Cosmic dust is a fundamental constituent of astrophysical systems, playing a key role in the thermal balance, chemistry, and observable properties of the interstellar medium, star-forming regions, protoplanetary disks, and galaxies. While often treated as a passive tracer perfectly coupled to the gas, dust can in many environments exhibit dynamical behavior that differs significantly from that of the gas, with important consequences for both observations and theoretical models.

The One-Fluid model provides an efficient framework to describe dust–gas mixtures by evolving a single set of fluid variables, while allowing for relative motion between the phases. However, most existing implementations of this model rely on the terminal velocity approximation, which restricts its applicability to tightly coupled dust grains and prevents the exploration of regimes characterized by weak dust–gas coupling or high dust-to-gas ratios.

In this thesis, I pushed the boundaries of simulating dust dynamics in hydrodynamical simulations beyond the terminal velocity approximation. I achieved this by improving existing numerical formulations and by developing new methods compatible with modern hydrodynamical simulation frameworks. My work spans both Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Meshless Finite Mass (MFM) methods. [...]

This memorial tribute to Mannque Rho follows a line of thoughts and ideas that he continuously inspired and shaped over many decades: from the two-scales picture of low-energy nucleon structure to dense and cold baryonic matter as it is realized in the cores of neutron stars. Early groundbreaking concepts are recalled and updated by recent advanced analyses of the `core' and `cloud' sizes of the nucleon. Implications for dense nuclear matter are then discussed and confronted with empirical information from Bayesian inference analyses of neutron star observables.

The Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) based on the unbroken gauge group <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>SU(3)</mml:mtext></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>C</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>⊗</mml:mo><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>SU(2)</mml:mtext></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>L</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>⊗</mml:mo><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>U(1)</mml:mtext></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Y</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>and containing only particles of the Standard Model (SM) has developed in the last decade to a mature field. It is the framework to be used in the energy gap from scales sufficiently higher than the electroweak scale up to the lowest energy scale at which new particles show up. We summarize the present status of this theory with a particular emphasize on its role in the indirect search for new physics (NP). While flavour physics of both quarks and leptons is the main topic of our review, we also discuss electric dipole moments, anomalous magnetic moments <mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mi>g</mml:mi><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>2</mml:mn><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>μ</mml:mi><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mi>e</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:math>, <mml:math><mml:mi>Z</mml:mi></mml:math>-pole observables, Higgs observables and high-<mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>p</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>T</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:math> scattering processes within the SMEFT. We group the observables into ten classes and list for each class the most relevant operators and the corresponding renormalization group equations (RGEs). We exhibit the correlations between different classes implied both by the operator mixing and the <mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>SU(2)</mml:mtext></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>L</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:math> gauge symmetry. Our main goal is to provide an insight into the complicated operator structure of this framework which hopefully will facilitate the identification of valid ultraviolet completions behind possible anomalies observed in future data. Numerous colourful charts, and 85 tables, while representing rather complicated RG evolution from the NP scale down to the electroweak scale, beautify the involved SMEFT landscape. Over 1000 references to the literature underline the importance and the popularity of this field. We discuss both top-down and bottom-up approaches as well as their interplay. This allows us eventually to present an atlas of different landscapes beyond the SM that includes heavy gauge bosons and scalars, vector-like quarks and leptons and leptoquarks.

We present an in-depth evaluation of the scalability and accuracy of the GPU porting of the N-body code for hydrodynamic cosmological simulations OpenGadget3 . While technical details of our GPU porting were presented in Ragagnin et al. (2020), in this work we focus on assessing the accuracy of the ported modules: the short range gravity integrator, the different components of the hydrodynamic solver, and the conjugate gradient solver for thermal conduction. We ran several tests that gradually increase the number of physical modules included: a gravity-only cosmological simulation; a hydrodynamical shock tube test; a non-radiative zoom-in simulation of a galaxy cluster in a cosmological box; and a full-physics zoom-in simulation of a galaxy in a cosmological box. Comparing the results obtained with the GPU implementation to those from the classical CPU version, we find excellent agreement across all tests, with small differences on very small scales. For the individual physical modules, we find a GPU chip-to-chip speedup ranging from <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≍</mml:mo><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>. For more complex cosmological and hydrodynamical setups, where a large number of physical processes and overheads contribute to the total workload, the observed total chip-to-chip speedup (with the same number of nodes and CPUs per node) is <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≍</mml:mo><mml:mn>2</mml:mn><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>. We ran our tests on four different supercomputers: Leonardo Booster (CINECA), MareNostrum-V (BSC), SuperMUC-NG2 (LRZ), and the CIP cluster of the Faculty of Physics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU).

We present new fitting functions for the velocity divergence auto- and cross-power spectra, <inline-formula><tex-math>$P_{\theta \theta }(k)$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math>$P_{\delta \theta }(k)$</tex-math></inline-formula>, calibrated on gravity-only N-body simulations. By applying the evolution mapping framework, we revise existing prescriptions to introduce a physically motivated parametrization in terms of the clustering amplitude <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sigma _{12}$</tex-math></inline-formula>, the root-mean-square (RMS) density fluctuation smoothed at <inline-formula><tex-math>$12\, \text{Mpc}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. This approach improves robustness and extends the range of applicability beyond that of previous models. Our fits are calibrated using a suite of multiresolution simulations, with numerical convergence carefully quantified and sampling artefacts mitigated through a conservative patching strategy. This yields converged measurements up to <inline-formula><tex-math>$k\simeq 0.56\, \mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and per cent-level accuracy for both <inline-formula><tex-math>$P_{\theta \theta }(k)$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math>$P_{\delta \theta }(k)$</tex-math></inline-formula> over a wide range of <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sigma _{12}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Validation against independent simulations spanning a broad range of cosmological models confirms an accuracy of 1--2 per cent on scales where the measurements are robust, systematically outperforming existing prescriptions. We further assess the impact of deviations from the exact evolution mapping relation induced by differing growth histories. For most cosmologies of practical interest, we find that neglecting these effects introduces only subdominant errors. We show that expressing fitting functions in h-dependent units leads to spurious, unphysical dependencies on the Hubble parameter, even for models with identical linear clustering. This provides strong empirical support for parametrizing non-linear evolution in terms of <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sigma _{12}$</tex-math></inline-formula> rather than <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sigma _{8}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Our fitting functions provide a robust description of velocity power spectra, with direct applications to redshift-space distortion modelling in galaxy redshift surveys.

Galaxies at redshift z <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sim$</tex-math></inline-formula> 2--6 exhibit prominent star-forming regions (clumps). Characterization of these galactic structures requires both high sensitivity and spatial resolution of <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sim 100\,$</tex-math></inline-formula>pc or less. Currently, these spatial scales are achievable only with the aid of strong gravitational lensing. However, lensing introduces model-dependent uncertainties and limits the sample to galaxies behind massive clusters. The upcoming 40 m-class telescopes, such as the ESO Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), will enable routine studies of clumps in ubiquitous, non-lensed z<inline-formula><tex-math>$\ge$</tex-math></inline-formula>2 galaxies. We assess the capability of MICADO, the first-light imager and spectrograph of the ELT, to characterize clumps in non-lensed z = 2 galaxies. Specifically, we focus on two representative observing scenarios, providing the basis for an early scientific exploitation of the instrument. We modelled clumps in an idealized z = 2 star-forming galaxy and produced mock MICADO observations in both broad- and narrow-band imaging. The latter leverages the strong emission lines typical of clumps to improve detection and characterization. Reaching UV rest-frame magnitudes of clumps as faint as <inline-formula><tex-math>$M_{\rm UV}\sim -15$</tex-math></inline-formula> in optimal observing conditions, MICADO will be able to efficiently characterize clumps in non-lensed z = 2 galaxies down to <inline-formula><tex-math>$R_{\rm e}$</tex-math></inline-formula> <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sim$</tex-math></inline-formula> 20<inline-formula><tex-math>$\,$</tex-math></inline-formula>pc. Moreover, the full MICADO <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sim 1\,$</tex-math></inline-formula>arcmin<inline-formula><tex-math>$^{2}$</tex-math></inline-formula> field of view enables efficient surveys of multiple targets. This study demonstrates MICADO's potential to fill a crucial observational gap, shedding new light on clump formation and evolution at cosmic noon. Accurate PSF reconstruction will be crucial to fully harness this capability as it significantly impacts clump detection and characterization, especially at the smallest sizes (<inline-formula><tex-math>$\lt 40\,$</tex-math></inline-formula> pc).

The Carina OB1 association, harboring the famous Carina Nebula near its center, is the most massive, well-studied OB association in our Galaxy. Containing several massive star clusters with different ages, it shows a complex spatio-temporal structure. We explore the formation history and kinematic evolution of the eight most massive clusters in Car OB1. We determine the cluster ages, stellar populations, the initial massive star content, and the number of supernova explosions since the time of each cluster's formation. Using Gaia DR3 astrometry, we determine the 3D configuration of the association and perform a traceback analysis of the cluster positions over the last 13 Myr. The traceback analysis places the birth location of the oldest (13 Myr) cluster, NGC 3293, in the Carina spiral arm. Approximately four Myr later, a series of 11 supernova explosions started in NGC 3293. We construct a possible scenario in which the expanding bubble driven by these supernova explosions interacted with the southern part of the original cloud complex and led to the sequential formation of the younger clusters in the central Carina Nebula. Our scenario suggests that the sequence of 16+/-4 supernova explosions in the association during the last 10 Myr played an important role in creating the massive clusters in Car OB1. However, the supernova feedback does not dominate the large-scale expansion of the association; the general expansion rather seems to reflect the initial kinematics of the original unbound cloud complex.

Principled Bayesian inference of galaxy properties has not previously been performed for wide-area weak-lensing surveys with millions of sources. We address this gap by applying the pop-cosmos generative model to perform spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting for 4 million KiDS (Kilo-Degree Survey)-1000 galaxies. Calibrated on deep COSMOS2020 photometric data, pop-cosmos specifies a physically motivated prior over the galaxy population up to <inline-formula><tex-math>$z \simeq 6$</tex-math></inline-formula> in stellar population synthesis (SPS) parameter space. Using the Speculator SPS emulator with GPU (graphics processing unit)-accelerated Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling, we perform full posterior inference at 8.2 GPU seconds per galaxy, obtaining joint constraints on galaxy redshifts and physical properties. We validate photometric redshifts against <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sim \!185\,\!000$</tex-math></inline-formula> KiDS galaxies cross-matched to Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Data Release 1 spectroscopic samples, achieving low bias (<inline-formula><tex-math>$2\times 10^{-3}$</tex-math></inline-formula>), scatter (<inline-formula><tex-math>$\sigma _{\mathrm{MAD}}=0.03$</tex-math></inline-formula>), and outlier fraction (3.2 per cent) for the Bright Galaxy Survey, with comparable performance (bias <inline-formula><tex-math>$3\times 10^{-2}$</tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sigma _{\mathrm{MAD}}=0.05$</tex-math></inline-formula>, 1.0 per cent outliers) for luminous red galaxies (LRGs). Within the LRG sample, we identify massive, dusty, star-forming contaminants at <inline-formula><tex-math>$z \simeq 0.4$</tex-math></inline-formula> satisfying standard colour selections for quenched populations. We infer trends in stellar mass, star formation, metallicity, and dust across five tomographic redshift bins consistent with established scaling relations. Using specific star formation rate constraints, we identify <inline-formula><tex-math>$\sim$</tex-math></inline-formula>7 per cent of KiDS-1000 galaxies as quenched, versus 37 per cent implied by conservative colour cuts. This enables the construction of weak-lensing samples defined by physical properties while mitigating intrinsic alignment systematics and preserving statistical power. Our analysis validates pop-cosmos out of sample, establishing it as a scalable approach for galaxy evolution and cosmological analyses with photometric surveys.

X-ray observatories introduce unwanted instrumental effects into photon count data that must be accurately accounted for. In particular, the spatially variant point spread function (PSF) and shot noise pose a non-trivial inverse problem. We apply Bayesian inference grounded in information field theory (IFT) combined with a fast spatially variant PSF representation to infer the posterior mean and uncertainty of the X-ray flux under a minimal set of physically motivated prior assumptions, thereby removing or reducing these instrumental effects. First, ignoring spatial PSF variability, the IFT-based deconvolution is benchmarked on a synthetic example against three variants of the Richardson-Lucy (RL) algorithm using SSIM, RMSE, and NLL as evaluation metrics. Second, the ability of an interpolated patch-based convolution scheme to accurately represent the complex, spatially variant Chandra PSF is assessed on simulated PSF data. Finally, deblurring and spatially variant PSF representation are combined and applied to real Chandra observations of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. The IFT-based deconvolution outperforms all tested RL variants on the synthetic benchmark. The patch-based convolution scheme accurately recovers the complex structure of the Chandra PSF. Applied to Cassiopeia A, the reconstructed image appears visually sharper than the exposure-corrected data, and the data residuals are consistent with pure noise, indicating an accurate model of both the instrument and the sky. A comparison with a highly resolved reference dataset confirms this impression. The presented framework enables the removal of spatially variant PSFs from noisy data and opens avenues for future work on cross-calibration between multiple observations or different X-ray instruments, building on the principled uncertainty quantification inherent to the Bayesian framework.

We derive the canonically normalized modes of a two-field inflationary system with arbitrary constant quadratic mixing and unequal sound speeds $c_φ$ and $c_σ$ for the curvature and isocurvature perturbations, respectively. A Laplace representation reduces the coupled dynamics to a second-order Heun equation and gives the exact late-time curvature power spectrum for arbitrary values of the mixing parameter and entropy mass. The sound-speed ratio $r_c=c_σ/c_φ$ controls the separation between the two sound horizons. At fixed nonzero mixing and $r_c\ll1$, the power exhibits power-law enhancement, growth as $\ln^2(1/r_c)$, or bounded oscillations in $\ln r_c$, depending on the mass and mixing. For $r_c\gg1$, the correction to the unmixed spectrum vanishes as $\ln r_c/r_c^2$ at fixed mass and mixing. Using the same normalized modes, we compute the tree-level bispectrum for three representative cubic interactions, with the mixing parameter treated exactly. For heavy entropy fields, unequal speeds modify the collider amplitude and phase while preserving the strict squeezed frequency set by the final entropy mass. The power-normalized amplitude can vary nonmonotonically with $r_c$, and a sound-speed hierarchy can delay the approach to this asymptotic regime.

We investigate how neutrino--dark matter (DM) interactions modify the flavor composition of high-energy neutrinos from active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Coherent forward scattering in a DM spike around the central supermassive black hole can generate a flavor-dependent potential, inducing flavor conversion as the neutrinos escape. We calculate the flavor composition at Earth for pion-decay and muon-damped sources and find substantial departures from vacuum-oscillation expectations. At neutrino energies around $100\,\mathrm{TeV}$, the matter potential begins to compete with vacuum oscillations when the coupling-weighted net DM number density reaches $|∊_α(n_χ-n_{\barχ})|\sim10^{18}\,\mathrm{cm}^{-3}$. We compare our predictions with IceCube flavor triangle measurements under the illustrative assumption that the diffuse flux originates from AGNs with common neutrino-production and DM-spike properties. Under this assumption, when the DM-induced potential acts on the muon flavor and dominates the vacuum terms at production, the $pγ$ muon-damped predictions lie outside the 95\% MESE contour. High-energy neutrino flavor measurements can therefore provide a novel probe of neutrino-DM interactions in astrophysical environments.

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network alignment combines topological and sequence information to identify conserved modules across species, but global alignment remains challenging: heuristics sacrifice optimality, while exact methods lack scalability. We model the alignment as a weighted maximum common induced subgraph problem and reformulate it through the modular product graph to a minimum-weight vertex cover on the complement, with node weights carrying sequence similarity. To solve this problem, we develop a hybrid framework combining kernelisation, branch-and-bound, and seven Quantum Approximate Optimisation Algorithm (QAOA) formulations. These formulations differ in how the cover constraints are enforced, from penalty terms in the cost Hamiltonian to mixers confined to the feasible subspace. For single round QAOA, we derive closed-form expressions for the expected cost of four circulant mixer variants, enabling performance characterisation without circuit simulation. Applied to synthetic and real-world networks reduced to KEGG pathways, the QAOA formulations achieve high topological conservation on the aligned core while at least maintaining biological conservation comparable to leading classical aligners, at the cost of reduced node coverage. Across selected KEGG pathways, the aligned subnetworks retain disease-associated proteins, preserving biologically relevant information. Cheaper formulations leave more edges uncovered, while enforcing feasibility in the mixer raises circuit depth by one to two orders of magnitude. Together, these results highlight the potential of quantum optimisation for PPI network alignment and the resource trade-offs that will shape its scalability as quantum hardware matures.

We perform a systematic study of the structure and properties of the krypton isotopic chain including both even-even and odd-<inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>A</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> nuclei based on the axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach. Five effective interactions of three families of covariant density functionals, i.e., PC-L3R, DD-PCX, DD-PC1, DD-MEX, and DD-ME2, are employed to calculate potential energy surfaces of krypton isotopes. <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>74</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>75</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>90</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>91</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>92</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> are determined as typical candidates of shape coexistence. The potential surfaces originating from the PC-L3R, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX interactions exhibit an abrupt shape transition from oblate to prolate for <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>73</mml:mn><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>74</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, whereas DD-PC1 and DD-ME2 preserve an oblate ground-state shape. Such discrepancies are attributed to the occupations of single-particle levels at the vicinity of the Fermi surface described by these functionals. Moreover, the comparison between spherical and deformed calculations verifies the indispensability of deformation degrees of freedom in this region. The consideration of deformation effects improves the description of two-neutron separation energies, of which its evolution clearly demonstrates the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>50</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> and 82 shell closures. Interestingly, PC-L3R predicts a more extended two-neutron drip line up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>132</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, in agreement with the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>NL</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mo>*</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:math></inline-formula> and PC-PK1 nonlinear effective interactions, whereas other functionals estimate a rather short isotopic chain up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>119</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>. This anomalous extension implies a significant softening or even collapse of the traditional <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>82</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> shell closure near the neutron-rich drip line, highlighting the need for future studies based on triaxial deformation and beyond-mean-field correlations in this nuclear region.

Asymmetry measurements in <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:mo>--&gt;</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> constitute a promising avenue to obtain competitive constraints on the τ dipole moments, the anomalous magnetic moment a_τ and the electric dipole moment d_τ, especially, once a polarized electron beam becomes available, as possible at a future polarization upgrade of the SuperKEKB collider. While the main challenges concern the measurement of these asymmetries and the calculation of radiative corrections at the relevant level of precision, at subleading orders also electroweak effects and the potential impact of four-fermion operators parameterizing other beyond-the-Standard-Model scenarios besides those described by dipole operators need to be taken into consideration. Here, we show that Z-boson contributions arise at the level of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>6</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>, while we estimate the largest possible effect from four-fermion operators as <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:mi>C</mml:mi><mml:mspace></mml:mspace><mml:msup><mml:mi>v</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mstyle><mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi></mml:mstyle><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>. In addition, we observe that four-fermion-operator insertions at the loop level can probe Wilson coefficients that are otherwise not constrained directly, and that the imaginary part generated by insertions of the dipole operator at loop level opens another potential avenue towards a determination of a_τ without the need for a polarized electron beam. Despite the inherent loop suppression, a measurement of the required normal asymmetry <mml:math><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>±</mml:mo></mml:msubsup></mml:math> with a precision of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≲</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> would allow one to probe the Schwinger term, which could define an intermediate goal to be realized in the current setting at Belle II.

The impact of open-flavor thresholds on the quarkonium spectrum has been a subject of study since the introduction of the Cornell potential and has been quantified through various phenomenological approaches, most notably the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model. We revisit this problem using the Born-Oppenheimer effective field theory (BOEFT), an effective field theory systematically derived from QCD by exploiting hierarchies of energy scales and symmetries. Within the BOEFT, open-flavor threshold effects emerge from the mixing between quarkonium and tetraquark static potentials sharing the same Born-Oppenheimer quantum numbers. The shapes of the static potentials are constrained by lattice QCD calculations. Furthermore, we account for the distinctive behavior of the BOEFT tetraquark static potentials at short and large distances: at short distances they are repulsive, reflecting the color-octet configuration of the heavy quark-antiquark pair, while at large distances they asymptotically approach heavy-light meson-antimeson thresholds. To quantify threshold effects on the quarkonium spectrum below threshold, we solve a set of coupled Schrödinger equations dictated by the BOEFT, whose only free parameter, the adjoint meson mass, is fixed to the mass of the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>χ</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>c</mml:mi><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mn>3872</mml:mn><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:math></inline-formula> state. These coupled equations are solved both in the spin-isospin averaged threshold limit and, for the first time, including the spin splittings of the physical thresholds. We validate our results by computing the same threshold effects as self-energy corrections to the quarkonium propagator. We compare our predictions with existing experimental data and previous literature. Finally, we provide a field-theoretical interpretation of the pair-creation constant <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> appearing in the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model.

We introduce CROCODILE-SIDM, a framework for treating self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) with the $N$-body part of GADGET4-Osaka code, as part of CROCODILE simulation family. As a test case, we investigate the impact of SIDM on the tidal formation of dark matter-deficient galaxies (DMDGs) with velocity-dependent cross-section models. We demonstrate that our implementation reproduces the analytic scattering rate in isolated halos. Including dynamical friction self-consistently, we evolve a dwarf satellite with $M_*=2\times10^8\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ in a $\sim10^{11}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ halo on a decaying orbit around a massive host, comparing CDM with four SIDM cross sections for two initial satellite density profiles: a cuspy Navarro--Frenk--White (NFW) profile and a cored Burkert profile. We find that self-interactions primarily regulate the amount of DM retained between pericentric passages, and that the sign of this effect depends on the initial profile: a larger cross section retains more DM for the Burkert initial condition but less DM for the NFW initial condition. We show that this opposing behavior reflects the direction of SIDM heat conduction, which is set by the halo's evolutionary state at infall. Core formation in the cuspy profile assists DM stripping, whereas tidally accelerated gravothermal contraction in the cored profile suppresses tidal mass loss. Consequently, SIDM can either assist or hinder DMDG formation, depending on the satellite's inner structure, making DMDGs a potential probe of SIDM cross section.

We perform a systematic study of the structure and properties of the krypton isotopic chain including both even-even and odd-<inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>A</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> nuclei based on the axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach. Five effective interactions of three families of covariant density functionals, i.e., PC-L3R, DD-PCX, DD-PC1, DD-MEX, and DD-ME2, are employed to calculate potential energy surfaces of krypton isotopes. <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>74</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>75</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>90</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>91</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>92</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> are determined as typical candidates of shape coexistence. The potential surfaces originating from the PC-L3R, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX interactions exhibit an abrupt shape transition from oblate to prolate for <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>73</mml:mn><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>74</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, whereas DD-PC1 and DD-ME2 preserve an oblate ground-state shape. Such discrepancies are attributed to the occupations of single-particle levels at the vicinity of the Fermi surface described by these functionals. Moreover, the comparison between spherical and deformed calculations verifies the indispensability of deformation degrees of freedom in this region. The consideration of deformation effects improves the description of two-neutron separation energies, of which its evolution clearly demonstrates the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>50</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> and 82 shell closures. Interestingly, PC-L3R predicts a more extended two-neutron drip line up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>132</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, in agreement with the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>NL</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mo>*</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:math></inline-formula> and PC-PK1 nonlinear effective interactions, whereas other functionals estimate a rather short isotopic chain up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>119</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>. This anomalous extension implies a significant softening or even collapse of the traditional <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>82</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> shell closure near the neutron-rich drip line, highlighting the need for future studies based on triaxial deformation and beyond-mean-field correlations in this nuclear region.

Asymmetry measurements in <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:mo>--&gt;</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> constitute a promising avenue to obtain competitive constraints on the τ dipole moments, the anomalous magnetic moment a_τ and the electric dipole moment d_τ, especially, once a polarized electron beam becomes available, as possible at a future polarization upgrade of the SuperKEKB collider. While the main challenges concern the measurement of these asymmetries and the calculation of radiative corrections at the relevant level of precision, at subleading orders also electroweak effects and the potential impact of four-fermion operators parameterizing other beyond-the-Standard-Model scenarios besides those described by dipole operators need to be taken into consideration. Here, we show that Z-boson contributions arise at the level of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>6</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>, while we estimate the largest possible effect from four-fermion operators as <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:mi>C</mml:mi><mml:mspace></mml:mspace><mml:msup><mml:mi>v</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mstyle><mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi></mml:mstyle><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>. In addition, we observe that four-fermion-operator insertions at the loop level can probe Wilson coefficients that are otherwise not constrained directly, and that the imaginary part generated by insertions of the dipole operator at loop level opens another potential avenue towards a determination of a_τ without the need for a polarized electron beam. Despite the inherent loop suppression, a measurement of the required normal asymmetry <mml:math><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>±</mml:mo></mml:msubsup></mml:math> with a precision of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≲</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> would allow one to probe the Schwinger term, which could define an intermediate goal to be realized in the current setting at Belle II.

The impact of open-flavor thresholds on the quarkonium spectrum has been a subject of study since the introduction of the Cornell potential and has been quantified through various phenomenological approaches, most notably the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model. We revisit this problem using the Born-Oppenheimer effective field theory (BOEFT), an effective field theory systematically derived from QCD by exploiting hierarchies of energy scales and symmetries. Within the BOEFT, open-flavor threshold effects emerge from the mixing between quarkonium and tetraquark static potentials sharing the same Born-Oppenheimer quantum numbers. The shapes of the static potentials are constrained by lattice QCD calculations. Furthermore, we account for the distinctive behavior of the BOEFT tetraquark static potentials at short and large distances: at short distances they are repulsive, reflecting the color-octet configuration of the heavy quark-antiquark pair, while at large distances they asymptotically approach heavy-light meson-antimeson thresholds. To quantify threshold effects on the quarkonium spectrum below threshold, we solve a set of coupled Schrödinger equations dictated by the BOEFT, whose only free parameter, the adjoint meson mass, is fixed to the mass of the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>χ</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>c</mml:mi><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mn>3872</mml:mn><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:math></inline-formula> state. These coupled equations are solved both in the spin-isospin averaged threshold limit and, for the first time, including the spin splittings of the physical thresholds. We validate our results by computing the same threshold effects as self-energy corrections to the quarkonium propagator. We compare our predictions with existing experimental data and previous literature. Finally, we provide a field-theoretical interpretation of the pair-creation constant <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> appearing in the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model.

The field-level analysis of galaxy clustering with a forward model based on the Effective Field Theory of Large Scale structure provides cosmological measurements at optimal statistical precision which are simultaneously robust with respect to theoretical uncertainties regarding galaxy formation. Yet, the quantitative gains of field-level analysis in the perturbative regime over the current state-of-the-art, set by the combination of power- and bispectrum, are not obvious, and they depend on analysis choices, the cosmological model, and the observed galaxy population. We therefore quantify the precision improvement from field-level analysis over power- and bispectrum from redshift-space snapshots that closely resemble the DESI LRG sample. Our mock data are created with the LEFTfield forward model, which we also use for the subsequent field-level analysis and for a Fisher forecast of the power- and bispectrum precision. We find significant improvements from the field-level analysis over the power- and bispectrum for a $Λ$CDM cosmology; in particular the primordial fluctuation amplitude can be measured twice as precisely. Precision gains at the field-level are even more pronounced for extended cosmologies with a more flexible dependence between power spectrum shape and structure growth; they reach up to a factor of three in the primordial amplitude and a factor of two in parameters that capture deviations from $Λ$CDM. Our results highlight the potential of field-level analysis for future discoveries. Realizing this potential will require substantial developments on the modeling of observations and observational systematics as well as on the numerical inference techniques.

The Unresolved $γ$-Ray Background (UGRB) encodes the collective emission of source populations that are too faint to be detected individually, and its cross-correlation with tracers of the large-scale structure has emerged as a powerful tool to characterize those populations. In this work, we analyze the weak-lensing--UGRB cross-correlation using a reference blazar model. By modeling the relation between blazar $γ$-ray luminosity and host-halo mass, we infer the average linear bias $\langle b(z) \rangle$ and host-halo mass $\langle M(z) \rangle$ of the unresolved blazar population. We find that the signal is dominated by moderately biased sources, with $\langle b \rangle \gtrsim 2$ at $z\simeq 1$, hosted by halos with $\langle M \rangle \sim \mathcal{O}(10^{13}\,M_\odot)$. Repeating the analysis with a misaligned-AGN model yields consistent bias values, indicating that the result is determined by the clustering properties of the UGRB rather than by the details of the $γ$-ray source model.

We perform a systematic study of the structure and properties of the krypton isotopic chain including both even-even and odd-<inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>A</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> nuclei based on the axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach. Five effective interactions of three families of covariant density functionals, i.e., PC-L3R, DD-PCX, DD-PC1, DD-MEX, and DD-ME2, are employed to calculate potential energy surfaces of krypton isotopes. <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>74</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>75</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>90</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>91</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>92</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> are determined as typical candidates of shape coexistence. The potential surfaces originating from the PC-L3R, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX interactions exhibit an abrupt shape transition from oblate to prolate for <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>73</mml:mn><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>74</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, whereas DD-PC1 and DD-ME2 preserve an oblate ground-state shape. Such discrepancies are attributed to the occupations of single-particle levels at the vicinity of the Fermi surface described by these functionals. Moreover, the comparison between spherical and deformed calculations verifies the indispensability of deformation degrees of freedom in this region. The consideration of deformation effects improves the description of two-neutron separation energies, of which its evolution clearly demonstrates the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>50</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> and 82 shell closures. Interestingly, PC-L3R predicts a more extended two-neutron drip line up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>132</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, in agreement with the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>NL</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mo>*</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:math></inline-formula> and PC-PK1 nonlinear effective interactions, whereas other functionals estimate a rather short isotopic chain up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>119</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>. This anomalous extension implies a significant softening or even collapse of the traditional <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>82</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> shell closure near the neutron-rich drip line, highlighting the need for future studies based on triaxial deformation and beyond-mean-field correlations in this nuclear region.

The impact of open-flavor thresholds on the quarkonium spectrum has been a subject of study since the introduction of the Cornell potential and has been quantified through various phenomenological approaches, most notably the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model. We revisit this problem using the Born-Oppenheimer effective field theory (BOEFT), an effective field theory systematically derived from QCD by exploiting hierarchies of energy scales and symmetries. Within the BOEFT, open-flavor threshold effects emerge from the mixing between quarkonium and tetraquark static potentials sharing the same Born-Oppenheimer quantum numbers. The shapes of the static potentials are constrained by lattice QCD calculations. Furthermore, we account for the distinctive behavior of the BOEFT tetraquark static potentials at short and large distances: at short distances they are repulsive, reflecting the color-octet configuration of the heavy quark-antiquark pair, while at large distances they asymptotically approach heavy-light meson-antimeson thresholds. To quantify threshold effects on the quarkonium spectrum below threshold, we solve a set of coupled Schrödinger equations dictated by the BOEFT, whose only free parameter, the adjoint meson mass, is fixed to the mass of the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>χ</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>c</mml:mi><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mn>3872</mml:mn><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:math></inline-formula> state. These coupled equations are solved both in the spin-isospin averaged threshold limit and, for the first time, including the spin splittings of the physical thresholds. We validate our results by computing the same threshold effects as self-energy corrections to the quarkonium propagator. We compare our predictions with existing experimental data and previous literature. Finally, we provide a field-theoretical interpretation of the pair-creation constant <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> appearing in the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model.

We introduce CROCODILE-SIDM, a framework for treating self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) with the $N$-body part of GADGET4-Osaka code, as part of CROCODILE simulation family. As a test case, we investigate the impact of SIDM on the tidal formation of dark matter-deficient galaxies (DMDGs) with velocity-dependent cross-section models. We demonstrate that our implementation reproduces the analytic scattering rate in isolated halos. Including dynamical friction self-consistently, we evolve a dwarf satellite with $M_*=2\times10^8\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ in a $\sim10^{11}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ halo on a decaying orbit around a massive host, comparing CDM with four SIDM cross sections for two initial satellite density profiles: a cuspy Navarro--Frenk--White (NFW) profile and a cored Burkert profile. We find that self-interactions primarily regulate the amount of DM retained between pericentric passages, and that the sign of this effect depends on the initial profile: a larger cross section retains more DM for the Burkert initial condition but less DM for the NFW initial condition. We show that this opposing behavior reflects the direction of SIDM heat conduction, which is set by the halo's evolutionary state at infall. Core formation in the cuspy profile assists DM stripping, whereas tidally accelerated gravothermal contraction in the cored profile suppresses tidal mass loss. Consequently, SIDM can either assist or hinder DMDG formation, depending on the satellite's inner structure, making DMDGs a potential probe of SIDM cross section.

Asymmetry measurements in <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:mo>--&gt;</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> constitute a promising avenue to obtain competitive constraints on the τ dipole moments, the anomalous magnetic moment a_τ and the electric dipole moment d_τ, especially, once a polarized electron beam becomes available, as possible at a future polarization upgrade of the SuperKEKB collider. While the main challenges concern the measurement of these asymmetries and the calculation of radiative corrections at the relevant level of precision, at subleading orders also electroweak effects and the potential impact of four-fermion operators parameterizing other beyond-the-Standard-Model scenarios besides those described by dipole operators need to be taken into consideration. Here, we show that Z-boson contributions arise at the level of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>6</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>, while we estimate the largest possible effect from four-fermion operators as <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:mi>C</mml:mi><mml:mspace></mml:mspace><mml:msup><mml:mi>v</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mstyle><mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi></mml:mstyle><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>. In addition, we observe that four-fermion-operator insertions at the loop level can probe Wilson coefficients that are otherwise not constrained directly, and that the imaginary part generated by insertions of the dipole operator at loop level opens another potential avenue towards a determination of a_τ without the need for a polarized electron beam. Despite the inherent loop suppression, a measurement of the required normal asymmetry <mml:math><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>±</mml:mo></mml:msubsup></mml:math> with a precision of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≲</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> would allow one to probe the Schwinger term, which could define an intermediate goal to be realized in the current setting at Belle II.

We perform a systematic study of the structure and properties of the krypton isotopic chain including both even-even and odd-<inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>A</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> nuclei based on the axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach. Five effective interactions of three families of covariant density functionals, i.e., PC-L3R, DD-PCX, DD-PC1, DD-MEX, and DD-ME2, are employed to calculate potential energy surfaces of krypton isotopes. <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>74</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>75</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>90</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>91</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>92</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> are determined as typical candidates of shape coexistence. The potential surfaces originating from the PC-L3R, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX interactions exhibit an abrupt shape transition from oblate to prolate for <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>73</mml:mn><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>74</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, whereas DD-PC1 and DD-ME2 preserve an oblate ground-state shape. Such discrepancies are attributed to the occupations of single-particle levels at the vicinity of the Fermi surface described by these functionals. Moreover, the comparison between spherical and deformed calculations verifies the indispensability of deformation degrees of freedom in this region. The consideration of deformation effects improves the description of two-neutron separation energies, of which its evolution clearly demonstrates the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>50</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> and 82 shell closures. Interestingly, PC-L3R predicts a more extended two-neutron drip line up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>132</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, in agreement with the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>NL</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mo>*</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:math></inline-formula> and PC-PK1 nonlinear effective interactions, whereas other functionals estimate a rather short isotopic chain up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>119</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>. This anomalous extension implies a significant softening or even collapse of the traditional <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>82</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> shell closure near the neutron-rich drip line, highlighting the need for future studies based on triaxial deformation and beyond-mean-field correlations in this nuclear region.

Asymmetry measurements in <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:mo>--&gt;</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> constitute a promising avenue to obtain competitive constraints on the τ dipole moments, the anomalous magnetic moment a_τ and the electric dipole moment d_τ, especially, once a polarized electron beam becomes available, as possible at a future polarization upgrade of the SuperKEKB collider. While the main challenges concern the measurement of these asymmetries and the calculation of radiative corrections at the relevant level of precision, at subleading orders also electroweak effects and the potential impact of four-fermion operators parameterizing other beyond-the-Standard-Model scenarios besides those described by dipole operators need to be taken into consideration. Here, we show that Z-boson contributions arise at the level of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>6</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>, while we estimate the largest possible effect from four-fermion operators as <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:mi>C</mml:mi><mml:mspace></mml:mspace><mml:msup><mml:mi>v</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mstyle><mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi></mml:mstyle><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>. In addition, we observe that four-fermion-operator insertions at the loop level can probe Wilson coefficients that are otherwise not constrained directly, and that the imaginary part generated by insertions of the dipole operator at loop level opens another potential avenue towards a determination of a_τ without the need for a polarized electron beam. Despite the inherent loop suppression, a measurement of the required normal asymmetry <mml:math><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>±</mml:mo></mml:msubsup></mml:math> with a precision of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≲</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> would allow one to probe the Schwinger term, which could define an intermediate goal to be realized in the current setting at Belle II.

The impact of open-flavor thresholds on the quarkonium spectrum has been a subject of study since the introduction of the Cornell potential and has been quantified through various phenomenological approaches, most notably the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model. We revisit this problem using the Born-Oppenheimer effective field theory (BOEFT), an effective field theory systematically derived from QCD by exploiting hierarchies of energy scales and symmetries. Within the BOEFT, open-flavor threshold effects emerge from the mixing between quarkonium and tetraquark static potentials sharing the same Born-Oppenheimer quantum numbers. The shapes of the static potentials are constrained by lattice QCD calculations. Furthermore, we account for the distinctive behavior of the BOEFT tetraquark static potentials at short and large distances: at short distances they are repulsive, reflecting the color-octet configuration of the heavy quark-antiquark pair, while at large distances they asymptotically approach heavy-light meson-antimeson thresholds. To quantify threshold effects on the quarkonium spectrum below threshold, we solve a set of coupled Schrödinger equations dictated by the BOEFT, whose only free parameter, the adjoint meson mass, is fixed to the mass of the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>χ</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>c</mml:mi><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mn>3872</mml:mn><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:math></inline-formula> state. These coupled equations are solved both in the spin-isospin averaged threshold limit and, for the first time, including the spin splittings of the physical thresholds. We validate our results by computing the same threshold effects as self-energy corrections to the quarkonium propagator. We compare our predictions with existing experimental data and previous literature. Finally, we provide a field-theoretical interpretation of the pair-creation constant <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> appearing in the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model.

We introduce CROCODILE-SIDM, a framework for treating self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) with the $N$-body part of GADGET4-Osaka code, as part of CROCODILE simulation family. As a test case, we investigate the impact of SIDM on the tidal formation of dark matter-deficient galaxies (DMDGs) with velocity-dependent cross-section models. We demonstrate that our implementation reproduces the analytic scattering rate in isolated halos. Including dynamical friction self-consistently, we evolve a dwarf satellite with $M_*=2\times10^8\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ in a $\sim10^{11}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ halo on a decaying orbit around a massive host, comparing CDM with four SIDM cross sections for two initial satellite density profiles: a cuspy Navarro--Frenk--White (NFW) profile and a cored Burkert profile. We find that self-interactions primarily regulate the amount of DM retained between pericentric passages, and that the sign of this effect depends on the initial profile: a larger cross section retains more DM for the Burkert initial condition but less DM for the NFW initial condition. We show that this opposing behavior reflects the direction of SIDM heat conduction, which is set by the halo's evolutionary state at infall. Core formation in the cuspy profile assists DM stripping, whereas tidally accelerated gravothermal contraction in the cored profile suppresses tidal mass loss. Consequently, SIDM can either assist or hinder DMDG formation, depending on the satellite's inner structure, making DMDGs a potential probe of SIDM cross section.

Photometric galaxy clustering is a major probe of large-scale structure whose interpretation relies on accurate characterization of the galaxy redshift distribution, $n(z)$. Standard analyses assume the $n(z)$ of a selected lens sample to be isotropic, whereas observational systematics can imprint spatial variations. We quantify how this anisotropy biases angular galaxy clustering, internal consistency, and cosmological inference. We develop an analytical formalism for clustering under spatially varying $n(z)$ and forward-model realistic observational systematics, galaxy selection, and tomographic binning. For a fiducial magnitude-limited sample, modeling $w(θ)$ with a single global $\bar n(z)$ underestimates the clustering signal by up to $\sim10\%$ at small scales in the highest-redshift bin, decreasing towards lower redshift. In a $2\times2$pt analysis, cosmological parameter shifts remain below $1σ$ for KiDS-like and DES-like setups. For an LSST-like setup retaining KiDS-like selection and observing-condition variation, $σ_8$ is biased low by $1.7σ$ and $Ω_m$ high by $1.4σ$, while the high-redshift galaxy bias shifts by up to $\sim4σ$. The anisotropy also affects whether the probes are consistent enough to combine: a calibrated posterior-predictive internal-consistency test finds the contaminated angular clustering improbable given the joint cosmic-shear and galaxy--galaxy-lensing constraints (median calibrated $\tilde p\approx8\times10^{-4}$ under LSST-like noise). Anisotropic redshift distributions are therefore a potentially significant systematic for future photometric clustering analyses. Our forward model can be used to mitigate it given a realistic selection function and galaxy population model.

We present a maximally supersymmetric extension of the BFSS matrix model based on the 5-Lie algebra ${\mathcal A}_6$. The theory is Lagrangian, promotes the BFSS 2-bracket structure constants to dynamical objects governed by a Chern-Simons-like kinetic term, and displays features expected from a theory of M5-branes. We show that it can also be obtained from the single lightcone M5-brane action on a spatial five-sphere after a truncation to the time coordinate. The resulting theory is a consistent truncation and, analogously to the $U(2)$ BFSS model, supports an interpretation of the $\mathcal{A}_6$ theory as a quantum-mechanical model for the lowest-lying modes of the M5-brane.

We introduce CROCODILE-SIDM, a framework for treating self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) with the $N$-body part of GADGET4-Osaka code, as part of CROCODILE simulation family. As a test case, we investigate the impact of SIDM on the tidal formation of dark matter-deficient galaxies (DMDGs) with velocity-dependent cross-section models. We demonstrate that our implementation reproduces the analytic scattering rate in isolated halos. Including dynamical friction self-consistently, we evolve a dwarf satellite with $M_*=2\times10^8\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ in a $\sim10^{11}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ halo on a decaying orbit around a massive host, comparing CDM with four SIDM cross sections for two initial satellite density profiles: a cuspy Navarro--Frenk--White (NFW) profile and a cored Burkert profile. We find that self-interactions primarily regulate the amount of DM retained between pericentric passages, and that the sign of this effect depends on the initial profile: a larger cross section retains more DM for the Burkert initial condition but less DM for the NFW initial condition. We show that this opposing behavior reflects the direction of SIDM heat conduction, which is set by the halo's evolutionary state at infall. Core formation in the cuspy profile assists DM stripping, whereas tidally accelerated gravothermal contraction in the cored profile suppresses tidal mass loss. Consequently, SIDM can either assist or hinder DMDG formation, depending on the satellite's inner structure, making DMDGs a potential probe of SIDM cross section.

We perform a systematic study of the structure and properties of the krypton isotopic chain including both even-even and odd-<inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>A</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> nuclei based on the axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach. Five effective interactions of three families of covariant density functionals, i.e., PC-L3R, DD-PCX, DD-PC1, DD-MEX, and DD-ME2, are employed to calculate potential energy surfaces of krypton isotopes. <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>74</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>75</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>90</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>91</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>92</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula> are determined as typical candidates of shape coexistence. The potential surfaces originating from the PC-L3R, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX interactions exhibit an abrupt shape transition from oblate to prolate for <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>73</mml:mn><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>74</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, whereas DD-PC1 and DD-ME2 preserve an oblate ground-state shape. Such discrepancies are attributed to the occupations of single-particle levels at the vicinity of the Fermi surface described by these functionals. Moreover, the comparison between spherical and deformed calculations verifies the indispensability of deformation degrees of freedom in this region. The consideration of deformation effects improves the description of two-neutron separation energies, of which its evolution clearly demonstrates the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>50</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> and 82 shell closures. Interestingly, PC-L3R predicts a more extended two-neutron drip line up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>132</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>, in agreement with the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>NL</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mo>*</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:math></inline-formula> and PC-PK1 nonlinear effective interactions, whereas other functionals estimate a rather short isotopic chain up to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mi>Kr</mml:mi><mml:mn>119</mml:mn></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:math></inline-formula>. This anomalous extension implies a significant softening or even collapse of the traditional <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>82</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> shell closure near the neutron-rich drip line, highlighting the need for future studies based on triaxial deformation and beyond-mean-field correlations in this nuclear region.

Asymmetry measurements in <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:mo>--&gt;</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>τ</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> constitute a promising avenue to obtain competitive constraints on the τ dipole moments, the anomalous magnetic moment a_τ and the electric dipole moment d_τ, especially, once a polarized electron beam becomes available, as possible at a future polarization upgrade of the SuperKEKB collider. While the main challenges concern the measurement of these asymmetries and the calculation of radiative corrections at the relevant level of precision, at subleading orders also electroweak effects and the potential impact of four-fermion operators parameterizing other beyond-the-Standard-Model scenarios besides those described by dipole operators need to be taken into consideration. Here, we show that Z-boson contributions arise at the level of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>6</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>, while we estimate the largest possible effect from four-fermion operators as <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≃</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:mi>C</mml:mi><mml:mspace></mml:mspace><mml:msup><mml:mi>v</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mstyle><mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi></mml:mstyle><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>. In addition, we observe that four-fermion-operator insertions at the loop level can probe Wilson coefficients that are otherwise not constrained directly, and that the imaginary part generated by insertions of the dipole operator at loop level opens another potential avenue towards a determination of a_τ without the need for a polarized electron beam. Despite the inherent loop suppression, a measurement of the required normal asymmetry <mml:math><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>±</mml:mo></mml:msubsup></mml:math> with a precision of <mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≲</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> would allow one to probe the Schwinger term, which could define an intermediate goal to be realized in the current setting at Belle II.

The impact of open-flavor thresholds on the quarkonium spectrum has been a subject of study since the introduction of the Cornell potential and has been quantified through various phenomenological approaches, most notably the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model. We revisit this problem using the Born-Oppenheimer effective field theory (BOEFT), an effective field theory systematically derived from QCD by exploiting hierarchies of energy scales and symmetries. Within the BOEFT, open-flavor threshold effects emerge from the mixing between quarkonium and tetraquark static potentials sharing the same Born-Oppenheimer quantum numbers. The shapes of the static potentials are constrained by lattice QCD calculations. Furthermore, we account for the distinctive behavior of the BOEFT tetraquark static potentials at short and large distances: at short distances they are repulsive, reflecting the color-octet configuration of the heavy quark-antiquark pair, while at large distances they asymptotically approach heavy-light meson-antimeson thresholds. To quantify threshold effects on the quarkonium spectrum below threshold, we solve a set of coupled Schrödinger equations dictated by the BOEFT, whose only free parameter, the adjoint meson mass, is fixed to the mass of the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>χ</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>c</mml:mi><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mn>3872</mml:mn><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:math></inline-formula> state. These coupled equations are solved both in the spin-isospin averaged threshold limit and, for the first time, including the spin splittings of the physical thresholds. We validate our results by computing the same threshold effects as self-energy corrections to the quarkonium propagator. We compare our predictions with existing experimental data and previous literature. Finally, we provide a field-theoretical interpretation of the pair-creation constant <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> appearing in the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model.

We introduce CROCODILE-SIDM, a framework for treating self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) with the $N$-body part of GADGET4-Osaka code, as part of CROCODILE simulation family. As a test case, we investigate the impact of SIDM on the tidal formation of dark matter-deficient galaxies (DMDGs) with velocity-dependent cross-section models. We demonstrate that our implementation reproduces the analytic scattering rate in isolated halos. Including dynamical friction self-consistently, we evolve a dwarf satellite with $M_*=2\times10^8\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ in a $\sim10^{11}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ halo on a decaying orbit around a massive host, comparing CDM with four SIDM cross sections for two initial satellite density profiles: a cuspy Navarro--Frenk--White (NFW) profile and a cored Burkert profile. We find that self-interactions primarily regulate the amount of DM retained between pericentric passages, and that the sign of this effect depends on the initial profile: a larger cross section retains more DM for the Burkert initial condition but less DM for the NFW initial condition. We show that this opposing behavior reflects the direction of SIDM heat conduction, which is set by the halo's evolutionary state at infall. Core formation in the cuspy profile assists DM stripping, whereas tidally accelerated gravothermal contraction in the cored profile suppresses tidal mass loss. Consequently, SIDM can either assist or hinder DMDG formation, depending on the satellite's inner structure, making DMDGs a potential probe of SIDM cross section.

We present the public release of OpenGadget3 (OG3), a substantially extended and re-organised version of the widely used Gadget-2/3 family of cosmological simulation codes. Since G2 was made publicly available, the absence of continued official development led to the creation of numerous, mutually incompatible developer versions of G3 across the community. This made it effectively impossible to track bug fixes, reproduce published results, or consistently credit the many individual contributors. OG3 addresses this by consolidating these disparate developments into a single, documented, and continuously maintained code base, released under the GNU GPLv3 through a GitLab repository (with an accompanying wiki), regularly synchronised with the active developer branch, and supported by a dedicated continuous-integration (CI) pipeline. OG3 retains the core algorithmic backbone of its predecessors, a Barnes\&Hut oct-tree combined with a Particle-Mesh method for gravity, and a choice of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics or Meshless-Finite-Mass solvers for gas dynamics, within a hybrid MPI/OpenMP parallelisation framework, extended with GPU offloading via OpenACC and OpenMP. The code integrates an extensive suite of sub-resolution and physical modules, including primordial chemistry, radiative cooling, star formation, stellar feedback and chemical enrichment, dust formation and evolution, black hole growth and AGN feedback, MHD, thermal conduction, physical viscosity, SIDM, and massive neutrinos. OG3 introduces new features improving robustness, reproducibility, and usability: a flexible mixed-precision framework spanning 16- to 128-bit representations; expert-level tagged parameters with restart-time change log; extensive consistency checks against invalid configurations; and FAIR-compliant reporting of all settings, parameters, and specific publications. (shortened and abridged)

Most stars and planets form in massive star-forming regions, where disks are exposed to external far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation from nearby O- and B-type stars. The combined effects of stellar irradiation and external FUV fields on terrestrial planet-forming regions (< 10 au) across stellar masses remain unclear. We investigate how internal UV and X-ray irradiation and external FUV fields affect mid-infrared (mid-IR) gas emission and the atmospheric carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratios inferred in T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be disks. We compute disk structures with ProDiMo and synthetic spectra with FLiTs, convolved to a representative JWST/MIRI-MRS resolution (R$\sim$2680). (1) We present the Internal and external irRadIation of diSks (IRIS) grid: four model sets spanning stellar masses of 0.3-4.0 solar masses, including stellar X-ray flares and an external FUV field of 1e4 G0 (Habing units). (2) We predict increasing flux densities with stellar mass for key atomic and molecular mid-IR tracers. (3) External FUV irradiation enhances CH3+ and H2 emission, whereas FUV-induced disk truncation yields inner disk chemistry resembling that of disks irradiated only by their host stars. (4) Mid-IR H2O, CO2, and C2H2 line ratios imply carbon-rich compositions (C/O$\sim$1-10) in the warm emitting layers of T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be disks, primarily reflecting stellar irradiation, with little sensitivity to external FUV irradiation. The IRIS grid provides a flexible framework for interpreting JWST and future Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) infrared disk observations across a broad range of stellar properties and irradiation conditions. Future models should include FUV-driven photoevaporative winds, X-ray radiative transfer, and time-dependent X-ray irradiation.

Protoplanetary disc dispersal is driven by two processes usually modelled separately: photoevaporative and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) disc winds. Global simulations indicate that in the inner disc these are not distinct outflows but a single magnetothermal wind. We assemble a closed-form, two-phase model that respects it. A single-field-line wind, whose base is fixed by the irradiated temperature and penetration column, supplies the launch and feeds a secular evolution, with photoevaporation convolved on as a sink. The flux closure $B_z\proptoΣ^q$ is self-limiting: for $q\le1/2$ depletion alone cannot demagnetise the disc, so dispersal requires independent flux loss, parameterised by the magnetic Reynolds number $\mathcal{R}_m$. Integrating the coupled system yields two regimes. Efficient flux loss ($\mathcal{R}_m\lesssim1$) lets the magnetisation front recede by over an order of magnitude and opens a photoevaporative gap. Flux retention ($\mathcal{R}_m\gg1$) drives the front outward, sustains accretion, and defers dispersal by $\approx2.7$~Myr. Deriving the base from stellar irradiation instead of prescribing it, we find that the cold-launch approximation is valid during the early stages of disc evolution: anchoring the base at plasma equipartition ($β_{\rm base} \sim 1$) confines irradiation's influence on the magnetic lever arm to the magnetothermal annulus, decoupling the peak accretion rate from the incident flux. Both regimes clear the disc inside-out, through either a photoevaporatively amplified cavity wall or an expanding magnetothermal front.

We present stacked thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect measurements for three samples of galaxy groups and clusters: those traced by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Intstrument Data Release 1 (DESI DR1) luminous red galaxies (LRG) and the DESI DR1 Bright Galaxy Sample (BGS), and an eROMaPPer optically-selected sample from the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey. We use the latest Atacama Cosmology Telescope DR6 (ACT)+Planck component-separated internal linear combination (ILC) Compton-$y$ maps and ACT+Planck coadded 90, 150, and 220 GHz temperature maps to extract the tSZ signal within a $\sim2'$ disk aperture for sources binned by luminosity, richness, or mass. We measure the average tSZ signal with high statistical significance, with signal-to-noise ratios surpassing 38 for LRG, 27 for BGS, and 39 for the eROMaPPer sample using the 90 GHz ACT DR6+Planck map. We conduct a detailed study of systematics and foregrounds such as dust and cosmic infrared background (CIB) contamination, which remain a core challenge for tSZ analysis. For the LRG and BGS samples, we find that dust and radio source emission dominate the tSZ signal at scales near and below the disk aperture radius. Large-scale ($R>4'$) contamination from the CIB is less significant. We mitigate these contaminants to isolate the tSZ signal and use a combination of simulated and real measurements to develop Compton-$y-$optical depth ($\bar y-\bar τ$) scaling relations to infer optical depths, which are found to be in agreement with values measured using the pairwise kinematic SZ effect for the same tracer samples. The $\bar y-\bar τ$ scaling relation for the eROMaPPer sample is the first such relationship to be derived directly from SZ measurements.

We present the first combined oscillation analysis of recent atmospheric neutrino datasets, featuring data from Super-Kamiokande, IceCube-DeepCore, and KM3NeT/ORCA together with reactor data from Daya Bay. Such combinations have long been considered infeasible outside experimental collaborations; we demonstrate that a unified physics model can simultaneously describe all datasets with no significant parameter tensions. Fitting 839 048 events across 1536 bins with 91 parameters, our combined analysis yields competitive measurements of the neutrino mixing parameters, and prefers the normal over the inverted mass ordering at <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mi>σ</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> significance.

The energy of the proton beam had been given as (402.2±0.2) MeV. Further investigations lead us to revise this estimate to (403.6±0.8) MeV. Beam energy becomes the dominant uncertainty, and our experimental results shift from 199^+4_-5 eV to (188±8) eV. Our overall evaluation, considering previous experimental and theoretical results, shifts from (198±4) eV to (193±5) eV.

Motivated by the discovery of peculiar dwarf galaxies inside galaxy clusters such as blue candidates (BCs), dark galaxies, and ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs), we present hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy mergers in cluster environments. We vary the viscosity and stellar feedback prescriptions, realistically modeling possible conditions for hydrodynamic drag and fluid instabilities, as well as internal destabilization through stellar feedback-driven heating and gas loss. We find that long-lived tidal dwarf galaxies (TDGs) can form throughout all viscosity values applicable to galaxy clusters if stellar feedback is moderate. Our results expand on studies of cloud-crushing simulations, investigating the entrainment problem in the intracluster medium ambience. The smallest clouds have gas masses on the order of M_gas ~ 10⁷ M_⊙ and reach relatively low final drift velocities of ~100 km/s. The lowest possible Reynolds number acting on this class of clouds is Re ~ 1 for a full Spitzer viscosity. Almost all TDGs display elevated star formation rates of 0.01 - 0.1 M_⊙/yr, which are stable across several gigayears. Based on their matching properties, we support that BCs observed in the Virgo cluster are likely stripped TDGs. Similar features are also found in comparison with dark galaxies and baryon-dominated UDGs, implying that a subsample of these objects are also long-lived TDGs. This work provides evidence that stripping from galaxy mergers is a viable formation channel for a subgroup of dark-matter-deficient galaxies and stable cold gas clouds observed in galaxy clusters.

Late infall can replenish the building materials of planets in protoplanetary disks and dramatically alter their structural evolution. The resulting pressure bumps effectively accumulate dust, facilitate grain coagulation, and trigger planetesimal formation via the streaming instability. In this work, we investigated the potential for planetesimal and planet formation, as well as the emergence of observable substructures, in disks undergoing late-stage infall. We utilized a comprehensive modeling framework that couples dust coagulation and dynamics, planetesimal formation, N-body gravity, planetary growth, and planet-disk interactions. Our results show that the abundant dust supply and the migration barrier created by the infalling gas enable the rapid formation of gas giants via pebble and gas accretion within one million years, even at large orbital distances (~70 au). These giants, in turn, exert torques that generate multiple secondary disk substructures, fostering multigenerational planetesimal formation and resulting in diverse planetary system configurations. The planetesimals exhibit distinct dynamical properties that are determined by their formation epoch and environment, which are analogous to the small-body populations in the outer Solar System. Both the infall- and planet-induced substructures are clearly visible in synthetic 1.3-mm continuum observations, closely resembling the multi-ring disks detected in ALMA surveys. Our model provides a new perspective on the origin of distant giant planets, long-lasting planetesimal formation, and the prevalence of disks with multiple substructures.

Context. Diffuse γ-ray emission from cosmic-ray (CR) protons scattering off the gas in the intracluster and intergalactic medium remains out of reach for current observations. Detecting this emission would provide constraints on the nonthermal pressure support by CR protons in these environments. Aims. We provide estimates for diffuse γ-ray emission in the Fermi-LAT band from galaxy clusters and the cosmic web in the local Universe. Methods. In this work, we show results from the first cosmological magnetohydrodynamic simulation with an on-the-fly spectral CR model. We modeled CR injection at shocks, accounted for adiabatic energy changes and advection of CR protons, and obtained their γ-ray emissivity directly from the simulated CR energy density and spectra. To do this, we used constrained initial conditions that evolved in a field closely resembling that of the local Universe, allowing a direct comparison to Fermi-LAT data on massive clusters. Results. We find CR proton acceleration at all structure formation and accretion shocks in galaxy clusters and cosmic web filaments. These protons provide the basis for diffuse γ-ray emission in these regimes. The absolute value of the diffuse γ-ray emission in our simulation lies a few orders of magnitude below the current upper limits found by Fermi-LAT. Under the assumption of our model, a sensitivity of F_γ < 10^-11γ s^-1 cm^-2 would be required for a detection of diffuse emission in Coma. This provides a lower limit for diffuse emission from CR protons accelerated at structure formation shocks.

Non-cold dark matter particles can arise from the evaporation of primordial black holes (PBHs). In this paper, we further investigate how the memory-burden effect, which delays the full evaporation of black holes, affects the Lyman-α bound on such non-cold dark matter (NCDM) particles. We mainly focus on scenarios in which PBHs have fully evaporated by today, undergoing a semi-classical evaporation phase followed by a memory-burden dominated phase. In this framework, PBH evaporation generically leads to two distinct dark matter populations with different velocity dispersions, which can imprint observable signatures on the matter power spectrum. We compute the resulting NCDM phase-space distribution and its impact on small-scale overdensities using the BlackHawk and CLASS codes. This is then used to reinterpret Lyman-α forest constraints for thermal warm dark matter, deriving both a velocity-dispersion-based and a matter-power-spectrum-based estimate. In particular, we discuss how we obtain constraints on scenarios in which NCDM particles constitute only a fraction of the total relic dark matter. Finally, we discuss the viable parameter space as a function of dark matter masses, PBH initial conditions, and memory-burden parameters. We show that even subdominant NCDM components from PBH evaporation can be constrained, and confirm that NCDM can only account for all of the dark matter in the absence of PBH domination, as in the semi-classical case.

We test the system-size dependence of bottomonium suppression using the same open-quantum-system transport framework for Pb-Pb, O-O, and Ne-Ne collisions. The microscopic transport coefficients are retained from previous Pb-Pb analyses. Using QTraj, we solve the next-to-leading-order pNRQCD Lindblad equation in anisotropic hydrodynamic backgrounds and calculate integrated $Υ$ double ratios. The QGP-induced evolution reproduces the observed sequential hierarchy and overall magnitude of the O-O suppression measured by CMS and LHCb. We quantify the sensitivity to both transport coefficients and to the termination temperature of the in-medium evolution. The Ne-Ne measurement favors somewhat stronger suppression than predicted, although the present experimental uncertainty is large. The extension from Pb-Pb to light ions supports, at least for observables less sensitive to cold nuclear matter effects, a common microscopic origin of bottomonium suppression in deconfined matter, characterized by the same temperature-dependent transport coefficients despite the large change in collision-system size.

We show that inflation with a large number of fields, as predicted by concrete ultraviolet embeddings, generically produces almost-local cosmological collider signals in the bispectrum squeezed limit. We construct the most general boost-breaking mixings between the curvature perturbation and $N_{\rm f}$ additional fields, and extract the late-time scaling dimensions that dictate the soft limits of cosmological correlators. For a handful of fields, an enhanced squeezed limit (with potential oscillations) is a fine-tuned signal. At large $N_{\rm f}\sim100$, however, mixings generically drive the scaling dimensions toward the unitarity boundary. We show that this is a direct consequence of extreme value statistics and random-matrix universality, turning an almost-local bispectrum shape into a generic prediction for almost any masses and mixings.

Most stars form in massive stellar clusters, where intense far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation from OB stars can accelerate the dispersal of protoplanetary disks through external photoevaporation. Quantifying the impact of this process on disk evolution remains challenging, particularly in distant and crowded star-forming regions. We investigate the low-mass stellar population in the highly irradiated center of Trumpler 14 and examine how the local FUV radiation field influences circumstellar disk evolution. We extracted stellar spectra from VLT/MUSE observations using an enhanced background-optimized extraction method, carefully corrected for instrumental response as a function of wavelength and finally derived the stellar parameters with the SAPSAL deep-learning framework. We combined these results with a probabilistic estimate of the local FUV field and near-infrared photometry to identify disk-bearing stars. We identify 310 bona fide cluster members with an age of $0.66^{+0.73}_{-0.35}$ Myr and local radiation fields spanning $\log(FUV)\simeq4.2-6.0\ G_{\mathrm{0}}$. The fraction of stars exhibiting near-infrared excess decreases from 30% at the lowest FUV fluxes to under 5% at $\log(FUV)\gtrsim5.6 \ G_{\mathrm{0}}$, while no significant correlation is found between our simplified estimate of the optical veiling and the local FUV field. The pronounced decline in the disk fraction with ambient FUV flux provides strong evidence for external photoevaporation rapidly dispersing circumstellar disks in the core of Trumpler 14. Our results confirm previous disk dispersal estimates and extend to higher values of the FUV field strength.

We assess the potential for the NASA Explorer SPHEREx mission in adding to the Milky Way census of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars by extracting 0.75--5micron spectrophotometry of 30 candidate WR stars previously identified using Gaia XP spectra. We confirm an additional Galactic 13 WR (8 WN and 5 WC) stars, identify 3 probable [WC]-type central stars of Planetary Nebulae, plus 2 He emission line sources. SPHEREx has the potential to detect additional relatively isolated WR stars on the far size of the Milky Way by combining Machine Learning techniques with a judicious choice of candidate selection criteria. Indeed SPHEREx is sufficiently sensitive to identify bright Magellanic Cloud Wolf-Rayet stars.

Disk fractions in star-forming clusters decline with stellar age, and are routinely read as the lifetime distribution of primordial protoplanetary disks. We argue that this reading is not warranted, because late infall can replenish or reform disks after collapse. To formalize this, we model the disk fraction as a superposition of primordial and environmentally replenished components, with region-to-region dispersion in the supply rate. Disk fractions cannot distinguish a long-lived disk from a short-lived one that is repeatedly replenished. In Sco--Cen both reproduce the data, the replenished model marginally better. Stellar age therefore need not equal disk age, and stars can host successive disk generations with distinct mass, orientation, and chemistry. A key test is whether regions of the same stellar age show a genuine spread in disk fractions, as environmental variation in the replenishment supply predicts.

We present a blind time-delay cosmography measurement of the Hubble-Lemaître constant <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>H</mml:mi><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math></inline-formula> based on the quadruply imaged quasar SDSSJ1433 + 6007. Our analysis combines deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging, extended time-delay monitoring from the Wendelstein and Maidanak Observatories, and spatially resolved stellar kinematics from the Keck Cosmic Web Imager and Reionization Mapper. We build a robust lens model to reconstruct the mass distribution and high-signal-to-noise kinematic maps to break the mass-sheet degeneracy, explicitly accounting for the lens galaxy's oblateness, rotation, and anisotropy. Furthermore, we constrain the external convergence (<inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>κ</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>ext</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:math></inline-formula>) by characterizing the line-of-sight environment using wide-field photometry from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Survey data release 10. We incorporate these constraints into our joint lensing and dynamical model, running multiple iterations to estimate random and systematic uncertainties. Accounting for maximal flexibility of the mass-sheet transformation, and assuming a flat <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> cold dark matter cosmology and an <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>Ω</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>m</mml:mi><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:math></inline-formula> prior from DESI data release 2, we infer <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>H</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:msubsup><mml:mrow><mml:mn>73.2</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>4.7</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mn>4.8</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msubsup><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:mi>km</mml:mi><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>s</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Mpc</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> (a 6.5% precision) and an internal mass-sheet parameter <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>λ</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>int</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>1.1</mml:mn><mml:msubsup><mml:mn>2</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.06</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.05</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msubsup></mml:math></inline-formula>. Notably, <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>λ</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>int</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:math></inline-formula> is <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mn>2</mml:mn><mml:mi>σ</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula> away from unity for this system, highlighting the importance of treating it as a free parameter. Our <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>H</mml:mi><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math></inline-formula> measurement is consistent with the result from our 2025 milestone paper, and it will be included in our next hierarchical analysis to improve the overall precision. Moving forward, the comprehensive pipeline demonstrated herein establishes a robust framework that can be readily applied to future strongly lensed systems to further refine cosmological constraints.

JWST has revealed massive, UV-bright, compact, and in some cases quenched galaxies in the first two billion years of cosmic history, challenging current galaxy formation models. We develop an extended L-Galaxies semi-analytic model, run on the MillenniumTNG dark-matter-only simulation, and follow galaxy evolution over $0 \le z \lesssim 15$. The model ties the star formation efficiency and the coupling of stellar feedback energy to the local cold gas surface density, making star formation efficient and feedback ineffective in dense gas. We include dissipative gas-rich mergers and disc instabilities in stellar and gaseous discs. All parameters are calibrated simultaneously against stellar mass functions and quenched fractions at $z\simeq0-4$ and UV luminosity functions at $z\simeq11-12$ with a new parallelised Markov chain Monte Carlo framework. The model reproduces the stellar mass function up to $z\approx 11$ and increases the abundance of massive and UV-bright galaxies at $z\gtrsim9$ by up to two orders of magnitude over the legacy version. Although the AGN feedback prescription is unchanged, the enhanced bulge growth and black hole fuelling make massive quenched galaxies at $z\simeq3-8$ two orders of magnitude more abundant, while dissipative mergers produce compact remnants with UV size-luminosity relations matching observations at $z\simeq10-13$. At low redshift, galaxy sizes, cold-gas content, metallicities, radial profiles, and morphologies remain consistent with observations. Our results indicate that the tension between models and JWST observations at cosmic dawn can be substantially reduced by regulating star formation and feedback through the local gas surface density, without a modified initial mass function, non-standard cosmology, or new AGN physics.

Generalized unitarity, Landau analysis, and cluster adjacency encode complementary aspects of scattering amplitudes. We use one-loop planar $\mathcal N=4$ SYM amplitudes in dimensional regularization, at arbitrary multiplicity and helicity, to make their interface explicit. The weight-two symbol decomposes into an LS part, in which maximal-cut leading singularities furnish the coefficients and Landau loci associated with nested cuts organize the ordered symbol entries, an algebraic four-mass sector, and residual terms. Cancellations of certain letters contributed by individual box integrals, as well as further simplifications, are explained by the two-mass triangle relations among box coefficients. We prove these relations using a BCFW-like application of the global residue theorem and show that they can be understood geometrically as different dissections of the same region in the tree amplituhedron obtained by projecting the loop geometry of a triple cut. We then prove that the full rational symbol, including its infrared-divergent part, obeys cluster adjacency in the flag cluster algebra $\mathrm{Fl}_{2,4;n}$ for all multiplicities and helicities. Within the sector depending only on momentum-twistor four-brackets, we conjecture a stronger cluster property in $\operatorname{Gr}(4,n)$ for all helicities and prove it for NMHV amplitudes: the amplitude admits a representation in which every pole of each coefficient is compatible with both symbol entries. Finally, we observe that the algebraic four-mass letters, although non-rational, exhibit a suggestive Sklyanin-bracket pattern.

Doppler boosting allows blazars to be detected out to high-$z$, making them promising probes of the intergalactic medium through the 21 cm forest. We report 0.144$-$11 GHz observations of the most distant known blazar, VLASS J041009.05$-$013919.88 at z$\sim$7, obtained with the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT), the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) and the Very Large Array (VLA). The first uGMRT epoch (300$-$820 MHz, April 2023) revealed an inverted radio spectrum which, combined with earlier (2021$-$2022) VLA data (1.5$-$11 GHz), unveiled a double-peaked spectrum potentially indicative of multi-epoch jet activity. A second uGMRT campaign (August 2023), simultaneous with new VLA observations (1.5$-$11 GHz), instead revealed a flat low-frequency and a peaked high-frequency spectrum, ruling out this interpretation. While limited by the two uGMRT epochs, variability analysis favors intrinsic jet processes, indicating a highly relativistic, closely aligned jet ($θ<3$ deg, $δ>19.3$, $Γ>9.7$). The equipartition magnetic field ($> 1$ mG) exceeds the equivalent Cosmic Microwave Background field at $z\sim7$ (0.2 mG), indicating synchrotron losses dominate. The inferred Doppler boosting ($δ>19.3$) implies that J0410$-$0139 is intrinsically radio-weak. As a blazar, it traces a much larger parent population of radio quasars at $z\sim7$, detectable only with deep ($\leq μ$Jy) next-generation radio observations. LOFAR 144 MHz observations (April and July 2024) yielded $\sim$2 mJy, well below the $\sim$8 mJy predicted from uGMRT epochs, confirming strong variability at rest-frame $\sim$1 GHz. Low-frequency monitoring will be crucial for identifying high radio intensity states suitable for future 21 cm forest studies.

In this paper, we study non-perturbative vortex partition functions of four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories on the space-time geometry $T^2 \times D^2$, and we propose that these partition functions offer a notion of quantum elliptic cohomology. For particular U(1)-gauge theories we calculate these partition functions explicitly by applying equivariant localization methods to Handsaw quiver varieties that realize for this particular class of U(1)-gauge theories the moduli spaces of the non-perturbative vortex sectors. The determined vortex partition functions are annihilated by difference operators, which are interpreted as Ward identities among N=(0,2) BPS surface defects. Compared to lower dimensional gauge theories with four supercharges, anomalies play an essential role for a consistent formulation of the four-dimensional partition functions. In our proposal towards a mathematical formulation of the vortex partition functions in terms of equivariant elliptic cohomology, the gauge theory anomalies relate to geometric properties of the Thom sheaves corresponding to the relevant quasimap moduli spaces. Motivated by the explicit computations we reflect on the existence of a `virtual structure sheaf' on the moduli space of quasimaps for a general mathematical theory of quantum elliptic cohomology.

Infrared (IR) large-sky surveys allow study of how localized star formation is, enabling searches for young stellar objects (YSOs) not only at the centers of known stellar nurseries but also across the Galactic plane. However, these spatially unbiased searches suffer from contamination, most notably from dusty asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars characterized by long-period variability. Using time-series analysis, and taking advantage of the different variability timescales of YSOs against long-period variables (LPVs), we assess the level of contamination of one of the most spatially unbiased YSO catalogs (\textit{Spitzer}/IRAC Candidate YSO, SPICY). Distinguishing between these two groups lets us draw more robust conclusions about the frequency of isolated YSOs in our Galaxy and their implications. We cross-match the SPICY and VIRAC2 catalogs (VVV/VVVX Survey), build near-IR light curves for common sources, and compute their periods and amplitudes. Contaminants are identified as sources with periodic flux variations with periods $P\geq 80\,d$ and amplitudes $∆K_{\rm s}\geq0.35\,\rm{mag}$. From $58\,737$ common sources, we identify $742$ SPICY objects as LPV contaminants based on their long-period variability, and identify $307$ high-confidence periodic YSO candidates exhibiting short-period flux changes consistent with cool spots. Near- and mid-IR amplitudes are correlated only among LPVs, suggesting a common pulsation origin. In addition, the spatial distribution of the identified populations further supports our classification, with LPVs preferentially associated with the bulge and YSOs at the lowest galactic latitudes.

In most galaxies, the central black hole accounts for no more than a percent of the total mass in stars. Recently, however, extremely overmassive black holes (OMBHs) with ratios of 10% have been reported in dwarf galaxies at z < 1 and at cosmic dawn (z > 5.5) by JWST. Both findings have been interpreted as signatures of the still mysterious origins of supermassive black holes. Accordingly, it is thought that most of the black hole mass was built at birth rather than through accretion. Here, we show that among evolved galaxies, OMBHs are also present, indicating that OMBHs are not a signature unique to black hole formation channels. The first large-area sky survey of the eROSITA X-ray telescope on board SRG identified 200 quasars by their luminous hard X-ray radiation. These quasars signpost rapidly growing black holes. Complementary optical spectroscopy from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and archival UV to IR photometric data combined with galaxy-quasar decomposition techniques allowed us to make unbiased estimates of cosmological distances, black hole masses, and host galaxy stellar masses. We securely identified a sample of OMBHs with BH-to-host ratios of more than 5%, which may have undergone exponential accretion spurts lasting about a billion years. Our survey identified a high space density of at least 4/Gpc³ of OMBHs near cosmic noon. This indicates an accretion channel disconnected from the stellar population that causes strong deviations from galaxy scaling relations. This channel is currently not part of galaxy evolution models. The identified channel, if applicable also for the first billion years of cosmic time, might explain JWST active galactic nuclei without requiring them to signify imprints of a black hole seeding mechanism.

[Abridged] Investigating substellar populations in young massive clusters offers crucial insights into the formation of brown dwarfs (BDs) and the role of environmental conditions in shaping their properties. Westerlund 2 (Wd2), as one of the nearest dense and massive clusters in the Milky Way, represents an ideal laboratory for studying the effects of high stellar density and ionizing radiation from massive stars on BD formation. This paper presents deep JWST/NIRCam observations of Wd2 in a large number of filters between 1.15 and 4.1 $μm$. Our analysis focuses on identifying and characterizing the BD population within the cluster. We carried out PSF photometry on deep JWST/NIRCam data obtained in 4 wide and 6 medium-band filters, using DOLPHOT. The resulting catalog was used to identify BD candidates in Wd2 through spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting with atmospheric models. The 50\% detection limit of our NIRCam catalog is $\sim$0.015-0.02 $M_\odot$, at the distance, age, and extinction of Wd2, providing the deepest view of a supermassive star cluster to date. We identify 353 substellar candidates. Most candidates (301) lie above the 10 Myr isochrone in the Hertzsprung--Russell diagram consistent with cluster membership, which are defined as strong candidates. Comparison with a control field indicates a contamination level of $\lesssim$5\% for the strong candidate sample down to masses of $\sim$0.01--0.015~$M_\odot$. We identify 73 candidates exhibiting infrared excess indicative of circumstellar disks. These objects occupy the expected infrared-excess locus in de-reddened color diagrams and represent $27.7^{+3.4}_{-3.2}$\% of the candidates detected in F410M. The resulting catalog provides a well-characterized sample for future spectroscopic confirmation and subsequent studies of the substellar population of Wd2.

Dark matter (DM) could be subject to non-gravitational self-interactions which is relevant to resolve potential problems of cold DM on small scales. Their impact on astrophysical objects such as galaxies and galaxy clusters allows for constraining the strength of this scattering and eventually further properties of the cross-section. To model self-interacting dark matter (SIDM), N-body simulations are a crucial tool widely employed by the SIDM community. In this paper, we describe the SIDM implementation in the cosmological hydrodynamical N-body code OpenGadget3 and release it to the public. It is capable of simulating elastic scattering for various differential cross-sections, including strongly anisotropic cross-sections. Beyond single-species models, the code also allows simulating a two-species model with cross-species interactions. In addition to describing the numerical schemes for modelling various flavours of SIDM, we discuss the technical challenges of implementing them. Moreover, we demonstrate through several test problems that OpenGadget3 can accurately simulate DM self-interactions. Furthermore, we assess the performance of the code and provide scaling tests. Lastly, we highlight remaining challenges in the context of SIDM and describe directions for improving the current state of the art.

We present NOEMA^3D, a unique high-resolution study of purely molecular gas kinematics at z ~ 1.1 to 1.6, providing a dedicated view of cold gas dynamics at the late stages of the peak epoch of cosmic star formation. Using deep (≳20 h on source per target) IRAM--NOEMA CO observations of ten massive (10.45 <= log(M_⋆/M_⊙) <= 11.43) main-sequence galaxies, complemented by high-resolution JWST imaging, we resolved the molecular gas kinematics and morphology on kiloparsec scales. We find that all galaxies exhibit ordered rotation with moderate intrinsic turbulence (median σ₀ ~ 32 ± 10 km s^-1, median V_c/σ₀ ~ 8.6 ± 2.9), consistent with dynamically turbulent disks at late cosmic noon. Modeling the axisymmetric rotation with the forward-modeling code DysmalPy, we find spatially coherent velocity residuals in all but one edge-on system. The inferred in-plane noncircular motions reach amplitudes of ~50--100 km s^-1, which are significantly larger than typically observed in local disk galaxies. Interpreting these noncircular motions as radial flows, we find that the velocity residuals spatially coincide with non-axisymmetric structures - spiral arms and bars -- demonstrating a direct link between galaxy morphology and gas transport at z ~ 1--2. In spiral galaxies, the residual velocity patterns are typically dominated by inflows, while barred systems display an apparent inflow-outflow pattern, characteristic of in-plane bar-driven gas motions. We further find that the inferred molecular gas inflow rates are substantial, with a typical net inflow rate on the order of the star formation rate (M^˙̄ ~ -46M_⊙/yr). This implies that spiral arms and bars at cosmic noon are highly efficient at funneling cold gas toward galaxy centers, perhaps driving the buildup of bulges and feeding central star forming regions and supermassive black holes.

JWST has revealed that galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization are composed of compact stellar clumps spanning more than two orders of magnitude in mass and size. We present an analytical framework that connects the global properties of high-redshift galactic disks to the formation, dynamical evolution and visibility of these systems. Starting from the classical Toomre instability, we derive analytical mass-size and surface density-size relations together with, for the first time, the intrinsic clump mass spectrum obtained by integrating over the entire unstable branch of the dispersion relation. The observed clumps are naturally reproduced for turbulent velocity dispersions $σ\simeq 10-80\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}}$, while their location along the mass-size relation is determined by the compactness of the parent disk. The intrinsic spectrum extends over nearly two decades in mass, $5.5\lesssim\log(M_{\rm cl}/M_\odot)\lesssim7.3$, and is transformed by gas dynamical friction, which suppresses the high-mass tail ($t_{\rm df}\propto M_{\rm cl}^{-1}$) and reproduces the observed clump mass-function slope, $dN/dM\propto M^{-1.89}$. Supernova feedback is insufficient to clear the dense natal gas, whereas radiation pressure provides a robust clearing mechanism: Ly$α$ trapping dominates in dust-poor clumps and infrared trapping takes over as they become enriched. The results provide the first self-consistent analytical framework connecting the formation, statistical properties and visibility of stellar clumps in super-early galaxies.

Core-collapse supernova neutrinos offer a unique probe of physics beyond the Standard Model over Galactic baselines. Yet even a high-statistics nearby burst may be limited by source uncertainties, especially for propagation effects that average over energy and appear only as an overall flux suppression. Inspired by near--far comparisons in terrestrial oscillation experiments, we show that next-generation MeV observations of the supernova gamma-ray echo---the delayed 511 keV signal induced by the neutrino burst in the stellar envelope---can serve as an astrophysical near detector for the emitted $\barν_e$ fluence. Comparing this echo-inferred source fluence with the surviving flux measured at Earth gives a direct test of neutrino propagation between the stellar surface and the detector. For pseudo-Dirac neutrinos, this turns the fully averaged active--sterile oscillation regime from an unobservable source-normalization ambiguity into a measurable near--far deficit, with sensitivity for nearby progenitors to splittings $δm^2\gtrsim 10^{-18}~{\rm eV}^2(0.22~{\rm kpc}/D)(E_\star/15~{\rm MeV})$. The same near--far logic also applies to other propagation-induced modifications of the observed flux, including neutrino decay and neutrino interactions with Galactic dark matter.

The Kepler space telescope was a successful mission that used the transit method. Multi-planetary systems are interesting because they are dynamically rich due to the planets' interactions. Kepler's mission was the first to find a system with four planets all in resonance, that is Kepler-223. The Kepler-223 system is of unique dynamical interest as the first exoplanetary system confirmed to host four sub-Neptune planets in a precise 3:4:6:8 resonant chain. Previous dynamical studies have struggled to fully recover the long-term phase protection mechanisms, often finding that higher-order resonant angles circulate rather than librate. In this work, we re-examine the dynamical state of Kepler-223 by performing high-resolution N-body integrations and constructing detailed stability maps in the (a,e) phase space, we demonstrate that the system is locked in a deeper resonant state than previously thought. Crucially, we find that all resonant arguments, exhibit robust libration over secular timescales. Our stability maps reveal that the planets reside in clearly defined stability islands that allow for higher eccentricities than previous estimates. We further compare these numerical islands with analytical resonance widths and find excellent agreement for the inner three planets, while the outermost planet (Kepler-223e) exhibits a stability region wider than first-order analytical theories predict, suggesting complex multi-body stabilization effects at the edge of the chain.

Understanding the origin and chemical properties of gas accreted by supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is essential for linking black hole growth to galaxy evolution. Using a suite of 30 high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations, we investigate the chemical properties of gas accreted onto SMBHs in massive galaxies with stellar masses of 10^10.9-11.9 M_⊙ and black hole masses of 10^8.5-9.7 M_⊙ at z = 0. By tracing the full cosmological histories of individual gas particles, we identify their origins and enrichment pathways. The accreted gas is classified into four categories: ``early'' gas accreted during the early assembly phase of the main halo, ``external'' gas originating from other galaxies or subhalos, ``recycled'' gas enriched through stellar evolution processes within the primary galaxy, including asymptotic giant branch (AGB) winds and supernova ejecta, and ``smooth'' gas accreted from the intergalactic medium. We find that recycled gas dominates the accretion budget and is already metal-rich at early epochs. Gas from other origins typically undergoes gradual chemical enrichment within the galactic environment prior to black hole accretion. The mean abundance ratios show only weak redshift evolution and are broadly compatible with the high metallicities inferred for quasar broad-line regions. Our results suggest that metal-rich gas supply to SMBHs arises naturally from cosmological galaxy evolution and stellar recycling.

We revisit the renormalization of models with two U(1) gauge symmetries, in a formulation with noncanonical gauge kinetic terms which is covariant under field reparametrizations among the two gauge bosons. This approach is convenient to study the appearance of kinetic mixing in scale evolution because a coupling matrix is attributed to the gauge kinetic terms. We obtain simple <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mover><mml:mrow><mml:mi>MS</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mo>̄</mml:mo></mml:mover></mml:math></inline-formula> renormalization group equations up to two-loop, which can be solved to give effective millicharges at low energy which depend on the running couplings and heavy mass scales of the model. This formulation allows one to construct ``invariants'' out of running Lagrangian parameters, which are invariant under generic gauge field reparametrizations, including rescalings, and which can be related directly to observables such as the millicharge.

We investigate the impact of baryonic physics, massive neutrinos, and galaxy intrinsic alignments (IA) on weak lensing (WL) void statistics using high-resolution convergence maps from the MILLENNIUMTNG simulations. Full-sky and octant-sky maps are produced via ray-tracing from simulation mass shells and realistic mock galaxy catalogues that self-consistently include intrinsic galaxy shapes and alignments. WL voids are identified in the smoothed convergence field using the tunnel algorithm and characterized through their abundance and stacked radial convergence profiles. We explore the dependence of these observables on source redshift, angular smoothing scale, and convergence peak threshold. Baryonic physics has an impact of up to <inline-formula><tex-math>$\approx 30~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> on void abundance, suppressing small voids, likely due to feedback processes, and enhancing large ones, consistent with stronger matter evacuation from underdense regions driven by radiative cooling. Stacked profiles are suppressed at all radii at the <inline-formula><tex-math>$\approx 10~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> level. Massive neutrinos, through free-streaming, enhance the abundance of small voids and suppress large ones, with a strong dependence on the void peak threshold and the neutrino mass. They also modify void profiles by enhancing void centres and suppressing void edges. IA primarily affect the tails of the void size distribution, enhancing both small and large voids at the <inline-formula><tex-math>$\approx 20~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> level, and inducing coherent, per cent-level changes in stacked profiles. Our results show that all three systematics leave measurable and partially degenerate signatures in WL void statistics, underscoring the importance of accurate modelling in upcoming Stage-IV surveys.

We detect the kinetic Sunyaev--Zeldovich imprint of peculiar motions of galaxy groups and clusters, using the photometric Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Legacy Surveys together with cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). We develop a comprehensive forward model based on the ABACUSSUMMIT cosmological simulations: Mock galaxy group catalogues and synthetic kinetic Sunyaev--Zeldovich (kSZ) maps are generated, together with a reconstructed peculiar velocity field that allows for photo-z errors, redshift-space distortions, and survey masks. We investigate possible contamination from the cosmic infrared background (CIB), finding that CIB effects are subdominant to the kSZ signal in the relevant ACT frequency channel. We then predict the kSZ signal expected when stacking CMB temperature maps around groups, taking account of their estimated radial velocities. Comparing the model with observations, we are able to constrain the total baryon fraction within haloes, as well as their internal gas profiles. We find evidence for mass dependence of the halo baryon fraction within the virial radius. The gas fraction in massive groups is consistent with the universal baryon fraction, but low-mass groups (<inline-formula><tex-math>$10^{12.5} \lesssim M\, /\, h^{-1}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot \lesssim 10^{14}$</tex-math></inline-formula>) are depleted to <inline-formula><tex-math>$0.38 \pm 0.11$</tex-math></inline-formula> times the universal baryon fraction. We find this low virial baryon fraction to be consistent with an extended gas profile, for which the total baryon content reaches the universal value well beyond the virial radius. This conclusion is consistent with previous analyses using X-ray, kSZ, and weak lensing, and plausibly reflects energetic feedback processes from the galaxies in these haloes.

AI Phe is an eclipsing binary star with an orbital period of 24.6 d for which the surface gravity and effective temperature are known from direct measurements to very high precision and accuracy. We have obtained high-quality spectroscopy of the K0 IV star during the total eclipse of the F7 V companion, and also obtained spectra with a very high signal-to-noise ratio for this star and its F7 V companion using the spectral disentangling technique. We have used these spectra to measure the abundances of iron and magnesium for both stars. We compare the values of [Fe/H] and [Mg/H] for the F7 V star and the K0 IV star to stars in M67, an open cluster of similar age and metallicity to AI Phe. We find that our [Fe/H] and [Mg/H] measurements clearly show the signature of elemental diffusion in the F7 V star. This suggests that AI Phe can be used to test models of single stars that include diffusion and mixing of elements.

Magnetic fields between a supernova (SN) and Earth convert axions into gamma rays. The absence of such a signal in coincidence with SN 1987A neutrinos, using the coherent Milky Way field, provides well-studied constraints on <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>g</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>a</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>g</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>a</mml:mi><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> (axion-proton times axion-photon couplings) and on <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>g</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>a</mml:mi><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:math></inline-formula> alone. We show that the small-scale power of the turbulent magnetic field component boosts axion-photon conversion and, crucially, extends sensitivity to larger masses. The turbulent field components of the Milky Way and of the Large Magellanic Cloud (hosting SN 1987A) yield improvements of up to 2 orders of magnitude in <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>g</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>a</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:msub><mml:mi>g</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>a</mml:mi><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:math></inline-formula>. Turbulence should likely impact the sensitivity of other searches based on other axion-photon conversion sites, such as starburst galaxies.

Reconstruction and simulation at a collider experiment are long chains of specialised algorithms, each tuned to a single step. We explore how one model can serve many of those steps at once, while still producing the intermediate objects (tracks, calorimeter cells, clusters, particles and jets) that make the chain interpretable. To do so, we represent every object in a jet in a single shared token vocabulary and train one model to map any subset of these modalities to any other. A task is then only a choice of which modalities to provide and which to request: particle flow, detector simulation and charged energy subtraction are all directions through the same set of weights. We train over all modality combinations, with a decoder emitting tokens either autoregressively or in parallel. With tokenisation, both architectures train stably with little tuning. In evaluations, both models produce realistic reconstruction and simulation objects, with the autoregressive model particularly faithful to output from Geant4. The autoregressive model also outperforms a state-of-the-art particle flow algorithm on many typical jet reconstruction metrics.

The Low-Burnett-Kroll theorem (extended to non-abelian gauge theory) states that the tree-level emission amplitude of a soft gauge boson from an arbitrary hard process can be expressed in terms of the non-radiative amplitude including the next-to-soft term. Reformulating the soft theorem in the framework of an on-shell effective theory leads to a natural gauge-invariant split into an external and internal emission process to any order in the soft expansion. In this framework, we derive a compact expression for the all-order external emission amplitude expressed in terms of the non-radiative amplitude, and express the local emission amplitude through a single gauge-invariant operator at every order beyond the next-to-soft one. For scalar QCD, we compare the number of Lorentz- and $SU(3)$-invariant amplitudes for the radiative and non-radiative hard process with an arbitrary number of scalar quarks and antiquarks.

Stage-IV cosmological surveys rely on well-characterised photometric redshift distributions for constraining cosmological models, yet the projected weak lensing requirements are about an order of magnitude more accurate than current state-of-the-art methods. Any photometric redshift inference depends - explicitly or implicitly - on a prior over galaxy SEDs, luminosities, and redshifts. In this paper, we develop a purely data-driven approach for modelling the galaxy population prior based on learning the distribution of galaxy SEDs and evaluate its induced systematic uncertainties for photometric redshift calibration. Under controlled conditions, we build a template-free model for galaxy SEDs with minimal physical assumptions and assess how well it can reproduce the colour-redshift relation. We train a generative model on a realistic population of noisy mock galaxy spectra, simulated using the GalSBI-SPS galaxy population model, to learn the joint distribution of intrinsic spectra, luminosities, and redshifts. We employ a probabilistic autoencoder that compresses spectra into a low-dimensional latent space and performs neural density estimation with a normalising flow. The autoencoder can reconstruct the shape of galaxy spectra with Gaussian noise of standard deviation $σ$ to $\sim0.1\,σ$ of the ground truth, thereby building a model for noiseless SEDs from noisy spectra only. We construct colour-selected tomographic bins with a self-organising map and compare the predicted mean redshift. We find that deviations in each bin are smaller than the per-mille Stage-IV requirements, with $| ∆\langle z \rangle |\lesssim 0.0007 (1+z)$. This work serves as a proof-of-concept that generative models can learn the prior of galaxy observations accurately enough for upcoming surveys under controlled conditions.

We present a systematic analysis of the spectropolarimetric properties of a sample of 39 active galactic nuclei and Sagittarius A* observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array during five VLBI campaigns between 2017 and 2023. We characterize the compact cores in total intensity and polarization, focusing on the behavior or the linear polarization fraction (LP), electric vector position angle (EVPA), and Faraday rotation measure (RM) over time and spectral domains. We investigate both individual objects--such as M87, Sgr A*, 3C273, and 3C279--and ensemble properties of different source classes, including flat-spectrum radio quasars, BLLac objects, and other active galaxies. While total intensity and spectral index are generally stable on weekly timescales, polarization properties often exhibit strong variability, with significant day-to-day changes in LP, EVPA, and RM. Several sources display large EVPA rotations accompanied by variations in LP and RM, in some cases coinciding with flaring activity. We observe that the magnitude of RM increases with observing frequency for all sources for which we have reliable multi-band measurements, consistent with Faraday rotation arising in a magnetized sheath surrounding the relativistic jet, although an origin in the accretion flow--particularly in the case of Sgr A*--cannot be ruled out.

Context. The gas-phase mass─metallicity relation (MZR) of galaxies shows a noticeable break in slope and an increased scatter at low stellar masses, suggesting that the physical processes governing chemical enrichment differ between dwarf and high-mass systems. Dwarf galaxies, in particular, are highly susceptible to both internal and environmental mechanisms due to their shallow potential wells. Aims. The primary aim of this work is to assess whether a single, universal MZR can describe dwarf galaxies across diverse large-scale environments, or whether systematic environmental variations emerge. To probe these, we examine the MZR and star formation rate (SFR) of dwarf galaxies with stellar masses in the range of 8.9 < log(M_★/M_⊙) < 9.5. Methods. Using optical spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we measured the fluxes of key emission lines via the pyPipe3D full spectral fitting pipeline. Aperture-corrected fluxes, along with multiple metallicity indicators and calibrations, were used to derive the MZR and the SFR for 353, 311, and 22 dwarf galaxies located in voids, filaments, and clusters, respectively. Results. We find a systematic variation in the MZR slope, steeper in voids (0.28 ± 0.03) and progressively flatter in clusters (0.17 ± 0.08), indicating a dependence of the MZR on the large-scale environment in this mass regime. When galaxies are separated by local density, no significant differences are observed between isolated and non-isolated dwarfs in voids. Isolated dwarf galaxies in filaments also exhibit properties similar to those of their counterparts in voids. However, non-isolated filament galaxies exhibit similar MZR slopes comparable to those of cluster dwarfs and flatter slopes than their counterparts in voids. Conclusions. We report both large- and local-scale environmental dependencies in the gas-phase metallicity and in the slope of the MZR for dwarf galaxies. Consistent with the general consensus on the pre-processing of galaxies in filaments, our results indicate that the influence of the local environment becomes increasingly significant within the filamentary regions of the cosmic web, affecting the chemical enrichment and star formation activity of low-mass systems. These findings further suggest that a portion of the scatter commonly observed in the MZR of dwarf galaxies arises from environmental effects.

Context. Flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) often remain undetected at very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) γ rays due to their typically soft spectra and large distance. In December 2023, the Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1) detected for the first time VHE γ-ray emission from the FSRQ OP 313 during an extraordinarily bright flare, becoming the furthest blazar ever observed at VHE with z = 0.997. Aims. We aim to characterize the γ-ray emission of OP 313 during this flare, comparing it with its average emission state in order to understand the processes leading to this detection. Its remarkable distance also enables studies on the extragalactic background light (EBL), with the goal of evaluating the attenuation of VHE γ-ray photons. Thanks to an intensive multiwavelength campaign, we also study in detail the broadband emission of the source. Methods. We characterize the γ-ray emission during the flare in December 2023 and the low emission state observed in January 2024 thanks to the LST-1 and MAGIC data and quasi-simultaneous Fermi-LAT observations. This dataset also enables us to evaluate the EBL attenuation by systematically exploring the EBL intensity over the γ-ray spectrum.. Finally, we study the multiwavelength emission and interpret the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) within blazar radiative models including the thermal contributions from the accretion disk, dusty torus and broad line region. Results. We measured significant VHE γ-ray emission during the December 2023 flare at a level of 0.3 Crab units above 100 GeV. We also characterize the flare brightness in the high-energy (HE, E > 100 MeV) γ-ray band, which was found to be a factor of 50 above the average emission seen by Fermi-LAT. The HE and VHE observations allow us to set constrains on the EBL density, resulting in an upper limit at 0.6 μm of λI_λ < 8.74 nW m² sr⁻¹ with LST-1 data, and λI_λ < 14.7 nW m² sr⁻¹ with MAGIC data, including systematic uncertainties. Finally, thanks to the extensive multiwavelength campaign organized, we are able to construct and model the broadband SED of OP 313 within the framework of a two-zone leptonic model where the γ-ray emission is produced via inverseCompton scattering of the broad line region, accretion disk, and dusty torus photon fields. However, the dominant external photon field remains unknown, as several combinations are able to successfully explain the γ-ray emission observed.

We perform a quantum probing of colliding plane-wave spacetimes. In particular, we consider the Khan-Penrose and the Ferrari-Ibáñez solutions, which admit a strong and a weak singularity after the two waves collide. While we find that, like Schwarzschild, for the Khan-Penrose solution the singularity cannot be probed by quantum-field theory, the Ferrari-Ibáñez singularity can be traversed. Our results culminate in a quantum Weyl conjecture: The significant geometric property to classify spacetimes with respect to quantum probes is given by the Coulomb part of the Weyl tensor. We then use this conjecture to sketch a possible backreaction scenario for plane waves.

The upcoming Rubin Observatory and subsequent follow-up observations should improve the determination of the Hubble constant ($H_0$) via time-delay cosmography of strongly lensed type II supernovae (LSNe II), by enabling the detection of many more such events. In our previous work, we developed a method for determining the supernova (SN) phase from spectral absorption features. Because obtaining spectra of faint targets such as distant SN II is expensive, we examined how low-resolution spectra influence the precision of time-delay retrieval, and consequently the precision on $H_0$. We considered spectral resolutions $R = \fracλ{Δλ}$ between 100 and 250, and we investigated three signal-to-noise ratio ($S/N$) values of 10, 15, and 20, for each resolution. Furthermore, we forecast the precision on $H_{0}$ achievable with $S/N=10$ and compared the observing time required to reach it with ground-based and space-based facilities. We find that the time delay can be determined without bias and with uncertainties as low as 1.3 days for the investigated resolutions and $S/N$ values when we combine time-delay measurements of multiple absorption lines. For a typical LSN II system (absolute magnitude $\sim-$17 mag in the rest-frame V band, source redshift of \zs = 0.8), the required exposure times range from multiple hours for ground-based observations to a few minutes for space-based observations with the JWST. Our predictions on the precision of $H_0$ for a single lensed SN range from 14.2\% for $R = 100$ and $S/N$ = 10 to 7.5\% for $R = 250$ and $S/N$ = 20, enabling a 1\% determination of $H_0$ from $\sim$20 lensed SNe in the coming years.

Dynamical modelling can be used to constrain the masses of central black holes, but it is challenging to model massive galaxies because of their complex kinematics. We report six new measurements of supermassive black hole masses of massive early-type galaxies from stellar kinematics, which were extracted from adaptive-optics-assisted SINFONI and MUSE observations. We combined the stellar kinematics with HST photometry to build DYNAMITE triaxial Schwarzschild orbit-superposition models. Our Schwarzschild models can recover the complex triaxial features of the galaxies and constrain the black hole masses of all six galaxies. We found that strong triaxial kinematic features can bias the mass measurements and corrected for this effect. The derived black hole masses are (1.14_−0.63^+0.41) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for NGC 3706, (1.19_−0.80^+1.34) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for NGC 3923, (1.14_−0.95^+1.08) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for NGC 4261, (4.68_−4.26^+2.99) × 10⁸ M_⊙ for NGC 4636, (3.51_−2.57^+3.37) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for IC 4296, and (2.43_−1.65^+1.53) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for IC 4329 at a confidence level of 3σ. We compared our measurements with published results from axisymmetric Schwarzschild modelling and with our JAM Jeans Anisotropic models and obtained mostly consistent black hole masses. Most of our black hole mass estimates can be well constrained using MUSE observations alone. All of our mass measurements agree with local black hole scaling relations.

Context. The gas-phase mass─metallicity relation (MZR) of galaxies shows a noticeable break in slope and an increased scatter at low stellar masses, suggesting that the physical processes governing chemical enrichment differ between dwarf and high-mass systems. Dwarf galaxies, in particular, are highly susceptible to both internal and environmental mechanisms due to their shallow potential wells. Aims. The primary aim of this work is to assess whether a single, universal MZR can describe dwarf galaxies across diverse large-scale environments, or whether systematic environmental variations emerge. To probe these, we examine the MZR and star formation rate (SFR) of dwarf galaxies with stellar masses in the range of 8.9 < log(M_★/M_⊙) < 9.5. Methods. Using optical spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we measured the fluxes of key emission lines via the pyPipe3D full spectral fitting pipeline. Aperture-corrected fluxes, along with multiple metallicity indicators and calibrations, were used to derive the MZR and the SFR for 353, 311, and 22 dwarf galaxies located in voids, filaments, and clusters, respectively. Results. We find a systematic variation in the MZR slope, steeper in voids (0.28 ± 0.03) and progressively flatter in clusters (0.17 ± 0.08), indicating a dependence of the MZR on the large-scale environment in this mass regime. When galaxies are separated by local density, no significant differences are observed between isolated and non-isolated dwarfs in voids. Isolated dwarf galaxies in filaments also exhibit properties similar to those of their counterparts in voids. However, non-isolated filament galaxies exhibit similar MZR slopes comparable to those of cluster dwarfs and flatter slopes than their counterparts in voids. Conclusions. We report both large- and local-scale environmental dependencies in the gas-phase metallicity and in the slope of the MZR for dwarf galaxies. Consistent with the general consensus on the pre-processing of galaxies in filaments, our results indicate that the influence of the local environment becomes increasingly significant within the filamentary regions of the cosmic web, affecting the chemical enrichment and star formation activity of low-mass systems. These findings further suggest that a portion of the scatter commonly observed in the MZR of dwarf galaxies arises from environmental effects.

Context. Flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) often remain undetected at very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) γ rays due to their typically soft spectra and large distance. In December 2023, the Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1) detected for the first time VHE γ-ray emission from the FSRQ OP 313 during an extraordinarily bright flare, becoming the furthest blazar ever observed at VHE with z = 0.997. Aims. We aim to characterize the γ-ray emission of OP 313 during this flare, comparing it with its average emission state in order to understand the processes leading to this detection. Its remarkable distance also enables studies on the extragalactic background light (EBL), with the goal of evaluating the attenuation of VHE γ-ray photons. Thanks to an intensive multiwavelength campaign, we also study in detail the broadband emission of the source. Methods. We characterize the γ-ray emission during the flare in December 2023 and the low emission state observed in January 2024 thanks to the LST-1 and MAGIC data and quasi-simultaneous Fermi-LAT observations. This dataset also enables us to evaluate the EBL attenuation by systematically exploring the EBL intensity over the γ-ray spectrum.. Finally, we study the multiwavelength emission and interpret the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) within blazar radiative models including the thermal contributions from the accretion disk, dusty torus and broad line region. Results. We measured significant VHE γ-ray emission during the December 2023 flare at a level of 0.3 Crab units above 100 GeV. We also characterize the flare brightness in the high-energy (HE, E > 100 MeV) γ-ray band, which was found to be a factor of 50 above the average emission seen by Fermi-LAT. The HE and VHE observations allow us to set constrains on the EBL density, resulting in an upper limit at 0.6 μm of λI_λ < 8.74 nW m² sr⁻¹ with LST-1 data, and λI_λ < 14.7 nW m² sr⁻¹ with MAGIC data, including systematic uncertainties. Finally, thanks to the extensive multiwavelength campaign organized, we are able to construct and model the broadband SED of OP 313 within the framework of a two-zone leptonic model where the γ-ray emission is produced via inverseCompton scattering of the broad line region, accretion disk, and dusty torus photon fields. However, the dominant external photon field remains unknown, as several combinations are able to successfully explain the γ-ray emission observed.

We perform a quantum probing of colliding plane-wave spacetimes. In particular, we consider the Khan-Penrose and the Ferrari-Ibáñez solutions, which admit a strong and a weak singularity after the two waves collide. While we find that, like Schwarzschild, for the Khan-Penrose solution the singularity cannot be probed by quantum-field theory, the Ferrari-Ibáñez singularity can be traversed. Our results culminate in a quantum Weyl conjecture: The significant geometric property to classify spacetimes with respect to quantum probes is given by the Coulomb part of the Weyl tensor. We then use this conjecture to sketch a possible backreaction scenario for plane waves.

The upcoming Rubin Observatory and subsequent follow-up observations should improve the determination of the Hubble constant ($H_0$) via time-delay cosmography of strongly lensed type II supernovae (LSNe II), by enabling the detection of many more such events. In our previous work, we developed a method for determining the supernova (SN) phase from spectral absorption features. Because obtaining spectra of faint targets such as distant SN II is expensive, we examined how low-resolution spectra influence the precision of time-delay retrieval, and consequently the precision on $H_0$. We considered spectral resolutions $R = \fracλ{Δλ}$ between 100 and 250, and we investigated three signal-to-noise ratio ($S/N$) values of 10, 15, and 20, for each resolution. Furthermore, we forecast the precision on $H_{0}$ achievable with $S/N=10$ and compared the observing time required to reach it with ground-based and space-based facilities. We find that the time delay can be determined without bias and with uncertainties as low as 1.3 days for the investigated resolutions and $S/N$ values when we combine time-delay measurements of multiple absorption lines. For a typical LSN II system (absolute magnitude $\sim-$17 mag in the rest-frame V band, source redshift of \zs = 0.8), the required exposure times range from multiple hours for ground-based observations to a few minutes for space-based observations with the JWST. Our predictions on the precision of $H_0$ for a single lensed SN range from 14.2\% for $R = 100$ and $S/N$ = 10 to 7.5\% for $R = 250$ and $S/N$ = 20, enabling a 1\% determination of $H_0$ from $\sim$20 lensed SNe in the coming years.

We present a microscopic model of the dark sector that resolves the Hubble tension within standard current datasets (Planck 2018, <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Pantheon</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> and DESI DR2 BAO) based on well-known fundamental principles, gauge symmetry and spontaneous symmetry breaking. It builds on the hot new early dark energy (Hot NEDE) setup, featuring a dark <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>S</mml:mi><mml:mi>U</mml:mi><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:math></inline-formula> gauge symmetry broken to <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>S</mml:mi><mml:mi>U</mml:mi><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mi>N</mml:mi><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn>1</mml:mn><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:math></inline-formula> in a supercooled phase transition that creates a thermal bath of self-interacting dark radiation in the epoch between big bang nucleosynthesis and recombination. Adding a fermion multiplet charged under the gauge symmetry provides a naturally stable component of dark matter that interacts with dark radiation. Spontaneous symmetry breaking predicts a decoupling of this interaction once the dark sector cools down, that we refer to as dark radiation matter decoupling (DRMD). We also provide a simplified DRMD model that captures the essential features of the full theory while retaining additional falsifiable predictions. Using the datasets stated above, we find agreement with the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>SH</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mi>ES</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> determination of <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:msub><mml:mi>H</mml:mi><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math></inline-formula> at the <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mn>1.4</mml:mn><mml:mi>σ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> level, compared to a <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mn>5.7</mml:mn><mml:mi>σ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> tension in <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi><mml:mi>CDM</mml:mi></mml:math></inline-formula>, thereby providing a resolution of the Hubble tension.

Ongoing effort is devoted to observing spectroscopic samples of dwarf galaxies in clusters, allowing the analysis of their distribution and associated trends in projected phase-space (PPS), i.e. line-of-sight velocity vs. projected clustercentric distance. By utilizing the resolved baryonic halos inside the galaxy clusters of a cosmological simulation from the Magneticum suite, we complement on prior studies with dedicated focus on the dwarf galaxy population ($M_\ast<10^9\,M_\odot$) and correlations between infall time and location in PPS. The inferred trend recovers the radial correlation reported by prior works, but we find a significant fraction ($\geq30\%$) of recently accreted galaxies at locations that were previously predicted to be dominated by ancient infallers. Splitting the diagram with an infall time threshold of 3 Gyr, we develop a detailed infall time template in PPS. We provide our data to allow observers to statistically infer the time of infall of their sample when placing them on the PPS. Additionally, we review the trajectories in PPS of different orbits and their dependence on the observer's orientation. Compared to massive galaxies, we find a much broader radial distribution for dwarfs in 3D PS. Utilizing a set of high-resolution idealized simulations, we predict strongly altered orbits for dark matter-deficient galaxies.

We investigate the neutrino flux from the Sun and Earth, as well as the heating of Jupiter and white dwarfs, induced by the annihilation of spin-$1/2$ dark matter particles captured through their electromagnetic interactions with nuclei. Using current data, we derive constraints on the electromagnetic moments and compare them with existing bounds from direct dark matter searches, laboratory experiments, and astrophysical observations. We find that celestial bodies provide leading constraints in several regions of parameter space: the Earth is particularly sensitive to millicharged dark matter, while massive white dwarfs provide powerful probes of the magnetic dipole moment, charge radius, and anapole moment in regions where direct searches lose sensitivity. We illustrate the implications of these constraints in simplified models of Dirac and Majorana dark matter with radiatively generated electromagnetic moments, as we discuss the complementarity between capture in celestial bodies and other dark matter searches.

We present the first measurement of the Hubble constant ($H_0$) from the quadruply-lensed quasar J1537$-$3010, which has optically-measured time delays at $\sim2 \%$ precision. We combine these delays with multi-band imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and model the system with two independent software and teams. We adopt a mass profile that is maximally degenerate with $H_0$ to fully incorporate the mass-sheet degeneracy in the error budget, with nuisance parameters constrained by spatially resolved stellar kinematics from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) and a line-of-sight (LoS) analysis using the Euclid Flagship simulation. The entire analysis is performed blindly to $H_0$, distances and mass density slope of the main deflector. After unblinding, we measure $H_0 = 75.5^{+9.3}_{-5.8}\ {\rm km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}}$, corresponding to a $10\%$ precision measurement from a single system. This precision is driven by conservative lens modeling assumptions including differences between lens modeling methods and the limited stellar kinematics constraints, from which we infer a total mass-sheet parameter $λ\equiv(1-κ_{\rm ext})λ_{\rm int} = 0.89^{+0.11}_{-0.06}$ ($λ_{\rm int}=0.89^{+0.09}_{-0.07}$) that is consistent with current results for elliptical galaxies ($λ\approx 1$). Our lensing constraints, stellar kinematic measurements and LoS characterization will be included in subsequent population-level measurements of $H_0$. Moreover, our lens models combined with future near-infrared spectroscopy and imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope will further reduce the uncertainties on $H_0$ from J1537$-$3010 alone, bringing it closer to the few percents precision of the time delays.

We present spatially resolved spectra and infer the time-delays between the multiple images of the strongly gravitationally lensed superluminous supernova (SLSN) 2025wny at z=2.015. SN 2025wny is the first known spatially resolved strongly lensed SLSN and provides a unique opportunity to measure lensing delays through the temporal evolution of supernova spectra. We present a spectroscopic dataset spanning several months, including spatially resolved spectra of images A, B, C, D, and E. We identify and measure the wavelength evolution of spectral features using Gaussian-process modeling. The time delays are inferred by jointly fitting the temporal evolution of the spectral features, yielding $∆t_{AB}=-10.3 \pm 2.3$, $∆t_{AC}=0.1 \pm 3.6$, $∆t_{AD}=-65.7 \pm 3.5$, and $∆t_{AE}=3.7 \pm 8.8$ days (68% confidence intervals). These are the among most precise time-delay measurements obtained for a lensed supernova to date, whether from spectroscopic or photometric methods. The longest delay ($∆t_{AD}$) is particularly well constrained, with a ~5% precision. Combined with the lens model presented by Mörtsell et al. (2026), the spectroscopic time-delays give a Hubble constant $H_0 = 70.2^{+8.2}_{-6.1}$ km/s/Mpc. Our analysis demonstrates that spectroscopic evolution provides an independent and complementary route to time-delay measurements in lensed supernova systems, avoiding reliance on photometric light curves alone. As future surveys discover larger samples of lensed supernovae, spectroscopic time-delay measurements will provide an important avenue for precision cosmography.

Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) detect very-high-energy gamma rays by imaging the nanosecond Cherenkov flash of the air shower they initiate in the Earth's atmosphere. For four decades the first steps of IACT event reconstruction have been essentially unchanged, relying on a heavy parameterisation and dimensionality reduction of the recorded images. This is reasonable when the image is bright, but discards important information when only a few tens of Cherenkov photons are recorded, which is a primary reason why small telescopes perform poorly at sub-TeV energies. We show that this limitation is a property of the analysis rather than of the hardware. We simulate a deliberately simple and idealised compact telescope and treat each event as a short movie that is passed directly to a video vision transformer with a factorised spatio-temporal encoder. A single composite network with a gradient-normalised multi-task loss performs gamma/hadron classification, energy regression and arrival-direction regression at once. This is the first application of a video vision transformer to IACT data. We compare it against an optimised standard analysis on the same dataset. The transformer lowers the energy threshold by a factor of three, from 0.22 to 0.07 TeV, and reconstructs arrival directions down to 0.05 TeV. At 0.2 TeV it increases the effective collection area by a factor of three, and raises the gamma/hadron separation power from an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.80 to 0.91. At 0.05 TeV, where the standard analysis retains almost nothing, that area grows by nearly two orders of magnitude. These results show promising new opportunities for compact and affordable telescopes operating at sub-TeV energies, paving the way for a broader exploration of time-domain astrophysics.

Although half-wave plates (HWPs) are becoming a popular choice of polarization modulators for cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments, their non-idealities can introduce systematic effects that should be carefully characterized and mitigated. One possible mitigation strategy is to incorporate information about the non-idealities at the map-making level, which helps to reduce the HWP-induced distortions of the reconstructed CMB. Nevertheless, the non-idealities can only be known with finite precision. In this paper we investigate the consequences of discrepancies between their true frequency profiles and those assumed by the map-maker. We present an end-to-end framework, including a blind component-separation step, and use it to translate these discrepancies into a bias on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, for the LiteBIRD satellite mission. We subsequently derive realistic and conservative measurement requirements for accurately characterizing the HWP non-idealities to ensure they do not compromise LiteBIRD's ambitious scientific goals. We find that the obtained results are robust against sky models with varying complexity.

Dynamical modelling can be used to constrain the masses of central black holes, but it is challenging to model massive galaxies because of their complex kinematics. We report six new measurements of supermassive black hole masses of massive early-type galaxies from stellar kinematics, which were extracted from adaptive-optics-assisted SINFONI and MUSE observations. We combined the stellar kinematics with HST photometry to build DYNAMITE triaxial Schwarzschild orbit-superposition models. Our Schwarzschild models can recover the complex triaxial features of the galaxies and constrain the black hole masses of all six galaxies. We found that strong triaxial kinematic features can bias the mass measurements and corrected for this effect. The derived black hole masses are (1.14_−0.63^+0.41) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for NGC 3706, (1.19_−0.80^+1.34) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for NGC 3923, (1.14_−0.95^+1.08) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for NGC 4261, (4.68_−4.26^+2.99) × 10⁸ M_⊙ for NGC 4636, (3.51_−2.57^+3.37) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for IC 4296, and (2.43_−1.65^+1.53) × 10⁹ M_⊙ for IC 4329 at a confidence level of 3σ. We compared our measurements with published results from axisymmetric Schwarzschild modelling and with our JAM Jeans Anisotropic models and obtained mostly consistent black hole masses. Most of our black hole mass estimates can be well constrained using MUSE observations alone. All of our mass measurements agree with local black hole scaling relations.

Context. The gas-phase mass─metallicity relation (MZR) of galaxies shows a noticeable break in slope and an increased scatter at low stellar masses, suggesting that the physical processes governing chemical enrichment differ between dwarf and high-mass systems. Dwarf galaxies, in particular, are highly susceptible to both internal and environmental mechanisms due to their shallow potential wells. Aims. The primary aim of this work is to assess whether a single, universal MZR can describe dwarf galaxies across diverse large-scale environments, or whether systematic environmental variations emerge. To probe these, we examine the MZR and star formation rate (SFR) of dwarf galaxies with stellar masses in the range of 8.9 < log(M_★/M_⊙) < 9.5. Methods. Using optical spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we measured the fluxes of key emission lines via the pyPipe3D full spectral fitting pipeline. Aperture-corrected fluxes, along with multiple metallicity indicators and calibrations, were used to derive the MZR and the SFR for 353, 311, and 22 dwarf galaxies located in voids, filaments, and clusters, respectively. Results. We find a systematic variation in the MZR slope, steeper in voids (0.28 ± 0.03) and progressively flatter in clusters (0.17 ± 0.08), indicating a dependence of the MZR on the large-scale environment in this mass regime. When galaxies are separated by local density, no significant differences are observed between isolated and non-isolated dwarfs in voids. Isolated dwarf galaxies in filaments also exhibit properties similar to those of their counterparts in voids. However, non-isolated filament galaxies exhibit similar MZR slopes comparable to those of cluster dwarfs and flatter slopes than their counterparts in voids. Conclusions. We report both large- and local-scale environmental dependencies in the gas-phase metallicity and in the slope of the MZR for dwarf galaxies. Consistent with the general consensus on the pre-processing of galaxies in filaments, our results indicate that the influence of the local environment becomes increasingly significant within the filamentary regions of the cosmic web, affecting the chemical enrichment and star formation activity of low-mass systems. These findings further suggest that a portion of the scatter commonly observed in the MZR of dwarf galaxies arises from environmental effects.

Context. Flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) often remain undetected at very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) γ rays due to their typically soft spectra and large distance. In December 2023, the Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1) detected for the first time VHE γ-ray emission from the FSRQ OP 313 during an extraordinarily bright flare, becoming the furthest blazar ever observed at VHE with z = 0.997. Aims. We aim to characterize the γ-ray emission of OP 313 during this flare, comparing it with its average emission state in order to understand the processes leading to this detection. Its remarkable distance also enables studies on the extragalactic background light (EBL), with the goal of evaluating the attenuation of VHE γ-ray photons. Thanks to an intensive multiwavelength campaign, we also study in detail the broadband emission of the source. Methods. We characterize the γ-ray emission during the flare in December 2023 and the low emission state observed in January 2024 thanks to the LST-1 and MAGIC data and quasi-simultaneous Fermi-LAT observations. This dataset also enables us to evaluate the EBL attenuation by systematically exploring the EBL intensity over the γ-ray spectrum.. Finally, we study the multiwavelength emission and interpret the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) within blazar radiative models including the thermal contributions from the accretion disk, dusty torus and broad line region. Results. We measured significant VHE γ-ray emission during the December 2023 flare at a level of 0.3 Crab units above 100 GeV. We also characterize the flare brightness in the high-energy (HE, E > 100 MeV) γ-ray band, which was found to be a factor of 50 above the average emission seen by Fermi-LAT. The HE and VHE observations allow us to set constrains on the EBL density, resulting in an upper limit at 0.6 μm of λI_λ < 8.74 nW m² sr⁻¹ with LST-1 data, and λI_λ < 14.7 nW m² sr⁻¹ with MAGIC data, including systematic uncertainties. Finally, thanks to the extensive multiwavelength campaign organized, we are able to construct and model the broadband SED of OP 313 within the framework of a two-zone leptonic model where the γ-ray emission is produced via inverseCompton scattering of the broad line region, accretion disk, and dusty torus photon fields. However, the dominant external photon field remains unknown, as several combinations are able to successfully explain the γ-ray emission observed.

We perform a quantum probing of colliding plane-wave spacetimes. In particular, we consider the Khan-Penrose and the Ferrari-Ibáñez solutions, which admit a strong and a weak singularity after the two waves collide. While we find that, like Schwarzschild, for the Khan-Penrose solution the singularity cannot be probed by quantum-field theory, the Ferrari-Ibáñez singularity can be traversed. Our results culminate in a quantum Weyl conjecture: The significant geometric property to classify spacetimes with respect to quantum probes is given by the Coulomb part of the Weyl tensor. We then use this conjecture to sketch a possible backreaction scenario for plane waves.

The upcoming Rubin Observatory and subsequent follow-up observations should improve the determination of the Hubble constant ($H_0$) via time-delay cosmography of strongly lensed type II supernovae (LSNe II), by enabling the detection of many more such events. In our previous work, we developed a method for determining the supernova (SN) phase from spectral absorption features. Because obtaining spectra of faint targets such as distant SN II is expensive, we examined how low-resolution spectra influence the precision of time-delay retrieval, and consequently the precision on $H_0$. We considered spectral resolutions $R = \fracλ{Δλ}$ between 100 and 250, and we investigated three signal-to-noise ratio ($S/N$) values of 10, 15, and 20, for each resolution. Furthermore, we forecast the precision on $H_{0}$ achievable with $S/N=10$ and compared the observing time required to reach it with ground-based and space-based facilities. We find that the time delay can be determined without bias and with uncertainties as low as 1.3 days for the investigated resolutions and $S/N$ values when we combine time-delay measurements of multiple absorption lines. For a typical LSN II system (absolute magnitude $\sim-$17 mag in the rest-frame V band, source redshift of \zs = 0.8), the required exposure times range from multiple hours for ground-based observations to a few minutes for space-based observations with the JWST. Our predictions on the precision of $H_0$ for a single lensed SN range from 14.2\% for $R = 100$ and $S/N$ = 10 to 7.5\% for $R = 250$ and $S/N$ = 20, enabling a 1\% determination of $H_0$ from $\sim$20 lensed SNe in the coming years.