In this thesis, we utilize the formalism of open quantum systems, effective field theory methods and quantum field theory at finite temperature to describe the in-medium, out of equilibrium evolution of heavy quarks and their bound states. We calculate the nuclear modification factor and the elliptic flow of the Upsilon 1S, 2S and 3S states and compare against experimental measurements finding good agreement.

We study the evolution of dust in a cosmological volume using a hydrodynamical simulation in which the dust production is coupled with the MUPPI (MUlti Phase Particle Integrator) sub-resolution model of star formation and feedback. As for the latter, we keep as reference the model setup calibrated previously to match the general properties of Milky Way-like galaxies in zoom-in simulations. However, we suggest that an increase of the star formation efficiency with the local dust-to-gas ratio would better reproduce the observed evolution of the cosmic star formation density. Moreover, the paucity of quenched galaxies at low redshift demands a stronger role of active galactic nucleus feedback. We tune the parameters ruling direct dust production from evolved stars and accretion in the interstellar medium to get scaling relations involving dust, stellar mass and metallicity in good agreement with observations. In low-mass galaxies, the accretion process is inefficient. As a consequence, they remain poorer in silicate and small grains than higher mass ones. We reproduce reasonably well the few available data on the radial distribution of dust outside the galactic region, supporting the assumption that the dust and gas dynamics are well coupled at galactic scales.

To use strong gravitational lenses as an astrophysical or cosmological probe, models of their mass distributions are often needed. We present a new, time-efficient automation code for uniform modeling of strongly lensed quasars with GLEE, a lens modeling software, for high-resolution multi-band data. By using the observed positions of the lensed quasars and the spatially extended surface brightness distribution of the lensed quasar host galaxy, we obtain a model of the mass distribution of the lens galaxy. We apply this uniform modeling pipeline to a sample of nine strongly lensed quasars with HST WFC 3 images. The models show in most cases well reconstructed light components and a good alignment between mass and light centroids. We find that the automated modeling code significantly reduces the user input time during the modeling process. The preparation time of required input files is reduced significantly. This automated modeling pipeline can efficiently produce uniform models of extensive lens system samples which can be used for further cosmological analysis. A blind test through a comparison with the results of an independent automated modeling pipeline based on the modeling software Lenstronomy reveals important lessons. Quantities such as Einstein radius, astrometry, mass flattening and position angle are generally robustly determined. Other quantities depend crucially on the quality of the data and the accuracy of the PSF reconstruction. Better data and/or more detailed analysis will be necessary to elevate our automated models to cosmography grade. Nevertheless, our pipeline enables the quick selection of lenses for follow-up monitoring and further modeling, significantly speeding up the construction of cosmography-grade models. This is an important step forward to take advantage of the orders of magnitude increase in the number of lenses expected in the coming decade.

A multi-TeV muon collider offers a spectacular opportunity in the direct exploration of the energy frontier. Offering a combination of unprecedented energy collisions in a comparatively clean leptonic environment, a high energy muon collider has the unique potential to provide both precision measurements and the highest energy reach in one machine that cannot be paralleled by any currently available technology. The topic generated a lot of excitement in Snowmass meetings and continues to attract a large number of supporters, including many from the early career community. In light of this very strong interest within the US particle physics community, Snowmass Energy, Theory and Accelerator Frontiers created a cross-frontier Muon Collider Forum in November of 2020. The Forum has been meeting on a monthly basis and organized several topical workshops dedicated to physics, accelerator technology, and detector R&D. Findings of the Forum are summarized in this report.

We provide improved Standard Model theory predictions for the exclusive rare semimuonic processes B → K^(*)μ⁺μ⁻ and B_s → ϕμ⁺μ⁻. Our results are based on a novel parametrization of the non-local form factors, which manifestly respects a recently developed dispersive bound. We critically compare our predictions to those obtained in the framework of QCD factorization. Our predictions provide, for the first time, parametric estimates of the systematic uncertainties due to non-local contributions. Comparing our predictions within the Standard Model to available experimental data, we find a large tension for B → Kμ⁺μ⁻. A simple model-independent analysis of potential effects beyond the Standard Model yields results compatible with other approaches, albeit with larger uncertainties for the B → K^*μ⁺μ⁻ and B_s → ϕμ⁺μ⁻ decays. Our approach yields systematically improvable predictions, and we look forward to its application in further analyses beyond the Standard Model.

In this work we report the realization of the first low-threshold cryogenic detector that uses diamond as absorber for astroparticle physics applications. We tested two 0.175 g CVD diamond samples, each instrumented with a W-TES. The sensors showed transitions at about 25 mK. We present the performance of the diamond detectors and we highlight the best performing one, where we obtained an energy threshold as low as 16.8 eV. This promising result lays the foundation for the use of diamond for different fields of applications where low threshold and excellent energy resolution are required, as i.e. light dark matter searches and BSM physics with coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering.

In the context of false vacuum decay at zero temperature, it is well known that bubbles expand with uniform acceleration in the rest frame of nucleation. We show that this uniformly accelerating expansion suffers from an instability. This can be observed as a tachyonic mode in the spectrum of fluctuations for the energy functional in the reference frame in which the uniformly accelerating bubble wall appears static. In such a frame, arbitrary small perturbations cause an amplifying departure from the static wall solution. This implies that the nucleated bubble is not a critical point of the energy functional in the rest frame of nucleation but becomes one in the accelerating frame. The aforementioned instability for vacuum bubbles can be related to the well-known instability for the nucleated critical static bubbles during finite-temperature phase transitions in the rest frame of the plasma. It is proposed that zero-temperature vacuum decays as seen from accelerating frames have a dual description in terms of finite-temperature phase transitions.

We present a new approach to measure the power-law temperature density relationship T=T0(ρ/ρ¯)γ−1 and the UV background photoionization rate ΓHI of the intergalactic medium (IGM) based on the Voigt profile decomposition of the Ly α forest into a set of discrete absorption lines with Doppler parameter b and the neutral hydrogen column density NHI. Previous work demonstrated that the shape of the b−NHI distribution is sensitive to the IGM thermal parameters T0 and γ, whereas our new inference algorithm also takes into account the normalization of the distribution, i.e. the line-density dN/dz, and we demonstrate that precise constraints can also be obtained on ΓHI. We use density-estimation likelihood-free inference (DELFI) to emulate the dependence of the b−NHI distribution on IGM parameters trained on an ensemble of 624 NYX hydrodynamical simulations at z = 0.1, which we combine with a Gaussian process emulator of the normalization. To demonstrate the efficacy of this approach, we generate hundreds of realizations of realistic mock HST/COS data sets, each comprising 34 quasar sightlines, and forward model the noise and resolution to match the real data. We use this large ensemble of mocks to extensively test our inference and empirically demonstrate that our posterior distributions are robust. Our analysis shows that by applying our new approach to existing Ly α forest spectra at z ≃ 0.1, one can measure the thermal and ionization state of the IGM with very high precision (σlogT0∼0.08 dex, σγ ~ 0.06, and σlogΓHI∼0.07 dex).

We present an analysis of the kinematics of the Radcliffe Wave, a 2.7 kpc long sinusoidal band of molecular clouds in the solar neighborhood recently detected via 3D dust mapping. With Gaia DR2 astrometry and spectroscopy, we analyze the 3D space velocities of ~1500 young stars along the Radcliffe Wave in action-angle space, using the motion of the wave's newly born stars as a proxy for its gas motion. We find that the vertical angle of young stars-corresponding to their orbital phase perpendicular to the Galactic plane-varies significantly as a function of position along the structure, in a pattern potentially consistent with a wavelike oscillation. This kind of oscillation is not seen in a control sample of older stars from Gaia occupying the same volume, disfavoring formation channels caused by long-lived physical processes. We use a "wavy midplane" model to try to account for the trend in vertical angles seen in young stars, and find that while the best-fit parameters for the wave's spatial period and amplitude are qualitatively consistent with the existing morphology defined by 3D dust, there is no evidence for additional velocity structure. These results support more recent and/or transitory processes in the formation of the Radcliffe Wave, which would primarily affect the motion of the wave's gaseous material. Comparisons of our results with new and upcoming simulations, in conjunction with new stellar radial velocity measurements in Gaia DR3, should allow us to further discriminate between various competing hypotheses.

In this work we derive constraints on interacting dark matter-dark radiation models from a full-shape analysis of BOSS-DR12 galaxy clustering data, combined with Planck legacy cosmic microwave background (CMB) and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements. We consider a set of models parameterized within the effective theory of structure formation (ETHOS), quantifying the lifting of the $S_8$ tension in view of KiDS weak-lensing results. The most favorable scenarios point to a fraction $f\sim 10-100\%$ of interacting dark matter as well as a dark radiation temperature that is smaller by a factor $\xi\sim 0.1-0.15$ compared to the CMB, leading to a reduction of the tension to the $\sim 1\sigma$ level. The temperature dependence of the interaction rate favored by relaxing the $S_8$ tension is realized for a weakly coupled unbroken non-Abelian $SU(N)$ gauge interaction in the dark sector. To map our results onto this $SU(N)$ model, we compute higher-order corrections due to Debye screening. We find a lower bound $\alpha_d\equiv g_d^2/(4\pi)\gtrsim 10^{-8} (10^{-9})$ for dark matter mass $1000 (1)$ GeV for relaxing the $S_8$ tension, consistent with upper bounds from galaxy ellipticities and compatible with self-interactions relevant for small-scale structure formation.

First-order cosmological phase transitions in the early Universe source sound waves and, subsequently, a background of stochastic gravitational waves. Currently, predictions of these gravitational waves rely heavily on simulations of a Higgs field coupled to the plasma of the early Universe, the former providing the latent heat of the phase transition. Numerically, this is a rather demanding task since several length scales enter the dynamics. From smallest to largest, these are the thickness of the Higgs interface separating the different phases, the shell thickness of the sound waves, and the average bubble size. In this work, we present an approach to perform Higgsless simulations in three dimensions, producing fully nonlinear results, while at the same time removing the hierarchically smallest scale from the lattice. This significantly reduces the complexity of the problem and contributes to making our approach highly efficient. We provide spectra for the produced gravitational waves for various choices of wall velocity and strength of the phase transition, as well as introduce a fitting function for the spectral shape.

Context. Recent observations found that observed cluster member galaxies are more compact than their counterparts in ΛCDM hydrodynamic simulations, as indicated by the difference in their strong gravitational lensing properties, and they reported that measured and simulated galaxy-galaxy strong lensing events on small scales are discrepant by one order of magnitude. Among the possible explanations for this discrepancy, some studies suggest that simulations with better resolution and implementing different schemes for galaxy formation could produce simulations that are in better agreement with the observations.
Aims: In this work, we aim to assess the impact of numerical resolution and of the implementation of energy input from AGN feedback models on the inner structure of cluster sub-haloes in hydrodynamic simulations.
Methods: We compared several zoom-in re-simulations of a sub-sample of cluster-sized haloes obtained by varying mass resolution and softening the length and AGN energy feedback scheme. We studied the impact of these different setups on the sub-halo (SH) abundances, their radial distribution, their density and mass profiles, and the relation between the maximum circular velocity, which is a proxy for SH compactness
Results: Regardless of the adopted numerical resolution and feedback model, SHs with masses of M_SH ≲ 10¹¹ h⁻¹ M_⊙, the most relevant mass range for galaxy-galaxy strong lensing, have maximum circular velocities ∼30% smaller than those measured from strong lensing observations. We also find that simulations with less effective AGN energy feedback produce massive SHs (M_SH ≳ 10¹¹ h⁻¹ M_⊙) with higher maximum circular velocity and that their V_max − M_SH relation approaches the observed one. However, the stellar-mass number count of these objects exceeds the one found in observations, and we find that the compactness of these simulated SHs is the result of an extremely over-efficient star formation in their cores, also leading to larger than observed SH stellar mass.
Conclusions: Regardless of the resolution and galaxy formation model adopted, simulations are unable to simultaneously reproduce the observed stellar masses and compactness (or maximum circular velocities) of cluster galaxies. Thus, the discrepancy between theory and observations that emerged previous works. It remains an open question as to whether such a discrepancy reflects limitations of the current implementation of galaxy formation models or the ΛCDM paradigm.

The dividing line between galaxies that are quenched by reionization ("relics") and galaxies that survive reionization (i.e. continue forming stars) is commonly discussed in terms of a halo mass threshold. We probe this threshold in a physically more complete and accurate way than has been possible to date, using five extremely high resolution ($M_\mathrm{target}=4M_\odot$) cosmological zoom-in simulations of dwarf galaxies within the halo mass range $1-4\times10^9M_\odot$. The employed LYRA simulation model features resolved interstellar medium physics and individual, resolved supernova explosions. In our results, we discover an interesting intermediate population of dwarf galaxies close to the threshold mass but which are neither full reionization relics nor full reionization survivors. These galaxies initially quench at the time of reionization but merely remain quiescent for ~500Myr. At $z\approx5$ they recommence star formation in a synchronous way, and remain star-forming until the present day. These results demonstrate that the halo mass at $z=0$ is not a good indicator of survival close to the threshold. While the star formation histories we find are diverse, we show that they are directly related to the ability of a given halo to retain and cool gas. Whereas the latter is most strongly dependent on the mass (or virial temperature) of the host halo at the time of reionization, it also depends on its growth history, the UV background (and its decrease at late times) and the amount of metals retained within the halo.

Cosmic rays are charged particles and atomic nuclei that are created and accelerated primarily by exploding stars throughout our galaxy. Propagating through the interstellar medium and the heliosphere, they assume the characteristic energy spectra that can be observed by space-borne instruments at Earth. Despite the Moon’s lack of an atmosphere and a magnetic field, cosmic rays undergo a series of interactions with the lunar surface that substantially alter the interplanetary radiation field. Most important is the creation of secondary radiation, for example, neutrons, whose spectra contain information about the composition of the lunar surface. Even though cosmic rays and their secondaries have been observed by instruments in orbit around the Moon and on the lunar surface, more detailed investigations are required to fully understand their interaction processes and their implications for future crewed and uncrewed missions to the lunar surface.

We present MUSE spectroscopy, Megacam imaging, and Chandra X-ray emission for SPT-CL J0307-6225, a z=0.58 major merging galaxy cluster with a large BCG-SZ centroid separation and a highly disturbed X-ray morphology. The galaxy density distribution shows two main overdensities with separations of 0.144 and 0.017 arcmin to their respective BCGs. We characterize the central regions of the two colliding structures, namely 0307-6225N and 0307-6225S, finding velocity derived masses of M_{200, N} = 2.44 ± 1.41 × 10¹⁴ M_⊙ and M_{200, S} = 3.16 ± 1.88 × 10¹⁴ M_⊙, with a line-of-sight velocity difference of |Δv| = 342 km s^-1. The total dynamically derived mass is consistent with the SZ derived mass of 7.63 h$_{70}^{-1}$ ± 1.36 × 10¹⁴ M_⊙. We model the merger using the Monte Carlo Merger Analysis Code, estimating a merging angle of 36$^{+14}_{-12}$ degrees with respect to the plane of the sky. Comparing with simulations of a merging system with a mass ratio of 1:3, we find that the best scenario is that of an ongoing merger that began 0.96$^{+0.31}_{-0.18}$ Gyr ago. We also characterize the galaxy population using Hδ and [OII] λ3727 Å lines. We find that most of the emission-line galaxies belong to 0307-6225S, close to the X-ray peak position, with a third of them corresponding to red-cluster sequence galaxies, and the rest to blue galaxies with velocities consistent with recent periods of accretion. Moreover, we suggest that 0307-6225S suffered a previous merger, evidenced through the two equally bright BCGs at the center with a velocity difference of ~674 km s^-1.

The emergence of functional oligonucleotides on early Earth required a molecular selection mechanism to screen for specific sequences with prebiotic functions. Cyclic processes such as daily temperature oscillations were ubiquitous in this environment and could trigger oligonucleotide phase separation. Here, we propose sequence selection based on phase separation cycles realized through sedimentation in a system subjected to the feeding of oligonucleotides. Using theory and experiments with DNA, we show sequence-specific enrichment in the sedimented dense phase, in particular of short 22-mer DNA sequences. The underlying mechanism selects for complementarity, as it enriches sequences that tightly interact in the condensed phase through base-pairing. Our mechanism also enables initially weakly biased pools to enhance their sequence bias or to replace the most abundant sequences as the cycles progress. Our findings provide an example of a selection mechanism that may have eased screening for the first auto-catalytic self-replicating oligonucleotides.

For the emergence of life, the abiotic synthesis of RNA from its monomers is a central step. We found that in alkaline, drying conditions in bulk and at heated air-water interfaces, 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotides oligomerised without additional catalyst, forming up to 10-mers within a day. The oligomerisation proceeded at a pH range of 7–12, at temperatures between 40–80 °C and was marginally enhanced by K+ ions. Among the canonical ribonucleotides, cGMP oligomerised most efficiently. Quantification was performed using HPLC coupled to ESI-TOF by fitting the isotope distribution to the mass spectra. Our study suggests a oligomerisation mechanism where cGMP aids the incorporation of the relatively unreactive nucleotides C, A and U. The 2′,3′-cyclic ribonucleotides are byproducts of prebiotic phosphorylation, nucleotide syntheses and RNA hydrolysis, indicating direct recycling pathways. The simple reaction condition offers a plausible entry point for RNA to the evolution of life on early Earth.

We explore a novel approach to compute the force between a static quark-antiquark pair with the gradient flow algorithm on the lattice. The approach is based on inserting a chromoelectric field in a Wilson loop. The renormalization issues, associated with the finite size of the chromoelectric field on the lattice, can be solved with the use of gradient flow. We compare numerical results for the flowed static potential to our previous measurement of the same observable without a gradient flow.

Early-time radiative signals from type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) can provide important constraints on the explosion mechanism and the progenitor system. We present observations and analysis of SN 2019np, a nearby SN Ia discovered within 1-2 days after the explosion. Follow-up observations were conducted in optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared bands, covering the phases from ∼−16.7 days to ∼+367.8 days relative to its B−band peak luminosity. The photometric and spectral evolutions of SN 2019np resembles the average behavior of normal SNe Ia. The absolute B-band peak magnitude and the post-peak decline rate are Mmax(B)=−19.52±0.47mag and Δm15(B)=1.04±0.04mag, respectively. No Hydrogen line has been detected in the near-infrared and nebular-phase spectra of SN 2019np. Assuming that the 56Ni powering the light curve is centrally located, we find that the bolometric light curve of SN 2019np shows a flux excess up to 5.0% in the early phase compared to the radiative diffusion model. Such an extra radiation perhaps suggests the presence of an additional energy source beyond the radioactive decay of central nickel. Comparing the observed color evolution with that predicted by different models such as interactions of SN ejecta with circumstellar matter (CSM)/companion star, a double-detonation explosion from a sub-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf (WD), and surface 56Ni mixing, the latter one is favored.

We present TimeEvolver, a program for computing time evolution in a generic quantum system. It relies on well-known Krylov subspace techniques to tackle the problem of multiplying the exponential of a large sparse matrix iH, where H is the Hamiltonian, with an initial vector v. The fact that H is Hermitian makes it possible to provide an easily computable bound on the accuracy of the Krylov approximation. Apart from effects of numerical roundoff, the resulting a posteriori error bound is rigorous, which represents a crucial novelty as compared to existing software packages such as Expokit[1]. On a standard notebook, TimeEvolver allows to compute time evolution with adjustable precision in Hilbert spaces of dimension greater than 10⁶. Additionally, we provide routines for deriving the matrix H from a more abstract representation of the Hamiltonian operator.

We present a photometric analysis of star and star cluster (SC) formation in a high-resolution simulation of a dwarf galaxy starburst that allows the formation of individual stars to be followed. Previous work demonstrated that the properties of the SCs formed in the simulation are in good agreement with observations. In this paper, we create mock spectral energy distributions and broad-band photometric images using the radiative transfer code SKIRT 9. We test several observational star formation rate (SFR) tracers and find that 24 $\mu$m, total infrared and Hα trace the underlying SFR during the (post)starburst phase, while UV tracers yield a more accurate picture of star formation during quiescent phases prior to and after the merger. We then place the simulated galaxy at distances of 10 and 50 Mpc and use aperture photometry at Hubble Space Telescope resolution to analyse the simulated SC population. During the starburst phase, a hierarchically forming set of SCs leads inaccurate source separation because of crowding. This results in estimated SC mass function slopes that are up to ~0.3 shallower than the true slope of ~-1.9 to -2 found for the bound clusters identified from the particle data in the simulation. The masses of the largest clusters are overestimated by a factor of up to 2.9 due to unresolved clusters within the apertures. The aperture-based analysis also produces a relation between cluster formation efficiency and SFR surface density that is slightly flatter than that recovered from bound clusters. The differences are strongest in quiescent SF environments.

LiteBIRD is a JAXA-led strategic large-class satellite mission designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background and Galactic foregrounds from 34 to 448 GHz across the entire sky from L2 in the late 2020s. The scientific payload includes three telescopes which are called the low-, mid-, and high-frequency telescopes each with their own receiver that covers a portion of the mission's frequency range. The low frequency telescope will map synchrotron radiation from the Galactic foreground and the cosmic microwave background. We discuss the design, fabrication, and characterization of the low-frequency focal plane modules for low-frequency telescope, which has a total bandwidth ranging from 34 to 161 GHz. There will be a total of 4 different pixel types with 8 overlapping bands to cover the full frequency range. These modules are housed in a single low-frequency focal plane unit which provides thermal isolation, mechanical support, and radiative baffling for the detectors. The module design implements multi-chroic lenslet-coupled sinuous antenna arrays coupled to transition edge sensor bolometers read out with frequency-domain mulitplexing. While this technology has strong heritage in ground-based cosmic microwave background experiments, the broad frequency coverage, low optical loading conditions, and the high cosmic ray background of the space environment require further development of this technology to be suitable for LiteBIRD. In these proceedings, we discuss the optical and bolometeric characterization of a triplexing prototype pixel with bands centered on 78, 100, and 140 GHz.

The long-standing controversy about the isospin dependence of the effective Dirac mass in ab initio calculations of asymmetric nuclear matter is clarified by solving the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock equations in the full Dirac space. The symmetry energy and its slope parameter at the saturation density are Esym(ρ0)=33.1 MeV and L=65.2 MeV, in agreement with empirical and experimental values. Further applications predict the neutron star radius R1.4M⊙≈12 km and the maximum mass of a neutron star Mmax≤2.4M⊙.

To understand chiral symmetry breaking on the molecular level, we developed a method to efficiently investigate reaction kinetics of single molecules. The model systems include autocatalysis as well as a reaction cascade to gain further insight into the prebiotic origin of homochirality. The simulated reactions start with a substrate and only a single catalyst molecule, and the occurrence of symmetry breaking was examined for its degree of dependence on randomness. The results demonstrate that interlocking processes, which e.g., form catalysts, autocatalytic systems, or reaction cascades that build on each other and lead to a kinetic acceleration, can very well amplify a statistically occurring symmetry breaking. These results suggest a promising direction for the experimental implementation and identification of such processes, which could have led to a shift out of thermodynamic equilibrium in the emergence of life.

We present extended Lyα emission out to 800 kpc of 1034 [O III]-selected galaxies at redshifts 1.9 < z < 2.35 using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment. The locations and redshifts of the galaxies are taken from the 3D-HST survey. The median-stacked surface brightness profile of the Lyα emission of the [O III]-selected galaxies agrees well with that of 968 bright Lyα-emitting galaxies (LAEs) at r > 40 kpc from the galaxy centers. The surface brightness in the inner parts (r < 10 kpc) around the [O III]-selected galaxies, however, is 10 times fainter than that of the LAEs. Our results are consistent with the notion that photons dominating the outer regions of the Lyα halos are not produced in the central galaxies but originate outside of them.

We present [C II] synthetic observations of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of a dwarf galaxy merger. The merging process varies the star formation rate (SFR) by more than three orders of magnitude. Several star clusters are formed, the feedback of which disperses and unbinds the dense gas through expanding H II regions and supernova (SN) explosions. For galaxies with properties similar to the modeled ones, we find that the [C II] emission remains optically thin throughout the merging process. We identify the warm neutral medium ( $3\lt \mathrm{log}{T}_{\mathrm{gas}}\lt 4$ with χ _HI > 2χ _H2) to be the primary source of [C II] emission (~58% contribution), although at stages when the H II regions are young and dense (during star cluster formation or SNe in the form of ionized bubbles), they can contribute ≳50% to the total [C II] emission. We find that the [C II]/far-IR (FIR) ratio decreases owing to thermal saturation of the [C II] emission caused by strong far-UV radiation fields emitted by the massive star clusters, leading to a [C II] deficit medium. We investigate the [C II]-SFR relation and find an approximately linear correlation that agrees well with observations, particularly those from the Dwarf Galaxy Survey. Our simulation reproduces the observed trends of [C II]/FIR versus Σ_SFR and Σ_FIR, and it agrees well with the Kennicutt relation of SFR-FIR luminosity. We propose that local peaks of [C II] in resolved observations may provide evidence for ongoing massive cluster formation.

RES-NOVA is a newly proposed experiment for detecting neutrinos from astrophysical sources, mainly Supernovae, using an array of cryogenic detectors made of PbWO₄ crystals produced from archaeological Pb. This unconventional material, characterized by intrinsic high radiopurity, enables low-background levels in the region of interest for the neutrino detection via Coherent Elastic neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEν NS). This signal lies at the detector energy threshold, O(1 keV), and it is expected to be hidden by naturally occurring radioactive contaminants of the crystal absorber. Here, we present the results of a radiopurity assay on a 0.84 kg PbWO₄ crystal produced from archaeological Pb operated as a cryogenic detector. The crystal internal radioactive contaminations are: 23²Th <40 μ Bq/kg, 23⁸U <30 μ Bq/kg, 22⁶Ra 1.3 mBq/kg and 21⁰Pb 22.5 mBq/kg. We also present a background projection for the final experiment and possible mitigation strategies for further background suppression. The achieved results demonstrate the feasibility of realizing this new class of detectors.

Elliptic modular graph forms (eMGFs) are non-holomorphic modular forms depending on a modular parameter $\tau$ of a torus and marked points $z$ thereon. Traditionally, eMGFs are constructed from nested lattice sums over the discrete momenta on the worldsheet torus in closed-string genus-one amplitudes. In this work, we develop methods to translate the lattice-sum realization of eMGFs into iterated integrals over modular parameters $\tau$ of the torus with particular focus on cases with one marked point. Such iterated-integral representations manifest algebraic and differential relations among eMGFs and their degeneration limit $\tau \rightarrow i\infty$. From a mathematical point of view, our results yield concrete realizations of single-valued elliptic polylogarithms at arbitrary depth in terms of meromorphic iterated integrals over modular forms and their complex conjugates. The basis dimensions of eMGFs at fixed modular and transcendental weights are derived from a simple counting of iterated integrals and a generalization of Tsunogai's derivation algebra.

We describe a systematic approach for the evaluation of Witten diagrams for multi-loop scattering amplitudes of a conformally coupled scalar ϕ⁴-theory in Euclidean AdS₄, by recasting the Witten diagrams as flat space Feynman integrals. We derive closed form expressions for the anomalous dimensions for all double-trace operators up to the second order in the coupling constant. We explain the relation between the flat space unitarity methods and the discontinuities of the short distance expansion on the boundary of Witten diagrams.

We present for the first time Next-to-Leading (NLO) QCD renormalization group (RG) evolution matrices for nonleptonic Δ F =2 transitions in the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT). To this end we transform first the known two-loop QCD anomalous dimension matrices (ADMs) of the BSM (Beyond the SM) operators in the so-called Buras Misiak Urban basis into the ones in the common weak effective theory (WET) basis (the so-called Jenkins Manohar Stoffer basis) for which tree-level and one-loop matching to the SMEFT are already known. This subsequently allows us to find the two-loop QCD ADMs for the SMEFT nonleptonic Δ F =2 operators in the Warsaw basis. Having all these ingredients we investigate the impact of these NLO QCD effects on the QCD RG evolution of SMEFT Wilson coefficients for nonleptonic Δ F =2 transitions from the new physics scale Λ down to the electroweak scale μ_ew. The main benefit of these new contributions is that they allow one to remove renormalization scheme dependences present in the one-loop matchings both between the WET and SMEFT and also between SMEFT and a chosen UV completion. But the Next-to-Leading (NLO) QCD effects, calculated here in the Naive dimensional regularisation minimal subtraction scheme, turn out to be small, in the ballpark of a few percent but larger than one-loop Yukawa top effects when only the Δ F =2 operators are considered. The more complicated class of nonleptonic Δ F =1 decays will be presented soon in another publication.

Planes of satellites are observed around many galaxies. However, these observations are still considered a point of tension for the $\Lambda$CDM paradigm. We use the fully hydrodynamical cosmological $\Lambda$CDM state-of-the-art simulation Magneticum Pathfinder to investigate the existence of such planes over a large range of haloes, from Milky Way to galaxy cluster masses. To this end, we develop the Momentum in Thinnest Plane (MTP) method to identify planes and quantify the properties of their constituent satellites, considering both position and momentum. We find that thin planes ($20\%\cdot R_\mathrm{halo}$) containing at least $50\%$ of the total number of satellites can be found in almost all systems. In Milky Way mass-like systems, around 86\% of such planes are even aligned in momentum ($90\%$ of the total satellite momentum), where the fraction is smaller if more satellites are required to be inside the plane. We further find a mass dependency, with more massive systems exhibiting systematically thicker planes. This may point towards the change from continuous accretion of small objects along filaments and sheets for less massive haloes to the accretion of large objects (e.g., major mergers) dominating the growth of more massive haloes. There is no correlation between the existence of a plane and the main galaxy's morphology. Finally, we find a clear preference for the minor axes of the satellite planes and the host galaxy to be aligned, in agreement with recent observations.

We study the structure of atomic hydrogen (H I) in the host galaxy of GRB 171205A/SN 2017iuk at z = 0.037 through H I 21 cm emission line observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. These observations reveal unusual morphology and kinematics of the H I in this otherwise apparently normal galaxy. High column density, cold H I is absent from an extended North-South region passing by the optical center of the galaxy, but instead is extended toward the South, on both sides of the galaxy. Moreover, the H I kinematics do not show a continuous change along the major axis of the galaxy as expected in a classical rotating disk. We explore several scenarios to explain the H I structure and kinematics in the galaxy: feedback from a central starburst and/or an active galactic nucleus, ram-pressure stripping, accretion, and tidal interaction from a companion galaxy. All of these options are ruled out. The most viable remaining explanation is the penetrating passage of a satellite through the disk only a few Myr ago, redistributing the H I in the GRB host without yet affecting its stellar distribution. It can also lead to the rapid formation of peculiar stars due to a violent induced shock. The location of GRB 171205A in the vicinity of the distorted area suggests that its progenitor star(s) originated in extreme conditions that share the same origin as the peculiarities in H I. This could explain the atypical location of GRB 171205A in its host galaxy.

We present GIGANTES, the most extensive and realistic void catalog suite ever released-containing over 1 billion cosmic voids covering a volume larger than the observable universe, more than 20 TB of data, and created by running the void finder VIDE on QUIJOTE's halo simulations. The GIGANTES suite, spanning thousands of cosmological models, opens up the study of voids, answering compelling questions: Do voids carry unique cosmological information? How is this information correlated with galaxy information? Leveraging the large number of voids in the GIGANTES suite, our Fisher constraints demonstrate voids contain additional information, critically tightening constraints on cosmological parameters. We use traditional void summary statistics (void size function, void density profile) and the void autocorrelation function, which independently yields an error of 0.13 eV on ∑ m _ν for a 1 h ^-3 Gpc³ simulation, without cosmic microwave background priors. Combining halos and voids we forecast an error of 0.09 eV from the same volume, representing a gain of 60% compared to halos alone. Extrapolating to next generation multi-Gpc³ surveys such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, Euclid, the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe and Ices Explorer, and the Roman Space Telescope, we expect voids should yield an independent determination of neutrino mass. Crucially, GIGANTES is the first void catalog suite expressly built for intensive machine-learning exploration. We illustrate this by training a neural network to perform likelihood-free inference on the void size function, giving a ~20% constraint on Ω_m. Cosmology problems provide an impetus to develop novel deep-learning techniques. With GIGANTES, machine learning gains an impressive data set, offering unique problems that will stimulate new techniques.

A thermonuclear explosion triggered by a He-shell detonation on a carbon-oxygen white-dwarf core has been predicted to have strong UV line blanketing at early times due to the iron-group elements produced during He-shell burning. We present the photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN 2016dsg, a subluminous peculiar Type I supernova consistent with a thermonuclear explosion involving a thick He shell. With a redshift of 0.04, the i-band peak absolute magnitude is derived to be around -17.5. The object is located far away from its host, an early-type galaxy, suggesting it originated from an old stellar population. The spectra collected after the peak are unusually red, show strong UV line blanketing and weak O I λ7773 absorption lines, and do not evolve significantly over 30 days. An absorption line around 9700-10500 Å is detected in the near-infrared spectrum and is likely from the unburnt He in the ejecta. The spectroscopic evolution is consistent with the thermonuclear explosion models for a sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf with a thick He shell, while the photometric evolution is not well described by existing models.

Many processes during the evolution of protoplanetary disks and during planet formation are highly sensitive to the sizes of dust particles that are present in the disk: the efficiency of dust accretion in the disk and volatile transport on dust particles, gravoturbulent instabilities leading to the formation of planetesimals, or the accretion of pebbles onto large planetary embryos to form giant planets are typical examples of processes that depend on the sizes of the dust particles involved. Furthermore, radiative properties like absorption or scattering opacities depend on the particle sizes. To interpret observations of dust in protoplanetary disks, a proper estimate of the dust particle sizes is needed. We present DustPy: a Python package to simulate dust evolution in protoplanetary disks. DustPy solves gas and dust transport including viscous advection and diffusion as well as collisional growth of dust particles. DustPy is written with a modular concept, such that every aspect of the model can be easily modified or extended to allow for a multitude of research opportunities.

The Vera C. Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time holds the potential to revolutionize time domain astrophysics, reaching completely unexplored areas of the Universe and mapping variability time scales from minutes to a decade. To prepare to maximize the potential of the Rubin LSST data for the exploration of the transient and variable Universe, one of the four pillars of Rubin LSST science, the Transient and Variable Stars Science Collaboration, one of the eight Rubin LSST Science Collaborations, has identified research areas of interest and requirements, and paths to enable them. While our roadmap is ever-evolving, this document represents a snapshot of our plans and preparatory work in the final years and months leading up to the survey's first light.

After playing a pivotal role in the birth of the Standard Model in the 70s, the study of charm physics has undergone a revival during the last decade, triggered by a wealth of precision measurements from the charm and B factories, and from the CDF and especially the LHCb experiments. In this paper, we sum up how the unique phenomenology of charmed hadrons can be used to test the Standard Model and we review the latest measurements performed in this field by the LHCb experiment. These include the historic first observations of CP violation and of a nonzero mass difference between the charmed neutral-meson mass eigenstates, the most precise determination of their decay-width difference to date, and a search for time-dependent CP violation reaching the unprecedented precision of 10−4. These results challenge our comprehension of nonperturbative strong interactions, and their interpretation calls for further studies on both the theoretical and experimental sides. The upcoming upgrades of the LHCb experiment will play a leading role in this quest.

Negative feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is the leading mechanism for the quenching of massive galaxies in the vast majority of modern galaxy evolution models. However, direct observational evidence that AGN feedback causes quenching on a population scale is lacking. Studies have shown that luminous AGN are preferentially located in gas-rich and star-forming galaxies, an observation that has sometimes been suggested to be in tension with a negative AGN feedback picture. We investigate three of the current cosmological simulations (IllustrisTNG, EAGLE, and SIMBA) along with post-processed models for molecular hydrogen gas masses and perform similar tests to those used by observers. We find that the simulations predict: (i) no strong negative trends between L_bol and $f_{\mathrm{ H}_2}$ or specific star formation rate (sSFR); (ii) both high-luminosity ($L_{\rm {bol}} \ge 10^{44}\rm {\, erg\, s^{-1}}$) and high Eddington ratio (λ_Edd $\ge 1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) AGN are preferentially located in galaxies with high molecular gas fractions and sSFR; and (iii) that the gas-depleted and quenched fractions of AGN host galaxies are lower than a control sample of non-active galaxies. These three findings are in qualitative agreement with observational samples at z = 0 and z = 2 and show that such results are not in tension with the presence of strong AGN feedback, which all simulations we employ require to produce realistic massive galaxies. However, we also find quantifiable differences between predictions from the simulations, which could allow us to observationally test the different subgrid feedback models.

The 1.33-mm survey of protoplanetary discs in the Taurus molecular cloud found annular gaps and rings to be common in extended sources (≳ 55AU), when their 1D visibility distributions were fit parametrically. We first demonstrate the advantages and limitations of non-parametric visibility fits for data at the survey's 0.12-arcsec resolution. Then we use the non-parametric model in Frankenstein (frank) to identify new substructure in three compact and seven extended sources. Among the new features, we identify three trends: a higher occurrence rate of substructure in the survey's compact discs than previously seen, underresolved (potentially azimuthally asymmetric) substructure in the innermost disc of extended sources, and a 'shoulder' on the trailing edge of a ring in discs with strong depletion at small radii. Noting the shoulder morphology is present in multiple discs observed at higher resolution, we postulate it is tracing a common physical mechanism. We further demonstrate how a superresolution frank brightness profile is useful in motivating an accurate parametric model, using the highly structured source DL Tau in which frank finds two new rings. Finally, we show that sparse (u, v) plane sampling may be masking the presence of substructure in several additional compact survey sources.

We extend the publicly available quantumfdtd code. It was originally intended for solving the time-independent three-dimensional Schrödinger equation via the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and for extracting the ground, first, and second excited states. We (a) include the case of the relativistic Schrödinger equation and (b) add two optimized FFT-based kinetic energy terms for the non-relativistic case. All the three new kinetic terms are computed using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).We release the resulting code as version 3 of quantumfdtd. Finally, the code now supports arbitrary external filebased potentials and the option to project out distinct parity eigenstates from the solutions. Our goal is quark models used for phenomenological descriptions of QCD bound states, described by the three-dimensional Schrödinger equation. However, we target any field where solving either the non-relativistic or the relativistic three-dimensional Schrödinger equation is required.

We report our analysis for the static energy in (2+1+1)-flavor QCD over a wide range of lattice spacings and several quark masses. We obtain results for the static energy out to distances of nearly 1 fm, allowing us to perform a simultaneous determination of the lattice scales r₂, r₁ and r₀ as well as the string tension, σ. While our results for r₀/r₁ and r₀ √σ agree with published (2+1)-flavor results, our result for r₁/r₂ differs significantly from the value obtained in the (2+1)-flavor case, likely due to the effect of the charm quark. We study in detail the effect of the charm quark on the static energy by comparing our results on the finest lattices with the previously published (2+1)-flavor QCD results at similar lattice spacing. The lattice results agree well with the two-loop perturbative expression of the static energy incorporating finite charm mass effects.

We present a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) weak gravitational lensing study of nine distant and massive galaxy clusters with redshifts $1.0 \lesssim z \lesssim 1.7$ ($z_\mathrm{median} = 1.4$) and Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SZ) detection significance $\xi > 6.0$ from the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SPT-SZ) survey. We measured weak lensing galaxy shapes in HST/ACS F606W and F814W images and used additional observations from HST/WFC3 in F110W and VLT/FORS2 in $U_\mathrm{HIGH}$ to preferentially select background galaxies at $z\gtrsim 1.8$, achieving a high purity. We combined recent redshift estimates from the CANDELS/3D-HST and HUDF fields to infer an improved estimate of the source redshift distribution. We measured weak lensing masses by fitting the tangential reduced shear profiles with spherical Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) models. We obtained the largest lensing mass in our sample for the cluster SPT-CLJ2040$-$4451, thereby confirming earlier results that suggest a high lensing mass of this cluster compared to X-ray and SZ mass measurements. Combining our weak lensing mass constraints with results obtained by previous studies for lower redshift clusters, we extended the calibration of the scaling relation between the unbiased SZ detection significance $\zeta$ and the cluster mass for the SPT-SZ survey out to higher redshifts. We found that the mass scale inferred from our highest redshift bin ($1.2 < z < 1.7$) is consistent with an extrapolation of constraints derived from lower redshifts, albeit with large statistical uncertainties. Thus, our results show a similar tendency as found in previous studies, where the cluster mass scale derived from the weak lensing data is lower than the mass scale expected in a Planck $\nu\Lambda$CDM (i.e. $\nu$$\Lambda$ Cold Dark Matter) cosmology given the SPT-SZ cluster number counts.

A key component of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey validation (SV) is a detailed visual inspection (VI) of the optical spectroscopic data to quantify key survey metrics. In this paper we present results from VI of the quasar survey using deep coadded SV spectra. We show that the majority (~70%) of the main-survey targets are spectroscopically confirmed as quasars, with ~16% galaxies, ~6% stars, and ~8% low-quality spectra lacking reliable features. A non-negligible fraction of the quasars are misidentified by the standard DESI spectroscopic pipeline but we show that the majority can be recovered using post-pipeline "afterburner" quasar-identification approaches. We combine these "afterburners" with our standard pipeline to create a modified pipeline to improve the overall quasar completeness. At the depth of the main DESI survey both pipelines achieve a good-redshift purity (reliable redshifts measured within 3000 km/s) of ~99%; however, the modified pipeline recovers ~94% of the visually inspected quasars, as compared to just ~86% from the standard pipeline. We demonstrate that both pipelines achieve an overall redshift precision and accuracy of ~100 km/s and ~70 km/s, respectively. We constructed composite spectra to investigate why some quasars are missed by the standard spectroscopic pipeline and find that they are more host-galaxy dominated and/or dust reddened than the standard-pipeline quasars. We also show example spectra to demonstrate the overall diversity of the DESI quasar sample and provide strong-lensing candidates where two targets contribute to a single DESI spectrum.

Cosmological shock waves are essential to understanding the formation of cosmological structures. To study them, scientists run computationally expensive high-resolution 3D hydrodynamic simulations. Interpreting the simulation results is challenging because the resulting data sets are enormous, and the shock wave surfaces are hard to separate and classify due to their complex morphologies and multiple shock fronts intersecting. We introduce a novel pipeline, Virgo, combining physical motivation, scalability, and probabilistic robustness to tackle this unsolved unsupervised classification problem. To this end, we employ kernel principal component analysis with low-rank matrix approximations to denoise data sets of shocked particles and create labeled subsets. We perform supervised classification to recover full data resolution with stochastic variational deep kernel learning. We evaluate on three state-of-the-art data sets with varying complexity and achieve good results. The proposed pipeline runs automatically, has only a few hyperparameters, and performs well on all tested data sets. Our results are promising for large-scale applications, and we highlight now enabled future scientific work.

Using the Schwinger-Keldysh-formalism, reformulated in [1] as an effective field theory in Euclidean anti-de Sitter, we evaluate the one-loop cosmological four-point function of a conformally coupled interacting scalar field in de Sitter. Recasting the Witten cosmological correlator as flat space Feynman integrals, we evaluate the one-loop cosmological four-point functions in de Sitter space in terms of single-valued multiple polylogarithms. From it we derive anomalous dimensions and OPE coefficients of the dual conformal field theory at space-like, future infinity. In particular, we find an interesting degeneracy in the anomalous dimensions relating operators of neighboring spins.

We report the discovery of a multiplanetary system transiting the M0 V dwarf HD 260655 (GJ 239, TOI-4599). The system consists of at least two transiting planets, namely HD 260655 b, with a period of 2.77 d, a radius of R_b = 1.240 ± 0.023 R_⊕, a mass of M_b = 2.14 ± 0.34 M_⊕, and a bulk density of ρ_b = 6.2 ± 1.0 g cm⁻³, and HD 260655 c, with a period of 5.71 d, a radius of {R_c} = 1.533 _{- 0.046} ^{+ 0.051}{R_ \oplus }, a mass of M_c = 3.09 ± 0.48 M_⊕, and a bulk density of {ρ _c} = 4.7 _{- 0.8} ^{+ 0.9}{{g}} g cm⁻³. The planets have been detected in transit by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission and confirmed independently with archival and new precise radial velocities obtained with the HIRES and CARMENES instruments since 1998 and 2016, respectively. At a distance of 10 pc, HD 260655 has become the fourth closest known multitransiting planet system after HD 219134, LTT 1445 A, and AU Mic. Due to the apparent brightness of the host star (J = 6.7 mag), both planets are among the most suitable rocky worlds known today for atmospheric studies with the James Webb Space Telescope, both in transmission and emission.

A comprehensive crewed lunar exploration program faces two major impediments. First, the logistical challenges of bringing the infrastructure and supplies required for longterm human-tended activities to the Moon are severe. The use of locally available resources will therefore be crucial to the establishment of a permanent human presence. Especially the extraction of water from the lunar regolith has recently moved into the focus of attention, as it promises to substantially decrease the amount of consumables and fuel that must be brought from Earth. Our current knowledge of the Moon's resource potential, however, is too incomplete to assess the technical feasibility and economic viability of in-situ resource-extraction efforts. Second, the radiation environment on the lunar surface poses a serious health risk to astronauts, which is not fully understood yet. Accurate and comprehensive measurements of the radiation environment are required to resolve this issue. We present preliminary results of a phase-A design study for the Lunar Cosmic-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (LCNS), one of three major scientific instruments developed for the LDVMI-X rover. The instrument is designed to support the search for water at the lunar poles through neutron spectroscopy and to characterize the radiation environment on the Moon.

Biological processes operate in a spatially and temporally ordered manner to reliably fulfill their function. This is achieved by pattern formation, which generally involves many different spatial and temporal scales. The resulting multiscale patterns exhibit complex dynamics for which it is difficult to find a simplified description at large scales while preserving information about the patterns at small scales. Here, we introduce an approach for mass-conserving reaction-diffusion systems that is based on a linear theory and therefore conceptually simple to apply. We investigate multiscale patterns of the Min protein system and show that our approach enables us to explain and predict the intricate dynamics from the large-scale mass redistribution of the total protein densities.

Using the potential non-relativistic quantum chromodynamics (pNRQCD) effective field theory, we derive a Lindblad equation for the evolution of the heavy-quarkonium reduced density matrix that is accurate to next-to-leading order (NLO) in the ratio of the binding energy of the state to the temperature of the medium. The resulting NLO Lindblad equation can be used to more reliably describe heavy-quarkonium evolution in the quark-gluon plasma at low temperatures compared to the leading-order truncation. For phenomenological application, we numerically solve the resulting NLO Lindblad equation using the quantum trajectories algorithm. To achieve this, we map the solution of the three-dimensional Lindblad equation to the solution of an ensemble of one-dimensional Schrödinger evolutions with Monte-Carlo sampled quantum jumps. Averaging over the Monte-Carlo sampled quantum jumps, we obtain the solution to the NLO Lindblad equation without truncation in the angular momentum quantum number of the states considered. We also consider the evolution of the system using only the complex effective Hamiltonian without stochastic jumps and find that this provides a reliable approximation for the ground state survival probability at LO and NLO. Finally, we make comparisons with our prior leading-order pNRQCD results and experimental data available from the ATLAS, ALICE, and CMS collaborations.

Like most spiral galaxies, the Milky Way contains a population of blue, metal-poor globular clusters and another of red, metal-rich ones. Most of the latter belong to the bulge, and therefore they are poorly studied compared to the blue (halo) ones because they suffer higher extinction and larger contamination from field stars. These intrinsic difficulties, together with a lack of low-mass bulge globular clusters, are reasons to believe that their census is not complete yet. Indeed, a few new clusters have been confirmed in the last few years. One of them is VVV CL001, the subject of the present study. We present a new spectroscopic analysis of the recently confirmed globular cluster VVV CL001, made by means of MUSE@VLT integral field data. Individual spectra were extracted for stars in the VVV CL001 field. Radial velocities were derived by cross-correlation with synthetic templates. Coupled with proper motions from the VVV (VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea) survey, these data allow us to select 55 potential cluster members, for which we derive metallicities using the public code THE CANNON. The mean radial velocity of the cluster is V_helio = -324.9 ± 0.8 km s^-1, as estimated from 55 cluster members. This high velocity, together with a low metallicity [Fe/H] = -2.04 ± 0.02 dex, suggests that VVV CL001 could be a very old cluster. The estimated distance is d = 8.23 ± 0.46 kpc, placing the cluster in the Galactic bulge. Furthermore, both its current position and the orbital parameters suggest that VVV CL001 is most probably a bulge globular cluster.

In star-forming galaxies, the far-infrared (FIR) and radio-continuum luminosities obey a tight empirical relation over a large range of star-formation rates (SFR). To understand the physics, we examine magneto-hydrodynamic galaxy simulations, which follow the genesis of cosmic ray (CR) protons at supernovae and their advective and anisotropic diffusive transport. We show that gravitational collapse of the proto-galaxy generates a corrugated accretion shock, which injects turbulence and drives a small-scale magnetic dynamo. As the shock propagates outwards and the associated turbulence decays, the large velocity shear between the supersonically rotating cool disc with respect to the (partially) pressure-supported hot circumgalactic medium excites Kelvin-Helmholtz surface and body modes. Those interact non-linearly, inject additional turbulence and continuously drive multiple small-scale dynamos, which exponentially amplify weak seed magnetic fields. After saturation at small scales, they grow in scale to reach equipartition with thermal and CR energies in Milky Way-mass galaxies. In small galaxies, the magnetic energy saturates at the turbulent energy while it fails to reach equipartition with thermal and CR energies. We solve for steady-state spectra of CR protons, secondary electrons/positrons from hadronic CR-proton interactions with the interstellar medium, and primary shock-accelerated electrons at supernovae. The radio-synchrotron emission is dominated by primary electrons, irradiates the magnetised disc and bulge of our simulated Milky Way-mass galaxy and weakly traces bubble-shaped magnetically-loaded outflows. Our star-forming and star-bursting galaxies with saturated magnetic fields match the global FIR-radio correlation (FRC) across four orders of magnitude. Its intrinsic scatter arises due to (i) different magnetic saturation levels that result from different seed magnetic fields, (ii) different radio synchrotron luminosities for different specific SFRs at fixed SFR and (iii) a varying radio intensity with galactic inclination. In agreement with observations, several 100-pc-sized regions within star-forming galaxies also obey the FRC, while the centres of starbursts substantially exceed the FRC.

Theoretically predicted yields of elements created by the rapid neutron capture (r-) process carry potentially large uncertainties associated with incomplete knowledge of nuclear properties as well as approximative hydrodynamical modelling of the matter ejection processes. We present an in-depth study of the nuclear uncertainties by systematically varying theoretical nuclear input models that describe the experimentally unknown neutron-rich nuclei. This includes two frameworks for calculating the radiative neutron capture rates and six, four and four models for the nuclear masses, $\beta$-decay rates and fission properties, respectively. Our r-process nuclear network calculations are based on detailed hydrodynamical simulations of dynamically ejected material from NS-NS or NS-BH binary mergers plus the secular ejecta from BH-torus systems. The impact of nuclear uncertainties on the r-process abundance distribution and early radioactive heating rate is found to be modest (within a factor $\sim 20$ for individual $A>90$ nuclei and a factor 2 for the heating rate), however the impact on the late-time heating rate is more significant and depends strongly on the contribution from fission. We witness significantly larger sensitivity to the nuclear physics input if only a single trajectory is used compared to considering ensembles of $\sim$200-300 trajectories, and the quantitative effects of the nuclear uncertainties strongly depend on the adopted conditions for the individual trajectory. We use the predicted Th/U ratio to estimate the cosmochronometric age of six metal-poor stars to set a lower limit of the age of the Galaxy and find the impact of the nuclear uncertainties to be up to 2 Gyr.

We constrain extensions to the $\Lambda$CDM model using measurements from the Dark Energy Survey's first three years of observations and external data. The DES data are the two-point correlation functions of weak gravitational lensing, galaxy clustering, and their cross-correlation. We use simulated data and blind analyses of real data to validate the robustness of our results. In many cases, constraining power is limited by the absence of nonlinear predictions that are reliable at our required precision. The models are: dark energy with a time-dependent equation of state, non-zero spatial curvature, sterile neutrinos, modifications of gravitational physics, and a binned $\sigma_8(z)$ model which serves as a probe of structure growth. For the time-varying dark energy equation of state evaluated at the pivot redshift we find $(w_{\rm p}, w_a)= (-0.99^{+0.28}_{-0.17},-0.9\pm 1.2)$ at 68% confidence with $z_{\rm p}=0.24$ from the DES measurements alone, and $(w_{\rm p}, w_a)= (-1.03^{+0.04}_{-0.03},-0.4^{+0.4}_{-0.3})$ with $z_{\rm p}=0.21$ for the combination of all data considered. Curvature constraints of $\Omega_k=0.0009\pm 0.0017$ and effective relativistic species $N_{\rm eff}=3.10^{+0.15}_{-0.16}$ are dominated by external data. For massive sterile neutrinos, we improve the upper bound on the mass $m_{\rm eff}$ by a factor of three compared to previous analyses, giving 95% limits of $(\Delta N_{\rm eff},m_{\rm eff})\leq (0.28, 0.20\, {\rm eV})$. We also constrain changes to the lensing and Poisson equations controlled by functions $\Sigma(k,z) = \Sigma_0 \Omega_{\Lambda}(z)/\Omega_{\Lambda,0}$ and $\mu(k,z)=\mu_0 \Omega_{\Lambda}(z)/\Omega_{\Lambda,0}$ respectively to $\Sigma_0=0.6^{+0.4}_{-0.5}$ from DES alone and $(\Sigma_0,\mu_0)=(0.04\pm 0.05,0.08^{+0.21}_{-0.19})$ for the combination of all data. Overall, we find no significant evidence for physics beyond $\Lambda$CDM.

We revisit cosmological constraints on the sum of the neutrino masses $\Sigma m_\nu$ from a combination of full-shape BOSS galaxy clustering [$P(k)$] data and measurements of the cross-correlation between Planck Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) lensing convergence and BOSS galaxy overdensity maps [$C^{\kappa \text{g}}_{\ell}$], using a simple but theoretically motivated model for the scale-dependent galaxy bias in auto- and cross-correlation measurements. We improve upon earlier related work in several respects, particularly through a more accurate treatment of the correlation and covariance between $P(k)$ and $C^{\kappa \text{g}}_{\ell}$ measurements. When combining these measurements with Planck CMB data, we find a 95% confidence level upper limit of $\Sigma m_\nu<0.14\,{\rm eV}$, while slightly weaker limits are obtained when including small-scale ACTPol CMB data, in agreement with our expectations. We confirm earlier findings that (once combined with CMB data) the full-shape information content is comparable to the geometrical information content in the reconstructed BAO peaks given the precision of current galaxy clustering data, discuss the physical significance of our inferred bias and shot noise parameters, and perform a number of robustness tests on our underlying model. While the inclusion of $C^{\kappa \text{g}}_{\ell}$ measurements does not currently appear to lead to substantial improvements in the resulting $\Sigma m_{\nu}$ constraints, we expect the converse to be true for near-future galaxy clustering measurements, whose shape information content will eventually supersede the geometrical one.

This thesis conducts a two-fold study of gravity at the boundaries. In the first part, we explore the infrared regime of cosmological spacetimes, namely FLRW universes. In the second part, we describe two classes of algebras which appear ubiquitously as symmetry algebras in gravitational boundaries and investigate their deformations.

We introduce GIZMO-SIMBA, a new suite of galaxy cluster simulations within THE THREE HUNDRED project. THE THREE HUNDRED consists of zoom re-simulations of 324 clusters with $M_{200}\gtrsim 10^{14.8}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ drawn from the MultiDark-Planck N-body simulation, run using several hydrodynamic and semi-analytical codes. The GIZMO-SIMBA suite adds a state-of-the-art galaxy formation model based on the highly successful SIMBA simulation, mildly re-calibrated to match $z$ = 0 cluster stellar properties. Comparing to THE THREE HUNDRED zooms run with GADGET-X, we find intrinsic differences in the evolution of the stellar and gas mass fractions, BCG ages, and galaxy colour-magnitude diagrams, with GIZMO-SIMBA generally providing a good match to available data at $z$ ≍ 0. GIZMO-SIMBA's unique black hole growth and feedback model yields agreement with the observed BH scaling relations at the intermediate-mass range and predicts a slightly different slope at high masses where few observations currently lie. GIZMO-SIMBA provides a new and novel platform to elucidate the co-evolution of galaxies, gas, and black holes within the densest cosmic environments.

Transport models are the main method to obtain physics information on the nuclear equation of state and in-medium properties of particles from low to relativistic-energy heavy-ion collisions. The Transport Model Evaluation Project (TMEP) has been pursued to test the robustness of transport model predictions in reaching consistent conclusions from the same type of physical model. To this end, calculations under controlled conditions of physical input and set-up were performed with various participating codes. These included both calculations of nuclear matter in a box with periodic boundary conditions, which test separately selected ingredients of a transport code, and more realistic calculations of heavy-ion collisions. Over the years, six studies have been performed within this project. In this intermediate review, we summarize and discuss the present status of the project. We also provide condensed descriptions of the 26 participating codes, which contributed to some part of the project. These include the major codes in use today. After a compact description of the underlying transport approaches, we review the main results of the studies completed so far. They show, that in box calculations the differences between the codes can be well understood and a convergence of the results can be reached. These studies also highlight the systematic differences between the two families of transport codes, known under the names of Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) and Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) type codes. However, when the codes were compared in full heavy-ion collisions using different physical models, as recently for pion production, they still yielded substantially different results. This calls for further comparisons of heavy-ion collisions with controlled models and of box comparisons of important ingredients, like momentum-dependent fields, which are currently underway. Our evaluation studies often indicate improved strategies in performing transport simulations and thus can provide guidance to code developers. Results of transport simulations of heavy-ion collisions from a given code will have more significance if the code can be validated against benchmark calculations such as the ones summarized in this review.

The unitarity triangle (UT) plots played already for three decades an important role in the tests of the Standard Model (SM) and the determination of the CKM parameters. As of 2022, among the four CKM parameters, | V_us| and β are already measured with respectable precision, while this is not the case of | V_cb| and γ . In the case of | V_cb| the main obstacle are the significant tensions between its inclusive and exclusive determinations from tree-level decays and it could still take some years before a unique value of this parameter will be known. The present uncertainty in γ of 4^∘ from tree-level decays will be reduced to 1^∘ by the LHCb and Belle II collaborations in the coming years. Unfortunately in the common UT plots | V_cb| is not seen and the experimental improvements in the determination of γ from tree-level decays at the level of a few degrees are difficult to appreciate. In view of these deficiencies of the UT plots with respect to | V_cb| and γ and the central role these two CKM parameters will play in this decade, the recently proposed plots of | V_cb| versus γ extracted from various processes appear to be superior to the UT plots in the flavour phenomenology of the 2020s. We illustrate this idea with Δ F =2 observables Δ M_s , Δ M_d , ε_K and with rare decays B_s→μ⁺μ^- , B_d→μ⁺μ^- , K⁺→π⁺ν ν ¯ and K_L→π⁰ν ν ¯ . In particular the power of ε_K, B (K⁺→π⁺ν ν ¯ ) and B (K_L→π⁰ν ν ¯ ) in the determination of | V_cb| , due to their strong dependence on | V_cb| , is transparently exhibited in this manner. Combined with future reduced errors on γ and | V_cb| from tree-level decays such plots can better exhibit possible inconsistencies between various determinations of these two parameters, caused by new physics, than it is possible with the UT plots. This can already be illustrated on the example of the recently found 2.7 σ anomaly in B_s→μ⁺μ^-.

We study the distributions of the baryons in massive halos (M_vir > 10¹³ h⁻¹ M_⊙) in the Magneticum suite of smoothed particle hydrodynamical cosmological simulations, out to the unprecedented radial extent of 10R_{500, c}. We confirm that, under the action of non-gravitational physical phenomena, the baryon mass fraction is lower in the inner regions (< R_{500, c}) of increasingly less massive halos, and rises moving outwards, with values that span from 51% (87%) of the cosmological value in the regions around R_{500, c} to 95% (100%) at 10R_{500, c} in the systems with the lowest (highest; M_vir ∼ 5 × 10¹⁴ h⁻¹ M_⊙) masses. The galaxy groups almost match the gas (and baryon) fraction measured in the most massive halos only at very large radii (r > 6R_{500, c}), where the baryon depletion factor Y_bar = f_bar/(Ω_b/Ω_m) approaches the value of unity, expected for `closed-box' systems. We find that both the radial and mass dependence of the baryon, gas, and hot depletion factors are predictable and follow a simple functional form. The star mass fraction is higher in less massive systems, decreases systematically with increasing radii, and reaches a constant value of Y_star ≈ 0.09, where the gas metallicity is also constant, regardless of the host halo mass, as a result of the early (z > 2) enrichment process.

We provide an extensive study of the lifetimes of singly charmed baryons and mesons, within the heavy quark expansion with all known corrections included. A special attention is devoted to the choice of the charm mass and wavefunctions of heavy baryons. We give our predictions for lifetimes, lifetime ratios, and semileptonic branching ratios of singly charmed baryons. Our results accommodate the experimentally-favoured hierarchy of singly charmed baryon lifetimes τ (Ξ_c⁰)<τ (Λ_c⁺)<τ (Ω_c⁰)<τ (Ξ_c⁺), in contrast to earlier theoretical findings. Predictions for charmed meson lifetimes and semileptonic decay rates are in agreement with a recent comprehensive study and experimental results within uncertainties.

The CRESST experiment observes an unexplained excess of events at low energies. In the current CRESST-III data-taking campaign we are operating detector modules with different designs to narrow down the possible explanations. In this work, we show first observations of the ongoing measurement, focusing on the comparison of time, energy and temperature dependence of the excess in several detectors. These exclude dark matter, radioactive backgrounds and intrinsic sources related to the crystal bulk as a major contribution.

Context. Brown dwarfs and exoplanets provide unique atmospheric regimes that hold information about their formation routes and evolutionary states. Cloud particles form through nucleation, condensation, evaporation, and collisions, which affect the distribution of cloud particles in size and throughout these atmospheres. Cloud modelling plays a decisive role in understanding these regimes.
Aims: Modelling mineral cloud particle formation in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs and exoplanets is a key element in preparing for missions and instruments like CRIRES+, JWST, and ARIEL, as well as possible polarimetry missions like POLSTAR. The aim is to support the increasingly detailed observations that demand greater understanding of the microphysical cloud processes.
Methods: We extend our kinetic cloud formation model that treats nucleation, condensation, evaporation, and settling of mixed material cloud particles to consistently model cloud particle-particle collisions. The new hybrid code Hybrid moments (Ls) and Size (HYLANDS) is then applied to a grid of DRIFT-PHOENIX (T_gas, p_gas) profiles. Effective medium theory and Mie theory are used to investigate the optical properties.
Results: Turbulence proves to be the main driving process of particle-particle collisions, with collisions becoming the dominant process in the lower atmosphere (p > 10⁻⁴ bar) at the cloud base. Particle-particle collisions produce one of three outcomes for brown dwarf and gas-giant atmospheres: fragmenting atmospheres (log₁₀(g[cms⁻²])=3.0) coagulating atmospheres (log₁₀(g)=5.0), T_eff ≤1800K) or condensational growth dominated atmospheres (log₁₀(g) = 5.0, T_eff > 1800 K). Cloud particle opacity slope at optical wavelengths (Hubble) is increased with fragmentation, as are the silicate features at JWST NIRSpec, JWST MIRI, and ARIEL AIRS wavelengths.
Conclusions: The hybrid moment-bin method HYLANDS demonstrates the feasibility of combining a moment and a bin method for cloud modelling, whilst assuring element conservation. It provides a powerful and fast tool for capturing general trends of particle collisions, consistently with other microphysical growth processes. Collisions are an important process in exoplanet and brown dwarf atmospheres, but cannot be assumed to be hit-and-stick only. The spectral effects of cloud particle collisions in both optical and mid-infrared wavelengths complicate inferences of cloud particle size and material composition from observational data.

The most common predictions for rare K and B decay branching ratios in the Standard Model in the literature are based on the CKM elements | V_cb| and | V_ub| resulting from global fits, that are in the ballpark of their inclusive and exclusive determinations, respectively. In the present paper we follow another route, which to our knowledge has not been explored for Δ M_{s ,d} and rare K and B decays by anybody to date. We assume, in contrast to the prevailing inclusive expectations for | V_cb| , that the future true values of | V_cb| and | V_ub| will be both from exclusive determinations; in practice we use the most recent averages from FLAG. With the precisely known | V_us| the resulting rare decay branching ratios, ε_K, Δ M_d , Δ M_s and S_{ψ KS} depend then only on the angles β and γ in the unitarity triangle that moreover are correlated through the CKM unitarity. An unusual pattern of SM predictions results from this study with some existing tensions being dwarfed and new tensions being born. In particular using HPQCD B_s^{,d 0}-B_¯^{s ,d 0} hadronic matrix elements a 3.1 σ tension in Δ M_s independently of γ is found. For 60^∘≤γ ≤75^∘ the tension in Δ M_d between 4.0 σ and 1.1 σ is found and in the case of ε_K between 5.2 σ and 2.1 σ . Moreover, the room for new physics in K⁺→π⁺ν ν ¯ , K_L→π⁰ν ν ¯ and B →K (K^∗)ν ν ¯ decays is significantly increased. We compare the results in this EXCLUSIVE scenario with the HYBRID one in which | V_cb| in the former scenario is replaced by the most recent inclusive | V_cb| and present the dependence of all observables considered by us in both scenarios as functions of γ . As a byproduct we compare the determination of | V_cb| from Δ M_s , Δ M_d , ε_K and S_{ψ KS} using B_s^{,d 0}-B_¯^{s ,d 0} hadronic matrix elements from LQCD with 2 +1 +1 flavours, 2 +1 flavours and their average. Only for the 2 +1 +1 case values for β and γ exist for which the same value of | V_cb| is found: | V_cb|=42.6 (4 ) × 10^-3 , γ =64.6 (16^{) ∘} and β =22.2 (7^{) ∘} . This in turn implies a 2.7 σ anomaly in B_s→μ⁺μ^-.

Intermediate- and high-velocity clouds (IVCs, HVCs) are a potential source of fuel for star formation in the Milky Way (MW), but their origins and fates depend sensitively on their distances. We search for IVCs and HVCs in HST high-resolution ultraviolet spectra of 55 halo stars at vertical heights $|z|\gtrsim \,1$ kpc. We show that IVCs (40 ≤ |$v$_LSR| < 90 ${\rm km\, s}^{-1}$) have a high detection rate - the covering factor, f_c - that is about constant (f_c = 0.90 ± 0.04) from $z$ = 1.5 to 14 kpc, implying IVCs are essentially confined to |$z$| ≲ 1.5 kpc. For the HVCs (90 ≤ |$v$_LSR| ≲ 170 ${\rm km\, s}^{-1}$), we find f_c increases from f_c ≃ 0.14 ± 0.10 at |$z$| ≲ 2-3 kpc to f_c = 0.60 ± 0.15 at 6 ≲ |$z$| ≲ 14 kpc, the latter being similar to that found towards QSOs. In contrast, the covering factor of very high-velocity clouds (VHVCs; |$v$_LSR| ≳ 170 ${\rm km\, s}^{-1}$) is $f_c \lt 0.04$ in the stellar sample compared to 20 per cent towards QSOs, implying these clouds must be at d ≳ 10-15 kpc (|$z$| ≳ 10 kpc). Gas clouds with |$v$_LSR| > 40 ${\rm km\, s}^{-1}$ at |b| ≳ 15° have therefore |$v$_LSR| decreasing with decreasing |$z$|. Our findings are consistent with a Galactic rain and/or fountain origin for these clouds. In the latter scenario, VHVCs may mostly serve as fuel for the MW halo. In view of their high covering factors and since all the IVCs and some HVCs are found in the thick disc, they appear good candidates as gas reservoirs to help sustain star formation in the MW.

We complete the calculation of the three-gluon-emission contribution to the same-hemisphere part of the zero-jettiness soft function at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD.

Modeling of strongly gravitationally lensed galaxies is often required in order to use them as astrophysical or cosmological probes. With current and upcoming wide-field imaging surveys, the number of detected lenses is increasing significantly such that automated and fast modeling procedures for ground-based data are urgently needed. This is especially pertinent to short-lived lensed transients in order to plan follow-up observations. Therefore, we present in a companion paper (submitted) a neural network predicting the parameter values with corresponding uncertainties of a Singular Isothermal Ellipsoid (SIE) mass profile with external shear. In this work, we present a newly-developed pipeline glee_auto.py to model consistently any galaxy-scale lensing system. In contrast to previous automated modeling pipelines that require high-resolution images, glee_auto.py is optimized for ground-based images such as those from the Hyper-Suprime-Cam (HSC) or the upcoming Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time. We further present glee_tools.py, a flexible automation code for individual modeling that has no direct decisions and assumptions implemented. Both pipelines, in addition to our modeling network, minimize the user input time drastically and thus are important for future modeling efforts. We apply the network to 31 real galaxy-scale lenses of HSC and compare the results to the traditional models. In the direct comparison, we find a very good match for the Einstein radius especially for systems with $\theta_E \gtrsim 2$". The lens mass center and ellipticity show reasonable agreement. The main discrepancies are on the external shear as expected from our tests on mock systems. In general, our study demonstrates that neural networks are a viable and ultra fast approach for measuring the lens-galaxy masses from ground-based data in the upcoming era with $\sim10^5$ lenses expected.

The formation and evolutionary history of M31 are closely related to its dynamical structures, which remain unclear due to its high inclination. Gas kinematics could provide crucial evidence for the existence of a rotating bar in M31. Using the position-velocity diagram of [O III] and H I, we are able to identify clear sharp velocity jump (shock) features with a typical amplitude over 100 km s^-1 in the central region of M31 (4.6 kpc × 2.3 kpc, or $20^{\prime} \times 10^{\prime} $ ). We also simulate gas morphology and kinematics in barred M31 potentials and find that the bar-induced shocks can produce velocity jumps similar to those in [O III]. The identified shock features in both [O III] and H I are broadly consistent, and they are found mainly on the leading sides of the bar/bulge, following a hallmark pattern expected from the bar-driven gas inflow. Shock features on the far side of the disk are clearer than those on the near side, possibly due to limited data coverage on the near side, as well as to obscuration by the warped gas and dust layers. Further hydrodynamical simulations with more sophisticated physics are desired to fully understand the observed gas features and to better constrain the parameters of the bar in M31.

Major mergers between galaxy clusters can produce large turbulent and bulk flow velocities in the intracluster medium (ICM) and thus imprint useful diagnostic features in X-ray spectral emission lines from heavy ions. As successfully achieved by Hitomi in observations of the Perseus cluster, measurements of gas velocities in clusters from high-resolution X-ray spectra will be achievable with upcoming X-ray calorimeters such as those on board XRISM, Athena, or a Lynx like mission. An interesting application to clusters involves detecting multiple velocity components or velocity gradients from diagnostic observations of specific interesting locations across the cluster. To explore this possibility in the case of a major head-on cluster merger, we performed velocity analyzes of a cluster-cluster merger from a hydrodynamical simulation by means of X-ray synthetic spectra with a spectral resolution on the order of a few eV. We observed the system along two extreme line-of-sight directions: (1) perpendicular to the plane of the merger and (2) along the merger axis. In these geometrical configurations, we found that clear non-Gaussian shapes of the iron He-like Kα line at 6.7 keV are expected. While the velocity dispersion predicted from the simulations can be retrieved for the brightest 100 ks pointings with XRISM Resolve, some discrepancy with respect to the expected value is noted and can be attributed to the complex non-Gaussian line shapes. Measurements in low surface brightness regions, especially when multiple velocity components are present along the line of sight, require high signal-to-noise ratio and the larger collecting area of the Athena X-IFU calorimeter is therefore required. With the latter, we also investigated the ICM temperature and velocity gradient across the merger bow shock edge, from 20″-wide annuli extracted from a single 1 Ms X-IFU observation. For both temperature and velocity dispersion, we found best-fit values that are consistent with predictions from the simulations within 1-σ. The uncertainties on the inferred velocity dispersion are, however, too large to place any stringent constraints on the shallow gradient downstream of the shock. Additionally, we present simulated images of the thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effects from this merging system, using the above viewing configurations and compare the results at angular resolutions appropriate for future observatories such as CMB-S4 and the Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST).

We study Polyakov loop as well as correlators of real and imaginary parts of the Polyakov loop in 2+1 flavor QCD at finite temperature. We use hypercubic (HYP) smearing to improve the signal in the lattice calculations and to obtain reliable results for the correlators at large distances. From the large distance behavior of the correlators we estimate the chromo-electric screening length to be (0.38-44)/T. Furthermore, we show that the short distance distortions due to HYP smearing do not affect the physics of interest

We report on the status of the analysis of the static energy in $2+1+1$-flavor QCD. The static energy is obtained by measuring Wilson line correlators in Coulomb gauge using the HISQ action, yielding the scales $r_{0}/a$, $r_{1}/a$, $r_{2}/a$, their ratios, and the string tension $\sigma r_{i}^{2}$. We put emphasis on the possible effects due to the dynamical charm-quark by comparing the lattice results to continuum results of the static energy with and without a massive flavor at two-loop accuracy. We employ gauge-field ensembles from the HotQCD and MILC Collaborations.

The heavy quark diffusion coefficient is encoded in the spectral functions of the chromoelectric and the chromomagnetic correlators that are calculable on the lattice. We study the chromoelectric and the chromomagnetic correlator in the deconfined phase of SU(3) gauge theory using Symanzik flow at two temperatures $1.5T_c$ and $10000 T_c$, with $T_c$ being the phase transition temperature. To control the lattice discretization errors and perform the continuum limit we use several temporal lattice extents $N_t=16,20,24$ and 28. We observe that the flow time dependence of the chromomagnetic correlator is quite different from chromoelectric correlator most likely due to the anomalous dimension of the former as has been pointed out recently in the literature.

Endpoint divergences in the convolution integrals appearing in

next-to-leading-power factorization theorems prevent a straightforward application of standard methods to resum large

logarithmic power-suppressed corrections in collider physics.

We study the power-suppressed configuration of the thrust

distribution in the two-jet region, where a gluon-initiated jet recoils against

a quark-antiquark pair. With the aid

of operatorial endpoint factorization conditions, we derive

a factorization formula where the individual terms are free from

endpoint divergences and can be written in

terms of renormalized hard, (anti) collinear, and soft functions in four

dimensions. This framework enables us to perform the

first resummation of the

endpoint-divergent SCET$_{\rm I}$ observables at the leading

logarithmic accuracy using

exclusively renormalization-group methods.

Understanding the quantum nature of spacetime and gravity remains one of the most ambitious goals of theoretical physics. It promises to provide key new insights into fundamental particle theory, astrophysics, cosmology and the foundations of physics. Despite this common goal, the community of quantum gravity researchers is sometimes seen as divided into sub-communities working on different, mutually exclusive approaches. In practice however, recent years have shown the emergence of common techniques, results and physical ideas arising from different sub-communities, suggesting exciting new prospects for collaboration and interaction between traditionally distinct approaches. In this White Paper we discuss some of the common themes which have seen a growing interest from various directions, and argue that focusing on them will help the quantum gravity community as a whole towards shared objectives.

The majority of astrophysical neutrinos have undetermined origins. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has observed astrophysical neutrinos but has not yet identified their sources. Blazars are promising source candidates, but previous searches for neutrino emission from populations of blazars detected in ≳GeV gamma rays have not observed any significant neutrino excess. Recent findings in multimessenger astronomy indicate that high-energy photons, coproduced with high-energy neutrinos, are likely to be absorbed and reemitted at lower energies. Thus, lower-energy photons may be better indicators of TeV–PeV neutrino production. This paper presents the first time-integrated stacking search for astrophysical neutrino emission from MeV-detected blazars in the first Fermi Large Area Telescope low energy (1FLE) catalog using ten years of IceCube muon–neutrino data. The results of this analysis are found to be consistent with a background-only hypothesis. Assuming an E$^{−2}$ neutrino spectrum and proportionality between the blazars MeV gamma-ray fluxes and TeV–PeV neutrino flux, the upper limit on the 1FLE blazar energy-scaled neutrino flux is determined to be 1.64 × 10$^{−12}$ TeV cm$^{−2}$ s$^{−1}$ at 90% confidence level. This upper limit is approximately 1% of IceCube’s diffuse muon–neutrino flux measurement.

We present the data release of the Uchuu-SDSS galaxies: a set of 32 high-fidelity galaxy lightcones constructed from the large Uchuu 2.1 trillion particle $N$-body simulation using Planck cosmology. We adopt subhalo abundance matching to populate the Uchuu-box halo catalogues with SDSS galaxy luminosities. These cubic box galaxy catalogues generated at several redshifts are combined to create the set of lightcones with redshift-evolving galaxy properties. The Uchuu-SDSS galaxy lightcones are built to reproduce the footprint and statistical properties of the SDSS main galaxy survey, along with stellar masses and star formation rates. This facilitates direct comparison of the observed SDSS and simulated Uchuu-SDSS data. Our lightcones reproduce a large number of observational results, such as the distribution of galaxy properties, the galaxy clustering, the stellar mass functions, and the halo occupation distributions. Using the simulated and real data we select samples of bright red galaxies at $z_\mathrm{eff}=0.15$ to explore Redshift Space Distortions and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) utilizing a full-shape analytical model of the two-point correlation function. We create a set of 5100 galaxy lightcones using GLAM N-body simulations to compute covariance errors. We report a $\sim 30\%$ precision increase on $f\sigma_8$, due to our better estimate of the covariance matrix. From our BAO-inferred $\alpha_{\parallel}$ and $\alpha_{\perp}$ parameters, we obtain the first SDSS measurements of the Hubble and angular diameter distances $D_\mathrm{H}(z=0.15) / r_d = 27.9^{+3.1}_{-2.7}$, $D_\mathrm{M}(z=0.15) / r_d = 5.1^{+0.4}_{-0.4}$. Overall, we conclude that the Planck LCDM cosmology nicely explains the observed large-scale structure statistics of SDSS. All data sets are made publicly available.

The reservoir of molecular gas (H$_{\rm 2}$) represents the fuel for the star formation (SF) of a galaxy. Connecting the star formation rate (SFR) to the available H$_{\rm 2}$ is key to accurately model SF in cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. We investigate how modifying the underlying modelling of H$_{\rm 2}$ and the description of stellar feedback in low-metallicity environments (LMF, i.e. low-metallicity stellar feedback) in cosmological, zoomed-in simulations of a Milky Way-size halo influences the formation history of the forming, spiral galaxy and its final properties. We exploit two different models to compute the molecular fraction of cold gas (f$_{\rm H_{\rm 2}}$): $i)$ the theoretical model by Krumholz et al. (2009b) and $ii)$ the phenomenological prescription by Blitz & Rosolowsky (2006). We find that the model adopted to estimate f$_{\rm H_{\rm 2}}$ plays a key role in determining final properties and in shaping the morphology of the galaxy. The clumpier interstellar medium (ISM) and the more complex H$_{\rm 2}$ distribution that the Krumholz et al. (2009b) model predicts result in better agreement with observations of nearby disc galaxies. This shows how crucial it is to link the SFR to the physical properties of the star-forming, molecular ISM. The additional source of energy that LMF supplies in a metal-poor ISM is key in controlling SF at high redshift and in regulating the reservoir of SF across cosmic time. Not only is LMF able to regulate cooling properties of the ISM, but it also reduces the stellar mass of the galaxy bulge. These findings can foster the improvement of the numerical modelling of SF in cosmological simulations.

We infer the mean optical depth of a sample of optically-selected galaxy clusters from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) via the pairwise kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect. The pairwise kSZ signal between pairs of clusters drawn from the DES Year-3 cluster catalog is detected at $4.1 \sigma$ in cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature maps from two years of observations with the SPT-3G camera on the South Pole Telescope. After cuts, there are 24,580 clusters in the $\sim 1,400$ deg$^2$ of the southern sky observed by both experiments. We infer the mean optical depth of the cluster sample with two techniques. The optical depth inferred from the pairwise kSZ signal is $\bar{\tau}_e = (2.97 \pm 0.73) \times 10^{-3}$, while that inferred from the thermal SZ signal is $\bar{\tau}_e = (2.51 \pm 0.55) \times 10^{-3}$. The two measures agree at $0.6 \sigma$. We perform a suite of systematic checks to test the robustness of the analysis.

We present the luminosity functions and host galaxy properties of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) core-collapse supernova (CCSN) sample, consisting of 69 Type II and 50 Type Ibc spectroscopically and photometrically-confirmed supernovae over a redshift range $0.045<z<0.25$. We fit the observed DES $griz$ CCSN light-curves and K-correct to produce rest-frame $R$-band light curves. We compare the sample with lower-redshift CCSN samples from Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS). Comparing luminosity functions, the DES and ZTF samples of SNe II are brighter than that of LOSS with significances of 3.0$\sigma$ and 2.5$\sigma$ respectively. While this difference could be caused by redshift evolution in the luminosity function, simpler explanations such as differing levels of host extinction remain a possibility. We find that the host galaxies of SNe II in DES are on average bluer than in ZTF, despite having consistent stellar mass distributions. We consider a number of possibilities to explain this -- including galaxy evolution with redshift, selection biases in either the DES or ZTF samples, and systematic differences due to the different photometric bands available -- but find that none can easily reconcile the differences in host colour between the two samples and thus its cause remains uncertain.

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are used as standardizable candles to measure cosmological distances, but differences remain in their corrected luminosities which display a magnitude step as a function of host galaxy properties such as stellar mass and rest-frame U−R colour. Identifying the cause of these steps is key to cosmological analyses and provides insight into SN physics. Here we investigate the effects of SN progenitor ages on their light-curve properties using a galaxy-based forward model that we compare to the Dark Energy Survey 5-yr SN Ia sample. We trace SN Ia progenitors through time and draw their light-curve width parameters from a bimodal distribution according to their age. We find that an intrinsic luminosity difference between SNe of different ages cannot explain the observed trend between step size and SN colour. The data split by stellar mass are better reproduced by following recent work implementing a step in total-to-selective dust extinction ratio () between low- and high-mass hosts, although an additional intrinsic luminosity step is still required to explain the data split by host galaxy U−R. Modelling the R_V step as a function of galaxy age provides a better match overall. Additional age versus luminosity steps marginally improve the match to the data, although most of the step is absorbed by the width versus luminosity coefficient α. Furthermore, we find no evidence that α varies with SN age.

We discuss the statistical distribution of galaxy shapes and viewing angles under the assumption of triaxiality by deprojecting observed surface brightness profiles of 56 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) coming from a recently published large deep-photometry sample. For the first time, we address this issue by directly measuring axis ratio profiles without limiting ourselves to a statistical analysis of average ellipticities. We show that these objects are strongly triaxial, with triaxiality parameters 0.39 ≤ T ≤ 0.72, they have average axis ratios <p(r)> = 0.84 and <q(r)> = 0.68, and they are more spherical in the central regions but flatten out at large radii. Measured shapes in the outskirts agree well with the shapes found for simulated massive galaxies and their dark matter halos from both the IllustrisTNG and the Magneticum simulations, possibly probing the nature of dark matter. In contrast, both simulations fail to reproduce the observed inner regions of BCGs, producing objects that are too flattened.

In this work, we revisit five different point sources within or behind galaxy clusters to constrain the coupling constant between axion-like particles (ALPs) and photons. We use three distinct machine learning (ML) techniques and compare our results with a standard χ² analysis. For the first time, we apply approximate Bayesian computation to search for ALPs and find consistently good performance across ML classifiers. Further, we apply more realistic 3D magnetic field simulations of galaxy clusters and compare our results with previously used 1D simulations. We find constraints on the ALP-photon coupling at the level of state-of-the-art bounds with $g_{a\gamma \gamma } \lesssim 0.6 \times 10^{-12} \, \rm{GeV}^{-1}$, hence improving on previous constraints obtained from the same observations.

We present the analysis of the full shape of anisotropic clustering measurement from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) quasar sample together with the combined galaxy sample from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), re-analysed using an updated recipe for the non-linear matter power spectrum and the non-local bias parameters. We obtain constraints for flat Lambda cold dark matter cosmologies, focusing on the cosmological parameters that are independent of the Hubble parameter h. Our recovered value for the Root Mean Square (RMS) linear perturbation theory variance as measured on the scale of $12\, {\rm Mpc}$ is σ₁₂ = 0.805 ± 0.049, while using the traditional reference scale of $8\, h^{-1}\, {\rm Mpc}$ gives σ₈ = 0.815 ± 0.044. We quantify the agreement between our measurements and the latest cosmic microwave background data from Planck using the suspiciousness metric, and find them to be consistent within 0.64 ± 0.03σ. Combining our clustering constraints with the 3 × 2pt data sample from the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 release slightly degrades this agreement to the level of 1.54 ± 0.08σ, while still showing an overall consistency with Planck. We furthermore study the effect of imposing a Planck - like prior on the parameters that define the shape of the linear matter power spectrum, and find significantly tighter constraints on the parameters that control the evolution of density fluctuations. In particular, the combination of low-redshift data sets prefers a value of the physical dark energy density ω_DE = 0.335 ± 0.011, which is 1.7σ higher than the one preferred by Planck.

The hot and dense core formed in the collapse of a massive star is a powerful source of hypothetical feebly interacting particles such as sterile neutrinos, dark photons, axionlike particles (ALPs), and others. Radiative decays such as a →2 γ deposit this energy in the surrounding material if the mean free path is less than the radius of the progenitor star. For the first time, we use a supernova (SN) population with particularly low explosion energies as the most sensitive calorimeters to constrain this possibility. These SNe are observationally identified as low-luminosity events with low ejecta velocities and low masses of ejected ⁵⁶Ni. Their low energies limit the energy deposition from particle decays to less than about 0.1 B, where 1 B (bethe)=10⁵¹ erg . For 1-500 MeV-mass ALPs, this generic argument excludes ALP-photon couplings G_{a γ γ} in the 10^-10−10^-8 GeV^-1 range.

Meteoritic studies of Solar system objects show evidence of nucleosynthetic heterogeneities that are inherited from small presolar grains ($\lt 10\,\, \mu {\mathrm{m}}$) formed in stellar environments external to our own. The initial distribution and subsequent evolution of these grains are currently unconstrained. Using 3D, gas-dust simulations, we find that isotopic variations on the order of those observed in the Solar system can be generated and maintained by drag and viscosity. Small grains are dragged radially outwards without size/density sorting by viscous expansion and backreaction, enriching the outer disc with presolar grains. Meanwhile large aggregates composed primarily of silicates drift radially inwards due to drag, further enriching the relative portion of presolar grains in the outer disc and diluting the inner disc. The late accumulation of enriched aggregates outside Jupiter could explain some of the isotopic variations observed in Solar system bodies, such as the enrichment of supernovae derived material in carbonaceous chondrites. We also see evidence for isotopic variations in the inner disc that may hold implications for enstatite and ordinary chondrites that formed closer to the Sun. Initial heterogeneities in the presolar grain distribution that are not continuously reinforced are dispersed by diffusion, radial surface flows, and/or planetary interactions over the entire lifetime of the disc. For younger, more massive discs we expect turbulent diffusion to be even more homogenizing, suggesting that dust evolution played a more central role in forming the isotopic anomalies in the Solar system than originally thought.

We study weak radiative |Δ c |=|Δ u |=1 decays of the charmed antitriplet (Λ_c, Ξ_c⁺, Ξ_c⁰) and sextet (Σ_c⁺⁺, Σ_c⁺, Σ_c⁰, Ξ_c^'+, Ξ_c^'0, Ω_c) baryons in the standard model (SM) and beyond. We work out S U (2 )- and S U (3 )_F-symmetry relations. We propose to study self-analyzing decay chains such as Ξ_c⁺→Σ⁺(→p π⁰)γ and Ξ_c⁰→Λ (→p π^-)γ , which enable new physics sensitive polarization studies. SM contributions can be controlled by a corresponding analysis of the Cabibbo-favored decays Λ_c⁺→Σ⁺(→p π⁰)γ and Ξ_c⁰→Ξ⁰(→Λ π⁰)γ . Further tests of the SM are available with initially polarized baryons including Λ_c→p γ together with Λ_c→Σ⁺γ decays, or Ω_c→Ξ⁰γ together with Ω_c→(Λ ,Σ⁰)γ . In addition, C P -violating new physics contributions to dipole operators can enhance C P asymmetries up to a few percent.

In this work, we examine the impact of our motion with respect to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) rest frame on statistics of CMB maps by examining the one-, two-, three-, and four- point statistics of simulated maps of the CMB and Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effects. We validate boosting codes by comparing their outcomes for temperature and polarization power spectra up to ℓ ≃ 6000. We derive and validate a new analytical formula for the computation of the boosted power spectrum of a signal with a generic frequency dependence. As an example we show how this increases the boosting correction to the power spectrum of CMB intensity measurements by ${\sim}30{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ at 150 GHz. We examine the effect of boosting on thermal and kinetic SZ power spectra from semianalytical and hydrodynamical simulations; the boosting correction is generally small for both simulations, except when considering frequencies near the tSZ null. For the non-Gaussian statistics, in general we find that boosting has no impact with two exceptions. We find that, whilst the statistics of the CMB convergence field are unaffected, quadratic estimators that are used to measure this field can become biased at the $O(1){{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ level by boosting effects. We present a simple modification to the standard estimators that removes this bias. Second, bispectrum estimators can receive a systematic bias from the Doppler induced quadrupole when there is anisotropy in the sky - in practice this anisotropy comes from masking and inhomogeneous noise. This effect is unobservable and already removed by existing analysis methods.

We carry out a search for strong-lens systems containing high-redshift lens galaxies with the goal of extending strong-lensing-assisted galaxy evolutionary studies to earlier cosmic time. Two strong-lens classifiers are constructed from a deep residual network and trained with datasets of different lens-redshift and brightness distributions. We classify a sample of 5 356 628 pre-selected objects from the Wide-layer fields in the second public data release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) by applying the two classifiers to their HSC gri-filter cutouts. Cutting off at thresholds that correspond to a false positive rate of 10⁻³ on our test set, the two classifiers identify 5468 and 6119 strong-lens candidates. Visually inspecting the cutouts of those candidates results in 735 grade-A or B strong-lens candidates in total, of which 277 candidates are discovered for the first time. This is the single largest set of galaxy-scale strong-lens candidates discovered with HSC data to date, and nearly half of it (331/735) contains lens galaxies with photometric redshifts above 0.6. Our discoveries will serve as a valuable target list for ongoing and scheduled spectroscopic surveys such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, the Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph project, and the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer.

Full Tables B.1 and B.2 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/662/A4

Strongly lensed quasars can provide measurements of the Hubble constant (H₀) independent of any other methods. One of the key ingredients is exquisite high-resolution imaging data, such as Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging and adaptive-optics (AO) imaging from ground-based telescopes, which provide strong constraints on the mass distribution of the lensing galaxy. In this work, we expand on the previous analysis of three time-delay lenses with AO imaging (RX J1131-1231, HE 0435-1223, and PG 1115+080), and perform a joint analysis of J0924+0219 by using AO imaging from the Keck telescope, obtained as part of the Strong lensing at High Angular Resolution Program (SHARP) AO effort, with HST imaging to constrain the mass distribution of the lensing galaxy. Under the assumption of a flat Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model with fixed Ω_m = 0.3, we show that by marginalizing over two different kinds of mass models (power-law and composite models) and their transformed mass profiles via a mass-sheet transformation, we obtain $\Delta t_{\rm BA}=6.89\substack{+0.8\-0.7}\, h^{-1}\hat{\sigma }_{v}^{2}$ d, $\Delta t_{\rm CA}=10.7\substack{+1.6\-1.2}\, h^{-1}\hat{\sigma }_{v}^{2}$ d, and $\Delta t_{\rm DA}=7.70\substack{+1.0\-0.9}\, h^{-1}\hat{\sigma }_{v}^{2}$ d, where $h=H_{0}/100\,\rm km\, s^{-1}\, Mpc^{-1}$ is the dimensionless Hubble constant and $\hat{\sigma }_{v}=\sigma ^{\rm ob}_{v}/(280\,\rm km\, s^{-1})$ is the scaled dimensionless velocity dispersion. Future measurements of time delays with 10 per cent uncertainty and velocity dispersion with 5 per cent uncertainty would yield a H₀ constraint of ~15 per cent precision.

SN 2020cxd is a representative of the family of low-energy, underluminous Type IIP supernovae (SNe), whose observations and analysis were recently reported by Yang et al. (2021). Here we re-evaluate the observational data for the diagnostic SN properties by employing the hydrodynamic explosion model of a 9 M_⊙ red supergiant progenitor with an iron core and a pre-collapse mass of 8.75 M_⊙. The explosion of the star was obtained by the neutrino-driven mechanism in a fully self-consistent simulation in three dimensions (3D). Multi-band light curves and photospheric velocities for the plateau phase are computed with the one-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics code STELLA, applied to the spherically averaged 3D explosion model as well as sphericized radial profiles in different directions of the 3D model. We find that the overall evolution of the bolometric light curve, duration of the plateau phase, and basic properties of the multi-band emission can be well reproduced by our SN model with its explosion energy of only 0.7 × 10⁵⁰ erg and an ejecta mass of 7.4 M_⊙. These values are considerably lower than the previously reported numbers, but they are compatible with those needed to explain the fundamental observational properties of the prototype low-luminosity SN 2005cs. Because of the good compatibility of our photospheric velocities with line velocities determined for SN 2005cs, we conclude that the line velocities of SN 2020cxd are probably overestimated by up to a factor of about 3. The evolution of the line velocities of SN 2005cs compared to photospheric velocities in different explosion directions might point to intrinsic asymmetries in the SN ejecta.

MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) is an alternative to the standard Cold Dark Matter (CDM) paradigm which proposes an alteration of Newton's laws of motion at low accelerations, characterized by a universal acceleration scale a_0. It attempts to explain observations of galactic rotation curves and predicts a specific scaling relation of the baryonic and total acceleration in galaxies, referred to as the Rotational Acceleration Relation (RAR), which can be equivalently formulated as a Mass Discrepancy Acceleration Relation (MDAR). The appearance of these relations in observational data such as SPARC has lead to investigations into the existence of similar relations in cosmological simulations using the standard {\Lambda}CDM model. Here, we report the existence of an RAR and MDAR similar to that predicted by MOND in {\Lambda}CDM using a large sample of galaxies extracted from a cosmological, hydrodynamical simulation (Magneticum). Furthermore, by using galaxies in Magneticum at different redshifts, a prediction for the evolution of the inferred acceleration parameter a_0 with cosmic time is derived by fitting a MOND force law to these galaxies. In Magneticum, the best fit for a_0 is found to increase by a factor of approximately 3 from redshift z = 0 to z = 2. This offers a powerful test from cosmological simulations to distinguish between MOND and {\Lambda}CDM observationally.

The study of exoplanets and especially their atmospheres can reveal key insights on their evolution by identifying specific atmospheric species. For such atmospheric investigations, high-resolution transmission spectroscopy has shown great success, especially for Jupiter-type planets. Towards the atmospheric characterization of smaller planets, the super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cnc e is one of the most promising terrestrial exoplanets studied to date. Here, we present a high-resolution spectroscopic transit observation of this planet, acquired with the PEPSI instrument at the Large Binocular Telescope. Assuming the presence of Earth-like crust species on the surface of 55 Cnc e, from which a possible silicate-vapor atmosphere could have originated, we search in its transmission spectrum for absorption of various atomic and ionized species such as Fe , Fe ⁺, Ca , Ca ⁺, Mg, and K , among others. Not finding absorption for any of the investigated species, we are able to set absorption limits with a median value of 1.9 × R_P. In conclusion, we do not find evidence of a widely extended silicate envelope on this super-Earth reaching several planetary radii.

We present the simulation of a $2\times 10^{9}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ halo mass cosmological dwarf galaxy run to z = 0 at 4 solar mass gas resolution with resolved supernova feedback. We compare three simple subgrid implementations for the inhomogeneous chemical enrichment from Population III stars and compare them to constraints from Local Group dwarf galaxies. The employed model, LYRA, is a novel high-resolution galaxy formation model built for the moving mesh code AREPO, which is marked by a resolved multiphase interstellar medium, single stars, and individual supernova events. The resulting reionization relic is characterized by a short (<1.5 Gyr) star formation history that is repeatedly brought to a standstill by violent bursts of feedback. Star formation is reignited for a short duration due to a merger at z ≍ 4 and then again at z ≍ 0.2-0 after sustained gas accretion. Our model z = 0 galaxy matches the stellar mass, size, stellar kinematics, and metallicity relations of Local Group dwarf galaxies well. The dark matter profile does not exhibit a core in any version of the model. We show that the host halo masses of Population III stars affect the assembly history of dwarf galaxies. This manifests itself through the initial gaseous collapse in the progenitor haloes, affecting the central density of the stellar component and through the accretion of luminous substructure.

Based on the potential nonrelativistic QCD formalism, we compute the nonrelativistic QCD long-distance matrix elements (LDMEs) for inclusive production of S -wave heavy quarkonia. This greatly reduces the number of nonperturbative unknowns and brings in a substantial enhancement in the predictive power of the nonrelativistic QCD factorization formalism. We obtain improved determinations of the LDMEs and find cross sections and polarizations of J /ψ , ψ (2 S ), and excited ϒ states that agree well with LHC data. Our results may have important implications in pinning down the heavy quarkonium production mechanism.

We use a lattice simulation to study a model of axion inflation where the inflaton is coupled to a U(1) gauge field through Chern-Simons interaction. These kinds of models have already been studied with a lattice simulation in the context of reheating. In this work, we focus on the deep inflationary phase and discuss the new aspects that need to be considered in order to simulate gauge fields in this regime. Our main result is reproducing with precision the growth of the gauge field on the lattice induced by the rolling of the axion on its potential, thus recovering the results of linear perturbation theory for this model. In order to do so, we study in detail how the spatial discretization, through the choice of the spatial derivatives on the lattice, influences the dynamics of the gauge field. We find that the evolution of the gauge field is highly sensitive to the choice of the spatial discretization scheme. Nevertheless, we are able to identify a discretization scheme for which the growth of the gauge field on the lattice reproduces the one of continuous space with good precision.

EOS is an open-source software for a variety of computational tasks in flavor physics. Its use cases include theory predictions within and beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, Bayesian inference of theory parameters from experimental and theoretical likelihoods, and simulation of pseudo events for a number of signal processes. EOS ensures high-performance computations through a C++ back-end and ease of usability through a Python front-end. To achieve this flexibility, EOS enables the user to select from a variety of implementations of the relevant decay processes and hadronic matrix elements at run time. In this article, we describe the general structure of the software framework and provide basic examples. Further details and in-depth interactive examples are provided as part of the EOS online documentation.

The origin of life on Earth involves the early appearance of an information-containing molecule such as RNA. The basic building blocks of RNA could have been delivered by carbon-rich meteorites or produced in situ by processes beginning with the synthesis of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in the early Earth's atmosphere. Here, we construct a robust physical and nonequilibrium chemical model of the early Earth's atmosphere. The atmosphere is supplied with hydrogen from impact degassing of meteorites, water evaporated from the oceans, carbon dioxide from volcanoes, and methane from undersea hydrothermal vents, and in it lightning and external UV-driven chemistry produce HCN. This allows us to calculate the rain-out of HCN into warm little ponds (WLPs). We then use a comprehensive numerical model of sources and sinks to compute the resulting abundances of nucleobases, ribose, and nucleotide precursors such as 2-aminooxazole resulting from aqueous and UV-driven chemistry within them. We find that 4.4 billion years ago the limit of adenine concentrations in ponds for habitable surfaces is 0.05 μM in the absence of seepage. Meteorite delivery of adenine to WLPs can provide boosts in concentration by 2-3 orders of magnitude, but these boosts deplete within months by UV photodissociation, seepage, and hydrolysis. The early evolution of the atmosphere is dominated by the decrease in hydrogen due to falling impact rates and atmospheric escape, and the rise of oxygenated species such as OH from H₂O photolysis. The source of HCN is predominantly from UV radiation rather than lightning. Our work points to an early origin of RNA on Earth within ~200 Myr of the Moon-forming impact.

The 1.33 mm survey of protoplanetary discs in the Taurus molecular cloud found annular gaps and rings to be common in extended sources (>~55 au), when their 1D visibility distributions were fit parametrically. We first demonstrate the advantages and limitations of nonparametric visibility fits for data at the survey's 0.12" resolution. Then we use the nonparametric model in Frankenstein ('frank') to identify new substructure in three compact and seven extended sources. Among the new features we identify three trends: a higher occurrence rate of substructure in the survey's compact discs than previously seen, underresolved (potentially azimuthally asymmetric) substructure in the innermost disc of extended sources, and a 'shoulder' on the trailing edge of a ring in discs with strong depletion at small radii. Noting the shoulder morphology is present in multiple discs observed at higher resolution, we postulate it is tracing a common physical mechanism. We further demonstrate how a super-resolution frank brightness profile is useful in motivating an accurate parametric model, using the highly structured source DL Tau in which frank finds two new rings. Finally we show that sparse (u, v) plane sampling may be masking the presence of substructure in several additional compact survey sources.

A pseudoscalar "axionlike" field, ϕ , may explain the 3 σ hint of cosmic birefringence observed in the E B power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background polarization data. Is ϕ dark energy or dark matter? A tomographic approach can answer this question. The effective mass of dark energy field responsible for the accelerated expansion of the Universe today must be smaller than m_ϕ≃10^-33 eV . If m_ϕ≳10^-32 eV , ϕ starts evolving before the epoch of reionization and we should observe different amounts of birefringence from the E B power spectrum at low (l ≲10 ) and high multipoles. Such an observation, which requires a full-sky satellite mission, would rule out ϕ being dark energy. If m_ϕ≳10^-28 eV , ϕ starts oscillating during the epoch of recombination, leaving a distinct signature in the E B power spectrum at high multipoles, which can be measured precisely by ground-based cosmic microwave background observations. Our tomographic approach relies on the shape of the E B power spectrum and is less sensitive to miscalibration of polarization angles.

Low-resolution LAMOST and Keck spectra of blue supergiant stars distributed over the disks of the Local Group spiral galaxies M31 and M33 are analyzed to determine stellar effective temperatures, gravities, metallicities, and reddening. Logarithmic metallicities at the center of the galaxies (in solar units) of 0.30 ± 0.09 and 0.11 ± 0.04 and metallicity gradients of -0.37 ± 0.13 dex/R ₂₅ and -0.36 ± 0.16 dex/R ₂₅ are measured for M31 and M33, respectively. For M33 the 2D distribution of metallicity indicates a deviation from azimuthal symmetry with an off-center peak. The flux-weighted gravity-luminosity relationship (FGLR) of blue supergiant stars is used to determine a distance modulus of 24.51 ± 0.13 mag for M31 and 24.93 ± 0.07 mag for M33. For M31 the FGLR distance agrees well with other methods. For M33 the FGLR-based distance is larger than the distances from Cepheids studies, but it is in good agreement with work on eclipsing binaries, planetary nebulae, long-period variables, and the tip of the red giant branch.

The recently developed $B$-Mesogenesis scenario predicts decays of $B$ mesons into a baryon and hypothetical dark antibaryon $\Psi$. We suggest a method to calculate the amplitude of the simplest exclusive decay mode $B^+\to p \Psi$. Considering two models of $B$-Mesogenesis, we obtain the $B\to p$ hadronic matrix elements by applying QCD light-cone sum rules with the proton light-cone distribution amplitudes. We estimate the $B^+\to p \Psi$ decay width as a function of the mass and effective coupling of the dark antibaryon.