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Physics Astrophysics

astro-ph Watch Astrophysics

Wednesday 26 August

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

The host galaxies of 2003fg-like type Ia supernovae

Lluís Galbany, Chris Ashall, Jing Lu et al. (+19 more)

SN~2003fg-like events are a peculiar type Ia supernova (SN~Ia) subtype characterized by broader light curves, higher near-infrared luminosities, and stronger carbon absorptions at early times. Here we present observations of the largest compilation of 2003fg-like SN Ia host galaxies to date, obtained with Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS). For 20 objects, we study both the global host-galaxy properties and, for the first time for a sizeable sample, the local environment at the SN position. Globally, 2003fg-like SNe~Ia occur in galaxies with lower stellar mass, lower oxygen abundance, and marginally higher specific star-formation rate (sSFR) than those of normal SNe~Ia, although their hosts are not as extreme in such properties as superluminous SNe, nor representative of metal-poor dwarf-galaxy samples. Locally, the SN positions show lower star-formation-rate, stellar-mass surface densities, and lower sSFR, than normal SN~Ia environments, consistent with a significant preference for the outskirts of their hosts, while their stellar age indicators are typical. The most distinctive local property is metallicity, with 2003fg-like SNe~Ia occupying the most metal-poor environments among SNe~Ia. We also find a tentative positive correlation between the light-curve width and the oxygen abundance for 2003fg-like events. Our results imply that 2003fg-like SNe~Ia arise from the merger of two white dwarfs (WDs) or the core-degenerate scenario, but disfavor the single, rapidly rotating super-M$_{ch}$ C-O WD progenitor, as this channel requires a young stellar population that we do not observe at the SN positions. The preference of 2003fg-like SNe~Ia for low-metallicity environments suggests that they may have been more common in the early Universe. (abridged)
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All authors Lluís Galbany, Chris Ashall, Jing Lu, Jason T. Hinkle, Willem B. Hoogendam, Benjamin J. Shappee, Alaa Alburai, Ramon Sanfeliu, Joseph P. Anderson, Eddie Baron, Chris Burns, Georgios Dimitriadis, Inma Domínguez, Peter Hoeflich, Eric Y. Hsiao, Hanindyo Kuncarayakti, Joseph D. Lyman, Nidia Morrell, Mark M. Phillips, Sebastián F. Sánchez, Maximilian D. Stritzinger, Nicholas B. Suntzeff

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Using CFHT's SITELLE to Probe the Long-Sought Supernova Remnant Shell in the Crab Nebula

Lucas V. da Conceição, Janette Suherli, Samar Safi-Harb et al. (+3 more)

We present deep, wide-field integral field spectroscopy of the Crab nebula obtained with the imaging Fourier transform spectrometer SITELLE at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), to search for the long-sought forward shock. Our observations target the coronal line [Fe XIV]$\lambda$5303, a tracer of shock-heated gas, over two $11^{\prime} \times 11^{\prime}$ fields that probe projected radii of $\sim$2.4–10~pc west of the pulsar, encompassing the range in which a supernova shell is expected. After data processing and a search over the full field of view, we found no statistically significant [Fe XIV] emission in the surveyed regions. We derive a conservative average surface-brightness upper limit of $\lesssim 3.79 \times 10^{-17}~\mathrm{erg}~\mathrm{cm}^{-2}~\mathrm{s}^{-1}~\mathrm{arcsec}^{-2}$ over three representative annuli. This represents the deepest large-area optical constraint on coronal iron emission beyond the visible nebula from the Crab's putative supernova remnant (SNR) shell. Our results are consistent with scenarios in which the forward shock is expanding into a very low-density medium, the shocked gas is weak or underionized, or the shell lies outside the observed region. This work demonstrates the power of wide-field optical integral field spectroscopy for constraining faint, large-scale structures in SNRs.
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All authors Lucas V. da Conceição, Janette Suherli, Samar Safi-Harb, Carter Rhea, Ivo R. Seitenzahl, Ashley J. Ruiter

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

$\texttt{SPINE}$: Symbolic Models to Predict the Evolution of the $\Lambda$CDM Nonlinear Power Spectrum

Manvi Chauhan, Daniel J. Farrow, Ariel G. Sánchez et al. (+3 more)

We present $\texttt{SPINE}$ and $\texttt{SPINEX}$, a pair of analytical emulators developed to predict the nonlinear power spectrum based on its linear counterpart and several essential cosmological parameters within the range of $0.01\;h\;\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1} <k< 2\;h\;\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1} $. The primary difference between the two models is their parameterisation. Our methodology is grounded in the mapping originally proposed by Peacock and Dodds (1996). Both models are defined by clear mathematical expressions derived from symbolic regression, a machine learning technique that utilises genetic programming to identify analytical equations that accurately represent the underlying data. This approach provides a more interpretable and efficient alternative to conventional numerical methods that should also exhibit superior extrapolation behaviour beyond the training range. The emulators have been trained on the $\Lambda$CDM Quijote Latin Hypercube simulations. We provide fits for both emulators across three distinct scenarios: cosmologies within 20$\sigma$ of the Planck-2018 observations, a designated fiducial cosmology, and a broader range of cosmologies sampled from the Quijote simulations. Our findings indicate that $\texttt{SPINE}$ and $\texttt{SPINEX}$ maintain an accuracy of better than 5% in the majority of cases. These emulators provide a rapid alternative to numerical methods, and future initiatives will focus on developing expressions that incorporate galaxy bias and redshift-space distortions. This advancement aims to enhance the modelling of redshift space power spectra across multiple redshifts, enabling their application in large-scale cosmological surveys.
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All authors Manvi Chauhan, Daniel J. Farrow, Ariel G. Sánchez, Kevin Pimbblet, Marika Asgari, David M. Benoit

Astrophysics of Galaxies

The origin of the stellar mass-size relation of satellite galaxies in the COLIBRE simulations

Bruno M. Celiz, Julio F. Navarro, Joop Schaye et al. (+9 more)

We study the stellar mass-size relation of satellite galaxies in the COLIBRE suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. Satellites deviate from the relation that holds for centrals galaxies, where at the high mass end, $\log (M_*/{\rm M}_\odot) > 10.5$, sizes (defined as the 3D half-mass radius $r_{\rm h,*}$) increase systematically with mass ($r_{\rm h,*} \propto M_*^{0.5}$), whereas at lower masses, $8 < \log(M_*/{\rm M}_\odot) < 10.5$, the relation flattens and galaxy size becomes, on average, almost independent of mass ($r_{\rm h,*} \approx 3$ kpc). At $z=0$, dwarf satellites (defined as those with $8 < \log(M_*/{\rm M}_\odot) < 9$) are systematically larger than centrals of similar $M_*$. This trend reverses for bright satellites ($9 < \log(M_*/{\rm M}_\odot) < 10.5$), which are typically smaller than centrals of similar mass. We trace these trends to evolutionary processes affecting satellites after infall into the haloes of more massive hosts. At infall, dwarf satellites are typically gas-rich, dark matter-dominated systems with relatively large baryon-induced cores. These satellites quench rapidly after losing their gas to ram pressure, which prompts an immediate impulsive expansion due to the shallowing central potential, followed by secular expansion as their cored dark matter haloes are gradually stripped by tides. In contrast, the inner regions of bright satellites are baryon-dominated and resilient to tides. Centrally concentrated star formation increases their stellar mass, leading to smaller sizes and higher stellar metallicities (by $\approx 0.2$ dex) than those of centrals of similar mass. These distinct satellite evolutionary pathways lead to identifiable features in the mass-size-metallicity relations that may be compared with observations.
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All authors Bruno M. Celiz, Julio F. Navarro, Joop Schaye, Mario G. Abadi, Alejandro Benitez-Llambay, Evgenii Chaikin, Carlos S. Frenk, Filip Huško, Aaron D. Ludlow, Sylvia Ploeckinger, Alexander J. Richings, Matthieu Schaller

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Cross-listed from gr-qc

Effects of the interaction of dark matter and neutron-star matter on extreme and intermediate mass-ratio inspirals

Benjamin A. Wade, Julian Heeck and David A. Nichols

Extreme and intermediate mass-ratio inspirals in a dense dark-matter distribution have the effects of the dark matter imprinted on the orbital dynamics of and the emitted gravitational waves from these systems. Prior work has shown that space-based gravitational-wave detectors can measure the dark-matter-induced effects on the gravitational waves, which would give evidence for the presence of dark matter around the massive black hole. In this earlier work, the dark matter has been assumed to have only gravitational interactions (namely, no dark-matter self-annihilation or interactions between dark matter and ordinary baryonic or leptonic matter). In this article, we investigate the gravitational-wave effects of introducing such interactions of dark matter with itself or with ordinary matter in binaries with a neutron-star secondary. We consider broad classes of dark-matter models that change the distribution of dark matter (spikes or annihilation plateaus) and which permit accretion onto the secondary, as well as an increasing or static mass of the neutron star during the inspiral (in addition to the purely gravitational effect of dynamical friction). We find distinctive gravitational-wave signatures of these interactions and of self-annihilation, which in some of the scenarios could be sufficiently large for space-based detectors to distinguish them using gravitational-wave observations of these systems.
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Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Assembly bias from nuisance to probe II: Salvaging linear clustering from DESI and SDSS data

Nelson Padilla, Dante Paz and Iván Lacerna

Galactic conformity links the properties of neighbouring galaxies and is usually interpreted as a signature of assembly-biased galaxy occupation. We study projected and redshift-space compensated conformity statistics in colour-selected DESI BGS and SDSS MGS samples. These combine correlations of related galaxy populations, suppressing shared nonlinear clustering contributions while retaining a differential large-scale response. We test whether this exposes the linear matter correlation-function shape where ordinary colour-selected clustering has a scale-dependent nonlinear response. We split galaxies into red and blue subsamples and measure ordinary correlations, conformity, and compensated combinations in projection and redshift-space monopoles, using central primaries by default. We fit linear matter templates, diagnose the response with effective kernels, and compare with MTNG, FLAMINGO, and MDPL2–SAG. Ordinary high-colour clustering broadly follows the linear templates but develops a scale-dependent small-scale response. In DESI, $\Delta f_0(s)$, projected $\Delta f(r_p)$, and $C_w(r_p)$ track the linear matter shape substantially further into the nonlinear regime, consistent with suppression of nonlinear clustering modes while leaving a linear-matter-like mode visible. The effect is stronger for central-primary and dense samples. Projected effective kernels are enhanced at low line-of-sight separations, helping the residual resemble $\xi_{\rm mm}^{\rm lin}(r_p)$ rather than $w_{\rm mm}^{\rm lin}(r_p)$. Simulations reproduce the qualitative behaviour with model-dependent amplitudes and residual scale dependence. These results suggest that assembly-sensitive population differences can filter nonlinear clustering modes, although surviving nonlinear contamination must be calibrated before precision cosmological use. (abridged)
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Astrophysics of Galaxies

A Broken Clock Is Right Twice a Day: [Ce/Mg] Is Not a Universal Chemical Clock

Liam O. Dubay, Jennifer A. Johnson, James W. Johnson et al. (+14 more)

The ratio of $s$-process to $\alpha$-element enrichment ($[s/\alpha]$) has been proposed as a “chemical clock,” or a means to estimate stellar ages. However, the age–$[s/\alpha]$ relation varies with metallicity and location in the Galaxy, and the observed trends are not well predicted by galactic chemical evolution models. We quantify the age–[Ce/Mg] correlation across the Galactic disk in roughly 100,000 red giant stars observed with APOGEE in the SDSS-V Milky Way Mapper survey. We find that the slope of the correlation varies significantly with metallicity and guiding radius in the chemical thin disk. The trend is steepest in the outer disk and below Solar metallicity, while the most metal-rich stars and those in the inner disk show no correlation with age. In contrast, [Ce/Mg] patterns in the chemical thick disk are consistent across the Galaxy. Halo stars have higher [Ce/Mg] than the chemical thick disk, suggesting that asymptotic giant branch (AGB) enrichment is important even at low metallicity. Overall, patterns in [Ce/Mg] trace both the local star formation history and AGB nucleosynthesis. The complex interplay between [Ce/Mg], age, metallicity, and Galactic position means that [Ce/Mg] (and by extension $[s/\alpha]$) is not a universal chemical clock.
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All authors Liam O. Dubay, Jennifer A. Johnson, James W. Johnson, Keith Hawkins, Sofia Feltzing, Natalie R. Myers, Adrian M. Price-Whelan, Tawny Sit, Andrew R. Casey, Katia Cunha, José G. Fernández-Trincado, Danny Horta, José Eduardo Méndez-Delgado, Alexandre Roman Lopes, Amaya Sinha, Rodolfo de J. Zermeño, Jingkun Zhao

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

Getting Warmer: IceCube Nears Freeze Out

Mainak Mukhopadhyay and Gordan Krnjaic

IceCube has recently detected a diffuse population of high-energy neutrinos arising from the Milky Way. We use this high-significance detection to place new limits on dark matter (DM) annihilation to neutrinos with two complementary approaches. The first method uses the background-subtracted Galactic longitude distribution of shower events to place a conservative bound on the DM annihilation cross section that does not rely on any assumed Galactic cosmic ray emission model; the resulting limits on the velocity-averaged annihilation cross section improve upon existing bounds by factors of a few. The second method uses the template-dependent neutrino energy spectra from the Inner Galaxy, inferred under different Galactic cosmic ray emission models. This complementary approach shows that the inferred Galactic neutrino intensities are already sensitive to DM contributions near the thermal-relic benchmark for a range of TeV-scale DM masses, though this comparison is more model-dependent. Our results demonstrate that measurements of diffuse Galactic neutrino emission can be used as a powerful probe of DM annihilation into neutrinos. Future observations with IceCube-Gen2 and KM3NeT will substantially extend this sensitivity, potentially allowing a decisive test of the thermal freeze-out mechanism with Galactic neutrino observations.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies

Barren but not Empty: The Impact of Void Environments on Galaxy and Halo Populations

Anita M. Schiller, Benjamin A. Seidel, Rhea-Silvia Remus et al. (+2 more)

The combination of gravitational collapse and an accelerating expansion of the Universe drive an increasing fraction of volume toward becoming low-density voids across cosmic time. These regions present a unique environment due to their low density, which leads to them behaving similarly to "pocket universes" with modified cosmological parameters. Since the formation and evolution of galaxies is strongly tied to the environment, we aim to discern how voids alter halos and galaxies compared to the general population in the universe. We use the hydrodynamical cosmological simulation suite Magneticum Pathfinder and introduce a set of void halo mass functions (VHMFs), which trace the halo population as a function of void-centric distance. We find galactic halos in voids to be overall less massive than in the general simulation volume. This discrepancy between void and field halos evolves with time as the voids grow more underdense, while the populations are still very similar at cosmic dawn. Expanding on this, we evaluate whether specific properties of the voids affect the VHMFs. We find the only relevant parameter for the void halo population to be the core density, a measure of the strength of underdensity. To assess the impact of the density environment on the evolution of galaxies, we investigate whether there are any distinctions between void and field galaxies with regard to stellar properties. We compute the stellar-mass function, halo mass-stellar mass relation, as well as the star-forming main sequence using the same void-centric shells. Although voids contain overall less stellar mass, the distribution of galaxies along the stellar mass-halo mass follows that of other regions. This implies that SF proceeded "conventionally" in void regions, in agreement with more recent observations.
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All authors Anita M. Schiller, Benjamin A. Seidel, Rhea-Silvia Remus, Lucas C. Kimmig, Klaus Dolag

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

SOAR TESS Survey III: Mapping the Stellar Companion Deficit around TESS Planet Candidates

Carl Ziegler, Andrei Tokovinin, César Briceño et al. (+3 more)

We present the cumulative SOAR TESS Survey, based on HRCam speckle observations of 2,982 targets, and report 433 companion measurements obtained after Survey II. In a demographic sample of 1,199 dwarf primaries, we compare detected companions with secondary-to-primary mass ratios $q=M_2/M_1\geq0.4$ to a field-star population after accounting for each observation's detection limits. We find 24 companions within 50 au versus 84.8 expected and 48 within 100 au versus 124.4 expected. The companion frequencies relative to the field expectation are $S_{50\,{\rm au}}=0.291^{+0.062}_{-0.054}$ and $S_{100\,{\rm au}}=0.391^{+0.058}_{-0.053}$. A continuous model in which the deficit weakens with separation reaches the midpoint between close-binary suppression and the field rate at $a_{50}=74$ au (57–101 au). The Gaia-matched subset contains 88 companions versus 69.6 expected, a difference consistent with the model once uncertainties in the field comparison and Gaia selection are included. A model that preserves the total number of binaries but shifts the field distribution toward 100 au fits poorly. Under the limiting assumption that all retained planets orbit the catalog primary, the fitted law implies reductions of 17.0% in volume-limited planet yield over $q\geq0.4$ and 23.3% when extended to all mass ratios. M-dwarf hosts show a similar close-companion deficit, but the smaller sample prevents a precise comparison with solar-type hosts.
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All authors Carl Ziegler, Andrei Tokovinin, César Briceño, Nicholas M. Law, Andrew W. Mann, Seth Batson

Astrophysics of Galaxies

Scatter, bias, and chaos of satellite orbits in triaxial dark matter haloes

Barry T. Chiang, Frank C. van den Bosch and Michael A. Keim

The pericentric distances of satellite galaxies govern their tidal stripping, quenching, and survival, yet their orbits are almost universally computed in spherical host haloes, whereas dark matter haloes are generically triaxial. We quantify, orbit by orbit, the error this simplification incurs. We integrate $10^6$ satellites, drawn from a cosmological infall distribution, in static NFW hosts of systematically varying triaxiality at fixed mass profile. Triaxiality leaves the population medians of pericentre, apocentre, and orbital period essentially unchanged. Instead, successive pericentres of an individual orbit scatter by 5-23% depending on host shape, irrespective of orbital energy; the minimum pericentre distance reached within a Hubble time shrinks systematically by up to 21%, enhancing the peak tidal mass loss. This triaxiality-driven orbital dephasing is overwhelmingly regular rather than chaotic; chaotic satellite orbits are common and dominate the near-centre pericentric passages in strongly flattened hosts, but diverge on time-scales far exceeding the Hubble time. Satellite orbits spherically reconstructed via direct backward integration in a truly triaxial host diverge by a tenth of the virial radius within 2-4 Gyr, with comparable uncertainties sourced separately by the unconstrained shape of the host and by its unknown absolute orientation. For the Milky Way dwarf Triangulum II, the unknown halo shape and orientation alone spread the inferred pericentre by ~50%, five times its reported uncertainty and more than ten times the LMC-induced shift, and bias it by 6-70%. This host-shape uncertainty can dominate satellite orbital error budgets and should be incorporated in future inferences.
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Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Primordial Black Holes as Cosmic Architects: Imprints of an extended mass function

Alberto Magaraggia, Nico Cappelluti, Günther Hasinger et al. (+2 more)

Primordial black holes (PBHs) remain compelling dark-matter candidates and possible relics of early-Universe physics, with observable imprints across both cosmological structure formation and gravitational-wave astronomy. We investigate the consequences of a PBH population described by an extended, physically motivated mass function shaped by features in the thermal history of the early Universe. We compute the associated Poisson contribution to the matter power spectrum and propagate its effects to the halo mass function, the cosmic star-formation rate density, and the reionization history. The PBH component produces a moderate enhancement of small-scale power, leading to earlier low-mass halo formation and a correspondingly mild increase in the high-redshift star-formation rate density while remaining consistent with current constraints on the Thomson optical depth. We then evaluate the merger-rate distribution expected for current and future gravitational-wave detectors. In the stellar-mass regime, the predicted PBH binary population occupies the region probed by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA and can contribute to the observed compact-object merger population. For LISA, the detectable signal is dominated by intermediate-mass binaries with component masses of $10^3$-$10^4\,M_\odot$, with cumulative rates of order a few events per year extending to redshifts as high as $z \sim 50$. The detection of such high-redshift intermediate-mass black hole mergers would constitute a distinctive signature of a primordial origin, providing evidence that PBHs contribute non-negligibly to the dark matter budget and may have served as early seeds for the supermassive black holes observed at later cosmic epochs.
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All authors Alberto Magaraggia, Nico Cappelluti, Günther Hasinger, Maël Gonin, Priyamvada Natarajan

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Radio Monitoring of the Changing-look AGN Mrk 590 I: VLA Observations Reveal A Bow-shock Driven Radio Brightening Event

Gregory Walsh, Marianne Vestergaard, Daniel Lawther et al. (+2 more)

Mrk 590 is a changing-look AGN (CLAGN) that slowly faded from a Seyfert Type 1 to near quiescence over a few decades before re-igniting in 2017. Monitoring in the optical/UV/X-ray wavebands has revealed accretion-driven variability signatures, but the response of the radio source to the changing-look events that drove its fading and re-ignition is unknown. We present multi-frequency (1-17~GHz), A-configuration, Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations of Mrk 590 over four epochs from 2015 to 2017. The radio source is dominated by a faint, compact component, absent of any notable extended structures. We identify a variable radio spectrum over this period, both in amplitude and in shape, and implement a Bayesian inference modeling routine to constrain the mechanism driving the radio variability. Our routine favors radio variability powered by a bow shock produced through an interaction of a radio jet with the interstellar medium, which drives the radio brightening in later epochs. This demonstrates that the radio variability we observed is not correlated with the variable accretion event that led to the re-brightening of the AGN at higher energy wavebands. While correlated variability between the radio and accretion-driven emission has been observed in other CLAGN, the lack of correlated variability in Mrk 590 shows the diversity of changing-look AGN populations and the mechanisms driving their behavior.
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All authors Gregory Walsh, Marianne Vestergaard, Daniel Lawther, Sandra Raimundo, Jun Yi Koay

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Alfred: A Flexible, User-Friendly Python Package for Exoplanet Confirmation

Maxwell A. Kroft

In the era of TESS, exoplanet follow-up and confirmation have become a massive community effort. With only about an eighth of the over 8,000 TESS exoplanet candidates confirmed, astronomers need flexible software to allow them to characterize many different kinds of systems with data from multiple telescopes and instruments. In this work, I present Alfred (the Awesome Library For Robust Exoplanet Detection), an open-source Python package for exoplanet detection and confirmation. Alfred is designed to be flexible and easy to use, allowing users to fit transit and radial velocity data for an arbitrary system of exoplanets. The code is released under an MIT license on GitHub (https://github.com/maxkroft/Alfred ) and is installable via pip, with documentation under active development (https://alfred-exoplanets.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html# ).
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Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Best practices for obtaining astrometric observations from JWST (274) NIRCam data

Marco Micheli and Bryan J. Holler

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), with its near-infrared imager NIRCam, is capable of obtaining detections of small bodies down to what would correspond to a visual magnitude of about 31. However, the complexity of NIRCam introduces multiple subtle effects in the way the images are obtained, and they in turn affect the astrometric information that can be extracted from the images. In the following, we very briefly summarize these peculiarities, and provide some basic information on how to extract meaningful astrometric positions from NIRCam images.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies

Probing the Properties of Neutral Clouds in the Vicinity of the Local Bubble: Linking three-dimensional Dust with Neutral Hydrogen Absorption

Aishani Das-Ghosh, Nickolas Pingel and Snežana Stanimirović

The Local Bubble (LB) contains significant internal structure, with many interstellar clouds lying within or on its walls. By observing time variability of atomic neutral hydrogen (HI) absorption profiles in the direction of pulsars, it was suggested that some of the HI structures exhibit variations in optical depth representative of the tiny scale atomic structure (TSAS). However, the exact location of these structures has not been known and understanding their origin in the framework of LB formation and evolution has been impossible. We use three-dimensional dust maps to extract density profiles of the hydrogen volume density along the line-of-sight (LOS) to four selected pulsars. We attempt to correlate individual density components with the Gaussian components of the HI absorption spectra, revealing the TSAS towards B1929+10 likely lies outside of the LB. Comparing column density images integrated over the entire LOS and over sub-volumes of the 3D dust maps show a mixture of diffuse and clumpy structure. Using estimates of the mean HI volume density and maximum total neutral hydrogen density along the LOS, we place upper and lower limits on ionisation fraction and thermal pressure, respectively, to characterise the properties of the local ISM towards each pulsar. Our method of using HI absorption data in conjunction with three-dimensional dust data holds potential for broader applications, especially to validate the structures and properties of dust clouds in the LB and beyond.
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Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

The Isotopic and Elemental Abundances of Planet-Host Star TRAPPIST-1

Darío González Picos, Ian J.M. Crossfield, David Coria et al. (+6 more)

Elemental and isotopic abundances are key tracers of planet formation, stellar evolution, and Galactic chemical evolution. Very low-mass stars are particularly interesting in this regard, because unlike more massive or evolved stars their photospheric abundances retain the star's natal composition. Cool dwarf spectra have historically been challenging to use for measurements of chemical abundances because of the blending of molecular and atomic features. However, recent advances in molecular line lists, atmospheric models, fitting techniques and IR spectrographs have enabled the successful measurement of elemental and isotopic ratios in a few dozen very low-mass stars. Here, we present near-infrared high-resolution spectroscopy of TRAPPIST-1 covering the fundamental and overtone bands of carbon monoxide and its prominent isotopologues. From the joint analysis of the $K$-band (CFHT/SPIRou) and $M$-band (Keck/NIRSPEC) spectra, we derive the first stellar C/O ratio and the first carbon and oxygen isotope ratios for this star. We obtain a metallicity of $[\mathrm{M/H}] = 0.00 \pm 0.06$, a C/O ratio of $0.60 \pm 0.02$, $^{12}\mathrm{C}/^{13}\mathrm{C} = 154{}^{+17}_{-16}$, and $^{16}\mathrm{O}/^{18}\mathrm{O} = 490{}^{+78}_{-64}$. TRAPPIST-1 has generally solar-like elemental abundances, with a $^{12}\mathrm{C}/^{13}\mathrm{C}$ ratio that is higher than the solar value and may be modestly elevated relative to some nearby cool dwarfs at similar metallicity. While C/O is most tightly constrained by the $K$-band, the isotopic detections are driven by the $M$-band data.
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All authors Darío González Picos, Ian J.M. Crossfield, David Coria, Joshua Lothringer, Eric Gaidos, Elisabeth A.C. Mills, Sam de Regt, Donatella Romano, Ignas Snellen

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Finding and using interpretable latents in a neutrino foundation model with sparse autoencoders

Raphaël Bonnet-Guerrini, Johann Ioannou-Nikolaides, Inar Timiryasov et al. (+1 more)

We present a first application of sparse-autoencoder-based mechanistic interpretability to particle physics. Studying a neutrino foundation model pretrained on IceCube data and fine-tuned for direction reconstruction, we identify a validated atlas of physical concepts in the model representation, using a strict validation protocol consisting of held-out tests, matched nuisance controls, and replication across independent dictionary trainings. Causal interventions show that the direction head barely draws on this atlas. Motivated by this underused information, we train an uncertainty head on the same event-level representation to predict the model's angular reconstruction error. Unlike the direction head, it depends causally on quality and brightness features from the atlas. At $20\%$ selection efficiency, this interpretable estimator improves the median angular resolution from $20.2^\circ$ to $3.2^\circ$. These results suggest that mechanistic interpretability can reveal learned latent physics encoded within a model's internal representation and help design downstream tasks that exploit it.
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All authors Raphaël Bonnet-Guerrini, Johann Ioannou-Nikolaides, Inar Timiryasov, Vincenzo Piuri

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Anatomy of an extensive air shower: building an optimal radio emission calculation

Juan Ammerman-Yebra and Harm Schoorlemmer

Radio emission from particle air showers is one of the most promising detection techniques to achieve an experiment with a large exposure in ultra-high-energy astroparticle physics. In this regime, above $10^{17}$ eV, the detailed calculation of the radio emission from Monte Carlo particle showers is sufficiently CPU intensive that statistical studies and optimization problems remain largely out of reach. In this article we examine the characteristics of the longitudinal and lateral development of extensive air showers, and exploit them to obtain a fast evaluation of the associated radio emission. We introduce the Coherent Radio Emission from Positrons and Electrons in Showers (CREPES) algorithm, in which the particle distributions are precomputed once and the emission is subsequently obtained from them, yielding a gain in speed of more than three orders of magnitude while preserving the accuracy of the microscopic calculation.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies

Accretion Disk Sizes and Temperature Profiles in Lensed Quasars: NIR Microlensing Challenges Thin Disk Theory

V. Motta and E. Mediavilla

Microlensing and reverberation mapping measurements of quasar accretion disk sizes and temperature gradients disagree with thin disk theory predictions. Previous microlensing results rely on heterogeneous wavelength coverage -primarily UV broad emission lines (BELs) from small samples -probing the disk only out to a typical radius of $\lesssim$5 light days on average. We use microlensing estimates from an homogeneous sample of near-infrared (NIR) observations of lensed quasars (21 image-pairs from 7 lens systems) to extend disk size measurements out to 14 light days. This analysis leverages narrow emission lines (NELs), which provide a more reliable microlensing-free baseline than BEL cores. We derive Bayesian accretion disk size estimates that reproduce the observed microlensing magnifications, as simulated from magnification maps. NEL-based sizes yield a logarithmic slope of $p=0.68\pm0.23$, consistent with prior estimates corresponding to inner disk regions ($r \lesssim$5 light days). Using a new homogeneous NIR dataset that allows us to reach radial distances of up to 14 light days, we find that accretion disks in these previously unexplored regions are also larger and exhibit steeper temperature gradients than thin disk theory predicts. The increased precision allows us to reject the theoretical logarithmic slope $p=4/3$ at the 98% confidence level. Any hypothesis invoking BLR contamination to explain this discrepancy must account for how such contamination modulates the underlying accretion disk such that the combination of both results in a power law with logarithmic slope $p=0.68\pm0.23$ across a broad wavelength baseline spanning from $\sim$X-Ray to $\sim 5000$Å.
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Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

Benchmark Brown Dwarfs as Chemical Laboratories: Linking System Bulk Properties to Atmospheric Retrievals

Viktória Kecskeméthy, Ben Burningham, Fei Wang et al. (+8 more)

We present the first atmospheric retrieval analysis of two compositional benchmark mid-L dwarfs – SDSSJ141659.78+500626.4 and GJ 499 C – using the Brewster retrieval framework, where the wide benchmark nature of these systems provides independent constraints on age and bulk composition from their stellar primaries. These targets were observed with JWST using NIRSpec Prism and MIRI LRS, providing low-resolution ($R$ $\sim$ 100) spectra between 0.6–14.0 $\mathrm{\mu}$m with high signal-to-noise ratios (SNR $\sim$100 – 600). For SDSSJ141659.78+500626.4, the retrieved cloud combination of a high-altitude enstatite slab and low-altitude iron deck clouds matches phase-equilibrium predictions based on the primary star's Mg/Si ratio. We retrieve a super-solar C/O = 0.71$^{+0.01}_{-0.01}$ and slightly metal-rich [M/H] = 0.22$^{+0.03}_{-0.03}$. This C/O ratio can only be reconciled with the value inferred for the primary if additional oxygen sequestration beyond the retrieved cloud mass is present, or if there are uncertainties in the adopted opacities or other model deficiencies. The inferred [C/H] and [O/H] are 0.31$\pm$0.03 and 0.19$\pm$0.03, respectively, which are consistent within the relatively large uncertainties of the host star abundances. For GJ 499 C, the retrieved silicon-monoxide and forsterite slab clouds are difficult to explain with simple phase-equilibrium assumptions, yielding Mg/Si $\sim$ 1.9. We estimate C/O = 0.69$^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$ and [M/H] = 0.13$^{+0.04}_{-0.06}$. For both objects, the inferred radii of 0.85$^{+0.01}_{-0.01}$ $R_{\mathrm{Jup}}$ and 1.00$^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$ $R_{\mathrm{Jup}}$ and masses of 73.7$^{+4.9}_{-9.2}$ $M_{\mathrm{Jup}}$ and 68.0$^{+8.5}_{-12.7}$ $M_{\mathrm{Jup}}$ are consistent with evolutionary models and system ages, highlighting the plausibility of our results.
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All authors Viktória Kecskeméthy, Ben Burningham, Fei Wang, Austin J. Rothermich, Jacqueline K. Faherty, Genaro Suárez, Caprice L. Phillips, Melanie Rowland, Channon Visscher, Johanna M. Vos, Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

JWST color sequence of transiting exoplanets and directly imaged substellar objects

Guangwei Fu, Joshua D. Lothringer, Sagnick Mukherjee et al. (+4 more)

Color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) have been foundational across astrophysics, from galaxies and stars to brown dwarfs, and JWST now extends them to transiting exoplanets and self-luminous substellar objects at overlapping temperatures. We compile JWST dayside emission spectra for 13 transiting giant planets, 57 self-luminous objects, and the irradiated brown dwarf ZTF J0038+2030 B, spanning ~350-2600 K and log g = 2.5-5.5, plus ~2150 SPHEREx ultracool dwarfs, converted to synthetic photometry in 2MASS J/Ks and five NIRCam medium bands isolating H2O, CH4, CO2, and CO. Low gravity and inflated radii make transiting planets resemble young substellar objects, with shallower features and redder colors from high-altitude clouds that raise the photosphere. Transiting planets follow the L-dwarf sequence on the J versus J-K CMD, with WASP-80 b (T_eq~800 K) showing no T-dwarf-like blueward turn, suggesting a delayed or suppressed L/T transition in irradiated, low-gravity atmospheres. Methane onset is delayed from substellar to transiting-planet atmospheres, and cloudy radiative-convective models indicate that lower gravity and cloud back-warming shift atmospheres toward CO-dominated chemistry, suppressing photospheric CH4. The irradiated but old, high-gravity brown dwarf ZTF J0038+2030 B (T_day = 1049 K, log g = 5.4) shows a deep, field-T-dwarf-like dayside methane band, implicating gravity rather than irradiation as the dominant control. CO2-to-CO diagnostics place transiting and directly imaged planetary-mass companions at stronger relative CO2 absorption than field brown dwarfs, consistent with metallicity enhancement from planetesimal accretion. These CMD sequences provide a unified, model-testable map for self-luminous and irradiated atmospheres.
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All authors Guangwei Fu, Joshua D. Lothringer, Sagnick Mukherjee, David K. Sing, Elena Manjavacas, Kevin B. Stevenson, William Balmer

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Particle acceleration in Alfvénic turbulence with a strong guide field

Daniel Humphrey, Stanislav Boldyrev and Vadim Roytershteyn

Magnetically dominated Alfvénic turbulence creates an effective environment for particle acceleration. However, when a strong mean field is present, traditional mechanisms like mirror and curvature acceleration become inefficient at explaining non-thermal particle energy distributions. Based on numerical and phenomenological study, we propose that in such turbulence, particles are accelerated in charge-starved current sheets, corresponding to current velocities approaching the speed of light. The distributions of the electric currents, plasma density, fluctuations of electric charge, as well as the energy distributions of accelerated particles, approximately follow log-normal statistics. Non-thermal particle distributions thus arise from particle acceleration in these charge-starved current sheets rather than from conventional Fermi-type particle acceleration by turbulent eddies.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies

REBELS-25: multi-phase morphology and kinematics at z = 7.31

Lucie E. Rowland, Hiddo S. B. Algera, Jacqueline Hodge et al. (+23 more)

We present a spatially resolved, multi-wavelength study of the massive, star-forming galaxy REBELS-25 at a redshift of $z=7.31$. We combine new high-resolution ALMA [O III]88$\mu$m observations with resolution-matched [C II], dust continuum, and JWST/NIRSpec IFU spectroscopy, providing a $\lesssim1$ kpc view of the morphology, interstellar medium (ISM) conditions, and multi-tracer gas kinematics of one of the most mature galaxies known in the reionisation era. We find differing morphologies from the rest-frame UV to far-infrared (FIR) emission, with the UV and optical emission appearing clumpy and irregular, whereas the FIR emission is well-described by near-exponential disc profiles, with [C II] being the most extended. Comparing the resolved UV and FIR emission, we find that obscured star formation contributes $\sim55$-$98$% of the total star formation rate across the galaxy, demonstrating that dust obscuration strongly shapes the observed UV and optical morphology. Resolved ionisation-line diagnostics show no significant variation across the source at $\sim1$ kpc resolution, consistent with broadly similar ISM conditions among the identified regions. Kinematic modelling reveals that both the warm ionised gas, traced by [O III]88$\mu$m, and the colder neutral gas, traced by [C II], share the same large-scale rotating structure and are dynamically cold, with ratios of ordered-to-random motion, $V/\sigma$, of $\sim11$ and 4.5, respectively, although we find evidence for non-circular motions that are not well-described by a simple rotating disc. Overall, these results further support a picture in which REBELS-25 hosts a dusty, chemically enriched, and dynamically cold ISM already in place at $z=7.31$.
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All authors Lucie E. Rowland, Hiddo S. B. Algera, Jacqueline Hodge, Mauro Stefanon, Rychard Bouwens, Manuel Aravena, Lucy Astles, Karin Cescon, Elisabete da Cunha, Ilse de Looze, Andrea Ferrara, Rebecca Fisher, Yoshinobu Fudamoto, Thomas Herard-Demanche, Hanae Inami, Mahsa Kohandel, Lena Komarova, Andrés Laza Ramos, Themiya Nanayakkara, Katherine Ormerod, Andrea Pallottini, Siân Phillips, Sander Schouws, Piyush Sharda, Renske Smit, Paul van der Werf

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Winds Against Alignment: AGN Feedback and the Spin Evolution of Massive Black Hole Binaries

Francesco Bollati, Marta Volonteri, Alessandro Lupi et al. (+2 more)

The interaction between massive black hole (MBH) binaries and circumbinary discs (CBDs) affects the spin orientations of merging binaries - a key observable for the future LISA mission. While gas accretion is known to align BH spins with the orbital angular momentum via the Bardeen-Petterson effect, the impact of AGN feedback on this process has remained largely unexplored. We present hydrodynamical simulations of an equal-mass MBH binary embedded in a CBD, using the GIZMO code with a subgrid model that self-consistently evolves BH mass, spin, and anisotropic AGN feedback. We explore different BH spin magnitudes and orientations to identify the configurations producing the strongest feedback effect on the disc structure and binary evolution. AGN winds substantially modify the CBD and minidisc structure, enlarging the central cavity and, after 20-25 binary orbits, destroying the minidiscs in all feedback simulations. Feedback-driven cavity excavation suppresses the gravitational torques driving orbital evolution, causing the binary to stall. AGN feedback dramatically affects MBH accretion, reducing the Eddington ratio by one to two orders of magnitude before ultimately suppressing it entirely. This strongly inhibits Bardeen-Petterson spin alignment, delaying it well beyond the feedback-free timescale. Extending one simulation to 70 binary orbits reveals a feedback-regulated duty cycle of alternating active and quiescent phases, with the binary spending most of its time in low-density, quiescent conditions that further suppress alignment. These results indicate that AGN feedback is an important, previously overlooked channel for preserving spin misalignment in MBH binaries prior to coalescence, with direct implications for interpreting LISA gravitational-wave observations.
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All authors Francesco Bollati, Marta Volonteri, Alessandro Lupi, Massimo Dotti, Francesco Haardt

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

An Approximately 70-Year Core-Related Modulation of Earth Rotation and Its Implications for the Leap Second

Zewen Zhang, Yuanwei Wu, Xishun Li et al. (+4 more)

Recent observations of Universal Time (UT1) indicate an acceleration in Earth's rotation. If sustained under the current leap-second framework, this behavior could eventually prompt consideration of a negative leap second. We examine whether the recent acceleration is consistent with an approximately 70-year, core-related modulation of length of day (LOD). After removal of modeled tidal, surface-fluid, and secular contributions, residual LOD contains a near-70-year component, and a similar component is present in core angular momentum (CAM)-derived equivalent LOD inferred from geomagnetic observations. All harmonic, spectral, and LOD-CAM analyses reported here use the common 1883–2022 interval. Harmonic regression over trial periods of 50–100 yr gives periods of 69.7 yr for residual LOD and 71.8 yr for CAM-derived equivalent LOD, with amplitudes of 2.87 and 1.94 ms, respectively. Lomb–Scargle spectra show peaks near 67.8 and 70.5 yr. The annual series have a zero-lag correlation of 0.918. Their lagged correlation has a broad maximum for a CAM lead of approximately 1-3 yr, with a numerical maximum of 0.932 at 2 yr. Because both records are strongly autocorrelated, these coefficients are used to characterize their correspondence rather than to assess predictive significance. The results are consistent with a core-related contribution to low-frequency rotational variability, but they do not uniquely separate the contributions of electromagnetic, topographic, gravitational, and viscous core–mantle coupling mechanisms. Within the fitted model, the multidecadal component alone does not indicate sustained near-term shortening of the day that would, by itself, require a negative leap second. This is a model-dependent geophysical assessment, not an operational prediction of future UTC adjustments.
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All authors Zewen Zhang, Yuanwei Wu, Xishun Li, Dang Yao, Xuan Cheng, Xuhai Yang, Shougang Zhang

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Simulating an imaging atmospheric radio telescope to observe cosmic gamma rays and cosmic neutrinos

Sebastian Achim Mueller, Anne Timmermans, Juan Ammerman-Yebra et al. (+1 more)

Observations of cosmic gamma~rays with energies above the 10$^{12}$ electronvolts (TeV) regime are often a direct probe of events where our theoretical predictions are challenged by extreme conditions. Because high energetic cosmic gamma-rays are rare, one needs collection areas with the size of soccer fields (10$^{5}$ m$^2$) or more to gather significant counting statistics in short time. The imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope detects cosmic gamma-rays in such large areas and currently offers the best reconstruction power for the cosmic particle's type, energy, and direction in particular. However, with only about 1,000 hours of dark and clear nights every year, the imaging atmospheric Cherenkov~telescope only has a duty cycle of about $12\%$. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel imaging atmospheric radio telescope. By observing radio emission in the $10$ GHz regime from air showers, the imaging atmospheric radio telescope could observe 24/7, independent of the day night cycle, and almost independent of the weather. The novelty here is the high resolution imaging of the air shower's radio emission which might result in high resolution images as one finds them in imaging atmospheric Cherenkov~telescopes. We present a technique to simulate the image formation in the radio telescope using wave mechanics instead of conventional ray tracing. The imaging atmospheric radio telescope could increase our access more than eight-fold to an accurately reconstructed high energy gamma-ray-sky. Further, the imaging atmospheric radio telescope might also eight fold the observation power for cosmic neutrinos in the so called Earth-skimming technique.
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All authors Sebastian Achim Mueller, Anne Timmermans, Juan Ammerman-Yebra, Harm Schoorlemmer

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Exploring Late Stellar Evolution in the Era of Large Surveys: Machine Learning Prospects for Hot Subdwarfs and White Dwarfs

Princy Ranaivomanana and Murat Uzundag

The rapid growth of large-scale astronomical surveys and advances in data-driven analysis techniques have transformed the study of late-stage stellar evolution. Modern facilities are producing large volumes of photometric, spectroscopic, and astrometric data, enabling systematic investigations of compact stellar populations across the Milky Way. Among the most important tracers of these advanced evolutionary phases are hot subdwarfs and white dwarfs: hot subdwarfs are core-helium-burning tracers of late, binary-driven stellar evolution, while white dwarfs represent the final evolutionary endpoint of low- and intermediate-mass stars. These compact objects provide important laboratories for studying stellar interiors, binary evolution, and the long-term fate of planetary systems. This paper explores how recent advances in machine learning are being applied to the detection, characterization, and, when combined with follow-up spectroscopy and modeling, the physical interpretation of hot subdwarfs and white dwarfs. By combining photometric, spectroscopic, and time-domain observations with these computational tools, it is now possible to efficiently discover rare objects, detect stellar variability, and probe the internal structure and evolutionary pathways of compact stars. Ultimately, these developments highlight the growing role of advanced algorithms in supporting the study of the final stages of stellar evolution, provided their outputs are validated against physical observables.
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High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Evidence for a spectral steepening of the gamma-ray emission from the Galactic Center ridge

A. Acharyya, F. Aharonian, H. Ashkar et al. (+131 more)

Very-high-energy (VHE) $\gamma$-ray emission detected from the central molecular zone (CMZ) hints at diffusive propagation of cosmic rays (CRs) injected continuously near the Galactic center (GC). Using H.E.S.S. VHE $\gamma$-ray observations, we aim to construct a multi-component description of the region in order to derive the spatial and spectral distributions of CRs and discuss their potential origin. We rely on a spectro-morphological analysis, in which spectral and spatial parameters of different components are fit simultaneously, and on a three-dimensional description of the CMZ and CR distributions. The GC ridge emission is well reproduced with the assumed gas distribution model weighted by a $1/r^{\alpha}$ CR density profile with $\alpha = 1.10 \pm 0.05_{\rm{stat}} \pm 0.10_{\rm{syst}}$. We detect no significant spectral variations across the CMZ, which supports a continuous injection from the GC. We report a significant (> 3 $\sigma$) curvature in the GC ridge $\gamma$-ray spectrum, implying a parent proton break (or cutoff energy) of $E_b \sim 15-50$ TeV ($E_{\rm{cut}} \sim 60-160$ TeV). We also derive the best-fit spectral parameters of the other sources in the region and report a significant cutoff at $E \sim 5$ TeV in the spectrum of the pulsar wind nebula G0.9+0.1. Finally we constrain the position of the injection site to be close to the GC (ruling out the Arches and Quintuplet clusters as major contributors to the emission). We discuss possible origins for the GC ridge emission, potential mechanisms for causing the observed curvature, a possible contribution of the gas content to the emission of HESS J1745-290 and derive qualitative constraints on the line-of-sight positions of the clouds shaping the CMZ.
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All authors A. Acharyya, F. Aharonian, H. Ashkar, M. Backes, R. Batzofin, Y. Becherini, D. Berge, K. Bernlöhr, M. Böttcher, C. Boisson, J. Bolmont, F. Brun, C. Burger-Scheidlin, T. Bylund, S. Casanova, D. Cecchin Momesso, M. Cerruti, M. Chakraborty, A. Chen, M. Chernyakova, J. O. Chibueze, O. Chibueze, T. Collins, B. Cornejo, G. Cotter, G. Cozzolongo, J. de Assis Scarpin, M. de Naurois, E. de Ona Wilhelmi, J. Devin, A. Djannati-Ataï, A. Dmytriiev, K. Egberts, K. Egg, C. Escanuela Nieves, P. Fauverge, S. Fegan, K. Feijen, M. D. Filipovic, G. Fontaine, S. Funk, S. Gabici, Y.A. Gallant, M. Genaro, J.F. Glicenstein, J. Glombitza, P. Goswami, M.-H. Grondin, L. Heckmann, B. Heß, W. Hofmann, T. L. Holch, M. Holler, M. Jamrozy, F. Jankowsky, A. Jardin-Blicq, I. Jaroschewski, D. Jimeno, I. Jung-Richardt, K. Katarzynski, D. Kerszberg, B. Khélifi, N. Komin, K. Kosack, D. Kostunin, R.G. Lang, S. Lazarevic, A. Lemière, M. Lemoine-Goumard, J.-P. Lenain, P. Liniewicz, A. Luashvili, J. Mackey, D. Maheso, D. Malyshev, D. Malyshev, V. Marandon, M. G. F. Mayer, A. Mehta, A.M.W. Mitchell, R. Moderski, L. Mohrmann, H. Ndiyavala, J. Niemiec, P. O'Brien, L. Olivera-Nieto, M.O. Moghadam, S. Panny, M. Panter, R.D. Parsons, P. Pichard, T. Preis, G. Pühlhofer, M. Punch, A. Quirrenbach, A. Reimer, O. Reimer, Q. Remy, H. X. Ren, B. Reville, F. Rieger, G. Roellinghoff, G. Rowell, B. Rudak, K. Sabri, V. Sahakian, A. Santangelo, M. Sasaki, F. Schüssler, J.N.S. Shapopi, I. Shebalkova, W. Si Said, H. Sol, L. Stawarz, R. Steenkamp, S. Steinmassl, T. Tanaka, A.M. Taylor, G. L. Taylor, R. Terrier, Y. Tian, M. Tsirou, N. Tsuji, T. Unbehaun, C. van Eldik, C. Venter, J. Vink, V. Voitsekhovskyi, T. Wach, S.J. Wagner, A. Wierzcholska, M. Zacharias, A. Zech, W. Zhong

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Cross-listed from cond-mat.supr-con

Fluxtube Bouquets and Type-1.5 Clustering in Superfluid Neutron Star Cores

Adarsh Karekkat, Gabriele Montefusco and Marco Antonelli

We study mesoscopic configurations of a neutron superfluid coupled to a proton superconductor in the outer core of a neutron star. The condensates are described by a two-component Ginzburg-Landau free energy with local couplings, neglecting genuine phase-gradient entrainment. In two spatial dimensions, we minimize the free energy using quasi-periodic boundary conditions and constrained phase-imprinting calculations to study vortex-fluxtube and fluxtube-fluxtube interactions. We find that, for locally attractive couplings in the free energy, vortex-fluxtube overlap is energetically favoured and several pre-existing proton fluxtubes can bind around a neutron vortex, forming finite vortex-centred aggregates that we call fluxtube bouquets. These bouquet configurations may become so dense that a vortex can effectively accommodate several quanta of magnetic flux. We also confirm the possible presence of a type-1.5-like regime and find that it survives in the zero-entrainment regime considered here. In this type-1.5 regime, the fluxtube-fluxtube interaction is repulsive at short distances and attractive at intermediate distances, leading to self-assembled clusters while the individual fluxtubes remain topologically distinct. Possible implications for dissipative coupling and transport in neutron stars are discussed.
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