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We study the optimal control of mean-field systems with heterogeneous and asymmetric interactions. This leads to considering a family of controlled Brownian diffusion processes with dynamics depending on the whole collection of marginal probability laws. We prove the well-posedness of such systems and define the control problem together with its related value function. We next prove a law invariance property for the value function which allows us to work on the set of collections of probability laws. We show that the value function satisfies a dynamic programming principle (DPP) on the flow of collections of probability measures. We also derive a chain rule for a class of regular functions along the flows of collections of marginal laws of diffusion processes. Combining the DPP and the chain rule, we prove that the value function is a viscosity solution of a Bellman dynamic programming equation in a $L^2$-set of Wasserstein space-valued functions., Comment: 48 pages

This paper analyzes the dynamics of a level-dependent quasi-birth-death process ${\cal X}=\{(I(t),J(t)): t\geq 0\}$, i.e., a bi-variate Markov chain defined on the countable state space $\cup_{i=0}^{\infty} l(i)$ with $l(i)=\{(i,j) : j\in\{0,...,M_i\}\}$, for integers $M_i\in\mathbb{N}_0$ and $i\in\mathbb{N}_0$, which has the special property that its $q$-matrix has a block-tridiagonal form. Under the assumption that the first passage to the subset $l(0)$ occurs in a finite time with certainty, we characterize the probability law of $(\tau_{\max},I_{\max},J(\tau_{\max}))$, where $I_{\max}$ is the running maximum level attained by process ${\cal X}$ before its first visit to states in $l(0)$, $\tau_{\max}$ is the first time that the level process $\{I(t): t\geq 0\}$ reaches the running maximum $I_{\max}$, and $J(\tau_{\max})$ is the phase at time $\tau_{\max}$. Our methods rely on the use of restricted Laplace-Stieltjes transforms of $\tau_{\max}$ on the set of sample paths $\{I_{\max}=i,J(\tau_{\max})=j\}$, and related processes under taboo of certain subsets of states. The utility of the resulting computational algorithms is demonstrated in two epidemic models: the SIS model for horizontally and vertically transmitted diseases; and the SIR model with constant population size., Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures

The Magellanic Clouds (MCs) are the Milky Way's most massive dwarf satellites. As they also represent the closest pair of galaxies in an ongoing tidal interaction, while simultaneously infalling into the Milky Way halo, they provide a unique opportunity to study in detail an ongoing three-body encounter. We present the ``YMCA (Yes, Magellanic Clouds Again) survey: probing the outer regions of the Magellanic system with VST'' based on deep optical photometry carried out with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). YMCA targeted 110 square degrees, in the g and i filters, in the periphery of both the MCs, including a long strip in between the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The photometry of YMCA is sufficiently deep (50\% complete down to $g \simeq 23.5-24.0$~mag) to allow for a detailed analysis of main-sequence stars in regions of the MCs remained relatively unexplored at these faint magnitudes. The resulting colour-magnitude diagrams reveal that the outskirts of the MCs are predominantly characterized by intermediate-age and old stellar populations, with limited or negligible evidence of recent star formation. The analysis of the age distribution of star clusters (SCs) within the surveyed area, both already known and newly discovered candidates, hints at a close fly-by between the LMC and SMC that occurred $\simeq 2.5-3.0$~Gyr ago, in agreement with previous results. We also report the discovery of candidate SCs with ages within the so-called ``age-gap'', questioning its real existence., Comment: 28 pages, 21 figures. Accepted for publication on A&A

This letter investigates the problem of controlling an aerial manipulator, composed of an omnidirectional tilting drone equipped with a five-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm. The robot has to interact with the environment to inspect structures and perform non-destructive measurements. A parallel force-impedance control technique is developed to establish contact with the designed surface with a desired force profile. During the interaction, a pushing phase is required to create a vacuum between the surface and the echometer sensor mounted at the end-effector, to measure the thickness of the interaction surface. Repetitive measures are performed to show the repeatability of the algorithm., Comment: In proceedings of 18th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER 2023)

We consider a two-dimensional time-inhomogeneous birth-death process to model the time-evolution of fake news in a population. The two components of the process represent, respectively, (i) the number of individuals (say spreaders) who know the rumor and intend to spread it, and (ii) the number of individuals (say inactives) who have forgotten the rumor previously received. We employ the probability generating function-based approach to obtain the moments and the covariance of the two-dimensional process. We also analyze a new adimensional index to study the correlation between the two components. Some special cases are considered in which both the expected numbers of spreaders and inactives are equal to suitable sigmoidal curves, which are often adopted in modelling growth phenomena. Finally, we provide an application based on real data related to the diffusion of fake news, in which the optimal choice of the sigmoidal curve that fit the datasets is based on the minimization of the mean square error and of the relative absolute error.\, Comment: 41 pages, 12 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication on "Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences"

We address a system of weakly interacting particles where the heterogenous connections among the particles are described by a graph sequence and the number of particles grows to infinity. Our results extend the existing law of large numbers and propagation of chaos results to the case where the interaction between one particle and its neighbors is expressed as a nonlinear function of the local empirical measure. In the limit of the number of particles which tends to infinity, if the graph sequence converges to a graphon, then we show that the limit system is described by an infinite collection of processes and can be seen as a process in a suitable $L^2$ space constructed via a Fubini extension. The proof is built on decoupling techniques and careful estimates of the Wasserstein distance.

The INSPIRE project has built the largest sample of ultra-compact massive galaxies (UCMGs) at 0.12, and the other stellar population parameters.We use the Full-Index-Fitting method to fit the INSPIRE spectra to single stellar population (SSP) models. This allows us to measure, for the first time, the low-mass end slope of the IMF, as well as stellar metallicity [M/H], [Mg/Fe], [Ti/Fe] and [Na/Fe] ratios, and study correlations between them and the DoR. Similarly to normal-sized galaxies, UCMGs with larger stellar masses have overall higher metallicities. We found a correlation between the low-mass end of the IMF slope and the DoR, that, however, breaks down for systems with a more extended SFH. An even stronger dependency is found between the IMF and the fraction of mass formed at high-z. At equal velocity dispersion and metallicity, galaxies with a higher DoR have a dwarf-richer IMF than that of low-DoR counterparts. This might indicate that the cosmic epoch and formation mechanisms influence the fragmentation of the star formation cloud and hence might be the explanation for IMF variations detected in massive ETGs., Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, submitted to MNRAS

We consider a lognormal diffusion process having a multisigmoidal logistic mean, useful to model the evolution of a population which reaches the maximum level of the growth after many stages. Referring to the problem of statistical inference, two procedures to find the maximum likelihood estimates of the unknown parameters are described. One is based on the resolution of the system of the critical points of the likelihood function, and the other is on the maximization of the likelihood function with the simulated annealing algorithm. A simulation study to validate the described strategies for finding the estimates is also presented, with a real application to epidemiological data. Special attention is also devoted to the first-passage-time problem of the considered diffusion process through a fixed boundary., Comment: 37 pages, 36 figures

We consider a generalization of the classical logistic growth model introducing more than one inflection point. The growth, called multi-sigmoidal, is firstly analyzed from a deterministic point of view in order to obtain the main properties of the curve, such as the limit behavior, the inflection points and the threshold-crossing-time through a fixed boundary. We also present an application in population dynamics of plants based on real data. Then, we define two different birth-death processes, one with linear birth and death rates and the other with quadratic rates, and we analyze their main features. The conditions under which the processes have a mean of multi-sigmoidal logistic type and the first-passage-time problem are also discussed. Finally, with the aim of obtaining a more manageable stochastic description of the growth, we perform a scaling procedure leading to a lognormal diffusion process with mean of multi-sigmoidal logistic type. We finally conduct a detailed probabilistic analysis of this process, Comment: 28 pages, 30 figures

Galaxy sizes correlate with many other important properties of galaxies, and the cosmic evolution of galaxy sizes is an important observational diagnostic for constraining galaxy evolution models. The effective radius is probably the most widely used indicator of galaxy size. We used the TNG50-SKIRT Atlas to investigate the wavelength dependence of the effective radius of galaxies at optical and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. We find that, on average, the effective radius in every band exceeds the stellar mass effective radius, and that this excess systematically decreases with increasing wavelength. The optical g-band (NIR Ks-band) effective radius is on average 58% (13%) larger than the stellar mass effective radius. Effective radii measured from dust-obscured images are systematically larger than those measured from dust-free images, although the effect is limited (8.7% in the g-band, 2.1% in the Ks-band). We find that stellar population gradients are the dominant factor (about 80%) in driving the wavelength dependence of the effective radius, and that differential dust attenuation is a secondary factor (20%). Comparing our results to recent observational data, we find offsets in the absolute values of the median effective radii, up to 50% for the population of blue galaxies. We find better agreement in the slope of the wavelength dependence of the effective radius, with red galaxies having a slightly steeper slope than green-blue galaxies. Comparing our effective radii with those of galaxies from the Siena Galaxy Atlas in separate bins in z-band absolute magnitude and g-z colour, we find excellent agreement for the reddest galaxies, but again significant offsets for the blue populations: up to 70% for galaxies around Mz=-21.5. This difference in median effective radius for the bluer galaxies is most probably due to (abridged...)., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Galaxy morphology is a powerful diagnostic to assess the realism of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. Determining the morphology of simulated galaxies requires the generation of synthetic images through 3D radiative transfer post-processing that properly accounts for different stellar populations and interstellar dust attenuation. We use the SKIRT code to generate the TNG50-SKIRT Atlas, a synthetic UV to near-infrared broadband image atlas for a complete stellar-mass selected sample of 1154 galaxies extracted from the TNG50 cosmological simulation at $z=0$. The images have a high spatial resolution (100 pc) and a wide field of view (160 kpc). In addition to the dust-obscured images, we also release dust-free images and physical parameter property maps with matching characteristics. As a sanity check and preview application we discuss the UVJ diagram of the galaxy sample. We investigate the effect of dust attenuation on the UVJ diagram and find that it affects both the star-forming and the quiescent galaxy populations. The quiescent galaxy region is polluted by younger and star-forming highly inclined galaxies, while dust attenuation induces a separation in inclination of the star-forming galaxy population, with low-inclination galaxies remaining at the blue side of the diagram and high-inclination galaxies systematically moving towards the red side. This image atlas can be used for a variety of other applications, including galaxy morphology studies and the investigation of local scaling relations. We publicly release the images and parameter maps, and we invite the community to use them., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are the state-of-the-art technique for identifying strong gravitational lenses. Although they are highly successful in recovering genuine lens systems with a high true-positive rate, the unbalanced nature of the data set (lens systems are rare), still leads to a high false positive rate. For these techniques to be successful in upcoming surveys (e.g. with Euclid) most emphasis should be set on reducing false positives, rather than on reducing false negatives. In this paper, we introduce densely connected neural networks (DenseNets) as the CNN architecture in a new pipeline-ensemble model containing an ensemble of classification CNNs and regression CNNs to classify and rank-order lenses, respectively. We show that DenseNets achieve comparable true positive rates but considerably lower false positive rates (when compared to residual networks; ResNets). Thus, we recommend DenseNets for future missions involving large data sets, such as Euclid, where low false positive rates play a key role in the automated follow-up and analysis of large numbers of strong gravitational lens candidates when human vetting is no longer feasible

We report on the discovery of a significant and compact over-density of old and metal-poor stars in the KiDS survey (data release 4). The discovery is confirmed by deeper HSC-SSC data revealing the old Main Sequence Turn-Off of a stellar system located at a distance from the sun of $D_{\sun}=145^{+14}_{-13}$~kpc in the direction of the Sextans constellation. The system has absolute integrated magnitude ($M_V=-3.9^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$), half-light radius ($r_h=193^{+61}_{-46}$~pc), and ellipticity ($e=0.46^{+0.11}_{-0.15}$) typical of Ultra Faint Dwarf galaxies (UFDs). The central surface brightness is near the lower limits of known local dwarf galaxies of similar integrated luminosity, as expected for stellar systems that escaped detection until now. The distance of the newly found system suggests that it is likely a satellite of our own Milky Way, consequently, we tentatively baptise it Sextans~II (KiDS-UFD-1)., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication on A&A Letters

Large sky spectroscopic surveys have reached the scale of photometric surveys in terms of sample sizes and data complexity. These huge datasets require efficient, accurate, and flexible automated tools for data analysis and science exploitation. We present the Galaxy Spectra Network/GaSNet-II, a supervised multi-network deep learning tool for spectra classification and redshift prediction. GaSNet-II can be trained to identify a customized number of classes and optimize the redshift predictions for classified objects in each of them. It also provides redshift errors, using a network-of-networks that reproduces a Monte Carlo test on each spectrum, by randomizing their weight initialization. As a demonstration of the capability of the deep learning pipeline, we use 260k Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra from Data Release 16, separated into 13 classes including 140k galactic, and 120k extragalactic objects. GaSNet-II achieves 92.4% average classification accuracy over the 13 classes (larger than 90% for the majority of them), and an average redshift error of approximately 0.23% for galaxies and 2.1% for quasars. We further train/test the same pipeline to classify spectra and predict redshifts for a sample of 200k 4MOST mock spectra and 21k publicly released DESI spectra. On 4MOST mock data, we reach 93.4% accuracy in 10-class classification and an average redshift error of 0.55% for galaxies and 0.3% for active galactic nuclei. On DESI data, we reach 96% accuracy in (star/galaxy/quasar only) classification and an average redshift error of 2.8% for galaxies and 4.8% for quasars, despite the small sample size available. GaSNet-II can process ~40k spectra in less than one minute, on a normal Desktop GPU. This makes the pipeline particularly suitable for real-time analyses of Stage-IV survey observations and an ideal tool for feedback loops aimed at night-by-night survey strategy optimization., Comment: 23 pages and 31 figures. The draft has been submitted to MNRAS

During the early stages of galaxy evolution, a significant fraction of galaxies undergo a transitional phase between the ``blue nugget" systems, which arise from the compaction of large, active star-forming disks, and the ``red nuggets", which are red and passive compact galaxies. These objects are typically only observable with space telescopes, and detailed studies of their size, mass, and stellar population parameters have been conducted on relatively small samples. Strong gravitational lensing can offer a new opportunity to study them in detail, even with ground-based observations. In this study, we present the first 6 \textit{bona fide} sample of strongly lensed post-blue nugget (pBN) galaxies, which were discovered in the Kilo Degree Survey. By using the lensing-magnified luminosity from optical and near-infrared bands, we have derived robust structural and stellar population properties of the multiple images of the background sources. \rui{The pBN galaxies have very small sizes of $\rm R_{eff}<1.3$ kpc, high mass density inside 1 kpc of $ \rm \log (\Sigma_1/M_{\odot} \mathrm{kpc}^{-2})>9.3$, and low specific star formation rates of $\log (\mathrm{sSFR/Gyr})\lesssim0$, The size-mass and $\Sigma_1$-mass relations of this sample are consistent with those of the red nuggets, while their sSFR is close to the lower end of compact star-forming blue nugget systems at the same redshift, suggesting a clear evolutionary link between them., Comment: Accepted for publication in APJ

We investigate the effects of the resetting mechanism to the origin for a random motion on the real line characterized by two alternating velocities $v_1$ and $v_2$. We assume that the sequences of random times concerning the motions along each velocity follow two independent geometric counting processes of intensity $\lambda$, and that the resetting times are Poissonian with rate $\xi >0$. Under these assumptions we obtain the probability laws of the modified telegraph process describing the position and the velocity of the running particle. Our approach is based on the Markov property of the resetting times and on the knowledge of the distribution of the intertimes between consecutive velocity changes. We obtain also the asymptotic distribution of the particle position when (i) $\lambda$ tends to infinity, and (ii) the time goes to infinity. In the latter case the asymptotic distribution arises properly as an effect of the resetting mechanism. A quite different behavior is observed in the two cases when $v_2<0

The galaxy total mass inside the effective radius encode important information on the dark matter and galaxy evolution model. Total "central" masses can be inferred via galaxy dynamics or with gravitational lensing, but these methods have limitations. We propose a novel approach, based on Random Forest, to make predictions on the total and dark matter content of galaxies using simple observables from imaging and spectroscopic surveys. We use catalogs of multi-band photometry, sizes, stellar mass, kinematic "measurements" (features) and dark matter (targets) of simulated galaxies, from Illustris-TNG100 hydrodynamical simulation, to train a Mass Estimate machine Learning Algorithm (Mela). We separate the simulated sample in passive early-type galaxies (ETGs), both "normal" and "dwarf", and active late-type galaxies (LTGs) and show that the mass estimator can accurately predict the galaxy dark masses inside the effective radius in all samples. We finally test the mass estimator against the central mass estimates of a series of low redshift (z$\leq$0.1) datasets, including SPIDER, MaNGA/DynPop and SAMI dwarf galaxies, derived with standard dynamical methods based on Jeans equations. Dynamical masses are reproduced within 0.30 dex ($\sim2\sigma$), with a limited fraction of outliers and almost no bias. This is independent of the sophistication of the kinematical data collected (fiber vs. 3D spectroscopy) and the dynamical analysis adopted (radial vs. axisymmetric Jeans equations, virial theorem). This makes Mela a powerful alternative to predict the mass of galaxies of massive stage-IV surveys' datasets.

In this paper, we introduce a bivariate tempered space-fractional Poisson process (BTSFPP) by time-changing the bivariate Poisson process with an independent tempered $\alpha$-stable subordinator. We study its distributional properties and its connection to differential equations. The L\'{e}vy measure for the BTSFPP is also derived. A bivariate competing risks and shock model based on the BTSFPP for predicting the failure times of the items that undergo two random shocks is also explored. The system is supposed to break when the sum of two types of shocks reaches a certain random threshold. Various results related to reliability such as reliability function, hazard rates, failure density, and the probability that the failure occurs due to a certain type of shock are studied. We show that for a general L\'{e}vy subordinator, the failure time of the system is exponentially distributed with mean depending on the Laplace exponent of the L\'{e}vy subordinator when the threshold has geometric distribution. Some special cases and several typical examples are also demonstrated., Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures

We compare the structural properties and dark matter content of star-forming galaxies taken from the CAMELS cosmological simulations to the observed trends derived from the SPARC sample in the stellar mass range $[10^{9}, 10^{11}]\,\textrm{M}_{\odot}$, to provide constraints on the value of cosmological and astrophysical (SN- and AGN-related) parameters. We consider the size-, internal DM fraction-, internal DM mass- and total-stellar mass relations for all the 1065 simulations from the IllustrisTNG, SIMBA and ASTRID suites of CAMELS, and search for the parameters that minimize the $\chi^{2}$ with respect to the observations. For the IllustrisTNG suite, we find the following constraints for the cosmological parameters: $\Omega_{\textrm{m}} = 0.27_{-0.05}^{+0.01}$, $\sigma_{8} = 0.83_{-0.11}^{+0.08}$ and $S_{8} = 0.78_{-0.09}^{+0.03}$, which are consistent within $1\sigma$ with the results from the nine-year WMAP observations. SN feedback-related astrophysical parameters, which describe the departure of outflow wind energy per unit star formation rate and wind velocity from the reference IllustrisTNG simulations, assume the following values: $A_{\textrm{SN1}} = 0.48_{-0.16}^{+0.25}$ and $A_{\textrm{SN2}} = 1.21_{-0.34}^{+0.03}$, respectively. Therefore, simulations with a lower value of outflow wind energy per unit star formation rate with respect to the reference illustrisTNG simulation better reproduce the observations. Simulations based on SIMBA and ASTRID suites predict central dark matter masses substantially larger than those observed in real galaxies, which can be reconciled with observations only by requiring values of $\Omega_{\textrm{m}}$ inconsistent with cosmological constraints for SIMBA, or simulations characterized by unrealistic galaxy mass distributions for ASTRID., Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, 9 tables. Accepted by MNRAS for publication; Added a reference to sec. 4.1

Given a random variable $X$ and considered a family of its possible distortions, we define two new measures of distance between $X$ and each its distortion. For these distance measures, which are extensions of the Gini's mean difference, conditions are determined for the existence of a minimum, or a maximum, within specific families of distortions, generalizing some results presented in the recent literature., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, previous version submitted for publication on March 20, 2023

We introduce and study the cumulative information generating function, which provides a unifying mathematical tool suitable to deal with classical and fractional entropies based on the cumulative distribution function and on the survival function. Specifically, after establishing its main properties and some bounds, we show that it is a variability measure itself that extends the Gini mean semi-difference. We also provide (i) an extension of such a measure, based on distortion functions, and (ii) a weighted version based on a mixture distribution. Furthermore, we explore some connections with the reliability of $k$-out-of-$n$ systems and with stress-strength models for multi-component systems. Also, we address the problem of extending the cumulative information generating function to higher dimensions., Comment: 25 pages, 1 figure, revision submitted on September 19, 2023

The Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS) is currently the only sky survey providing optical ($ugri$) plus near-infrared (NIR, $ZYHJK_S$) seeing matched photometry over an area larger than 1000 $\rm deg^2$. This is obtained by incorporating the NIR data from the VISTA Kilo Degree Infrared Galaxy (VIKING) survey, covering the same KiDS footprint. As such, the KiDS multi-wavelength photometry represents a unique dataset to test the ability of stellar population models to return robust photometric stellar mass ($M_*$) and star-formation rate (SFR) estimates. Here we use a spectroscopic sample of galaxies for which we possess $u g r i Z Y J H K_s$ ``gaussianized'' magnitudes from KiDS data release 4. We fit the spectral energy distribution from the 9-band photometry using: 1) three different popular libraries of stellar {population} templates, 2) single burst, simple and delayed exponential star-formation history models, and 3) a wide range of priors on age and metallicity. As template fitting codes we use two popular softwares: LePhare and CIGALE. We investigate the variance of the stellar masses and the star-formation rates from the different combinations of templates, star formation recipes and codes to assess the stability of these estimates and define some ``robust'' median quantities to be included in the upcoming KiDS data releases. As a science validation test, we derive the mass function, the star formation rate function, and the SFR-$M_*$ relation for a low-redshift ($z<0.5$) sample of galaxies, that result in excellent agreement with previous literature data. The final catalog, containing $\sim290\,000$ galaxies with redshift $0.01

Bulge-disk (B-D) decomposition is an effective diagnostic to characterize the galaxy morphology and understand its evolution across time. So far, high-quality data have allowed detailed B-D decomposition to redshift below 0.5, with limited excursions over small volumes at higher redshifts. Next-generation large sky space surveys in optical, e.g. from the China Space Station Telescope (CSST), and near-infrared, e.g. from the space EUCLID mission, will produce a gigantic leap in these studies as they will provide deep, high-quality photometric images over more than 15000 deg2 of the sky, including billions of galaxies. Here, we extend the use of the Galaxy Light profile neural Network (GaLNet) to predict 2-S\'ersic model parameters, specifically from CSST data. We simulate point-spread function (PSF) convolved galaxies, with realistic B-D parameter distributions, on CSST mock observations to train the new GaLNet and predict the structural parameters (e.g. magnitude, effective radius, Sersic index, axis ratio, etc.) of both bulge and disk components. We find that the GaLNet can achieve very good accuracy for most of the B-D parameters down to an $r$-band magnitude of 23.5 and redshift $\sim$1. The best accuracy is obtained for magnitudes, implying accurate bulge-to-total (B/T) estimates. To further forecast the CSST performances, we also discuss the results of the 1-S\'ersic GaLNet and show that CSST half-depth data will allow us to derive accurate 1-component models up to $r\sim$24 and redshift z$\sim$1.7.

We present a study of a directional search for Dark Matter boosted forward when scattered by cosmic-ray nuclei, using a module of the NEWSdm experiment. The boosted Dark Matter flux at the edge of the Earth's atmosphere is expected to be pointing to the Galactic Center, with a flux 15 to 20 times larger than in the transverse direction. The module of the NEWSdm experiment consists of a 10 kg stack of Nano Imaging Trackers, i.e.~newly developed nuclear emulsions with AgBr crystal sizes down to a few tens of nanometers. The module is installed on an equatorial telescope. The relatively long recoil tracks induced by boosted Dark Matter, combined with the nanometric granularity of the emulsion, result in an extremely low background. This makes an installation at the INFN Gran Sasso laboratory, both on the surface and underground, viable. A comparison between the two locations is made. The angular distribution of nuclear recoils induced by boosted Dark Matter in the emulsion films at the surface laboratory is expected to show an excess with a factor of 3.5 in the direction of the Galactic Center. This excess allows for a Dark Matter search with directional sensitivity. The surface laboratory configuration prevents the deterioration of the signal in the rock overburden and it emerges as the most powerful approach for a directional observation of boosted Dark Matter with high sensitivity. We show that, with this approach, a 10 kg module of the NEWSdm experiment exposed for one year at the Gran Sasso surface laboratory can probe Dark Matter masses between 1 keV/c$^2$ and 1 GeV/c$^2$ and cross-section values down to $10^{-30}$~cm$^2$ with a directional sensitive search., Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, updated references, clarified discussion in intro section. Accepted in JCAP

[Abridged] Galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally-bound systems in the universe and are widely considered to be an effective cosmological probe. We propose the first Machine Learning method using galaxy cluster properties to derive unbiased constraints on a set of cosmological parameters, including Omega_m, sigma_8, Omega_b, and h_0. We train the machine learning model with mock catalogs including "measured" quantities from Magneticum multi-cosmology hydrodynamical simulations, like gas mass, gas bolometric luminosity, gas temperature, stellar mass, cluster radius, total mass, velocity dispersion, and redshift, and correctly predict all parameters with uncertainties of the order of ~14% for Omega_m, ~8% for sigma_8, ~6% for Omega_b, and ~3% for h_0. This first test is exceptionally promising, as it shows that machine learning can efficiently map the correlations in the multi-dimensional space of the observed quantities to the cosmological parameter space and narrow down the probability that a given sample belongs to a given cosmological parameter combination. In the future, these ML tools can be applied to cluster samples with multi-wavelength observations from surveys like LSST, CSST, Euclid, Roman in optical and near-infrared bands, and eROSITA in X-rays, to constrain both the cosmology and the effect of the baryonic feedback., Comment: 19 pages, 20 figures. Revised version after the referee report. Resubmitted to A&A

We derived stellar ages and metallicities [Z/H] for $\sim$70 passive early type galaxies (ETGs) selected from VANDELS survey over the redshift range 1.0$<$$z$$<$1.4 and stellar mass range 10$<$log(M$_*$/M$_\odot$)$<$11.6. We find significant systematics in their estimates depending on models and wavelength ranges considered. Using the full-spectrum fitting technique, we find that both [Z/H] and age increase with mass as for local ETGs. Age and metallicity sensitive spectral indices independently confirm these trends. According to EMILES models, for 67 per cent of the galaxies we find [Z/H]$>$0.0, a percentage which rises to $\sim$90 per cent for log(M$_*$/M$_\odot$)$>$11 where the mean metallicity is [Z/H]=0.17$\pm$0.1. A comparison with homogeneous measurements at similar and lower redshift does not show any metallicity evolution over the redshift range 0.0$11.0 host stellar populations with [Z/H]>0.05, formed over short timescales ($\Delta{t50}$$<$1 Gyr) at early epochs (t$_{form}$$<$2 Gyr), implying high star formation rates (SFR$>$100 M$_\odot$/yr) in high mass density regions (log($\Sigma_{1kpc}$)$>$10 M$_\odot$/kpc$^2$). This sharp picture tends to blur at lower masses: log(M$_*$/M$_\odot$)$\sim$10.6 galaxies can host either old stars with [Z/H]$<$0.0 or younger stars with [Z/H]$>$0.0, depending on the duration ($\Delta{t50}$) of the SF. The relations between galaxy mass, age and metallicities are therefore largely set up ab initio as part of the galaxy formation process. Mass, SFR and SF time-scale all contribute to shape up the stellar mass-metallicity relation with the mass that modulates metals retention., Comment: 18 pages + Appendix, 16 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We investigate the ability of human 'expert' classifiers to identify strong gravitational lens candidates in Dark Energy Survey like imaging. We recruited a total of 55 people that completed more than 25$\%$ of the project. During the classification task, we present to the participants 1489 images. The sample contains a variety of data including lens simulations, real lenses, non-lens examples, and unlabeled data. We find that experts are extremely good at finding bright, well-resolved Einstein rings, whilst arcs with $g$-band signal-to-noise less than $\sim$25 or Einstein radii less than $\sim$1.2 times the seeing are rarely recovered. Very few non-lenses are scored highly. There is substantial variation in the performance of individual classifiers, but they do not appear to depend on the classifier's experience, confidence or academic position. These variations can be mitigated with a team of 6 or more independent classifiers. Our results give confidence that humans are a reliable pruning step for lens candidates, providing pure and quantifiably complete samples for follow-up studies., Comment: 16 pages, 20 Figures

WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366$-$959\,nm at $R\sim5000$, or two shorter ranges at $R\sim20\,000$. After summarising the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organisation, science drivers and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for $\sim$3 million stars and detailed abundances for $\sim1.5$ million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey $\sim0.4$ million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey $\sim400$ neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionised gas in $z<0.5$ cluster galaxies; (vi) survey stellar populations and kinematics in $\sim25\,000$ field galaxies at $0.3\lesssim z \lesssim 0.7$; (vii) study the cosmic evolution of accretion and star formation using $>1$ million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at $z>2$. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator., Comment: 41 pages, 27 figures, accepted for publication by MNRAS; updated version including information on individual grants in a revised Acknowledgements section, corrections to the affiliation list, and an updated references list

This paper describes a new $\nu_e$ identification method specifically designed to improve the low-energy ($< 30\,\mathrm{GeV}$) $\nu_e$ identification efficiency attained by enlarging the emulsion film scanning volume with the next generation emulsion readout system. A relative increase of 25-70% in the $\nu_e$ low-energy region is expected, leading to improvements in the OPERA sensitivity to neutrino oscillations in the framework of the 3 + 1 model. The method is applied to a subset of data where the detection efficiency increase is expected to be more relevant, and one additional $\nu_e$ candidate is found. The analysis combined with the $\nu_\tau$ appearance results improves the upper limit on $\sin^2 2\theta_{\mu e}$ to 0.016 at 90% C.L. in the MiniBooNE allowed region $\Delta m^2_{41} \sim 0.3\,\mathrm{eV}^2$., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures

The unprecedented number of gravitational lenses expected from new-generation facilities such as the ESA Euclid telescope and the Vera Rubin Observatory makes it crucial to rethink our classical approach to lens-modelling. In this paper, we present LeMoN (Lens Modelling with Neural networks): a new machine-learning algorithm able to analyse hundreds of thousands of gravitational lenses in a reasonable amount of time. The algorithm is based on a Bayesian Neural Network: a new generation of neural networks able to associate a reliable confidence interval to each predicted parameter. We train the algorithm to predict the three main parameters of the Singular Isothermal Ellipsoid model (the Einstein radius and the two components of the ellipticity) by employing two simulated datasets built to resemble the imaging capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope and the forthcoming Euclid satellite. In this work, we assess the accuracy of the algorithm and the reliability of the estimated uncertainties by applying the network to several simulated datasets of 10.000 images each. We obtain accuracies comparable to previous studies present in the current literature and an average modelling time of just 0.5s per lens. Finally, we apply the LeMoN algorithm to a pilot dataset of real lenses observed with HST during the SLACS program, obtaining unbiased estimates of their SIE parameters. The code is publicly available on GitHub (https://github.com/fab-gentile/LeMoN)., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS; The code will be available on GitHub upon acceptance of the paper