Bright sirens, i.e. gravitational-wave detections of compact binary mergers with electromagnetic counterparts, provide a self-calibrated distance-redshift relation and are therefore powerful probes of cosmic expansion. Using the CosmoDC2_BCO catalog, we forecast cosmological constraints from current (LVK) and next-generation (ET, CE) detector networks, in combination with a Roman-like Type Ia supernova sample. We find that third-generation networks reach sub-percent precision on the Hubble constant within a few years, achieving 0.2% after a decade with CE+ET+LVK, while LVK remains limited to the 6% level. The LVK fifth observing run may shed light on the H_0 tension only if the inferred value falls outside the range spanned by the Planck and SH0ES determinations, which currently achieve far higher precisions. Supernovae do not directly tighten H_0 but stabilize its inference through parameter correlations and enable an absolute calibration of the supernova magnitude M_B. In dynamical dark-energy models, the joint analysis of Roman supernovae and bright sirens yields a Figure of Merit of 25 for ET+LVK and 76 for CE+ET+LVK, to be compared with the state-of-the-art DESI DR2 BAO plus DESY5 supernovae value of 56. Sky-localization thresholds of DeltaOmega < 50 deg^2, or even DeltaOmega < 10 deg^2, entail only mild penalties, suggesting efficient follow-up strategies. These results establish third-generation GW+EM observations, especially when combined with Roman supernovae, as a cornerstone for precision cosmology in the next decade.

We show that an often used example of a cohomology algebra with non-vanishing triple Massey product is intrinsically A_3-formal and therefore, in fact, cannot be realized as the cohomology of a differential graded algebra with non-vanishing triple Massey product. We prove this result by computing the graded Hochschild cohomology group which contains the potential obstruction to the vanishing.

We report a direct search for a new gauge boson, $X$, with a mass of $17~\text{MeV}/c^2$, which could explain the anomalous excess of $e^+e^-$ pairs observed in the $^8\text{Be}$ nuclear transitions. The search is conducted in the charmonium decays $χ_{cJ}\to X J/ψ~(J=0,1,2)$ via the radiative transition $ψ(3686)\toγχ_{cJ}$ using $\left(2712.4\pm 14.3 \right)\times 10^6$ $ψ(3686)$ events collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. No significant signal is observed, and the updated upper limit on the coupling strength of charm quark and the new gauge boson, $ε_c$, is set to be $|ε_c|<1.2\times 10^{-2}$ at $90\%$ confidence level. We also report new constraints on the mixing strength $ε$ between the Standard Model photon and dark photon $γ^\prime$ in the mass range from $5~\text{MeV}/c^2$ to $300~\text{MeV}/c^2$. The upper limits at $90\%$ confidence level vary within $(2.5-17.5)\times 10^{-3}$ depending on the $γ^\prime $ mass.

We present a precise characterization of the onset of classicality that combines the formalism of quantum Darwinism with the tools from quantum metrology. We show that the quantum Fisher information provides a useful metric for assessing the rate at which classical objectivity emerges. Furthermore, our formalism allows us to explore how the choice of measurement impacts the precision with which an observer can determine the state of the system. For a paradigmatic example of the spin-star model, we demonstrate that optimal measurements lead to the emergence of classicality at an exponential rate. Although other measurements necessarily lead to slower emergence, we importantly show that suboptimal measurements can still saturate the Cramér-Rao bound. By recasting emergent classicality as an information acquisition protocol, our framework provides a precise operational description of quantum Darwinism.

Binary systems of two carbon-oxygen white dwarfs are one of the most promising candidates for the progenitor systems of Type Ia supernovae. Violent mergers, where the primary white dwarf ignites when the secondary white dwarf smashes onto it while being disrupted on its last orbit, were the first proposed double degenerate merger scenario that ignites dynamically. However, violent mergers likely contribute only a few per cent to the total Type Ia supernova rate and do not yield normal Type Ia supernova light curves. Here we revisit the scenario, simulating a violent merger with better methods, and in particular a more accurate treatment of the detonation. We find good agreement with previous simulations, with one critical difference. The secondary white dwarf, being disrupted and accelerated towards the primary white dwarf, and impacted by its explosion, does not fully burn. Its core survives as a bound object. The explosion leaves behind a $0.16\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$ carbon-oxygen white dwarf travelling $2800\,\mathrm{km/s}$, making it an excellent (and so far the only) candidate to explain the origin of the fastest observed hyper-velocity white dwarfs. We also show that before the explosion, $5\times10^{-3}\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$ of material consisting predominantly of helium, carbon, and oxygen has already been ejected at velocities above $1000\,\mathrm{km/s}$. Finally, we argue that if a violent merger made D6-1 and D6-3, and violent mergers require the most massive primary white dwarfs in binaries of two carbon-oxygen white dwarfs, there has to be a much larger population of white dwarf mergers with slightly lower-mass primary white dwarfs. Because of its size, this population can essentially only give rise to normal Type Ia supernovae, likely exploding via the quadruple detonation channel and leaving no bound object behind.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are key diagnostics of the physical conditions in the interstellar medium and are widely used to trace star formation in the mid-infrared (mid-IR). The relative strengths of mid-IR PAH emission features (e.g., 6.2, 7.7, 11.3 um) are sensitive to both the size and ionization state of the molecules and can be strongly influenced by the local radiation field. However, at low metallicities ( Z < 0.2 Zsun), detecting PAHs remains notoriously difficult, likely reflecting a combination of suppressed formation and enhanced destruction mechanisms. We present new JWST/MIRI MRS observations of the metal-poor (Z = 0.1 Zsun) dwarf galaxy CGCG 007-025. We confirm the tentative PAH detection previously reported from Spitzer data and, for the first time, identify a compact (approx. 50 pc) PAH-emitting region nearly co-spatial with the newly detected [NeV](I.P. = 97 eV) emission and the galaxy's most metal-poor, strongly star-forming region. The 11.3 and 12.7 um PAH features are detected, while no emission is found from the other typically brighter features, suggesting a PAH population dominated by large, neutral molecules resilient to hard ionizing fields. When compared with models, mid-IR line ratios involving [NeIII], [OIV], and [NeV] can only be reproduced by a combination of star formation and AGN ionization, with the latter contributing 4--8%. The [OIV] and [NeV] luminosities exceed what massive stars or shocks can produce, highlighting a puzzling scenario in line with recent JWST observations of similar galaxies. This work provides a crucial reference for studying the physical conditions of the dust and star formation in low-metallicity starburst regions, environments typical of the early universe.

Changepoint localization aims to provide confidence sets for a changepoint (if one exists). Existing methods either relying on strong parametric assumptions or providing only asymptotic guarantees or focusing on a particular kind of change(e.g., change in the mean) rather than the entire distributional change. A method (possibly the first) to achieve distribution-free changepoint localization with finite-sample validity was recently introduced by \cite{dandapanthula2025conformal}. However, while they proved finite sample coverage, there was no analysis of set size. In this work, we provide rigorous theoretical guarantees for their algorithm. We also show the consistency of a point estimator for change, and derive its convergence rate without distributional assumptions. Along that line, we also construct a distribution-free consistent test to assess whether a particular time point is a changepoint or not. Thus, our work provides unified distribution-free guarantees for changepoint detection, localization, and testing. In addition, we present various finite sample and asymptotic properties of the conformal $p$-value in the distribution change setup, which provides a theoretical foundation for many applications of the conformal $p$-value. As an application of these properties, we construct distribution-free consistent tests for exchangeability against distribution-change alternatives and a new, computationally tractable method of optimizing the powers of conformal tests. We run detailed simulation studies to corroborate the performance of our methods and theoretical results. Together, our contributions offer a comprehensive and theoretically principled approach to distribution-free changepoint inference, broadening both the scope and credibility of conformal methods in modern changepoint analysis.

Promotion has been well-studied for rectangular standard Young tableaux, in which case the orbit lengths divide the total number of boxes and are described by a cyclic sieving phenomenon (CSP), but little is known about the orbit lengths for tableaux of general shape. We approach this problem by building a stable sequence of tableaux where we fix the bottom portion and add extra boxes to the first row to get $n$ total boxes, with $n$ varying. We show that for 2-row tableaux with a fixed bottom row, the orbit lengths are divisors of certain monic polynomials in $n$, with degree generally equal to the number of distinct lengths of runs of consecutive numbers in the bottom row. For the subsets of 2-row tableaux where all runs have the same length, we show that the orbit lengths are characterized by a CSP polynomial that is a slightly modified version of the major index generating function, like in the rectangle case. We also show that for any stable sequence of tableaux, the orbit lengths are linear in $n$ as long as all non-first-row entries differ from each other by at least 2, which asymptotically happens for almost all tableaux in the limit as $n\to\infty.$ We also calculate the orbit lengths for near-hook tableaux, which are divisors of certain linear or quadratic polynomials in $n$.

Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients (LFBOTs) are rare extragalactic events of unknown origin. Tidal disruptions of white dwarfs by intermediate mass black holes (BHs), mergers of BHs and Wolf-Rayet stars, and failed supernovae are among the suggestions. We explore the viability of very massive star core-collapse events as the origin of LFBOTs. The appeal of such a model is that the formation of massive BHs via core collapse may yield observational signatures that can match the disparate lines of evidence that point towards both core-collapse and tidal disruption origins. We explore the formation rate of massive BH in population synthesis models, and compare the metallicities of their progenitors with the observed metallicities of LFBOT host galaxies. We further examine the composition, mass loss rates and fallback masses of these stars, placing them in the context of LFBOT observations. The formation rate of BHs with mass greater than ~30-40Msol is similar to the observed LFBOT rate. The stars producing these BHs are biased to low metallicity (Z<0.3Zsol), are H and He-poor and have dense circumstellar media. However, some LFBOTs have host galaxies with higher metallicities than predicted, and others have denser environments (plausibly due to late mass loss not captured in the models). We find that long-lived emission from an accretion disc (as implicated in the LFBOT AT 2018cow) can only be produce in these events under maximal disc mass and angular momentum conditions. We conclude that (very) massive star core-collapse is a plausible explanation for at least some LFBOTs, but faces challenges. The preferred progenitors for LFBOTs in the failed supernova interpretation overlap with those predicted to produce super-kilonovae. We therefore suggest that LFBOTs are promising targets to search for super-kilonovae, and that they may contribute to the r-process enrichment of galaxies.

With the launch and application of next-generation ground- and space-based telescopes, astronomy has entered the era of big data, necessitating more efficient and robust data analysis methods. Most traditional parameter estimation methods are unable to reconcile differences between photometric systems. Ideally, we would like to optimally rely on high-quality observation data provided by, e.g., JWST, for calibrating and improving upcoming wide-field surveys such as the China Space Station Telescope (CSST) and Euclid. To this end, we introduce a new approach (SHAPE, SOM-SED Hybrid Approach for efficient Parameter Estimation) that can bridge different photometric systems and efficiently estimate key galaxy parameters, such as stellar mass ($M_\star$) and star formation rate (SFR), leveraging data from a large and deep JWST/NIRCam and MIRI survey (PRIMER). As a test of the methodology, we focus on galaxies at $z\sim 1.5-2.5$. To mitigate discrepancies between input colors and the training set, we replace the default SOM weights with stacked SEDs from each cell, extending the applicability of our model to other photometric catalogs (e.g., COSMOS2020). By incorporating a SED library (SED Lib), we apply this JWST-calibrated model to the COSMOS2020 catalog. Despite the limited sample size and potential template-related uncertainties, SOM-derived parameters exhibit a good agreement with results from SED-fitting using extended photometry. Under identical photometric constraints from CSST and Euclid bands, our method outperforms traditional SED-fitting techniques in SFR estimation, exhibiting both a reduced bias (-0.01 vs. 0.18) and a smaller $σ_{\rm NMAD}$ (0.25 vs. 0.35). With its computational efficiency capable of processing $10^6$ sources per CPU per hour during the estimation phase, this JWST-calibrated estimator holds significant promise for next-generation wide-field surveys.

One of the most puzzling properties of the high-redshift AGN population recently discovered by JWST, including both broad-line and narrow-line sources, is their X-ray weakness. With very few exceptions, and regardless of the optical classification, they are undetected at the limits of the deepest Chandra fields, even when stacking signals from tens of sources in standard observed-frame energy intervals (soft, hard, and full bands). It has been proposed that their elusive nature in the X-ray band is due to heavy absorption by dust-free gas or intrinsic weakness, possibly due to high, super-Eddington accretion. In this work, we perform X-ray stacking in three customized rest-frame energy ranges (1-4, 4-7.25, and 10-30 keV) of a sample of 50 Type 1 and 38 Type 2 AGN identified by JWST in the CDFS and CDFN fields. For the Type 2 sub-sample, we reach a total of about 210 Ms exposure, and we report a significant ($\sim 3σ$) detection in the hardest (10-30 keV rest frame) band, along with relatively tight upper limits in the rest frame softer energy bands. The most straightforward interpretation is in terms of heavy obscuration due to gas column densities well within the Compton thick regime ($> 2 \times 10^{24} $cm$^{-2}$) with a large covering factor, approaching 4$π$. The same procedure applied to the Type 1 sub-sample returns no evidence for a significant signal in about 140 Ms stacked data in any of the adopted bands, confirming their surprisingly elusive nature in the X-ray band obtained with previous stacking experiments. A brief comparison with the current observations and the implications for the evolution of AGN are discussed.

The shape and orientation of the Milky Way's dark matter halo remain poorly constrained. Observations of the accreted stellar halo show that it is triaxial and tilted with respect to the disc. If this configuration is long-lived, it can place constraints on the shape and orientation of the dark matter halo that can support it close to steady state. We use a novel method to fit equilibrium orbit-superposition (Schwarzschild) models to the stellar halo in a realistic Milky Way potential with a tilted dark matter halo. We assume that the long axes of each halo and the disc normal are coplanar. These models are matched to parametric density fits and velocity anisotropy measurements of Gaia Sausage-Enceladus (GSE) stars at radii $r\in[6,60]$ kpc. The observations are consistent with a (near-)prolate dark matter halo whose density has a short-to-long axis ratio of $q_\mathrm{dm}=0.87_{-0.09}^{+0.05}$. The long axis is inclined at an angle of $β_\mathrm{dm}=43_{-8}^{+22}\,^\circ$ to the disc plane, which exceeds the stellar halo tilt by $\approx18^\circ$. Spherical haloes cannot support the observed structure of the GSE in equilibrium. The best-fitting dynamical GSE model has a radius-dependent shape and orientation; between radii of 6 and 60~kpc the tilt increases from $β_*(r)\approx10^\circ$ to $\approx35^\circ$. Our model provides a good fit to the observed triaxial structure and dynamics of the GSE. It is therefore an excellent source of realistic initial conditions for simulations of the halo, such as for investigating perturbations from satellites or the Galactic bar.

The widespread availability of cellular devices introduces new threat vectors that allow users or attackers to bypass security policies and physical barriers and bring unauthorized devices into sensitive areas. We identify a critical gap in this context: the absence of low-latency systems for high-quality and instantaneous monitoring of cellular transmissions. Such low-latency systems are crucial to allow for timely detection, decision, and disruption of unauthorized communication in sensitive areas. Operator-based monitoring systems, built for purposes such as people counting or tracking, lack real-time capability, require cooperation across multiple operators, and thus are hard to deploy. Operator-independent monitoring approaches proposed in the literature either lack low-latency capabilities or do not scale. We propose WaveTag, the first low-latency and scalable system designed to monitor 5G and LTE connections across all operators prior to any user data transmission. WaveTag consists of several downlink sniffers and a distributed network of uplink sniffers that measure both downlink protocol information and uplink signal characteristics at multiple locations to gain a detailed spatial image of uplink signals. WaveTag then aggregates the recorded information, processes it, and provides a decision about the connection--all done prior to the complete connection establishment of a UE. To evaluate WaveTag, we deployed it in the context of geofencing, where WaveTag was able to determine whether the signals originate from inside or outside of an area within 2.3 ms of the initial base station-to-device message, therefore enabling prompt and targeted suppression of communication before any user data was transmitted. WaveTag achieved 99.66% geofencing classification accuracy. Finally, we conduct a real-world uplink measurement evaluation on a commercial 5G SA network.

We present a physically interpretable framework to quantify dynamical disturbances in galaxy clusters using projected two-dimensional phase-space information. Based on the TNG-Cluster simulation, we construct a disturbance score that captures merger-driven asymmetries through features such as velocity dispersion and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) peak fitting, which captures asymmetries indicative of dynamical disturbance. All features are derived from observable quantities and are intended to be measurable in future surveys. To enable observational application, we adopt a simplified estimator using aperture mass map statistics as a mass ratio proxy in TNG300-1, and validate its performance with weak lensing data from The Local Volume Complete Cluster Survey (LoVoCCS). While phase-space diagnostics reveal merger-driven asymmetries, they are not sensitive to whether the secondary progenitor is infalling or receding, and thus cannot distinguish future mergers from past mergers. To address this, we incorporate the star formation rate (SFR) from TNG-Cluster and propose the blue galaxy fraction as a promising observational tracer of merger timing. Finally, we construct mock Chandra X-ray images of TNG-Cluster halos at redshift $z=0.2$, and find that the offset between the X-ray peak and the position of the most massive black hole (used as a proxy for the Brightest Cluster Galaxy, BCG) correlates with our disturbance score, serving as a consistency check. We also perform case studies using LoVoCCS observational data, correlating the blue galaxy fraction with disturbance scores derived from the eROSITA morphology catalog.

The stabilization of long-range magnetic order in nominally non-magnetic semi-conductors using femtosecond light pulses is an exciting yet experimentally challenging goal. Theoretical studies indicate that certain non-magnetic semi-conductors can exhibit transient magnetic instabilities following above-gap laser excitation, but the dynamical pathways leading to these states remain largely unexplored. In this work, I introduce a minimal real-time spin-orbital model and identify the fundamental microscopic mechanisms that enable the emergence of a transient magnetic order. I then discuss the relevance of these findings for real materials employing a phenomenological time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model. Finally, I analyze the strengths and limitations of current first-principles methodologies for investigating dynamically induced broken-symmetry states in the light of the present results.

We study the second order elliptic equations of non-divergence form in a planar domain with complicated geometry. In this case the domain winds around a fixed circle infinitely many times and converges to it when the rotating angle goes to infinity. For the homogeneous equation and the homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition, in the case of bounded drifts, we prove that the maximum of the solution on the cross-section corresponding to a given rotating angle either grows or decays exponentially as the angle goes to infinity. Results for the oscillation and its asymptotic estimates are also obtained for inhomogeneous Dirichlet data. If the drift is unbounded but does not grow to infinity too fast, then the above maximum also goes to either zero or infinity. For the inhomogeneous equation, we obtain the estimates in the case of bounded forcing functions. Moreover, we establish the uniqueness of the solution and its continuous dependence on the boundary data and the forcing function.

Self-lensing (SL) in binary systems has the potential to provide a unique observational window into the Galactic population of compact objects. Using the $\mathtt{startrack}$ and COSMIC population synthesis codes, we investigate how different supernova mechanisms affect the observable population of SL systems, with particular attention to the mass gap (2$\mathrm{-}$5 M$_\odot$) in compact object distributions. We test three supernova remnant formation models with different convective growth timescales ($f_{\rm mix}$ = 0.5, 1.0, and 4.0), simulating SL binary systems across the Galactic disk and bulge. We identify distinct groupings of SL sources based on lens mass and Einstein crossing time, clearly differentiating neutron star from black hole systems and close from wide orbits. Notably, the delayed $f_{\rm mix} = 0.5$ model predicts a significantly higher fraction of systems with lens masses in the mass gap region (up to $\sim10$ times more for certain surveys), suggesting that SL observations could help constrain this controversial population. Our analysis reveals a strong preference for systems with low centre-of-mass velocities ($v_{\rm cm}\leq20$ km/s) across all models, resulting primarily from physical processes governing compact object formation and binary survival. While many potential detections will have limited observational coverage, ZTF is predicted to yield several dozen well-covered systems that should enable detailed characterization. When applying simple detection criteria including photometric precision and signal-to-noise requirements, predicted rates decrease by approximately two orders of magnitude, but still yield up to a few tens of expected detections for LSST and ZTF in the Galactic disk population.

Star clusters are valuable indicators of galaxy evolution, offering insights into the buildup of stellar populations across cosmic time. Understanding intrinsic star cluster populations of dwarf galaxies is particularly important given their role in the hierarchical growth of larger systems. Using Euclid Early Release Observation data, we study star clusters in two star-forming dwarf irregulars in the Local Group, NGC 6822 and IC 10 [$M_\star \sim$ (1--4) $\times10^8 M_\odot$]. With Euclid, clusters are resolved into individual stars across the main bodies and haloes of both galaxies. Visual inspection of $I_E$ images uncovers 30 new cluster candidates in NGC 6822 and 16 in IC 10, from compact to extended clusters. We re-evaluate literature candidates, producing combined catalogues of 52 (NGC 6822) and 71 (IC 10) clusters with confidence-based classifications. We present homogeneous photometry in $I_E$, $Y_E$, $J_E$, $H_E$, and archival UBVRI data, alongside size measurements and properties from BAGPIPES SED fitting. Synthetic cluster injection shows our sample is $\sim 50$% complete to $M \lesssim 10^3 M_\odot$ for ages $\lesssim 100$ Myr, and to $M \lesssim 3\times10^4 M_\odot$ for $\sim 10$ Gyr. IC 10 has more young clusters than NGC 6822, extending to higher masses, consistent with its starburst nature. Both dwarfs host several old massive ($\gtrsim 10^5 M_\odot$) clusters, including an exceptional $1.3 \times 10^6 M_\odot$ cluster in NGC 6822's outskirts. In NGC 6822, we identify a previously undetected, old, extended cluster ($R_h = 12.4 \pm 0.11$ pc). Using well-defined criteria, we identify 11 candidate GCs in NGC 6822 and eight in IC 10. Both galaxies have high specific frequencies ($S_N$) but remain consistent with known GC scaling relations at low luminosity [abridged].

Mass transfer between stars in binary systems profoundly impacts their evolution, yet many aspects of this process (especially the stability, mass loss, and eventual fate of such systems) remain poorly understood. One promising avenue to constrain these processes is through the identification and characterisation of systems undergoing active mass transfer. Inspired by the slow brightening preceding stellar merger transients, we worked on a method to identify Galactic mass-transferring binaries in which the donor is a Hertzsprung gap (HG) star. We constructed an initial sample of HG stars using the Gaia EDR3 contribution Starhorse catalogue, and we identified candidate mass-transferring systems by selecting sources that exhibit Balmer emission features (using the low-resolution Gaia XP spectra), mid-infrared excess (from WISE photometry), and photometric variability (inferred from the error in the Gaia G-band magnitude). This multi-criteria selection yielded a sample of 67 candidates, which we further analysed using complementary photometric and spectroscopic data. Among our candidates, we identified at least nine eclipsing binaries and some sources that are potential binaries as well. Three sources in our sample are strong candidates for mass-transferring binaries with a yellow component, and three more are binaries with a Be star. Notably, four sources in our sample are strong candidates for hosting a compact companion, based on their ultraviolet or X-ray signatures. The main sources of contamination in our search are hot but highly reddened stars (primarily Oe and Be stars). As an additional outcome of this work, we present a refined catalogue of 308 bona fide HG stars, selected using improved extinction corrections and stricter emission-line criteria. This enhanced sample is expected to contain a significantly higher fraction of scientifically valuable mass-transferring binaries.

We present a methodology for the study of the dispersion of trajectories of stochastic processes in reconstructed phase spaces from observed data. The methodology allows to find ensembles of analog states, i.e. states that are close in the phase space. Once these states are found, we focus on the characterisation of their dispersion in function of 1) the time and 2) their initial separation. We study an experimental turbulent velocity measurement and two scale-invariant stochastic processes: a regularized fractional Brownian motion and a regularized multifractal random walk. Both stochastic processes are synthesized to have the same covariance structure as the experimental turbulent velocity, but only the regularized multifractal random walk mimics the intermittency of turbulent velocity. We illustrate that while the covariance structure of the processes governs the time dependence of the dispersion of the analog states, the intermittency phenomenon is responsible for the impact of the initial separation of the analogs on their dispersion.

Magnetic reconnection is an explosive process that accelerates particles to high energies in Earth's magnetosphere, offering a unique natural laboratory to study this phenomenon. This study investigates how well data-driven fully kinetic simulations can reproduce the ion and electron energy distributions observed during a reconnection event by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission.We performed fully kinetic 2D simulations initialized with plasma parameters derived from the MMS event and compared the resulting ion and electron energy distributions with observations. Key numerical and physical parameters were systematically varied to assess their influence on the resulting particle spectra. The simulations capture the overall shape and evolution of nonthermal energy distributions for both species, but generally underestimate the very high-energy tail of the electron spectrum. Variations in numerical parameters have negligible effects on the resulting spectra, while the initial upstream temperatures instead play a more pronounced role in reproducing the observed distributions.We present a novel analysis of data-driven fully kinetic simulations of MR, showing that key aspects of particle acceleration can be captured, while also highlighting the limitations of 2D simulations and the need for more realistic (e.g., 3D) setups to reproduce the observed particle energization accurately.

In this paper, the suitability of fast-declining Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) as cosmological standard candles is examined utilizing a Hubble Flow sample of 43 of these objects observed by the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP). We confirm previous suggestions that fast-declining SNe Ia offer a viable method for estimating distances to early-type galaxies when the color-stretch parameter, $s_{BV}$, is used as a measure of the light curve shape. As a test, we employ the Tripp method, which models the absolute magnitude at maximum as a function of light curve shape and color. We calibrate the sample using 12 distance moduli based on published Infrared Surface Brightness Fluctuations to derive a value of the Hubble constant that is in close agreement with the value obtained for the full sample of CSP SNe Ia using the same methodology. We also develop a new and simple method of estimating the distances of fast decliners based only on their colors at maximum (and not light curve shape) and find that it leads to similar results as with using the Tripp method. This "Color" technique is a powerful tool that is unique to fast-declining SNe Ia. We show that the colors of the fast decliners at maximum light are strongly affected by photospheric temperature differences and not solely due to dust extinction, and provide a physical rationale for this effect.

We study the interplay of non-Hermitian topological phases under point- and line-gap conditions. Using natural homomorphisms from line-gap to point-gap phases, we distinguish extrinsic phases, reducible to Hermitian or anti-Hermitian line-gapped phases, from intrinsic phases, which are genuinely non-Hermitian without Hermitian counterparts. Although classification tables for all symmetry classes were already presented in earlier work, the present paper develops a unified formulation and provides explicit computations for all internal symmetries.

We propose a pair spin-orbit interaction (PSOI) mechanism by establishing a mesoscopic many-particle Rashba Hamiltonian. In lowest order, this Hamiltonian self-consistently describes exciton spin relaxation in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) due to local electric fields caused by spatial asymmetries in the dielectric environment. For a monolayer MoSe$_2$ on a SiO$_2$ substrate above 77$\,$K showing a bright-dark splitting in the meV range, the local electric field causes fast intravalley spin relaxation on a sub-picosecond timescale, whereas it is negligible for other TMDCs with larger bright-dark splitting.

Context: While the LMC's influence on MW stellar streams has been extensively studied, streams associated with the Clouds have received far less attention. Beyond the Magellanic Stream, only four stream candidates (S1-S4) have been reported. Aims: We focus on the S3 stream, a long ($\sim30^\circ$) and narrow ($\sim1.2^\circ$) structure at 60-80 kpc, nearly aligned with the LMC. Our goals are: 1) to validate the stream through a kinematic analysis of S3 candidates with Gaia DR3 data; 2) to enlarge the sample of potential members; and 3) to model the stream in order to test its association with either the MW or the LMC. Methods: We selected new S3 candidates with a neural network classifier trained on Gaia DR3 data, and further reduced contamination through a cut in the proper-motion space. To investigate the origin of S3, we evolve stream models within time-dependent, deforming MW and LMC haloes, thereby accounting for possible effects of the MW-LMC interaction. Results: We identify 1,542 high-confidence new S3 stream candidates and find that the stream's apparent width has grown from $\sim1.2^\circ$ to $\sim3$-$4^\circ$ compared to previous studies. We also present a list of 440 potential S3 red clump stars, which are valuable targets for spectroscopic follow-up thanks to their well-defined luminosities and ability to yield precise distances. Both modelling and a comparison of S3 stars' closest approach distance and velocity with the LMC's escape velocity indicate that S3 is unlikely to originate from the LMC, instead representing a distant ($\sim75$ kpc) MW stream. Conclusions: S3 is the most distant ($\sim75$ kpc) extended ($\sim30^\circ$ long, $\sim3$-$4^\circ$ thick) MW stream known, offering a unique probe of the outer halo and the LMC's recent influence. Its angular width corresponds to a physical thickness of $\sim4$-5 kpc, making S3 among the thickest streams discovered.

In an $r$-coloring of edges of the complete graph on $n$ vertices, how many edges are there in the largest monochromatic connected component? A construction of Gyárfás shows that for infinitely many values of $r$, there exist colorings where all monochromatic components have at most $\left(\frac{1}{r^2-r}+o(1)\right)\binom{n}{2}$ edges. Conlon, Luo, and Tyomkyn conjectured that components with at least this many edges are attainable for all $r \ge 3$. This was proven by Luo for $r=3$, along with a lower bound of $\frac{1}{r^2-r+\frac54}{n\choose 2}$ for all $r\ge 2$, and by Conlon, Luo, and Tyomkyn for $r=4$. In this paper, we look at extensions of this problem where the graph being $r$-colored is a sparse random graph or a graph of high minimum degree. By extending several intermediate technical results from previous work in the complete graph setting, we prove analogues of the bound for general $r$ in both the sparse random setting and the high minimum degree setting, as well as the bound for $r=3$ in the latter setting.

We introduce a lattice random walk discretisation scheme for stochastic differential equations (SDEs) that samples binary or ternary increments at each step, suppressing complex drift and diffusion computations to simple 1 or 2 bit random values. This approach is a significant departure from traditional floating point discretisations and offers several advantages; including compatibility with stochastic computing architectures that avoid floating-point arithmetic in place of directly manipulating the underlying probability distribution of a bitstream, elimination of Gaussian sampling requirements, robustness to quantisation errors, and handling of non-Lipschitz drifts. We prove weak convergence and demonstrate the advantages through experiments on various SDEs, including state-of-the-art diffusion models.

Extreme-mass-ratio inspirals, in which a stellar-mass object orbits a supermassive black hole, are prime sources of millihertz gravitational waves for upcoming space-based detectors. While most studies assume idealized vacuum backgrounds, realistic extreme-mass-ratio binaries are embedded in astrophysical environments such as accretion disks, stellar clusters, or dark matter spikes, disks, and halos, which can significantly alter the orbital dynamics. We explore bound geodesics around general-relativistic solutions describing rotating black holes surrounded by matter halos for the first time, mapping how environmental effects interfere with the spacetime symmetries of vacuum spinning (Kerr) black holes. In particular, we find that the loss of a Carter-like constant leads to geodesic non-integrability and the onset of chaos. This manifests through the formation of resonant islands and chaotic layers around transient orbital resonances in phase space--features that are otherwise completely absent in integrable Kerr geodesics. Resonant islands, which are extended, non-zero volume regions in phase space, encapsulate periodic orbit points. Non-integrability dictates that all geodesics inside the resonant island share the periodicity of the resonance. Thus, the lifespan of resonances around non-Kerr objects can be significantly enhanced beyond the predicted lifetime of Kerr resonances. Consequently, these effects can leave distinct imprints on gravitational-wave signals, with significant implications for gravitational-wave modeling and parameter inference of astrophysical extreme-mass-ratio inspirals.

We prove estimates for the sharp constants in fractional Poincaré-Sobolev inequalities associated to an open set, in terms of a nonlocal capacitary extension of its inradius. This work builds upon previous results obtained in the local case by Maz'ya and Shubin and by the first author and Brasco. We rely on a new Maz'ya-Poincaré inequality and, incidentally, we also prove new fractional Poincaré-Wirtinger-type estimates. These inequalities display sharp limiting behaviours with respect to the fractional order of differentiability. As a byproduct, we obtain a new criterion for the embedding of the homogeneous Sobolev space $\mathcal{D}^{s,p}_0(Ω)$ in $L^q(Ω)$, valid in the subcritical regime and for $p \le q < p^*_s$. Our results are new even for the first eigenvalue of the fractional Laplacian and contain an optimal characterization for the positivity of the fractional Cheeger's constant.

A central challenge in modeling neurodegenerative diseases is connecting cellular-level mechanisms to tissue-level pathology, in particular to determine whether pathology is driven primarily by cell-autonomous triggers or by propagation from cells that are already in a pathological, runaway aggregation state. To bridge this gap, we here develop a bottom-up physical model that explicitly incorporates these two fundamental cell-level drivers of protein aggregation dynamics. We show that our model naturally explains the characteristic long, slow development of pathology followed by a rapid acceleration, a hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, the model reveals the existence of a critical switch point at which the system's dynamics transition from being dominated by slow, spontaneous formation of diseased cells to being driven by fast propagation. This framework provides a robust physical foundation for interpreting pathological data and offers a method to predict which class of therapeutic strategies is best matched to the underlying drivers of a specific disease.