Rubin-LSST

Abstract:

A search is presented for hadronic signatures of beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics, with an emphasis on signatures of a strongly coupled hidden dark sector accessed via resonant production of a $Z^{\prime }$ mediator. The ATLAS experiment dataset collected at the Large Hadron Collider from 2015 to 2018 is used, consisting of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\mathrm{TeV}$ and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $140{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ . The $Z^{\prime }$ mediator is considered to decay to two dark quarks, which each hadronize and decay to showers containing both dark and Standard Model particles, producing a topology of interacting and noninteracting particles within a jet known as “semivisible.” Machine learning methods are used to select these dark showers and reject the dominant background of mismeasured multijet events, including an anomaly detection approach to preserve broad sensitivity to a variety of BSM topologies. A resonance search is performed by fitting the transverse mass spectrum based on a functional form background estimation. No significant excess over the expected background is observed. Results are presented as limits on the production cross section of semivisible jet signals, parametrized by the fraction of invisible particles in the decay and the $Z^{\prime }$ mass, and by quantifying the significance of any generic Gaussian-shaped mass peak in the anomaly region.

Abstract:

Flares produced following the tidal disruption of stars by supermassive black holes can reveal the properties of the otherwise dormant majority of black holes and the physics of accretion. In the past decade, a class of optical-ultraviolet tidal disruption flares has been discovered whose emission properties do not match theoretical predictions. This has led to extensive efforts to model the dynamics and emission mechanisms of optical-ultraviolet tidal disruptions in order to establish them as probes of supermassive black holes. Here we present the optical-ultraviolet tidal disruption event AT 2022dbl, which showed a nearly identical repetition 700 days after the first flare. Ruling out gravitational lensing and two chance unrelated disruptions, we conclude that at least the first flare represents the partial disruption of a star, possibly captured through the Hills mechanism. Since both flares are typical of the optical-ultraviolet class of tidal disruptions in terms of their radiated energy, temperature, luminosity, and spectral features, it follows that either the entire class are partial rather than full stellar disruptions, contrary to the prevalent assumption, or some members of the class are partial disruptions, having nearly the same observational characteristics as full disruptions. Whichever option is true, these findings could require revised models for the emission mechanisms of optical-ultraviolet tidal disruption flares and a reassessment of their expected rates.

Abstract:

We present a detailed optical and near-IR (NIR) spectral analysis of J-138717, a post-starburst galaxy at z = 1.8845 observed with JWST/NIRSpec, for which we derive a stellar mass of 3.5±0.2×10 10 M ⊙ and a stellar velocity dispersion of 198±10 km s −1 . We estimate an age of ∼0.9 Gyr and a subsolar metallicity (between −0.4 and −0.2 dex). We find generally consistent results when we fit the optical and NIR wavelength ranges separately or with different model libraries. The reconstruction of the star formation history indicates that the galaxy assembled most of its mass quickly and then quenched rapidly, ∼0.4 Gyr before the observation. Line diagnostics suggest that the weak emission is probably powered by residual star formation (star formation rate ∼0.2 M ⊙ yr −1 ) or a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus, without strong evidence for outflows in ionized or neutral gas. We performed a detailed study of the NIR spectral indices by comparing observations with predictions of several current stellar population models. This is unprecedented at this high redshift. In particular, the analysis of several CO and CN features argues against a strong contribution of thermally pulsating (TP) asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. The observations agree better with models that include very little contribution from TP-AGB stars, but they are also consistent with a mild contribution from TP-AGB stars when a younger age, consistent with the fits, is assumed. The analysis of other NIR spectral indices shows that current models struggle to reproduce the observations. This highlights the need for improved stellar population models in the NIR, especially at young ages and low metallicities. This is most relevant for studying high-redshift galaxies in the era of the JWST.

Abstract:

We study the evolution of the bar fraction in disk galaxies between 0.5 < z < 4.0 using multiband colored images from JWST Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS). These images were classified by citizen scientists in a new phase of the Galaxy Zoo (GZ) project called GZ CEERS. Citizen scientists were asked whether a strong or weak bar was visible in the host galaxy. After considering multiple corrections for observational biases, we find that the bar fraction decreases with redshift in our volume-limited sample (n = 398); from 25−4+6 % at 0.5 < z < 1.0 to 3−1+6 % at 3.0 < z < 4.0. However, we argue it is appropriate to interpret these fractions as lower limits. Disentangling real changes in the bar fraction from detection biases remains challenging. Nevertheless, we find a significant number of bars up to z = 2.5. This implies that disks are dynamically cool or baryon dominated, enabling them to host bars. This also suggests that bar-driven secular evolution likely plays an important role at higher redshifts. When we distinguish between strong and weak bars, we find that the weak bar fraction decreases with increasing redshift. In contrast, the strong bar fraction is constant between 0.5 < z < 2.5. This implies that the strong bars found in this work are robust long-lived structures, unless the rate of bar destruction is similar to the rate of bar formation. Finally, our results are consistent with disk instabilities being the dominant mode of bar formation at lower redshifts, while bar formation through interactions and mergers is more common at higher redshifts.