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Here we report on the identification of the three fastest rotating Jovian Trojans with reliable population assignment, using light curve data from the Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey mission, also confirmed by Zwicky Transient Facility data. For two of our targets the rotation periods are moderately below the previously accepted ~5 h Jovian Trojan breakup limit (4.26 and 4.75 h), however, the rotation period of (13383) was found to be P = 2.926 h, leading to a density estimate of $\rho$ $\approx$ 1.6 $g cm^{-3}$, higher than the generally accepted $\leq$ 1 $g cm^{-3}$ density limit of Jovian Trojans. If associated with lower densities, this rotation rate requires considerable cohesion in the order of a few kPa. The relatively high albedo (pV $\approx$ 0.11) and fast rotation suggest that (13383) may have undergone an energetic collision that spun up the body and exposed bright material to the surface., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters

We identify a property of the local tensors of matrix product states (MPS) that guarantees that their parent Hamiltonians satisfy the intersection property. The intersection property ensures that the ground space consists of MPS, with degeneracy bounded by the square of the bond dimension. The new local property, dubbed stability, generalizes (block) injectivity and is satisfied by the MPS tensors that construct the W state, domain wall superposition states, and their generalizations.

As the use of Generative AI (GenAI) tools becomes more prevalent in interpersonal communication, understanding their impact on social perceptions is crucial. According to signaling theory, GenAI may undermine the credibility of social signals conveyed in writing, since it reduces the cost of writing and makes it hard to verify the authenticity of messages. Using a pre-registered large-scale online experiment (N = 647; Prolific), featuring scenarios in a range of communication contexts (personal vs. professional; close others vs. strangers), we explored how senders' use of GenAI influenced recipients' impressions of senders, both when GenAI use was known or uncertain. Consistent with past work, we found strong negative effects on social impressions when disclosing that a message was AI-generated, compared to when the same message was human-written. However, under the more realistic condition when potential GenAI use was not explicitly highlighted, recipients did not exhibit any skepticism towards senders, and these "uninformed" impressions were virtually indistinguishable from those of fully human-written messages. Even when we highlighted the potential (but uncertain) use of GenAI, recipients formed overly positive impressions. These results are especially striking given that 46% of our sample admitted having used such tools for writing messages, just within the past two weeks. Our findings put past work in a new light: While social judgments can be substantially affected when GenAI use is explicitly disclosed, this information may not be readily available in more realistic communication settings, making recipients blissfully ignorant about others' potential use of GenAI.

We present new theoretical light curves in the Rubin-LSST filters for a fine grid of BL Her models computed using MESA-RSP. We also derive new theoretical period-luminosity (PL) and period-Wesenheit (PW) relations in the Rubin-LSST filters with the goal to study the effect of convection parameters and metallicity on these relations. The grid of BL Her models was computed with the input stellar parameters: metallicity ($-2.0\; \mathrm{dex} \leq \mathrm{[Fe/H]} \leq 0.0\; \mathrm{dex}$), stellar mass ($0.5M_{\odot}-0.8M_{\odot}$), stellar luminosity ($50L_{\odot}-300L_{\odot}$), and effective temperature (across the full extent of the instability strip; in steps of 50K) and using four sets of convection parameters. Bolometric correction tables from MIST were used to transform the theoretical bolometric light curves of the BL Her models into the Rubin-LSST ugrizy filters. The PL relations of the BL Her models exhibit steeper slopes but smaller dispersion with increasing wavelengths in the Rubin-LSST filters. The PL and PW slopes for the complete set of BL Her models computed with radiative cooling (sets B and D) are statistically similar across the grizy filters. The BL Her models exhibit weak or negligible effect of metallicity on the PL relations for wavelengths longer than the g filter for both the cases of the complete set of models as well as the low-mass models. However, we find significant effect of metallicity on the PL relation in the u filter. Strong metallicity effects are observed in the PWZ relations involving the u filter and are found to have significant contribution from the high-metallicity BL Her models. Due to negligible metallicity effect for relations involving the Wesenheit indices $W(i,g-i)$, $W(z,i-z)$ and $W(y,g-y)$, we recommend these filter combinations for BL Her stars when observed with the Rubin-LSST to be used as reliable standard candles., Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 13 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Traditional similarity-based schema matching methods are incapable of resolving semantic ambiguities and conflicts in domain-specific complex mapping scenarios due to missing commonsense and domain-specific knowledge. The hallucination problem of large language models (LLMs) also makes it challenging for LLM-based schema matching to address the above issues. Therefore, we propose a Knowledge Graph-based Retrieval-Augmented Generation model for Schema Matching, referred to as the KG-RAG4SM. In particular, KG-RAG4SM introduces novel vector-based, graph traversal-based, and query-based graph retrievals, as well as a hybrid approach and ranking schemes that identify the most relevant subgraphs from external large knowledge graphs (KGs). We showcase that KG-based retrieval-augmented LLMs are capable of generating more accurate results for complex matching cases without any re-training. Our experimental results show that KG-RAG4SM outperforms the LLM-based state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods (e.g., Jellyfish-8B) by 35.89% and 30.50% in terms of precision and F1 score on the MIMIC dataset, respectively; KG-RAG4SM with GPT-4o-mini outperforms the pre-trained language model (PLM)-based SOTA methods (e.g., SMAT) by 69.20% and 21.97% in terms of precision and F1 score on the Synthea dataset, respectively. The results also demonstrate that our approach is more efficient in end-to-end schema matching, and scales to retrieve from large KGs. Our case studies on the dataset from the real-world schema matching scenario exhibit that the hallucination problem of LLMs for schema matching is well mitigated by our solution., Comment: Under Review

Time series classification (TSC) is fundamental in numerous domains, including finance, healthcare, and environmental monitoring. However, traditional TSC methods often struggle with the inherent complexity and variability of time series data. Building on our previous work with the linear law-based transformation (LLT) - which improved classification accuracy by transforming the feature space based on key data patterns - we introduce adaptive law-based transformation (ALT). ALT enhances LLT by incorporating variable-length shifted time windows, enabling it to capture distinguishing patterns of various lengths and thereby handle complex time series more effectively. By mapping features into a linearly separable space, ALT provides a fast, robust, and transparent solution that achieves state-of-the-art performance with only a few hyperparameters., Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, 5 tables

The presence and nature of low-frequency (0.1-10~mHz) Alfv\'enic waves in the corona has been established over the last decade, with many of these results coming from coronagraphic observations of the infrared Fe XIII line. The Cryo-NIRSP instrument situated at DKIST has recently begun acquiring science quality data of the same Fe XIII line, with at least a factor of 9 improvement in spatial resolution, a factor 30 increase in temporal resolution and an increase in signal-to-noise, when compared to the majority of previously available data. Here we present an analysis of 1~s cadence sit-and-stare data from Cryo-NIRSP, examining the Doppler velocity fluctuations associated with the Fe XIII 1074~nm coronal line. We are able to confirm previous results of Alfv\'enic waves in the corona as well as explore a new frequency regime. The data reveals that the power law behaviour of the Doppler velocity power spectrum extends to higher frequencies. This result appears to challenge some models of photospheric-driven Alfv\'enic waves that predict a lack of high frequency wave power in the corona due to strong chromospheric damping. Moreover, the high-frequency waves do not transport as much energy as their low-frequency counterparts, with less time-averaged energy per frequency interval. We are also able to confirm the incompressible nature of the fluctuations with little coherence between the line amplitude and Doppler velocity time-series., Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, Submitted

In the classical control of network systems, the control actions on a node are determined as a function of the states of all nodes in the network. Motivated by applications where the global state cannot be reconstructed in real time due to limitations in the collection, communication, and processing of data, here we introduce a control approach in which the control actions can be computed as a function of the states of the nodes within a limited state information neighborhood. The trade-off between the control performance and the size of this neighborhood is primarily determined by the condition number of the controllability Gramian. Our theoretical results are supported by simulations on regular and random networks and are further illustrated by an application to the control of power-grid synchronization. We demonstrate that for well-conditioned Gramians, there is no significant loss of control performance as the size of the state information neighborhood is reduced, allowing efficient control of large networks using only local information., Comment: Published as part of the Focus Issue Topics in Nonlinear Science, dedicated to David K. Campbell's 80th Birthday

Strong He I 1083 nm atomic line signals have been previously measured during total solar eclipses at coronal heights above the lunar limb. This rather unexpected measurement has kindled a discussion about the hypothesized presence of significant amounts of neutral helium at coronal conditions. We performed spectroscopic observations of the He I 1083 nm spectroscopic region with the newly built CHEESE instrument during the April 8th 2024 total solar eclipse to test the presence of He I 1083 in the solar corona. We detected the He I 1083, the forbidden coronal line Fe XIII 1074.7 nm, as well as the chromospheric H I 1093.8 nm Paschen-{\gamma} line in our eclipse observations. The chromospheric He I 1083 and H I 1093.8 nm Paschen-{\gamma} lines are detected in the corona as well as on the lunar disc. Our findings point toward a non-solar origin of the He I 1083 signal during the April 8th 2024 eclipse that challenge the notion of abundant neutral helium in the solar corona inferred from eclipse observations., Comment: Submitted to Solar Physics; comments welcome

This paper presents a novel neural-implicit approach to laser absorption tomography (LAT) with experimental verification. A coordinate neural network is used to represent thermochemical state variables as continuous functions of space and time. Unlike most existing neural methods for LAT, which rely on prior simulations and supervised training, our approach is based solely on LAT measurements, utilizing a differentiable observation operator with line parameters provided in standard spectroscopy database formats. Although reconstructing scalar fields from multi-beam absorbance data is an inherently ill-posed, nonlinear inverse problem, our continuous space-time parameterization supports physics-inspired regularization strategies and enables physics-informed data assimilation. Synthetic and experimental tests are conducted to validate the method, demonstrating robust performance and reproducibility. We show that our neural-implicit approach to LAT can capture the dominant spatial modes of an unsteady flame from very sparse measurement data, indicating its potential to reveal combustion instabilities in measurement domains with minimal optical access.

We apply the method of moments to the relativistic Boltzmann-Vlasov equation and derive the equations of motion for the irreducible moments of arbitrary tensor-rank of the invariant single-particle distribution function. We study two cases, in the first of which the moments are taken to be irreducible with respect to the little group associated with the time-like fluid four-velocity, while in the second case they are assumed to be also irreducible with respect to a space-like four-vector orthogonal to the fluid four-velocity, which breaks the spatial isotropy to a rotational symmetry in the plane transverse to this vector. A systematic truncation and closure of the general moment equations leads, in the first case, to a theory of relativistic higher-order dissipative resistive magnetohydrodynamics. In the second case, we obtain a novel theory of dissipative resistive anisotropic magnetohydrodynamics, where the momentum anisotropy is in principle independent from that introduced by the external magnetic field., Comment: 32 pages, more references and some clarifications added

The difference between free surface energy and fracture toughness in amorphous silica is studied via multi-scale simulations. We combine the homogenization of a molecular dynamics fracture model with a phase-field approach to track and quantify the various energy contributions. We clearly separate free surface energy localized as potential energy on the surface and damage diffusion over a ca. 20 \r{A} range around the crack path. The plastic contribution is negligible. These findings, which clarify brittle fracture mechanisms in amorphous materials, align with toughness measurements in silica.

We carry out an extensive light curve comparison of BL Her stars using observations from Gaia DR3 and stellar pulsation models computed using MESA-RSP with the goal to obtain the best-matched modeled-observed pairs for BL Her stars in the LMC. We use the Fourier decomposition technique to analyse the light curves in the G band obtained from Gaia DR3 and from MESA-RSP and use a robust light curve fitting approach to score the modeled-observed pairs with respect to their pulsation periods and over their Fourier parameter space. We obtain the best-fit models for 48 BL Her stars in the LMC and thereby provide the stellar parameter estimates of these stars, 30 of which are labelled as the gold sample with superior light curve fits. We find a relatively flat distribution of stellar masses between 0.5-0.65 Msolar for the gold sample of modeled-observed pairs. An interesting result is that the majority of the best-matched models in the gold sample are computed using the convection parameter sets without radiative cooling. The period-Wesenheit relation for the best-matched gold sample of 30 BL Her models exhibits a slope of $-2.805 \pm 0.164$ while the corresponding period-radius relation exhibits a slope of $0.565 \pm 0.035$, both in good agreement with the empirical PW and PR slopes from BL Her stars in the LMC, respectively. We also used the Wesenheit magnitudes of the 30 best-matched modeled-observed pairs to estimate a distance modulus of $\mu_{\rm LMC} = 18.582 \pm 0.067$ to the LMC, which lies within the bounds of previous literature values. We also discuss the degeneracy in the stellar parameters of the BL Her models that result in similar pulsation periods and light curve structure, and highlight that caution must be exercised while using the stellar parameter estimates., Comment: 20 pages, 10 main text figures, 5 appendix figures, 1 main text table, 1 appendix table. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Temporal forward-tracking has been the dominant approach for multi-object segmentation and tracking (MOTS). However, a novel time-symmetric tracking methodology has recently been introduced for the detection, segmentation, and tracking of budding yeast cells in pre-recorded samples. Although this architecture has demonstrated a unique perspective on stable and consistent tracking, as well as missed instance re-interpolation, its evaluation has so far been largely confined to settings related to videomicroscopic environments. In this work, we aim to reveal the broader capabilities, advantages, and potential challenges of this architecture across various specifically designed scenarios, including a pedestrian tracking dataset. We also conduct an ablation study comparing the model against its restricted variants and the widely used Kalman filter. Furthermore, we present an attention analysis of the tracking architecture for both pretrained and non-pretrained models

Among the growing number of small body rings in the solar system, the ring of Haumea has a special status as it is likely suitable for direct imaging in the visible and submillimeter wavelengths. In this paper, we highlight its sole detectability among Centaur/TNO rings using both the ALMA and the James Webb Space Telescope to provide direct constraints on the ring composition for the first time. To overcome the limitations of the currently used simple ring models, we introduce radiative transfer modeling for small body ring systems. Here we perform a thorough analysis of the Haumea ring considering different materials and grain sizes, assuming that the ring consists of small particles with sizes below 1 mm. We present spectral energy distributions of each model for future comparison with multiwavelength measurements, providing a diagnostic tool to determine the dominant grain size and characteristic material of the ring, which are essential inputs for ring formation and evolution theories. Our results also show that for some sub-micron carbon-like or silicate grains, their mid-infrared excess can be detected even if the ring is not resolved, providing a tracer for small grains around the object., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in PASP

In this paper functions $f:D\to\mathbb{R}$ satisfying the inequality \[ f\Big(\frac{x+y}{2}\Big)\leq\frac12f(x)+\frac12f(y) +\varphi\Big(\frac{x-y}{2}\Big) \qquad(x,y\in D) \] are studied, where $D$ is a nonempty convex subset of a real linear space $X$ and $\varphi:\{\frac12(x-y) : x,y \in D\}\to\mathbb{R}$ is a so-called error function. In this situation $f$ is said to be $\varphi$-Jensen convex. The main results show that for all $\varphi$-Jensen convex function $f:D\to\mathbb{R}$, for all rational $\lambda\in[0,1]$ and $x,y\in D$, the following inequality holds \[ f(\lambda x+(1-\lambda)y) \leq \lambda f(x)+(1-\lambda)f(y)+\sum_{k=0}^\infty \frac{1}{2^k}\varphi\big(\mbox{dist}(2^k\lambda,\mathbb{Z})\cdot(x-y)\big). \] The infinite series on the right hand side is always convergent, moreover, for all rational $\lambda\in[0,1]$, it can be evaluated as a finite sum.

This paper presents a novel approach for synthesizing control barrier functions (CBFs) from high relative degree safety constraints: Rectified CBFs (ReCBFs). We begin by discussing the limitations of existing High-Order CBF approaches and how these can be overcome by incorporating an activation function into the CBF construction. We then provide a comparative analysis of our approach with related methods, such as CBF backstepping. Our results are presented first for safety constraints with relative degree two, then for mixed-input relative degree constraints, and finally for higher relative degrees. The theoretical developments are illustrated through simple running examples and an aircraft control problem., Comment: 6 pages, submitted to L-CSS/ACC 2025

Ignoring their own well-publicized calls to regulate AI development and to pause implementation of its applications, major technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Meta are racing to fend off regulation and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their platforms. The weight of the available evidence suggests that the current wholesale adoption of unregulated AI applications in schools poses a grave danger to democratic civil society and to individual freedom and liberty. Years of warnings and precedents have highlighted the risks posed by the widespread use of pre-AI digital technologies in education, which have obscured decision-making and enabled student data exploitation. Without effective public oversight, the introduction of opaque and unproven AI systems and applications will likely exacerbate these problems. This policy brief explores the harms likely if lawmakers and others do not step in with carefully considered measures to prevent these extensive risks. The authors urge school leaders to pause the adoption of AI applications until policymakers have had sufficient time to thoroughly educate themselves and develop legislation and policies ensuring effective public oversight and control of school applications.

Reduced-order models (ROMs) provide lower dimensional representations of complex systems, capturing their salient features while simplifying control design. Building on previous work, this paper presents an overarching framework for the integration of ROMs and control barrier functions, enabling the use of simplified models to construct safety-critical controllers while providing safety guarantees for complex full-order models. To achieve this, we formalize the connection between full and ROMs by defining projection mappings that relate the states and inputs of these models and leverage simulation functions to establish conditions under which safety guarantees may be transferred from a ROM to its corresponding full-order model. The efficacy of our framework is illustrated through simulation results on a drone and hardware demonstrations on ARCHER, a 3D hopping robot.

Let $G$ be a simple finite connected graph of order $n$ greater than or equal to $3$. We obtain the following results: (1). We apply a result of Hamada and Yoshimura from 1976 and some recent results of Alikhani and Soltani (2020) and Kalinowski and Pilsniak (2015) to determine the distinguishing chromatic number of the middle graph $M(G)$ of the graph $G$. In particular, the distinguishing chromatic number $\chi_{D}(M(G))$ of the middle graph $M(G)$ of the graph $G$ is $\Delta(G)+1$ except for four small graphs $C_{4}, K_{4}, C_{6}$, and $K_{3,3}$, and $\Delta(G)+2$ otherwise. (2). In 2016, Kalinowski, Pilsniak, and Wozniak introduced the total distinguishing number $D''(G)$ of $G$. Inspired by a recent result of Mirafzal (2024), we show that the distinguishing number $D(S(G))$ of the subdivision graph $S(G)$ of $G$ is $D''(G)$. Consequently, $D(S(G))$ is at most $\lceil \sqrt{\Delta(G)}\rceil$. (3). We obtain a sharp upper bound for the distinguishing chromatic number of the subdivision graph $S(G)$ of $G$ in terms of the distinguishing number of $G$., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures

Neural optical flow (NOF) offers improved accuracy and robustness over existing OF methods for particle image velocimetry (PIV). Unlike other OF techniques, which rely on discrete displacement fields, NOF parameterizes the physical velocity field using a continuous neural-implicit representation. This formulation enables efficient data assimilation and ensures consistent regularization across views for stereo PIV. The neural-implicit architecture provides significant data compression and supports a space-time formulation, facilitating the analysis of both steady and unsteady flows. NOF incorporates a differentiable, nonlinear image-warping operator that relates particle motion to intensity changes between frames. Discrepancies between the advected intensity field and observed images form the data loss, while soft constraints, such as Navier-Stokes residuals, enhance accuracy and enable direct pressure inference from PIV images. Additionally, mass continuity can be imposed as a hard constraint for both 2D and 3D flows. Implicit regularization is achieved by tailoring the network's expressivity to match a target flow's spectral characteristics. Results from synthetic planar and stereo PIV datasets, as well as experimental planar data, demonstrate NOF's effectiveness compared to state-of-the-art wavelet-based OF and CC methods. Additionally, we highlight its potential broader applicability to techniques like background-oriented schlieren, molecular tagging velocimetry, and other advanced measurement systems.

The magnetic field vector of the solar corona is not regularly and comprehensively being measured, because of the complexity and degeneracy inherently present in the types of observations currently available. To address some of the current limitations of coronal polarimetry, we present computations that demonstrate the possibility of magnetometry using the unsaturated Hanle effect of the He I 1083 nm line. The main purpose of this investigation is to show how the geometric properties of the linear polarization of this line can be used to routinely diagnose the orientation of the field in erupting prominences, thus providing an important constraint on the B$_z$ determination at 1 AU. For this work, we adopted a simplified magnetic model of a flux rope, consisting of a toroidal helical structure embedded in a hydrostatically stratified corona. Our results demonstrate the possibility to discern different orientations of the magnetic field vector in such structures under rather general and practicable viewing conditions. In particular, observations from the Sun-Earth Lagrange points are found to provide excellent locations for the deployment of synoptic instruments aiming at the estimation of the magnetic field of Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejections. We complete our demonstration by showing how a small (~5 cm) space-borne coronagraph can achieve sufficient signal-to-noise ratios to make the coronal magnetometry goal outlined above feasible., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

Projected entangled pair states (PEPS) are very useful in the description of strongly correlated systems, partly because they allow encoding symmetries, either global or local (gauge), naturally. In recent years, PEPS with local symmetries have increasingly been used in the study of non-perturbative regimes of lattice gauge theories, most prominently as a way to construct variational ansatz states depending only on a small number of parameters and yet capturing the relevant physical properties. For the case of one-dimensional PEPS (Matrix Product States - MPS) a bidirectional connection was established between the internal structure of the tensor network, i.e. the mathematical properties of the constituent tensors, and the symmetry. In higher dimensions this has only been done for global symmetries, where in the local (gauge) case it is known only how to construct gauge-invariant states, but not what the symmetry implies on the internal structure of the PEPS. In the present work we complete this missing piece and study the internal structure of projected entangled pair states with a gauge symmetry. The PEPS we consider consist of matter and gauge field tensors placed on the vertices and edges, respectively, of arbitrary graphs., Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures; included example section

We investigate the integer solutions of Diophantine equations related to Lehmer's totient conjecture. We give an algorithm that computes all nontrivial positive spoof Lehmer factorizations with a fixed number of bases $r$, and enumerate all nontrivial positive spoof Lehmer factorizations with 6 or fewer factors., Comment: 9 pages; 2 tables

Obtaining a controlled invariant set is crucial for safety-critical control with control barrier functions (CBFs) but is non-trivial for complex nonlinear systems and constraints. Backup control barrier functions allow such sets to be constructed online in a computationally tractable manner by examining the evolution (or flow) of the system under a known backup control law. However, for systems with unmodeled disturbances, this flow cannot be directly computed, making the current methods inadequate for assuring safety in these scenarios. To address this gap, we leverage bounds on the nominal and disturbed flow to compute a forward invariant set online by ensuring safety of an expanding norm ball tube centered around the nominal system evolution. We prove that this set results in robust control constraints which guarantee safety of the disturbed system via our Disturbance-Robust Backup Control Barrier Function (DR-bCBF) solution. The efficacy of the proposed framework is demonstrated in simulation, applied to a double integrator problem and a rigid body spacecraft rotation problem with rate constraints., Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS). 6 pages, 4 figures

Controlling connected automated vehicles (CAVs) via vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity holds significant promise for improving fuel economy and traffic efficiency. However, to deploy CAVs and reap their benefits, their controllers must guarantee their safety. In this paper, we apply control barrier function (CBF) theory to investigate the safety of CAVs implementing connected cruise control (CCC). Specifically, we study how stability, connection architecture, and the CAV's response time impact the safety of CCC. Through safety and stability analyses, we derive stable and safe choices of control gains, and show that safe CAV operation requires plant and head-to-tail string stability in most cases. Furthermore, the reaction time of vehicles, which is represented as a first-order lag, has a detrimental effect on safety. We determine the critical value of this lag, above which safe CCC gains do not exist. To guarantee safety even with lag while preserving the benefits of CCC, we synthesize safety-critical CCC using CBFs. With the proposed safety-critical CCC, the CAV can leverage information from connected vehicles farther ahead to improve its safety. We evaluate this controller by numerical simulation using real traffic data., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures

Exploiting IRAM 30 m CO spectroscopy, we find that SDSS post-merger galaxies display gas fractions and depletion times enhanced by 25-50%, a mildly higher CO excitation, and standard molecular-to-atomic gas ratios, compared to non-interacting galaxies with similar redshift, stellar mass ($M_{\star}$) and star-formation rate (SFR). To place these results in context, we compile further samples of interacting or starbursting galaxies, from pre-coalescence kinematic pairs to post-starbursts, carefully homogenising gas mass, $M_{\star}$ and SFR measurements in the process. We explore systematics by duplicating our analysis for different SFR and $M_{\star}$ estimators, finding good qualitative agreement in general. Molecular gas fractions and depletion times are enhanced in interacting pairs, albeit less than for post-mergers. Among all samples studied, gas fraction and depletion time enhancements appear largest in young (a few 100 Myr) post-starbursts. While there is only partial overlap between post-mergers and post-starbursts, this suggests that molecular gas reservoirs are boosted throughout most stages of galaxy interactions, plausibly due to torque-driven inflows of halo gas and gas compression. The gas fraction and depletion time offsets of mergers and post-starbursts anti-correlate with their distance from the galaxy main sequence $\Delta({\rm MS})$, evidencing the role of SFE in driving the high SFRs of the strongest starbursts. Post-starbursts display the steepest dependency of gas fraction and SFE-offsets on $\Delta({\rm MS})$, with an evolving normalisation that reflects gas reservoir depletion over time. Our multi-sample analysis paints a coherent picture of the starburst-merger throughout the low-z merger sequence. It reconciles contradictory literature findings by highlighting that gas fraction enhancements and SFE variations both play their part in merger-driven star formation., Comment: 46 pages, 21 figures. Submitted to the Open Journal of Astrophysics

Globular clusters offer a powerful way to test the properties of stellar populations and the late stages of low-mass stellar evolution. In this paper we study oscillating giant stars and overtone RR Lyrae-type pulsators in the nearest globular cluster, M4, with the help of high-precision, continuous light curves collected by the Kepler space telescope in the K2 mission. We determine the frequency composition of five RRc stars and model their physical parameters with a grid of linear pulsation models. We are able, for the first time, to compare seismic masses of RR Lyrae stars directly to the masses of the very similar red horizontal branch stars in the same stellar population, independently determined from asteroseismic scaling relations. We find a close match, with an average seismic mass of $0.651\pm0.028\,M_\odot$ for RR Lyrae stars and $0.657\pm0.034\,M_\odot$ for red horizontal-branch stars. While the validity of our RR Lyrae masses still relies on the similarity of neighboring horizontal branch subgroups, this result strongly indicates that RRc stars may indeed exhibit high-degree, $l = 8$ and 9 non-radial modes, and modeling these modes can provide realistic mass estimates. We also determine the He content of the cluster to be $Y = 0.266\pm 0.008$, and compare the seismic masses for our sample of RR Lyrae to theoretical mass relations and highlight the limitations of these relations., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, submitted to A&A for review

This paper presents an innovative approach to conducting a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) course, engaging over 80 participants annually. The course is structured around collaborative group assignments, where students utilize Enterprise Architect to complete complex systems engineering tasks across six submissions. This year, we introduced several technological advancements to enhance the learning experience, including the use of LemonTree, SmartGit, and GitHub. Students collaborated on shared repositories in GitHub, received continuous feedback via automated checks through LemonTree Automation, and documented their progress with pre-rendered, continuously updating diagrams. Additionally, they managed 2-way and 3-way merges directly in SmartGit, with merge issues, updates, and model statistics readily available for each Work-in-Progress submission. The process of correcting and providing manual feedback was streamlined, thanks to accessible changelogs and renders in GitHub. An end-of-course feedback form revealed high student satisfaction., Comment: This document is the English version of our German-language submission to the Tag des Systems Engineering 2024 conference, entitled "Verbesserung der MBSE-Ausbildung durch Versionskontrolle und automatisiertes Feedback"

The constancy of nuclear decay rates can be investigated via long-duration precision measurements. It is still an open question whether any (annual) modulation can be observed. Long-lasting nuclear decay rate measurements have been the subject of considerable research effort. A decay rate measurement with a 137Cs source is currently being conducted 30 meters below the ground at the J\'anossy Underground Research Laboratory (JURLab, Csilleb\'erc, Hungary) utilizing a High-purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. The laboratory is the low-radiation-background part of the Vesztergombi High Energy Laboratory (VLAB) on the KFKI campus, Csilleb\'erc, Hungary. From October 2022 to April 2024, data of 18 months' worth have been collected, providing a new opportunity to look for variations in decay rates. The experimental setup, data processing method, and the first results of this measurement are presented here., Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures

Blue large-amplitude pulsators (BLAPs) are a recently discovered group of hot pulsating stars whose evolutionary status remains uncertain. We study the pulsation characteristics of BLAPs for the two main mass scenarios, $ 0.3 - 0.4 \: \rm M_{\odot} $ and $ 0.7 - 1.1 \: \rm M_{\odot} $, and compare them with observations to find evidence for either scenario. We compute about a half million linear BLAP models using MESA-RSP and compare the linear pulsation periods with the observed ranges of BLAP stars. For the low-mass scenario, BLAPs are in a region of the HR diagram where the growth rates are positive for the fundamental mode, and the model periods correspond well to the observed ones, assuming the reported luminosities of $ \sim 200 \: \rm L_{\odot} $. For the high-mass scenario, pulsations in the first overtone dominate. Assuming a larger range of luminosities, high-mass models could also explain all BLAPs, including the high-gravity BLAPs. Furthermore, we provide the first seismically constrained mass estimate for the first double-mode BLAP star, OGLE-BLAP-030. We find that a linear model with a mass of $ 0.62 \: \rm M_{\odot} $ matches the reported parameters of this star exactly, placing it in between the two mass scenarios. We also derive new period relations based on our models and all available observed BLAPs, and we find that the derived relations also support the low-mass scenario., Comment: submitted to ApJ, comments welcome, 13 pages, 8 figures

Accurately assessing the balance between acoustic wave energy fluxes and radiative losses is critical for understanding how the solar chromosphere is thermally regulated. We investigate the energy balance in the chromosphere by comparing deposited acoustic flux and radiative losses under quiet and active solar conditions using non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) inversions with the Stockholm Inversion Code (STiC). To achieve this, we utilize spectroscopic observations from the Interferometric BIdimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) in the Na I 5896 \r{A} and Ca II 8542 \r{A} lines and from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) in the Mg II h and k lines to self-consistently derive spatially resolved velocity power spectra and cooling rates across different heights in the atmosphere. Additionally, we use snapshots of a three-dimensional radiative-magnetohydrodynamics simulation to investigate the systematic effects of the inversion approach, particularly the attenuation effect on the velocity power spectra and the determination of the cooling rates. The results indicate that inversions potentially underestimate acoustic fluxes at all chromospheric heights while slightly overestimating the radiative losses when fitting these spectral lines. However, even after accounting for these biases, the ratio of acoustic flux to radiative losses remains below unity in most observed regions, particularly in the higher layers of the chromosphere. We also observe a correlation between the magnetic field inclination in the photosphere and radiative losses in the low chromosphere in plage, which is evidence that the field topology plays a role in the chromospheric losses., Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ

The Pan-STARRS 3$\pi$ survey has detected hundreds of thousands of variable stars thanks to its coverage and 4-year time span, even though the sampling of the light curves is relatively sparse. These light curves contain only 10-15 detections in each of the five filters (g,r,i,z,y). During the K2 mission, the Kepler space telescope observed with a high sampling frequency, although only for about 80 days in each of its campaigns. Crossmatching and investigating the RR Lyrae stars observed by both K2 and Pan-STARRS can serve as a valuable tool to validate the classification and period determination of the survey. We used the Sesar catalogue of RR Lyrae stars detected by Pan-STARRS. After determining the overlap, we also considered the Gaia DR3 RR Lyrae catalogue data for these stars wherever it was available. The frequencies of the light variations were calculated by applying the Lomb-Scargle periodogram method on the K2 light curves that were prepared with autoEAP photometry. The calculated frequencies of the stars then were compared with those given in the Sesar catalogue and the Gaia DR3 RR Lyrae catalogue. We found that for the majority of the stars, the classification (95.6%) and the frequency determination (90.1%) of the PanSTARRS RR Lyrae stars were consistent within 0.03 d-1 with those that we derived from the K2 autoEAP light curves. For a significant subset of the sample, 7.4%, however, an offset of 1 or 2 d-1 was found in the frequencies. These are the result of the sampling of the detections, because Pan-STARRS observations are affected by diurnal cycles, whereas Kepler carried out measurements quasicontinuously. We found that RRc subtypes are significantly more affected (25.3%) than RRab subtypes (3.7%), which is most likely caused by RRc stars having less sharp light curve features. Validation via space-based data will be important for future ground-based surveys, as well., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, 1 appendix table, accepted for publication in A&A

We predict the existence of $\alpha$ Ori B, a low-mass companion orbiting Betelgeuse. This is motivated by the presence of a 2170-day Long Secondary Period (LSP) in Betelgeuse's lightcurve, a periodicity $\approx5$ times longer than the star's 416 day fundamental radial pulsation mode. While binarity is currently the leading hypothesis for LSPs in general, the LSP and the radial velocity variation observed in Betelgeuse, taken together, necessitate a revision of the prevailing physical picture. The lightcurve-RV phase difference requires a companion to be behind Betelgeuse at the LSP luminosity minimum, 180 degrees out of phase with the system orientation associated with occultation. We demonstrate the consistency of this model with available observational constraints and identify tensions in all other proposed LSP hypotheses. Within this framework, we calculate a mass for $\alpha$ Ori B of $M\sin i =1.17\pm0.7\,M_\odot$ and an orbital separation of $1850\pm70\,R_\odot$, or $2.43^{+0.21}_{-0.32}$ times the radius of Betelgeuse. We then describe the features of the companion as constrained by the fundamental parameters of Betelgeuse and its orbital system, and discuss what would be required to confirm the companion's existence observationally., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, accepted to the Astrophysical Journal

We are releasing a new suite of security benchmarks for LLMs, CYBERSECEVAL 3, to continue the conversation on empirically measuring LLM cybersecurity risks and capabilities. CYBERSECEVAL 3 assesses 8 different risks across two broad categories: risk to third parties, and risk to application developers and end users. Compared to previous work, we add new areas focused on offensive security capabilities: automated social engineering, scaling manual offensive cyber operations, and autonomous offensive cyber operations. In this paper we discuss applying these benchmarks to the Llama 3 models and a suite of contemporaneous state-of-the-art LLMs, enabling us to contextualize risks both with and without mitigations in place.

In the past, analogies to Brooks' theorem have been found for various parameters of graph coloring for infinite locally finite connected graphs in ZFC. We prove these theorems are not provable in ZF (i.e. the Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory without the Axiom of Choice (AC)). Moreover, such theorems follow from Konig's Lemma (every infinite locally finite connected graph has a ray-a weak form of AC) in ZF. In ZF, we formulate new conditions for the existence of the distinguishing chromatic number, the distinguishing chromatic index, the total chromatic number, the total distinguishing chromatic number, the odd chromatic number, and the neighbor-distinguishing index in infinite locally finite connected graphs, which are equivalent to Konig's Lemma. In this direction, we strengthen a recent result of Stawiski from 2023., Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. Some new results were added

We present MeerKAT Fornax Survey HI observations of NGC 1427A, a blue irregular galaxy with a stellar mass of 2e+9 Msun located near the centre of the Fornax galaxy cluster. Thanks to the excellent resolution (1 to 6 kpc spatially, 1.4 km/s in velocity) and HI column density sensitivity (4e+19/cm^2 to 1e+18/cm^2 depending on resolution), our data deliver new insights on the long-debated interaction of this galaxy with the cluster environment. We confirm the presence of a broad, one-sided, starless HI tail stretching from the outer regions of the stellar body and pointing away from the cluster centre. We find the tail to have 50% more HI (4e+8 Msun) and to be 3 times longer (70 kpc) than in previous observations. In fact, we detect scattered HI clouds out to 300 kpc from the galaxy in the direction of the tail -- possibly the most ancient remnant of the passage of NGC 1427A through the intracluster medium of Fornax. Both the velocity gradient along the HI tail and the peculiar kinematics of HI in the outer region of the stellar body are consistent with the effect of ram pressure given the line-of-sight motion of the galaxy within the cluster. However, several properties cannot be explained solely by ram pressure and suggest an ongoing tidal interaction. This includes: the close match between dense HI and stars within the disturbed stellar body; the abundant kinematically-anomalous HI; and the inversion of the HI velocity gradient near the base of the HI tail. We rule out an interaction with the cluster tidal field, and conclude that NGC 1427A is the result of a high-speed galaxy encounter or of a merger started at least 300 Myr ago, where ram pressure shapes the distribution and kinematics of the HI in the perturbed outer stellar body and in the tidal tails., Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics, accepted. Data available at the MeerKAT Fornax Survey website, https://sites.google.com/inaf.it/meerkatfornaxsurvey

The introduction of connected and automated vehicles (CAV) is believed to reduce congestion, enhance safety, and improve traffic efficiency. Numerous research studies have focused on controlling pure CAV platoons in fully connected automated traffic, as well as single or multiple CAVs in mixed traffic with human-driven vehicles (HVs). CAV cruising control designs have been proposed to stabilize the car-following traffic dynamics, but few studies has considered their safety impact, particularly the trade-offs between stability and safety. In this paper, we study how cooperative control strategies for CAVs can be designed to enhance the safety and smoothness of mixed traffic under varying penetrations of connectivity and automation. Considering mixed traffic where a pair of CAVs travels amongst HVs, we design cooperative feedback controllers for the pair CAVs to stabilize traffic via cooperation and, possibly, by also leveraging connectivity with HVs. The real-time safety impact of the CAV controllers is investigated using control barrier functions (CBF). We construct CBF safety constraints, based on which we propose safety-critical control designs to guarantee CAV safety, HV safety and platoon safety. Both theoretical and numerical analyses have been conducted to explore the effect of CAV cooperation and HV connectivity on stability and safety. Our results show that the cooperation of CAVs helps to stabilize the mixed traffic while safety can be guaranteed with the safety filters. Moreover, connectivity between CAVs and HVs offers additional benefits: if an HV connects to an upstream CAV (i.e., the CAV looks ahead), it helps the CAV to stabilize the upstream traffic, while if an HV connects to a downstream CAV (i.e., the CAV looks behind), the safety of this connected HV can be enhanced.

PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) is ESA's M3 mission designed to detect and characterise extrasolar planets and perform asteroseismic monitoring of a large number of stars. PLATO will detect small planets (down to <2 R_(Earth)) around bright stars (<11 mag), including terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars. With the complement of radial velocity observations from the ground, planets will be characterised for their radius, mass, and age with high accuracy (5 %, 10 %, 10 % for an Earth-Sun combination respectively). PLATO will provide us with a large-scale catalogue of well-characterised small planets up to intermediate orbital periods, relevant for a meaningful comparison to planet formation theories and to better understand planet evolution. It will make possible comparative exoplanetology to place our Solar System planets in a broader context. In parallel, PLATO will study (host) stars using asteroseismology, allowing us to determine the stellar properties with high accuracy, substantially enhancing our knowledge of stellar structure and evolution. The payload instrument consists of 26 cameras with 12cm aperture each. For at least four years, the mission will perform high-precision photometric measurements. Here we review the science objectives, present PLATO's target samples and fields, provide an overview of expected core science performance as well as a description of the instrument and the mission profile at the beginning of the serial production of the flight cameras. PLATO is scheduled for a launch date end 2026. This overview therefore provides a summary of the mission to the community in preparation of the upcoming operational phases.

Summit Public Schools (SPS), a California-based charter school network established in 2003, is widely promoted nationally as a success story to be emulated. A policy environment friendly to charter schools and digital technologies, together with hundreds of millions of dollars in technology industry contributions, enabled its growth and its national visibility. Because of SPS's boasts of success and its national prominence, understanding its story is a useful way to gain insight into how Silicon Valley funds and markets education initiatives. It also reveals inadequacies in policy related to school performance, digital educational programs, protection of student data, and school funding. This research brief analyzes the documents SPS provided in response to a request for public records bearing on its reports of students' academic success, its curriculum and instruction program, its proprietary digital platform, its protection of student data, its funding, and the validity and reliability of its assessments. In its discussion of documents both provided and not provided, the authors illustrate how SPS serves as an example of how nominally nonprofit charter school organizations evade public oversight and provide technology companies and their investors with both a market for their products and a continually renewing source of valuable data from young people.