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The SDSS-IV Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) program has been operating from 2014-2020, and has now observed a sample of 9,269 galaxies in the low redshift universe (z ~ 0.05) with integral-field spectroscopy. With rest-optical (\lambda\lambda 0.36 - 1.0 um) spectral resolution R ~ 2000 the instrumental spectral line-spread function (LSF) typically has 1sigma width of about 70 km/s, which poses a challenge for the study of the typically 20-30 km/s velocity dispersion of the ionized gas in present-day disk galaxies. In this contribution, we present a major revision of the MaNGA data pipeline architecture, focusing particularly on a variety of factors impacting the effective LSF (e.g., undersampling, spectral rectification, and data cube construction). Through comparison with external assessments of the MaNGA data provided by substantially higher-resolution R ~ 10,000 instruments we demonstrate that the revised MPL-10 pipeline measures the instrumental line spread function sufficiently accurately ( 50. Velocity dispersions derived from [O II], Hbeta, [O III], [N II], and [S II] are consistent with those derived from Halpha to within about 2% at sigma_Halpha > 30 km/s. Although the impact of these changes to the estimated LSF will be minimal at velocity dispersions greater than about 100 km/s, scientific results from previous data releases that are based on dispersions far below the instrumental resolution should be reevaulated., Comment: 26 pages, 23 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ

We present arcminute-resolution intensity and polarization maps of the Galactic center made with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The maps cover a 32 deg$^2$ field at 98, 150, and 224 GHz with $\vert l\vert\le4^\circ$, $\vert b\vert\le2^\circ$. We combine these data with Planck observations at similar frequencies to create coadded maps with increased sensitivity at large angular scales. With the coadded maps, we are able to resolve many known features of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) in both total intensity and polarization. We map the orientation of the plane-of-sky component of the Galactic magnetic field inferred from the polarization angle in the CMZ, finding significant changes in morphology in the three frequency bands as the underlying dominant emission mechanism changes from synchrotron to dust emission. Selected Galactic center sources, including Sgr A*, the Brick molecular cloud (G0.253+0.016), the Mouse pulsar wind nebula (G359.23-0.82), and the Tornado supernova remnant candidate (G357.7-0.1), are examined in detail. These data illustrate the potential for leveraging ground-based Cosmic Microwave Background polarization experiments for Galactic science., 26 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

We present cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of a quasar-mass halo ($M_{\rm halo} \approx 10^{12.5}\,{\rm M}_{\odot}$ at z=2) that for the first time resolve gas transport down to the inner 0.1 pc surrounding the central massive black hole. We model a multi-phase interstellar medium including stellar feedback by supernovae, stellar winds, and radiation, and a hyper-Lagrangian refinement technique increasing the resolution dynamically approaching the black hole. We do not include black hole feedback. We show that the sub-pc inflow rate (1) can reach ~6 M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$ roughly in steady state during the epoch of peak nuclear gas density (z~2), sufficient to power a luminous quasar, (2) is highly time variable in the pre-quasar phase, spanning 0.001-10 M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$ on Myr timescales, and (3) is limited to short (~2 Myr) active phases (0.01-0.1 M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$) followed by longer periods of inactivity at lower nuclear gas density and late times (z~1), owing to the formation of a hot central cavity. Inflowing gas is primarily cool, rotational support dominates over turbulence and thermal pressure, and star formation can consume as much gas as provided by inflows across 1 pc - 10 kpc. Gravitational torques from multi-scale stellar non-axisymmetries dominate angular momentum transport over gas self-torquing and pressure gradients, with accretion weakly dependent on black hole mass. Sub-pc inflow rates correlate with nuclear (but decouple from global) star formation and can exceed the Eddington rate by x10. The black hole can move ~10 pc from the galaxy center on ~0.1 Myr. Accreting gas forms pc-scale, rotationally supported, obscuring structures often misaligned with the galaxy-scale disk. These simulations open a new avenue to investigate black hole-galaxy co-evolution., Comment: 34 pages, 23 figures, ApJ accepted

We forecast the reionization history constraints, inferred from Lyman-alpha damping wing absorption features, for a future sample of $\sim 20$ $z \geq 6$ gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. We describe each afterglow spectrum by a three-parameter model. First, L characterizes the size of the ionized region (the "bubble size") around a GRB host halo. Second, $\langle{x_{\rm HI}\rangle}$ is the volume-averaged neutral fraction outside of the ionized bubble around the GRB, which is approximated as spatially uniform. Finally, $N_{\mathrm{HI}}$ denotes the column-density of a local damped Lyman-alpha absorber (DLA) associated with the GRB host galaxy. The size distribution of ionized regions is extracted from a numerical simulation of reionization, and evolves strongly across the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). The model DLA column densities follow the empirical distribution determined from current GRB afterglow spectra. We use a Fisher matrix formalism to forecast the $\langle{x_{\rm HI}(z)\rangle}$ constraints that can be obtained from follow-up spectroscopy of afterglows with SNR = 20 per R=3,000 resolution element at the continuum. We find that the neutral fraction may be determined to better than 10-15\% (1-$\sigma$) accuracy from this data across multiple independent redshift bins at $z \sim 6-10$, spanning much of the EoR, although the precision degrades somewhat near the end of reionization. A more futuristic survey with $80$ GRB afterglows at $z \geq 6$ can improve the precision here by a factor of $2$ and extend measurements out to $z \sim 14$. We further discuss how these constraints may be combined with estimates of the escape fraction of ionizing photons, derived from the DLA column density distribution towards GRBs extracted at slightly lower redshift. This combination will help in testing whether we have an accurate census of the sources that reionized the universe., Comment: To be submitted to ApJ

We utilize recent NuSTAR observations (co-added depth $\approx55$-120 ks) of PG $1001+054$, PG $1254+047$, and PHL 1811 to constrain their hard X-ray ($\gtrsim5$ keV) weakness and spectral shapes, and thus to investigate the nature of their extreme X-ray weakness. These quasars showed very weak soft X-ray emission, and they were proposed to be intrinsically X-ray weak, with the X-ray coronae producing weak continuum emission relative to their optical/UV emission. However, the new observations suggest an alternative explanation. The NuSTAR 3-24 keV spectral shapes for PG $1001+054$ and PHL 1811 are likely flat (effective power-law photon indices $\Gamma_{\rm eff}=1.0^{+0.5}_{-0.6}$ and $\Gamma_{\rm eff}=1.4^{+0.8}_{-0.7}$, respectively), while the shape is nominal for PG $1254+047$ ($\Gamma_{\rm eff}=1.8\pm0.3$). PG $1001+054$ and PHL 1811 are significantly weak at hard X-ray energies (by factors of $\approx26$-74 at rest-frame 8 keV) compared to the expectations from their optical/UV emission, while PG $1254+047$ is only hard X-ray weak by a factor of $\approx3$. We suggest that X-ray obscuration is present in all three quasars. We propose that, as an alternative to the intrinsic X-ray weakness + X-ray obscuration scenario, the soft and hard X-ray weakness of these quasars can be uniformly explained under an obscuration-only scenario. This model provides adequate descriptions of the multi-epoch soft and hard X-ray data of these quasars, with variable column density and leaked fraction of the partial-covering absorber. We suggest that the absorber is the clumpy dust-free wind launched from the accretion disk. These quasars probably have super-Eddington accretion rates that drive powerful and high-density winds., Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

We describe the simulated sky survey underlying the second data challenge (DC2) carried out in preparation for analysis of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) by the LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration (LSST DESC). Significant connections across multiple science domains will be a hallmark of LSST; the DC2 program represents a unique modeling effort that stresses this interconnectivity in a way that has not been attempted before. This effort encompasses a full end-to-end approach: starting from a large N-body simulation, through setting up LSST-like observations including realistic cadences, through image simulations, and finally processing with Rubin's LSST Science Pipelines. This last step ensures that we generate data products resembling those to be delivered by the Rubin Observatory as closely as is currently possible. The simulated DC2 sky survey covers six optical bands in a wide-fast-deep (WFD) area of approximately 300 deg^2 as well as a deep drilling field (DDF) of approximately 1 deg^2. We simulate 5 years of the planned 10-year survey. The DC2 sky survey has multiple purposes. First, the LSST DESC working groups can use the dataset to develop a range of DESC analysis pipelines to prepare for the advent of actual data. Second, it serves as a realistic testbed for the image processing software under development for LSST by the Rubin Observatory. In particular, simulated data provide a controlled way to investigate certain image-level systematic effects. Finally, the DC2 sky survey enables the exploration of new scientific ideas in both static and time-domain cosmology., 39 pages, 19 figures, version accepted for publication in ApJS

Hilton, M., et al., We present a catalog of 4195 optically confirmed Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) selected galaxy clusters detected with signal-to-noise ratio >4 in 13,211 deg of sky surveyed by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Cluster candidates were selected by applying a multifrequency matched filter to 98 and 150 GHz maps constructed from ACT observations obtained from 2008 to 2018 and confirmed using deep, wide-area optical surveys. The clusters span the redshift range 0.04 < z < 1.91 (median z = 0.52). The catalog contains 222 z > 1 clusters, and a total of 868 systems are new discoveries. Assuming an SZ signal versus mass-scaling relation calibrated from X-ray observations, the sample has a 90% completeness mass limit of M > 3.8 × 10 M, evaluated at z = 0.5, for clusters detected at signal-to-noise ratio >5 in maps filtered at an angular scale of 2 4. The survey has a large overlap with deep optical weak-lensing surveys that are being used to calibrate the SZ signal mass-scaling relation, such as the Dark Energy Survey (4566 deg), the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (469 deg), and the Kilo Degree Survey (825 deg). We highlight some noteworthy objects in the sample, including potentially projected systems, clusters with strong lensing features, clusters with active central galaxies or star formation, and systems of multiple clusters that may be physically associated. The cluster catalog will be a useful resource for future cosmological analyses and studying the evolution of the intracluster medium and galaxies in massive clusters over the past 10 Gyr., The DES Data Management System is supported by the NSF under Grant Nos. AST-1138766 and AST-1536171. The DES participants from Spanish institutions are partially supported by MICINN under grants ESP2017-89838, PGC2018-094773, PGC2018-102021, SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597, and MDM-2015-0509, some of which include ERDF funds from the European Union. IFAE is partially funded by the CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Unionʼs Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) including ERC grant agreements 240672, 291329, and 306478. We acknowledge support from the Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia (INCT) do e-Universo (CNPq grant 465376/2014-2).

The planned sensitivity upgrades to the LIGO and Virgo facilities could uniquely identify host galaxies of dark sirens-compact binary coalescences without any electromagnetic counterparts-within a redshift of z = 0.1. This is aided by the higher order spherical harmonic modes present in the gravitational-wave signal, which also improve distance estimation. In conjunction, sensitivity upgrades and higher modes will facilitate an accurate, independent measurement of the host galaxy's redshift in addition to the luminosity distance from the gravitational wave observation to infer the Hubble-Lema\^itre constant H0 to better than a few percent in five years. A possible Voyager upgrade or third generation facilities would further solidify the role of dark sirens for precision cosmology in the future., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

For nearly a century, imaging and spectroscopic surveys of galaxies have given us information about the contents of the universe. We attempt to define the logical endpoint of such surveys by defining not the next galaxy survey, but the final galaxy survey at NIR wavelengths; this would be the galaxy survey that exhausts the information content useful for addressing extant questions. Such a survey would require incredible advances in a number of technologies and the survey details will depend on the as yet poorly constrained properties of the earliest galaxies. Using an exposure time calculator, we define nominal surveys for extracting the useful information for three science cases: dark energy cosmology, galaxy evolution, and supernovae. We define scaling relations that trade off sky background, telescope aperture, and focal plane size to allow for a survey of a given depth over a given area. For optimistic assumptions, a 280m telescope with a marginally resolved focal plane of 20 deg$^2$ operating at L2 could potentially exhaust the cosmological information content of galaxies in a 10 year survey. For galaxy evolution (making use of gravitational lensing to magnify the earliest galaxies) and SN, the same telescope would suffice. We discuss the technological advances needed to complete the last galaxy survey. While the final galaxy survey remains well outside of our technical reach today, we present scaling relations that show how we can progress toward the goal of exhausting the information content encoded in the shapes, positions, and colors of galaxies., 16 pages, 3 figures, to appear in AJ

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are highly energetic radio pulses from cosmological origins. Despite an abundance of detections, their nature remains elusive. At least a subset of FRBs is expected to repeat, as the daily FRB rate surpasses that of any known cataclysmic event, which has been confirmed by observations. One of the proposed mechanisms to generate repeating FRBs is supergiant pulses from young and highly spinning NSs, in which case FRBs could inherit the periodicity of their parent NS. Here we examine the consequences of such a population of periodic fast radio bursts (PFRBs). We calculate the rate and lifetime of PFRB progenitors, and find that each newly born highly spinning NS has to emit a number $N_{\rm PFRB}\sim 10^2$ of bursts during its active lifetime of $\tau\sim 100$ years, after which it becomes too dim and crosses a PFRB "death line" analogous to the pulsar one. We propose several tests of this hypothesis. First, the period of PFRBs would increase over time, and their luminosity would decrease, due to the NS spin-down. Second, PFRBs may show modest amounts of rotation measure, given the lack of expelled matter from the pulsar, as opposed to the magnetar-sourced FRBs proposed to explain the first repeater FRB 121102. As an example, we study whether the second confirmed repeater (FRB 180814) is a PFRB, given the preference for an inter-pulse separation of 13 ms within its sub-bursts. We show that, if confirmed, this period would place FRB 180814 in a different category as FRB 121102. We develop tests that would identify---and characterize---the prospective population of PFRBs., Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Comments are welcome

We present a measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing potential using 500 deg$^2$ of 150 GHz data from the SPTpol receiver on the South Pole Telescope. The lensing potential is reconstructed with signal-to-noise per mode greater than unity at lensing multipoles $L \lesssim 250$, using a quadratic estimator on a combination of CMB temperature and polarization maps. We report measurements of the lensing potential power spectrum in the multipole range of $100< L < 2000$ from sets of temperature-only, polarization-only, and minimum-variance estimators. We measure the lensing amplitude by taking the ratio of the measured spectrum to the expected spectrum from the best-fit $\Lambda$CDM model to the $\textit{Planck}$ 2015 TT+lowP+lensing dataset. For the minimum-variance estimator, we find $A_{\rm{MV}} = 0.944 \pm 0.058{\rm (Stat.)}\pm0.025{\rm (Sys.)}$; restricting to only polarization data, we find $A_{\rm{POL}} = 0.906 \pm 0.090 {\rm (Stat.)} \pm 0.040 {\rm (Sys.)}$. Considering statistical uncertainties alone, this is the most precise polarization-only lensing amplitude constraint to date (10.1 $\sigma$), and is more precise than our temperature-only constraint. We perform null tests and consistency checks and find no evidence for significant contamination., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures; updated to match published version

We present 150 MHz, 1.4 GHz, and 3 GHz radio imaging (LoTSS, FIRST and VLASS) and spatially resolved ionized gas characteristics (SDSS IV-MaNGA) for 140 local ($z, 23 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

Precise cosmic web classification of observed galaxies in massive spectroscopic surveys can be either highly uncertain or computationally expensive. As an alternative, we explore a fast Machine Learning-based approach to infer the underlying dark matter tidal cosmic web environment of a galaxy distribution from its $\beta$-skeleton graph. We develop and test our methodology using the cosmological magnetohydrodynamic simulation Illustris-TNG at $z=0$. We explore three different tree-based machine-learning algorithms to find that a random forest classifier can best use graph-based features to classify a galaxy as belonging to a peak, filament or sheet as defined by the T-Web classification algorithm. The best match between the galaxies and the dark matter T-Web corresponds to a density field smoothed over scales of $2$ Mpc, a threshold over the eigenvalues of the dimensionless tidal tensor of $\lambda_{\rm{th}}=0.0$ and galaxy number densities around $8\times 10^{-3}$ Mpc$^{-3}$. This methodology results on a weighted F1 score of 0.728 and a global accuracy of 74\%. More extensive tests that take into account lightcone effects and redshift space distortions (RSD) are left for future work. We make one of our highest ranking random forest models available on a public repository for future reference and reuse., Comment: ApJ accepted, 13 pages, 9 figures

We present a catalog of physical properties for galaxies hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN) detected by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). By fitting broadband spectral energy distributions of sources in the WISE AGN Catalog (Assef et al. 2018) with empirical galaxy and AGN templates, we derive photometric redshifts, AGN bolometric luminosities, measures of AGN obscuration, host galaxy stellar masses, and host galaxy star formation rates (SFRs) for 695,273 WISE AGN. The wide-area nature of this catalog significantly augments the known number of obscured AGN out to redshifts of z~3 and will be useful for studies focused on AGN or their host galaxy physical properties. We first show that the most likely non-AGN contaminants are galaxies at redshifts of z=0.2-0.3, with relatively blue W1-W2 colors, and with high specific SFRs for which the dust continuum emission is elevated in the W2 filter. Toward increasingly lower redshifts, WISE AGN host galaxies have systematically lower specific SFRs, relative to those of normal star forming galaxies, likely due to decreased cold gas fractions and the time delay between global star formation and AGN triggering. Finally, WISE AGN obscuration is not strongly correlated with AGN bolometric luminosity but shows a significant negative correlation with Eddington ratio. This result is consistent with a version of the `receding torus' model in which the obscuring material is located within the supermassive black hole gravitational sphere of influence and the dust inner radius increases due to radiation pressure., 21 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. The full catalog is available from the publisher or from the corresponding author upon request

The Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) effect introduces a specific distortion of the blackbody spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation when it scatters off hot gas in clusters of galaxies. The frequency dependence of the distortion is only independent of the cluster redshift when the evolution of the CMB radiation is adiabatic. Using 370 clusters within the redshift range 0.07 ≲ z ≲ 1.4 from the largest SZ-selected cluster sample to date from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, we provide new constraints on the deviation of CMB temperature evolution from the standard model α = 0.017 − 0.032 + 0.029 , where T ( z ) = T 0 1 + z 1 − α . This result is consistent with no deviation from the standard adiabatic model. Combining it with previous, independent data sets we obtain a joint constraint of α = −0.001 ± 0.012. Attributing deviation from adiabaticity to the decay of dark energy, this result constrains its effective equation of state w eff = − 0.998 − 0.010 + 0.008 .

The link between the circum-galactic medium (CGM) and the stellar growth of massive galaxies at high-$z$ depends on the properties of the widespread cold molecular gas. As part of the SUPERCOLD-CGM survey (Survey of Protocluster ELANe Revealing CO/\ci\ in the Ly$\alpha$-Detected CGM), we present the radio-loud QSO Q1228+3128 at $z=2.2218$, which is embedded in an enormous Ly$\alpha$ nebula. ALMA+ACA observations of CO(4-3) reveal both a massive molecular outflow, and a more extended molecular gas reservoir across $\sim$100 kpc in the CGM each containing a mass of M$_{\rm H2}$\,$\sim$\,4$-$5\,$\times$\,10$^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$. The outflow and molecular CGM are aligned spatially, along the direction of an inner radio jet. After re-analysis of Ly$\alpha$ data of Q1228+3128 from the Keck Cosmic Web Imager, we found that the velocity of the extended CO agrees with the redshift derived from the Ly$\alpha$ nebula and the bulk velocity of the massive outflow. We propose a scenario where the radio source in Q1228+3128 is driving the molecular outflow and perhaps also enriching or cooling the CGM. In addition, we found that the extended CO emission is nearly perpendicular to the extended Ly$\alpha$ nebula spatially, indicating that the two gas phases are not well mixed, and possibly even represent different phenomena (e.g., outflow vs. infall). Our results provide crucial evidence in support of predicted baryonic recycling processes that drive the early evolution of massive galaxies., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 10 pages, 6 figures

Constructing a fast and efficient estimator for the B-mode power spectrum of cosmic microwave background (CMB) is of critical importance for CMB science. For a general CMB survey, the Quadratic Maximum Likelihood (QML) estimator for CMB polarization has been proved to be the optimal estimator with minimal uncertainties, but it is computationally very expensive. In this article, we propose two new QML methods for B-mode power spectrum estimation. We use the Smith-Zaldarriaga approach to prepare pure-B mode map, and E-mode recycling method to obtain a leakage free B-mode map. We then use the scalar QML estimator to analyze the scalar pure-B map (QML-SZ) or B-mode map (QML-TC). The QML-SZ and QML-TC estimators have similar error bars as the standard QML estimators but their computational cost is nearly one order of magnitude smaller. The basic idea is that one can construct the pure B-mode CMB map by using the E-B separation method proposed by Smith-Zaldarriaga (SZ) or the one considering the template cleaning (TC) technique, then apply QML estimator to these scalar fields. By simulating potential observations of space-based and ground-based detectors, we test the reliability of these estimators by comparing them with the corresponding results of the traditional QML estimator and the pure B-mode pseudo-Cl estimator., Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures. Submitted to ApJS. Comments are welcome

We study halo mass functions with high-resolution $N$-body simulations under a $��$CDM cosmology. Our simulations adopt the cosmological model that is consistent with recent measurements of the cosmic microwave backgrounds with the ${\it Planck}$ satellite. We calibrate the halo mass functions for $10^{8.5} \lower.5ex\hbox{$\; \buildrel < \over \sim \;$} M_\mathrm{vir} / (h^{-1}M_\odot) \lower.5ex\hbox{$\; \buildrel < \over \sim \;$} 10^{15.0 - 0.45 \, z}$, where $M_\mathrm{vir}$ is the virial spherical overdensity mass and redshift $z$ ranges from $0$ to $7$. The halo mass function in our simulations can be fitted by a four-parameter model over a wide range of halo masses and redshifts, while we require some redshift evolution of the fitting parameters. Our new fitting formula of the mass function has a 5\%-level precision except for the highest masses at $z\le 7$. Our model predicts that the analytic prediction in Sheth $\&$ Tormen would overestimate the halo abundance at $z=6$ with $M_\mathrm{vir} = 10^{8.5-10}\, h^{-1}M_\odot$ by $20-30\%$. Our calibrated halo mass function provides a baseline model to constrain warm dark matter (WDM) by high-$z$ galaxy number counts. We compare a cumulative luminosity function of galaxies at $z=6$ with the total halo abundance based on our model and a recently proposed WDM correction. We find that WDM with its mass lighter than $2.71\, \mathrm{keV}$ is incompatible with the observed galaxy number density at a $2��$ confidence level., 19 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

A numerical detection of the mass-dependent spin transition of the galaxies is presented. Analyzing a sample of the galaxies with stellar masses in the range of $10^{9}< (M_{\star}/M_{\odot})\le 10^{11}$ from the IllustrisTNG300-1 simulations, we explore the alignment tendency between the galaxy baryon spins and the three eigenvectors of the linearly reconstructed tidal field as a function of $M_{\star}$ and its evolution in the redshift range of $0\le z \le 1.5$. Detecting a significant signal of the occurrence of the mass-dependent transition of the galaxy spins, we show that the centrals differ from the satellites in their spin transition type. As $M_{\star}$ increases beyond a certain threshold mass, the preferred directions of the central galaxy spins transit from the minor to the intermediate tidal eigenvectors (type two) at $z=0.5$ and $1$, while those of the satellites transit from the minor to the major tidal eigenvectors (type one) at $z=1$ and $1.5$. It is also shown that the mass range and type of the spin transition depend on the galaxy morphology, degree of the alignments between the baryon and total spin vectors as well as on the environmental density. Meanwhile, the stellar spins of the galaxies are found to yield a weak signal of the T1 transitions at $z=0$, whose strength and trend depend on the degree of the alignments between the stellar and baryon spins. The possible mechanisms responsible for the T1 and T2 spin transitions are discussed., Accepted for publication in ApJ, 16 figures, 5 tables, improved analysis, focus switched to the baryon spins

We study the gravitational lensing properties of a massive object in a dark matter halo, concentrating on the critical curves and caustics of the combined lens. We model the system in the simplest approximation by a point mass embedded in a spherical Navarro$-$Frenk$-$White density profile. The low number of parameters of such a model permits a systematic exploration of its parameter space. We present galleries of critical curves and caustics for different masses and positions of the point in the halo. We demonstrate the existence of a critical mass, above which the gravitational influence of the centrally positioned point is strong enough to eliminate the radial critical curve and caustic of the halo. In the point-mass parameter space we identify the boundaries at which critical-curve transitions and corresponding caustic metamorphoses occur. The number of transitions as a function of position of the point is surprisingly high, ranging from three for higher masses to as many as eight for lower masses. On the caustics we identify the occurrence of six different types of caustic metamorphoses. We illustrate the peculiar properties of the single radial critical curve and caustic appearing in an additional unusual non-local metamorphosis for a critical mass positioned at the halo center. Although we constructed the model primarily to study the lensing influence of individual galaxies in a galaxy cluster, it can also be used to study the lensing by dwarf satellite galaxies in the halo of a host galaxy, as well as (super)massive black holes at a general position in a galactic halo., Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, accepted to ApJ

Advances in cosmic microwave background (CMB) science depend on increasing the number of sensitive detectors observing the sky. New instruments deploy large arrays of superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers tiled densely into ever larger focal planes. High multiplexing factors reduce the thermal loading on the cryogenic receivers and simplify their design. We present the design of focal-plane modules with an order of magnitude higher multiplexing factor than has previously been achieved with TES bolometers. We focus on the novel cold readout component, which employs microwave SQUID multiplexing ($��$mux). Simons Observatory will use 49 modules containing 60,000 bolometers to make exquisitely sensitive measurements of the CMB. We validate the focal-plane module design, presenting measurements of the readout component with and without a prototype detector array of 1728 polarization-sensitive bolometers coupled to feedhorns. The readout component achieves a $95\%$ yield and a 910 multiplexing factor. The median white noise of each readout channel is 65 $\mathrm{pA/\sqrt{Hz}}$. This impacts the projected SO mapping speed by $< 8\%$, which is less than is assumed in the sensitivity projections. The results validate the full functionality of the module. We discuss the measured performance in the context of SO science requirements, which are exceeded., Accepted to The Astrophysical Journal

We examine the impact of baryonic physics on the halo distribution in hydrodynamic simulations (Illustris, IllustrisTNG, and EAGLE), particularly with regards to how it differs from that in dark matter only (DMO) simulations. We find that, in general, DMO simulations produce halo mass functions (HMF) that are shifted to higher halo masses than their hydrodynamic counterparts, due to the lack of baryonic physics. However, the exact nature of this mass shift is a complex function of mass, halo definition, redshift, and larger-scale environment, and it also depends on the specifics of the baryonic physics implemented in the simulation. We present fitting formulae for the corrections one would need to apply to each DMO halo catalogue in order to reproduce the HMF found in its hydrodynamic counterpart. We provide these formulae for all three simulations, for five different halo definitions at redshifts 0, 1, and 2. Additionally, we explore the dependence on environment of this HMF discrepancy, and find that, in most cases, halos in low density environments are slightly more impacted by baryonic physics than halos in high density environments. We thus also provide environment-dependent mass correction formulae that can reproduce the conditional, as well as global, HMF. We show that our mass corrections also repair the large-scale clustering of halos, though the environment-dependent corrections are required to achieve an accuracy better than 2%. Finally, we examine the impact of baryonic physics on the halo mass - concentration relation, and find that its slope in hydrodynamic simulations is consistent with that in DMO simulations. Ultimately, we recommend that any future work relying on DMO halo catalogues incorporate our mass corrections to test the robustness of their results to baryonic effects., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, accepted to ApJ

Polytropes have gained renewed interest because they account for several seemingly-disconnected observational properties of galaxies. Here we study if polytropes are also able to explain the stellar mass distribution within galaxies. We develop a code to fit surface density profiles using polytropes projected in the plane of the sky (propols). Sersic profiles are known to be good proxies for the global shapes of galaxies and we find that, ignoring central cores, propols and Sersic profiles are indistinguishable within observational errors (within 5 % over 5 orders of magnitude in surface density). The range of physically meaningful polytropes yields Sersic indexes between 0.4 and 6. The code has been systematically applied to ~750 galaxies with carefully measured mass density profiles and including all morphological types and stellar masses (7 < log (Mstar/Msun) < 12). The propol fits are systematically better than Sersic profiles when log(Mstar/Msun) < 9 and systematically worst when log(Mstar/Msun) > 10. Although with large scatter, the observed polytropic indexes increase with increasing mass and tend to cluster around m=5. For the most massive galaxies, propols are very good at reproducing their central parts, but they do not handle well cores and outskirts altogether. Polytropes are self-gravitating systems in thermal meta-equilibrium as defined by the Tsallis entropy. Thus, the above results are compatible with the principle of maximum Tsallis entropy dictating the internal structure in dwarf galaxies and in the central region of massive galaxies., Accepted for publication in ApJ. The fitting code is publicly available at https://github.com/jorgesanchezalmeida/polytropic-fits

We analyze the effect of polarized diffuse emission in the calibration of wide-beam mm-wave polarimeters, when using the Crab Nebula as a reference source for both polarized brightness and polarization angle. We show that, for CMB polarization experiments aiming at detecting B-mode in a scenario with a tensor to scalar ratio $r \sim 0.001$, wide (a few degrees in diameter), precise ($\sigma_Q$ , $\sigma_U$ $\sim$ 20 $\mu$$K_{CMB}$ arcmin), high angular resolution ($< \mathrm{FWHM}$) reference maps are needed to properly take into account the effects of diffuse polarized emission and avoid significant bias in the calibration.

Accurate 7Li(d,n)24He thermonuclear reaction rates are crucial for precise prediction of the primordial abundances of Lithium and Beryllium and to probe the mysteries beyond fundamental physics and the standard cosmological model. However, uncertainties still exist in current reaction rates of 7Li(d,n)24He widely used in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) simulations. In this work, we reevaluate the 7Li(d,n)24He reaction rate using the latest data on the three near-threshold 9Be excited states from experimental measurements. We present for the first time uncertainties that are directly constrained by experiments. Additionally, we take into account for the first time the contribution from the subthreshold resonance at 16.671 MeV of 9Be. We obtain a 7Li(d,n)24He rate that is overall smaller than the previous estimation by about a factor of 60 at the typical temperature of the onset of primordial nucleosynthesis. We implemented our new rate in BBN nucleosynthesis calculations, and we show that the new rates have a very limited impact on the final light element abundances in uniform density models. Typical abundance variations are in the order of 0.002%. For nonuniform density BBN models, the predicted 7Li production can be increased by 10% and the primordial production of light nuclides with mass number A>7 can be increased by about 40%. Our results confirm that the cosmological lithium problem remains a long-standing unresolved puzzle from the standpoint of nuclear physics.

To further shed light on whether pre-recombination models can resolve the Hubble tension, we explore constraints on the cosmic background evolution that are insensitive to early-universe physics. The analysis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy has been thought to highly rely on early-universe physics. However, we show that the fact that the sound horizon at recombination being close to that at the end of the drag epoch is insensitive to early-universe physics. This allows us to link the absolute sizes of the two horizons and treat them as free parameters. Jointly, the CMB peak angular size, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and Type Ia supernovae can be used as "early-universe-physics insensitive and uncalibrated cosmic standards", which measure the cosmic history from recombination to today. They can set strong and robust constraints on the post-recombination cosmic background, especially the matter density parameter with $\Omega_{\rm{m}}=0.302\pm0.008$ ($68\%$ C.L.) assuming a flat $\Lambda$CDM after recombination. When we combine these with other non-local observations, we obtain several constraints on $H_0$ with significantly reduced sensitivity to early-universe physics. These are all more consistent with the Planck 2018 result than the local measurement results such as those based on Cepheids. This suggests a tension between the post-recombination, but non-local, observations and the local measurements which cannot be resolved by modifying pre-recombination early universe physics., Comment: Results updated with stellar-age constraints; conclusion unchanged. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We forecast constraints on cosmological parameters in the interacting dark energy models using the mock data generated for neutral hydrogen intensity mapping (IM) experiments. In this work, we only consider the interacting dark energy models with energy transfer rate $Q=\beta H\rho_{\rm c}$, and take BINGO, FAST, SKA1-MID, and Tianlai as typical examples of the 21 cm IM experiments. We find that the Tianlai cylinder array will play an important role in constraining the interacting dark energy model. Assuming perfect foreground removal and calibration, and using the Tianlai-alone data, we obtain $\sigma(H_0)=0.19$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, $\sigma(\Omega_{\rm m})=0.0033$ and $\sigma(\sigma_8)=0.0033$ in the I$\Lambda$CDM model, which are much better than the results of Planck+optical BAO (i.e. optical galaxy surveys). However, the Tianlai-alone data cannot provide a very tight constraint on the coupling parameter $\beta$ compared with Planck+optical BAO, while the Planck+Tianlai data can give a rather tight constraint of $\sigma(\beta)=0.00023$ due to the parameter degeneracies being well broken by the data combination. In the I$w$CDM model, we obtain $\sigma(\beta)=0.00079$ and $\sigma(w)=0.013$ from Planck+Tianlai. In addition, we also make a detailed comparison among BINGO, FAST, SKA1-MID, and Tianlai in constraining the interacting dark energy models. We show that future 21 cm IM experiments will provide a useful tool for exploring the nature of dark energy and play a significant role in measuring the coupling between dark energy and dark matter., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures

For the first time, we present the simultaneous detection and characterization of three distinct phases at $>10^5$ K in $z=0$ absorption, using deep $\it{Chandra}$ observations toward Mrk 421. The extraordinarily high signal-to-noise ratio ($\geqslant60$) of the spectra has allowed us to detect a $\it{hot}$ phase of the Milky Way circumgalactic medium (CGM) at 3.2$^{+1.5}_{-0.5}\times$ 10$^7$ K, coexisting with a $\textit{warm-hot}$ phase at 1.5$\pm$0.1$\times$10$^6$ K and a $\textit{warm}$ phase at 3.0$\pm$0.4$\times$10$^5$ K. The $\textit{warm-hot}$ phase is at the virial temperature of the Galaxy, and the $\textit{warm}$ phase may have cooled from the $\textit{warm-hot}$ phase, but the super-virial $\textit{hot}$ phase remains a mystery. We find that [C/O] in the $\textit{warm}$ and $\textit{warm-hot}$ phases, [Mg/O] in the $\textit{warm-hot}$ phase and [Ne/O] in the $\textit{hot}$ phase are super-solar, and the $\textit{hot}$ and the $\textit{warm-hot}$ phases are $��-$enhanced. Non-thermal line broadening is evident in the $\textit{warm-hot}$ and the $\textit{hot}$ phases and it dominates the total line broadening. Our results indicate that the $>10^5$ K CGM is a complex ecosystem. It provides insights on the thermal and chemical history of the Milky Way CGM, and theories of galaxy evolution., 18 pages, 2 tables, 5 figures, 2 appendices (with 1 figure), accepted for publication in ApJ (main)

PKS\,1351$-$018 at a redshift of $z=3.71$ is one of the most luminous, steady synchrotron sources with a luminosity $> 10^{47}$\,erg~s$^{-1}$. The synchrotron luminosity does not seem to vary by more than $\sim 25\%$ over 35 years. In order to appreciate this remarkable behavior, if it were at $z=0.5$, it would have a flux density at 15 GHz in a range of $110 - 137$\,Jy over 11 yrs. In spite of this steady behavior, two strong $\gamma$-ray flares $\lesssim 10^{49}$\,erg~s$^{-1}$ were detected in 2011 and 2016. There is blazar-like behavior coexisting with the steady behavior. This study is aimed at elucidating the dual nature of this source. We find that the radio source is extremely compact with a bright core and a steep spectrum secondary component, 12\,mas away, that appears to be constant in position and flux density in six epochs from 1995 to 2018. We estimate that a jet with a time averaged power of $(5.2 \pm 3.2) \times 10^{45}$\,erg~s$^{-1}$ terminates in this lobe that is advancing $\gtrsim 0.9 c$ at a deprojected distance of $1-3$\,kpc from the central engine. This is the rare case of a young ($\sim 6000$\,yr), very powerful radio source that is viewed a few degrees from the jet axis. We find evidence of a high velocity (4000\,km~s$^{-1}$), high ionization wind emanating form a luminous quasar. The young radio jet appears to experience modest bending as it navigates through the intense quasar environment., Comment: To appear in ApJ

Gravitationally lensed curved arcs provide a wealth of information about the underlying lensing distortions. Extracting precise lensing information from extended sources is a key component in many studies aiming to answer fundamental questions about the Universe. To maintain accuracy with increased precision, it is of vital importance to characterize and understand the impact of degeneracies inherent in lensing observables. In this work, we present a formalism to describe the gravitational lensing distortion effects resulting in curved extended arcs based on the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the local lensing Jacobian and their directional differentials. We identify a non-local and non-linear extended deflector basis that inherits these local properties. Our parameterization is tightly linked to observable features in extended sources and allows one to accurately extract the lensing information of extended images without imposing an explicit global deflector model. We quantify what degeneracies can be broken based on specific assumptions on the local lensing nature and assumed intrinsic source shape. Our formalism is applicable from the weak linear regime, the semi-linear regime all the way up to the highly non-linear regime of highly magnified arcs of multiple images. The methodology and implementation presented in this work provides a framework to assessing systematics, to guide inference efforts in the right choices in complexity based on the data at hand, and to quantify the lensing information extracted in a model-independent way., Comment: 25 pages, 11 Figures, code repository: https://github.com/sibirrer/curved_arcs accepted for publishing in AAS journal

The successive discoveries of binary merger events by Advanced LIGO-Virgo have been revealing the statistical properties of binary black hole (BBH) populations. A stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB) is a useful tool to probe the cosmological evolution of those compact mergers. In this paper, we study the upper bound on a GWB produced by BBH mergers, whose stellar progenitors dominate the reionization process at the cosmic dawn. Since early reionization by those progenitors yields a high optical depth of the universe inconsistent with the {\it Planck} measurements, the cumulative mass density is limited to $\rho_\star \lesssim 10^7~M_\odot~{\rm Mpc}^{-3}$. Even with this upper bound, the amplitude of a GWB owing to the high-$z$ BBH mergers is expected to be as high as $\Omega_{\rm gw}\simeq 1.48_{-1.27}^{+1.80}\times 10^{-9}$ at $f\simeq 25$ Hz, while their merger rate at the present-day is consistent or lower than the observed GW event rate. This level of GWB is detectable at the design sensitivity of Advanced LIGO-Virgo and would indicate a major contribution of the high-$z$ BBH population to the local GW events. The spectral index is expected to be substantially flatter than the canonical value of $\simeq 2/3$ generically produced by lower-redshift and less massive BBHs. Moreover, if their mass function is more top-heavy than in the local universe, the GWB spectrum is even more skewed toward lower frequencies, which would allow us to extract information on the mass function of merging BBHs at high redshifts., Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

We present an improved method for calculating the parallel and perpendicular velocity correlation functions directly from peculiar velocity surveys using weighted maximum-likelihood estimators. A central feature of the new method is the use of position-dependent weighting scheme that reduces the influence of nearby galaxies, which are typically overrepresented relative to the more distant galaxies in most surveys. We demonstrate that the correlation functions calculated this way are less susceptible to biases due to our particular location in the Universe, and thus are more easily comparable to linear theory and between surveys. Our results suggest that the parallel velocity correlation function is a promising cosmological probe, given that it provides a better approximation of a Gaussian distribution than other velocity correlation functions and that its bias is more easily minimized by weighting. Though the position weighted parallel velocity correlation function increases the statistical uncertainty, it decreases the cosmic variance and is expected to provide more stable and tighter cosmological parameter constraints than other correlation methods in conjunction with more precise velocity surveys in the future., 15 pages, 13 figures

To develop galaxy-targeting approaches, the gravitational-wave community built a catalog of stellar mass in the local universe based on the 2MASS spectroscopic and photometric redshift surveys. By cleaning and supplementing this catalog, the present work aims to establish a near-infrared flux-limited sample to map both stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) over the full sky. The 2MASS spectroscopic and photometric redshift surveys are cross-matched with the HyperLEDA database and the Local Volume sample at d < 11 Mpc, providing a flux-limited sample with revised distance estimates and corrections for incompleteness out to 350 Mpc. Scaling relations with stellar mass as a function of morphology are used to construct a SFR cosmography in the local universe. Stellar mass and SFR densities converge towards values compatible with deep-field observations beyond 100 Mpc. The 3D distribution of these two tracers is consistent with the distribution of matter deduced from cosmic flows. With spectroscopic redshifts available for about half of the ~400,000 galaxies within 350 Mpc and photometric distances with a 12% uncertainty available for the other half, the present sample may find applications in both cosmology and astroparticle physics. The present work provides in particular new bases for modeling the large- and intermediate-scale anisotropies observed at ultra-high energies. The distribution of magnetic fields at Mpc scales, which can be deduced from the 3D distribution of matter, is inferred to be crucial in shaping the ultra-high-energy sky., 28 pages, 5 tables, 15 figures. Matches the published version. Online material available at http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5118697

Soon, the combination of electromagnetic and gravitational signals will open the door to a new era of gravitational-wave (GW) cosmology. It will allow us to test the propagation of tensor perturbations across cosmic time and study the distribution of their sources over large scales. In this work, we show how machine learning techniques can be used to reconstruct new physics by leveraging the spatial correlation between GW mergers and galaxies. We explore the possibility of jointly reconstructing the modified GW propagation law and the linear bias of GW sources, as well as breaking the slight degeneracy between them by combining multiple techniques. We show predictions roughly based on a network of Einstein Telescopes combined with a high-redshift galaxy survey ($z\lesssim3$). Moreover, we investigate how these results can be re-scaled to other instrumental configurations. In the long run, we find that obtaining accurate and precise luminosity distance measurements (extracted directly from the individual GW signals) will be the most important factor to consider when maximizing constraining power., 12 pages, 5 figures, code available at https://github.com/valerivardanyan/GW-Cosmo

The association of GRB170817A with GW170817 has confirmed the long-standing hypothesis that binary neutron star (BNS) mergers are the progenitors of at least some short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs). This connection has ushered in an era in which broadband observations of SGRBs, together with measurements of the time delay between the gravitational waves and the electromagnetic radiation, allow to probe the properties of the emitting outflow and its engine to an unprecedented detail. Since the structure of the radiating outflow is molded by the interaction of a relativistic jet with the binary ejecta, it is of paramount importance to study the system in a realistic setting. Here we present a three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation of a relativistic jet propagating in the ejecta of a BNS merger, which were computed with a general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation. We find that the jet's centroid oscillates around the axis of the system, due to inhomogeneities encountered in the propagation. These oscillations allow the jet to find the path of least resistance and travel faster than an identical jet in smooth ejecta. In our setup the breakout time is ~0.6 sec, comparable to the expected central engine duration in SGRBs and possibly a non-negligible fraction of the total delay between the gravitational and gamma-ray signals. Our simulation also shows that energy is carried in roughly equal amounts by the jet and by the cocoon, and that about 20 per cent of the injected energy is transferred to the ejecta via mechanical work., Under review for publication in ApJL

Upcoming 21cm surveys will map the spatial distribution of cosmic neutral hydrogen (HI) over very large cosmological volumes. In order to maximize the scientific return of these surveys, accurate theoretical predictions are needed. Hydrodynamic simulations currently are the most accurate tool to provide those predictions in the mildly to non-linear regime. Unfortunately, their computational cost is very high: tens of millions of CPU hours. We use convolutional neural networks to find the mapping between the spatial distribution of matter from N-body simulations and HI from the state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulation IllustrisTNG. Our model performs better than the widely used theoretical model: Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) for all statistical properties up to the non-linear scales $k\lesssim1$ h/Mpc. Our method allows the generation of 21cm mocks over very big cosmological volumes with similar properties as hydrodynamic simulations., Comment: 10+5 pages, 7+3 figures. Added supplementary figures and sections to the Appendix for clarification, conclusions unchanged. Version appearing in ApJ

Line intensity mapping (LIM) provides a unique and powerful means to probe cosmic structures by measuring the aggregate line emission from all galaxies across redshift. The method is complementary to conventional galaxy redshift surveys that are object-based and demand exquisite point-source sensitivity. The Tomographic Ionized-carbon Mapping Experiment (TIME) will measure the star formation rate (SFR) during cosmic reionization by observing the redshifted [CII] 158$\mu$m line ($6 \lesssim z \lesssim 9$) in the LIM regime. TIME will simultaneously study the abundance of molecular gas during the era of peak star formation by observing the rotational CO lines emitted by galaxies at $0.5 \lesssim z \lesssim 2$. We present the modeling framework that predicts the constraining power of TIME on a number of observables, including the line luminosity function, and the auto- and cross-correlation power spectra, including synergies with external galaxy tracers. Based on an optimized survey strategy and fiducial model parameters informed by existing observations, we forecast constraints on physical quantities relevant to reionization and galaxy evolution, such as the escape fraction of ionizing photons during reionization, the faint-end slope of the galaxy luminosity function at high redshift, and the cosmic molecular gas density at cosmic noon. We discuss how these constraints can advance our understanding of cosmological galaxy evolution at the two distinct cosmic epochs for TIME, starting in 2021, and how they could be improved in future phases of the experiment., Comment: 30 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

We measure for the first time the outermost edges of the Milky Way (MW) halo in terms of the depletion and turnaround radii. The inner depletion radius, $r_\mathrm{id}$, identified at the location of maximum infall velocity, separates a growing halo from the draining environment, while the turnaround radius, $r_\mathrm{ta}$, marks the outermost edge of infalling material towards the halo, both of which are located well outside the virial radius. Using the motions of nearby dwarf galaxies within $3\mathrm{Mpc}$, we obtain a marginal detection of the infall zone around the MW with a maximum velocity of $v_\mathrm{inf, max}=-46_{-39}^{+24}\mathrm{km s^{-1}}$. This enables us to measure $r_\mathrm{id}=559\pm 107 \mathrm{kpc}$ and $r_\mathrm{ta}=839\pm 121 \mathrm{kpc}$. The measured depletion radius is about 1.5 times the MW virial radius ($R_\mathrm{200m}$) measured from internal dynamics. Compared with halos in the cosmological simulation Illustris TNG100, the factor 1.5 is consistent with that of halos with similar masses and dynamical environments to the MW but slightly smaller than typical values of Local Group analogs, potentially indicating the unique evolution history of the MW. These measurements of halo edges directly quantify the ongoing evolution of the MW outer halo and provide constraints on the current dynamical state of the MW that are independent from internal dynamics., 9 pages, 4 figures; accepted to ApJL

We present spectroscopic confirmation of two new massive galaxy protoclusters at $z=2.24\pm0.02$, BOSS1244 and BOSS1542, traced by groups of Coherently Strong Ly$\alpha$ Absorption (CoSLA) systems imprinted in the absorption spectra of a number of quasars from the SDSS III and identified as overdensities of narrowband-selected H$\alpha$ emitters (HAEs). Using MMT/MMIRS and LBT/LUCI near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, we confirm 46 and 36 HAEs in the BOSS1244 and BOSS1542 fields, respectively. BOSS1244 displays a South-West (SW) component at $z=2.230\pm0.002$ and another North-East (NE) component at $z=2.246\pm0.001$ with the line-of-sight velocity dispersions of $405\pm202$ km s$^{-1}$ and $377\pm99$ km s$^{-1}$, respectively. Interestingly, we find that the SW region of BOSS1244 contains two substructures in redshift space, likely merging to form a larger system. In contrast, BOSS1542 exhibits an extended filamentary structure with a low velocity dispersion of $247\pm32$ km s$^{-1}$ at $z=2.241\pm0.001$, providing a direct confirmation of a large-scale cosmic web in the early Universe. The galaxy overdensities $\delta_{\rm g}$ on the scale of 15 cMpc are $22.9\pm4.9$, $10.9\pm2.5$, and $20.5\pm3.9$ for the BOSS1244 SW, BOSS1244 NE, and BOSS1542 filament, respectively. They are the most overdense galaxy protoclusters ($\delta_{\rm g}>20$) discovered to date at $z>2$. These systems are expected to become virialized at $z\sim0$ with a total mass of $M_{\rm SW}=(1.59\pm0.20)\times10^{15}$ $M_{\odot}$, $M_{\rm NE} =(0.83\pm0.11)\times10^{15}$ $M_{\odot}$ and $M_{\rm filament}=(1.42\pm0.18)\times10^{15}$ $M_{\odot}$, respectively. Together with BOSS1441 described in Cai et al. (2017a), these extremely massive overdensities at $z=2-3$ exhibit different morphologies, indicating that they are in different assembly stages in the formation of early galaxy clusters., Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ. The complete Abstract is presented in the manuscript

The public GALPROP code gives a fully numerical solution for the spectrum of cosmic rays propagating through a linear Galactic wind directed outwards from the Galactic plane in the framework of a cylindrical diffusion model. Alternatively, for the linear Galactic wind case, we present a semi-analytical solution of the two-zone cylindrical model which describes the spectrum of cosmic-ray antiprotons produced from the primary sources throughout the dark matter halo. While the secondary antiprotons can be generated by, e.g., the GALPROP WebRun, consistently using this semi-analytical solution for the primary ones would be helpful to build a suited dark matter (DM) model, which may be sophisticated, and then to perform a statistical analysis when confronting with data. As an example, using the obtained formula, we study the possible DM signal, through the channel $\text{DM DM} \to {\bar b}b$, and its constraint from the measurement of the AMS-02 antiproton-to-proton ratio. The indication of the DM signal is discussed. The advantage of the semi-analytical approach and its comparison with the GALPROP model are presented., 18 pages, 1 Table, 7 Figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We use the Cosmic Assembly Deep Near-infrared Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) data to study the relationship between quenching and the stellar mass surface density within the central radius of 1 kpc ($\Sigma_1$) of low-mass galaxies (stellar mass $M_* \lesssim 10^{9.5} M_\odot$) at $0.5 \leq z < 1.5$. Our sample is mass complete down to $\sim 10^9 M_\odot$ at $0.5 \leq z < 1.0$. We compare the mean $\Sigma_1$ of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and quenched galaxies (QGs) at the same redshift and $M_*$. We find that low-mass QGs have higher $\Sigma_1$ than low-mass SFGs, similar to galaxies above $10^{10} M_\odot$. The difference of $\Sigma_1$ between QGs and SFGs increases slightly with $M_*$ at $M_* \lesssim 10^{10} M_\odot$ and decreases with $M_*$ at $M_* \gtrsim 10^{10} M_\odot$. The turnover mass is consistent with the mass where quenching mechanisms transition from internal to environmental quenching. At $0.5 \leq z < 1.0$, we find that the $\Sigma_1$ of galaxies increases by about 0.25 dex in the green valley (i.e., the transitioning region from star forming to fully quenched), regardless of their $M_*$. Using the observed specific star formation rate (sSFR) gradient in the literature as a constraint, we estimate that the quenching timescale (i.e., time spent in the transition) of low-mass galaxies is a few ($\sim4$) Gyrs at $0.5 \leq z < 1.0$. The mechanisms responsible for quenching need to gradually quench star formation in an outside-in way, i.e., preferentially ceasing star formation in outskirts of galaxies while maintaining their central star formation to increase $\Sigma_1$. An interesting and intriguing result is the similarity of the growth of $\Sigma_1$ in the green valley between low-mass and massive galaxies, which suggests that the role of internal processes in quenching low-mass galaxies is a question worthy of further investigation., Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures. Accepted by ApJ

The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is an impressive tool for finding near-exhaustive information on millions of astrophysical objects. Here, we outline a small systematic error that occurs in NED because a low-redshift approximation is used when making the correction from redshifts in the heliocentric frame to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) rest frame. It means that historically NED systematically misreported the values of CMB-frame redshifts by up to $\sim10^{-3}z$ (about 0.001 at redshift of 1). This is a systematic error, and therefore the impact on applications requiring precise redshifts has the potential to be significant -- for example, a systematic redshift error of $\sim10^{-4}$ at low redshift could resolve the Hubble tension. We have consulted with the NED team and they are updating the software to remove this systematic error so these corrections are accurate at all redshifts. Here, we explain the changes and how they impact the redshift values NED currently reports., 7 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Corrected the first term of equation (8)

Next generation large scale surveys probe the nonlinear regime with high resolution. Making viable cosmological inferences based on these observations requires accurate theoretical modeling of the mildly nonlinear regime. In this work we investigate the sensitivity of cosmological parameter measurements from future probes of galaxy clustering to the choice of nonlinear prescription up to $k_{\rm max}=0.3~h~\rm{Mpc}^{-1}$. In particular, we calculate the induced parameter bias when the mildly nonlinear regime is modeled by the Halofit fitting scheme. We find significant ($\sim5\sigma$) bias for some parameters with a future Euclid-like survey. We also explore the contribution of different scales to the parameter estimation for different observational setups and cosmological scenarios, compared for the two nonlinear prescriptions of Halofit and EFTofLSS. We include in the analysis the free parameters of the nonlinear theory and a blind parametrization for the galaxy bias. We find that marginalization over these nuisance parameters significantly boosts the errors of the standard cosmological parameters. This renders the differences in the predictions of the various nonlinear prescriptions less effective when transferred to the parameter space. More accurate modeling of these nuisance parameters would therefore greatly enhance the cosmological gain from the mildly nonlinear regime.

Observations show that supermassive black holes (SMBHs) with a mass of $\sim10^9 M_\odot$ exist when the Universe is just $6\%$ of its current age. We propose a scenario where a self-interacting dark matter halo experiences gravothermal instability and its central region collapses into a seed black hole. The presence of baryons in protogalaxies could significantly accelerate the gravothermal evolution of the halo and shorten collapse timescales. The central halo could dissipate its angular momentum remnant via viscosity induced by the self-interactions. The host halo must be on high tails of density fluctuations, implying that high-$z$ SMBHs are expected to be rare in this scenario. We further derive conditions for triggering general relativistic instability of the collapsed region. Our results indicate that self-interacting dark matter can provide a unified explanation for diverse dark matter distributions in galaxies today and the origin of SMBHs at redshifts $z\sim6-7$., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, and Supplemental Material; Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters

Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) at low acceleration has been astonishingly powerful at explaining the flat rotation curve of galaxies and the relation between the baryonic content of the galaxies and their observed circular velocity, known as the Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relationship (BTFR). It is known that MOND fails at explaining the observed velocity dispersion of the ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs) with the justification that UFDs are more prone to tidal disruption in MOND compared to cold dark matter model. We show that: (i) the ratio of tidal to internal acceleration in UFDs is extremely low, (ii) there is no correlation between the deviation of UFDs from MOND's prediction as a function of tidal susceptibility, and (iii) recent constraints from Gaia proper motion analysis on the orbital parameters of the UFDs exacerbates the challenge to MOND. In particular, Gaia data indicates that Ursa Major I is experiencing a recent infall into the Milky Way's halo, and its inconsistency with MOND at 7-$\sigma$ level can not be attributed to being an early infall satellite. Moreover, the new data from Gaia DR2 shows Willman I to have the least eccentric orbit of all UFDs, and its deviation from MOND at 4-$\sigma$ level can not be attributed to a highly eccentric orbit as previously suggested. Finally, given that Tucana III is the only UFD observed to show tidal features, Reticulum II and Segue I are two other UFDs that potentially challenge MOND as they have comparable galactocentric distances to Tucana III while showing no tidal features. Whether wide binaries have inflated the velocity dispersion of the UFDs remains an open question to be addressed with future multi-epoch observations., Comment: Revised version, accepted for publication at ApJ Letters

We present the analytical framework for converting projected light distributions with a S\'ersic profile into three-dimensional light distributions for stellar systems of arbitrary triaxial shape. The main practical result is the definition of a simple yet robust measure of intrinsic galaxy size: the median radius $r_\mathrm{med}$, defined as the radius of a sphere that contains 50% of the total luminosity or mass, that is, the median distance of a star to the galaxy center. We examine how $r_\mathrm{med}$ depends on projected size measurements as a function of S\'ersic index and intrinsic axis ratios, and demonstrate its relative independence of these parameters. As an application we show that the projected semi-major axis length of the ellipse enclosing 50% of the light is an unbiased proxy for $r_\mathrm{med}$, with small galaxy-to-galaxy scatter of $\sim$10% (1$\sigma$), under the condition that the variation in triaxiality within the population is small. For galaxy populations with unknown or a large range in triaxiality an unbiased proxy for $r_\mathrm{med}$ is $1.3\times R_{e}$, where $R_{e}$ is the circularized half-light radius, with galaxy-to-galaxy scatter of 20-30% (1$\sigma$). We also describe how inclinations can be estimated for individual galaxies based on the measured projected shape and prior knowledge of the intrinsic shape distribution of the corresponding galaxy population. We make the numerical implementation of our calculations available., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ

We matched the 1.4 GHz local luminosity functions of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and active galactic nuclei to the 1.4 GHz differential source counts from $0.25 \ \mu\mathrm{Jy}$ to 25 Jy using combinations of luminosity and density evolution. We present the most robust and complete local far-infrared (FIR)/radio luminosity correlation to date in a volume-limited sample of $\approx 4.3 \times 10^3$ nearby SFGs, finding that it is very tight but distinctly sub-linear: $L_\mathrm{FIR} \propto L_\mathrm{1.4\,GHz}^{0.85}$. If the local FIR/radio correlation does not evolve, the evolving 1.4 GHz luminosity function of SFGs yields the evolving star-formation rate density (SFRD) $\psi (M_\odot \ \mathrm{year}^{-1} \ \mathrm{Mpc}^{-3}$) as a function of time since the big bang. The SFRD measured at 1.4 GHz grows rapidly at early times, peaks at "cosmic noon" when $t \approx 3 \ \mathrm{Gyr}$ and $z \approx 2$, and subsequently decays with an $e$-folding time scale $\tau = 3.2 \ \mathrm{Gyr}$. This evolution is similar to, but somewhat stronger than, SFRD evolution estimated from UV and FIR data., Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ

The growth of galaxy clusters is energetic and may trigger and/or quench star formation and black hole activity. The ENISALA project is a collection of multiwavelength observations aimed at understanding how large-scale structure drives galaxy and black hole evolution. Here, we introduce optical spectroscopy of over 800 H$\alpha$ emission-line galaxies, selected in 14 z~0.15-0.31 galaxy clusters, spanning a range of masses and dynamical states. We investigate the nature of the emission lines in relation to the host galaxy properties, its location within the cluster, and the properties of the parent cluster. We uncover remarkable differences between mergers and relaxed clusters. The majority of H$\alpha$ emission-line galaxies in merging cluster fields are located within 3 Mpc of their center. A large fraction of these line-emitters in merging clusters are powered by star formation irrespective of cluster-centric radius, while the rest are powered by active galactic nuclei. Star-forming galaxies are rare within 3 Mpc of relaxed clusters and active galactic nuclei are most abundant at their outskirts (~1.5-3 Mpc). We discover a population of star-forming galaxies with large equivalent widths and blue UV-optical colors, found exclusively in the merging clusters in our sample. The widespread emission-line activity in merging clusters is likely supported by triggered activity in recently-accreted, gas-rich galaxies. By contrast, our observations for relaxed clusters match established models, in which black hole activity is enhanced at the virial radius and star-formation is quenched within the infall region. We conclude that emission-line galaxies experience distinct evolutionary paths in merging and relaxed clusters., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 30 pages, 22 figures, 3 tables. Main results can be found in Figures 14, 15, 16, 17 and 19

We present new high-resolution (R~14,000) spectra of the two brightest HeII-transparent quasars in the far-UV (FUV) at z>3.5, HE2QSJ2311-1417 (z=3.70) and HE2QSJ1630+0435 (z=3.81), obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). In the predominantly saturated HeII absorption spectra, both sightlines show several isolated resolved (full width at half maximum FWHM>50 km/s) transmission spikes in HeII Ly$\alpha$ and HeII Ly$\beta$. The incidence of such spikes decreases with increasing redshift, but both sightlines show significant spikes at z>3.5, signaling the presence of fully ionized regions in the z>3.5 intergalactic medium (IGM). We employ an automated algorithm to compare the number of detected HeII transmission spikes to predictions from mock spectra created from the outputs of a cubic (100/h cMpc)^3 optically thin Nyx hydrodynamical simulation, assuming a range of UV background photoionization rates $\Gamma_\mathrm{HeII}$. From the incidence of Ly$\alpha$ and Ly$\beta$ transmission spikes we infer similar photoionization rates of $\Gamma_\mathrm{HeII}=2.0^{+0.6}_{-0.5}\times 10^{-15}$s$^{-1}$ at 3.513.5 along both lines of sight, our observations provide further evidence that HeII reionization had substantially progressed at these redshifts., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ following minor revision; 21 pages, 17 figures

In this work we explore the power of future large-scale surveys to constrain possible deviations from the standard single-field slow-roll inflationary scenario. Specifically, we parametrize possible fluctuations around the almost scale-invariant primordial scalar power spectrum in a model independent way. We then use their imprints on the simulated matter distribution, as observed by the galaxy clustering and weak lensing probes of Euclid and Square Kilometer Array, to construct the best constrainable patterns of fluctuations. For comparison, we make similar forecasts for a futuristic CMB-S4-like survey. The modes are found to have similar, yet shifted, patterns, with increasing number of wiggles as the mode number increases. The forecasted constraints are tightest for CMB anisotropies and galaxy clustering, depending on the details of the specifications of the survey. As case studies, we explore how two greatly different physically motivated patterns of primordial power spectrum are reconstructed by the proposed modes. We propose a figure of merit based on the amount of information delivered by the modes to truncate the mode hierarchy which is automatically generated by the analysis., 12 pages, 12 figures