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We prove the existence of a family of travelling wave solutions in a variant of the $\textit{Zeldovich-Frank-Kamenetskii (ZFK) equation}$, a reaction-diffusion equation which models the propagation of planar laminar premixed flames in combustion theory. Our results are valid in an asymptotic regime which corresponds to a reaction with high activation energy, and provide a rigorous and geometrically informative counterpart to formal asymptotic results that have been obtained for similar problems using $\textit{high activation energy asymptotics}$. We also go beyond the existing results by (i) proving smoothness of the minimum wave speed function $\overline c(\epsilon)$, where $0< \epsilon \ll 1$ is the small parameter, and (ii) providing an asymptotic series for a flat slow manifold which plays a role in the construction of travelling wave solutions for non-minimal wave speeds $c > \overline c(\epsilon)$. The analysis is complicated by the presence of an exponential nonlinearity which leads to two different scaling regimes as $\epsilon \to 0$, which we refer to herein as the $\textit{convective-diffusive}$ and $\textit{diffusive-reactive}$ zones. The main idea of the proof is to use the geometric blow-up method to identify and characterise a $(c,\epsilon)$-family of heteroclinic orbits which traverse both of these regimes, and correspond to travelling waves in the original ZFK equation. More generally, our analysis contributes to a growing number of studies which demonstrate the utility of geometric blow-up approaches to the study dynamical systems with singular exponential nonlinearities.

Any attracting, hyperbolic and proper node of a two-dimensional analytic vector-field has a unique strong-stable manifold. This manifold is analytic. The corresponding weak-stable manifolds are, on the other hand, not unique, but in the nonresonant case there is a unique weak-stable manifold that is analytic. As the system approaches a saddle-node (under parameter variation), a sequence of resonances (of increasing order) occur. In this paper, we give a detailed description of the analytic weak-stable manifolds during this process. In particular, we relate a ``flapping-mechanism'', corresponding to a dramatic change of the position of the analytic weak-stable manifold as the parameter passes through the infinitely many resonances, to the lack of analyticity of the center manifold at the saddle-node. Our work is motivated and inspired by the work of Merle, Rapha\"{e}l, Rodnianski, and Szeftel, where this flapping mechanism is the crucial ingredient in the construction of $C^\infty$-smooth self-similar solutions of the compressible Euler equations.

In this paper, we revisit the damped Kepler problem within a general family of nonlinear damping forces with magnitude $\delta \vert u\vert^{\beta}\vert \dot u\vert^{\alpha+1}$, depending on three parameters $\delta>0,\alpha\ge 0$ and $\beta\ge 0$, and address the general question of circularization whereby orbits tend to become more circular as they approach the sun. Our approach is based on dynamical systems theory, using blowup and desingularization as our main technical tools. We find that $\gamma=\alpha+2\beta-3$ is an important quantity, with the special case $\gamma=0$ separating circularization ($-3<\gamma<0$) where the eccentricity converges to zero, i.e. $e(t)\rightarrow 0$ as $u(t)\rightarrow 0$, from cases ($\gamma>0$) where $e(t)\rightarrow 1$ as $u(t)\rightarrow 0$, both on open sets of initial conditions. We find that circularization for $-3<\gamma<0$ occurs due to asymptotic stability of a zero-Hopf equilibrium point (i.e., the eigenvalues are $\pm i \omega,0$) of a three-dimensional reduced problem (which is analytic in the blowup coordinates). The attraction is therefore not hyperbolic and in particular not covered by standard dynamical systems theory. Instead we use recent results on normal forms of the zero-Hopf to locally bring the system into a form where the stability can be addressed directly. We believe that our approach can be used to describe unbounded solutions.

The goal of this paper is to study the number of sliding limit cycles of a regularized piecewise linear $VI_3$ two-fold using the notion of slow divergence integral. We focus on limit cycles produced by canard cycles located in the half-plane with an invisible fold point. We prove that the integral has at most $1$ zero counting multiplicity (when it is not identically zero). This will imply that the canard cycles can produce at most $2$ limit cycles. Moreover, we detect regions in the parameter space with $2$ limit cycles.

In this paper we define the notion of slow divergence integral along sliding segments in regularized planar piecewise smooth systems. The boundary of such segments may contain diverse tangency points. We show that the slow divergence integral is invariant under smooth equivalences. This is a natural generalization of the notion of slow divergence integral along normally hyperbolic portions of curve of singularities in smooth planar slow-fast systems. We give an interesting application of the integral in a model with visible-invisible two-fold of type $VI_3$. It is related to a connection between so-called Minkowski dimension of bounded and monotone "entry-exit" sequences and the number of sliding limit cycles produced by so-called canard cycles.

In this paper, we revisit the Kepler problem with linear drag. With dissipation, the energy and the angular momentum are both decreasing, but in \cite{margheri2017a} it was shown that the eccentricity vector has a well-defined limit in the case of linear drag. This limiting eccentricity vector defines a conserved quantity, and in the present paper, we prove that the corresponding invariant sets are smooth manifolds. These results rely on normal form theory and a blowup transformation, which reveals that the invariant manifolds are (nonhyperbolic) stable sets of (limiting) periodic orbits. Moreover, we identify a separate invariant manifold which corresponds to a zero limiting eccentricity vector. This manifold is obtained as a generalized center manifold over the zero eigenspace of a zero-Hopf point. Finally, we present a detailed blowup analysis, which provides a geometric picture of the dynamics. %We will use this to shed light on a degenerate case of the limiting eccentricity vector. %The aforementioned invariant manifolds only make up a subset hereof. We believe that our approach and results will have general interest in problems with blowup dynamics., Comment: Comments are welcomed

In this paper, we provide a rigorous description of the birth of canard limit cycles in slow-fast systems in $\mathbb R^3$ through the folded saddle-node of type II and the singular Hopf bifurcation. In particular, we prove -- in the analytic case only -- that for all $0<\epsilon\ll 1$ there is a family of periodic orbits, born in the (singular) Hopf bifurcation and extending to $\mathcal O(1)$ cycles that follow the strong canard of the folded saddle-node. Our results can be seen as an extension of the canard explosion in $\mathbb R^2$, but in contrast to the planar case, the family of periodic orbits in $\mathbb R^3$ is not explosive. For this reason, we have chosen to call the phenomena in $\mathbb R^3$, the ``dud canard''. The main difficulty of the proof lies in connecting the Hopf cycles with the canard cycles, since these are described in different scalings. As in $\mathbb R^2$, we use blowup to overcome this, but we also have to compensate for the lack of uniformity near the Hopf bifurcation, due to its singular nature; it is a zero-Hopf bifurcation in the limit $\epsilon=0$. In the present paper, we do so by imposing analyticity of the vector-field. This allows us to prove existence of an invariant slow manifold, that is not normally hyperbolic.

In this paper, we revisit the classical linear turning point problem for the second order differential equation $\epsilon^2 x'' +\mu(t)x=0$ with $\mu(0)=0,\,\mu'(0)\ne 0$ for $0<\epsilon\ll 1$. Written as a first order system, $t=0$ therefore corresponds to a turning point connecting hyperbolic and elliptic regimes. Our main result is that we provide an alternative approach to WBK that is based upon dynamical systems theory, including GSPT and blowup, and we bridge -- perhaps for the first time -- hyperbolic and elliptic theories of slow-fast systems. As an advantage, we only require finite smoothness of $\mu$. The approach we develop will be useful in other singular perturbation problems with hyperbolic-to-elliptic turning points., Comment: Updated. We have added extra references and improved our results (basically, we have solved the issue raised in Remark 4.12 of the previous version). The improvement of our result leads to improved results in our subsequent work on the eigenvalue problem

We present a novel and global three-dimensional reduction of a non-dimensionalised version of the four-dimensional Hodgkin-Huxley equations [J. Rubin and M. Wechselberger, Giant squid--hidden canard: the 3D geometry of the Hodgkin-Huxley model, Biological Cybernetics, 97 (2007), pp. 5--32] that is based on geometric singular perturbation theory (GSPT). We investigate the dynamics of the resulting three-dimensional system in two parameter regimes in which the flow evolves on three distinct timescales. Specifically, we demonstrate that the system exhibits bifurcations of oscillatory dynamics and complex mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs), in accordance with the geometric mechanisms introduced in [P. Kaklamanos, N. Popovi\'c, and K. U. Kristiansen, Bifurcations of mixed--mode oscillations in three--timescale systems: An extended prototypical example, Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 32 (2022), p. 013108], and we classify the various firing patterns in terms of the external applied current. While such patterns have been documented in [S. Doi, S. Nabetani, and S. Kumagai, Complex nonlinear dynamics of the Hodgkin-Huxley equations induced by time scale changes, Biological Cybernetics, 85 (2001), pp. 51--64] for the multiple-timescale Hodgkin-Huxley equations, we elucidate the geometry that underlies the transitions between them, which had not been previously emphasised.

In this paper, we use geometric singular perturbation theory and blowup, as our main technical tool, to study the mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs) that occur in two coupled FitzHugh-Nagumo units with symmetric and repulsive coupling. In particular, we demonstrate that the MMOs in this model are not due to generic folded singularities, but rather due to singularities at a cusp -- not a fold -- of the critical manifold. Using blowup, we determine the number of SAOs analytically, showing -- as for the folded nodes -- that they are determined by the Weber equation and the ratio of eigenvalues. We also show that the model undergoes a (symmetric) saddle-node bifurcation in the desingularized reduced problem, which -- although resembling a folded saddle-node (type II) at this level -- also occurs on a cusp, and not a fold. We demonstrate that this bifurcation is associated with the emergence of an invariant cylinder, the onset of SAOs, as well as SAOs of increasing amplitude. We relate our findings with numerical computations and find excellent agreement.

In this paper, we provide a geometric analysis of a new hysteresis model that is based upon singular perturbations. Here hysteresis refers to a type of regularization of piecewise smooth differential equations where the past of a trajectory, in a small neighborhood of the discontinuity set, determines the vector-field at present. In fact, in the limit where the neighborhood of the discontinuity {vanishes}, hysteresis converges in an appropriate sense to Filippov's sliding vector-field. Recently {(2022)}, however, {Bonet and Seara} showed that hysteresis, in contrast to regularization through smoothing, leads to chaos in the regularization of grazing bifurcations, even in two dimensions. The hysteresis model we analyze in the present paper -- which was developed by {Bonet et al in a paper from 2017} as an attempt to unify different regularizations of piecewise smooth systems -- involves two singular perturbation parameters and includes a combination of slow-fast and nonsmooth effects. The description of this model is therefore -- from the perspective of singular perturbation theory -- challenging, even in two dimensions. Using blowup as our main technical tool, we prove existence of an invariant cylinder carrying fast dynamics in the azimuthal direction and a slow drift in the axial direction. We find that the slow drift is given by Filippov's sliding {vector-field} to leading order. Moreover, in the case of grazing, we identify two important parameter regimes that relate the model to smoothing (through a saddle-node bifurcation of limit cycles) and hysteresis (through chaotic dynamics, due to a folded saddle and a novel return mechanism).

Painlev\'e showed that there can be inconsistency and indeterminacy in solutions to the equations of motion of a 2D rigid body moving on a sufficiently rough surface. The study of Painlev\'e paradoxes in 3D has received far less attention. In this paper, we highlight the pivotal role in the dynamics of the azimuthal angular velocity Psi by proving the existence of three critical values of Psi, one of which occurs independently of any paradox. We show that the 2D problem is highly singular and uncover a rich geometry in the 3D problem which we use to explain recent numerical results., Comment: 27 pages, 21 figures

The 3$\alpha$ decay of the 16.62\,MeV (2$^-$, T=1) resonance in $^{12}$C has been studied for nearly a century starting with one of the first nuclear reaction studies at the Cavendish Laboratory in the 1930s. In the hitherto latest study published a decade ago a model based on earlier work from the 1960s was found to give a good account of a set of inclusive data. This model describes the decay as an l=3 $\alpha$-particle populating the 2$^+$ state of $^8$Be. Here we provide new exclusive data on the 3$\alpha$ decay of the 16.62\,MeV resonance, and demonstrate that the decay is best described by a model with predominantly l=1 emission with an admixture of l=3., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

In this paper, we extend the slow divergence-integral from slow-fast systems, due to De Maesschalck, Dumortier and Roussarie, to smooth systems that limit onto piecewise smooth ones as $\epsilon\rightarrow 0$. In slow-fast systems, the slow divergence-integral is an integral of the divergence along a canard cycle with respect to the slow time and it has proven very useful in obtaining good lower and upper bounds of limit cycles in planar polynomial systems. In this paper, our slow divergence-integral is based upon integration along a generalized canard cycle for a piecewise smooth two-fold bifurcation (of type visible-invisible called $VI_3$). We use this framework to show that the number of limit cycles in regularized piecewise smooth polynomial systems is unbounded.

Work on standard piecewise-smooth (PWS) dynamical systems, with codimension-1 discontinuity sets, relies on the Filippov framework, which does not always readily generalise to systems with higher codimension discontinuities. These higher order degeneracies occur in applications, with spatial Coulomb friction being the prominent example. In this work, we consider PWS systems with isolated codimension-2 discontinuity sets using regularization and blowup to study the dynamics. We present a general framework and give specific results for the local dynamics in a class of problems, and generalising Filippov sliding, crossing and sliding vector fields., Comment: 32 pages, 24 Figures, preprint

Boundary equilibria bifurcation (BEB) arises in piecewise-smooth systems when an equilibrium collides with a discontinuity set under parameter variation. Singularly perturbed BEB refers to a bifurcation arising in singular perturbation problems which limit as some $\epsilon \to 0$ to piecewise-smooth (PWS) systems which undergo a BEB. This work completes a classification for codimension-1 singularly perturbed BEB in the plane initiated by the present authors in [19], using a combination of tools from PWS theory, geometric singular perturbation theory (GSPT) and a method of geometric desingularization known as blow-up. After deriving a local normal form capable of generating all 12 singularly perturbed BEBs, we describe the unfolding in each case. Detailed quantitative results on saddle-node, Andronov-Hopf, homoclinic and codimension-2 Bogdanov-Takens bifurcations involved in the unfoldings and classification are presented. Each bifurcation is singular in the sense that it occurs within a domain which shrinks to zero as $\epsilon \to 0$ at a rate determined by the rate at which the system loses smoothness. Detailed asymptotics for a distinguished homoclinic connection which forms the boundary between two singularly perturbed BEBs in parameter space are also given. Finally, we describe the explosive onset of oscillations arising in the unfolding of a particular singularly perturbed boundary-node (BN) bifurcation. We prove the existence of the oscillations as perturbations of PWS cycles, and derive a growth rate which is polynomial in $\epsilon$ and dependent on the rate at which the system loses smoothness. For all the results presented herein, corresponding results for regularized PWS systems are obtained via the limit $\epsilon \to 0$.

In this paper, we consider a mass-spring-friction oscillator with the friction modelled by a regularized stiction model in the limit where the ratio of the natural spring frequency and the forcing frequency is on the same order of magnitude as the scale associated with the regularized stiction model. The motivation for studying this situation comes from \cite{bossolini2017b} which demonstrated new friction phenomena in this regime. The results of Bossolini et al 2017 led to some open problems, that we resolve in this paper. In particular, using GSPT and blowup we provide a simple geometric description of the bifurcation of stick-slip limit cycles through a combination of a canard and a global return mechanism. We also show that this combination leads to a canard-based horseshoe and are therefore able to prove existence of chaos in this fundamental oscillator system.

HIRES will be the high-resolution spectrograph of the European Extremely Large Telescope at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. It consists of three fibre-fed spectrographs providing a wavelength coverage of 0.4-1.8 mic (goal 0.35-1.8 mic) at a spectral resolution of ~100,000. The fibre-feeding allows HIRES to have several, interchangeable observing modes including a SCAO module and a small diffraction-limited IFU in the NIR. Therefore, it will be able to operate both in seeing and diffraction-limited modes. ELT-HIRES has a wide range of science cases spanning nearly all areas of research in astrophysics and even fundamental physics. Some of the top science cases will be the detection of bio signatures from exoplanet atmospheres, finding the fingerprints of the first generation of stars (PopIII), tests on the stability of Nature's fundamental couplings, and the direct detection of the cosmic acceleration. The HIRES consortium is composed of more than 30 institutes from 14 countries, forming a team of more than 200 scientists and engineers., Comment: to appear in the ESO Messenger No.182, December 2020

We study a class of multi-parameter three-dimensional systems of ordinary differential equations that exhibit dynamics on three distinct timescales. We apply geometric singular perturbation theory to explore the dependence of the geometry of these systems on their parameters, with a focus on mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs) and their bifurcations. In particular, we uncover a novel geometric mechanism that encodes the transition from MMOs with single epochs of small-amplitude oscillations (SAOs) to those with double-epoch SAOs. We identify a relatively simple prototypical three-timescale system that realises our mechanism, featuring a one-dimensional $S$-shaped supercritical manifold that is embedded into a two-dimensional $S$-shaped critical manifold in a symmetric fashion. We show that the Koper model from chemical kinetics is merely a particular realisation of that prototypical system for a specific choice of parameters; in particular, we explain the robust occurrence of mixed-mode dynamics with double epochs of SAOs therein. Finally, we argue that our geometric mechanism can elucidate the mixed-mode dynamics of more complicated systems with a similar underlying geometry, such as of a three-dimensional, three-timescale reduction of the Hodgkin-Huxley equations from mathematical neuroscience.

We consider smooth systems limiting as $\epsilon \to 0$ to piecewise-smooth (PWS) systems with a boundary-focus (BF) bifurcation. After deriving a suitable local normal form, we study the dynamics for the smooth system with $0 < \epsilon \ll 1$ using a combination of geometric singular perturbation theory and blow-up. We show that the type of BF bifurcation in the PWS system determines the bifurcation structure for the smooth system within an $\epsilon-$dependent domain which shrinks to zero as $\epsilon \to 0$, identifying a supercritical Andronov-Hopf bifurcation in one case, and a supercritical Bogdanov-Takens bifurcation in two other cases. We also show that PWS cycles associated with BF bifurcations persist as relaxation cycles in the smooth system, and prove existence of a family of stable limit cycles which connects the relaxation cycles to regular cycles within the $\epsilon-$dependent domain described above. Our results are applied to models for Gause predator-prey interaction and mechanical oscillation subject to friction.

In this paper, we revisit the folded node and the bifurcations of secondary canards at resonances $\mu\in \mathbb N$. In particular, we prove for the first time that pitchfork bifurcations occur at all even values of $\mu$. Our approach relies on a time-reversible version of the Melnikov approach in \cite{wechselberger2002a}, used in \cite{wechselberger_existence_2005} to prove the transcritical bifurcations for all odd values of $\mu$. It is known that the secondary canards produced by the transcritical and the pitchfork bifurcations only reach the Fenichel slow manifolds on one side of each transcritical bifurcation for all $0<\epsilon\ll 1$. In this paper, we provide a new geometric explanation for this fact, relying on the symmetry of the normal form and a separate blowup of the fold lines. We also show that our approach for evaluating the Melnikov integrals of the folded node -- based upon local characterization of the invariant manifolds by higher order variational equations and reducing these to an inhomogeneous Weber equation -- applies to general, quadratic, time-reversible, unbounded connection problems in $\mathbb R^3$. We conclude the paper by using our approach to present a new proof of the bifurcation of periodic orbits from infinity in the Falkner-Skan equation and the Nos\'e equations.

Singular exponential nonlinearities of the form $e^{h(x)\epsilon^{-1}}$ with $\epsilon>0$ small occur in many different applications. These terms have essential singularities for $\epsilon=0$ leading to very different behaviour depending on the sign of $h$. In this paper, we consider two prototypical singularly perturbed oscillators with such exponential nonlinearities. We apply a suitable normalization for both systems such that the $\epsilon\rightarrow 0$ limit is a piecewise smooth system. The convergence to this nonsmooth system is exponential due to the nonlinearities we study. By working on the two model systems we use a blow-up approach to demonstrate that this exponential convergence can be harmless in some cases while in other scenarios it can lead to further degeneracies. For our second model system, we deal with such degeneracies due to exponentially small terms by extending the space dimension, following the approach in Kristiansen [20], and prove - for both systems - existence of (unique) limit cycles by perturbing away from singular cycles having desirable hyperbolicity properties., Comment: 52 pages, 22 figures

In this paper, we describe a novel type of relaxation oscillations occurring in a model of substrate-depletion oscillators. Using geometric singular perturbation theory, with blow-up as a key technical tool, we show that the oscillations in this planar model are produced by a complicated interplay between two stable nodes and a discontinuity set in the singular limit $\varepsilon\rightarrow 0$. This interplay produces a new mechanism for producing relaxation-type oscillations, which we also describe in a more general setting.

In this work, we study the dynamics of piecewise smooth systems on a codimension-2 transverse intersection of two codimension-1 discontinuity sets. The Filippov convention can be extended to such intersections, but this approach does not provide a unique sliding vector and, as opposed to the classical sliding vector-field on codimension-1 discontinuity manifolds, there is no agreed notion of stability in the codimension-2 context. In this paper, we perform a regularization of the piecewise smooth system, introducing two regularization functions and a small perturbation parameter. Then, based on singular perturbation theory, we define sliding and stability of sliding through a critical manifold of the singularly perturbed, regularized system. We show that this notion of sliding vector-field coincides with the Filippov one. The regularized system gives a parameterized surface (the canopy) independent of the regularization functions. This surface serves as our natural basis to derive new and simple geometric criteria on the existence, multiplicity and stability of the sliding flow, depending only on the smooth vector fields around the intersection. Interestingly, we are able to show that if there exist two sliding vector-fields then one is a saddle and the other is of focus/node/center type. This means that there is at most one stable sliding vector-field. We then investigate the effect of the choice of the regularization functions, and, using a blowup approach, we demonstrate the mechanisms through which sliding behavior can appear or disappear on the intersection and describe what consequences this has on the dynamics on the adjacent codimension-1 discontinuity sets. Finally, we show the existence of canard explosions of regularizations of PWS systems in $\mathbb R^3$ that depend on a single unfolding parameter.

The planar visible fold is a simple singularity in piecewise smooth systems. In this paper, we consider singularly perturbed systems that limit to this piecewise smooth bifurcation as the singular perturbation parameter $\epsilon\rightarrow 0$. Alternatively, these singularly perturbed systems can be thought of as regularizations of their piecewise counterparts. The main contribution of the paper is to demonstrate the use of consecutive blowup transformations in this setting, allowing us to obtain detailed information about a transition map near the fold under very general assumptions. We apply this information to prove, for the first time, the existence of a locally unique saddle-node bifurcation in the case where a limit cycle, in the singular limit $\epsilon\rightarrow 0$, grazes the discontinuity set. We apply this result to a mass-spring system on a moving belt described by a Stribeck-type friction law.

The reaction 11B(p, 3${\alpha}$) is relevant for fields as diverse as material science, nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics, and fusion science. However, for the channel proceeding via the ground state of 8Be, the available cross-section data shows large discrepancies of both normalization and energy scale. The present paper reports on a measurement of the 11B(p, ${\alpha_0}$) cross section using an array of modern large area segmented silicon detectors and low beam current on an enriched thin target with the aim of resolving the discrepancies amongst previous measurements.

We report on the HST detection of the Lyman-continuum (LyC) radiation emitted by a galaxy at redshift z=3.794, dubbed Ion1 (Vanzella et al. 2012). The LyC from Ion1 is detected at rest-frame wavelength 820$\sim$890 \AA with HST WFC3/UVIS in the F410M band ($m_{410}=27.60\pm0.36$ magnitude (AB), peak SNR = 4.17 in a circular aperture with radius r = 0.12'') and at 700$\sim$830 \AA with the VLT/VIMOS in the U-band ($m_U = 27.84\pm0.19$ magnitude (AB), peak SNR = 6.7 with a r = 0.6'' aperture). A 20-hr VLT/VIMOS spectrum shows low- and high-ionization interstellar metal absorption lines, the P-Cygni profile of CIV and Ly$\alpha$ in absorption. The latter spectral feature differs from what observed in known LyC emitters, which show strong Ly$\alpha$ emission. An HST far-UV color map reveals that the LyC emission escapes from a region of the galaxy that is bluer than the rest, presumably because of lower dust obscuration. The F410M image shows that the centroid of the LyC emission is offset from the centroid of the non-ionizing UV emission by 0.12''$\pm$0.03'', corresponding to 0.85$\pm$0.21 kpc (physical), and that its morphology is likely moderately resolved. These morphological characteristics favor a scenario where the LyC photons produced by massive stars escape from low HI column-density "cavities" in the ISM, possibly carved by stellar winds and/or supernova. We also collect the VIMOS U-band images of a sample of 107 Lyman-break galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts at $3.40

Gaia is currently revolutionizing modern astronomy. However, much of the Galactic plane, center and the spiral arm regions are obscured by interstellar extinction, rendering them inaccessible because Gaia is an optical instrument. An all-sky near infrared (NIR) space observatory operating in the optical NIR, separated in time from the original Gaia would provide microarcsecond NIR astrometry and millimag photometry to penetrate obscured regions unraveling the internal dynamics of the Galaxy., Comment: 7 pages

In this paper we prove the existence of a new type of relaxation oscillation occurring in a one-block Burridge-Knopoff model with Ruina rate-and-state friction law. In the relevant parameter regime, the system is slow-fast with two slow variables and one fast. The oscillation is special for several reasons: Firstly, its singular limit is unbounded, the amplitude of the cycle growing like $\log \epsilon^{-1}$ as $\epsilon\rightarrow 0$. As a consequence of this estimate, the unboundedness of the cycle cannot be captured by a simple $\epsilon$-dependent scaling of the variables, see e.g. \cite{Gucwa2009783}. We therefore obtain its limit on the Poincar\'e sphere. Here we find that the singular limit consists of a slow part on an attracting critical manifold, and a fast part on the equator (i.e. at $\infty$) of the Poincar\'e sphere, which includes motion along a center manifold. The reduced flow on this center manifold runs out along the manifold's boundary, in a special way, leading to a complex return to the slow manifold. We prove the existence of the limit cycle by showing that a return map is a contraction. The main technical difficulty in this part is due to the fact that the critical manifold loses hyperbolicity at an exponential rate at infinity. We therefore use the method in \cite{kristiansen2017a}, applying the standard blowup technique in an extended phase space. In this way we identify a singular cycle, consisting of $12$ pieces, all with desirable hyperbolicity properties, that enables the perturbation into an actual limit cycle for $0<\epsilon\ll 1$., Comment: This is a first draft. Comments are welcome

We use state-of-the-art cosmological zoom simulations to explore the distribution of neutral gas in and around galaxies that gives rise to high column density \ion{H}{i} \mbox{Ly-$\alpha$} absorption (formally, sub-DLAs and DLAs) in the spectra of background quasars. Previous cosmological hydrodynamic simulations under-predict the mean projected separations $(b)$ of these absorbers relative to the host, and invoke selection effects to bridge the gap with observations. On the other hand, single lines of sight (LOS) in absorption cannot uniquely constrain the galactic origin. Our simulations match all observational data, with DLA and sub-DLA LOS existing over the entire probed parameter space ($-4\lesssim $[M/H]$\lesssim 0.5$, $b<50$ kpc) at all redshifts ($z\sim 0.4 - 3.0$). We demonstrate how the existence of DLA LOS at $b\gtrsim 20-30$ kpc from a massive host galaxy require high numerical resolution, and that these LOS are associated with dwarf satellites in the main halo, stripped metal-rich gas and outflows. Separating the galaxy into interstellar ("\ion{H}{i} disc") and circumgalactic ("halo") components, we find that both components significantly contribute to damped \ion{H}{i} absorption LOS. Above the sub-DLA (DLA) limits, the disc and halo contribute with $\sim 60 (80)$ and $\sim 40 (20)$ per cent, respectively. Our simulations confirm analytical model-predictions of the DLA-distribution at $z\lesssim 1$. At high redshift ($z\sim 2-3$) sub-DLA and DLAs occupy similar spatial scales, but on average separate by a factor of two by $z\sim 0.5$. On whether sub-DLA and DLA LOS sample different stellar-mass galaxies, such a correlation can be driven by a differential covering-fraction of sub-DLA to DLA LOS with stellar mass. This preferentially selects sub-DLA LOS in more massive galaxies in the low-$z$ universe., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, submitted to MNRAS 29/01/2019

The 16.1MeV 2+ resonance in 12C situated slightly above the proton threshold can decay by proton-, $\alpha$-, and $\gamma$ emission. The partial width for proton emission cannot be directly measured due to the low proton energy and the small branching ratio. Instead it must be indirectly derived from other observables. However, due to several inconsistent data the derived partial width varies by almost a factor 2 dependent on the data used. Here we trace the majority of this inconsistency to different measurements of the $(p,\alpha)$ cross sections. We have remeasured this cross section using modern large area silicon strip detectors allowing to measure all final state particles, which circumvents a normalization issue affecting some of the previous measurements. Based on this we determine $\Gamma_{p}$ = 21.0(13)eV. We discuss the implications for other observables related to the 16.1 MeV $2^{+}$ resonance and for isospin symmetry in the $A=12$ system. In addition, we conclude that the dataset currently used for the NACRE and NACRE II evaluation of the $^{11}\mathrm{B}(p,3\alpha)$ reaction should be scaled by a factor of 2/3. This impacts the reaction rate accordingly., Comment: Accepted version

A current challenge for ab initio calculations is systems that contain large continuum contributions such as 8Be. We report on new measurements of radiative decay widths in this nucleus that test recent Green's function Monte Carlo calculations. Traditionally, {\gamma} ray detectors have been utilized to measure the high energy photons from the 7Li(p, {\gamma}){\alpha}{\alpha} reaction. However, due to the complicated response function of these detectors it has not yet been possible to extract the full {\gamma} ray spectrum from this reaction. Here we present an alternative measurement using large area Silicon detectors to detect the two {\alpha} particles, which provides a practically background free spectrum and retains good energy resolution. The resulting spectrum is analyzed using a many-level multi channel R-matrix parametrization. Improved values for the radiative widths are extracted from the R-matrix fit. We find evidence for significant non-resonant continuum contributions and tentative evidence for a broad 0+ resonance at 12 MeV., Comment: Accepted version. Fixed Fig. 5 ordinate labels