Using bona-fide black hole (BH) mass estimates from reverberation mapping and the line ratio [Si VI] 1.963$\rm{\mu m}$/Brγ_broad as tracer of the AGN ionizing continuum, a novel BH-mass scaling relation of the form log(M_BH) = (6.40 ± 0.17) - (1.99 ± 0.37) × log ([Si VI]/Brγ_broad), dispersion 0.47 dex, over the BH mass interval, 10⁶-10⁸ M_⊙ is found. Following on the geometrically thin accretion disc approximation and after surveying a basic parameter space for coronal lines production, we believe one of main drivers of the relation is the effective temperature of the disc, which is effectively sampled by the [Si VI] 1.963$\rm{\mu m}$ coronal line for the range of BH masses considered. By means of CLOUDY photoionization models, the observed anticorrelation appears to be formally in line with the thin disc prediction T_disc ∝ M_BH^-1/4.

The diffusive epidemic process is a paradigmatic example of an absorbing state phase transition in which healthy and infected individuals spread with different diffusion constants. Using stochastic activity spreading simulations in combination with finite-size scaling analyses we reveal two qualitatively different processes that characterize the critical dynamics: subdiffusive propagation of infection clusters and diffusive fluctuations in the healthy population. This suggests the presence of a strong-coupling regime and sheds new light on a long-standing debate about the theoretical classification of the system.

We present results on the star cluster properties from a series of high resolution smoothed particles hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of isolated dwarf galaxies as part of the GRIFFIN project. The simulations at sub-parsec spatial resolution and a minimum particle mass of 4 M_⊙ incorporate non-equilibrium heating, cooling, and chemistry processes, and realize individual massive stars. The simulations follow feedback channels of massive stars that include the interstellar-radiation field variable in space and time, the radiation input by photo-ionization and supernova explosions. Varying the star formation efficiency per free-fall time in the range ϵ_ff = 0.2-50${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ neither changes the star formation rates nor the outflow rates. While the environmental densities at star formation change significantly with ϵ_ff, the ambient densities of supernovae are independent of ϵ_ff indicating a decoupling of the two processes. At low ϵ_ff, gas is allowed to collapse more before star formation, resulting in more massive, and increasingly more bound star clusters are formed, which are typically not destroyed. With increasing ϵ_ff, there is a trend for shallower cluster mass functions and the cluster formation efficiency Γ for young bound clusters decreases from $50 {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ to $\sim 1 {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ showing evidence for cluster disruption. However, none of our simulations form low mass (<10³ M_⊙) clusters with structural properties in perfect agreement with observations. Traditional star formation models used in galaxy formation simulations based on local free-fall times might therefore be unable to capture star cluster properties without significant fine tuning.

The Hubble constant (H₀) is one of the fundamental parameters in cosmology, but there is a heated debate around the > 4σ tension between the local Cepheid distance ladder and the early Universe measurements. Strongly lensed Type Ia supernovae (LSNe Ia) are an independent and direct way to measure H₀, where a time-delay measurement between the multiple supernova (SN) images is required. In this work, we present two machine learning approaches for measuring time delays in LSNe Ia, namely, a fully connected neural network (FCNN) and a random forest (RF). For the training of the FCNN and the RF, we simulate mock LSNe Ia from theoretical SN Ia models that include observational noise and microlensing. We test the generalizability of the machine learning models by using a final test set based on empirical LSN Ia light curves not used in the training process, and we find that only the RF provides a low enough bias to achieve precision cosmology; as such, RF is therefore preferred over our FCNN approach for applications to real systems. For the RF with single-band photometry in the i band, we obtain an accuracy better than 1% in all investigated cases for time delays longer than 15 days, assuming follow-up observations with a 5σ point-source depth of 24.7, a two day cadence with a few random gaps, and a detection of the LSNe Ia 8 to 10 days before peak in the observer frame. In terms of precision, we can achieve an approximately 1.5-day uncertainty for a typical source redshift of ∼0.8 on the i band under the same assumptions. To improve the measurement, we find that using three bands, where we train a RF for each band separately and combine them afterward, helps to reduce the uncertainty to ∼1.0 day. The dominant source of uncertainty is the observational noise, and therefore the depth is an especially important factor when follow-up observations are triggered. We have publicly released the microlensed spectra and light curves used in this work.

https://github.com/shsuyu/HOLISMOKES-public/tree/main/HOLISMOKES_VII

Context. The dynamics of the intracluster medium (ICM) is affected by turbulence driven by several processes, such as mergers, accretion and feedback from active galactic nuclei.
Aims: X-ray surface brightness fluctuations have been used to constrain turbulence in galaxy clusters. Here, we use simulations to further investigate the relation between gas density and turbulent velocity fluctuations, with a focus on the effect of the stratification of the ICM.
Methods: In this work, we studied the turbulence driven by hierarchical accretion by analysing a sample of galaxy clusters simulated with the cosmological code ENZO. We used a fixed scale filtering approach to disentangle laminar from turbulent flows.
Results: In dynamically perturbed galaxy clusters, we found a relation between the root mean square of density and velocity fluctuations, albeit with a different slope than previously reported. The Richardson number is a parameter that represents the ratio between turbulence and buoyancy, and we found that this variable has a strong dependence on the filtering scale. However, we could not detect any strong relation between the Richardson number and the logarithmic density fluctuations, in contrast to results by recent and more idealised simulations. In particular, we find a strong effect from radial accretion, which appears to be the main driver for the gas fluctuations. The ubiquitous radial bias in the dynamics of the ICM suggests that homogeneity and isotropy are not always valid assumptions, even if the turbulent spectra follow Kolmogorov's scaling. Finally, we find that the slope of the velocity and density spectra are independent of cluster-centric radii.

Recent wide-area surveys have enabled us to study the Milky Way with unprecedented detail. Its inner regions, hidden behind dust and gas, have been partially unveiled with the arrival of near-infrared (IR) photometric and spectroscopic data sets. Among recent discoveries, there is a population of low-mass globular clusters, known to be missing, especially towards the Galactic bulge. In this work, five new low-luminosity globular clusters located towards the bulge area are presented. They were discovered by searching for groups in the multidimensional space of coordinates, colours, and proper motions from the Gaia EDR3 catalogue and later confirmed with deeper VVV survey near-IR photometry. The clusters show well-defined red giant branches and, in some cases, horizontal branches with their members forming a dynamically coherent structure in proper motion space. Four of them were confirmed by spectroscopic follow-up with the MUSE instrument on the ESO VLT. Photometric parameters were derived, and when available, metallicities, radial velocities, and orbits were determined. The new clusters Gran 1 and 5 are bulge globular clusters, while Gran 2, 3 and 4 present halo-like properties. Preliminary orbits indicate that Gran 1 might be related to the Main Progenitor, or the so-called 'low-energy' group, while Gran 2, 3 and 5 appears to follow the Gaia-Enceladus/Sausage structure. This study demonstrates that the Gaia proper motions, combined with the spectroscopic follow-up and colour-magnitude diagrams, are required to confirm the nature of cluster candidates towards the inner Galaxy. High stellar crowding and differential extinction may hide other low-luminosity clusters.

Current and future cosmological analyses with Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) face three critical challenges: i) measuring redshifts from the supernova or its host galaxy; ii) classifying SNe without spectra; and iii) accounting for correlations between the properties of SNe Ia and their host galaxies. We present here a novel approach that addresses each challenge. In the context of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), we analyze a SNIa sample with host galaxies in the redMaGiC galaxy catalog, a selection of Luminous Red Galaxies. Photo-$z$ estimates for these galaxies are expected to be accurate to $\sigma_{\Delta z/(1+z)}\sim0.02$. The DES-5YR photometrically classified SNIa sample contains approximately 1600 SNe and 125 of these SNe are in redMaGiC galaxies. We demonstrate that redMaGiC galaxies almost exclusively host SNe Ia, reducing concerns with classification uncertainties. With this subsample, we find similar Hubble scatter (to within $\sim0.01$ mag) using photometric redshifts in place of spectroscopic redshifts. With detailed simulations, we show the bias due to using photo-$z$s from redMaGiC host galaxies on the measurement of the dark energy equation-of-state $w$ is up to $\Delta w \sim 0.01-0.02$. With real data, we measure a difference in $w$ when using redMaGiC photometric redshifts versus spectroscopic redshifts of $\Delta w = 0.005$. Finally, we discuss how SNe in redMaGiC galaxies appear to be a more standardizable population due to a weaker relation between color and luminosity ($\beta$) compared to the DES-3YR population by $\sim5\sigma$; this finding is consistent with predictions that redMaGiC galaxies exhibit lower reddening ratios ($\textrm{R}_\textrm{V}$) than the general population of SN host galaxies. These results establish the feasibility of performing redMaGiC SN cosmology with photometric survey data in the absence of spectroscopic data.

The $ {\varXi}_{cc}^{++}\to {\varXi}_c^{\prime +}{\pi}^{+} $ decay is observed using proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb−1. The $ {\varXi}_{cc}^{++}\to {\varXi}_c^{\prime +}{\pi}^{+} $ decay is reconstructed partially, where the photon from the $ {\varXi}_c^{\prime +}\to {\varXi}_c^{+}\gamma $ decay is not reconstructed and the pK$^{−}$π$^{+}$ final state of the $ {\varXi}_c^{+} $ baryon is employed. The $ {\varXi}_{cc}^{++}\to {\varXi}_c^{\prime +}{\pi}^{+} $branching fraction relative to that of the $ {\varXi}_{cc}^{++}\to {\varXi}_c^{+}{\pi}^{+} $ decay is measured to be 1.41 ± 0.17 ± 0.10, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Quantum coherence is one of the most striking features of quantum mechanics rooted in the superposition principle. Recently, it has been demonstrated that it is possible to harvest the quantum coherence from a coherent scalar field. In order to explore a new method of detecting axion dark matter, we consider a point-like Unruh-DeWitt detector coupled to the axion field and quantify a coherent measure of the detector. We show that the detector can harvest the quantum coherence from the axion dark matter. To be more precise, we consider a two-level electron system in an atom as the detector. In this case, we obtain the coherence measure C = 2.2 × 10−6γ(T/1s) where T and γ are an observation time and the Lorentz factor. At the same time, the axion mass ma we can probe is determined by the energy gap of the detector.

Numerical general relativistic radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accretion discs around a stellar-mass black hole with a luminosity above 0.5 of the Eddington value reveal their stratified, elevated vertical structure. We refer to these thermally stable numerical solutions as puffy discs. Above a dense and geometrically thin core of dimensionless thickness h/r ∼ 0.1, crudely resembling a classic thin accretion disc, a puffed-up, geometrically thick layer of lower density is formed. This puffy layer corresponds to h/r ∼ 1.0, with a very limited dependence of the dimensionless thickness on the mass accretion rate. We discuss the observational properties of puffy discs, particularly the geometrical obscuration of the inner disc by the elevated puffy region at higher observing inclinations, and collimation of the radiation along the accretion disc spin axis, which may explain the apparent super-Eddington luminosity of some X-ray objects. We also present synthetic spectra of puffy discs, and show that they are qualitatively similar to those of a Comptonized thin disc. We demonstrate that the existing xspec spectral fitting models provide good fits to synthetic observations of puffy discs, but cannot correctly recover the input black hole spin. The puffy region remains optically thick to scattering; in its spectral properties, the puffy disc roughly resembles that of a warm corona sandwiching the disc core. We suggest that puffy discs may correspond to X-ray binary systems of luminosities above 0.3 of the Eddington luminosity in the intermediate spectral states.

Catalytic particles are spatially organized in a number of biological systems across different length scales, from enzyme complexes to metabolically coupled cells. Despite operating on different scales, these systems all feature localized reactions involving partially hindered diffusive transport, which is determined by the collective arrangement of the catalysts. Yet it remains largely unexplored how different arrangements affect the interplay between the reaction and transport dynamics, which ultimately determines the flux through the reaction pathway. Here we show that two fundamental trade-offs arise, the first between efficient inter-catalyst transport and the depletion of substrate, and the second between steric confinement of intermediate products and the accessibility of catalysts to substrate. We use a model reaction pathway to characterize the general design principles for the arrangement of catalysts that emerge from the interplay of these trade-offs. We find that the question of optimal catalyst arrangements generalizes the well-known Thomson problem of electrostatics.

We propose a search for long lived axion-like particles (ALPs) in exotic top decays. Flavour-violating ALPs appear as low energy effective theories for various new physics scenarios such as t-channel dark sectors or Froggatt-Nielsen models. In this case the top quark may decay to an ALP and an up- or charm-quark. For masses in the few GeV range, the ALP is long lived across most of the viable parameter space, suggesting a dedicated search. We propose to search for these long lived ALPs in $ t\overline{t} $ events, using one top quark as a trigger. We focus on ALPs decaying in the hadronic calorimeter, and show that the ratio of energy deposits in the electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters as well as track vetoes can efficiently suppress Standard Model backgrounds. Our proposed search can probe exotic top branching ratios smaller than 10$^{−4}$ with a conservative strategy at the upcoming LHC run, and potentially below the 10$^{−7}$ level with more advanced methods. Finally we also show that measurements of single top production probe these branching ratios in the very short and very long lifetime limit at the 10$^{−3}$ level.

This is the second part of a thorough investigation of the redshift-space effects that affect void properties and the impact they have on cosmological tests. Here, we focus on the void-galaxy cross-correlation function, specifically, on the projected versions that we developed in a previous work. The pillar of the analysis is the one-to-one relationship between real and redshift-space voids above the shot-noise level identified with a spherical void finder. Under this mapping, void properties are affected by three effects: (i) a systematic expansion as a consequence of the distortions induced by galaxy dynamics, (ii) the Alcock-Paczynski volume effect, which manifests as an overall expansion or contraction depending on the fiducial cosmology, and (iii) a systematic off-centring along the line of sight as a consequence of the distortions induced by void dynamics. We found that correlations are also affected by an additional source of distortions: the ellipticity of voids. This is the first time that distortions due to the off-centring and ellipticity effects are detected and quantified. With a simplified test, we verified that the Gaussian streaming model is still robust provided all these effects are taken into account, laying the foundations for improvements in current models in order to obtain unbiased cosmological constraints from spectroscopic surveys. Besides this practical importance, this analysis also encodes key information about the structure and dynamics of the Universe at the largest scales. Furthermore, some of the effects constitute cosmological probes by themselves, as is the case of the void ellipticity.

Context. X-ray- and extreme-ultraviolet- (together: XEUV-) driven photoevaporative winds acting on protoplanetary disks around young T-Tauri stars may crucially impact disk evolution, affecting both gas and dust distributions.
Aims: We constrain the dust densities in a typical XEUV-driven outflow, and determine whether these winds can be observed at μm-wavelengths.
Methods: We used dust trajectories modelled atop a 2D hydrodynamical gas model of a protoplanetary disk irradiated by a central T-Tauri star. With these and two different prescriptions for the dust distribution in the underlying disk, we constructed wind density maps for individual grain sizes. We used the dust density distributions obtained to synthesise observations in scattered and polarised light.
Results: For an XEUV-driven outflow around a M_* = 0.7 M_⊙ T-Tauri star with L_X = 2 × 10³⁰ erg s⁻¹, we find a dust mass-loss rate Ṁ_dust ≲ 4.1 × 10⁻¹¹ M_⊙ yr⁻¹ for an optimistic estimate of dust densities in the wind (compared to Ṁ_gas ≈ 3.7 × 10⁻⁸ M_⊙ yr⁻¹). The synthesised scattered-light images suggest a distinct chimney structure emerging at intensities I∕I_max < 10^−4.5 (10^−3.5) at λ_obs = 1.6 (0.4) μm, while the features in the polarised-light images are even fainter. Observations synthesised from our model do not exhibit clear features for SPHERE IRDIS, but show a faint wind signature for JWST NIRCam under optimal conditions.
Conclusions: Unambiguous detections of photoevaporative XEUV winds launched from primordial disks are at least challenging with current instrumentation; this provides a possible explanation as to why disk winds are not routinely detected in scattered or polarised light. Our calculations show that disk scale heights retrieved from scattered-light observations should be only marginally affected by the presence of an XEUV wind.

Decays of the neutral and long-lived η and η^′ mesons provide a unique, flavor-conserving laboratory to test low-energy Quantum Chromodynamics and search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. They have drawn world-wide attention in recent years and have inspired broad experimental programs in different high-intensity-frontier centers. New experimental data will offer critical inputs to precisely determine the light quark mass ratios, η-η^′ mixing parameters, and hadronic contributions to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. At the same time, it will provide a sensitive probe to test potential new physics. This includes searches for hidden photons, light Higgs scalars, and axion-like particles that are complementary to worldwide efforts to detect new light particles below the GeV mass scale, as well as tests of discrete symmetry violation. In this review, we give an update on theoretical developments, discuss the experimental opportunities, and identify future research needed in this field.

Although galactic outflows play a key role in our understanding of the evolution of galaxies, the exact mechanism by which galactic outflows are driven is still far from being understood and, therefore, our understanding of associated feedback mechanisms that control the evolution of galaxies is still plagued by many enigmas. In this work, we present a simple toy model that can provide insight on how non-axisymmetric instabilities in galaxies (bars, spiral arms, warps) can lead to local exponential magnetic field growth by radial flows beyond the equipartition value by at least two orders of magnitude on a timescale of a few 100 Myr. Our predictions show that the process can lead to galactic outflows in barred spiral galaxies with a mass-loading factor η ≍ 0.1, in agreement with our numerical simulations. Moreover, our outflow mechanism could contribute to an understanding of the large fraction of barred spiral galaxies that show signs of galactic outflows in the CHANG-ES survey. Extending our model shows the importance of such processes in high-redshift galaxies by assuming equipartition between magnetic energy and turbulent energy. Simple estimates for the star formation rate in our model together with cross correlated masses from the star-forming main sequence at redshifts z ~ 2 allow us to estimate the outflow rate and mass-loading factors by non-axisymmetric instabilities and a subsequent radial inflow dynamo, giving mass-loading factors of η ≍ 0.1 for galaxies in the range of M _⋆ = 10⁹-10¹² M _⊙, in good agreement with recent results of SINFONI and KMOS ^3D.

Atmospheres of highly irradiated gas giant planets host a large variety of atomic and ionic species. Here we observe the thermal emission spectra of the two ultra-hot Jupiters WASP-33b and KELT-20b/MASCARA-2b in the near-infrared wavelength range with CARMENES. Via high-resolution Doppler spectroscopy, we searched for neutral silicon (Si) in their dayside atmospheres. We detect the Si spectral signature of both planets via cross-correlation with model spectra. Detection levels of 4.8σ and 5.4σ, respectively, are observed when assuming a solar atmospheric composition. This is the first detection of Si in exoplanet atmospheres. The presence of Si is an important finding due to its fundamental role in cloud formation and, hence, for the planetary energy balance. Since the spectral lines are detected in emission, our results also confirm the presence of an inverted temperature profile in the dayside atmospheres of both planets.

Study Analysis Group 21 (SAG21) of the Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) was organized to study the effect of stellar contamination on space-based transmission spectroscopy, a method for studying exoplanetary atmospheres by measuring the wavelength-dependent radius of a planet as it transits its star. Transmission spectroscopy relies on a precise understanding of the spectrum of the star being occulted. However, stars are not homogeneous, constant light sources but have temporally evolving photospheres and chromospheres with inhomogeneities like spots, faculae, and plages. This SAG has brought together an interdisciplinary team of more than 100 scientists, with observers and theorists from the heliophysics, stellar astrophysics, planetary science, and exoplanetary atmosphere research communities, to study the current needs that can be addressed in this context to make the most of transit studies from current NASA facilities like HST and JWST. The analysis produced 14 findings, which fall into three Science Themes encompassing (1) how the Sun is used as our best laboratory to calibrate our understanding of stellar heterogeneities ("The Sun as the Stellar Benchmark"), (2) how stars other than the Sun extend our knowledge of heterogeneities ("Surface Heterogeneities of Other Stars") and (3) how to incorporate information gathered for the Sun and other stars into transit studies ("Mapping Stellar Knowledge to Transit Studies").

Black hole (BH) accretion discs formed in compact-object mergers or collapsars may be major sites of the rapid-neutron-capture (r-)process, but the conditions determining the electron fraction (Y_e) remain uncertain given the complexity of neutrino transfer and angular-momentum transport. After discussing relevant weak-interaction regimes, we study the role of neutrino absorption for shaping Y_e using an extensive set of simulations performed with two-moment neutrino transport and again without neutrino absorption. We vary the torus mass, BH mass and spin, and examine the impact of rest-mass and weak-magnetism corrections in the neutrino rates. We also test the dependence on the angular-momentum transport treatment by comparing axisymmetric models using the standard α-viscosity with viscous models assuming constant viscous length-scales (l_t) and 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. Finally, we discuss the nucleosynthesis yields and basic kilonova properties. We find that absorption pushes Y_e towards ~0.5 outside the torus, while inside increasing the equilibrium value $Y_\mathrm{ e}^{\mathrm{eq}}$ by ~0.05-0.2. Correspondingly, a substantial ejecta fraction is pushed above Y_e = 0.25, leading to a reduced lanthanide fraction and a brighter, earlier, and bluer kilonova than without absorption. More compact tori with higher neutrino optical depth, τ, tend to have lower $Y_\mathrm{ e}^{\mathrm{eq}}$ up to τ ~ 1-10, above which absorption becomes strong enough to reverse this trend. Disc ejecta are less (more) neutron rich when employing an l_t = const. viscosity (MHD treatment). The solar-like abundance pattern found for our MHD model marginally supports collapsar discs as major r-process sites, although a strong r-process may be limited to phases of high mass-infall rates, $\dot{M}\, \, \raise0.14em\rm{\gt }\lower0.28em\rm{\sim }\, \, 2\times 10^{-2}$ M_⊙ s^-1.

Context. The mass of protoplanetary disks is arguably one of their most important quantities shaping their evolution toward planetary systems, but it remains a challenge to determine this quantity. Using the high spatial resolution now available on telescopes such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), recent studies derived a relation between the disk surface density and the location of the "dust lines". This is a new concept in the field, linking the disk size at different continuum wavelengths with the radial distribution of grain populations of different sizes.
Aims: We aim to use a dust evolution model to test the dependence of the dust line location on disk gas mass. In particular, we are interested in the reliability of the method for disks showing radial substructures, as recent high-resolution observations revealed.
Methods: We performed dust evolution calculations, which included perturbations to the gas surface density with different amplitudes at different radii, to investigate their effect on the global drift timescale of dust grains. These models were then used to calibrate the relation between the dust grain drift timescale and the disk gas mass. We investigated under which condition the dust line location is a good mass estimator and tested how different stellar and disk properties (disk mass, stellar mass, disk age, and dust-to-gas ratio) affect the dust line properties. Finally, we show the applicability of this method to disks such as TW Hya and AS 209 that have been observed at high angular resolution with ALMA and show pronounced disk structures.
Results: Our models without pressure bumps confirm a strong dependence of the dust line location on the disk gas mass and its applicability as a reliable mass estimator. The other disk properties do not significantly affect the dust line location, except for the age of the system, which is the major source of uncertainty for this mass estimator. A population of synthetic disks was used to calibrate an analytic relation between the dust line location and the disk mass for smooth disks, finding that previous mass estimates based on dust lines overestimate disk masses by about one order of magnitude. Radial pressure bumps can alter the location of the dust line by up to ~10 au, while its location is mainly determined by the disk mass. Therefore, an accurate mass estimation requires a proper evaluation of the effect of bumps. However, when radial substructures act as traps for dust grains, the relation between the dust line location and disk mass becomes weaker, and other mass estimators need to be adopted.
Conclusions: Our models show that the determination of the dust line location is a promising approach to the mass estimate of protoplanetay disks, but the exact relation between the dust line location and disk mass depends on the structure of the particular disk. We calibrated the relation for disks without evidence of radial structures, while for more complex structures we ran a simple dust evolution model. However, this method fails when there is evidence of strong dust traps. It is possible to reveal when dust evolution is dominated by traps, providing the necessary information for when the method should be applied with caution.

We compute the QCD static force and potential using gradient flow at next-to-leading order in the strong coupling. The static force is the spatial derivative of the static potential: it encodes the QCD interaction at both short and long distances. While on the one side the static force has the advantage of being free of the O(Λ_QCD) renormalon affecting the static potential when computed in perturbation theory, on the other side its direct lattice QCD computation suffers from poor convergence. The convergence can be improved by using gradient flow, where the gauge fields in the operator definition of a given quantity are replaced by flowed fields at flow time t, which effectively smear the gauge fields over a distance of order √{t }, while they reduce to the QCD fields in the limit t → 0. Based on our next-to-leading order calculation, we explore the properties of the static force for arbitrary values of t, as well as in the t → 0 limit, which may be useful for lattice QCD studies.

We obtain Proca field theory from the quantisation of the N = 2 supersymmetric worldline upon supplementing the graded BRST-algebra with an extra multiplet of oscillators. The linearised theory describes the BV-extended spectrum of Proca theory, together with a Stückelberg field. When coupling the theory to background fields we derive the Proca equations, arising as consistency conditions in the BRST procedure. We also explore non-abelian modifications, complexified vector fields as well as coupling to a dilaton field. We propose a cubic action on the space of BRST-operators which reproduces the known Proca action.

The statistical models used to derive the results of experimental analyses are of incredible scientific value and are essential information for analysis preservation and reuse. In this paper, we make the scientific case for systematically publishing the full statistical models and discuss the technical developments that make this practical. By means of a variety of physics cases -- including parton distribution functions, Higgs boson measurements, effective field theory interpretations, direct searches for new physics, heavy flavor physics, direct dark matter detection, world averages, and beyond the Standard Model global fits -- we illustrate how detailed information on the statistical modelling can enhance the short- and long-term impact of experimental results.

We study the production of very light elements (Z < 20) in the dynamical and spiral-wave wind ejecta of binary neutron star mergers by combining detailed nucleosynthesis calculations with the outcome of numerical relativity merger simulations. All our models are targeted to GW170817 and include neutrino radiation. We explore different finite-temperature, composition-dependent nuclear equations of state, and binary mass ratios, and find that hydrogen and helium are the most abundant light elements. For both elements, the decay of free neutrons is the driving nuclear reaction. In particular, ~0.5-2 × 10^-6 M _⊙ of hydrogen are produced in the fast expanding tail of the dynamical ejecta, while ~1.5-11 × 10^-6 M _⊙ of helium are synthesized in the bulk of the dynamical ejecta, usually in association with heavy r-process elements. By computing synthetic spectra, we find that the possibility of detecting hydrogen and helium features in kilonova spectra is very unlikely for fiducial masses and luminosities, even when including nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium effects. The latter could be crucial to observe helium lines a few days after merger for faint kilonovae or for luminous kilonovae ejecting large masses of helium. Finally, we compute the amount of strontium synthesized in the dynamical and spiral-wave wind ejecta, and find that it is consistent with (or even larger than, in the case of a long-lived remnant) the one required to explain early spectral features in the kilonova of GW170817.

The immediate vicinity of an active supermassive black hole—with its event horizon, photon ring, accretion disk and relativistic jets—is an appropriate place to study physics under extreme conditions, particularly general relativity and magnetohydrodynamics. Observing the dynamics of such compact astrophysical objects provides insights into their inner workings, and the recent observations of M87* by the Event Horizon Telescope^1-6 using very-long-baseline interferometry techniques allows us to investigate the dynamical processes of M87* on timescales of days. Compared with most radio interferometers, very-long-baseline interferometry networks typically have fewer antennas and low signal-to-noise ratios. Furthermore, the source is variable, prohibiting integration over time to improve signal-to-noise ratio. Here, we present an imaging algorithm^7,8 that copes with the data scarcity and temporal evolution, while providing an uncertainty quantification. Our algorithm views the imaging task as a Bayesian inference problem of a time-varying brightness, exploits the correlation structure in time and reconstructs (2 + 1 + 1)-dimensional time-variable and spectrally resolved images. We apply this method to the Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87*⁹ and validate our approach on synthetic data. The time- and frequency-resolved reconstruction of M87* confirms variable structures on the emission ring and indicates extended and time-variable emission structures outside the ring itself.

For decades we have known that the Sun lies within the Local Bubble, a cavity of low-density, high-temperature plasma surrounded by a shell of cold, neutral gas and dust^1-3. However, the precise shape and extent of this shell^4,5, the impetus and timescale for its formation^6,7, and its relationship to nearby star formation⁸ have remained uncertain, largely due to low-resolution models of the local interstellar medium. Here we report an analysis of the three-dimensional positions, shapes and motions of dense gas and young stars within 200 pc of the Sun, using new spatial^9-11 and dynamical constraints¹². We find that nearly all of the star-forming complexes in the solar vicinity lie on the surface of the Local Bubble and that their young stars show outward expansion mainly perpendicular to the bubble's surface. Tracebacks of these young stars' motions support a picture in which the origin of the Local Bubble was a burst of stellar birth and then death (supernovae) taking place near the bubble's centre beginning approximately 14 Myr ago. The expansion of the Local Bubble created by the supernovae swept up the ambient interstellar medium into an extended shell that has now fragmented and collapsed into the most prominent nearby molecular clouds, in turn providing robust observational support for the theory of supernova-driven star formation.

The intrinsic alignments of galaxies, i.e. the correlation between galaxy shapes and their environment, are a major source of contamination for weak gravitational lensing surveys. Most studies of intrinsic alignments have so far focused on measuring and modelling the correlations of luminous red galaxies with galaxy positions or the filaments of the cosmic web. In this work, we investigate alignments around cosmic voids. We measure the intrinsic alignments of luminous red galaxies detected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey around a sample of voids constructed from those same tracers and with radii in the ranges: [20-30; 30-40; 40-50] h^-1 Mpc and in the redshift range z = 0.4-0.8. We present fits to the measurements based on a linear model at large scales, and on a new model based on the void density profile inside the void and in its neighbourhood. We constrain the free scaling amplitude of our model at small scales, finding no significant alignment at 1σ for either sample. We observe a deviation from the null hypothesis, at large scales, of 2σ for voids with radii between 20 and 30 h^-1 Mpc, and 1.5σ for voids with radii between 30 and 40 h^-1 Mpc and constrain the amplitude of the model on these scales. We find no significant deviation at 1σ for larger voids. Our work is a first attempt at detecting intrinsic alignments of galaxy shapes around voids and provides a useful framework for their mitigation in future void lensing studies.

As part of the cosmology analysis using Type Ia Supernovae (SN Ia) in the Dark Energy Survey (DES), we present photometrically identified SN Ia samples using multiband light curves and host galaxy redshifts. For this analysis, we use the photometric classification framework SuperNNovatrained on realistic DES-like simulations. For reliable classification, we process the DES SN programme (DES-SN) data and introduce improvements to the classifier architecture, obtaining classification accuracies of more than 98 per cent on simulations. This is the first SN classification to make use of ensemble methods, resulting in more robust samples. Using photometry, host galaxy redshifts, and a classification probability requirement, we identify 1863 SNe Ia from which we select 1484 cosmology-grade SNe Ia spanning the redshift range of 0.07 < z < 1.14. We find good agreement between the light-curve properties of the photometrically selected sample and simulations. Additionally, we create similar SN Ia samples using two types of Bayesian Neural Network classifiers that provide uncertainties on the classification probabilities. We test the feasibility of using these uncertainties as indicators for out-of-distribution candidates and model confidence. Finally, we discuss the implications of photometric samples and classification methods for future surveys such as Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time.

The integrated shear 3-point correlation function ζ_± is a higher-order statistic of the cosmic shear field that describes the modulation of the 2-point correlation function ξ_± by long-wavelength features in the field. Here, we introduce a new theoretical model to calculate ζ_± that is accurate on small angular scales, and that allows to take baryonic feedback effects into account. Our model builds on the realization that the small-scale ζ_± is dominated by the non-linear matter bispectrum in the squeezed limit, which can be evaluated accurately using the non-linear matter power spectrum and its first-order response functions to density and tidal field perturbations. We demonstrate the accuracy of our model by showing that it reproduces the small-scale ζ_± measured in simulated cosmic shear maps. The impact of baryonic feedback enters effectively only through the corresponding impact on the non-linear matter power spectrum, thereby permitting to account for these astrophysical effects on ζ_± similarly to how they are currently accounted for on ξ_±. Using a simple idealized Fisher matrix forecast for a DES-like survey we find that, compared to ξ_±, a combined |$\xi _{\pm }\ \&\ \zeta _{\pm }$| analysis can lead to improvements of order |$20\!-\!40{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| on the constraints of cosmological parameters such as σ_8 or the dark energy equation of state parameter w_0. We find similar levels of improvement on the constraints of the baryonic feedback parameters, which strengthens the prospects for cosmic shear data to obtain tight constraints not only on cosmology but also on astrophysical feedback models. These encouraging results motivate future works on the integrated shear 3-point correlation function towards applications to real survey data.

We carried out 3D dust + gas radiative hydrodynamic simulations of forming planets. We investigated a parameter grid of a Neptune-mass, a Saturn-mass, a Jupiter-mass, and a five-Jupiter-mass planet at 5.2, 30, and 50 au distance from their star. We found that the meridional circulation (Szulágyi et al. 2014; Fung & Chiang 2016) drives a strong vertical flow for the dust as well, hence the dust is not settled in the midplane, even for millimeter-sized grains. The meridional circulation will deliver dust and gas vertically onto the circumplanetary region, efficiently bridging over the gap. The Hill-sphere accretion rates for the dust are ~10^-8-10^-10 M _Jup yr^-1, increasing with planet mass. For the gas component, the gain is 10^-6-10^-8 M _Jup yr^-1. The difference between the dust and gas-accretion rates is smaller with decreasing planetary mass. In the vicinity of the planet, the millimeter-sized grains can get trapped easier than the gas, which means the circumplanetary disk might be enriched with solids in comparison to the circumstellar disk. We calculated the local dust-to-gas ratio (DTG) everywhere in the circumstellar disk and identified the altitude above the midplane where the DTG is 1, 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001. The larger the planetary mass, the more the millimeter-sized dust is delivered and a larger fraction of the dust disk is lifted by the planet. The stirring of millimeter-sized dust is negligible for Neptune-mass planets or below, but significant above Saturn-mass planets.

We present a demonstration of the in-flight polarization angle calibration for the JAXA/ISAS second strategic large class mission, LiteBIRD, and estimate its impact on the measurement of the tensor-to-scalar ratio parameter, r, using simulated data. We generate a set of simulated sky maps with CMB and polarized foreground emission, and inject instrumental noise and polarization angle offsets to the 22 (partially overlapping) LiteBIRD frequency channels. Our in-flight angle calibration relies on nulling the EB cross correlation of the polarized signal in each channel. This calibration step has been carried out by two independent groups with a blind analysis, allowing an accuracy of the order of a few arc-minutes to be reached on the estimate of the angle offsets. Both the corrected and uncorrected multi-frequency maps are propagated through the foreground cleaning step, with the goal of computing clean CMB maps. We employ two component separation algorithms, the Bayesian-Separation of Components and Residuals Estimate Tool (B-SeCRET), and the Needlet Internal Linear Combination (NILC). We find that the recovered CMB maps obtained with algorithms that do not make any assumptions about the foreground properties, such as NILC, are only mildly affected by the angle miscalibration. However, polarization angle offsets strongly bias results obtained with the parametric fitting method. Once the miscalibration angles are corrected by EB nulling prior to the component separation, both component separation algorithms result in an unbiased estimation of the r parameter. While this work is motivated by the conceptual design study for LiteBIRD, its framework can be broadly applied to any CMB polarization experiment. In particular, the combination of simulation plus blind analysis provides a robust forecast by taking into account not only detector sensitivity but also systematic effects.

We use a recent census of the Milky Way (MW) satellite galaxy population to constrain the lifetime of particle dark matter (DM). We consider two-body decaying dark matter (DDM) in which a heavy DM particle decays with lifetime $\tau$ comparable to the age of the Universe to a lighter DM particle (with mass splitting $\epsilon$) and to a dark radiation species. These decays impart a characteristic "kick velocity," $V_{\mathrm{kick}}=\epsilon c$, on the DM daughter particles, significantly depleting the DM content of low-mass subhalos and making them more susceptible to tidal disruption. We fit the suppression of the present-day DDM subhalo mass function (SHMF) as a function of $\tau$ and $V_{\mathrm{kick}}$ using a suite of high-resolution zoom-in simulations of MW-mass halos, and we validate this model on new DDM simulations of systems specifically chosen to resemble the MW. We implement our DDM SHMF predictions in a forward model that incorporates inhomogeneities in the spatial distribution and detectability of MW satellites and uncertainties in the mapping between galaxies and DM halos, the properties of the MW system, and the disruption of subhalos by the MW disk using an empirical model for the galaxy--halo connection. By comparing to the observed MW satellite population, we conservatively exclude DDM models with $\tau < 18\ \mathrm{Gyr}$ ($29\ \mathrm{Gyr}$) for $V_{\mathrm{kick}}=20\ \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ ($40\ \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}$) at $95\%$ confidence. These constraints are among the most stringent and robust small-scale structure limits on the DM particle lifetime and strongly disfavor DDM models that have been proposed to alleviate the Hubble and $S_8$ tensions.

CRESST is one of the most prominent direct detection experiments for dark matter particles with sub-GeV/c$^2$ mass. One of the advantages of the CRESST experiment is the possibility to include a large variety of nuclides in the target material used to probe dark matter interactions. In this work, we discuss in particular the interactions of dark matter particles with protons and neutrons of $^{6}$Li. This is now possible thanks to new calculations on nuclear matrix elements of this specific isotope of Li. To show the potential of using this particular nuclide for probing dark matter interactions, we used the data collected previously by a CRESST prototype based on LiAlO$_2$ and operated in an above ground test-facility at Max-Planck-Institut für Physik in Munich, Germany. In particular, the inclusion of $^{6}$Li in the limit calculation drastically improves the result obtained for spin-dependent interactions with neutrons in the whole mass range. The improvement is significant, greater than two order of magnitude for dark matter masses below 1 GeV/c$^2$, compared to the limit previously published with the same data.

All evolutionary biological processes lead to a change in heritable traits over successive generations. The responsible genetic information encoded in DNA is altered, selected, and inherited by mutation of the base sequence. While this is well known at the biological level, an evolutionary change at the molecular level of small organic molecules is unknown but represents an important prerequisite for the emergence of life. Here, we present a class of prebiotic imidazolidine-4-thione organocatalysts able to dynamically change their constitution and potentially capable to form an evolutionary system. These catalysts functionalize their building blocks and dynamically adapt to their (self-modified) environment by mutation of their own structure. Depending on the surrounding conditions, they show pronounced and opposing selectivity in their formation. Remarkably, the preferentially formed species can be associated with different catalytic properties, which enable multiple pathways for the transition from abiotic matter to functional biomolecules.

We present a complete model of a dark QCD sector with light dark pions, broadly motivated by hidden naturalness arguments. The dark quarks couple to the Standard Model via irrelevant Z- and Higgs-portal operators, which encode the low-energy effects of TeV-scale fermions interacting through Yukawa couplings with the Higgs field. The dark pions, depending on their CP properties, behave as either composite axion-like particles (ALPs) mixing with the Z or scalars mixing with the Higgs. The dark pion lifetimes fall naturally in the most interesting region for present and proposed searches for long-lived particles, at the LHC and beyond. This is demonstrated by studying in detail three benchmark scenarios for the symmetries and structure of the theory. Within a coherent framework, we analyze and compare the GeV-scale signatures of flavor-changing meson decays to dark pions, the weak-scale decays of Z and Higgs bosons to hidden hadrons, and the TeV-scale signals of the ultraviolet theory. New constraints are derived from B decays at CMS and from Z-initiated dark showers at LHCb, focusing on the displaced dimuon signature. We also emphasize the strong potential sensitivity of ATLAS and CMS to dark shower signals with large multiplicities and long lifetimes of the dark pions. As a key part of our phenomenological study, we perform a new data-driven calculation of the decays of a light ALP to exclusive hadronic Standard Model final states. The results are provided in a general form, applicable to any model with arbitrary flavor-diagonal couplings of the ALP to fermions.

We reemphasize the strong dependence of the branching ratios $B(K^+\to\pi^+\nu\bar\nu)$ and $B(K_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar\nu)$ on $|V_{cb}|$ that is stronger than in rare $B$ decays, in particular for $K_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar\nu$. Thereby the persistent tension between inclusive and exclusive determinations of $|V_{cb}|$ weakens the power of these theoretically clean decays in the search for new physics (NP). We demonstrate how this uncertainty can be practically removed by considering within the SM suitable ratios of the two branching ratios between each other and with other observables like the branching ratios for $K_S\to\mu^+\mu^-$, $B_{s,d}\to\mu^+\mu^-$ and $B\to K(K^*)\nu\bar\nu$. We use as basic CKM parameters $V_{us}$, $|V_{cb}|$ and the angles $\beta$ and $\gamma$ in the unitarity triangle (UT). This avoids the use of the problematic $|V_{ub}|$. A ratio involving $B(K^+\to\pi^+\nu\bar\nu)$ and $B(B_s\to\mu^+\mu^-)$ while being $|V_{cb}|$-independent exhibits sizable dependence on the angle $\gamma$. It should be of interest for several experimental groups in the coming years. We point out that the $|V_{cb}|$-independent ratio of $B(B^+\to K^+\nu\bar\nu)$ and $B(B_s\to\mu^+\mu^-)$ from Belle II and LHCb signals a $1.8\sigma$ tension with its SM value. As a complementary test of the Standard Model, we propose to extract $|V_{cb}|$ from different observables as a function of $\beta$ and $\gamma$. We illustrate this with $\epsilon_K$, $\Delta M_d$ and $\Delta M_s$ finding tensions between these three determinations of $|V_{cb}|$ within the SM. From $\Delta M_s$ and $S_{\psi K_S}$ alone we find $|V_{cb}|=41.8(6)\times 10^{-3}$ and $|V_{ub}|=3.65(12)\times 10^{-3}$. We stress the importance of a precise measurement of $\gamma$. We obtain most precise SM predictions for considered branching ratios of rare K and B decays to date.

The early Earth 4 billion years ago was a scarce place for the emergence of life. After the formation of the oceans, it was most likely difficult to extract the essential ionic building blocks of life, such as phosphate or salts, from the existing geomaterial in sufficiently high concentrations and suitable mixing ratios. We show how ubiquitous heat fluxes through rock fractures implement a physical solution to this problem: Thermal convection and thermophoresis together are able to separate calcium from phosphorus and thus use ubiquitous but otherwise inert apatite as a phosphate source. Furthermore, the mixing ratio of different salts is modified according to their thermophoretic properties, providing a suitable non-equilibrium environment for the first prebiotic reactions.

Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) - Project-ID 364653263 - TRR 235 (CRC235). Funding by the Volkswagen Initiative 'Life? - A Fresh Scientific Approach to the Basic Principles of Life', from the Simons Foundation and from Germany's Excellence Strategy EXC-2094-390783311 is gratefully acknowledged. We are grateful for funding by the European Research Council (ERC starting Grant, RiboLife) under 802000 and the MaxSynBio consortium, which is jointly funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany and the Max Planck Society. We wish to acknowledge the support of ERC ADV 2018 Grant 834225 (EAVESDROP). We thank for financial support from ERC-2017-ADG from the European Research Council. The work is supported by the Center for Nanoscience Munich (CeNS).

In this contribution, I review some of the latest advances in calculational techniques in theoretical particle physics. I focus, in particular, on their application to the calculation of highly non-trivial scattering processes, which are relevant for precision phenomenology studies at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Radioactive decay of unstable atomic nuclei leads to liberation of nuclear binding energy in the forms of gamma-ray photons and secondary particles (electrons, positrons); their energy then energises surrounding matter. Unstable nuclei are formed in nuclear reactions, which can occur either in hot and dense extremes of stellar interiors or explosions, or from cosmic-ray collisions. In high-energy astronomy, direct observations of characteristic gamma-ray lines from the decay of radioactive isotopes are important tools to study the process of cosmic nucleosynthesis and its sources, as well as tracing the flows of ejecta from such sources of nucleosynthesis. These observations provide a valuable complement to indirect observations of radioactive energy deposits, such as the measurement of supernova light in the optical. Here we present basics of radioactive decay in astrophysical context, and how gamma-ray lines reveal details about stellar interiors, about explosions on stellar surfaces or of entire stars, and about the interstellar-medium processes that direct the flow and cooling of nucleosynthesis ashes once having left their sources. We address radioisotopes such as $^{56}$Ni, $^{44}$Ti, $^{26}$Al, $^{60}$Fe, $^{22}$Na, $^{7}$Be, and also how characteristic gamma-ray emission from the annihilation of positrons is connected to these.

Astronomical X-ray polarimetry is a powerful tool to extract information from hard X-rays spectrum of celestial bodies. In this context, the ComPol project aims to fly a Compton polarimeter in a CubeSat to investigate the emissions of the binary black hole (BBH) system Cygnus X-1. Based on Compton events detection, the CubeSat is featured by two detection systems: 1) a Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) matrix employed as scatterer and 2) a scintillator read by Silicon Photon Multiplier (SiPM) array to absorb the scattered photons. This paper focuses on the development of the first detection system for the reconstruction of Compton events. The readout electronic chain is composed of two 7-pixel SDD matrices, CUBE preamplifiers and SFERA ASIC Analog Pulse Processor (APP) handled by FPGA technology for its control and data flow management. This paper presents this readout system, composed by two boards: one housing SFERA ASIC, which includes an on-chip ADC, the other which includes the SDD matrix and the preamplifiers. In this manuscript, the test results performed with the pre-prototype system devised in the first phase of the project to characterize the SDD module and to evaluate the SFERA internal ADC performances are reported together with the ones performed with the prototype system.

We compute NRQCD long-distance matrix elements that appear in the inclusive production cross sections of P-wave heavy quarkonia in the framework of potential NRQCD. The formalism developed in this work applies to strongly coupled charmonia and bottomonia. This makes possible the determination of color-octet NRQCD long-distance matrix elements without relying on measured cross section data, which has not been possible so far. We obtain results for inclusive production cross sections of χcJ and χbJ at the LHC, which are in good agreement with measurements.

Gamma rays from nuclear processes such as radioactive decay and de-excitations are among the most-direct tools to witness the production and existence of specific nuclei and isotopes in and near cosmic nucleosynthesis sites. With space-borne instrumentation such as NuSTAR and SPI/INTEGRAL, and experimental techniques to handle a substantial instrumental background from cosmic-ray activations of the spacecraft and instrument, unique results have been obtained, from diffuse emissions of nuclei and positrons in interstellar surroundings of sources, as well as from observations of cosmic explosions and their radioactive afterglows. These witness non-sphericity in supernova explosions and a flow of nucleosynthesis ejecta through superbubbles as common source environments. Next-generation experiments that are awaiting space missions promise a next level of observational nuclear astrophysics.

The Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers (CRESST) experiment aims at the direct detection of dark matter particles via their elastic scattering off nuclei in a scintillating CaWO$_4$ target crystal. The CaWO$_4$ crystal is operated together with a light detector at mK temperature and read out by a Transition Edge Sensor. For many years, CaWO$_4$ crystals have successfully been produced in-house at Technical University of Munich (TUM) with a focus on high radiopurity which is crucial to reduce background originating from radioactive contamination. In order to further improve the CaWO$_4$ crystals, an extensive chemical purification of the raw materials and the synthesised CaWO$_4$ powder has been performed. In addition, a temperature gradient simulation of the growth process and subsequently an optimisation of the growth furnace with the goal to reduce the intrinsic stress was carried out. We present results on the intrinsic stress in the CaWO$_4$ crystals and on the CaWO$_4$ powder radiopurity. A crystal grown from the purified material was installed in the current CRESST set-up. The detector is equipped with an instrumented holder which is used to measure the alpha decay rate of the crystal. We present a preliminary analysis showing a significantly reduced intrinsic background from natural decay chains.

In this paper we quantify the temporal variability and image morphology of the horizon-scale emission from Sgr A*, as observed by the EHT in 2017 April at a wavelength of 1.3 mm. We find that the Sgr A* data exhibit variability that exceeds what can be explained by the uncertainties in the data or by the effects of interstellar scattering. The magnitude of this variability can be a substantial fraction of the correlated flux density, reaching ∼100% on some baselines. Through an exploration of simple geometric source models, we demonstrate that ring-like morphologies provide better fits to the Sgr A* data than do other morphologies with comparable complexity. We develop two strategies for fitting static geometric ring models to the time-variable Sgr A* data; one strategy fits models to short segments of data over which the source is static and averages these independent fits, while the other fits models to the full data set using a parametric model for the structural variability power spectrum around the average source structure. Both geometric modeling and image-domain feature extraction techniques determine the ring diameter to be 51.8 ± 2.3 μas (68% credible intervals), with the ring thickness constrained to have an FWHM between ∼30% and 50% of the ring diameter. To bring the diameter measurements to a common physical scale, we calibrate them using synthetic data generated from GRMHD simulations. This calibration constrains the angular size of the gravitational radius to be

μas, which we combine with an independent distance measurement from maser parallaxes to determine the mass of Sgr A* to be

M

$_{⊙}$.

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The EUSO@TurLab project aims at performing experiments to reproduce Earth UV emissions as seen from a low Earth orbit by the planned missions of the JEM-EUSO program. It makes use of the TurLab facility, which is a laboratory, equipped with a 5 m diameter and 1 m depth rotating tank, located at the Physics Department of the University of Turin. All the experiments are designed and performed based on simulations of the expected response of the detectors to be flown in space. In April 2016 the TUS detector and more recently in October 2019 the Mini-EUSO experiment, both part of the JEM-EUSO program, have been placed in orbit to map the UV Earth emissions. It is, therefore, now possible to compare the replicas performed at TurLab with the actual images detected in space to understand the level of fidelity in terms of reproduction of the expected signals. We show that the laboratory tests reproduce at the order of magnitude level the measurements from space in terms of spatial extension and time duration of the emitted UV light, as well as the intensity in terms of expected counts per pixel per unit time when atmospheric transient events, diffuse nightlow background light, and artificial light sources are considered. Therefore, TurLab is found to be a very useful facility for testing the acquisition logic of the detectors of the present and future missions of the JEM-EUSO program and beyond in order to reproduce atmospheric signals in the laboratory.</jats:p>

The mean-field approximation based on effective interactions or density functionals plays a pivotal role in the description of finite quantum many-body systems that are too large to be treated by ab initio methods. Some examples are strongly interacting medium and heavy mass atomic nuclei and mesoscopic condensed matter systems. In this approach, the linear Schrödinger equation for the exact many-body wave function is mapped onto a non-linear one-body potential problem. This approximation, not only provides computationally very simple solutions even for systems with many particles, but due to the non-linearity, it also allows for obtaining solutions that break essential symmetries of the system, often connected with phase transitions. In this way, additional correlations are subsumed in the system. However, the mean-field approach suffers from the drawback that the corresponding wave functions do not have sharp quantum numbers and, therefore, many results cannot be compared directly with experimental data. In this article, we discuss general group-theory techniques to restore the broken symmetries, and provide detailed expressions on the restoration of translational, rotational, spin, isospin, parity and gauge symmetries, where the latter corresponds to the restoration of the particle number. In order to avoid the numerical complexity of exact projection techniques, various approximation methods available in the literature are examined. Applications of the projection methods are presented for simple nuclear models, realistic calculations in relatively small configuration spaces, nuclear energy density functional (EDF) theory, as well as in other mesoscopic systems. We also discuss applications of projection techniques to quantum statistics in order to treat the averaging over restricted ensembles with fixed quantum numbers. Further, unresolved problems in the application of the symmetry restoration methods to the EDF theories are highlighted in the present work.

Starting from the Bonn potential, the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) equations are solved for nuclear matter in the full Dirac space, which provides a unique way to determine the single-particle potentials and avoids the approximations applied in the RBHF calculations in the Dirac space with positive-energy states (PESs) only. The uncertainties of the RBHF calculations in the Dirac space with PESs only are investigated, and the importance of RBHF calculations in the full Dirac space is demonstrated. In the RBHF calculations in the full Dirac space, the empirical saturation properties of symmetric nuclear matter are reproduced, and the obtained equation of state agrees with the results based on the relativistic Green's function approach up to the saturation density.

The finite-temperature linear response theory based on the finite-temperature relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (FT-RHB) model is developed in the charge-exchange channel to study the temperature evolution of spin-isospin excitations. Calculations are performed self-consistently with relativistic point-coupling interactions DD-PC1 and DD-PCX. In the charge-exchange channel, the pairing interaction can be split into isovector (T=1) and isoscalar (T=0) parts. For the isovector component, the same separable form of the Gogny D1S pairing interaction is used both for the ground-state calculation as well as for the residual interaction, while the strength of the isoscalar pairing in the residual interaction is determined by comparison with experimental data on Gamow-Teller resonance (GTR) and isobaric analog resonance (IAR) centroid energy differences in even-even tin isotopes. The temperature effects are introduced by treating Bogoliubov quasiparticles within a grand-canonical ensemble. Thus, unlike the conventional formulation of the quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA) based on the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) basis, our model is formulated within the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) quasiparticle basis. Implementing a relativistic point-coupling interaction and a separable pairing force allows for the reduction of complicated two-body residual interaction matrix elements, which considerably decreases the dimension of the problem in the coordinate space. The main advantage of this method is to avoid the diagonalization of a large QRPA matrix, especially at finite temperature where the size of configuration space is significantly increased. The implementation of the linear response code is used to study the temperature evolution of IAR, GTR, and spin-dipole resonance (SDR) in even-even tin isotopes in the temperature range T=0–1.5 MeV.

The strong interaction among hadrons has been measured in the past by scattering experiments. Although this technique has been extremely successful in providing information about the nucleon-nucleon and pion-nucleon interactions, when unstable hadrons are considered the experiments become more challenging. In the last few years, the analysis of correlations in the momentum space for pairs of stable and unstable hadrons measured in pp and p+Pb collisions by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC has provided a new method to investigate the strong interaction among hadrons. In this article, we review the numerous results recently achieved for hyperon-nucleon, hyperon-hyperon, and kaon-nucleon pairs, which show that this new method opens the possibility of measuring the residual strong interaction of any hadron pair.

The topic of this work is the non-traditional baryon–baryon femtoscopy, the goal of which is to study the interaction potential between different baryon pairs, assuming that their emission source is known. A new analysis framework (CATS) has been developed to model the correlation function. Further, a new model to describe the emission source was created, which accounts for the modulation related to particle production through the decays of short-lived resonances. Finally, these new analysis methods were applied to study the strong interaction acting between proton-Lambda and Lambda-Lambda pairs.

This thesis presents several multi-messenger analyses, searching for the long-sough sources of high-energy cosmic radiation. By combining data from the IceCube Neutrino Detector and other multi-frequency observatories, the first two significant neutrino point sources - the blazar TXS 0506+056 and the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 - are identified. Furthermore, a correlation study of high-energy neutrinos with gamma-ray blazars finds 3.2σ evidence for an astrophysical neutrino flux contribution from IBL/HBL blazars. Finally, we present a deep neural network that helps to optimize IceCube’s event selection pipeline.

Black holes are amongst the most fascinating concepts both for (astro-) physicists and the public. However, they are not only intriguing objects lurking in the cosmic shadows. Many of the most luminous phenomena, both persistent and transient, that we know in the Universe are somehow related to accretion of matter onto them. Black holes are predicted and inferred to exist in different mass ranges, with two main populations consisting of stellar-mass and supermassive

black holes (SMBHs). [...]

Key requirements for the first cells on Earth include the ability to compartmentalize and evolve. Compartmentalization spatially localizes biomolecules from a dilute pool and an evolving cell, which, as it grows and divides, permits mixing and propagation of information to daughter cells. Complex coacervate microdroplets are excellent candidates as primordial cells with the ability to partition and concentrate molecules into their core and support primitive and complex biochemical reactions. However, the evolution of coacervate protocells by fusion, growth and fission has not yet been demonstrated. In this work, a primordial environment initiated the evolution of coacervate-based protocells. Gas bubbles inside heated rock pores perturb the coacervate protocell distribution and drive the growth, fusion, division and selection of coacervate microdroplets. Our findings provide a compelling scenario for the evolution of membrane-free coacervate microdroplets on the early Earth, induced by common gas bubbles within heated rock pores.

Using the CLASH-VLT survey, we assembled an unprecedented sample of 1234 spectroscopically confirmed members in Abell~S1063, finding a dynamically complex structure at z_cl=0.3457 with a velocity dispersion \sigma_v=1380 -32 +26 km s^-1. We investigate cluster environmental and dynamical effects by analysing the projected phase-space diagram and the orbits as a function of galaxy spectral properties. We classify cluster galaxies according to the presence and strength of the [OII] emission line, the strength of the Hδ absorption line, and colours. We investigate the relationship between the spectral classes of galaxies and their position in the projected phase-space diagram. We analyse separately red and blue galaxy orbits. By correlating the observed positions and velocities with the projected phase-space constructed from simulations, we constrain the accretion redshift of galaxies with different spectral types. Passive galaxies are mainly located in the virialised region, while emission-line galaxies are outside r_200, and are accreted later into the cluster. Emission-lines and post-starbursts show an asymmetric distribution in projected phase-space within r_200, with the first being prominent at Delta_v/sigma <~-1.5$, and the second at Delta_v/ sigma >~ 1.5, suggesting that backsplash galaxies lie at large positive velocities. We find that low-mass passive galaxies are accreted in the cluster before the high-mass ones. This suggests that we observe as passives only the low-mass galaxies accreted early in the cluster as blue galaxies, that had the time to quench their star formation. We also find that red galaxies move on more radial orbits than blue galaxies. This can be explained if infalling galaxies can remain blue moving on tangential orbits.

Narrow-band imaging surveys allow the study of the spectral characteristics of galaxies without the need of performing their spectroscopic follow-up. In this work, we forward-model the Physics of the Accelerating Universe Survey (PAUS) narrow-band data. The aim is to improve the constraints on the spectral coefficients used to create the galaxy spectral energy distributions (SED) of the galaxy population model in Tortorelli et al. 2020. In that work, the model parameters were inferred from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) data using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). This led to stringent constraints on the B-band galaxy luminosity function parameters, but left the spectral coefficients only broadly constrained. To address that, we perform an ABC inference using CFHTLS and PAUS data. This is the first time our approach combining forward-modelling and ABC is applied simultaneously to multiple datasets. We test the results of the ABC inference by comparing the narrow-band magnitudes of the observed and simulated galaxies using Principal Component Analysis, finding a very good agreement. Furthermore, we prove the scientific potential of the constrained galaxy population model to provide realistic stellar population properties by measuring them with the SED fitting code \textsc{CIGALE}. We use CFHTLS broad-band and PAUS narrow-band photometry for a flux-limited (i<22.5) sample of galaxies up to redshift z∼0.8. We find that properties like stellar masses, star-formation rates, mass-weighted stellar ages and metallicities are in agreement within errors between observations and simulations. Overall, this work shows the ability of our galaxy population model to correctly forward-model a complex dataset such as PAUS and the ability to reproduce the diversity of galaxy properties at the redshift range spanned by CFHTLS and PAUS.

We present a multi-wavelength study of the gaseous medium surrounding the nearby active galactic nucleus (AGN), Fornax A. Using MeerKAT, ALMA, and MUSE observations, we reveal a complex distribution of the atomic (H I), molecular (CO), and ionised gas in its centre and along the radio jets. By studying the multi-scale kinematics of the multi-phase gas, we reveal the presence of concurrent AGN feeding and feedback phenomena. Several clouds and an extended 3 kpc filament - perpendicular to the radio jets and the inner disk (r ≲ 4.5 kpc) - show highly-turbulent kinematics, which likely induces non-linear condensation and subsequent chaotic cold accretion (CCA) onto the AGN. In the wake of the radio jets and in an external (r ≳ 4.5 kpc) ring, we identify an entrained massive (∼10⁷ M_⊙) multi-phase outflow (v_OUT ∼ 2000 km s⁻¹). The rapid flickering of the nuclear activity of Fornax A (∼3 Myr) and the gas experiencing turbulent condensation raining onto the AGN provide quantitative evidence that a recurrent, tight feeding and feedback cycle may be self-regulating the activity of Fornax A, in agreement with CCA simulations. To date, this is one of the most in-depth probes of such a mechanism, paving the way to apply these precise diagnostics to a larger sample of nearby AGN hosts and their multi-phase inter stellar medium.

Reduced images and datacubes are also 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/656/A45

The simplest models of dark matter halo formation rely on the heuristic assumption, motivated by spherical collapse, that virialized haloes originate from initial regions that are maxima of the smoothed matter density field. Here, we replace this notion with the dynamical requirement that protohaloes be regions where the local gravitational flow converges to a point. For this purpose, we look for spheres whose acceleration at the boundary - relative to their centre of mass - points towards their geometric centre: that is, spheres with null dipole moment. We show that these configurations are minima of the energy, corresponding to the most energetically bound spheres. Therefore, we study peaks of the smoothed energy overdensity field. This significant conceptual change is technically trivial to implement: to change from density to energy one need only modify the standard top-hat smoothing filter. However, this comes with the important benefit that, for power spectra of cosmological interest, the model is no longer plagued by divergences: improving the physics mends the mathematics. In addition, the 'excursion set' requirement that the smoothed matter density crosses a critical value can be naturally replaced by a threshold in energy. Measurements in simulations of haloes more massive than 10¹³h^-1M_⊙ show very good agreement with a number of generic predictions of our model.

A data sample collected with the LHCb detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$ is used to measure eleven $CP$ violation observables in $B^\pm\to Dh^\pm$ decays, where $h$ is either a kaon or a pion. The neutral $D$ meson decay is reconstructed in the three-body final states: $K^\pm\pi^\mp\pi^0$; $\pi^+\pi^-\pi^0$; $K^+K^-\pi^0$ and the suppressed $\pi^\pm K^\mp\pi^0$ combination. The mode where a large $CP$ asymmetry is expected, $B^\pm\to [\pi^\pm K^\mp\pi^0]_DK^\pm$, is observed with a significance greater than seven standard deviations. The ratio of the partial width of this mode relative to that of the favoured mode, $B^\pm\to [K^\pm\pi^\mp\pi^0]_D K^\pm$, is $R_{{\rm ADS}(K)} = (1.27\pm0.16\pm0.02)\times 10^{-2}$. Evidence for a large $CP$ asymmetry is also seen: $A_{{\rm ADS}(K)} = -0.38\pm0.12\pm0.02$. Constraints on the CKM angle $\gamma$ are calculated from the eleven reported observables.

Analysis of large galaxy surveys requires confidence in the robustness of numerical simulation methods. The simulations are used to construct mock galaxy catalogues to validate data analysis pipelines and identify potential systematics. We compare three N-body simulation codes, abacus, gadget-2, and swift, to investigate the regimes in which their results agree. We run N-body simulations at three different mass resolutions, 6.25 × 10^8, 2.11 × 10^9, and 5.00 × 10^9 h^−1 M_⊙, matching phases to reduce the noise within the comparisons. We find systematic errors in the halo clustering between different codes are smaller than the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) statistical error for s > 20 h−1 Mpc in the correlation function in redshift space. Through the resolution comparison we find that simulations run with a mass resolution of 2.1 × 10^9 h^−1 M_⊙ are sufficiently converged for systematic effects in the halo clustering to be smaller than the DESI statistical error at scales larger than 20 h−1 Mpc. These findings show that the simulations are robust for extracting cosmological information from large scales which is the key goal of the DESI survey. Comparing matter power spectra, we find the codes agree to within 1 per cent for k ≤ 10 h Mpc^−1. We also run a comparison of three initial condition generation codes and find good agreement. In addition, we include a quasi-N-body code, FastPM, since we plan use it for certain DESI analyses. The impact of the halo definition and galaxy–halo relation will be presented in a follow-up study.

We provide the first combined cosmological analysis of South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck cluster catalogs. The aim is to provide an independent calibration for Planck scaling relations, exploiting the cosmological constraining power of the SPT-SZ cluster catalog and its dedicated weak lensing (WL) and X-ray follow-up observations. We build a new version of the Planck cluster likelihood. In the $\nu \Lambda$CDM scenario, focusing on the mass slope and mass bias of Planck scaling relations, we find $\alpha_{\text{SZ}} = 1.49 _{-0.10}^{+0.07}$ and $(1-b)_{\text{SZ}} = 0.69 _{-0.14}^{+0.07}$ respectively. The results for the mass slope show a $\sim 4 \, \sigma$ departure from the self-similar evolution, $\alpha_{\text{SZ}} \sim 1.8$. This shift is mainly driven by the matter density value preferred by SPT data, $\Omega_m = 0.30 \pm 0.03$, lower than the one obtained by Planck data alone, $\Omega_m = 0.37 _{-0.06}^{+0.02}$. The mass bias constraints are consistent both with outcomes of hydrodynamical simulations and external WL calibrations, $(1-b) \sim 0.8$, and with results required by the Planck cosmic microwave background cosmology, $(1-b) \sim 0.6$. From this analysis, we obtain a new catalog of Planck cluster masses $M_{500}$. We estimate the relation between the published Planck derived $M_{\text{SZ}}$ masses and our derived masses, as a measured mass bias. We analyse the mass, redshift and detection noise dependence of this quantity, finding an increasing trend towards high redshift and low mass. These results mimic the effect of departure from self-similarity in cluster evolution, showing different dependencies for the low-mass high-mass, low-z high-z regimes.

The multihadron decays $ {\Lambda}_b^0 $ → D+pπ−π− and $ {\Lambda}_b^0 $ → D$^{*}$+pπ−π− are observed in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb$^{−1}$, collected in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV by the LHCb detector. Using the decay $ {\Lambda}_b^0 $ → $ {\Lambda}_c^{+} $π$^{+}$π$^{−}$π$^{−}$ as a normalisation channel, the ratio of branching fractions is measured to be$ \frac{\mathcal{B}\left({\Lambda}_b^0\to {D}^{+}p{\pi}^{-}{\pi}^{-}\right)}{\mathcal{B}\left({\Lambda}_b^0\to {\Lambda}_c^0{\pi}^{+}{\pi}^{-}{\pi}^{-}\right)}\times \frac{\mathcal{B}\left({D}^{+}\to {K}^{-}{\pi}^{+}{\pi}^{+}\right)}{\mathcal{B}\left({\Lambda}_c^0\to {pK}^{-}{\pi}^{-}\right)}=\left(5.35\pm 0.21\pm 0.16\right)\%, $where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The ratio of branching fractions for the $ {\Lambda}_b^0 $ → D$^{*+}$pπ$^{−}$π$^{−}$ and $ {\Lambda}_b^0 $ → D$^{+}$pπ$^{−}$π$^{−}$ decays is found to be$ \frac{\mathcal{B}\left({\Lambda}_b^0\to {D}^{\ast +}p{\pi}^{-}{\pi}^{-}\right)}{\mathcal{B}\left({\Lambda}_b^0\to {D}^{+}p{\pi}^{-}{\pi}^{-}\right)}\times \left(\mathcal{B}\left({D}^{\ast +}\to {D}^{+}{\pi}^0\right)+\mathcal{B}\left({D}^{\ast +}\to {D}^{+}\gamma \right)\right)=\left(61.3\pm 4.3\pm 4.0\right)\%. $[graphic not available: see fulltext]

We present the v1.0 release of CLMM, an open source PYTHON library for the estimation of the weak lensing masses of clusters of galaxies. CLMM is designed as a stand-alone toolkit of building blocks to enable end-to-end analysis pipeline validation for upcoming cluster cosmology analyses such as the ones that will be performed by the Vera C. Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time-Dark Energy Science Collaboration (LSST-DESC). Its purpose is to serve as a flexible, easy-to-install, and easy-to-use interface for both weak lensing simulators and observers and can be applied to real and mock data to study the systematics affecting weak lensing mass reconstruction. At the core of CLMM are routines to model the weak lensing shear signal given the underlying mass distribution of galaxy clusters and a set of data operations to prepare the corresponding data vectors. The theoretical predictions rely on existing software, used as backends in the code, that have been thoroughly tested and cross-checked. Combined theoretical predictions and data can be used to constrain the mass distribution of galaxy clusters as demonstrated in a suite of example Jupyter Notebooks shipped with the software and also available in the extensive online documentation.

We adapt the dual-null foliation to the functional Schrödinger representation of quantum field theory and study the behavior of quantum probes in plane-wave space-times near the null singularity. A comparison between the Einstein-Rosen and the Brinkmann patch, where the latter extends beyond the first, shows a seeming tension that can be resolved by comparing the configuration spaces. Our analysis concludes that Einstein-Rosen space-times support exclusively configurations with nonempty gravitational memory that are focused to a set of measure zero in the focal plane with respect to a Brinkmann observer. To conclude, we provide a rough framework to estimate the qualitative influence of backreactions on these results.

A systematic global investigation of differential charge radii has been performed within the CDFT framework for the first time. Theoretical results obtained with conventional covariant energy density functionals and the separable pairing interaction of Tian et al. [Phys. Lett. B 676, 44 (2009), 10.1016/j.physletb.2009.04.067] are compared with experimental differential charge radii in the regions of the nuclear chart in which available experimental data crosses the neutron shell closures at N =28 ,50 ,82 , and 126. The analysis of absolute differential radii of different isotopic chains and their relative properties indicate clearly that such properties are reasonably well described in model calculations in the cases when the mean-field approximation is justified. However, while the observed clusterization of differential charge radii of different isotopic chains is well described above the N =50 and N =126 shell closures, it is more difficult to reproduce it above the N =28 and N =82 shell closures because of possible deficiencies in the underlying single-particle structure. The impact of the latter has been evaluated for spherical shapes and it was shown that the relative energies of the single-particle states and the patterns of their occupation with increasing neutron number have an appreciable impact on the evolution of the δ «r^{2»N ,N'} values. These factors also limit the predictive power of model calculations in the regions of high densities of the single-particle states of different origin. It is shown that the kinks in the charge radii at neutron shell closures are due to the underlying single-particle structure and due to weakening or collapse of pairing at these closures. The regions of the nuclear chart in which the correlations beyond mean field are expected to have an impact on charge radii are indicated; the analysis shows that the assignment of a calculated excited prolate minimum to the experimental ground state allows us to understand the trends of the evolution of differential charge radii with neutron number in many cases of shape coexistence even at the mean-field level. It is usually assumed that pairing is a dominant contributor to odd-even staggering (OES) in charge radii. Our analysis paints a more complicated picture. It suggests a new mechanism in which the fragmentation of the single-particle content of the ground state in odd-mass nuclei due to particle-vibration coupling provides a significant contribution to OES in charge radii.

We investigate the impact of gas accretion in streams on the evolution of disc galaxies, using magnetohydrodynamic simulations including advection and anisotropic diffusion of cosmic rays (CRs) generated by supernovae as the only source of feedback. Stream accretion has been suggested as an important galaxy growth mechanism in cosmological simulations and we vary their orientation and angular momentum in idealized setups. We find that accretion streams trigger the formation of galactic rings and enhanced star formation. The star formation rates and consequently the CR-driven outflow rates are higher for low angular momentum accretion streams, which also result in more compact, lower angular momentum discs. The CR generated outflows show a characteristic structure. At low outflow velocities (<50 km s^-1), the angular momentum distribution is similar to the disc and the gas is in a fountain flow. Gas at high outflow velocities (>200 km s^-1), penetrating deep into the halo, has close to zero angular momentum, and originates from the centre of the galaxies. As the mass loading factors of the CR-driven outflows are of the order of unity and higher, we conclude that this process is important for the removal of low angular momentum gas from evolving disc galaxies and the transport of, potentially metal enriched, material from galactic centres far into the galactic haloes.

As ever-more sensitive experiments are made in the quest for primordial CMB B Modes, the number of potentially significant astrophysical contaminants becomes larger as well. Thermal emission from interplanetary dust, for example, has been detected by the Planck satellite. While the polarization fraction of this Zodiacal, or interplanetary dust emission (IPDE) is expected to be low, it is bright enough to be detected in total power. Here, estimates of the magnitude of the effect as it might be seen by the LiteBIRD satellite are made. The COBE IPDE model from Kelsall et al. (1998) is combined with a model of the LiteBIRD experiment's scanning strategy to estimate potential contamination of the CMB in both total power and in polarization power spectra. LiteBIRD should detect IPDE in temperature across all of its bands, from 40 through 402 GHz, and should improve limits on the polarization fraction of IPDE at the higher end of this frequency range. If the polarization fraction of IPDE is of order 1%, the current limit from ISO/CAM measurements in the mid-infrared, it may induce large-scale polarization B Modes comparable to cosmological models with an r of order 0.001. In this case, the polarized IPDE would also need to be modeled and removed. As a CMB foreground, IPDE will always be subdominant to Galactic emissions, though because it caused by emission from grains closer to us, it appears variable as the Earth travels around the Sun, and may thereby complicate the data analysis somewhat. But with an understanding of some of the symmetries of the emission and some flexibility in the data processing, it should not be the primary impediment to the CMB polarization measurement.

The strong X-ray irradiation from young solar-type stars may play a crucial role in the thermodynamics and chemistry of circumstellar discs, driving their evolution in the last stages of disc dispersal as well as shaping the atmospheres of newborn planets. In this paper, we study the influence of stellar mass on circumstellar disc mass-loss rates due to X-ray irradiation, extending our previous study of the mass-loss rate's dependence on the X-ray luminosity and spectrum hardness. We focus on stars with masses between 0.1 and 1 M_⊙, which are the main target of current and future missions to find potentially habitable planets. We find a linear relationship between the mass-loss rates and the stellar masses when changing the X-ray luminosity accordingly with the stellar mass. This linear increase is observed also when the X-ray luminosity is kept fixed because of the lower disc aspect ratio which allows the X-ray irradiation to reach larger radii. We provide new analytical relations for the mass-loss rates and profiles of photoevaporative winds as a function of the stellar mass that can be used in disc and planet population synthesis models. Our photoevaporative models correctly predict the observed trend of inner-disc lifetime as a function of stellar mass with an increased steepness for stars smaller than 0.3 M_⊙, indicating that X-ray photoevaporation is a good candidate to explain the observed disc dispersal process.

Young solar-type stars are known to be strong X-ray emitters and their X-ray spectra have been widely studied. X-rays from the central star may play a crucial role in the thermodynamics and chemistry of the circumstellar material as well as in the atmospheric evolution of young planets. In this paper, we present model spectra based on spectral parameters derived from the observations of young stars in the Orion nebula cluster from the Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project (COUP). The spectra are then used to calculate new photoevaporation prescriptions that can be used in disc and planet population synthesis models. Our models clearly show that disc wind mass loss rates are controlled by the stellar luminosity in the soft ($100\, \mathrm{eV}$ to $1\, \mathrm{keV}$) X-ray band. New analytical relations are provided for the mass loss rates and profiles of photoevaporative winds as a function of the luminosity in the soft X-ray band. The agreement between observed and predicted transition disc statistics moderately improved using the new spectra, but the observed population of strongly accreting large cavity discs can still not be reproduced by these models. Furthermore, our models predict a population of non-accreting transition discs that are not observed. This highlights the importance of considering the depletion of millimetre-sized dust grains from the outer disc, which is a likely reason why such discs have not been detected yet.

The formation of peptide bonds is one of the most important biochemical reaction steps. Without the development of structurally and catalytically active polymers, there would be no life on our planet. However, the formation of large, complex oligomer systems is prevented by the high thermodynamic barrier of peptide condensation in aqueous solution. Liquid sulphur dioxide proves to be a superior alternative for copper-catalyzed peptide condensations. Compared to water, amino acids are activated in sulphur dioxide, leading to the incorporation of all 20 proteinogenic amino acids into proteins. Strikingly, even extremely low initial reactant concentrations of only 50 mM are sufficient for extensive peptide formation, yielding up to 2.9% of dialanine in 7 days. The reactions carried out at room temperature and the successful use of the Hadean mineral covellite (CuS) as a catalyst, suggest a volcanic environment for the formation of the peptide world on early Earth.

As an important step towards a complete next-to-leading (NLO) QCD analysis of the ratio ε'/ε within the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT), we present for the first time the NLO master formula for the BSM part of this ratio expressed in terms of the Wilson coefficients of all contributing operators evaluated at the electroweak scale. To this end we use the common Weak Effective Theory (WET) basis (the so-called JMS basis) for which tree-level and one-loop matching to the SMEFT are already known. The relevant hadronic matrix elements of BSM operators at the electroweak scale are taken from Dual QCD approach and the SM ones from lattice QCD. It includes the renormalization group evolution and quark-flavour threshold effects at NLO in QCD from hadronic scales, at which these matrix elements have been calculated, to the electroweak scale.

We present a follow-up analysis examining the dynamics and structures of 41 massive, large star-forming galaxies at z ~ 0.67 - 2.45 using both ionized and molecular gas kinematics. We fit the galaxy dynamics with models consisting of a bulge, a thick, turbulent disk, and an NFW dark matter halo, using code that fully forward-models the kinematics, including all observational and instrumental effects. We explore the parameter space using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling, including priors based on stellar and gas masses and disk sizes. We fit the full sample using extracted 1D kinematic profiles. For a subset of 14 well-resolved galaxies, we also fit the 2D kinematics. The MCMC approach robustly confirms the results from least-squares fitting presented in Paper I: the sample galaxies tend to be baryon-rich on galactic scales (within one effective radius). The 1D and 2D MCMC results are also in good agreement for the subset, demonstrating that much of the galaxy dynamical information is captured along the major axis. The 2D kinematics are more affected by the presence of noncircular motions, which we illustrate by constructing a toy model with constant inflow for one galaxy that exhibits residual signatures consistent with radial motions. This analysis, together with results from Paper I and other studies, strengthens the finding that massive, star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 - 2 are baryon-dominated on galactic scales, with lower dark matter fractions toward higher baryonic surface densities. Finally, we present details of the kinematic fitting code used in this analysis.

Accreting supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs) are potential multimessenger sources because they emit both gravitational-wave and electromagnetic (EM) radiation. Past work has shown that their EM output may be periodically modulated by an asymmetric density distribution in the circumbinary disk, often called an "overdensity" or "lump;" this modulation could possibly be used to identify a source as a binary. We explore the sensitivity of the overdensity to SMBBH mass ratio and magnetic flux through the accretion disk. We find that the relative amplitude of the overdensity and its associated EM periodic signal both degrade with diminishing mass ratio, vanishing altogether somewhere between 1:2 and 1:5. Greater magnetization also weakens the lump and any modulation of the light output. We develop a model to describe how lump formation results from internal stress degrading faster in the lump region than it can be rejuvenated through accretion inflow, and predicts a threshold value in specific internal stress below which lump formation should occur and which all our lump-forming simulations satisfy. Thus, detection of such a modulation would provide a constraint on both mass ratio and magnetic flux piercing the accretion flow.

The question of what determines the width of Kuiper belt analogues (exoKuiper belts) is an open one. If solved, this understanding would provide valuable insights into the architecture, dynamics, and formation of exoplanetary systems. Recent observations by ALMA have revealed an apparent paradox in this field, the presence of radially narrow belts in protoplanetary discs that are likely the birthplaces of planetesimals, and exoKuiper belts nearly four times as wide in mature systems. If the parent planetesimals of this type of debris disc indeed form in these narrow protoplanetary rings via streaming instability where dust is trapped, we propose that this width dichotomy could naturally arise if these dust traps form planetesimals whilst migrating radially, e.g. as caused by a migrating planet. Using the dust evolution software DUSTPY, we find that if the initial protoplanetary disc and trap conditions favour planetesimal formation, dust can still effectively accumulate and form planetesimals as the trap moves. This leads to a positive correlation between the inward radial speed and final planetesimal belt width, forming belts up to ~100AU over 10 Myr of evolution. We show that although planetesimal formation is most efficient in low-viscosity (α = 10^-4) discs with steep dust traps to trigger the streaming instability, the large widths of most observed planetesimal belts constrain α to values ≥4 × 10^-4 at tens of AU, otherwise the traps cannot migrate far enough. Additionally, the large spread in the widths and radii of exoKuiper belts could be due to different trap migration speeds (or protoplanetary disc lifetimes) and different starting locations, respectively. Our work serves as a first step to link exoKuiper belts and rings in protoplanetary discs.

The bispectrum is the leading non-Gaussian statistic in large-scale structure, carrying valuable information on cosmology that is complementary to the power spectrum. To access this information, we need to model the bispectrum in the weakly nonlinear regime. In this work we present the first two-loop, i.e. next-to-next-to-leading order perturbative description of the bispectrum within an effective field theory (EFT) framework. Using an analytic expansion of the perturbative kernels up to F₆ we derive a renormalized bispectrum that is demonstrated to be independent of the UV cutoff. We show that the EFT parameters associated with the four independent second-order EFT operators known from the one-loop bispectrum are sufficient to absorb the UV sensitivity of the two-loop contributions in the double-hard region. In addition, we employ a simplified treatment of the single-hard region, introducing one extra EFT parameter at two-loop order. We compare our results to N -body simulations using the realization-based grid perturbation theory method and find good agreement within the expected range, as well as consistent values for the EFT parameters. The two-loop terms start to become relevant at k ≈0.07 h Mpc^-1. The range of wave numbers with percent-level agreement, independently of the shape, extends from 0.08 to 0.15 h Mpc^-1 when going from one to two loops at z =0 . In addition, we quantify the impact of using exact instead of Einstein-de-Sitter kernels for the one-loop bispectrum, and discuss in how far their impact can be absorbed into a shift of the EFT parameters.

We compute the three-loop helicity amplitudes for the scattering of four gluons in QCD. We employ projectors in the ’t Hooft-Veltman scheme and construct the amplitudes from a minimal set of physical building blocks, which allows us to keep the computational complexity under control. We obtain relatively compact results that can be expressed in terms of harmonic polylogarithms. In addition, we consider the Regge limit of our amplitude and extract the gluon Regge trajectory in full three-loop QCD. This is the last missing ingredient required for studying single-Reggeon exchanges at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy.

The Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) Collaboration has proposed a general-purpose experimental facility operating in beam-dump mode at the CERN SPS accelerator to search for light, feebly interacting particles. In the baseline configuration, the SHiP experiment incorporates two complementary detectors. The upstream detector is designed for recoil signatures of light dark matter (LDM) scattering and for neutrino physics, in particular with tau neutrinos. It consists of a spectrometer magnet housing a layered detector system with high-density LDM/neutrino target plates, emulsion-film technology and electronic high-precision tracking. The total detector target mass amounts to about eight tonnes. The downstream detector system aims at measuring visible decays of feebly interacting particles to both fully reconstructed final states and to partially reconstructed final states with neutrinos, in a nearly background-free environment. The detector consists of a 50$\mathrm { \,m}$ long decay volume under vacuum followed by a spectrometer and particle identification system with a rectangular acceptance of 5 m in width and 10 m in height. Using the high-intensity beam of 400$\,\mathrm {GeV}$ protons, the experiment aims at profiting from the $4\times 10^{19}$ protons per year that are currently unexploited at the SPS, over a period of 5–10 years. This allows probing dark photons, dark scalars and pseudo-scalars, and heavy neutral leptons with GeV-scale masses in the direct searches at sensitivities that largely exceed those of existing and projected experiments. The sensitivity to light dark matter through scattering reaches well below the dark matter relic density limits in the range from a few ${\mathrm {\,MeV\!/}c^2}$ up to 100 MeV-scale masses, and it will be possible to study tau neutrino interactions with unprecedented statistics. This paper describes the SHiP experiment baseline setup and the detector systems, together with performance results from prototypes in test beams, as it was prepared for the 2020 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics. The expected detector performance from simulation is summarised at the end.

We use separate universe simulations with the IllustrisTNG galaxy formation model to predict the local PNG bias parameters bΦ and bΦδ of atomic neutral hydrogen, H$_{I}$. These parameters and their relation to the linear density bias parameter b

$_{1}$ play a key role in observational constraints of the local PNG parameter f

$_{NL}$ using the H$_{I}$ power spectrum and bispectrum. Our results show that the popular calculation based on the universality of the halo mass function overpredicts the bΦ(b

$_{1}$) and bΦδ(b

$_{1}$) relations measured in the simulations. In particular, our results show that at z ≲ 1 the H$_{I}$ power spectrum is more sensitive to f

$_{NL}$ compared to previously thought (bΦ is more negative), but is less sensitive at other epochs (bΦ is less positive). We discuss how this can be explained by the competition of physical effects such as that large-scale gravitational potentials with local PNG (i) accelerate the conversion of hydrogen to heavy elements by star formation, (ii) enhance the effects of baryonic feedback that eject the gas to regions more exposed to ionizing radiation, and (iii) promote the formation of denser structures that shield the H$_{I}$ more efficiently. Our numerical results can be used to revise existing forecast studies on f

$_{NL}$ using 21 cm line-intensity mapping data. Despite this first step towards predictions for the local PNG bias parameters of H$_{I}$, we emphasize that more work is needed to assess their sensitivity on the assumed galaxy formation physics and H$_{I}$ modeling strategy.

The scalar field theory of cosmological inflation constitutes nowadays one of the preferred scenarios for the physics of the early universe. In this paper we aim at studying the inflationary universe making use of a numerical lattice simulation. Various lattice codes have been written in the last decades and have been extensively used for understating the reheating phase of the universe, but they have never been used to study the inflationary phase itself far from the end of inflation (i.e. about 50 e-folds before the end of inflation). In this paper we use a lattice simulation to reproduce the well-known results of some simple models of single-field inflation, particularly for the scalar field perturbation. The main model that we consider is the standard slow-roll inflation with an harmonic potential for the inflaton field. We explore the technical aspects that need to be accounted for in order to reproduce with precision the nearly scale invariant power spectrum of inflaton perturbations. We also consider the case of a step potential, and show that the simulation is able to correctly reproduce the oscillatory features in the power spectrum of this model. Even if a lattice simulation is not needed in these cases, that are well within the regime of validity of linear perturbation theory, this sets the basis to future work on using lattice simulations to study more complicated models of inflation.

Shortly after its discovery, General Relativity (GR) was applied to predict the behavior of our Universe on the largest scales, and later became the foundation of modern cosmology. Its validity has been verified on a range of scales and environments from the Solar system to merging black holes. However, experimental confirmations of GR on cosmological scales have so far lacked the accuracy one would hope for - its applications on those scales being largely based on extrapolation and its validity there sometimes questioned in the shadow of the discovery of the unexpected cosmic acceleration. Future astronomical instruments surveying the distribution and evolution of galaxies over substantial portions of the observable Universe, such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), will be able to measure the fingerprints of gravity and their statistical power will allow strong constraints on alternatives to GR.

We compute the leading corrections to the differential cross section for top-pair production via gluon fusion due to third-generation dimension-six operators at leading order in QCD. The Standard Model fields are assumed to couple only weakly to the hypothetical new sector. A systematic approach then suggests treating single insertions of the operator class containing gluon field strength tensors on the same footing as explicitly loop suppressed contributions from four-fermion operators. This is in particular the case for the chromomagnetic operator Q_{(u G )} and the purely bosonic operators Q_{(G )} and Q_{(φ G )}. All leading order dimension-six contributions are consequently suppressed with a loop factor 1 /16 π².

The interstellar medium is characterized by an intricate filamentary network that exhibits complex structures. These show a variety of different shapes (e.g. junctions, rings, etc.) deviating strongly from the usually assumed cylindrical shape. A possible formation mechanism are filament mergers that we analyse in this study. Indeed, the proximity of filaments in networks suggests mergers to be rather likely. As the merger has to be faster than the end dominated collapse of the filament along its major axis, we expect three possible results: (a) The filaments collapse before a merger can happen, (b) the merged filamentary complex shows already signs of cores at the edges, or (c) the filaments merge into a structure which is not end-dominated. We develop an analytic formula for the merging and core-formation time-scale at the edge and validate our model via hydrodynamical simulations with the adaptive-mesh-refinement-code RAMSES. This allows us to predict the outcome of a filament merger, given different initial conditions which are the initial distance and the respective line-masses of each filament as well as their relative velocities.

The construction of catalogues of a particular type of galaxy can be complicated by interlopers contaminating the sample. In spectroscopic galaxy surveys this can be due to the misclassification of an emission line; for example in the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) low-redshift [O II] emitters may make up a few per cent of the observed Ly α emitter (LAE) sample. The presence of contaminants affects the measured correlation functions and power spectra. Previous attempts to deal with this using the cross-correlation function have assumed sources at a fixed redshift, or not modelled evolution within the adopted redshift bins. However, in spectroscopic surveys like HETDEX, where the contamination fraction is likely to be redshift dependent, the observed clustering of misclassified sources will appear to evolve strongly due to projection effects, even if their true clustering does not. We present a practical method for accounting for the presence of contaminants with redshift-dependent contamination fractions and projected clustering. We show using mock catalogues that our method, unlike existing approaches, yields unbiased clustering measurements from the upcoming HETDEX survey in scenarios with redshift-dependent contamination fractions within the redshift bins used. We show our method returns autocorrelation functions with systematic biases much smaller than the statistical noise for samples with at least as high as 7 per cent contamination. We also present and test a method for fitting for the redshift-dependent interloper fraction using the LAE-[O II] galaxy cross-correlation function, which gives less biased results than assuming a single interloper fraction for the whole sample.

We reconsider the complete set of four-quark operators in the Weak Effective Theory (WET) for non-leptonic ∆F = 1 decays that govern s → d and b → d, s transitions in the Standard Model (SM) and beyond, at the Next-to-Leading Order (NLO) in QCD. We discuss cases with different numbers N_f of active flavours, intermediate threshold corrections, as well as the issue of transformations between operator bases beyond leading order to facilitate the matching to high-energy completions or the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) at the electroweak scale. As a first step towards a SMEFT NLO analysis of K → ππ and non-leptonic B-meson decays, we calculate the relevant WET Wilson coefficients including two-loop contributions to their renormalization group running, and express them in terms of the Wilson coefficients in a particular operator basis for which the one-loop matching to SMEFT is already known.

Context. Observations of young stars hosting transition disks show that several of them have high accretion rates, despite their disks presenting extended cavities in their dust component. This represents a challenge for theoretical models, which struggle to reproduce both features simultaneously.
Aims: We aim to explore if a disk evolution model, including a dead zone and disk dispersal by X-ray photoevaporation, can explain the high accretion rates and large gaps (or cavities) measured in transition disks.
Methods: We implemented a dead zone turbulence profile and a photoevaporative mass-loss profile into numerical simulations of gas and dust. We performed a population synthesis study of the gas component and obtained synthetic images and SEDs of the dust component through radiative transfer calculations.
Results: This model results in long-lived inner disks and fast dispersing outer disks that can reproduce both the accretion rates and gap sizes observed in transition disks. For a dead zone of turbulence α_dz = 10⁻⁴ and an extent r_dz = 10 AU, our population synthesis study shows that 63% of our transition disks are still accreting with Ṁ_g ≥ 10⁻¹¹ M_⊙ yr⁻¹ after opening a gap. Among those accreting transition disks, half display accretion rates higher than 5.0 × 10⁻¹⁰ M_⊙ yr⁻¹. The dust component in these disks is distributed in two regions: in a compact inner disk inside the dead zone, and in a ring at the outer edge of the photoevaporative gap, which can be located between 20 and 100 AU. Our radiative transfer calculations show that the disk displays an inner disk and an outer ring in the millimeter continuum, a feature that resembles some of the observed transition disks.
Conclusions: A disk model considering X-ray photoevaporative dispersal in combination with dead zones can explain several of the observed properties in transition disks, including the high accretion rates, the large gaps, and a long-lived inner disk at millimeter emission.

Blazars research is one of the hot topics of contemporary extragalactic astrophysics. That is because these sources are the most abundant type of extragalactic γ-ray sources and are suspected to play a central role in multimessenger astrophysics. We have used Swift$\_$xrtproc, a tool to carry out an accurate spectral and photometric analysis of the Swift-XRT data of all blazars observed by Swift at least 50 times between December 2004 and the end of 2020. We present a database of X-ray spectra, best-fit parameter values, count rates and flux estimations in several energy bands of over 31 000 X-ray observations and single snapshots of 65 blazars. The results of the X-ray analysis have been combined with other multifrequency archival data to assemble the broad-band Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) and the long-term light curves of all sources in the sample. Our study shows that large X-ray luminosity variability on different time-scales is present in all objects. Spectral changes are also frequently observed with a 'harder-when-brighter' or 'softer-when-brighter' behaviour depending on the SED type of the blazars. The peak energy of the synchrotron component (ν_peak) in the SED of HBL blazars, estimated from the log-parabolic shape of their X-ray spectra, also exhibits very large changes in the same source, spanning a range of over two orders of magnitude in Mrk421 and Mrk501, the objects with the best data sets in our sample.

One of the most fundamental questions in cosmology is if dark energy is related just to a constant or it is something more complex. In this work, we call the attention to the fact that, under very general conditions, dark energy can be identified with a cosmological constant. Indeed, this fact defines what we call Vacuum Frame. In general, this frame does not coincide with the Jordan or Einstein frame, defined by the invariant character of particle masses or the Newton constant, respectively. We illustrate this question by the introduction of a particular scalar-tensor model where the different hierarchies among these energy scales are dynamically generated.

We analyze in detail the angular distributions in B ¯ →D^∗ℓ ν ¯ decays, with a focus on lepton-flavour non-universality. We investigate the minimal number of angular observables that fully describes current and upcoming datasets, and explore their sensitivity to physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) in the most general weak effective theory. We apply our findings to the current datasets, extract the non-redundant set of angular observables from the data, and compare to precise SM predictions that include lepton-flavour universality violating mass effects. Our analysis shows that the number of independent angular observables that can be inferred from current experimental data is limited to only four. These are insufficient to extract the full set of relevant BSM parameters. We uncover a ∼4 σ tension between data and predictions that is hidden in the redundant presentation of the Belle 2018 data on B ¯ →D^∗ℓ ν ¯ decays. This tension specifically involves observables that probe e -μ lepton-flavour universality. However, we find inconsistencies in these data, which renders results based on it suspicious. Nevertheless, we discuss which generic BSM scenarios could explain the tension, in the case that the inconsistencies do not affect the data materially. Our findings highlight that e -μ non-universality in the SM, introduced by the finite muon mass, is already significant in a subset of angular observables with respect to the experimental precision.

Combining laser spectroscopy in a Versatile Arc Discharge and Laser Ion Source (VADLIS) with Penning-trap mass spectrometry at the CERN-ISOLDE facility, this work reports on mean-square charge radii of neutron-rich mercury isotopes across the N =126 shell closure, the electromagnetic moments of ²⁰⁷Hg, and more precise mass values of ^Hg-208₂₀₆. The odd-even staggering (OES) of the mean square charge radii and the kink at N =126 are analyzed within the framework of covariant density functional theory (CDFT), with comparisons between different functionals to investigate the dependence of the results on the underlying single-particle structure. The observed features are defined predominantly in the particle-hole channel in CDFT, since both are present in the calculations without pairing. However, the magnitude of the kink is still affected by the occupation of the ν 1 i_{11 /2} and ν 2 g_{9 /2} orbitals with a dependence on the relative energies as well as pairing.

Aims: We present a detailed characterisation and theoretical interpretation of the broadband emission of the paradigmatic TeV blazar Mrk 421, with a special focus on the multi-band flux correlations.
Methods: The dataset has been collected through an extensive multi-wavelength campaign organised between 2016 December and 2017 June. The instruments involved are MAGIC, FACT, Fermi-LAT, Swift, GASP-WEBT, OVRO, Medicina, and Metsähovi. Additionally, four deep exposures (several hours long) with simultaneous MAGIC and NuSTAR observations allowed a precise measurement of the falling segments of the two spectral components.
Results: The very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma rays and X-rays are positively correlated at zero time lag, but the strength and characteristics of the correlation change substantially across the various energy bands probed. The VHE versus X-ray fluxes follow different patterns, partly due to substantial changes in the Compton dominance for a few days without a simultaneous increase in the X-ray flux (i.e., orphan gamma-ray activity). Studying the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) during the days including NuSTAR observations, we show that these changes can be explained within a one-zone leptonic model with a blob that increases its size over time. The peak frequency of the synchrotron bump varies by two orders of magnitude throughout the campaign. Our multi-band correlation study also hints at an anti-correlation between UV-optical and X-ray at a significance higher than 3σ. A VHE flare observed on MJD 57788 (2017 February 4) shows gamma-ray variability on multi-hour timescales, with a factor ten increase in the TeV flux but only a moderate increase in the keV flux. The related broadband SED is better described by a two-zone leptonic scenario rather than by a one-zone scenario. We find that the flare can be produced by the appearance of a compact second blob populated by high energetic electrons spanning a narrow range of Lorentz factors, from γ'_min=2×10⁴ to γ'_max=6×10⁵.

Light curves and spectral energy distributions data 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/655/A89

Using the DIANOGA hydrodynamical zoom-in simulation set of galaxy clusters, we analyse the dynamics traced by stars belonging to the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) and their surrounding diffuse component, forming the intracluster light (ICL), and compare it to the dynamics traced by dark matter and galaxies identified in the simulations. We compute scaling relations between the BCG and cluster velocity dispersions and their corresponding masses (i.e. $M_\mathrm{BCG}^{\star }$-$\sigma _\mathrm{BCG}^{\star }$, M₂₀₀-σ₂₀₀, $M_\mathrm{BCG}^{\star }$-M₂₀₀, and $\sigma _\mathrm{BCG}^{\star }$-σ₂₀₀), we find in general a good agreement with observational results. Our simulations also predict $\sigma _\mathrm{BCG}^{\star }$-σ₂₀₀ relation to not change significantly up to redshift z = 1, in line with a relatively slow accretion of the BCG stellar mass at late times. We analyse the main features of the velocity dispersion profiles, as traced by stars, dark matter, and galaxies. As a result, we discuss that observed stellar velocity dispersion profiles in the inner cluster regions are in excellent agreement with simulations. We also report that the slopes of the BCG velocity dispersion profile from simulations agree with what is measured in observations, confirming the existence of a robust correlation between the stellar velocity dispersion slope and the cluster velocity dispersion (thus, cluster mass) when the former is computed within 0.1R₅₀₀. Our results demonstrate that simulations can correctly describe the dynamics of BCGs and their surrounding stellar envelope, as determined by the past star formation and assembly histories of the most massive galaxies of the Universe.

We present infrared spectral indices (1.0-2.3 μm) of Galactic late-type giants and red supergiants (RSGs). We used existing and new spectra obtained at resolution power R = 2000 with SpeX on the IRTF telescope. While a large CO equivalent width (EW), at 2.29 μm ([CO, 2.29] ≳ 45 Å) is a typical signature of RSGs later than spectral type M0, $[\mathrm{CO}]$ of K-type RSGs and giants are similar. In the [CO, 2.29] versus [Mg I, 1.71] diagram, RSGs of all spectral types can be distinguished from red giants because the Mg I line weakens with increasing temperature and decreasing gravity. We find several lines that vary with luminosity, but not temperature: Si I (1.59 μm), Sr (1.033 μm), Fe+Cr+Si+CN (1.16 μm), Fe+Ti (1.185 μm), Fe+Ti (1.196 μm), Ti+Ca (1.28 μm), and Mn (1.29 μm). Good markers of CN enhancement are the Fe+Si+CN line at 1.087 μm and CN line at 1.093 μm. Using these lines, at the resolution of SpeX, it is possible to separate RSGs and giants. Contaminant O-rich Mira and S-type AGBs are recognized by strong molecular features due to water vapor features, TiO band heads, and/or ZrO absorption. Among the 42 candidate RSGs that we observed, all but one were found to be late types. Twenty-one have EWs consistent with those of RSGs, 16 with those of O-rich Mira AGBs, and one with an S-type AGB. These infrared results open new, unexplored, potential for searches at low resolution of RSGs in the highly obscured innermost regions of the Milky Way.

Astrometric precision and knowledge of the point spread function are key ingredients for a wide range of astrophysical studies including time-delay cosmography in which strongly lensed quasar systems are used to determine the Hubble constant and other cosmological parameters. Astrometric uncertainty on the positions of the multiply-imaged point sources contributes to the overall uncertainty in inferred distances and therefore the Hubble constant. Similarly, knowledge of the wings of the point spread function is necessary to disentangle light from the background sources and the foreground deflector. We analyse adaptive optics (AO) images of the strong lens system J 0659+1629 obtained with the W. M. Keck Observatory using the laser guide star AO system. We show that by using a reconstructed point spread function we can (i) obtain astrometric precision of <1 mas, which is more than sufficient for time-delay cosmography; and (ii) subtract all point-like images resulting in residuals consistent with the noise level. The method we have developed is not limited to strong lensing, and is generally applicable to a wide range of scientific cases that have multiple point sources nearby.

Following our recent work on Type II supernovae (SNe), we present a set of 1D nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium radiative transfer calculations for nebular-phase Type Ibc SNe starting from state-of-the-art explosion models with detailed nucleosynthesis. Our grid of progenitor models is derived from He stars that were subsequently evolved under the influence of wind mass loss. These He stars, which most likely form through binary mass exchange, synthesize less oxygen than their single-star counterparts with the same zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) mass. This reduction is greater in He-star models evolved with an enhanced mass loss rate. We obtain a wide range of spectral properties at 200 d. In models from He stars with an initial mass > 6 M_⊙, the [O I] λλ 6300, 6364 is of a comparable or greater strength than [Ca II] λλ 7291, 7323 - the strength of [O I] λλ 6300, 6364 increases with the He-star initial mass. In contrast, models from lower mass He stars exhibit a weak [O I] λλ 6300, 6364, strong [Ca II] λλ 7291, 7323, and also strong N II lines and Fe II emission below 5500 Å. The ejecta density, which is modulated by the ejecta mass, the explosion energy, and clumping, has a critical impact on gas ionization, line cooling, and spectral properties. We note that Fe II dominates the emission below 5500 Å and is stronger at earlier nebular epochs. It ebbs as the SN ages, while the fractional flux in [O I] λλ 6300, 6364 and [Ca II] λλ 7291, 7323 increases with a similar rate as the ejecta recombine. Although the results depend on the adopted wind mass loss rate and pre-SN mass, we find that He-stars of 6-8 M_⊙ initially (ZAMS mass of 23-28 M_⊙) match the properties of standard SNe Ibc adequately. This finding agrees with the offset in progenitor masses inferred from the environments of SNe Ibc relative to SNe II. Our results for less massive He stars are more perplexing since the predicted spectra are not seen in nature. They may be missed by current surveys or associated with Type Ibn SNe in which interaction power dominates over decay power.

Tables A.3-A.23 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/656/A61

We report predictions for the suppression and elliptic flow of the ϒ (1 S ), ϒ (2 S ), and ϒ (3 S ) as a function of centrality and transverse momentum in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. We obtain our predictions by numerically solving a Lindblad equation for the evolution of the heavy-quarkonium reduced density matrix derived using potential nonrelativistic QCD and the formalism of open quantum systems. To numerically solve the Lindblad equation, we make use of a stochastic unraveling called the quantum trajectories algorithm. This unraveling allows us to solve the Lindblad evolution equation efficiently on large lattices with no angular momentum cutoff. The resulting evolution describes the full 3D quantum and non-Abelian evolution of the reduced density matrix for bottomonium states. We expand upon our previous work by treating differential observables and elliptic flow; this is made possible by a newly implemented Monte Carlo sampling of physical trajectories. Our final results are compared to experimental data collected in √{s_{N N}}=5.02 TeV Pb-Pb collisions by the ALICE, ATLAS, and CMS collaborations.

We present a sample of 706, z < 1.5 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected from optical photometric variability in three of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) deep fields (E2, C3, and X3) over an area of 4.64 deg^2. We construct light curves using difference imaging aperture photometry for resolved sources and non-difference imaging PSF photometry for unresolved sources, respectively, and characterize the variability significance. Our DES light curves have a mean cadence of 7 d, a 6-yr baseline, and a single-epoch imaging depth of up to g ∼ 24.5. Using spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, we find 26 out of total 706 variable galaxies are consistent with dwarf galaxies with a reliable stellar mass estimate (⁠|$M_{\ast }\lt 10^{9.5}\, {\rm M}_\odot$|⁠; median photometric redshift of 0.9). We were able to constrain rapid characteristic variability time-scales (∼ weeks) using the DES light curves in 15 dwarf AGN candidates (a subset of our variable AGN candidates) at a median photometric redshift of 0.4. This rapid variability is consistent with their low black hole (BH) masses. We confirm the low-mass AGN nature of one source with a high S/N optical spectrum. We publish our catalogue, optical light curves, and supplementary data, such as X-ray properties and optical spectra, when available. We measure a variable AGN fraction versus stellar mass and compare to results from a forward model. This work demonstrates the feasibility of optical variability to identify AGNs with lower BH masses in deep fields, which may be more ‘pristine’ analogues of supermassive BH seeds.

Neutrino telescopes are unrivaled tools to explore the Universe at its most extreme. The current generation of telescopes has shown that very high energy neutrinos are produced in the cosmos, even with hints of their possible origin, and that these neutrinos can be used to probe our understanding of particle physics at otherwise inaccessible regimes. The fluxes, however, are low, which means newer, larger telescopes are needed. Here we present the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment, a proposal to build a multi-cubic-kilometer neutrino telescope off the coast of Canada. The idea builds on the experience accumulated by previous sea-water missions, and the technical expertise of Ocean Networks Canada that would facilitate deploying such a large infrastructure. The design and physics potential of the first stage and a full-scale P-ONE are discussed.