Peer Revenue Play credits. Real papers.

Papers

Fresh from arXiv, typeset properly. Highlighted words trade on the market.

Physics Astrophysics

astro-ph Watch Astrophysics

Sunday 7 June

Astrophysics of Galaxies

JWST Absorption-Line Analysis of UV-Bright Galaxies at $z=7.2-10.6$: Early Chemical Enrichment Traced by C, O, Mg, Al, Si, and Fe

Minami Nakane and Masami Ouchi

We investigate UV absorption lines tracing cool gas in eight bright ($-21.9 < M_\mathrm{UV} < -20.5$) galaxies at $z=7.2-10.6$ using deep archival JWST/NIRSpec medium-resolution spectra. The eight galaxies were homogeneously selected based on wavelength coverage and data quality from 362 galaxies at $z>7$ available to date, and all eight were observed as part of the SPURS program. We identify multiple absorption lines of low-ionization species (LIS) in five galaxies, while the remaining three show only one or no significant detections. The average LIS equivalent widths $\mathrm{EW}_{\mathrm{LIS}}$ indicate weaker absorption lines in compact ($r_\mathrm{e}\lesssim100$ pc) galaxies with high $L_{\mathrm{H}\beta}/L_{\mathrm{UV}}$ and $\Sigma_{\mathrm{SFR}}$, suggestive of absorption-line suppression due to intense star formation or nuclear activity. We simultaneously fit multiple LIS lines, accounting for both covering fraction $C_f$ and column density $N$, and find that the five galaxies follow the local $C_f$-$N$ relation. Through the LIS-line fitting, we derive chemical abundance ratios. The five galaxies have abundance ratios similar to those of damped Ly$\alpha$ (DLA) systems at $z\sim5-7$ in the [Si/O]-[C/O] and [Fe/Si]-[Al/Si] planes, suggesting that their absorbing gas is similar to that of DLAs. We find that two galaxies at $z\sim7$ are already highly Fe-enriched, with $\mathrm{[Fe/Si]}\simeq-0.2$, near the solar abundance ratio. While the high Fe enrichment may originate from early Type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) or pair-instability supernovae (PISNe), these two galaxies also show $\mathrm{[Al/Si]}\sim0$, with no signature of the strong odd-even effect expected from PISNe, in which odd-$Z$ elements are suppressed relative to even-$Z$ elements, favoring SNe Ia.
Read the full abstract

Astrophysics of Galaxies

From filaments to clumps: filament properties with synthetic Herschel observations

Zhen-Xing Ma and Zu-Jia Lu

Systematic surveys of filaments have been conducted to study their properties and their relationship to the process of star formation. In this paper, we use synthetic Herschel observations derived from 3D numerical simulations to compute column density maps, then use the FILFINDER algorithm to identify filaments. We obtain a large sample of 8,832 filaments that we further decompose into 110,193 branches. We characterize the physical properties of these filamentary structures and explore their correlations with embedded clumps. Furthermore, we directly compare our synthetic results with an observational catalogue of 32,059 filaments from the Herschel Infrared Galactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL). Our results show that filaments are central to the star formation process, hosting $94\%$ of clumps from synthetic observations and $93\%$ of stars from our 3D numerical simulation. Filaments that host clumps have higher median column densities ($1.1\times10^{21}\,\rm{cm}^{-2}$) than those without ($3.8\times10^{20}\,\rm{cm}^{-2}$). We find power-law distributions for our synthetic filament masses and lengths, with power-law indexes of $\alpha_{\rm M}=-0.86$ and $\alpha_{\rm L} = -1.71$, respectively. We also find that the relation between the density of filaments and the background density is $N_{\rm{fs}} \propto N_{\rm{bs}}^{0.78}$. The measured properties of the filaments from the 2D synthetic observations are qualitatively consistent with those of the filaments from the Hi-GAL survey.
Read the full abstract

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Mapping the Landscape of M Dwarf X-ray Flares: New Discoveries in Context

Imri A. Dickstein, Maayane T. Soumagnac, Eran O. Ofek et al. (+4 more)

We report the discovery of 11 X-ray flares from 7 M dwarfs previously unknown to exhibit flaring activity, by cross-matching eROSITA observations of bright, nearby M dwarfs with the Chandra telescope archive. To analyze the properties of these flares in a broader context, we compile the sample of all reported X-ray flares from the 15 M dwarfs identified as flaring in the literature. We use this combined sample to derive constraints on the X-ray flare frequency distributions of M0-M6 stars. The average flare occurrence rate we measure is $\sim 10^{-1}\,\rm ks^{-1}$ (corresponding to $\sim 9$ flares per day). The X-ray flares in this sample span energies from $10^{29}\,\rm erg$ to $10^{33}\,\rm erg$ and exhibit a strong correlation between flare strength and duration. The flare properties we characterize include their durations, flux and temperature enhancements, and temporal asymmetries. Using these results and recent simulations of flare-driven atmospheric escape, we derive an upper limit on the time required for habitable Earth-like planets orbiting these M dwarfs to completely lose their atmospheres: 0.5-30 Myr.
Read the full abstract

All authors Imri A. Dickstein, Maayane T. Soumagnac, Eran O. Ofek, Param Rekhi, Volker Perdelwitz, Sagi Ben-Ami, Thomas Kupfer

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Cross-listed from hep-th

Fire at the Tip of the Throat: Hagedorn Phase after brane-antibrane inflation?

Dibya Chakraborty and Ahmed Rakin Kamal

We study the post-inflationary open-string Hagedorn phase in perturbatively moduli stabilized brane-antibrane inflation. In this class of models, the volume modulus is stabilized by perturbative corrections rather than by non-perturbative effects to the superpotential, thereby avoiding the standard brane-antibrane $\eta$-problem. Since inflation ends through tachyon condensation and brane-antibrane annihilation, the endpoint is intrinsically stringy and need not be described immediately by an ordinary radiation bath. We analyze whether the energy released at annihilation can drive the visible sector into an open-string Hagedorn phase, and study the consequences for dark radiation. If the Standard Model (SM) branes lie in the same throat as where the annihilation occurs, we find that a modest fraction of the released energy deposited into surviving visible open strings is sufficient to enter the Hagedorn regime and can suppress the effective number of relativistic species $\Delta N_{\rm eff}$ below current observational bounds. If the SM lies in a different throat, the result depends on inter-throat energy transfer: prompt or delayed transfer can still yield a visible Hagedorn phase. However, the mechanism is most efficient when the local string scale in the SM throat is lower than or comparable to that in the annihilation throat.
Read the full abstract

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

On The Nature of Einstein Probe Transient EP250916a: Insights from X-ray, Optical, and Radio Observations

Gaurava K. Jaisawal, Giulia Illiano, Francesco Carotenuto et al. (+7 more)

We report multi-wavelength studies of the transient EP250916a, detected by the Einstein Probe on 2025 September 16. Located at low Galactic latitude, the source exhibited a rapid X-ray brightening, reaching an unabsorbed 0.5–10 keV flux of $(6.4 \pm 0.1) \times 10^{-10}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, followed by a plateau and a two-stage decay lasting over 40 days. Swift/XRT monitoring shows a persistently hard spectrum ($\Gamma \approx 1.6$–2.2) with only modest softening during decay, while a NuSTAR observation confirms a hard-state continuum extending up to 70 keV. Timing analysis of XMM-Newton data reveals a weak quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) at $\sim$13 Hz. No other coherent pulsations or thermonuclear bursts are detected. Broadband spectral modeling favors a nonthermal power-law continuum with partial-covering absorption, and shows no significant thermal disk component. Optical imaging obtained with NOT/ALFOSC, LCO, and GaiaDR3 identifies two faint sources within the 2 arcsec Swift/XRT positional uncertainty. A MeerKAT observation at 1.28 GHz yielded no radio counterpart, with a 3$\sigma$ upper limit of 60 $\mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$. The combination of a long-lasting outburst, a hard nonthermal X-ray spectrum, a weak QPO detection, the absence of coherent timing features, and faint potential optical counterparts disfavors a stellar-flare or extragalactic origin and supports an accreting compact-object scenario. Comparisons with similar faint, hard-state transients place EP250916a within a growing population of low-luminosity, hard-state black hole X-ray binary candidates.
Read the full abstract

All authors Gaurava K. Jaisawal, Giulia Illiano, Francesco Carotenuto, Astrid L. Bouquin, David M. Russell, Giorgos Leloudas, Andrea Sanna, Dalya Akl, Rob Fender, Sara Motta

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Reconstructing Synthetic SDO/AIA 193 A EUV Images from He I 10830 A Observations with Diffusion Model Translator

Marco Marena, Qin Li, Haimin Wang et al. (+3 more)

Routine full-disk EUV imaging has been available only since the modern era, such as SOHO and SDO. To extend EUV coronal context into earlier periods, we leverage the multi-decade availability of full-disk \HeI{} observations, whose absorption is modulated by coronal irradiance and magnetic topology and is widely used as a proxy for open-field regions. We present a diffusion-based conditional image translation framework, Coronal Hole-aware Diffusion Model Translator (CH-aware DMT), to reconstruct synthetic SDO/AIA 193 Å EUV images from \HeI{} inputs. The model is trained on temporally co-aligned SOLIS \HeI{} and AIA 193 Å pairs spanning 2011–2015 using a month-based split, where January–October are used for training, November is used for validation, and December for testing. On the held-out test set, the reconstructions preserve dominant full-disk EUV morphology (CC=0.92) and recover CH-related low-intensity structure (CC=0.84). We further assess historical applicability by (1) comparing reconstructed AIA 193 Å morphology with SOHO/EIT 195 Å over 2005–2015; (2) comparing reconstructed AIA 193 Å images generated from KPVT \HeI{} inputs against Yohkoh/SXT soft X-ray observations; and (3) evaluating long-term reconstructed disk-integrated emission statistics against observational EUV series and independent solar activity proxies (sunspot number and F10.7 radio flux over 1974–2015). These results indicate that CH-aware DMT conditioned on \HeI{} can provide a physically plausible synthetic AIA 193 Å coronal proxy for historical studies, supporting multi-decade analyses of large-scale coronal evolution before the direct EUV imaging was available.
Read the full abstract

All authors Marco Marena, Qin Li, Haimin Wang, Haodi Jiang, Prajwal Shah, Bo Shen

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Thermal emission from dark matter-heated neutron stars in the Galactic Center

Yunhe Hu, Feng Huang and Taotao Fang

We investigate the thermal impact of dark matter (DM) capture and annihilation on neutron stars (NSs) in the Galactic Center (GC). Accounting for both kinetic energy deposition and internal annihilation, we systematically evaluate the influence of various DM density profiles, ranging from cored to cuspy distributions, on the late-time thermal evolution of NSs. For NSs older than $\sim 10^7~\mathrm{yr}$, the surface temperature approaches an equilibrium value $T_\mathrm{s}^{\mathrm{eq}} \sim 10^4$–$10^6~\mathrm{K}$, depending on the stellar location and the ambient DM density. In the presence of a density spike, enhanced heating shifts the emission toward ultraviolet (UV) and soft x-ray bands; however, strong interstellar extinction and large hydrogen column densities significantly suppress the observable flux density. We further provide an estimate of the cumulative infrared surface brightness from the NS population in the GC. The predicted flux density from an individual NS remains below $\sim 0.1\,\mathrm{nJy}$, while the integrated emission yields an average surface brightness $I_\nu \lesssim 10^{-9}\,\mathrm{Jy\,arcsec^{-2}}$, corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio well below current detection thresholds. Our results indicate that thermal signatures from DM-heated NSs in the GC remain below the sensitivity limits of current instruments, although nearby systems with lower extinction may provide more promising targets for detection.
Read the full abstract

Astrophysics of Galaxies

ALMA High-resolution Observation of the HH46/47 Outflow/disk/envelope System

Heyi Zhang, Yichen Zhang, Héctor G. Arce et al. (+5 more)

We present $0.1^{\prime\prime}$ ($\sim 50$ au) resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the HH 46/47 molecular outflow and its envelope-disk system. The 1.3 mm continuum emission reveals a compact central source surrounded by a circumbinary disk with substructures. The companion, identified in optical and infrared observations, is not detected in the millimeter continuum but coincides with a local intensity minimum. Two spur-like features extending from the primary source toward the companion are identified and are likely induced by gravitational perturbations from the companion. The envelope-disk system is traced by C$^{18}$O, SO, H$_2$CO, and CH$_3$OH. C$^{18}$O primarily traces the extended envelope, while SO probes the inner envelope, and H$_2$CO and CH$_3$OH trace compact, faster-rotating structures near the centrifugal barrier. The observations are well reproduced by a rotating-infalling envelope transitioning to an inner disk at a radius of $\sim 30$ au around a $0.3~M_\odot$ protostar. The $^{12}$CO emission, together with JWST NIRCam images, reveals multiple shell structures in the outflow. Using C$^{18}$O and $^{13}$CO to correct for optical depth, we derive the spatial distributions of outflow mass, momentum, and kinetic energy, as well as their corresponding rates. A model-independent analysis of a well-defined redshifted shell yields its three-dimensional velocity field, showing that the shell expands radially rather than flowing along its surface. Although a transverse velocity gradient is detected, interpreting it as rotation implies an unphysically large magnetic lever arm, disfavoring a direct disk-wind origin. Instead, the shell kinematics support an entrainment scenario.
Read the full abstract

All authors Heyi Zhang, Yichen Zhang, Héctor G. Arce, Diego Mardones, Sylvie Cabrit, Michael M. Dunham, Stella S. R. Offner, Hsien Shang

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Discovery of a Candidate 2 keV Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature in the HLX NGC 3583 X-1

Kiran M. Jayasurya, Aman Upadhyay and Vikram Rana

We present a broadband X-ray study of the transient hyperluminous X-ray source (HLX), 2SXPS J111416.1+481833, in the galaxy NGC 3583, using archival XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, Chandra data, and long-term Swift/XRT monitoring. The source episodically enters the hyperluminous regime with X-ray luminosities $L_X > 10^{41}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and drops by a factor of $>45$ from its peak into a deep low state. We detect a clear spectral cutoff at $\sim$5-6 keV in the broadband spectra, which are well modeled by a soft thermal component combined with optically thick thermal Comptonization or an inner advection-dominated disk. In the XMM-Newton spectra, we detect a statistically significant ($\gtrsim 3.9 \sigma$) absorption line centered at $E_{\rm line} \approx 1.97 \pm 0.04$ keV with a width of $\sigma_{\rm line} \approx 74 \pm 40$ eV. We primarily interpret the line as a candidate proton Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature (CRSF), implying a local magnetic field strength of $B \sim 4 \times 10^{14}$ G. Alternative interpretations, such as an origin in an ionized outflow, were explored and found to be less likely. We do not detect coherent X-ray pulsations, placing 90% confidence upper limits on the pulsed fraction of 19.3% in the 0.3-10 keV band and 36.3% in the 3-15 keV band. The combination of extreme luminosity, a hard spectral state, and the detection of a candidate cyclotron line provides strong evidence for a highly magnetized neutron star accretor.
Read the full abstract

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Bayesian Reconstruction of the Local Universe from 2MRS: Testing the Gravitational Flow with Cosmicflows-4

Adi Nusser

We present a Bayesian reconstruction of the local density and velocity fields traced by the 2MASS Redshift Survey (2MRS) and test the inferred gravitational flow against independent Cosmicflows-4 (CF4) galaxy-group peculiar velocities. The fiducial reconstruction is the maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) solution of a Zel'dovich-approximation forward model, constrained by the 2MRS redshift-space distribution through an unbinned Poisson point-process likelihood. The model assumes Gaussian initial conditions and includes the 2MRS selection function, the Zone of Avoidance, redshift-space distortions, and a distance-dependent galaxy-bias prescription. The MAP field is obtained by optimization of the posterior, while Hamiltonian Monte Carlo is used to draw posterior samples and constrained realizations within the same framework. The reconstructed velocity field agrees well with CF4 in object-by-object, density–velocity-correlation, and shell-by-shell reflex-dipole tests. These comparisons are made at the CF4 redshift-space positions and do not require smoothing the observed CF4 velocities to the MAP resolution. We also evolve constrained initial conditions with Gadget-4. The real-space density retains the large-scale Zel'dovich structure while developing additional nonlinear small-scale structure, and the redshift-space distribution develops nonlinear Fingers of God. The results show that the 2MRS field-level reconstruction captures the large-scale gravitational flow of the nearby Universe and provides initial conditions suitable for constrained simulations.
Read the full abstract

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Post-Merger Gravitational-Wave Uncertainties of Binary Neutron Stars under Multi-Messenger EOS Constraints

Yong-Jia Huang and Luca Baiotti

The high-frequency gravitational waves emitted by a binary neutron star merger remnant carry information on matter at densities and temperatures beyond those reached in isolated neutron stars. We quantify how tightly current multi-messenger constraints already determine the dominant post-merger frequency $f_{2,\rm mean}$. Adopting a set of cold equations of state (EOSs) constrained jointly by gravitational-wave tidal deformability, NICER mass–radius measurements, massive-pulsar masses, chiral effective field theory at low density, and perturbative QCD at asymptotically high density, for each binary mass we select the softest and stiffest models of the multi-messenger posterior and follow their coalescence with fully general-relativistic hydrodynamics simulations. Together with a broad set of EOSs drawn from the literature ($82$ models in total), these simulations show that, once the binary mass and a single measure of the stellar compactness ($\Lambda$ or $R$) are held fixed, the residual spread of $f_{2,\rm mean}$ is only $\sim 100\,{\rm Hz}$, a factor of several below the $\gtrsim 500\,{\rm Hz}$ range spanned by an EOSs set including those already disfavored by the data. This tight calibration of the cold-matter prediction implies that a future high-frequency detection departing from it would point directly to additional physics, such as a hadron–quark transition occurring at finite temperature. We further confirm the quasi-universal relation $(f_1+f_3)/2 \approx f_{2,\rm mean}$ to within $\sim 116\,{\rm Hz}$, which provides a model-independent estimate of $f_{2,\rm mean}$ from the secondary spectral peaks.
Read the full abstract

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Photometric light curves analysis of SU UMa-type dwarf novae: the case of RZ LMi and KV Dra

I. B. Voloshina and A. N. Tarasenkov

The results of new photometric observations of two SU~UMa type dwarf novae are presented. Superhumps were detected on the light curves of these systems during superoutbursts and their periods and amplitudes determined. The classification of objects as dwarf novae of the ER~UMa subclass (for RZ~LMi) and subclass WZ~Sge (for KV~Dra) has been clarified. Orbital period $0^{d}.0586$ for KV Dra was determined.
Read the full abstract

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Virial-based extraction of structures in numerical simulations: The vibes tool

Simon Chevalier, Fabien Louvet, Yann Bernard et al. (+9 more)

The processes that determine the stellar initial mass function (IMF) and its connection to the core mass function (CMF) are among the major open questions in star formation. The definition of a core remains unclear, yet the way they are extracted from simulations and observations critically shapes the CMF. Nowadays, cores are mostly detected through their density or intensity only. We aim to explore a new way to define cores in 3D numerical simulations based on a direct application of the virial theorem, and break free from some limitations induced by density-based methods. We intend to improve the accuracy and the physical meaning of the extracted cores. We developed vibes, an innovative method that makes full use of the virial theorem to extract overdensities in simulation snapshots. It works by building structures iteratively around density peaks, and applying the virial theorem to the structure at each iteration. Then, the structure boundary is set from the evolution of the its energy as it spatially grows. We used STARFORGE simulations to test the sensitivity of the extraction process to the main working parameters (constraints on the structure shape, iteration step, and peak selection criteria). This sensitivity is observed to be low. We compared our extraction with two density-based extraction algorithms, hop and dendrogram, that are observed to be very sensitive to their input density threshold parameter. Vibes returns structures that are coherent to each other and physically motivated, and it appears much more stable than existing 3D extraction tools. By defining the boundary of the cores on a physical criterion rather than on a user-defined set of density parameters, we expect such extracted cores to be closer to their forsaken definition: gas reservoirs that will form a single star or a close multiple system.
Read the full abstract

All authors Simon Chevalier, Fabien Louvet, Yann Bernard, Frédérique Motte, Daniel J. Price, Noé Brucy, Maxime Valeille-Manet, Marta González-Garcia, Estelle Moraux, Isabelle Joncour, Benjamin Thomasson, Pierre Didelon

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

$\delta$-CDM: A Minimal Deformation of $\Lambda$CDM with Scalar Field Reconstruction

Phichayoot Baisri, Nandan Roy, Prasanta Sahoo et al. (+2 more)

Recent DESI BAO observations provide intriguing hints that dark energy may be dynamical in nature. To investigate deviations of the dark energy equation of state (EoS) from $w = -1$, we introduce the $\delta$-CDM framework, a controlled deformation of $\Lambda$CDM in which deviations from a cosmological constant are parametrized by a redshift-dependent function $\delta(z)$, defined through $w_{\rm de}(z) = -1 + \delta(z)$. As an illustrative example, we reconstruct $\delta(z)$ using effective scalar field dynamics of thawing type, encompassing both quintessence and phantom regimes within a unified description. Notably, the reconstructed $\delta(z)$ is independent of the specific scalar field realization, ensuring theoretical robustness. Using Planck CMB-SPA data, DESI DR2 BAO measurements, and the Pantheon+ supernova sample within a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis, we find that the $\tilde{w}_0\tilde{w}_a$ parametrization is preferred over this thawing-type realization of deviations from $w = -1$. Overall, the $\delta$-CDM framework provides a minimal yet flexible extension of $\Lambda$CDM, capable of capturing late-time dynamical features of dark energy.
Read the full abstract

All authors Phichayoot Baisri, Nandan Roy, Prasanta Sahoo, Soumya Chakrabarti, Jackson Levi Said

Saturday 6 June

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Cross-listed from physics.space-ph

"Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs)", "Interaction Regions (IRs)" and "Stream Interaction Regions (SIRs)", which term should be used?

Bruce T. Tsurutani, Rajkumar Hajra and Gurbax S. Lakhina

We discuss the early history of quasiperiodic ~27-day recurrent geomagnetic activity starting with Maunder (1904, 1905), Chree (1913) and Bartels (1932, 1934), and the Bartels term "M-regions". We show the iconic "interaction region (IR)" schematic of Belcher and Davis (1971) and the further development of Smith and Wolfe (1976) and the term "corotating interaction region (CIR)". We quote the Jian et al. (2006) definition of a "stream interaction region (SIR)". We disagree with Jian et al. (2006) on the use of the term (SIR) to indicate "transient and possibly localized stream interactions" with "poor recurrence" (Gosling et al., 2001). We feel that this description is too vague for use in scientific studies. We suggest, instead identifying the specific known interplanetary phenomena: interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) sheaths, ICMEs (loops, magnetic clouds, filaments), CIRs, high-speed streams (HSSs) and slow streams. All of these various interplanetary phenomena have different solar and interplanetary origins and different plasma and magnetic field properties. The different interplanetary phenomena have been shown to have different geomagnetic effectivenesses. In keeping with this theme of naming specific interplanetary phenomenon, we introduce the term "Super CIR (SCIR)", which describes a CIR associated with magnetic reconnection at the edge of a solar coronal hole with an embedded coronal jet. SCIRs are a new form of a "transient event" and can be identified by exceptionally strong internal magnetic fields and bounded by both forward and reverse shocks. The SCIR on 6-7 April 2000 caused an exceptionally strong SYM-H = -319 nT superstorm, a first detected/reported event of its kind.
Read the full abstract

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Modelling the Dynamics of Middle-Aged Pulsar Wind Nebulae in the Reverberation Phase

Yuri Batini and Niccolò Bucciantini

Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) are among the most important sources emitting in the very-high-energy gamma-ray band. Predicting their long-term evolution is crucial for forthcoming high-energy observatories like ASTRI and CTA. In this work, We investigate the dynamical evolution of middle-aged PWNe - probably the major contributors to the Galactic TeV emission - and test the robustness of current approaches. To understand the diversity of these systems, we derive the Pulsar and Supernova Remnant (SNR) parameters governing PWN evolution. SNR evolution is set by supernova kinetic energy, ejecta mass, and ambient density, while pulsar energy injection powers the PWN expansion. Adopting standard distributions, we generate a synthetic PWN-SNR population and define a region of interest encompassing the majority of these objects. We use a semi-analytical framework for the early evolution and a 1D Lagrangian code to track their interaction with parent SNRs (the reverberation phase). Within our region of interest, we find large diversity in the late-stage evolution. Despite this, all systems converge toward a relaxed state consistent with the Sedov solution. To address 1D limitations, we perform 2D simulations - optimized to reduce computational cost while preserving physical accuracy - to study instability growth and long-term mixing. We find that instability growth depends on initial perturbations but does not significantly alter global dynamics. While effective volume evolution agrees with 1D predictions, multidimensional effects can increase the apparent size by up to 50%. For the first time, we investigated in detail the multidimensional evolution of middle-aged PWNe in the reverberation phase. By characterizing the late-time evolution across the population, our results confirm the robustness of 1D models, demonstrating that current predictions remain trustworthy.
Read the full abstract

2606.09914 · 6 Jun · This work represents my Master's thesis Physics, defended on 26 April 2026 at the University of Florence, with the final score of 110/110 with honors. My results on the population synthesis of Pulsar Wind Nebulae and Supernova Remnants have become a key component of a recent article accepted for publication in "Astronomy and Astrophysics". This thesis comprises 145 pages and 45 figures

Abstract PDF $EVO ×9$PLSR ×4$SNOV ×2$GALAC ×1

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Dust to Dust: Prospects for Passive Technosignatures as Relics of ETI

Brian C. Lacki

Technological societies are separated in time, not just space – that is the lesson of the Drake equation. Might the best way to seek them be to find technosignatures that persist long after their creators? I present work I and my collaborators have done on the idea of passive technosignatures, requiring no upkeep from an active society. These range from microscopic to galactic in scale, including specular reflections from shiny artifacts in the Solar System, lens flares from X-ray binaries, and the survivability of Dyson swarms. I discuss prospects for detecting these technosignatures. In the end, what we may be left with are the end products of collisional cascades: dust.
Read the full abstract

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Reconciling large-scale Lyman-$\alpha$ correlations with the SCRIPT Semi-numerical Model

Saptarshi Sarkar and Tirthankar Roy Choudhury

Recent analyses of high-redshift Lyman-$\alpha$ forest observations have revealed strong correlations on scales exceeding 200 cMpc at redshift z = 6. Reproducing these large-scale correlations has proven challenging for current large-volume reionization simulations. In this work, we investigate these large-scale correlations using mock spectra generated from the extended SCRIPT semi-numerical reionization model. We find that while the fiducial model ensemble systematically predicts smaller correlation lengths than those inferred from the 67 sightlines in the extended XQR-30 sample, 17.5% of individual mock realizations can naturally reproduce the observed signal. Using a delete-2 jackknife analysis, we demonstrate that the observed large-scale correlation length is disproportionately driven by a rare pair of highly transmissive sightlines associated with high-redshift transmission spikes. By inserting two such highly transmissive sightlines into our mock realizations, the fraction of realizations consistent with the observed redshift evolution and correlation length increases significantly from 17.5% to 74.1%. Furthermore, we show that spatial fluctuations in the ionizing mean free path remain an essential physical ingredient for reproducing the observed correlation structure. Our results suggest that the unexpectedly large Lyman-$\alpha$ correlations can be reconciled with existing reionization models when accounting for cosmic variance and the outsized statistical impact of highly transmissive sightlines that occur as prominent outliers within the observational sample.
Read the full abstract

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Old pulsar wind nebulae and the role of the thermal filaments

N. Bucciantini, Y. Batini and B. Olmi

Old pulsar wind nebulae are among the foremost galactic high-energy gamma-ray sources. However we still lack a robust approach to their modeling, especially in the light of forthcoming high-energy observatories like Astri or CTAO. Part of the problem is due to the complex interaction that characterizes these systems. Understanding this complexity has then become mandatory for further advancements. We aim to develop a new approach to investigate the role the thermal thick layer of massive filaments, seen in objects like the Crab nebula and 3C 58, but likely present in all pulsar wind nebulae, can exert on the dynamics of the late reverberation phase, and compare results with standard approaches that neglect such a layer. A new formulation of the one-zone thin-shell plus Lagrangian formalism, developed in a series of previous papers, is here extended to the case of a thick layer of filamentary ejecta, complementing our former work, mostly focused on the initial free-expansion phase. We compare the dynamics of reverberation with and without the presence of filaments, and show that in the former case reverberation may be substantially anticipated and the following compression takes much longer. The total compression of the system does not seem to change much, and the qualitative behavior is preserved. Our results suggest that the presence or absence of an extended filamentary layer might affect the duration of both the free-expansion phase (shortening it) and the following compression phase during reverberation (lengthening it), but it does not change much the overall compression of the nebula. While this changes the relative number of systems in these two phases, and their contribution to high-energy emission, some peculiar radiative effects associated with the level of compression in old systems, like the "super-efficiency", might not be much affected.
Read the full abstract

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Fast Astronomical Transients in Archival Photographic Plates: Using optical aberrations as a tool for discerning real images, from plate artifacts

Ivo Busko

The detection of fast astronomical transients in photographic plates from the Palomar sky surveys conducted in the 1950s, was subject to the criticism that such transients could be just the effect of otherwise unaccounted for plate artifacts. In this paper, we show that transient images exhibit the coma aberration pattern expected from off-axis point sources recorded through the telescope optics, a signature that plate artifacts cannot naturally reproduce. Although the data does not by themselves establish the physical origin of the light that generated the images, they lend support to hypotheses that do not rely on instrumental effects to explain transients.
Read the full abstract

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Cross-listed from nucl-th

On the effect of higher order symmetry energy corrections in Skyrme models for neutron star matter

Md. Emanuel Hoque and Arunava Mukherjee

Neutron stars consist of cold, dense, neutron-rich nuclear matter under charge neutrality and $\beta$-equilibrium. In most nuclear equation of state (EOS) studies, the isospin dependence of asymmetric nuclear matter is described using the conventional quadratic/parabolic approximation to the nuclear symmetry energy. However, its validity in the highly neutron-rich inner core of neutron stars remains uncertain. In this work, we systematically investigate the role of higher-order isospin corrections to the symmetry energy within the framework of Skyrme-like effective nuclear interactions. We first analyze the standard SLy4 parametrization and quantify deviations arising from successive higher-order terms in the expansion of the energy per nucleon with respect to the isospin asymmetry parameter. We then extend the analysis to a large population of physically viable Skyrme EOSs sampled over a broad parameter space constrained by conventional nuclear saturation density bounds, thermodynamic stability, and causality, as well as the requirement to support astrophysical neutron-star mass observations exceeding $2\text{M}_{\odot}$. We find that higher-order isospin corrections become increasingly important at supra-nuclear densities and can significantly modify composition-sensitive quantities under $\beta$-equilibrium, including the neutron-proton chemical potential difference, proton fraction, leptonic sector properties, and the direct-Urca process. In contrast, the $\beta$-equilibrated EOS, energy density, pressure, and sound speed remain comparatively insensitive to these corrections for most viable EOSs. Our results demonstrate that while the quadratic approximation captures bulk thermodynamic behavior reasonably well, higher-order isospin contributions play a non-negligible role in determining the detailed composition and microscopic properties of dense matter in neutron-star interiors.
Read the full abstract

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Cross-listed from gr-qc

Stimulated Emission from Boson Clouds

Yu An, Xian-Hui Ge, Yun-Gui Gong et al. (+1 more)

Gravitational-waves from astrophysical sources are characterized by their extreme faintness, which remains a primary obstacle for both current and next generation detectors. While rotating black holes dressed in superradiant clouds of ultralight bosons are recognized as promising probes of physics beyond the Standard Model, their capacity to actively emit and modulate gravitational radiation remains largely unexamined. Here we demonstrate that these gravitational atoms can function as natural amplifiers of gravitational-waves via a stimulated emission mechanism analogous to astrophysical masers. By formalizing the interaction between the bosonic cloud and an ambient stochastic gravitational-wave background, we establish the rigorous selection rules and threshold conditions that govern this amplification. Our analysis reveals that the emission rate depends critically on the boson mass, potentially yielding an enhancement of several orders of magnitude over spontaneous processes. For representative mass ranges, these amplified signals bridge the sensitivity gap between ground-based interferometers and pulsar timing arrays. These findings suggest that superradiant clouds can effectively boost previously undetectable signals, offering a novel observational frontier for exploring ultralight fields and the Kerr spacetime environment.
Read the full abstract

All authors Yu An, Xian-Hui Ge, Yun-Gui Gong, Yun-Long Zhang

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

Single-dish observations and non-LTE analysis of CH3OH, HCN, and CO line emission in the Oort cloud comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)

M. S. Kirsanova, Ya. N. Pavlyuchenkov, A. O. H. Olofsson et al. (+1 more)

We present pre-perihelion observations of methanol, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide in the Oort cloud comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS), performed with the APEX 12-m and Onsala 20-m telescopes from April to July 2022. As the comets heliocentric distance decreased from 3.4 to 2.7 AU, CH3OH line intensities increased substantially (by factors of 1.1-4.0), with the most pronounced enhancement in lines with the upper-level energies Eu > 40K. In contrast, the brightness of the CO and HCN lines remained constant. We estimate the best-fit gas kinetic temperatures Tgas > 100 K and water production rate of Q(H2O)=(3-10)*10(28) 1/s. The derived methanol-to-water abundance ratio approx. 0.01-0.04, depending on the observed period. Our results demonstrate that non-LTE effects are dominant in the coma and must be accounted for to accurately derive molecular production rates. We also report weak non-thermal excitation, including potential maser activity in the CH3OH 8(0)-7(1) line.
Read the full abstract

All authors M. S. Kirsanova, Ya. N. Pavlyuchenkov, A. O. H. Olofsson, M. S. Lerner

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Cross-listed from hep-ph

Real versus Complex Fermion Bare Mass and Multi-Wall String Defect Annihilation

Utsav Atta, Tathagata Ghosh and Sudip Manna

Particle physics models beyond the Standard Model often contain global symmetries to address various unanswered questions. However, a common criticism of theories based on global symmetries is that such symmetries are generally expected to be explicitly violated by gravitational effects at the Planck scale. In the case of a global $U(1)$ symmetry, this explicit breaking can reduce the symmetry to a discrete subgroup of $U(1)$, leading to the formation of cosmic strings attached to multiple domain walls (DWs). These DWs are usually cosmologically problematic, since their slow scaling behavior can eventually dominate the energy density of the Universe, giving rise to the well-known cosmological DW problem, which is strongly constrained by Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. In this work, we propose a mechanism for the annihilation of these DWs. If a fermion coupled to the symmetry-breaking scalar has a small bare mass, radiative corrections generate a temperature-dependent vacuum bias that drives DW collapse. As an example, we consider a majoron model with right-handed neutrinos, where gravity-induced operators produce a string-wall network. We show that a real bare Majorana mass is sufficient to induce complete DW annihilation for even-dimensional gravity-induced operators, whereas odd-dimensional operators require a complex bare Majorana mass whose phase lifts the residual vacuum degeneracy, enabling complete annihilation.
Read the full abstract

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Population synthesis of Galactic middle-aged pulsar wind nebulae II. Observational signatures of superefficiency

D. F. Torres, A. De Sarkar, B. Olmi et al. (+2 more)

Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) interacting with the host supernova remnants (SNRs) can enter the reverberation phase in which reverse-shock-driven compression amplifies the magnetic field and rapidly reprocesses particles, sometimes producing "superefficiency", where the radiative output in a given frequency band exceeds the pulsar's instantaneous spin-down power. We investigate the prevalence of this phenomenon in the Galactic population by modeling PWNe with the hybrid TIDE+L framework, which self-consistently follows dynamical evolution, particle spectra, and emission from radio to PeV energies. We track superefficiency across frequency bands and evolutionary stages, analyzing both individual objects and ensemble properties, including compression-resolved samples and population spectral energy distributions. Superefficiency is most common in the far-infrared, but emerges across frequencies and evolutionary phases. It is enhanced in systems where accumulated low-energy electrons radiate in magnetically amplified nebulae. We predict substantially more superefficient sources than a purely thin-shell model would, with differences ranging from factors of a few in FIR and GeV bands to more than an order of magnitude in several optical/UV/X-ray bands.
Read the full abstract

All authors D. F. Torres, A. De Sarkar, B. Olmi, N. Bucciantini, D. M.-A. Meyer

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

XRISM Observations of Abell 1795: Evidence for Low Turbulence and Resonant Scattering

Arnab Sarkar, Eric D. Miller, Brian McNamara et al. (+10 more)

We present high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations of the cool-core galaxy cluster Abell~1795 obtained with XRISM/Resolve. The cluster was observed with two deep pointings: a 225 ks central exposure and a 113 ks northern exposure, extending to a projected radius of 320 kpc from the cluster center. Single-temperature fits reveal a clear radial gradient in the line-of-sight velocity dispersion, decreasing from 114 $\pm$ 11 km/s in the core to 68 $\pm$ 39 km/s at 320 kpc. The bulk velocities in the central regions are very low (22 $\pm$ 12 and 7 $\pm$ 21 km/s), indicating no significant relative motion between the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) and the intracluster medium (ICM). Given that the central region includes the southward extending cool gas tail, this result disfavors the “cooling-wake” scenario and instead supports an AGN-uplift origin. We find that the nonthermal pressure fraction decreases with radius, from $P_{\rm NT}/P_{\rm T}\approx2\%$ in the core to $\sim0.6\%$ at 330 kpc, suggesting that the northern ICM of A1795 is largely quiescent. Two-temperature and split energy-band (2–4 keV and 6–7 keV) fits identify two gas phases within the central $<1.5'$ region, providing strong evidence for multiphase gas in the cluster core. We detect a $\sim14\%$ resonant suppression of the optically thick Fe XXV $w$ line in the center. Additionally, we observe a significant excess in the Fe XXV $y$ line-flux relative to models. Accounting for uncertainties in the atomic data reduces this discrepancy, suggesting that atomic data uncertainties may contribute to the observed residual flux.
Read the full abstract

All authors Arnab Sarkar, Eric D. Miller, Brian McNamara, Helen Russell, Kotaro Fukushima, Mark Bautz, Yutaka Fujita, Catherine E. Grant, François Mernier, Michael A. McDonald, Naomi Ota, Ayşegül Tümer, Daniel Wik

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Detector Development for HUBS I: Initial Testing of Small-Area TES Microcalorimeters

Naihui Chen, Jian Ma, Sifan Wang et al. (+8 more)

We report progress on the ongoing development of microcalorimeter detector technology for the Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor (HUBS) mission. We show the results from testing and characterizing selected pixels in a 10$\times$10 microcalorimeter array. The microcalorimeter is based on a Mo/Cu transition-edge sensor (TES) coupled to an Au absorber. To better understand the properties of the devices, we have first measured the energy resolution of a selected pixel in a TES array of the same design with a pulsed laser system that produces 3 eV photons, and found that individual photon peaks are easily resolved with the TES, indicating good performance. We have then exposed the microcalorimeter array to radiation from a $^{55}$Fe source, and found that the pixels tested show energy resolutions as good as 3.7$\pm$0.1 eV at 5.9 keV. The energy resolution is found to vary monotonically with the bias point for all the devices, showing little evidence for the presence of the so-called excess noise. This is consistent with the results from modeling the measured noise spectrum. The effects of thermal crosstalk are evident, leading to the degradation of energy resolution.
Read the full abstract

All authors Naihui Chen, Jian Ma, Sifan Wang, Qian Wang, Guanhua Gao, Qing Yu, Yajie Liang, Yaowu Song, Jingyi Zhang, Rui Huang, Wei Cui

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Isolated neutron star candidates from the fourth generation XMM-Newton catalogues

Adriana M. Pires, Christian Motch, Jan Kurpas et al. (+9 more)

X-ray thermally emitting isolated neutron stars (XINSs) are a rare population that provides insights into neutron star cooling, magnetic-field evolution, and Galactic demographics. Using more than two decades of observations from the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton Observatory, we searched the 4XMM-DR9 and 4XMM-DR12 catalogues for absorbed XINS candidates down to a flux of $10^{-14}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the 0.5–1 keV band. Candidates were selected based on soft X-ray spectra and the absence of catalogued optical, ultraviolet, or infrared counterparts. Follow-up observations with XMM-Newton and FAST were complemented by data from the SRG/eROSITA All-Sky Survey, Chandra, and optical surveys. Of ten sources analysed, five are compelling XINS candidates, one is the known XINS 4XMM J022141.5-735632, two are extragalactic contaminants, and two remain ambiguous because of limited photon statistics. The five candidates exhibit soft ($kT\sim80-100$ eV), moderately absorbed, and stable X-ray emission consistent with distant XINSs. They are located primarily in the Galactic plane, with possible associations at distances of $\sim$1.8 and $\sim$6 kpc. Population-synthesis simulations predict $20\pm5$ XINSs within the 4XMM-DR12 footprint, of which $6^{+2}_{-3}$ exceed our flux threshold, consistent with the observed sample if additional candidates are confirmed. The model further predicts that $\sim$70% of the population remains below the detection threshold. Deep optical and additional X-ray observations are required to establish the nature of the candidates. Future missions such as NewAthena will enable more detailed studies of these distant populations and improve constraints on the Galactic XINS population.
Read the full abstract

All authors Adriana M. Pires, Christian Motch, Jan Kurpas, Axel D. Schwope, Baoda Li, Dejiang Yin, Li Ji, Jianzhong Liu, Lei Qian, Iris Traulsen, Liyun Zhang, Zhongli Zhang

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Cross-listed from gr-qc

Does Eternal Inflation Violate the Smeared Null Energy Condition?

Dong-Hui Yu and Yong Cai

The smeared null energy condition (SNEC) imposes a semilocal bound on the negative energy accumulated along null geodesics. In eternal inflation, rare stochastic upward fluctuations of the inflaton locally increase the Hubble parameter, creating an apparent tension with the SNEC. Focusing on a canonical single-field model, we investigate whether this quantum-induced self-reproduction violates the SNEC. Using the Fokker-Planck equation, we demonstrate that the ensemble drift of the Hubble parameter is parametrically bounded by slow-roll parameters and semiclassical suppression. Furthermore, a complementary single-trajectory analysis reveals a strong timescale hierarchy, $N_{\rm SNEC} \gg N_{\rm BR}$. This indicates that even for rare upward stochastic excursions, gravitational backreaction invalidates the background spacetime assumption long before the SNEC bound can be mathematically approached. We conclude that while standard stochastic diffusion drives eternal inflation, it does not inherently lead to SNEC violations within the semiclassical slow-roll regime.
Read the full abstract

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Sunrise III: Instrument, mission, data, and first results

Sami K. Solanki, H. N. Smitha, Andreas Lagg et al. (+66 more)

Sunrise III is a stratospheric balloon-borne solar observatory with a 1-m diameter telescope and three post-focus instruments, along with an image stabilisation system, all within a protective gondola. It samples the lower solar atmosphere, from the solar surface to the middle chromosphere, at a resolution approaching 50~km on the Sun. Sunrise III flew successfully for 6.5 days suspended from a zero-pressure stratospheric balloon from northern Sweden to north-western Canada in July 2024, gathering around 200 TB of data. The present issue of ApJL focuses on the first scientific results from the data collected during that flight. This paper introduces this Focus Issue, providing a very brief overview of the capabilities of the instrumentation, the flight and of the gathered data. Challenges for the measurements, data reduction and interpretation are also briefly touched upon. The paper ends with an overview of the first set of science results obtained from these data, as presented in the current Focus Issue.
Read the full abstract

All authors Sami K. Solanki, H. N. Smitha, Andreas Lagg, Achim Gandorfer, Jose Carlos del Toro Iniesta, Yukio Katsukawa, Pietro Bernasconi, Thomas Berkefeld, Alex Feller, Tino L. Riethmüller, Alberto Álvarez-Herrero, Masahito Kubo, David Orozco Suárez, Bianca Grauf, Michael Carpenter, Alexander Bell, Valentín Martínez Pillet, Laurent Gizon, Francisco Javier Bailén, Julian Blanco Rodríguez, Juan Sebastián Castellanos Durán, Edvarda Harnes, Johannes Hoelken, Francisco A. Iglesias, Ryohtaroh T. Ishikawa, Yusuke Kawabata, Takuma Matsumoto, Takayoshi Oba, Kunal H. Singh, Azaymi L. Siu-Tapia, Hanna Strecker, Dus̃an Vukadinović, Michiel van Noort, Maria Balaguer Jiménez, Esteban Sanchis Kilders, Ignacio Torralbo, Christoph Kuckein, Hirohisa Hara, Toshifumi Shimizu, Reiner Volkmer, Tobias Preis, Nour E. Raouafi, Angelos Vourlidas, Johann Hirzberger, Werner Deutsch, Dietmar Germerott, Klaus Heerlein, Martin Kolleck, Daniel Álvarez García, Antonio C. López Jiménez, Luis R. Bellot Rubio, José Miguel Morales-Fernández, Antonio Jesús Moreno Mantas, Beatriz Aparicio del Moral, Antonio Sánchez Gómez, Eduardo Bailón Martínez, Pablo Santamarina Guerrero, David Hernández Expósito, Angel Tobaruela, José Luis Gasent Blesa, Erich Schulze, Harry Eaton, Geoffrey Palo, Daniel Ayoub, Yoshihiro Naito, Carlos Quintero Noda, Fumihiro Uraguchi, Toshihiro Tsuzuki, Javier Piqueras Carreño