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An approach to cosmological modelling is presented that incorporates the inhomogeneous structure of the Cosmic Web, specifically focusing on the interplay between cosmic voids and density walls. We extend the standard homogeneous and isotropic cosmological model to account for the observed large-scale structure of the universe. By modifying the Friedmann equations to include inhomogeneity terms representing voids and walls, we develop a more realistic description of cosmic evolution. Our model demonstrates how the presence of these structures affects the overall expansion rate of the universe and the growth of perturbations. We find that accounting for this inhomogeneous distribution leads to significant deviations from the predictions of standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmology in the late-time universe. The Hubble and $\sigma_8$ structure growth tensions are addressed in the void-density wall model, leading to a resolution of these tensions. These results have important implications for the interpretation of cosmological observations when including the void and density wall Cosmic Web inhomogeneities., Comment: 9 pages, no figures

Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet binaries are a prominent source of carbonaceous dust that contribute to the dust budget of galaxies. The "textbook" example of an episodic dust producing WR binary, WR140 (HD193793), provides us with an ideal laboratory for investigating the dust physics and kinematics in an extreme environment. This study is among the first to utilize two separate JWST observations, from Cycle 1 ERS (July 2022) and Cycle 2 (Sept. 2023), to measure WR140's dust kinematics and confirm its morphology. To measure the proper motions and projected velocities of the dust shells, we performed a novel PSF subtraction to reduce the effects of the bright diffraction spikes and carefully aligned the Cycle 2 to the Cycle 1 images. At 7.7 $\mu$m, through the bright feature common to 16 dust shells (C1), we find an average dust shell proper motion of $390\pm29$ mas yr$^{-1}$, which equates to a projected velocity of $2714\pm188$ km s$^{-1}$ at a distance of 1.64 kpc. Our measured speeds are constant across all visible shells and consistent with previously reported dust expansion velocities. Our observations not only prove that these dusty shells are astrophysical (i.e., not associated with any PSF artifact) and originate from WR140, but also confirm the "clumpy" morphology of the dust shells, in which identifiable substructures within certain shells persist for at least 14 months from one cycle to the next. These results support the hypothesis that clumping in the wind collision region is required for dust production in WR binaries.

An approach is presented to address singularities in general relativity using a complex Riemannian spacetime extension. We demonstrate how this method can be applied to both black hole and cosmological singularities, specifically focusing on the Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes and the Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) Big Bang cosmology. By extending the relevant coordinates into the complex plane and carefully choosing integration contours, we show that it is possible to regularize these singularities, resulting in physically meaningful, singularity-free solutions when projected back onto real spacetime. The removal of the singularity at the Big Bang allows for a bounce cosmology. This approach offers a potential bridge between classical general relativity and quantum gravity effects, suggesting a way to resolve longstanding issues in gravitational physics without requiring a full theory of quantum gravity., Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure. Text and equations revisions

It has been argued in existing literature that the zero mass limit of Kerr spacetime corresponds to either flat Minkowski spacetime or a wormhole exhibiting a locally flat geometry. In this study, we examine that the zero mass limit of the Kerr-MOG black hole is equivalent to a wormhole. Moreover, we derive the Kerr-Schild form of the Kerr-MOG black hole through specific coordinate transformations. We further investigate the physical and topological characteristics of the Kerr-MOG black hole within the framework of modified gravity. Our analysis also includes a discussion of the wormhole using cylindrical coordinates, which comprises two distinct coordinate patches. Furthermore, we extend our analysis to the Kerr-Newman black hole and show that the \emph{zero mass limit of the Kerr-Newman black hole does not yield a wormhole}. However, if we impose an additional criterion such that \emph{both the mass parameter and the charge parameters are equal to zero}, then the Kerr-Newman black hole will be a wormhole., Comment: Accepted for publication in PRD

This paper introduces Data-enabled Predictive Control Hyperparameter Tuning via Differentiable Optimization (DeePC-Hunt), a backpropagation-based method for automatic hyperparameter tuning of the DeePC algorithm. The necessity for such a method arises from the importance of hyperparameter selection to achieve satisfactory closed-loop DeePC performance. The standard methods for hyperparameter selection are to either optimize the open-loop performance, or use manual guess-and-check. Optimizing the open-loop performance can result in unacceptable closed-loop behavior, while manual guess-and-check can pose safety challenges. DeePC-Hunt provides an alternative method for hyperparameter tuning which uses an approximate model of the system dynamics and backpropagation to directly optimize hyperparameters for the closed-loop DeePC performance. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of DeePC in combination with DeePC-Hunt in a complex stabilization task for a nonlinear system and its superiority over model-based control strategies in terms of robustness to model misspecifications.

Recent observations by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed the presence of bright and well-formed galaxies at high redshifts, challenging the predictions of the standard Lambda-Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) cosmological model. This paper explores the potential of Modified Gravity (MOG), specifically Scalar-Tensor-Vector Gravity (STVG), to account for the rapid formation of these galaxies in the early universe. By enhancing the gravitational constant through a dimensionless parameter $\alpha$ and incorporating a massive vector field $\phi_\mu$, MOG predicts deeper gravitational wells that can accelerate the collapse of baryonic matter. We present theoretical insights demonstrating how MOG can facilitate the increase in star formation rate and early formation of galaxies, offering a compelling alternative to LCDM. Our findings suggest that MOG provides a viable framework for understanding the rapid growth of galaxies observed by JWST., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure

This paper explores the quantum and classical descriptions of gravitational wave detection in interferometers like LIGO. We demonstrate that a graviton scattering and quantum optics model succeeds in explaining the observed arm displacements, while the classical gravitational wave approach and a quantum graviton energy method also successfully predict the correct results. We provide a detailed analysis of why the quantum graviton energy approach succeeds, highlighting the importance of collective behavior and the quantum-classical correspondence in gravitational wave physics. Our findings contribute to the ongoing discussion about the quantum nature of gravity and its observable effects in macroscopic physics., Comment: 6 pages no figures, revised version

Classical Wolf-Rayet stars are descendants of massive OB-type stars that have lost their hydrogen-rich envelopes, and are in the final stages of stellar evolution, possibly exploding as type Ib/c supernovae. It is understood that the mechanisms driving this mass-loss are either strong stellar winds and or binary interactions, so intense studies of these binaries including their evolution can tell us about the importance of the two pathways in WR formation. WR 138 (HD 193077) has a period of just over 4 years and was previously reported to be resolved through interferometry. We report on new interferometric data combined with spectroscopic radial velocities in order to provide a three-dimensional orbit of the system. The precision on our parameters tend to be about an order of magnitude better than previous spectroscopic techniques. These measurements provide masses of the stars, namely $M_{\rm WR} = 13.93\pm1.49M_{\odot}$ and $M_{\rm O} = 26.28\pm1.71M_{\odot}$. The derived orbital parallax agrees with the parallax from \textit{Gaia}, namely with a distance of 2.13 kpc. We compare the system's orbit to models from BPASS, showing that the system likely may have been formed with little interaction but could have formed through some binary interactions either following or at the start of a red supergiant phase, but with the most likely scenario occurring as the red supergiant phase starts for a $\sim 40M_\odot$ star., Comment: accepted to ApJ

Classical Wolf-Rayet stars are the descendants of massive OB stars that have lost their hydrogen envelopes and are burning helium in their cores prior to exploding as type Ib/c supernovae. The mechanisms for losing their hydrogen envelopes are either through binary interactions or through strong stellar winds potentially coupled with episodic mass-loss. Amongst the bright classical WR stars, the binary system WR\,137 (HD\,192641; WC7d + O9e) is the subject of this paper. This binary is known to have a 13-year period and produces dust near periastron. Here we report on interferometry with the CHARA Array collected over a decade of time and providing the first visual orbit for the system. We combine these astrometric measurements with archival radial velocities to measure masses of the stars of $M_{\rm WR} = 9.5\pm3.4 M_\odot$ and $M_{\rm O} = 17.3\pm 1.9 M_\odot$ when we use the most recent \textit{Gaia} distance. These results are then compared to predicted dust distribution using these orbital elements, which match the observed imaging from \textit{JWST} as discussed recently by Lau et al. Furthermore, we compare the system to the BPASS models, finding that the WR star likely formed through stellar winds and not through binary interactions. However, the companion O star did likely accrete some material from the WR's mass-loss to provide the rotation seen today that drives its status as an Oe star., Comment: Accepted to ApJ

This contribution reports on characterisation results of a large-area (2$~\mathrm{cm}^2$) small pitch (55$~\mu$m) inverse Low-Gain Avalanche Detector (iLGAD), bonded to a Timepix3 readout chip. The ilGAD sensors were produced by Micron Semiconductor Ltd with the goal to obtain good gain uniformity and maximise the fill-factor -- an issue present with standard small-pitch LGAD designs. We have conducted detailed performance evaluations using both X-ray calibrations and beam tests. An X-ray fluorescence setup has been used to obtain energy calibration and to identify the optimal operating settings of the new devices, whereas the extensive beam tests allowed for a detailed evaluation of the detector performance. The beam-tests were performed at the CERN SPS North Area H6 beamline, using a 120 GeV/c pion beam. The reference tracking and time-stamping is achieved by a Timepix3-based beam telescope setup. The results show a gain of around 5 with very good uniformity, measured across the whole gain area, as well as a hit time resolution down to 1.3 ns without correcting for the time-walk effects. Furthermore, it is shown that the gain opens the possibility of a good X-ray energy resolution down to 4.5 keV.

Almost all spiral galaxies have been observed to have flattening rotation curves. The new Gaia DR3 released data shows a Milky Way sharply Keplerian declining rotation curve, starting at $\sim 16$ kpc and ending at 26.5 kpc. The data reduces the total Milky Way mass by an order of magnitude, $M=2.06\times 10^{11}M_{\odot}$, compared to the standard required dark matter halo mass, $(2-5)\times10^{12}M_\odot$. Newtonian and modified gravity (MOG) fits are applied to the Gaia DR3 rotation curve data. The fit obtained using MOG has a total mass of $M\sim1.3\times 10^{11}M_{\odot}$, while the Newtonian fit predicts a mass of $M\sim2\times 10^{11}M_{\odot}$. These are in excess of the estimated visible baryon mass of the Milky Way, $M_b\sim (0.6-1.0)\times 10^{11}M_{\odot}$. It is possible that if the cicumgalactic (CGM) plasma-gas continues to be confirmed experimentally, then the additional baryon mass required to account for the estimated total Milky Way mass could be attributed to the CGM hot plasma-gas halo., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures

We propose a way to detect gravitons by replicating the Brownian motion experiment. The number $N_g$ of gravitons can be large enough for the stochastic gravitational noise produced by them to displace a massive test particle in a physical system, allowing for the detection of gravitons. Possible experiments to detect gravitons are proposed involving collective stochastic fluctuations due to a large number of gravitons, causing a Brownian motion displacement of a massive test body. Gravitational wave experiments involving advanced interferometer techniques and mirrors could detect the large collective number of gravitons, and could detect Brownian motion of test particles in the detectors' component mirrors. The problem of reducing thermal and other background noise is investigated., Comment: 6 pages, no figures, revised version

Scattering probes the internal structure of quantum systems. We calculate the two-particle elastic scattering phase shift for a short-ranged interaction on a quantum computer. Short-ranged interactions with a large scattering length or shallow bound state describe a universality class that is of interest in atomic, condensed matter, nuclear, and particle physics. The phase shift is calculated by relating the ground state energy of the interacting particles in a harmonic trap. The relaxation method is used as the variational quantum eigensolver for the ground state calculation. Schmidt decomposition is used to reduce quantum circuits nominally requiring tens of qubits to 2-qubit circuits, thus reducing the noise in quantum measurements. Calculations in multi-particle systems with many-body interactions would benefit from this reduction of qubits in noisy quantum processors., Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables

Models for segmentation of brain lesions in multi-modal MRI are commonly trained for a specific pathology using a single database with a predefined set of MRI modalities, determined by a protocol for the specific disease. This work explores the following open questions: Is it feasible to train a model using multiple databases that contain varying sets of MRI modalities and annotations for different brain pathologies? Will this joint learning benefit performance on the sets of modalities and pathologies available during training? Will it enable analysis of new databases with different sets of modalities and pathologies? We develop and compare different methods and show that promising results can be achieved with appropriate, simple and practical alterations to the model and training framework. We experiment with 7 databases containing 5 types of brain pathologies and different sets of MRI modalities. Results demonstrate, for the first time, that joint training on multi-modal MRI databases with different brain pathologies and sets of modalities is feasible and offers practical benefits. It enables a single model to segment pathologies encountered during training in diverse sets of modalities, while facilitating segmentation of new types of pathologies such as via follow-up fine-tuning. The insights this study provides into the potential and limitations of this paradigm should prove useful for guiding future advances in the direction. Code and pretrained models: https://github.com/WenTXuL/MultiUnet, Comment: Accepted to MIDL 2024

Several long-period binaries with a carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet star and an O star produce dust in their wind collisions. In eccentric binaries, this is seen most strongly near periastron passage. The exact conditions leading to dust creation require orbital properties to be determined, which is difficult owing to their long periods. Recently, the binary system WR 125 (WC7+O9III) began a dust creation episode seen through an infrared outburst first detected by NEOWISE-R, which was the first outburst detected since 1991. We present new near- and mid-infrared photometry, which we use to show consistency between the two outbursts and derive an orbital period of 28.12$^{+0.10}_{-0.05}$ yr. We use a long time-series of optical spectra to place the first constraints on its orbital elements, on the assumption that this system will produce dust near periastron. The orbit has a mild eccentricity of 0.29$\pm$0.12 and is only derived for the Wolf-Rayet component, as the O star's radial velocities have noise that is likely larger than the expected semi-amplitude of the orbit. We also present SOFIA/FORCAST grism spectroscopy to examine the infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) of the dust during this outburst, comparing its properties to other WCd binaries, deriving a dust temperature of 580 K in 2021. This collection of observations will allow us to plan future observations of this system and place the system in the context of dust-creating Wolf-Rayet binaries., Comment: accepted to ApJ

Eta Carinae underwent the Great Eruption in the 1840s and a Lesser Eruption in the 1890s. Its apparent spectrum, modified by intervening ejecta, the Homunculus and Little Homunculus, continues to evolve but contains information pertaining to events in the 19th century. The LOS spectrum contains narrow absorption velocities, from -122 to -1665 km/s: rungs of a broken ladder caused by shells formed by the interacting winds. Estimated shell origin dates correlate with origin dates of expanding emission structures preceding the Great Eruption. The LOS absorption velocities extend the record post Great Eruption to the Lesser Eruption. We suggest that these shells originated from a binary merger within a triple system. Shells formed not only from periastron passages of the current secondary, but also from ear-like extensions preceding and following the periastron event. Additional models need to be considered., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 1 table

We analyse $\textit{XMM-Newton}$ RGS spectra of Wolf-Rayet (WR) 140, an archetype long-period eccentric WR+O colliding wind binary. We evaluate the spectra of O and Fe emission lines and find that the plasmas emitting these lines have the largest approaching velocities with the largest velocity dispersions between phases 0.935 and 0.968 where the inferior conjunction of the O star occurs. This behaviour is the same as that of the Ne line-emission plasma presented in our previous paper. We perform diagnosis of electron number density $n_{\rm e}$ using He-like triplet lines of O and Ne-like Fe-L lines. The former results in a conservative upper limit of $n_{\rm e} \lesssim 10^{10}$-10$^{12}$ cm$^{-3}$ on the O line-emission site, while the latter can not impose any constraint on the Fe line-emission site because of statistical limitations. We calculate the line-of-sight velocity and its dispersion separately along the shock cone. By comparing the observed and calculated line-of-sight velocities, we update the distance of the Ne line-emission site from the stagnation point. By assuming radiative cooling of the Ne line-emission plasma using the observed temperature and the local stellar wind density, we estimate the line-emission site extends along the shock cone by at most $\pm$58 per cent (phase 0.816) of the distance from the stagnation point. In this framework, excess of the observed velocity dispersion over the calculated one is ascribed to turbulence in the hot-shocked plasma at earlier orbital phases of 0.816, 0.912, and 0.935, with the largest velocity dispersion of 340-630 km s$^{-1}$ at phase 0.912., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Changes in the flux and spectrum of Eta Carinae since 1900 have been attributed to the evolution of the central binary by some. Others suggest evolution in the occulting ejecta. The brightness jump in the 1940s, which coincided with the appearance of narrow forbidden emission lines, may have been caused by the clearing and ionization of intervening circumstellar ejecta. The brightening changed at a slower pace up through forty years later. Here we continue earlier studies focused on the long-term showing that the forbidden line emission increased in the early 1990s with no noticeable increase in the brightness of the Homunculus. We interpret that the increase in narrow line emission is due to decreased extinction in the LOS from the central binary to the Weigelt clumps. In 2000, the central stellar core increased in brightness at a faster rate without associated changes in the Homunculus. By 2018, hundreds of narrow-line absorptions from singly-ionized metals in our LOS from Eta Carinae disappeared, thought to be caused by increased ionization of metals. These three events (1990, 2000, and 2018) are explained by the dissipation of circumstellar material within the Homunculus close to the binary. Combining these changes with the steadiness of the Homunculus and the primary winds over the past four decades indicates that circumstellar ejecta in our direction have been cleared., Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, to appear in ApJ

Search engine results pages are usually abstracted as binary relevance vectors and hence are categorical data, meaning that only a limited set of operations is permitted, most notably tabulation of occurrence frequencies, with determination of medians and averages not possible. To compare retrieval systems it is thus usual to make use of a categorical-to-numeric effectiveness mapping. A previous paper has argued that any desired categorical-to-numeric mapping may be used, provided only that there is an argued connection between each category of SERP and the score that is assigned to that category by the mapping. Further, once that plausible connection has been established, then the mapped values can be treated as real-valued observations on a ratio scale, allowing the computation of averages. This article is written in support of that point of view, and to respond to ongoing claims that SERP scores may only be averaged if very restrictive conditions are imposed on the effectiveness mapping.

Starting with a collection of traces generated by process executions, process discovery is the task of constructing a simple model that describes the process, where simplicity is often measured in terms of model size. The challenge of process discovery is that the process of interest is unknown, and that while the input traces constitute positive examples of process executions, no negative examples are available. Many commercial tools discover Directly-Follows Graphs, in which nodes represent the observable actions of the process, and directed arcs indicate execution order possibilities over the actions. We propose a new approach for discovering sound Directly-Follows Graphs that is grounded in grammatical inference over the input traces. To promote the discovery of small graphs that also describe the process accurately we design and evaluate a genetic algorithm that supports the convergence of the inference parameters to the areas that lead to the discovery of interesting models. Experiments over real-world datasets confirm that our new approach can construct smaller models that represent the input traces and their frequencies more accurately than the state-of-the-art technique. Reasoning over the frequencies of encoded traces also becomes possible, due to the stochastic semantics of the action graphs we propose, which, for the first time, are interpreted as models that describe the stochastic languages of action traces., Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures

Wide binary stars are used to test the modified gravity called Scalar-Tensor-Vector Gravity or MOG. This theory is based on the additional gravitational degrees of freedom, the scalar field $G=G_N(1+\alpha)$, where $G_N$ is Newton's constant, and the massive (spin-1 graviton) vector field $\phi_\mu$. The wide binaries have separations of 2-30 kAU. The MOG acceleration law, derived from the MOG field equations and equations of motion of a massive test particle for weak gravitational fields, depends on the enhanced gravitational constant $G=G_N(1+\alpha)$ and the effective running mass $\mu$. The magnitude of $\alpha$ depends on the physical length scale or averaging scale $\ell$ of the system. The modified MOG acceleration law for weak gravitational fields predicts that for the solar system and for the wide binary star systems gravitational dynamics follows Newton's law., Comment: 7 pages, no figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2006.12550 typos and text changes

We present infrared aperture masking interferometry (AMI) observations of newly formed dust from the colliding winds of the massive binary system Wolf-Rayet (WR) 137 with JWST using the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS). NIRISS AMI observations of WR 137 and a point-spread-function calibrator star, HD~228337, were taken using the F380M and F480M filters in 2022 July and August as part of the Director's Discretionary Early Release Science (DD-ERS) program 1349. Interferometric observables (squared visibilities and closure phases) from the WR 137 "interferogram" were extracted and calibrated using three independent software tools: ImPlaneIA, AMICAL, and SAMpip. The analysis of the calibrated observables yielded consistent values except for slightly discrepant closure phases measured by ImPlaneIA. Based on all three sets of calibrated observables, images were reconstructed using three independent software tools: BSMEM, IRBis, and SQUEEZE. All reconstructed image combinations generated consistent images in both F380M and F480M filters. The reconstructed images of WR 137 reveal a bright central core with a $\sim300$ mas linear filament extending to the northwest. A geometric colliding-wind model with dust production constrained to the orbital plane of the binary system and enhanced as the system approaches periapsis provided a general agreement with the interferometric observables and reconstructed images. Based on a colliding-wind dust condensation analysis, we suggest that dust formation within the orbital plane of WR 137 is induced by enhanced equatorial mass-loss from the rapidly rotating O9 companion star, whose axis of rotation is aligned with that of the orbit., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ. Updated plotting error in Fig. 2

The emergence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the early universe remains a topic of profound interest and debate. In this paper, we investigate the formation and growth of the first SMBHs within the framework of Modified Gravity (MOG), where gravity exhibits increased strength. We explore how MOG, as an alternative to the standard model, may offer novel insights into the emergence of SMBHs and potentially reconcile the discrepancies observed in the accretion and growth processes. We examine the dynamics of gas and matter in this modified gravitational framework, shedding light on the unique interplay between gravity and the formation of SMBHs., Comment: It has been accepted for publication by European Physical Journal C

The bright WN4 star EZ CMa exhibits a 3.77 day periodicity in photometry, spectroscopy, and polarimetry but the variations in the measurements are not strictly phase-locked, exhibiting changes in reference times, amplitudes, and the shape of the variability happening over times as short as a few weeks. Recently, 137 days of contiguous, variable photometry from BRITE-Constellation was interpreted as caused either by large-scale dense wind structures modulated by rotation, or by a fast-precessing binary having a slightly shorter 3.626 day orbital period and a fast apsidal motion rate of $1315^\circ\,\text{yr}^{-1}$. We aim at testing the latter hypothesis through analysis of spectroscopy and focus on the N\,{\sc v} $\lambda\,4945$ line. We derive an orbital solution for the system and reject the 3.626 day period to represent the variations in the radial velocities of EZ CMa. An orbital solution with an orbital period of 3.77 days was obtained but at the cost of an extremely high and thus improbable apsidal motion rate. Our best orbital solution yields a period of $3.751\pm0.001$\,days with no apsidal motion. We place our results in the context of other variability studies and system properties. While we cannot fully reject the precessing binary model, we find that the corotating interaction region (CIR) hypothesis is better supported by these and other data through qualitative models of CIRs., Comment: accepted to MNRAS

Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) are silicon semiconductor sensors with an implanted thin p-doped multiplication layer that is designed to provide low gain. Most importantly, LGADs are specifically engineered to provide excellent spatial and temporal resolution simultaneously. The technology shows promising prospects of fulfilling the 4D tracking requirements of future high energy physics experiments. Micron Semiconductor Ltd. has fabricated LGADs with an active thickness of 50 $\mu$m. The electrical and timing performance has been measured and compared with devices fabricated at IMB-CNM for reference. 50 $\mu$m thin LGADs by Micron Semiconductor Ltd. were measured to have a timing resolution in the region of 30 ps using a dedicated setup involving minimum ionising particles produced by Sr-90. Specifically, the best timing resolution of 26.5 ps was measured at a bias voltage of 200 V at -30{\deg}C.

Massive star winds are structured both stochastically ("clumps") and often coherently (Co-rotation Interaction Regions, or CIRs). Evidence for CIRs threading the winds of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars arises from multiple diagnostics including linear polarimetry. Some observations indicate changes in polarization position angle across optical recombination emission lines from a WR star wind but limited to blueshifted Doppler velocities. We explore a model involving a spherical wind with a single conical CIR stemming from a rotating star as qualitative proof-of-concept. To obtain a realistic distribution of limb polarization and limb darkening across the pseudo-photosphere formed in the optically thick wind of a WR star, we used Monte Carlo radiative transfer (MCRT). Results are shown for a parameter study. For line properties similar to WR 6 (EZ CMa; HD 50896), the combination of the MCRT results, a simple model for the CIR, and the Sobolev approximation for the line formation, we were able to reproduce variations in both polarization amplitude and position angle commensurate with observations. Characterizing CIRs in WR~winds has added importance for providing stellar rotation periods since the v sin i values are unobtainable because the pseudo-photosphere forms in the wind itself., Comment: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in MNRAS following peer review

It is tempting to assume that because effectiveness metrics have free choice to assign scores to search engine result pages (SERPs) there must thus be a similar degree of freedom as to the relative order that SERP pairs can be put into. In fact that second freedom is, to a considerable degree, illusory. That's because if one SERP in a pair has been given a certain score by a metric, fundamental ordering constraints in many cases then dictate that the score for the second SERP must be either not less than, or not greater than, the score assigned to the first SERP. We refer to these fixed relationships as innate pairwise SERP orderings. Our first goal in this work is to describe and defend those pairwise SERP relationship constraints, and tabulate their relative occurrence via both exhaustive and empirical experimentation. We then consider how to employ such innate pairwise relationships in IR experiments, leading to a proposal for a new measurement paradigm. Specifically, we argue that tables of results in which many different metrics are listed for champion versus challenger system comparisons should be avoided; and that instead a single metric be argued for in principled terms, with any relationships identified by that metric then reinforced via an assessment of the innate relationship as to whether other metrics - indeed, all other metrics - are likely to yield the same system-vs-system outcome., Comment: To Appear: Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2024

WR 137 (HD 192641) is a binary system consisting of a carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet star and an Oe companion star in a 13-year orbit. Near periastron, the winds of the two stars collide and form carbonaceous dust. We obtained three mid-infrared grism spectra of the system with SOFIA and FORCAST during the last year of SOFIA's operations in July 2021, February 2021, and May 2022 (Cycle 9). Within these spectra, we have identified several wind lines from He I, He II, C III, and C IV that are emitted from the Wolf-Rayet wind as well as a weak emission feature around 6.3-6.4 $\mu$m that may have shifted its peak flux from 6.29 to 6.41$\mu$m through this time period. The weak feature grew as the continuum dust emission grew while the WR emission appeared to decline due to lower contrast with the continuum. Furthermore, we observe that the peak of the feature shifts to redder wavelengths during the observations. We compare this feature to the UIR feature and other emission lines identified in dusty WC binaries. For WR 137, we speculate that mixing of the winds in the system with the Oe star's disk is important for starting the dust formation and that it is less important as dust formation continues. Previous infrared photometry shows "mini-eruptions" of dust production which could then be explained with variations of the Oe star disk., Comment: 13 pages, accepted to ApJ

NGC1277 is a compact but massive lenticular galaxy that shows no signs of the presence of dark matter. We find that this galaxy's behavior is consistent not only with Newtonian dynamics, but also with the predictions of Scalar--Tensor--Vector--Gravity, also known as MOG (MOdified Gravity). The compact size of the galaxy, in combination with its large mass, ensures that there are no observable deviations between the predictions of Newtonian and MOG orbital velocities within the galaxy's visible radius., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, expanded Discussion

Accurately quantifying the rates dM/dt at which massive stars lose mass is essential to any understanding of their evolution. All dM/dt estimates to date assume wind clumping factors; not allowing for clumping leads to overestimates of dM/dt and underestimates of lifetimes and masses when these stars explode as supernovae. Mid-IR spectroscopy suggested that the wind of the nearest Wolf-Rayet star, Gamma2 Vel, is resolved with a Full Width at 10 per cent intensity of 0.5 arcsec, or 171 AU at the 342 pc distance of the star. As the Zorro speckle imager on Gemini-South is capable of 0.02 arcsec resolution, we have used it to image Gamma2 Vel at two orbital phases (0.30 and 0.44) with two narrowband and two intermediate-band filters in an attempt to resolve its wind. Our observations demonstrate that the wind of Gamma2 Vel may be resolved as a 0.07 arcsec westward elongation through an 832 nm filter at orbital phase 0.3 . If confirmed, this is the smallest scale (24 AU) at which a WR star wind asymmetry has been directly imaged. Similar imaging at multiple phases is needed to determine if the asymmetry is due to stochastic wind clumping, co-rotating interaction regions or colliding-wind, cone-shaped shocks., Comment: 7 pages, 4 Figures, in press in MNRAS

We discuss the nonlocal nature of quantum mechanics and the link with relativistic quantum mechanics such as formulated by quantum field theory. We use here a nonlocal quantum field theory (NLQFT) which is finite, satisfies Poincar\'e invariance, unitarity and microscopic causality. This nonlocal quantum field theory associates infinite derivative entire functions with propagators and vertices. We focus on proving causality and discussing its importance when constructing a relativistic field theory. We formulate scalar field theory using the functional integral in order to characterize quantum entanglement and the entanglement entropy of the theory. Using the replica trick, we compute the entanglement entropy for the theory in 3 + 1 dimensions on a cone. The result is free of UV divergences and we recover the area law., Comment: 14 pages, typo corrected, the manuscript has been accepted for publication in the EPJ Plus