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

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

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

We present VLT/MUSE spectroscopy, along with archival Gemini/GMOS spectroscopy, Magellan/Megacam imaging, and Chandra X-ray emission for SPT-CLJ0305-6225, a z=0.58 galaxy cluster. A large BCG-SZ centroid separation and a highly disturbed X-ray morphology classifies SPT-CLJ0307-6225 as a major merging cluster. Furthermore, the galaxy density distribution shows two main overdensities with separations of 0.144' and 0.017' to their respective BCGs. We characterize the central regions of the two colliding structures, namely 0307-6225N and 0307-6225S. We find velocity derived masses of $M_{200,N}=$ 2.42 $\pm$ 1.40 $\times10^{14}$ M$_\odot$ and $M_{200,S}=$ 3.13 $\pm$ 1.87 $\times10^{14}$ M$_\odot$, with a line-of-sight velocity difference between the two structures of $|\Delta v| = 342$ km s$^{-1}$. The total dynamically derived mass is consistent with the SZ derived mass of 7.63 h$_{70}^{-1}$ $\pm$ 1.36 $\times10^{14}$ M$_\odot$. We model the merger using the Monte Carlo Merger Analysis Code, estimating a merging angle of 36$^{+14}_{-12}$ degrees with respect to the plane of the sky. Comparing with simulations of a merging system with a mass ratio of 1:3, we find that the best scenario is that of an ongoing merger that began 0.96$^{+0.31}_{-0.18}$ Gyr ago, which could be close to turnaround. We also characterize the galaxy population using the H$\delta$ and [OII] $\lambda 3727$ Å\ lines. We find that most of the emission-line galaxies belong to 0307-6225S, close to the X-ray peak position, with a third of them corresponding to red-cluster sequence galaxies, and the rest to blue galaxies with velocities consistent with recent periods of accretion. Moreover, we suggest that 0307-6225S suffered a previous merger, evidenced through the two equally bright BCGs at the center with a velocity difference of $\sim$674 km s$^{-1}$.

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

We introduce a new statistical test based on the observed spacings of ordered data. The statistic is sensitive to detect non-uniformity in random samples, or short-lived features in event time series. Under some conditions, this new test can outperform existing ones, such as the well known Kolmogorov-Smirnov or Anderson-Darling tests, in particular when the number of samples is small and differences occur over a small quantile of the null hypothesis distribution. A detailed description of the test statistic is provided including an illustration and examples, together with a parameterization of its distribution based on simulation.

We analyze exactly marginal deformations of 3d N=4 Lagrangian gauge theories, especially mixed-branch operators with both electric and magnetic charges. These mixed-branch moduli are either single-trace (non-factorizable) or in products of electric and magnetic current supermultiplets. Apart from some exceptional quivers (which have additional moduli), 3d N=4 theories described by genus g quivers with nonabelian unitary gauge groups have exactly g single-trace mixed moduli, which preserve the global flavour symmetries. For g>1, this implies that AdS_4 gauged supergravities cannot capture the entire moduli space even if one takes into account the (quantization) moduli of boundary conditions. Likewise, in a general Lagrangian theory, we establish (using the superconformal index) that the number of single-trace mixed moduli is bounded below by the genus of a graph encoding how nonabelian gauge groups act on hypermultiplets.

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

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

We investigate the deformations and rigidity of boundary Heisenberg-like algebras. In particular, we focus on the Heisenberg and $\text{Heisenberg}\oplus\mathfrak{witt}$ algebras which arise as symmetry algebras in three-dimensional gravity theories. As a result of the deformation procedure we find a large class of algebras. While some of these algebras are new, some of them have already been obtained as asymptotic and boundary symmetry algebras, supporting the idea that symmetry algebras associated to diverse boundary conditions and spacetime loci are algebraically interconnected through deformation of algebras. The deformation/contraction relationships between the new algebras are investigated. In addition, it is also shown that the deformation procedure reaches new algebras inaccessible to the Sugawara construction. As a byproduct of our analysis, we obtain that $\text{Heisenberg}\oplus\mathfrak{witt}$ and the asymptotic symmetry algebra Weyl-$\mathfrak{bms}_3$ are not connected via single deformation but in a more subtle way.

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

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

Light curves and spectral energy distributions data are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/655/A89

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

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

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

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

Tables A.3-A.23 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/656/A61

The experimental detection of the CE$\nu$NS allows the investigation of neutrinos and neutrino sources with all-flavor sensitivity. Given its large content in neutrons and stability, Pb is a very appealing choice as target element. The presence of the radioisotope $^{210}$Pb (T$_{1/2}\sim$22 yrs) makes natural Pb unsuitable for low-background, low-energy event searches. This limitation can be overcome employing Pb of archaeological origin, where several half-lives of $^{210}$Pb have gone by. We present results of a cryogenic measurement of a 15g PbWO$_4$ crystal, grown with archaeological Pb (older than $\sim$2000 yrs) that achieved a sub-keV nuclear recoil detection threshold. A ton-scale experiment employing such material, with a detection threshold for nuclear recoils of just 1 keV would probe the entire Milky Way for SuperNovae, with equal sensitivity for all neutrino flavors, allowing the study of the core of such exceptional events.

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

Nuclear weak decays provide important probes to fundamental symmetries in nature. A precise description of these processes in atomic nuclei requires comprehensive knowledge on both the strong and weak interactions in the nuclear medium and on the dynamics of quantum many-body systems. In particular, an observation of the hypothetical double beta decay without emission of neutrinos ($0\nu\beta\beta$) would unambiguously demonstrate the Majorana nature of neutrinos and the existence of the lepton-number-violation process. It would also provide unique information on the ordering and absolute scale of neutrino masses. The next-generation tonne-scale experiments with sensitivity up to $10^{28}$ years after a few years of running will probably provide a definite answer to these fundamental questions based on our current knowledge on the nuclear matrix element (NME), the precise determination of which is a challenge to nuclear theory. Beyond-mean-field approaches have been frequently adapted for the study of nuclear structure and decay throughout the nuclear chart for several decades. In this review, we summarize the status of beyond-mean-field calculations of the NMEs of $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay assuming the standard mechanism of an exchange of light Majorana neutrinos. The challenges and prospects in the extension and application of beyond-mean-field approaches for $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay are discussed.

Cosmological inference from cluster number counts is systematically limited by the accuracy of the mass calibration, i.e. the empirical determination of the mapping between cluster selection observables and halo mass. In this work we demonstrate a method to quantitatively determine the bias and uncertainties in weak-lensing (WL) mass calibration. To this end, we extract a library of projected matter density profiles from hydrodynamical simulations. Accounting for shear bias and noise, photometric redshift uncertainties, mis-centreing, cluster member contamination, cluster morphological diversity, and line-of-sight projections, we produce a library of shear profiles. Fitting a one-parameter model to these profiles, we extract the so-called WL mass M_WL. Relating the WL mass to the halo mass from gravity-only simulations with the same initial conditions as the hydrodynamical simulations allows us to estimate the impact of hydrodynamical effects on cluster number counts experiments. Creating new shear libraries for ~1000 different realizations of the systematics provides a distribution of the parameters of the WL to halo mass relation, reflecting their systematic uncertainty. This result can be used as a prior for cosmological inference. We also discuss the impact of the inner fitting radius on the accuracy, and determine the outer fitting radius necessary to exclude the signal from neighbouring structures. Our method is currently being applied to different Stage III lensing surveys, and can easily be extended to Stage IV lensing surveys.

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

We present a photometric analysis of star and star cluster (SC) formation in a high-resolution simulation of a dwarf galaxy starburst that allows the formation of individual stars to be followed. Previous work has demonstrated that the properties of the SCs formed in the simulation are in good agreement with observations. In this paper, we create mock spectral energy distributions and broad-band photometric images using the radiative transfer code SKIRT 9. We test several observational star formation (SF) tracers and find that $24\,\mu$m, total infrared and H$_\alpha$ trace the underlying SF rate during the (post)starburst phase, while UV tracers yield a more accurate picture of star formation during quiescent phases prior to and after the merger. We then place the simulated galaxy at distances of $10$ and $50$ Mpc and use aperture photometry at Hubble Space Telescope resolution to analyse the simulated SC population. During the starburst phase, a hierarchically forming set of SCs leads inaccurate source separation because of crowding. This results in estimated SC mass function slopes that are up to $\sim0.3$ shallower than the true slope of $\sim-2$ found for the bound clusters identified from the particle data in the simulation. The masses of the largest clusters are overestimated by a factor of up to $2.5$ due to unresolved clusters within the apertures. The aperture-based analysis also produces a relation between cluster formation efficiency and SF rate surface density that is flatter than that recovered from bound clusters. The differences are strongest in quiescent SF environments.

We collected the largest spectroscopic catalog of RR Lyrae (RRLs) including ≍20,000 high-, medium-, and low-resolution spectra for ≍10,000 RRLs. We provide the analytical forms of radial velocity curve (RVC) templates. These were built using 36 RRLs (31 fundamental-split into three period bins-and five first-overtone pulsators) with well-sampled RVCs based on three groups of metallic lines (Fe, Mg, Na) and four Balmer lines (H_α, H_β, H_γ, H_δ). We tackled the long-standing problem of the reference epoch to anchor light-curve and RVC templates. For the V-band, we found that the residuals of the templates anchored to the phase of the mean magnitude along the rising branch are ~35% to ~45% smaller than those anchored to the phase of maximum light. For the RVC, we used two independent reference epochs for metallic and Balmer lines and we verified that the residuals of the RVC templates anchored to the phase of mean RV are from 30% (metallic lines) up to 45% (Balmer lines) smaller than those anchored to the phase of minimum RV. We validated our RVC templates by using both the single-point and the three phase point approaches. We found that barycentric velocities based on our RVC templates are two to three times more accurate than those available in the literature. We applied the current RVC templates to Balmer lines RVs of RRLs in the globular NGC 3201 collected with MUSE at VLT. We found the cluster barycentric RV of V_γ = 496.89 ± 8.37(error) ± 3.43 (standard deviation) km s^-1, which agrees well with literature estimates.

Expressions for the potentials appearing in the nonrelativistic effective field theory description of doubly heavy baryons are known in terms of operator insertions in the Wilson loop. However, their evaluation requires nonperturbative techniques, such as lattice QCD, and the relevant calculations are often not available. We propose a parametrization of these potentials with a minimal model dependence based on an interpolation of the short- and long-distance descriptions. The short-distance description is obtained from weakly-coupled potential NRQCD and the long-distance one is computed using an effective string theory. The effective string theory coincides with the one for pure gluodynamics with the addition of a fermion field constrained to move on the string. We compute the hyperfine contributions to the doubly heavy baryon spectrum. The unknown parameters are obtained from heavy quark-diquark symmetry or fitted to the available lattice-QCD determinations of the hyperfine splittings. Using these parameters we compute the double charm and bottom baryon spectrum including the hyperfine contributions. We compare our results with those of other approaches and find that our results are closer to lattice-QCD determinations, in particular for the excited states. Furthermore, we compute the vacuum energy in the effective string theory and show that the fermion field contribution produces the running of the string tension and a change of sign in the Lüscher term.

We present analytical results for one-loop five-point master integrals with up to three off-shell legs. The method of canonical differential equations along with the Simplified Differential Equations approach is employed. All necessary boundary terms are given in closed form, resulting to solutions in terms of Goncharov Polylogarithms of arbitrary weight. Explicit results up to weight six will be presented.

Context: Modelling satellite galaxy abundance $N_s$ in Galaxy Clusters (GCs) is a key element in modelling the Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD), which itself is a powerful tool to connect observational studies with numerical simulations. Aims: To study the impact of cosmological parameters on satellite abundance both in cosmological simulations and in mock observations. Methods: We build an emulator (HODEmu, \url{https://github.com/aragagnin/HODEmu/}) of satellite abundance based on cosmological parameters $\Omega_m, \Omega_b, \sigma_8, h_0$ and redshift $z.$ We train our emulator using \magneticum hydrodynamic simulations that span 15 different cosmologies, each over $4$ redshift slices between $0<z<0.5,$ and for each setup we fit normalisation $A$, log-slope $\beta$ and Gaussian fractional-scatter $\sigma$ of the $N_s-M$ relation. The emulator is based on multi-variate output Gaussian Process Regression (GPR). Results: We find that $A$ and $\beta$ depend on cosmological parameters, even if weakly, especially on $\Omega_m,$ $\Omega_b.$ This dependency can explain some discrepancies found in literature between satellite HOD of different cosmological simulations (Magneticum, Illustris, BAHAMAS). We also show that satellite abundance cosmology dependency differs between full-physics (FP) simulations, dark-matter only (DMO), and non-radiative simulations. Conclusions: This work provides a preliminary calibration of the cosmological dependency of the satellite abundance of high mass halos, and we showed that modelling HOD with cosmological parameters is necessary to interpret satellite abundance, and we showed the importance of using FP simulations in modelling this dependency.

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

The coming generation of galaxy surveys will provide measurements of galaxy clustering with unprecedented accuracy and data size, which will allow us to test cosmological models at much higher precision than achievable previously. This means that we must have more accurate theoretical predictions to compare with future observational data. As a first step towards more accurate modelling of the redshift space distortions (RSD) of small-scale galaxy clustering in modified gravity (MG) cosmologies, we investigate the validity of the so-called Skew-T (ST) probability distribution function (PDF) of halo pairwise peculiar velocities in these models. We show that, combined with the streaming model of RSD, the ST PDF substantially improves the small-scale predictions by incorporating skewness and kurtosis, for both $\Lambda$CDM and two leading MG models: $f(R)$ gravity and the DGP braneworld model. The ST model reproduces the velocity PDF and redshift-space halo clustering measured from MG $N$-body simulations very well down to $\sim 5 \, h^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}$. In particular, we investigate the enhancements of halo pairwise velocity moments with respect to $\Lambda$CDM for a larger range of MG variants than previous works, and present simple explanations to the behaviours observed. By performing a simple Fisher analysis, we find a significnat increase in constraining power to detect modifications of General Relativity by introducing small-scale information in the RSD analyses.

We present mg-glam, a code developed for the very fast

production of full N-body cosmological simulations in modified

gravity (MG) models. We describe the implementation, numerical tests

and first results of a large suite of cosmological simulations for

three classes of MG models with conformal coupling terms: the f(R)

gravity, symmetron and coupled quintessence models. Derived from

the parallel particle-mesh code glam, mg-glam

incorporates an efficient multigrid relaxation technique to solve

the characteristic nonlinear partial differential equations of these

models. For f(R) gravity, we have included new variants to

diversify the model behaviour, and we have tailored the relaxation

algorithms to these to maintain high computational efficiency. In a

companion paper, we describe versions of this code developed for

derivative coupling MG models, including the Vainshtein- and

K-mouflage-type models. mg-glam can model the prototypes

for most MG models of interest, and is broad and versatile. The

code is highly optimised, with a tremendous speedup of a factor of

more than a hundred compared with earlier N-body codes, while

still giving accurate predictions of the matter power spectrum and

dark matter halo abundance. mg-glam is ideal for the

generation of large numbers of MG simulations that can be used in

the construction of mock galaxy catalogues and the production of

accurate emulators for ongoing and future galaxy surveys.

RES-NOVA is a new proposed experiment for the investigation of astrophysical neutrino sources with archaeological Pb-based cryogenic detectors. RES-NOVA will exploit Coherent Elastic neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEνNS) as detection channel, thus it will be equally sensitive to all neutrino flavors produced by Supernovae (SNe). RES-NOVA with only a total active volume of (60 cm)³ and an energy threshold of 1 keV will probe the entire Milky Way Galaxy for (failed) core-collapse SNe with > 3 σ detection significance. The high detector modularity makes RES-NOVA ideal also for reconstructing the main parameters (e.g. average neutrino energy, star binding energy) of SNe occurring in our vicinity, without deterioration of the detector performance caused by the high neutrino interaction rate. For the first time, distances <3 kpc can be surveyed, similarly to the ones where all known past galactic SNe happened. We discuss the RES-NOVA potential, accounting for a realistic setup, considering the detector geometry, modularity and background level in the region of interest. We report on the RES-NOVA background model and on the sensitivity to SN neutrinos as a function of the distance travelled by neutrinos.

We present 3D calculations for dielectric haloscopes such as the currently envisioned MADMAX experiment. For ideal systems with perfectly flat, parallel and isotropic dielectric disks of finite diameter, we find that a geometrical form factor reduces the emitted power by up to 30 % compared to earlier 1D calculations. We derive the emitted beam shape, which is important for antenna design. We show that realistic dark matter axion velocities of 10^-3 c and inhomogeneities of the external magnetic field at the scale of 10 % have negligible impact on the sensitivity of MADMAX. We investigate design requirements for which the emitted power changes by less than 20 % for a benchmark boost factor with a bandwidth of 50 MHz at 22 GHz, corresponding to an axion mass of 90 μ eV. We find that the maximum allowed disk tilt is 100 μ m divided by the disk diameter, the required disk planarity is 20 μ m (min-to-max) or better, and the maximum allowed surface roughness is 100 μ m (min-to-max). We show how using tiled dielectric disks glued together from multiple smaller patches can affect the beam shape and antenna coupling.

We investigate the phenomenology of a dark matter scenario containing two generations of the dark matter particle, differing only by their mass and their couplings to the other particles, akin to the quark and lepton sectors of the Standard Model. For concreteness, we consider the case where the two dark matter generations are Majorana fermions that couple to a right-handed lepton and a scalar mediator through Yukawa couplings. We identify different production regimes in the multi-flavor dark matter scenario and we argue that in some parts of the parameter space the heavier generation can play a pivotal role in generating the correct dark matter abundance. In these regions, the strength of the dark matter coupling to the Standard Model can be much larger than in the single-flavored dark matter scenario. Correspondingly the indirect and direct detection signals can be significantly boosted. We also comment on the signatures of the model from the decay of the heavier dark matter generation into the lighter.

We use the forward modeling approach to galaxy clustering combined with the likelihood from the effective-field theory of large-scale structure to measure assembly bias, i.e. the dependence of halo bias on properties beyond the total mass, in the linear (b₁) and second order bias parameters (b₂ and b_K ²) of dark matter halos in N-body simulations. This is the first time that assembly bias in the tidal bias parameter b_K ² is measured. We focus on three standard halo properties: the concentration c, spin λ, and sphericity s, for which we find an assembly bias signal in b_K ² that is opposite to that in b₁. Specifically, at fixed mass, halos that get more (less) positively biased in b₁, get less (more) negatively biased in b_K ². We also investigate the impact of assembly bias on the b₂(b₁) and b_K ²(b₁) relations, and find that while the b₂(b₁) relation stays roughly unchanged, assembly bias strongly impacts the b_K ²(b₁) relation. This impact likely extends also to the corresponding relation for galaxies, which motivates future studies to design better priors on b_K ²(b₁) for use in cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering data.

The eROSITA Final Equatorial-Depth Survey (eFEDS), executed during the performance verification phase of the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG)/eROSITA telescope, was completed in Nov. 2019. One of the science goals of this survey is to demonstrate the ability of eROSITA to detect samples of clusters and groups at the final depth of the eROSITA all-sky survey. Because of the sizeable point-spread function of eROSITA, high-redshift clusters of galaxies or compact nearby groups hosting bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) can be misclassified as point sources by the source detection algorithms. A total of 346 galaxy clusters and groups in the redshift range of 0.1<z<1.3 were identified based on their red sequence in the point source catalog. We examine the multiwavelength properties of these clusters and groups to understand the potential biases in our selection process and the completeness of the extent-selected sample. The majority of the clusters and groups in the point source sample are indeed underluminous and compact compared to the extent-selected sample. Their faint X-ray emission, well below the flux limit of the extent-selected eFEDS clusters, and their compact X-ray emission are likely to be the main reason for this misclassification. In the sample, we confirm that 10% of the sources host AGN in their brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) through optical spectroscopy and visual inspection. By studying their X-ray, optical, infrared, and radio properties, we establish a method for identifying clusters and groups that host AGN in their BCGs. We successfully test this method on the current point source catalog through the Sloan Digital Sky Survey optical spectroscopy and find eight clusters and groups with active radio-loud AGN that are particularly bright in the infrared. They include eFEDSJ091437.8+024558, eFEDSJ083520.1+012516, and eFEDSJ092227.1+043339 at redshifts 0.3-0.4. [ABRIDGED]

We describe the survey design, calibration, commissioning, and emission-line detection algorithms for the Hobby–Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). The goal of HETDEX is to measure the redshifts of over a million Lyα emitting galaxies between 1.88 < z < 3.52, in a 540 deg$^{2}$ area encompassing a comoving volume of 10.9 Gpc$^{3}$. No preselection of targets is involved; instead the HETDEX measurements are accomplished via a spectroscopic survey using a suite of wide-field integral field units distributed over the focal plane of the telescope. This survey measures the Hubble expansion parameter and angular diameter distance, with a final expected accuracy of better than 1%. We detail the project’s observational strategy, reduction pipeline, source detection, and catalog generation, and present initial results for science verification in the Cosmological Evolution Survey, Extended Groth Strip, and Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey North fields. We demonstrate that our data reach the required specifications in throughput, astrometric accuracy, flux limit, and object detection, with the end products being a catalog of emission-line sources, their object classifications, and flux-calibrated spectra.

We present mg-glam, a code developed for the very fast production of full N-body cosmological simulations in modified gravity (MG) models. We describe the implementation, numerical tests and first results of a large suite of cosmological simulations for two broad classes of MG models with derivative coupling terms — the Vainshtein- and Kmouflage-type models — which respectively features the Vainshtein and Kmouflage screening mechanism. Derived from the parallel particle-mesh code glam, mg-glam incorporates an efficient multigrid relaxation technique to solve the characteristic nonlinear partial differential equations of these models. For Kmouflage, we have proposed a new algorithm for the relaxation solver, and run the first simulations of the model to understand its cosmological behaviour. In a companion paper, we describe versions of this code developed for conformally-coupled MG models, including several variants of f(R) gravity, the symmetron model and coupled quintessence. Altogether, mg-glam has so far implemented the prototypes for most MG models of interest, and is broad and versatile. The code is highly optimised, with a tremendous (over two orders of magnitude) speedup when comparing its running time with earlier N-body codes, while still giving accurate predictions of the matter power spectrum and dark matter halo abundance. mg-glam is ideal for the generation of large numbers of MG simulations that can be used in the construction of mock galaxy catalogues and accurate emulators for ongoing and future galaxy surveys.

The thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect contains information about the thermal history of the Universe, which is observable in maps of the Compton y parameter; however, it does not contain information about the redshift of the sources. Recent papers have utilized a tomographic approach, by cross correlating the Compton y map with the locations of galaxies with known redshift in order to deproject the signal along the line of sight. In this paper, we test the validity and accuracy of this tomographic approach to probe the thermal history of the Universe. We use the state-of-the-art, cosmological, and hydrodynamical simulation, Magneticum, for which the thermal history of the Universe is a known quantity. The key ingredient is the Compton-y -weighted halo bias, b_y, which is computed from the halo model. We find that, at redshifts currently available, the method reproduces the correct mean thermal pressure (or the density-weighted mean temperature) with high accuracy, validating and confirming the results of previous papers. At higher redshifts (z ≳2 ), there is significant disagreement between b_y from the halo model and the simulation.

Evolutionary games between species are known to lead to intriguing spatiotemporal patterns in systems of diffusing agents. However, the role of interspecies interactions is hardly studied when agents are (self-)propelled, as is the case in many biological systems. Here, we combine aspects from active matter and evolutionary game theory and study a system of two species whose individuals are (self-)propelled and interact through a snowdrift game. We derive hydrodynamic equations for the density and velocity fields of both species from which we identify parameter regimes in which one or both species form macroscopic orientational order as well as regimes of propagating wave patterns. Interestingly, we find simultaneous wave patterns in both species that result from the interplay between alignment and snowdrift interactions—a feedback mechanism that we call game-induced pattern formation. We test these results in agent-based simulations and confirm the different regimes of order and spatiotemporal patterns as well as game-induced pattern formation.

Three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric field theories admit a natural class of chiral half-BPS boundary conditions that preserve $\mathcal{N}=(0,4)$ supersymmetry. While such boundary conditions are not compatible with topological twists, deformations that define boundary conditions for the topological theories were recently introduced by Costello and Gaiotto. Not all $\mathcal{N}=(0,4)$ boundary conditions admit such deformations. We revisit this construction, working directly in the setting of the holomorphically twisted theory and viewing the topological twists as further deformations. Properties of the construction are explained both purely in the context of holomorphic field theory and also by engineering the holomorphic theory on the worldvolume of a D-brane. Our brane engineering approach combines the intersecting brane configurations of Hanany-Witten with recent work of Costello and Li on twisted supergravity. The latter approach allows to realize holomorphically and topologically twisted field theories directly as worldvolume theories in deformed supergravity backgrounds, and we make extensive use of this.

We investigate the algebra of vector fields on the sphere. First, we find that linear deformations of this algebra are obstructed under reasonable conditions. In particular, we show that hs[λ], the one-parameter deformation of the algebra of area-preserving vector fields, does not extend to the entire algebra. Next, we study some non-central extensions through the embedding of vect(S²) into vect(ℂ^*). For the latter, we discuss a three parameter family of non-central extensions which contains the symmetry algebra of asymptotically flat and asymptotically Friedmann spacetimes at future null infinity, admitting a simple free field realization.

We perform a detailed analysis of flavour changing neutral current processes in the charm sector in the context of 331 models. As pointed out recently, in the case of Z' contributions in these models there are no new free parameters beyond those already present in the B_d,s and K meson systems analyzed in the past. As a result, definite ranges for new Physics (NP) effects in various charm observables could be obtained. While generally NP effects turn out to be small, in a number of observables they are much larger than the tiny effects predicted within the Standard Model. In particular we find that the branching ratio of the mode D⁰→ μ⁺μ⁻, despite remaining tiny, can be enhanced by 6 orders of magnitude with respect to the SM. We work out correlations between this mode and rare B_d,s and K decays. We also discuss neutral charm meson oscillations and CP violation in the charm system. In particular, we point out that 331 models provide new weak phases that are a necessary condition to have non-vanishing CP asymmetries. In the case of ∆ACP, the difference between the CP asymmetries in D⁰→ K⁺K⁻ and D⁰→ π⁺π⁻, we find that agreement with experiment can be obtained provided that two conditions are verified: the phases in the ranges predicted in 331 models and large hadronic matrix elements.

The parameter space for modelling stellar systems is vast and complicated. To find best-fitting models for a star one needs a statistically robust way of exploring this space. We present a new machine-learning approach to predict the modelling parameters for detached double-lined eclipsing binary systems, including the system age, based on observable quantities. Our method allows for the estimation of the importance of several physical effects which are included in a parametrized form in stellar models, such as convective core overshoot or stellar spot coverage. The method yields probability distribution functions for the predicted parameters which take into account the statistical and, to a certain extent, the systematic errors which is very difficult to do using other methods. We employ two different approaches to investigate the two components of the system either independently or in a combined manner. Furthermore, two different grids are used as training data. We apply the method to 26 selected objects and test the predicted best solutions with an on-the-fly optimization routine which generates full hydrostatic models. While we do encounter failures of the predictions, our method can serve as a rapid estimate for stellar ages of detached eclipsing binaries taking full account of the uncertainties in the observables.

Substructures are ubiquitous in high resolution (sub-)millimeter continuum observations of circumstellar discs. They are possibly caused by forming planets embedded in their disc. To investigate the relation between observed substructures and young planets, we perform novel 3D two-fluid (gas+1-mm-dust) hydrodynamic simulations of circumstellar discs with embedded planets (Neptune-, Saturn-, Jupiter-, 5 Jupiter-mass) at different orbital distances from the star (5.2 AU, 30 AU, 50 AU). We turn these simulations into synthetic (sub-)millimeter ALMA images. We find that all but the Neptune-mass planet open annular gaps in both the gas and the dust component of the disc. We find that the temporal evolution of the dust density distribution is distinctly different from the gas'. For example, the planets cause significant vertical stirring of the dust in the circumstellar disc which opposes the vertical settling. This creates a thicker dust disc than discs without a planet. We find that this effect greatly influences the dust masses derived from the synthetic ALMA images. Comparing the dust disc masses in the 3D simulations to the disc masses derived from the 2D ALMA synthetic images using the optically thin approximation, we find the former to be a factor of a few (up to 10) larger, pointing to the conclusion that real discs are significantly more massive than previously thought based on ALMA continuum images. Finally, we analyse the synthetic ALMA images and provide an empirical relationship between the planet mass and the width of the gap in the ALMA images, including the effects of the beam size.

We present the novel wide and deep neural network GalaxyNet, which connects the properties of galaxies and dark matter haloes and is directly trained on observed galaxy statistics using reinforcement learning. The most important halo properties to predict stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) are halo mass, growth rate, and scale factor at the time the mass peaks, which results from a feature importance analysis with random forests. We train different models with supervised learning to find the optimal network architecture. GalaxyNet is then trained with a reinforcement learning approach: for a fixed set of weights and biases, we compute the galaxy properties for all haloes and then derive mock statistics (stellar mass functions, cosmic and specific SFRs, quenched fractions, and clustering). Comparing these statistics to observations we get the model loss, which is minimized with particle swarm optimization. GalaxyNet reproduces the observed data very accurately and predicts a stellar-to-halo mass relation with a lower normalization and shallower low-mass slope at high redshift than empirical models. We find that at low mass, the galaxies with the highest SFRs are satellites, although most satellites are quenched. The normalization of the instantaneous conversion efficiency increases with redshift, but stays constant above z ≳ 0.5. Finally, we use GalaxyNet to populate a cosmic volume of (5.9 Gpc)³ with galaxies and predict the BAO signal, the bias, and the clustering of active and passive galaxies up to z = 4, which can be tested with next-generation surveys, such as LSST and Euclid.

Starting from the one-loop divergences we obtained previously, we work out the renormalization of the Higgs-electroweak chiral Lagrangian explicitly and in detail. This includes the renormalization of the lowest-order Lagrangian, as well as the decomposition of the remaining divergences into a complete basis of next-to-leading-order counterterms. We provide the list of the corresponding beta functions. We show how our results match the one-loop renormalization of some of the dimension-6 operators in SMEFT. We further point out differences with related work in the literature and discuss them. As an application of the obtained results, we evaluate the divergences of the vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field at one loop and show that they can be appropriately removed by the corresponding renormalization. We also work out the finite renormalization required to keep the no-tadpole condition on the Higgs field at one loop.

The properties of quasar-host galaxies might be determined by the growth and feedback of their supermassive black holes (SMBHs, 10^8-10 M_⊙). We investigate such connection with a suite of cosmological simulations of massive (halo mass ≍10¹² M_⊙) galaxies at z ≃ 6 that include a detailed subgrid multiphase gas and accretion model. BH seeds of initial mass 10⁵ M_⊙ grow mostly by gas accretion, and become SMBH by z = 6 setting on the observed M_BH-M_⋆ relation without the need for a boost factor. Although quasar feedback crucially controls the SMBH growth, its impact on the properties of the host galaxy at z = 6 is negligible. In our model, quasar activity can both quench (via gas heating) or enhance (by interstellar medium overpressurization) star formation. However, we find that the star formation history is insensitive to such modulation as it is largely dominated, at least at z > 6, by cold gas accretion from the environment that cannot be hindered by the quasar energy deposition. Although quasar-driven outflows can achieve velocities $\gt 1000~\rm km~s^{-1}$, only ≍4 per cent of the outflowing gas mass can actually escape from the host galaxy. These findings are only loosely constrained by available data, but can guide observational campaigns searching for signatures of quasar feedback in early galaxies.

We present results of the Relic Axion Dark-Matter Exploratory Setup (RADES), a detector which is part of the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST), searching for axion dark matter in the 34.67 μeV mass range. A radio frequency cavity consisting of 5 sub-cavities coupled by inductive irises took physics data inside the CAST dipole magnet for the first time using this filter-like haloscope geometry. An exclusion limit with a 95% credibility level on the axion-photon coupling constant of g_aγ ≳ 4 × 10⁻¹³ GeV⁻¹ over a mass range of 34.6738 μeV < m_a< 34.6771 μeV is set. This constitutes a significant improvement over the current strongest limit set by CAST at this mass and is at the same time one of the most sensitive direct searches for an axion dark matter candidate above the mass of 25 μeV. The results also demonstrate the feasibility of exploring a wider mass range around the value probed by CAST-RADES in this work using similar coherent resonant cavities.

We measure the galaxy two- and three-point correlation functions at z = [0.5, 0.7] and z = [0.7, 0.9], from the Public Data Release 2 (PDR2) of the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS). We model the two statistics including a non-linear one-loop model for the two-point function and a tree-level model for the three-point function, and perform a joint likelihood analysis. The entire process and non-linear corrections are tested and validated through the use of the 153 highly realistic VIPERS mock catalogues, showing that they are robust down to scales as small as 10 $h^{-1} \, \mathrm{Mpc}$. The mocks are also adopted to compute the covariance matrix that we use for the joint two- and three-point analysis. Despite the limited statistics of the two (volume-limited) subsamples analysed, we demonstrate that such a combination successfully breaks the degeneracy existing at two-point level between clustering amplitude σ₈, linear bias b₁, and the linear growth rate of fluctuations f. For the latter, in particular, we measure $f(z=0.61)=0.64^{+0.55}_{-0.37}$ and f(z = 0.8) = 1.0 ± 1.0, while the amplitude of clustering is found to be σ₈(z = 0.61) = 0.50 ± 0.12 and $\sigma _8(z=0.8)=0.39^{+0.11}_{-0.13}$. These values are in excellent agreement with the extrapolation of a Planck cosmology.

Context. Deuterated molecules are good tracers of the evolutionary stage of star-forming cores. During the star formation process, deuterated molecules are expected to be enhanced in cold, dense pre-stellar cores and to deplete after protostellar birth.
Aims: In this paper, we study the deuteration fraction of formaldehyde in high-mass star-forming cores at different evolutionary stages to investigate whether the deuteration fraction of formaldehyde can be used as an evolutionary tracer.
Methods: Using the APEX SEPIA Band 5 receiver, we extended our pilot study of the J = 3 →2 rotational lines of HDCO and D₂CO to eleven high-mass star-forming regions that host objects at different evolutionary stages. High-resolution follow-up observations of eight objects in ALMA Band 6 were performed to reveal the size of the H₂CO emission and to give an estimate of the deuteration fractions HDCO/H₂CO and D₂CO/HDCO at scales of ~6″ (0.04-0.15 pc at the distance of our targets).
Results: Our observations show that singly and doubly deuterated H₂CO are detected towards high-mass protostellar objects (HMPOs) and ultracompact H II regions (UC H II regions), and the deuteration fraction of H₂CO is also found to decrease by an order of magnitude from the earlier HMPO phases to the latest evolutionary stage (UC H II), from ~0.13 to ~0.01. We have not detected HDCO and D₂CO emission from the youngest sources (i.e. high-mass starless cores or HMSCs).
Conclusions: Our extended study supports the results of the previous pilot study: the deuteration fraction of formaldehyde decreases with the evolutionary stage, but higher sensitivity observations are needed to provide more stringent constraints on the D/H ratio during the HMSC phase. The calculated upper limits for the HMSC sources are high, so the trend between HMSC and HMPO phases cannot be constrained.

Aims: The TOPGöt project studies a sample of 86 high-mass star-forming regions in different evolutionary stages from starless cores to ultra compact HII regions. The aim of the survey is to analyze different molecular species in a statistically significant sample to study the chemical evolution in high-mass star-forming regions, and identify chemical tracers of the different phases.
Methods: The sources have been observed with the IRAM 30 m telescope in different spectral windows at 1, 2, and 3 mm. In this first paper, we present the sample and analyze the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the TOPGöt sources to derive physical parameters such as the dust temperature, T_dust, the total column density, N_H2, the mass, M, the luminosity, L, and the luminosity-to-mass ratio, L∕M, which is an indicator of the evolutionary stage of the sources. We use the MADCUBA software to analyze the emission of methyl cyanide (CH₃CN), a well-known tracer of high-mass star formation.
Results: We built the spectral energy distributions for ~80% of the sample and derived T_dust and N_H2 values which range between 9−36 K and ~3 × 10²¹−7 × 10²³ cm⁻², respectively. The luminosity of the sources spans over four orders of magnitude from 30 to 3 × 10⁵ L_⊙, masses vary between ~30 and 8 × 10³ M_⊙, and the luminosity-to-mass ratio L∕M covers three orders of magnitude from 6 × 10⁻² to 3 × 10² L_⊙∕M_⊙. The emission of the CH₃CN(5_K-4_K) K-transitions has been detected toward 73 sources (85% of the sample), with 12 nondetections and one source not observed in the frequency range of CH₃CN(5_K-4_K). The emission of CH₃CN has been detected toward all evolutionary stages, with the mean abundances showing a clear increase of an order of magnitude from high-mass starless cores to later evolutionary stages. We found a conservative abundance upper limit for high-mass starless cores of X_CH3CN < 4.0 × 10⁻¹¹, and a range in abundance of 4.0 × 10⁻¹¹ < X_CH3CN < 7.0 × 10⁻¹¹ for those sources that are likely high-mass starless cores or very early high-mass protostellar objects. In fact, in this range of abundance we have identified five sources previously not classified as being in a very early evolutionary stage. The abundance of CH₃CN can thus be used to identify high-mass star-forming regions in early phases of star-formation.

Full Tables 3-6 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/653/A87

Post-starburst (PSB) galaxies belong to a short-lived transition population between star-forming (SF) and quiescent galaxies. Deciphering their heavily discussed evolutionary pathways is paramount to understanding galaxy evolution. We aim to determine the dominant mechanisms governing PSB evolution in both the field and in galaxy clusters. Using the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation suite Magneticum Pathfinder, we identify 647 PSBs with z ~ 0 stellar mass $M_* \ge 5 \times 10^{10} \, \mathrm{M_{\odot }}$ . We track their galactic evolution, merger history, and black hole activity over a time-span of $3.6\,$ Gyr. Additionally, we study cluster PSBs identified at different redshifts and cluster masses. Independent of environment and redshift, we find that PSBs, like SF galaxies, have frequent mergers. At z = 0, $89{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of PSBs have experienced mergers and $65{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ had at least one major merger within the last $2.5\,$ Gyr, leading to strong star formation episodes. In fact, $23{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of z = 0 PSBs were rejuvenated during their starburst. Following the mergers, field PSBs are generally shutdown via a strong increase in active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback (power output $P_{\rm AGN,PSB} \ge 10^{56}\,$ erg Myr^-1). We find agreement with observations for both stellar mass functions and z = 0.9 line-of-sight phase space distributions of PSBs in galaxy clusters. Finally, we find that z ≲ 0.5 cluster PSBs are predominantly infalling, especially in high-mass clusters and show no signs of enhanced AGN activity. Thus, we conclude that the majority of cluster PSBs are shutdown via an environmental quenching mechanism such as ram-pressure stripping, while field PSBs are mainly quenched by AGN feedback.

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

We compute P-wave quarkonium wavefunctions at the origin in the MS ¯ scheme based on nonrelativistic effective field theories. We include nonperturbative effects from the long-distance behaviors of the potential, while the short-distance behaviors are determined from perturbative QCD. We obtain MS ¯-renormalized P-wave quarkonium wavefunctions at the origin that have the correct scale dependences that are expected from factorization formalisms, so that the dependences on the scheme and scale cancel in physical quantities. This greatly reduces the theoretical uncertainties associated with scheme and scale dependences in predictions of decay and production rates. Based on the calculation of the P-wave wavefunctions at the origin in this work, we make first-principles predictions of electromagnetic decay rates and exclusive electromagnetic production rates of P-wave charmonia and bottomonia, and compare them with measurements.

Fitting half-integer generalized Laguerre functions to the evolved, real-space dark matter and halo correlation functions provides a simple way to reconstruct their initial shapes. We show that this methodology also works well in a wide variety of realistic, assembly biased, velocity biased and redshift-space distorted mock galaxy catalogs. We use the linear point feature in the monopole of the redshift-space distorted correlation function to quantify the accuracy of our approach. We find that the linear point estimated from the mock galaxy catalogs is insensitive to the details of the biasing scheme at the subpercent level. However, the linear point scale in the nonlinear, biased, and redshift-space distorted field is systematically offset from its scale in the unbiased linear density fluctuation field by more than 1%. In the Laguerre reconstructed correlation function, this is reduced to sub-percent values, so it provides comparable accuracy and precision to methods that reconstruct the full density field before estimating the distance scale. The linear point in the reconstructed density fields provided by these other methods is likewise precise, accurate, and insensitive to galaxy bias. All reconstructions depend on some input parameters, and marginalizing over uncertainties in the input parameters required for reconstruction can degrade both accuracy and precision. The linear point simplifies the marginalization process, enabling more realistic estimates of the precision of the distance scale estimate for negligible additional computational cost. We show this explicitly for Laguerre reconstruction.

A parsec-scale dusty torus is thought to be the cause of active galactic nuclei (AGN) dichotomy in the 1/2 types, narrow/broad emission lines. In a previous work, on the basis of parsec-scale resolution infrared/optical dust maps, it was found that dust filaments, few parsecs wide and several hundred parsecs long, were ubiquitous features crossing the centre of type 2 AGN, their optical thickness being sufficient to fully obscure the optical nucleus. This work presents the complementary view for type 1 and intermediate-type AGN. The same type of narrow, collimated, dust filaments are equally found at the centre of these AGN. The difference now resides in their location with respect to the nucleus, next to it but not crossing it, as it is the case in type 2, and their reduced optical thickness towards the centre, $A_V \lesssim 1.5\, \rm {mag}$, insufficient to obscure at ultraviolet nucleus wavelengths. It is concluded that large-scale, hundred parsecs to kiloparsecs long, dust filaments and lanes, reminiscent of those seen in the Milky Way, are a common ingredient to the central parsec of galaxies. Their optical thickness changes along their structure in type 2 reaching optical depths high enough to obscure the nucleus in full. Their location with respect to the nucleus and increasing gradient in optical depth towards the centre could naturally lead to the canonical type 1/2 AGN classification, making these filaments to play the role of the torus. Dust filaments and lanes show equivalent morphologies in molecular gas. Gas kinematic in the filaments indicates mass inflows at rates ${\lt}1 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }~ \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$.

The Sunyaev-Zel'dolvich (SZ) effect is expected to be instrumental in measuring velocities of distant clusters in near future telescope surveys. We simplify the calculation of peculiar velocities of galaxy clusters using deep learning frameworks trained on numerical simulations to avoid the independent estimation of the optical depth. Images of distorted photon backgrounds are generated for idealized observations using one of the largest cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, the Magneticum simulations. The model is tested to determine its ability of estimating peculiar velocities from future kinetic SZ observations under different noise conditions. The deep learning algorithm displays robustness in estimating peculiar velocities from kinetic SZ effect by an improvement in accuracy of about 17 per cent compared to the analytical approach.

In this paper we present the complete expressions of the lepton and neutron electric dipole moments (EDMs) in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT), up to 1-loop and dimension-6 level and including both RG running contributions and finite corrections. The latter play a fundamental role in the cases of operators that do not renormalize the dipoles, but there are also classes of operators for which they provide an important fraction, $10-20\%$, of the total 1-loop contribution, if the new physics scale is around $\Lambda=5$ TeV. We present the full set of bounds on each individual Wilson coefficient contributing to the EDMs using both the current experimental constraints, as well as those from future experiments, which are expected to improve by at least an order of magnitude.

Precision studies at electron-positron colliders with centre-of-mass energies in the charm-tau region and below have strongly contributed to our understanding of light-meson interactions at low energies. We focus on the processes involving two or three light mesons with invariant masses below nucleon-antinucleon threshold. A prominent role is given to the interactions of the nine lightest pseudoscalar mesons (pions, kaons, η, and η^′) and the two narrow neutral isoscalar vector mesons ω and ϕ. Experimental methods used to produce the mesons are reviewed as well as theory tools to extract properties of the meson-meson interactions. Examples of recent results from the DA ΦNE, BEPCII, and VEPP-2000 colliders are presented. In the outlook we briefly discuss prospects for further studies at future super-charm-tau factories.

We present the integrated three-point shear correlation function iζ_± - a higher order statistic of the cosmic shear field - which can be directly estimated in wide-area weak lensing surveys without measuring the full three-point shear correlation function, making this a practical and complementary tool to two-point statistics for weak lensing cosmology. We define it as the one-point aperture mass statistic M_ap measured at different locations on the shear field correlated with the corresponding local two-point shear correlation function ξ_±. Building upon existing work on the integrated bispectrum of the weak lensing convergence field, we present a theoretical framework for computing the integrated three-point function in real space for any projected field within the flat-sky approximation and apply it to cosmic shear. Using analytical formulae for the non-linear matter power spectrum and bispectrum, we model iζ_± and validate it on N-body simulations within the uncertainties expected from the sixth year cosmic shear data of the Dark Energy Survey. We also explore the Fisher information content of iζ_± and perform a joint analysis with ξ_± for two tomographic source redshift bins with realistic shape noise to analyse its power in constraining cosmological parameters. We find that the joint analysis of ξ_± and iζ_± has the potential to considerably improve parameter constraints from ξ_± alone, and can be particularly useful in improving the figure of merit of the dynamical dark energy equation of state parameters from cosmic shear data.

We present observations of a giant Lyα blob (LAB) in the SSA22 protocluster at z = 3.1, SSA22-LAB1, taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Dust continuum, along with [C II] 158 μm and CO(4-3) line emission have been detected in LAB1, showing complex morphology and kinematics across a ~100 kpc central region. Seven galaxies at z = 3.0987-3.1016 in the surroundings are identified in [C II] and dust continuum emission, with two of them potential companions or tidal structures associated with the most massive galaxies. Spatially resolved [C II] and infrared luminosity ratios for the widely distributed media (L_[Cɪɪ]/L_IR ≍ 10^-2-10^-3) suggest that the observed extended interstellar media are likely to have originated from star formation activity and the contribution from shocked gas is probably not dominant. LAB1 is found to harbor a total molecular gas mass M_mol = (8.7 ± 2.0) × 10¹⁰ M_⊙, concentrated in the core region of the Lyα-emitting area. While (primarily obscured) star formation activity in the LAB1 core is one of the most plausible power sources for the Lyα emission, multiple major mergers found in the core may also play a role in making LAB1 exceptionally bright and extended in Lyα as a result of cooling radiation induced by gravitational interactions.

We test the adequacy of ultraviolet (UV) spectra for characterizing the outer structure of Type Ia supernova (SN) ejecta. For this purpose, we perform spectroscopic analysis for ASASSN-14lp, a normal SN Ia showing low continuum in the mid-UV regime. To explain the strong UV suppression, two possible origins have been investigated by mapping the chemical profiles over a significant part of their ejecta. We fit the spectral time series with mid-UV coverage obtained before and around maximum light by HST, supplemented with ground-based optical observations for the earliest epochs. The synthetic spectra are calculated with the one-dimensional MC radiative transfer code TARDIS from self-consistent ejecta models. Among several physical parameters, we constrain the abundance profiles of nine chemical elements. We find that a distribution of ⁵⁶Ni (and other iron-group elements) that extends towards the highest velocities reproduces the observed UV flux well. The presence of radioactive material in the outer layers of the ejecta, if confirmed, implies strong constraints on the possible explosion scenarios. We investigate the impact of the inferred ⁵⁶Ni distribution on the early light curves with the radiative transfer code TURTLS, and confront the results with the observed light curves of ASASSN-14lp. The inferred abundances are not in conflict with the observed photometry. We also test whether the UV suppression can be reproduced if the radiation at the photosphere is significantly lower in the UV regime than the pure Planck function. In this case, solar metallicity might be sufficient enough at the highest velocities to reproduce the UV suppression.

We constrain cosmological parameters from a joint cosmic shear analysis of peak-counts and the two-point shear correlation functions, as measured from the Dark Energy Survey (DES-Y1). We find the structure growth parameter $S_8\equiv \sigma _8\sqrt{\Omega _{\rm m}/0.3} = 0.766^{+0.033}_{-0.038}$ which, at 4.8 per cent precision, provides one of the tightest constraints on S₈ from the DES-Y1 weak lensing data. In our simulation-based method we determine the expected DES-Y1 peak-count signal for a range of cosmologies sampled in four w cold dark matter parameters (Ω_m, σ₈, h, w₀). We also determine the joint covariance matrix with over 1000 realizations at our fiducial cosmology. With mock DES-Y1 data we calibrate the impact of photometric redshift and shear calibration uncertainty on the peak-count, marginalizing over these uncertainties in our cosmological analysis. Using dedicated training samples we show that our measurements are unaffected by mass resolution limits in the simulation, and that our constraints are robust against uncertainty in the effect of baryon feedback. Accurate modelling for the impact of intrinsic alignments on the tomographic peak-count remains a challenge, currently limiting our exploitation of cross-correlated peak counts between high and low redshift bins. We demonstrate that once calibrated, a fully tomographic joint peak-count and correlation functions analysis has the potential to reach a 3 per cent precision on S₈ for DES-Y1. Our methodology can be adopted to model any statistic that is sensitive to the non-Gaussian information encoded in the shear field. In order to accelerate the development of these beyond-two-point cosmic shear studies, our simulations are made available to the community upon request.

We investigate strongly gravitationally lensed type II supernovae (LSNe II) for time-delay cosmography, incorporating microlensing effects; this expands on previous microlensing studies of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). We use the radiative-transfer code TARDIS to recreate five spectra of the prototypical SN 1999em at different times within the plateau phase of the light curve. The microlensing-induced deformations of the spectra and light curves are calculated by placing the SN into magnification maps generated with the code GERLUMPH. We study the impact of microlensing on the color curves and find that there is no strong influence on them during the investigated time interval of the plateau phase. The color curves are only weakly affected by microlensing due to the almost achromatic behavior of the intensity profiles. However, the lack of nonlinear structure in the color curves during the plateau phase of type II-plateau supernovae makes time-delay measurements more challenging compared to SN Ia color curves, given the possible presence of differential dust extinction. Therefore, we further investigate SN phase inference through spectral absorption lines under the influence of microlensing and Gaussian noise. As the spectral features shift to longer wavelengths with progressing time after explosion, the measured wavelength of a specific absorption line provides information on the epoch of the SN. The comparison between retrieved epochs of two observed lensing images then gives the time delay of the images. We find that the phase retrieval method that uses spectral features yields accurate delays with uncertainties of ≲2 days, making it a promising approach.

Time-delay strong lensing (TDSL) is a powerful probe of the current expansion rate of the Universe. However, in light of the discrepancies between early and late-time cosmological studies, efforts revolve around the characterisation of systematic uncertainties in the methods. Here, we focus on the mass-sheet degeneracy (MSD), which is considered a significant source of systematics in TDSL, and aim to assess the constraining power provided by IFU stellar kinematics. We approximate the MSD with a cored, two-parameter extension to the lensing mass profiles (with core radius $r_{\rm c}$ and mass-sheet parameter $\lambda_{\rm int}$). In addition, we utilise mock IFU stellar kinematics of time-delay strong lenses, given the prospects of obtaining such data with JWST. We construct joint strong lensing and stellar dynamical models, where the time delays, mock imaging and IFU observations are used to constrain the mass profile of lens galaxies, and yield joint constraints on the time-delay distance ($D_{\Delta t}$) and angular diameter distance ($D_{\rm d}$) to the lens. We find that mock JWST-like stellar kinematics constrain the internal mass sheet and limit its contribution to the uncertainties of $D_{\Delta t}$ and $D_{\rm d}$, each at the < 4% level, without assumptions on the background cosmological model. These distance constraints would translate to a < 4% precision measurement on $H_{\rm 0}$ in flat $\Lambda CDM$ for a single lens. Our study shows that IFU stellar kinematics of time-delay strong lenses will be key in lifting the MSD on a per lens basis, assuming reasonable core sizes. However, even in the limit of infinite $r_{\rm c}$, where $D_{\Delta t}$ is degenerate with $\lambda_{\rm int}$, stellar kinematics of the deflector, time delays and imaging data will provide powerful constraints on $D_{\rm d}$, which becomes the dominant source of information in the cosmological inference.

The impact of new and highly precise neutron β decay data is reviewed. We focus on recent results from neutron lifetime, β asymmetry, and electron-neutrino correlation experiments. From these results, weak interaction parameters are extracted with unprecedented precision, which is possible also because of progress in effective field theory and lattice QCD. Limits on New Physics beyond the Standard Model derived from neutron decay data are sharper than those derived from high-energy experiments, except for processes involving right-handed neutrinos.

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

SU(2) gauge fields coupled to an axion field can acquire an isotropic background solution during inflation. We study homogeneous but anisotropic inflationary solutions in the presence of such (massless) gauge fields. A gauge field in the cosmological background may pose a threat to spatial isotropy. We show, however, that such models generally isotropize in Bianchi type-I geometry, and the isotropic solution is the attractor. Restricting the setup by adding an axial symmetry, we revisited the numerical analysis presented in [1]. We find that the reported numerical breakdown in the previous analysis is an artifact of parametrization singularity. We use a new parametrization that is well-defined all over the phase space. We show that the system respects the cosmic no-hair conjecture and the anisotropies always dilute away within a few e-folds.

Ghost-free bimetric theory describes two nonlinearly interacting spin-2 fields, one massive and one massless, thus extending general relativity. We confront bimetric theory with observations of Supernovae type 1a, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and the Cosmic Microwave Background in a statistical analysis, utilising the recently proposed physical parametrisation. This directly constrains the physical parameters of the theory, such as the mass of the spin-2 field and its coupling to matter. We find that all models under consideration are in agreement with the data. Next, we compare these results to bounds from local tests of gravity. Our analysis reveals that all two- and three parameter models are observationally consistent with both cosmological and local tests of gravity. The minimal bimetric model (only β₁) is ruled out by our combined analysis.

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

We provide a simple computation in order to estimate the probability of a given hierarchy between two scales. In particular, we work in a model provided with a gauge symmetry, with two scalar doublets. We start from a scale-invariant classical Lagrangian, but by taking into account the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism, we obtain masses for the gauge bosons and the scalars. This approach typically provides a light (L) and a heavy (H) sector related to the two different vacuum expectation values of the two scalars. We compute the size of the hyper-volume of the parameter space of the model associated with an interval of mass ratios between these two sectors. We define the probability as proportional to this size and conclude that probabilities of very large hierarchies are not negligible in the type of models studied in this letter.

Cytoskeletal networks form complex intracellular structures. Here we investigate a minimal model for filament-motor mixtures in which motors act as depolymerases and thereby regulate filament length. Combining agent-based simulations and hydrodynamic equations, we show that resource-limited length regulation drives the formation of filament clusters despite the absence of mechanical interactions between filaments. Even though the orientation of individual remains fixed, collective filament orientation emerges in the clusters, aligned orthogonal to their interfaces.

A fraction of the dark matter in the solar neighborhood might be composed of non-galactic particles with speeds larger than the escape velocity of the Milky Way. The non-galactic dark matter flux would enhance the sensitivity of direct detection experiments, due to the larger momentum transfer to the target. In this note, we calculate the impact of the dark matter flux from the Local Group and the Virgo Supercluster diffuse components in nuclear and electron recoil experiments. The enhancement in the signal rate can be very significant, especially for experiments searching for dark matter induced electron recoils.

We consider gauged linear sigma models with gauge group U(1) that exhibit a geometric as well as a Landau Ginzburg phase. We construct defects that implement the transport of D-branes from the Landau-Ginzburg phase to the geometric phase. Through their fusion with boundary conditions these defects in particular provide functors between the respective D-brane categories. The latter map (equivariant) matrix factorizations to coherent sheaves and can be formulated explicitly in terms of complexes of matrix factorizations.

We find the complete set of conditions satisfied by the forward 2 →2 scattering amplitude in unitary and causal theories. These are based on an infinite set of energy dependent quantities (the arcs) which are dispersively expressed as moments of a positive measure defined at (arbitrarily) higher energies. We identify optimal finite subsets of constraints, suitable to bound effective field theories (EFTs), at any finite order in the energy expansion. At tree level arcs are in a one to one correspondence with Wilson coefficients. We establish under which conditions this approximation applies, identifying seemingly viable EFTs where it never does. In all cases, we discuss the range of validity in both energy and couplings, where the latter has to satisfy two-sided bounds. We also extend our results to the case of small but finite t . A consequence of our study is that EFTs in which the scattering amplitude in some regime grows in energy faster than E⁶ cannot be UV completed.

The differential cross section for the quasi-free photoproduction reaction $\gamma n\rightarrow K^0\Sigma^0$ was measured at BGOOD at ELSA from threshold to a center-of-mass energy of 2400 MeV. An increase in the cross section is observed at forward angles above 2000 MeV. The available statistics prevent an accurate description of this behavior, however it appears consistent with models describing a resonance of dynamically generated vector meson-baryon states, where an equivalent model predicted the $P_C$ states observed at LHCb. If proven correct, this could indicate parallels between the strange and charmed quark sectors.

We set out to determine stellar labels from low-resolution survey spectra of hot, OBA stars with effective temperature (Teff) higher than 7500K. This fills a gap in the scientific analysis of large spectroscopic stellar surveys such as LAMOST, which offers spectra for millions of stars at R=1800. We first explore the theoretical information content of such spectra for determining stellar labels, via the Cramér-Rao bound. We show that in the limit of perfect model spectra and observed spectra with S/N of 100, precise estimates are possible for a wide range of stellar labels: not only the effective temperature Teff, surface gravity logg, and projected rotation velocity vsini, but also the micro-turbulence velocity, Helium abundance and the elemental abundances [C/H], [N/H], [O/H], [Si/H], [S/H], and [Fe/H]. Our analysis illustrates that the temperature regime of around 9500K is challenging, as the dominant Balmer and Paschen line strength vary little with Teff. We implement the simultaneous fitting of these 11 stellar labels to LAMOST hot-star spectra using the Payne approach, drawing on Kurucz's ATLAS12/SYNTHE LTE spectra as the underlying models. We then obtain stellar parameter estimates for a sample of about 330,000 hot stars with LAMOST spectra, an increase by about two orders of magnitude in sample size. Among them, about 260,000 have good Gaia parallaxes (S/N>5), and more than 95 percent of them are luminous stars, mostly on the main sequence; the rest reflects lower luminosity evolved stars, such as hot subdwarfs and white dwarfs. We show that the fidelity of the abundance estimates is limited by the systematics of the underlying models, as they do not account for NLTE effects. Finally, we show the detailed distribution of vsini of stars with 8000-15,000K, illustrating that it extends to a sharp cut-off at the critical rotation velocity, across a wide range of temperatures.

Using 324 numerically modelled galaxy clusters as provided by THE THREE HUNDRED project, we study the evolution of the kinematic properties of the stellar component of haloes on first infall. We selected objects with M_star > 5 × 10¹⁰ h⁻¹ M_⊙ within 3R₂₀₀ of the main cluster halo at z = 0 and followed their progenitors. We find that although haloes are stripped of their dark matter and gas after entering the main cluster halo, there is practically no change in their stellar kinematics. For the vast majority of our `galaxies' - defined as the central stellar component found within the haloes that form our sample - their kinematic properties, as described by the fraction of ordered rotation, and their position in the specific stellar angular momentum−stellar mass plane j_star − M_star are mostly unchanged by the influence of the central host cluster. However, for a small number of infalling galaxies, stellar mergers and encounters with remnant stellar cores close to the centre of the main cluster, particularly during pericentre passage, are able to spin up their stellar component by z = 0.

Catalytic nucleic acids, such as ribozymes, are central to a variety of origin-of-life scenarios. Typically, they require elevated magnesium concentrations for folding and activity, but their function can be inhibited by high concentrations of monovalent salts. Here we show that geologically plausible high-sodium, low-magnesium solutions derived from leaching basalt (rock and remelted glass) inhibit ribozyme catalysis, but that this activity can be rescued by selective magnesium up-concentration by heat flow across rock fissures. In contrast to up-concentration by dehydration or freezing, this system is so far from equilibrium that it can actively alter the Mg:Na salt ratio to an extent that enables key ribozyme activities, such as self-replication and RNA extension, in otherwise challenging solution conditions. The principle demonstrated here is applicable to a broad range of salt concentrations and compositions, and, as such, highly relevant to various origin-of-life scenarios.

We investigate the impact of different assumptions in the modeling of one-loop galaxy bias on the recovery of cosmological parameters, as a follow-up of the analysis done in the first paper of the series at fixed cosmology. To carry out these tests we focus on the real-space galaxy-power spectrum from a set of three different synthetic galaxy samples whose clustering properties are meant to match the ones of the CMASS and LOWZ catalogs of BOSS and the SDSS Main Galaxy Sample. We investigate the relevance of allowing for either short range nonlocality or scale-dependent stochasticity by fitting the real-space galaxy autopower spectrum or the combination of galaxy-galaxy and galaxy-matter power spectrum. From a comparison among the goodness of fit (χ² ), unbiasedness of cosmological parameters (FoB), and figure of merit (FoM) of the model, we find that a simple four-parameter model (linear, quadratic, cubic nonlocal bias, and constant shot noise) with fixed quadratic tidal bias provides a robust modeling choice for the autopower spectrum of the three galaxy samples, up to k_max=0.3 h Mpc^-1 and for an effective volume of 6 h^-3 Gpc³. Instead, a joint analysis of the two observables fails at larger scales, and a model extension with either higher derivatives or scale-dependent shot noise is necessary to reach a similar k_max, with the latter providing the most accurate and stable results. Throughout the majority of the paper, we fix the description of the nonlinear matter evolution using a hybrid perturbative-N-body approach, RESPRESSO, that was found in the first paper to be the closest performing to the measured matter spectrum. We also test the impact of different modeling assumptions based on perturbative approaches, such as galilean-invariant Renormalised Perturbation Theory (gRPT) and effective field theory (EFT). In all cases, we find the inclusion of scale-dependent shot noise to increase the range of validity of the model in terms of FoB and χ². Interestingly, these model extensions with additional free parameters do not necessarily lead to an increase in the maximally achievable FoM for the cosmological parameters (h ,Ω_ch²,A_s), which are generally consistent with those of the simpler model at smaller k_max.

We study the transition widths of ϒ (10753 ) and ϒ (11020 ) into standard bottomonium under the hypothesis that they correspond to the two lowest laying 1^-- hybrid bottomonium states. We employ weakly coupled potential NRQCD an effective field theory incorporating the heavy-quark and multipole expansions. We consider the transitions generated by the leading order and next-to-leading order singlet-octet operators. In the multipole expansion the heavy-quark matrix elements factorize from the production of light-quark mesons by gluonic operators. For the leading order operator we compute the widths with a single π⁰, η or η^' in the final state and for the next-to-leading operator for π⁺π^- or K⁺K^-. The hadronization of the gluonic operators is obtained, in the first case, from the axial anomaly and a standard π⁰-η -η^' mixing scheme and, in the second case, we employ a coupled-channel dispersive representation matched to chiral perturbation theory for both the S - and D -wave pieces of the gluonic operator. We compare with experimental values and semi-inclusive widths. Our results strongly suggest that ϒ (11020 ) is indeed a hybrid bottomonium state.

The BV-Laplacian $\Delta$ in quantum field theory is singular, by construction, but can be regularized by deforming the classical BV-action. Taking inspiration from string theory we describe a non-local deformation of the latter by adding stubs to the interaction vertices while keeping classical BV-invariance manifest. This is achieved using a version of homotopy transfer resulting in a non-polynomial action for which the quantum master equation is now well defined and will be satisfied by adding additional vertices at loop level. The latter can be defined with the help of standard regularization schemes and is independent of the definition of $\Delta$. In particular, the determination of anomalies reduces to the standard text-book calculation. Finally, we describe how the deformed (quantum) action can be obtained as a canonical transformation. As an example, we illustrate this procedure for quantum electrodynamics.

Manual fits to spectral times series of Type Ia supernovae have provided a method of reconstructing the explosion from a parametric model but due to lack of information about model uncertainties or parameter degeneracies direct comparison between theory and observation is difficult. In order to mitigate this important problem we present a new way to probabilistically reconstruct the outer ejecta of the normal Type Ia supernova SN 2002bo. A single epoch spectrum, taken 10 days before maximum light, is fit by a 13-parameter model describing the elemental composition of the ejecta and the explosion physics (density, temperature, velocity, and explosion epoch). Model evaluation is performed through the application of a novel rapid spectral synthesis technique in which the radiative transfer code, TARDIS, is accelerated by a machine-learning framework. Analysis of the posterior distribution reveals a complex and degenerate parameter space and allows direct comparison to various hydrodynamic models. Our analysis favors detonation over deflagration scenarios and we find that our technique offers a novel way to compare simulation to observation.

The SuperKEKB accelerator in Tsukuba, Japan is providing e$^+$e$^-$ beams for the Belle II experiment since March 2019. To deal with the aimed peak luminosity being forty times higher than the one recorded at Belle, a pixel detector based on DEPFET technology has been installed. It features a long integration time of 20 $\mu$s resulting in an expected data rate of 20 GByte/s (160 GBit/s) at a maximum occupancy of 3 %. To deal with this high amount of data, the data handling hub (DHH) has been developed. It contains all necessary functionality for the control and readout of the detector. In this paper we describe the architecture and features of the DHH system. Further we will show the key performance characteristics after one year of operation.

A free-floating planet is a planetary-mass object that orbits around a non-stellar massive object (e.g. a brown dwarf) or around the Galactic Center. The presence of exomoons orbiting free-floating planets has been theoretically predicted by several models. Under specific conditions, these moons are able to retain an atmosphere capable of ensuring the long-term thermal stability of liquid water on their surface. We model this environment with a one-dimensional radiative-convective code coupled to a gas-phase chemical network including cosmic rays and ion-neutral reactions. We find that, under specific conditions and assuming stable orbital parameters over time, liquid water can be formed on the surface of the exomoon. The final amount of water for an Earth-mass exomonoon is smaller than the amount of water in Earth oceans, but enough to host the potential development of primordial life. The chemical equilibrium time-scale is controlled by cosmic rays, the main ionization driver in our model of the exomoon atmosphere.

We present an empirical model for the number of globular clusters (GCs) in galaxies based on recent data showing a tight relationship between dark matter halo virial masses and GC numbers. While a simple base model forming GCs in low-mass haloes reproduces this relation, we show that a second formation pathway for GCs is needed to account for observed younger GC populations. We confirm previous works that reported the observed linear correlation as being a consequence of hierarchical merging and its insensitivity to the exact GC formation processes at higher virial masses, even for a dual formation scenario. We find that the scatter of the linear relation is strongly correlated with the relative amount of smooth accretion: the more dark matter is smoothly accreted, the fewer GCs a halo has compared to other haloes of the same mass. This scatter is smaller than that introduced by halo mass measurements, indicating that the number of GCs in a galaxy is a good tracer for its dark matter mass. Smooth accretion is also the reason for a lower average dark matter mass per GC in low-mass haloes. Finally, we successfully reproduce the observed general trend of GCs being old and the tendency of more massive haloes hosting older GC systems. Including the second GC formation mechanism through gas-rich mergers leads to a more realistic variety of GC age distributions and also introduces an age inversion in the halo virial mass range log M_vir/M_⊙ = 11-13.

We present a set of nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium steady-state calculations of radiative transfer for one-year-old Type II supernovae (SNe) starting from state-of-the-art explosion models computed with detailed nucleosynthesis. This grid covers single-star progenitors with initial masses between 9 and 29 M_⊙, all evolved with the code KEPLER at solar metallicity and ignoring rotation. The [O I] λλ 6300, 6364 line flux generally grows with progenitor mass, and Hα exhibits an equally strong and opposite trend. The [Ca II] λλ 7291, 7323 strength increases at low ⁵⁶Ni mass, at low explosion energy, or with clumping. This Ca II doublet, which forms primarily in the explosively produced Si/S zones, depends little on the progenitor mass but may strengthen if Ca⁺ dominates in the H-rich emitting zones or if Ca is abundant in the O-rich zones. Indeed, Si-O shell merging prior to core collapse may boost the Ca II doublet at the expense of the O I doublet, and may thus mimic the metal line strengths of a lower-mass progenitor. We find that the ⁵⁶Ni bubble effect has a weak impact, probably because it is too weak to induce much of an ionization shift in the various emitting zones. Our simulations compare favorably to observed SNe II, including SN 2008bk (e.g., the 9 M_⊙ model), SN 2012aw (12 M_⊙ model), SN 1987A (15 M_⊙ model), or SN 2015bs (25 M_⊙ model with no Si-O shell merging). SNe II with narrow lines and a low ⁵⁶Ni mass are well matched by the weak explosion of 9-11 M_⊙ progenitors. The nebular-phase spectra of standard SNe II can be explained with progenitors in the mass range 12-15 M_⊙, with one notable exception for SN 2015bs. In the intermediate mass range, these mass estimates may increase by a few M_⊙, with allowance for clumping of the O-rich material or CO molecular cooling.

The temperatures of red supergiants (RSGs) are expected to depend on metallicity (Z) in such a way that lower Z RSGs are warmer. In this work, we investigate the Z-dependence of the Hayashi limit by analysing RSGs in the low-Z galaxy Wolf-Lundmark-Mellote, and compare with the RSGs in the higher Z environments of the Small Magellanic Cloud and Large Magellanic Cloud. We determine the effective temperature (T_eff) of each star by fitting their spectral energy distributions, as observed by VLT + SHOOTER, with MARCS model atmospheres. We find average temperatures of $T_{\textrm {eff}_{\textrm {WLM}}}=4400\pm 202$ K, $T_{\textrm {eff}_{\textrm {SMC}}}=4130\pm 103$ K, and $T_{\textrm {eff}_{\textrm {LMC}}}=4140\pm 148$ K. From population synthesis analysis, we find that although the Geneva evolutionary models reproduce this trend qualitatively, the RSGs in these models are systematically too cool. We speculate that our results can be explained by the inapplicability of the standard solar mixing length to RSGs.

We present non-radiative, cosmological zoom-simulations of galaxy cluster formation with magnetic fields and (anisotropic) thermal conduction of one very massive galaxy cluster with a mass at redshift zero that corresponds to $M_\mathrm{vir} \sim 2 \times 10^{15} M_{\odot}$. We run the cluster on three resolution levels (1X, 10X, 25X), starting with an effective mass resolution of $2 \times 10^8M_{\odot}$, subsequently increasing the particle number to reach $4 \times 10^6M_{\odot}$. The maximum spatial resolution obtained in the simulations is limited by the gravitational softening reaching $\epsilon=1.0$ kpc at the highest resolution level, allowing to resolve the hierarchical assembly of the structures in very fine detail. All simulations presented, have been carried out with the SPMHD-code Gadget-3 with a heavily updated SPMHD prescription. The primary focus is to investigate magnetic field amplification in the Intracluster Medium (ICM). We show that the main amplification mechanism is the small scale-turbulent-dynamo in the limit of reconnection diffusion. In our two highest resolution models we start to resolve the magnetic field amplification driven by this process and we explicitly quantify this with the magnetic power-spectra and the magnetic tension that limits the bending of the magnetic field lines consistent with dynamo theory. Furthermore, we investigate the $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{B}=0$ constraint within our simulations and show that we achieve comparable results to state-of-the-art AMR or moving-mesh techniques, used in codes such as Enzo and Arepo. Our results show for the first time in a fully cosmological simulation of a galaxy cluster that dynamo action can be resolved in the framework of a modern Lagrangian magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) method, a study that is currently missing in the literature.

Within the transport model evaluation project (TMEP) of simulations for heavy-ion collisions, the mean-field response is examined here. Specifically, zero-sound propagation is considered for neutron-proton symmetric matter enclosed in a periodic box, at zero temperature and around normal density. The results of several transport codes belonging to two families (BUU-like and QMD-like) are compared among each other and to exact calculations. For BUU-like codes, employing the test particle method, the results depend on the combination of the number of test particles and the spread of the profile functions that weight integration over space. These parameters can be properly adapted to give a good reproduction of the analytical zero-sound features. QMD-like codes, using molecular dynamics methods, are characterized by large damping effects, attributable to the fluctuations inherent in their phase-space representation. Moreover, for a given nuclear effective interaction, they generally lead to slower density oscillations, as compared to BUU-like codes. The latter problem is mitigated in the more recent lattice formulation of some of the QMD codes. The significance of these results for the description of real heavy-ion collisions is discussed.

The baryon acoustic oscillation feature can be used as a standard cosmological ruler. In practice, for subpercent level accuracy on the distance scale, it must be standardized. The physical reason why is understood, so we use this to develop an algorithm which improves the estimated scale. The algorithm exploits the fact that, over the range of scales where the initial correlation function is well fit by a polynomial, the leading order effects which distort the length of the ruler can be accounted for analytically. Tests of the method in numerical simulations show that it provides simple and fast reconstruction of the full shape of the BAO feature, as well as subpercent determination of the linear point in the correlation function of biased tracers with minimal assumptions about the underlying cosmological model or the nature of the observed tracers. Our results also suggest that, for least squares estimators of the correlation function, half-integer generalized Laguerre functions are a particularly useful choice.

We present Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT)/AzTEC 1.1 mm observations of ~100 luminous high-redshift dusty star-forming galaxy candidates from the $\sim 600\,$ sq.deg Herschel-ATLAS survey, selected on the basis of their SPIRE red far-infrared colours and with $S_{500\, \mu \rm m}=35-80$ mJy. With an effective $\theta _{\rm FWHM}\approx 9.5\,$arcsec angular resolution, our observations reveal that at least 9 per cent of the targets break into multiple systems with signal-to-noise ratio ≥4 members. The fraction of multiple systems increases to ~23 per cent (or more) if some non-detected targets are considered multiples, as suggested by the data. Combining the new AzTEC and deblended Herschel photometry, we derive photometric redshifts, infrared luminosities, and star formation rates. While the median redshifts of the multiple and single systems are similar (z_med ≍ 3.6), the redshift distribution of the latter is skewed towards higher redshifts. Of the AzTEC sources, ~85 per cent lie at z_phot > 3 while ~33 per cent are at z_phot > 4. This corresponds to a lower limit on the space density of ultrared sources at 4 < z < 6 of $\sim 3\times 10^{-7}\, \textrm {Mpc}^{-3}$ with a contribution to the obscured star formation of $\gtrsim 8\times 10^{-4}\, \textrm {M}_\odot \, \textrm {yr}^{-1} \, \textrm {Mpc}^{-3}$. Some of the multiple systems have members with photometric redshifts consistent among them suggesting possible physical associations. Given their angular separations, these systems are most likely galaxy over-densities and/or early-stage pre-coalescence mergers. Finally, we present 3 mm LMT/RSR spectroscopic redshifts of six red-Herschel galaxies at z_spec = 3.85-6.03, two of them (at z ~ 4.7) representing new redshift confirmations. Here, we release the AzTEC and deblended Herschel photometry as well as catalogues of the most promising interacting systems and z > 4 galaxies.

A search for charginos and neutralinos at the Large Hadron Collider using fully hadronic final states and missing transverse momentum is reported. Pair-produced charginos or neutralinos are explored, each decaying into a high-<math display="inline"><msub><mi>p</mi><mi mathvariant="normal">T</mi></msub></math> Standard Model weak boson. Fully hadronic final states are studied to exploit the advantage of the large branching ratio, and the efficient rejection of backgrounds by identifying the high-<math display="inline"><msub><mi>p</mi><mi mathvariant="normal">T</mi></msub></math> bosons using large-radius jets and jet substructure information. An integrated luminosity of <math display="inline"><mrow><mn>139</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><msup><mrow><mi>fb</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></math> of proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is used. No significant excess is found beyond the Standard Model expectation. Exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are set on wino or higgsino production with various assumptions about the decay branching ratios and the type of lightest supersymmetric particle. A wino (higgsino) mass up to 1060 (900) GeV is excluded when the lightest supersymmetry particle mass is below 400 (240) GeV and the mass splitting is larger than 400 (450) GeV. The sensitivity to high-mass winos and higgsinos is significantly extended relative to previous LHC searches using other final states.

We use field-level forward models of galaxy clustering and the EFT likelihood formalism to study, for the first time for self-consistently simulated galaxies, the relations between the linear b_1 and second-order bias parameters b₂ and b_K². The forward models utilize all of the information available in the galaxy distribution up to a given order in perturbation theory, which allows us to infer these bias parameters with high signal-to-noise, even from relatively small volumes (L_box = 205 Mpc/h). We consider galaxies from the simulations, and our main result is that the b₂(b₁) and b_K²(b₁) relations obtained from gravity-only simulations for total mass selected objects are broadly preserved for simulated galaxies selected by stellar mass, star formation rate, color and black hole accretion rate. We also find good agreement between the bias relations of the simulated galaxies and a number of recent estimates for observed galaxy samples. The consistency under different galaxy selection criteria suggests that theoretical priors on these bias relations may be used to improve cosmological constraints based on observed galaxy samples. We do identify some small differences between the bias relations in the hydrodynamical and gravity-only simulations, which we show can be linked to the environmental dependence of the relation between galaxy properties and mass. We also show that the EFT likelihood recovers the value of σ₈ to percent-level from various galaxy samples (including splits by color and star formation rate) and after marginalizing over 8 bias parameters. This demonstration using simulated galaxies adds to previous works based on halos as tracers, and strengthens further the potential of forward models to infer cosmology from galaxy data.

In this paper we investigate the potential of current and upcoming cosmological surveys to constrain the mass and abundance of ultra-light axion (ULA) cosmologies with galaxy cluster number counts. ULAs, sometimes also referred to as Fuzzy Dark Matter, are well-motivated in many theories beyond the Standard Model and could potentially solve the ΛCDM small-scale crisis. Galaxy cluster counts provide a robust probe of the formation of structures in the Universe. Their distribution in mass and redshift is strongly sensitive to the underlying linear matter perturbations. In this forecast paper we explore two scenarios, firstly an exclusion limit on axion mass given a no-axion model and secondly constraints on an axion model. With this we obtain lower limits on the ULA mass on the order of m_a ≳ 10^-24 eV. However, this result depends heavily on the mass of the smallest reliably observable clusters for a given survey. Cluster counts, like many other cosmological probes, display an approximate degeneracy in the ULA mass vs. abundance parameter space, which is dependent on the characteristics of the probe. These degeneracies are different for other cosmological probes. Hence galaxy cluster counts might provide a complementary window on the properties of ultra-light axions.

We present non-radiative, cosmological zoom-in simulations of galaxy-cluster formation with magnetic fields and (anisotropic) thermal conduction of one massive galaxy cluster with M

$_{vir}$ ∼ 2 × 10$^{15}$

M

$_{⊙}$ at z ∼ 0. We run the cluster on three resolution levels (1×, 10×, 25×), starting with an effective mass resolution of 2 × 10$^{8}$

M

$_{⊙}$, subsequently increasing the particle number to reach 4 × 10$^{6}$

M

$_{⊙}$. The maximum spatial resolution obtained in the simulations is limited by the gravitational softening reaching ϵ = 1.0 kpc at the highest resolution level, allowing one to resolve the hierarchical assembly of the structures in fine detail. All simulations presented are carried out with the SPMHD code gadget3 with an updated SPMHD prescription. The primary focus of this paper is to investigate magnetic field amplification in the intracluster medium. We show that the main amplification mechanism is the small-scale turbulent dynamo in the limit of reconnection diffusion. In our two highest resolution models we start to resolve the magnetic field amplification driven by the dynamo and we explicitly quantify this with the magnetic power spectra and the curvature of the magnetic field lines, consistent with dynamo theory. Furthermore, we investigate the ∇ ·

B

= 0 constraint within our simulations and show that we achieve comparable results to state-of-the-art AMR or moving-mesh techniques, used in codes such as enzo and arepo. Our results show for the first time in a cosmological simulation of a galaxy cluster that dynamo action can be resolved with modern numerical Lagrangian magnetohydrodynamic methods, a study that is currently missing in the literature.

Time-delay cosmography with gravitationally lensed quasars plays an important role in anchoring the absolute distance scale and hence measuring the Hubble constant, H₀, independent of traditional distance ladder methodology. A current potential limitation of time-delay distance measurements is the mass-sheet transformation (MST), which leaves the lensed imaging unchanged but changes the distance measurements and the derived value of H₀. In this work we show that the standard method of addressing the MST in time-delay cosmography, through a combination of high-resolution imaging and the measurement of the stellar velocity dispersion of the lensing galaxy, depends on the assumption that the ratio, D_s/D_ds, of angular diameter distances to the background quasar and between the lensing galaxy and the quasar can be constrained. This is typically achieved through the assumption of a particular cosmological model. Previous work (TDCOSMO IV) addressed the mass-sheet degeneracy and derived H₀ under the assumption of the ΛCDM model. In this paper we show that the mass-sheet degeneracy can be broken without relying on a specific cosmological model by combining lensing with relative distance indicators such as supernovae Type Ia and baryon acoustic oscillations, which constrain the shape of the expansion history and hence D_s/D_ds. With this approach, we demonstrate that the mass-sheet degeneracy can be constrained in a cosmological model-independent way. Hence model-independent distance measurements in time-delay cosmography under MSTs can be obtained.

We use hydrodynamical separate universe simulations with the IllustrisTNG model to predict the local primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG) bias parameters b

$_{ϕ}$ and b

$_{ϕδ}$, which enter at leading order in the galaxy power spectrum and bispectrum. This is the first time that b

$_{ϕδ}$ is measured from either gravity-only or galaxy formation simulations. For dark matter halos, the popular assumption of universality overpredicts the b

$_{ϕδ}$(b

$_{1}$) relation in the range 1 ≲ b

$_{1}$ ≲ 3 by up to Δ b

$_{ϕδ}$ ∼ 3 (b

$_{1}$ is the linear density bias). The adequacy of the universality relation is worse for the simulated galaxies, with the relations b

$_{ϕ}$(b

$_{1}$) and b

$_{ϕδ}$(b

$_{1}$) being generically redshift-dependent and very sensitive to how galaxies are selected (we test total, stellar and black hole mass, black hole mass accretion rate and color). The uncertainties on b

$_{ϕ}$ and b

$_{ϕδ}$ have a direct, often overlooked impact on the constraints of the local PNG parameter f

$_{NL}$, which we study and discuss. For a survey with V = 100 Gpc$^{3}$/h$^{3}$ at z=1, uncertainties Δ b

$_{ϕ}$ ≲ 1 and Δ b

$_{ϕδ}$ ≲ 5 around values close to the fiducial can yield relatively unbiased constraints on f

$_{NL}$ using power spectrum and bispectrum data. We also show why priors on galaxy bias are useful even in analyses that fit for products f

$_{NL}$

b

$_{ϕ}$ and f

$_{NL}$

b

$_{ϕδ}$. The strategies we discuss to deal with galaxy bias uncertainties can be straightforwardly implemented in existing f

$_{NL}$ constraint analyses (we provide fits for some of the bias relations). Our results motivate more works with galaxy formation simulations to refine our understanding of b

$_{ϕ}$ and b

$_{ϕδ}$ towards improved constraints on f

$_{NL}$.

The properties of quasar-host galaxies might be determined by the growth and feedback of their supermassive black holes (SMBHs, 10^8−10 M_⊙). We investigate such connection with a suite of cosmological simulations of massive (halo mass ≈10^12 M_⊙) galaxies at z ≃ 6 that include a detailed subgrid multiphase gas and accretion model. BH seeds of initial mass 10^5 M_⊙ grow mostly by gas accretion, and become SMBH by z = 6 setting on the observed M_BH−M_⋆ relation without the need for a boost factor. Although quasar feedback crucially controls the SMBH growth, its impact on the properties of the host galaxy at z = 6 is negligible. In our model, quasar activity can both quench (via gas heating) or enhance (by interstellar medium overpressurization) star formation. However, we find that the star formation history is insensitive to such modulation as it is largely dominated, at least at z > 6, by cold gas accretion from the environment that cannot be hindered by the quasar energy deposition. Although quasar-driven outflows can achieve velocities |$\gt 1000~\rm km~s^{-1}$|⁠, only ≈4 per cent of the outflowing gas mass can actually escape from the host galaxy. These findings are only loosely constrained by available data, but can guide observational campaigns searching for signatures of quasar feedback in early galaxies.

The emergence of evermore complex entities from prebiotic building blocks is a key aspect of origins of life research. The RNA-world hypothesis posits that RNA oligomers known as ribozymes acted as the first self-replicating entities. However, the mechanisms governing the self-assembly of complex informational polymers from the shortest prebiotic building blocks were unclear. One open issue concerns the relation between concentration and oligonucleotide length, usually assumed to be exponentially decreasing. Here, we show that a competition of timescales in the self-assembly of informational polymers by templated ligation generically leads to nonmonotonic strand-length distributions with two distinct length scales. The first length scale characterizes the onset of a strongly nonequilibrium regime and is visible as a local minimum. Dynamically, this regime is governed by extension cascades, where the elongation of a "primer" with a short building block is more likely than its dehybridization. The second length scale appears as a local concentration maximum and reflects a balance between degradation and dehybridization of completely hybridized double strands in a heterocatalytic extension-reassembly process. Analytical arguments and extensive numerical simulations within a sequence-independent model allowed us to predict and control these emergent length scales. Nonmonotonic strand-length distributions confirming our theory were obtained in thermocycler experiments using random DNA sequences from a binary alphabet. Our work emphasizes the role of structure-forming processes already for the earliest stages of prebiotic evolution. The accumulation of strands with a typical length reveals a possible starting point for higher-order self-organization events that ultimately lead to a self-replicating, evolving system.

Simulating a survey of fluxes and redshifts (distances) from an astrophysical population is a routine task. \texttt{popsynth} provides a generic, object-oriented framework to produce synthetic surveys from various distributions and luminosity functions, apply selection functions to the observed variables and store them in a portable (HDF5) format. Population synthesis routines can be constructed either using classes or from a serializable YAML format allowing flexibility and portability. Users can not only sample the luminosity and distance of the populations, but they can create auxiliary distributions for parameters which can have arbitrarily complex dependencies on one another. Thus, users can simulate complex astrophysical populations which can be used to calibrate analysis frameworks or quickly test ideas.