, making the model highly testable and falsifiable.

Axions are hypothetical particles, proposed to account for the invariance of CP symmetry in quantum chromodynamics. While axions and axion-like-particles are well-motivated by string theory and beyond-Standard-Model extensions, they have remained elusive to experimental searches even after significant effort over many decades. Building on a recent development using an X-ray free electron laser to search for cosmologically favoured axions of mass $m_{a} \lesssim 0.01$ eV, we extend previous bounds on the ALP-photon coupling, $g_{a\gamma\gamma}$, by over an order of magnitude. We exploit the Bormann effect of Laue crystals in a light-shining-through-wall experiment, with broad sensitivity to $m_a \lesssim$ 22 eV. Moreover for $m_{a} \in$ (3460, 3480) eV our sensitivity reaches down to the QCD axion coupling prediction, providing the most stringent laboratory constraints in this mass range.

We compute the gravitational wave spectrum from a dark sector phase transition driven by spontaneous $\ZDW$ breaking. If the transition is second-order, the only source of gravitational waves is the annihilation of domain walls (biased by quantum gravity). However, if the transition is first-order, this yields a twin-peaked signal from both the transition itself and the biased domain wall annihilation. Both scenarios originate when a scalar singlet odd under the $\ZDW$ obtains a non-zero vacuum expectation value. An additional $\ZDM$ odd scalar doublet strengthens the transition and produces fermionic dark matter via freeze-in, matching observed dark matter relic density.

The equation of state of matter at supranuclear densities governs the astrophysical observables of neutron stars. A realistic, though complex, description is provided by the Chiral-Mean-Field model, which depends on many microscopic nuclear-physics parameters. We present a Fisher-information-inspired analysis of the sensitivity of neutron-star observables to the parameters of the Chiral-Mean-Field model at $\beta$-equilibrium using SLy as a crust. We then compute neutron-star sequences and extract masses, radii, compactnesses, and tidal deformabilities. From the logarithmic derivatives of these observables with respect to each nuclear parameter, we construct a dimensionless, Fisher-inspired sensitivity matrix and perform a principal-component analysis to identify the effective combinations of nuclear parameters that most strongly affect neutron-star observables. Although the ranking depends mildly on the observable, the three most important nuclear parameters are the vacuum value of the dilaton field $\chi_0$ (which sets the overall scale of the scalar potential and trace-anomaly contribution), the scalar singlet strength $g_{1}^X$ (which controls the overall scalar attraction through the baryon effective masses), and the $k_0$ quadratic scalar term (which governs the curvature of the scalar potential). This framework provides a reproducible, data-driven approach to quantify parameter sensitivities in dense-matter models and to guide future Bayesian inference of nuclear information from multi-messenger astrophysical observations.

We investigate nuclear pasta phases appearing in hot neutron-star matter based on the compressible liquid-drop model, where the matter consists of a dense liquid phase and a dilute gas phase separated by a sharp interface. The surface tension is calculated self-consistently from the Thomas-Fermi approximation, and it depends on temperature and isospin asymmetry. We employ relativistic mean-field models with different symmetry energy slopes to describe nuclear interactions. It is found that the TM1e model with a small symmetry energy slope of $L=40$ MeV predicts various pasta shapes at low temperatures, while the TM1 model with $L=110.8$ MeV yields only the droplet configuration up to the crust-core transition density. We examine the occurrence and influence of pasta phases in proto-neutron stars with a constant entropy per baryon. These pasta phases may occur in the inner crust with a thickness of about $1.2$ km, playing an important role in the thermal evolution of the star.

We study the Energy Conditions in modified $f(G)$ gravity, with $G$ being the topological Gauss-Bonnet term. Then we use the cosmographic parameters to constrain the functional form of the gravitational action and investigate the possibility to have standard inflation in the early time. Specifically, we select models containing symmetries within the modified $f(\G)$ theory and obtain conditions for which i) the energy conditions can be violated and ii) the magnitude of the slow-roll parameters is small, thus suggesting that under given limits the analyzed theory can potentially trace the cosmic history both at early and at the late times.

Studying the polarization and spectral distortion of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) in tandem with intensity fluctuations of the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) allows us to verify our assumptions on cosmic inflation and investigate the dynamics and evolution of galaxy clusters in the last 10 billion years. Because of its broadband emission and being an all-sky extended source, observing the entire CMB in detail is a very time-consuming and expensive exercise. Fortunately, in the last few years, the on-chip superconducting spectrometer technology has moved out of the lab and into the telescope. With its compact size and background-limited sensitivity, this family of instruments is particularly well-suited for fast and large area observations in a relatively unexplored range of the electromagnetic spectrum. However, recent examples of this technology do not yet reach the requirements needed for large spectroscopic and polarimetric surveys of the CMB. We formulate several of these requirements and introduce novel on-chip components and fabrication techniques. We introduce a cross-over to enable distinguishing signal polarization, minimize signal loss by locally optimized lithography of a coplanar-waveguide (CPW), lower the spectral resolution of microstrip filters by deposition of a dielectric layer, and increase the yield of the spectrometer array by removing individual line shorts. These together have culminated in the successful fabrication of a fourteen-spaxel IFU.

Strong nuggets with a baryon number of $A\sim 10^{10-30}$ could be able to survive from the cosmic separation of the QCD phases, provided the transition from strange quark matter to strangeon matter is accounted for, thereby evading evaporation in the early Universe. Such strangeon nuggets may serve as a dark matter candidate within particle standard model. We formulate the corresponding phase transition of cosmic strange matter, establishing a parameter space which reasonably accommodates observational constraints on the dark-to-luminous matter ratio and the mass-radius relation, as well as tidal deformability of compact objects.

We investigate the freeze-in of MeV-scale fermionic dark matter (DM) that couples to the Standard Model via a new vector mediator to assess the potential that future direct detection experiments have to observe new physics in either the DM or neutrino sectors. We study the minimal kinetic mixing dark photon of a secluded $U(1)_D$ as well as gauge bosons of the anomaly-free $U(1)_{L_i-L_j}$, with $i,j=e,\mu,\tau$, and $U(1)_{B-L}$ gauge extensions, exploring the impact of low reheating temperatures on the DM production rates. For the ultralight dark photon scenario, we show that current experimental constraints from electron recoil data in DAMIC-M and PandaX-4T can be avoided if the DM fermion is only a subcomponent (smaller than 40%) of the total cold DM and that future detectors can be sensitive to a DM fraction below 1% for masses above 1 MeV. For a massive dark photon, there are allowed regions of the parameter space with masses in the range 50 MeV $\lesssim m_{\rm DM}\lesssim$ 500 MeV that can be within the reach of direct detection experiments through nuclear recoils if freeze-in occurred at a low reheating temperature. Finally, the case of $U(1)_{L_i-L_j}$ and $U(1)_{B-L}$ is particularly interesting since the discovery of new physics can come from either the DM or the neutrino sector, which features new interactions. We find that freeze-in at low reheating temperatures can reproduce the observed abundance in large parts of the parameter space up to gauge couplings of $g_X\sim10^{-2}$ for MeV DM. Most notably, direct detection experiments will be sensitive to considerable parts of this parameter space in nuclear recoils for 50 MeV $\lesssim m_{\rm DM}\lesssim$ 500 MeV. Additionally, the enhanced signal from solar neutrino coherent scattering is observable in these scenarios, which can serve as a further handle to identify the underlying particle physics model.