Two waves of massive stars running away from the young cluster R136.

Nature 634:8035 (2024) 809-812

Authors:

Mitchel Stoop, Alex de Koter, Lex Kaper, Sarah Brands, Simon Portegies Zwart, Hugues Sana, Fiorenzo Stoppa, Mark Gieles, Laurent Mahy, Tomer Shenar, Difeng Guo, Gijs Nelemans, Steven Rieder

Abstract:

Massive stars are predominantly born in stellar associations or clusters1. Their radiation fields, stellar winds and supernovae strongly impact their local environment. In the first few million years of a cluster's life, massive stars are dynamically ejected and run away from the cluster at high speed2. However, the production rate of dynamically ejected runaways is poorly constrained. Here we report on a sample of 55 massive runaway stars ejected from the young cluster R136 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. An astrometric analysis of Gaia data3-5 reveals two channels of dynamically ejected runaways. The first channel ejects massive stars in all directions and is consistent with dynamical interactions during and after the birth of R136. The second channel launches stars in a preferred direction and may be related to a cluster interaction. We found that 23-33% of the most luminous stars initially born in R136 are runaways. Model predictions2,6,7 have significantly underestimated the dynamical escape fraction of massive stars. Consequently, their role in shaping and heating the interstellar and galactic media and their role in driving galactic outflows are far more important than previously thought8,9.

Investigating the VHE Gamma-ray Sources Using Deep Neural Networks

Proceedings of Science 444 (2024)

Authors:

V Vodeb, S Bhattacharyya, G Principe, G Zaharijaš, R Austri, F Stoppa, S Caron, D Malyshev

Abstract:

The upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will dramatically improve the point-source sensitivity compared to the current Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs). One of the key science projects of CTA will be a survey of the whole Galactic plane (GPS) using both southern and northern observatories, specifically focusing on the inner galactic region. We extend a deep learning-based image segmentation software pipeline (autosource-id) developed on Fermi-LAT data to detect and classify extended sources for the simulated CTA GPS. Using updated instrument response functions for CTA (Prod5), we test this pipeline on simulated gamma-ray sources lying in the inner galactic region (specifically 0 < l < 20, |b| < 3) for energies ranging from 30 GeV to 100 TeV. Dividing the source extensions ranging from 0.03 to 1 in three different classes, we find that using a simple and light convolutional neural network it is possible to achieve a 97% global accuracy in separating the extended sources from the point-like sources. The neural net architecture including other data pre-processing codes is available online.

Measurements of the production cross-section for a Z boson in association with b - or c -jets in proton–proton collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The European Physical Journal C SpringerOpen 84:9 (2024) 984

Authors:

G Aad, E Aakvaag, B Abbott, S Abdelhameed, K Abeling, NJ Abicht, SH Abidi, M Aboelela, A Aboulhorma, H Abramowicz, H Abreu, Y Abulaiti, BS Acharya, A Ackermann, C Adam Bourdarios, L Adamczyk, SV Addepalli, MJ Addison, J Adelman, A Adiguzel, T Adye, AA Affolder, Y Afik, MN Agaras

Abstract:

This paper presents a measurement of the production cross-section of a Z boson in association with b- or c-jets, in proton–proton collisions at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb-1. Inclusive and differential cross-sections are measured for events containing a Z boson decaying into electrons or muons and produced in association with at least one b-jet, at least one c-jet, or at least two b-jets with transverse momentum pT>20 GeV and rapidity |y|<2.5. Predictions from several Monte Carlo generators based on next-to-leading-order matrix elements interfaced with a parton-shower simulation, with different choices of flavour schemes for initial-state partons, are compared with the measured cross-sections. The results are also compared with novel predictions, based on infrared and collinear safe jet flavour dressing algorithms. Selected Z+≥1c-jet observables, optimized for sensitivity to intrinsic-charm, are compared with benchmark models with different intrinsic-charm fractions.

Multiband Analysis of Strong Gravitationally Lensed Post-blue Nugget Candidates from the Kilo-degree Survey

The Astrophysical Journal American Astronomical Society 973:2 (2024) 145

Authors:

Rui Li, Nicola R Napolitano, Linghua Xie, Ran Li, Xiaotong Guo, Alexey Sergeyev, Crescenzo Tortora, Chiara Spiniello, Alessandro Sonnenfeld, Léon VE Koopmans, Diana Scognamiglio

Abstract:

During the early stages of galaxy evolution, a significant fraction of galaxies undergo a transitional phase between the “blue nugget” systems, which arise from the compaction of large, active star-forming disks, and the “red nuggets,” which are red and passive compact galaxies. These objects are typically only observable with space telescopes, and detailed studies of their size, mass, and stellar population parameters have been conducted on relatively small samples. Strong gravitational lensing can offer a new opportunity to study them in detail, even with ground-based observations. In this study, we present the first six bona fide samples of strongly lensed post-blue nugget (pBN) galaxies, which were discovered in the Kilo Degree Survey. By using the lensing-magnified luminosity from optical and near-infrared bands, we have derived robust structural and stellar population properties of the multiple images of the background sources. The pBN galaxies have very small sizes of R eff < 1.3 kpc, high mass density inside 1 kpc of log(Σ1/M⊙kpc−2)>9.3 , and low specific star formation rates of log(sSFRGyr-1)≲0 , The size–mass and Σ1–mass relations of this sample are consistent with those of the red nuggets, while their sSFR is close to the lower end of compact star-forming blue nugget systems at the same redshift, suggesting a clear evolutionary link between them.

The Radio Counterpart to the Fast X-ray Transient EP240414a

(2024)

Authors:

Joe S Bright, Francesco Carotenuto, Rob Fender, Carmen Choza, Andrew Mummery, Peter G Jonker, Stephen J Smartt, David R DeBoer, Wael Farah, James Matthews, Alexander W Pollak, Lauren Rhodes, Andrew Siemion