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Dec 26

Simulated Rotation Measure Sky from Primordial Magnetic Fields

Primordial Magnetic Fields (PMFs) -- magnetic fields originating in the early Universe and permeating the cosmological scales today -- can explain the observed microGauss-level magnetisation of galaxies and their clusters. In light of current and upcoming all-sky radio surveys, PMFs have drawn attention not only as major candidates for explaining the large-scale magnetisation of the Universe, but also as potential probes of early-Universe physics. In this paper, using cosmological simulations coupled with light-cone analysis, we study for the first time the imprints of the PMF structure on the mean rotation measure (RM) originating in the intergalactic medium (IGM), langle RM_{IGM}rangle. We introduce a new method for producing full-sky RM_{IGM} distributions and analyse the autocorrelation of RM_{IGM} on small and large angular scales; we find that PMF structures indeed show distinct signatures. The large-scale uniform model (characterised by an initially unlimited coherence scale) leads to correlations up to 90 degrees, while correlations for small-scale stochastic PMF models drop by factor of 100 at 0.17, 0.13 and 0.11 degrees angular scales, corresponding to 5.24, 4.03 and 3.52 Mpc scales (at z=2 redshift) for magnetic fields with comoving 3.49, 1.81, 1.00 Mpc/h coherence scales, respectively; the correlation amplitude of the PMF model with comoving sim 19 Mpc/h coherence scale drops only by factor of 10 at 1 degree (30.6 Mpc). These results suggests that improvements in the modelling of Galactic RM will be necessary to investigate the signature of large-scale correlated PMFs. A comparison of langle RM_{IGM}rangle redshift dependence obtained from our simulations with that from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey shows agreement with our previous upper limits' estimates on the PMF strength derived from RM-rms analysis.

  • 6 authors
·
Nov 23

The High-resolution Accretion Disks of Embedded protoStars (HADES) simulations. I. Impact of Protostellar Magnetic Fields on the Accretion Modes

How embedded, actively accreting low-mass protostars accrete their mass is still greatly debated. Observations are now piecing together the puzzle of embedded protostellar accretion, in particular with new facilities in the near-infrared. However, high-resolution theoretical models are still lacking, with a stark paucity of detailed simulations of these early phases. Here we present high-resolution non-ideal magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of a Solar mass protostar accreting at rates exceeding 10^{-6} M_{odot} yr^{-1}. We show the results of the accretion flow for four different protostellar magnetic fields, 10 G, 500 G, 1 kG, and 2 kG, combined with a disk magnetic field. For weaker (10 G and 500 G) protostar magnetic fields, accretion occurs via a turbulent boundary layer mode, with disk material impacting across the protostellar surface. In the 500 G model, the presence of a magnetically dominated outflow focuses the accretion towards the equator, slightly enhancing and ordering the accretion. For kG magnetic fields, the disk becomes truncated due to the protostellar dipole and exhibits magnetospheric accretion, with the 2 kG model having accretion bursts induced by the interchange instability. We present bolometric light curves for the models and find that they reproduce observations of Class I protostars from YSOVAR, with high bursts followed by an exponential decay possibly being a signature of instability-driven accretion. Finally, we present the filling fractions of accretion and find that 90\% of the mass is accreted in a surface area fraction of 10-20\%. These simulations will be extended in future work for a broader parameter space, with their high resolution and high temporal spacing able to explore a wide range of interesting protostellar physics.

  • 4 authors
·
Oct 18, 2024

Can Alfvénic Fluctuations Affect the Correlation and Complexity of Magnetic Fields in Magnetic Ejecta? A Case Study Based on Multi-Spacecraft Measurements at 1~au

We investigate whether Alfv\'enic fluctuations (AFs) can affect the structure of magnetic ejecta (MEs) within interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). We study an ICME observed on 2001 December 29 at 1 au by ACE and Wind, at a total angular separation of sim0.8^circ (sim0.014~au). We focus on the correlation and complexity of its magnetic structure measured between two spacecraft in association with large-amplitude AFs. The Alfv\'enicity of the ME is investigated in terms of the residual energy and cross helicity of fluctuations. We find that as for the event of interest, large-amplitude AFs occur in the rear region of the ME at both Wind and ACE with a duration of about six hours. We compare the correlation of the magnetic field strength and vector components measured between Wind and ACE, and investigate complexity in terms of the magnetic hodograms. The region showing AFs is found to be associated with a decreased correlation of the magnetic field components and an increased complexity of the ME magnetic configuration detected at ACE and Wind, which may be due to the fact that the two spacecraft crossing the same ME along different trajectories likely sampled AFs in different oscillation phases. Combining multi-point in-situ measurements and remote-sensing observations of the ICME source region, we further discuss different potential sources of the AFs.

  • 7 authors
·
Dec 10, 2024

A helical magnetic field in quasar NRAO150 revealed by Faraday rotation

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are some of the most luminous and extreme environments in the Universe. The central engines of AGN, believed to be super-massive black-holes, are fed by accretion discs threaded by magnetic fields within a dense magneto-ionic medium. We report our findings from polarimetric Very-long-baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations of quasar NRAO150 taken in October 2022 using a combined network of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope. These observations are the first co-temporal multi-frequency polarimetric VLBI observations of NRAO150 at frequencies above 15GHz. We use the new VLBI polarization calibration procedure, GPCAL, with polarization observations of frequencies of 12GHz, 15GHz, 24GHz, and 43GHz of NRAO150. From these observations, we measure Faraday rotation. Using our measurement of Faraday rotation, we also derive the intrinsic electric vector position angle (EVPA0) for the source. As a complementary measurement we determine the behavior of polarization as a function of observed frequency. The polarization from NRAO150 only comes from the core region, with a peak polarization intensity occurring at 24GHz. Across the core region of NRAO150 we see clear gradients in Faraday rotation and EVPA0 values that are aligned with the direction of the jet curving around the core region. We find that for the majority of the polarized region the polarization fraction is greater at higher frequencies, with intrinsic polarization fractions in the core 3%. The Faraday rotation gradients and circular patterns in EVPA0 are strong evidence for a helical/toroidal magnetic field, and the presence of low intrinsic polarization fractions indicate that the polarized emission and hence the helical/toroidal magnetic field, occur within the innermost jet.

  • 10 authors
·
Mar 5

Stochastic acceleration in arbitrary astrophysical environments

Turbulent magnetic fields are to some extent a universal feature in astrophysical phenomena. Charged particles that encounter these turbulence get on average accelerated according to the so-called second-order Fermi process. However, in most astrophysical environments there are additional competing processes, such as different kinds of first-order energy changes and particle escape, that effect the resulting momentum distribution of the particles. In this work we provide to our knowledge the first semi-analytical solution of the isotropic steady-state momentum diffusion equation including continuous and catastrophic momentum changes that can be applied to any arbitrary astrophysical system of interest. Here, we adopt that the assigned magnetic turbulence is constrained on a finite range and the particle flux vanishes beyond these boundaries. Consequently, we show that the so-called pile-up bump -- that has for some special cases long been established -- is a universal feature of stochastic acceleration that emerges around the momentum chi_{rm eq} where acceleration and continuous loss are in equilibrium if the particle's residence time in the system is sufficient at chi_{rm eq}. In general, the impact of continuous and catastrophic momentum changes plays a crucial role in the shape of the steady-state momentum distribution of the accelerated particles, where simplified unbroken power-law approximations are often not adequate.

  • 2 authors
·
Nov 22, 2024

Coronal Abundance Fractionation Linked to Chromospheric Transverse MHD Waves in a Solar Active Region Observed with FISS/GST and EIS/Hinode

Elemental abundances in the solar corona differ from those in the photosphere, with low first ionization potential (FIP) elements being enhanced, a phenomenon known as the FIP effect. This enhancement is attributed to ponderomotive forces linked to magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves, particularly incompressible transverse waves. Our study investigates the relationship between coronal abundance fractionation and chromospheric transverse MHD waves by examining the spatial correlation between FIP fractionation and these waves and by analyzing their properties to test the ponderomotive force model. We used H alpha data from the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph at the Goode Solar Telescope to detect chromospheric transverse MHD waves and Si{X} (low FIP) and S{X} (high FIP) spectra from Hinode EUV Imaging Spectrometer to determine relative abundances in an active region. Extrapolated linear force free magnetic fields from Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager magnetograms further linked the observed chromospheric waves with coronal composition. Approximately 400 wave packets were identified and characterized by their period, velocity amplitude, propagation speed, and direction. These incompressible or weakly compressible waves were mainly observed near loop footpoints in the sunspot penumbra and superpenumbral fibrils. Regions of high FIP fractionation coincided with closed magnetic fields where these waves were present, and low-frequency, downward-propagating waves comprised about 43/% of the total. Our results demonstrate a strong correlation between coronal abundance fractionation and chromospheric transverse MHD waves, supporting the view that the FIP effect is driven by the ponderomotive force from these waves.

  • 8 authors
·
Feb 26

Blue large-amplitude pulsators formed from the merger of low-mass white dwarfs

Blue large-amplitude pulsators (BLAPs) are a recently discovered group of hot stars pulsating in radial modes. Their origin needs to be explained, and several scenarios for their formation have already been proposed. We investigate whether BLAPs can originate as the product of a merger of two low-mass white dwarfs (WDs) and estimate how many BLAPs can be formed in this evolutionary channel. We used the MESA code to model the merger of three different double extremely low-mass (DELM) WDs and the subsequent evolution of the merger product. We also performed a population synthesis of Galactic DELM WDs using the COSMIC code. We find that BLAPs can be formed from DELM WDs provided that the total mass of the system ranges between 0.32 and 0.7 M_odot. BLAPs born in this scenario either do not have any thermonuclear fusion at all or show off-centre He burning. The final product evolves to hot subdwarfs and eventually finishes its evolution either as a cooling He WD or a hybrid He/CO WD. The merger products become BLAPs only a few thousand years after coalescence, and it takes them 20 to 70 thousand years to pass the BLAP region. We found the instability of the fundamental radial mode to be in fair agreement with observations, but we also observed instability of the radial first overtone. From the population synthesis, we found that up to a few hundred BLAPs born in this scenario can exist at present in the Galaxy. Given the estimated number of BLAPs formed in the studied DELM WD merger scenario, there is a good chance to observe BLAPs that originated through this scenario. Since strong magnetic fields can be generated during mergers, this scenario could lead to the formation of magnetic BLAPs. This fits well with the discovery of two likely magnetic BLAPs whose pulsations can be explained in terms of the oblique rotator model.

  • 3 authors
·
Sep 30, 2024

Localized Heating and Dynamics of the Solar Corona due to a Symbiosis of Waves and Reconnection

The Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, is maintained at mega-Kelvin temperatures and fills the heliosphere with a supersonic outflowing wind. The dissipation of magnetic waves and direct electric currents are likely to be the most significant processes for heating the corona, but a lively debate exists on their relative roles. Here, we suggest that the two are often intrinsically linked, since magnetic waves may trigger current dissipation, and impulsive reconnection can launch magnetic waves. We present a study of the first of these processes by using a 2D physics-based numerical simulation using the Adaptive Mesh Refined (AMR) Versatile Advection Code (VAC). Magnetic waves such as fast magnetoacoustic waves are often observed to propagate in the large-scale corona and interact with local magnetic structures. The present numerical simulations show how the propagation of magnetic disturbances towards a null point or separator can lead to the accumulation of the electric currents. Lorentz forces can laterally push and vertically stretch the magnetic fields, forming a current sheet with a strong magnetic-field gradient. The magnetic field lines then break and reconnect, and so contribute towards coronal heating. Numerical results are presented that support these ideas and support the concept of a symbiosis between waves and reconnection in heating the solar corona.

  • 9 authors
·
Mar 20

Ergotropy and Capacity Optimization in Heisenberg Spin Chain Quantum Batteries

This study examines the performance of finite spin quantum batteries (QBs) using Heisenberg spin models with Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya (DM) and Kaplan--Shekhtman--Entin-Wohlman--Aharony (KSEA) interactions. The QBs are modeled as interacting quantum spins in local inhomogeneous magnetic fields, inducing variable Zeeman splitting. We derive analytical expressions for the maximal extractable work, ergotropy and the capacity of QBs, as recently examined by Yang et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 030402 (2023)]. These quantities are analytically linked through certain quantum correlations, as posited in the aforementioned study. Different Heisenberg spin chain models exhibit distinct behaviors under varying conditions, emphasizing the importance of model selection for optimizing QB performance. In antiferromagnetic (AFM) systems, maximum ergotropy occurs with a Zeeman splitting field applied to either spin, while ferromagnetic (FM) systems benefit from a uniform Zeeman field. Temperature significantly impacts QB performance, with ergotropy in the AFM case being generally more robust against temperature increases compared to the FM case. Incorporating DM and KSEA couplings can significantly enhance the capacity and ergotropy extraction of QBs. However, there exists a threshold beyond which additional increases in these interactions cause a sharp decline in capacity and ergotropy. This behavior is influenced by temperature and quantum coherence, which signal the occurrence of a sudden phase transition. The resource theory of quantum coherence proposed by Baumgratz et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 140401 (2014)] plays a crucial role in enhancing ergotropy and capacity. However, ergotropy is limited by both the system's capacity and the amount of coherence. These findings support the theoretical framework of spin-based QBs and may benefit future research on quantum energy storage devices.

  • 8 authors
·
Jul 31, 2024

Bell Instability and Cosmic-Ray Acceleration in AGN Ultrafast Outflow Shocks

We investigate magnetic-field amplification driven by the nonresonant hybrid (NRH or Bell) instability and its impact on cosmic-ray (CR) acceleration at reverse shocks of ultrafast outflows (UFOs) from active galactic nuclei (AGN). Previous kinetic studies by particle-in-cell simulations have demonstrated that when maximum CR energy is near the injection scale, NRH instability efficiently amplifies magnetic field up to the saturation level. However, the efficiency of NRH instability goes down as maximum energy increase since CR current is carried by escaping CRs near the maximum energy. We employ a one-dimensional MHD--CR framework solving telegraph-type diffusion--convection equations to trace the coupled evolution of CRs, magnetic fields, and shock dynamics under realistic parameters. We find a distinct transition with magnetic field strength: for weak background fields (B_{0}!lesssim!10^{-4},G), NRH instability efficiently amplifies upstream turbulence, driving a self-regulated state where E_{max} becomes independent of initial strength of magnetic turbulence. In contrast, for stronger background fields (B_{0}!gtrsim!10^{-3},G), the escaping CR current is too weak to drive NRH instability, and magnetic turbulence further decays through parametric instabilities, potentially reducing the acceleration efficiency. We give the physical interpretation for the transition and discuss conditions for PeV--EeV acceleration at UFO reverse shocks.

  • 2 authors
·
Oct 15

Indirect measurement of atomic magneto-optical rotation via Hilbert transform

The Kramers-Kronig relations are a pivotal foundation of linear optics and atomic physics, embedding a physical connection between the real and imaginary components of any causal response function. A mathematically equivalent, but simpler, approach instead utilises the Hilbert transform. In a previous study, the Hilbert transform was applied to absorption spectra in order to infer the sole refractive index of an atomic medium in the absence of an external magnetic field. The presence of a magnetic field causes the medium to become birefringent and dichroic, and therefore it is instead characterised by two refractive indices. In this study, we apply the same Hilbert transform technique to independently measure both refractive indices of a birefringent atomic medium, leading to an indirect measurement of atomic magneto-optical rotation. Key to this measurement is the insight that inputting specific light polarisations into an atomic medium induces absorption associated with only one of the refractive indices. We show this is true in two configurations, commonly referred to in literature as the Faraday and Voigt geometries, which differ by the magnetic field orientation with respect to the light wavevector. For both cases, we measure the two refractive indices independently for a Rb thermal vapour in a 0.6 T magnetic field, finding excellent agreement with theory. This study further emphasises the application of the Hilbert transform to the field of quantum and atomic optics in the linear regime.

  • 4 authors
·
Mar 1, 2024

Modeling transport in weakly collisional plasmas using thermodynamic forcing

How momentum, energy, and magnetic fields are transported in the presence of macroscopic gradients is a fundamental question in plasma physics. Answering this question is especially challenging for weakly collisional, magnetized plasmas, where macroscopic gradients influence the plasma's microphysical structure. In this paper, we introduce thermodynamic forcing, a new method for systematically modeling how macroscopic gradients in magnetized or unmagnetized plasmas shape the distribution functions of constituent particles. In this method, we propose to apply an anomalous force to those particles inducing the anisotropy that would naturally emerge due to macroscopic gradients in weakly collisional plasmas. We implement thermodynamic forcing in particle-in-cell (TF-PIC) simulations using a modified Vay particle pusher and validate it against analytic solutions of the equations of motion. We then carry out a series of simulations of electron-proton plasmas with periodic boundary conditions using TF-PIC. First, we confirm that the properties of two electron-scale kinetic instabilities -- one driven by a temperature gradient and the other by pressure anisotropy -- are consistent with previous results. Then, we demonstrate that in the presence of multiple macroscopic gradients, the saturated state can differ significantly from current expectations. This work enables, for the first time, systematic and self-consistent transport modeling in weakly collisional plasmas, with broad applications in astrophysics, laser-plasma physics, and inertial confinement fusion.

  • 2 authors
·
Apr 18

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Constraints on Extended Cosmological Models

We use new cosmic microwave background (CMB) primary temperature and polarization anisotropy measurements from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6) to test foundational assumptions of the standard cosmological model and set constraints on extensions to it. We derive constraints from the ACT DR6 power spectra alone, as well as in combination with legacy data from Planck. To break geometric degeneracies, we include ACT and Planck CMB lensing data and baryon acoustic oscillation data from DESI Year-1, and further add supernovae measurements from Pantheon+ for models that affect the late-time expansion history. We verify the near-scale-invariance (running of the spectral index d n_s/dln k = 0.0062 pm 0.0052) and adiabaticity of the primordial perturbations. Neutrino properties are consistent with Standard Model predictions: we find no evidence for new light, relativistic species that are free-streaming (N_{rm eff} = 2.86 pm 0.13, which combined with external BBN data becomes N_{rm eff} = 2.89 pm 0.11), for non-zero neutrino masses (sum m_nu < 0.082 eV at 95% CL), or for neutrino self-interactions. We also find no evidence for self-interacting dark radiation (N_{rm idr} < 0.134), early-universe variation of fundamental constants, early dark energy, primordial magnetic fields, or modified recombination. Our data are consistent with standard BBN, the FIRAS-inferred CMB temperature, a dark matter component that is collisionless and with only a small fraction allowed as axion-like particles, a cosmological constant, and the late-time growth rate predicted by general relativity. We find no statistically significant preference for a departure from the baseline LambdaCDM model. In general, models introduced to increase the Hubble constant or to decrease the amplitude of density fluctuations inferred from the primary CMB are not favored by our data.

  • 172 authors
·
Mar 18

Constraining atmospheric composition from the outflow: helium observations reveal the fundamental properties of two planets straddling the radius gap

TOI-836 is a ~2-3 Gyr K dwarf with an inner super Earth (R=1.7 R_oplus, P=3.8 d) and an outer mini Neptune (R=2.6 R_oplus, P=8.6 d). JWST/NIRSpec 2.8--5.2 mum transmission spectra are flat for both planets. We present Keck/NIRSPEC observations of escaping helium for super-Earth b, which shows no excess absorption in the 1083 nm triplet to deep limits (<0.2%), and mini-Neptune c, which shows strong (0.7%) excess absorption in both visits. These results demonstrate that planet c retains at least some primordial atmosphere, while planet b is consistent with having lost its entire primordial envelope. Self-consistent 1D radiative-hydrodynamic models of planet c reveal that the helium excess absorption signal is highly sensitive to metallicity: its equivalent width collapses by a factor of 13 as metallicity increases from 10x to 100x solar, and by a further factor of 12 as it increases to 200x solar. The observed equivalent width is 88\% the model prediction for 100x metallicity, suggesting an atmospheric metallicity similar to K2-18b and TOI-270d, the first two mini-Neptunes with detected absorption features in JWST transmission spectra. We highlight the helium triplet as a potentially powerful probe of atmospheric composition, with complementary strengths and weaknesses to atmospheric retrievals. The main strength is its extreme sensitivity to metallicity in the scientifically significant range of 10--200x solar, and the main weakness is the enormous model uncertainties in outflow suppression and confinement mechanisms, such as magnetic fields and stellar winds, which can suppress the signal by at least a factor of ~several.

  • 16 authors
·
Sep 12, 2024

Understanding the Neutron Star Population with the SKA

Since their discovery in the late 1960's the population of known neutron stars (NSs) has grown to ~2500. The last five decades of observations have yielded many surprises and demonstrated that the observational properties of NSs are remarkably diverse. The surveys that will be performed with SKA (the Square Kilometre Array) will produce a further tenfold increase in the number of Galactic NSs known. Moreover, the SKA's broad spectral coverage, sub-arraying and multi-beaming capabilities will allow us to characterise these sources with unprecedented efficiency, in turn enabling a giant leap in the understanding of their properties. Here we review the NS population and outline our strategies for studying each of the growing number of diverse classes that are populating the "NS zoo". Some of the main scientific questions that will be addressed by the much larger statistical samples and vastly improved timing efficiency provided by SKA include: (i) the spin period and spin-down rate distributions (and thus magnetic fields) at birth, and the associated information about the SNe wherein they are formed; (ii) the radio pulsar-magnetar connection; (iii) the link between normal radio pulsars, intermittent pulsars and rotating radio transients; (iv) the slowest possible spin period for a radio pulsar (revealing the conditions at the pulsar death-line); (v) proper motions of pulsars (revealing SN kick physics); (vi) the mass distribution of NSs (vii) the fastest possible spin period for a recycled pulsar (constraining magnetosphere-accretion disc interactions, gravitational wave radiation and the equation-of-state); (viii) the origin of high eccentricity millisecond pulsars (MSPs); (ix) the formation channels for recently identified triple systems; and finally (x) how isolated MSPs are formed. We expect that the SKA will break new ground unveiling exotic systems that will challenge... [abridged]

  • 12 authors
·
Dec 30, 2014

Low-energy Injection and Nonthermal Particle Acceleration in Relativistic Magnetic Turbulence

Relativistic magnetic turbulence has been proposed as a process for producing nonthermal particles in high-energy astrophysics. Particle energization may be contributed by both magnetic reconnection and turbulent fluctuations, but their interplay is poorly understood. It has been suggested that during magnetic reconnection the parallel electric field dominates particle acceleration up to the lower bound of the power-law particle spectrum, but recent studies show that electric fields perpendicular to magnetic field can play an important, if not dominant role. In this study, we carry out 2D fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of magnetically dominated decaying turbulence in a relativistic pair plasma. For a fixed magnetization parameter sigma_0=20, we find that the injection energy {varepsilon}_{rm inj} converges with increasing domain size to {varepsilon}_{rm inj}simeq 10m_ec^2. In contrast, the power-law index, the cut-off energy, and the power-law extent increase steadily with domain size. We trace a large number of particles and evaluate the contributions of the work done by the parallel (W_parallel) and perpendicular (W_perp) electric fields during both the injection phase and the post-injection phase. We find that during the injection phase, the W_perp contribution increases with domain size, suggesting that it may eventually dominate injection for a sufficiently large domain. In contrast, both components contribute equally during the post-injection phase, insensitive to the domain size. For high energy ({varepsilon}varepsilon_{rm inj}) particles, W_perp dominates the subsequent energization. These findings may improve our understanding of nonthermal particles and their emissions in astrophysical plasmas.

  • 4 authors
·
Apr 29, 2024

MinD-3D: Reconstruct High-quality 3D objects in Human Brain

In this paper, we introduce Recon3DMind, an innovative task aimed at reconstructing 3D visuals from Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) signals, marking a significant advancement in the fields of cognitive neuroscience and computer vision. To support this pioneering task, we present the fMRI-Shape dataset, which includes data from 14 participants and features 360-degree videos of 3D objects to enable comprehensive fMRI signal capture across various settings, thereby laying a foundation for future research. Furthermore, we propose MinD-3D, a novel and effective three-stage framework specifically designed to decode the brain's 3D visual information from fMRI signals, demonstrating the feasibility of this challenging task. The framework begins by extracting and aggregating features from fMRI frames through a neuro-fusion encoder, subsequently employs a feature bridge diffusion model to generate visual features, and ultimately recovers the 3D object via a generative transformer decoder. We assess the performance of MinD-3D using a suite of semantic and structural metrics and analyze the correlation between the features extracted by our model and the visual regions of interest (ROIs) in fMRI signals. Our findings indicate that MinD-3D not only reconstructs 3D objects with high semantic relevance and spatial similarity but also significantly enhances our understanding of the human brain's capabilities in processing 3D visual information. Project page at: https://jianxgao.github.io/MinD-3D.

  • 6 authors
·
Dec 12, 2023

Open-source Flux Transport (OFT). I. HipFT -- High-performance Flux Transport

Global solar photospheric magnetic maps play a critical role in solar and heliospheric physics research. Routine magnetograph measurements of the field occur only along the Sun-Earth line, leaving the far-side of the Sun unobserved. Surface Flux Transport (SFT) models attempt to mitigate this by modeling the surface evolution of the field. While such models have long been established in the community (with several releasing public full-Sun maps), none are open source. The Open Source Flux Transport (OFT) model seeks to fill this gap by providing an open and user-extensible SFT model that also builds on the knowledge of previous models with updated numerical and data acquisition/assimilation methods along with additional user-defined features. In this first of a series of papers on OFT, we introduce its computational core: the High-performance Flux Transport (HipFT) code (github.com/predsci/hipft). HipFT implements advection, diffusion, and data assimilation in a modular design that supports a variety of flow models and options. It can compute multiple realizations in a single run across model parameters to create ensembles of maps for uncertainty quantification and is high-performance through the use of multi-CPU and multi-GPU parallelism. HipFT is designed to enable users to easily write extensions, enhancing its flexibility and adaptability. We describe HipFT's model features, validations of its numerical methods, performance of its parallel and GPU-accelerated code implementation, analysis/post-processing options, and example use cases.

  • 8 authors
·
Jan 10

The impact of stellar winds and tidal locking effects on the habitability of Earth-like exoplanets around M dwarf stars

We present an assessment of the effects of stellar wind magnetic and mechanical components on the habitability of Earth-like exoplanets orbiting the inner and outer radii of the habitable zone (HZ) of M dwarfs. We consider stars with masses in the range of 0.09 - 0.75 M_odot and planets with a surface dipolar magnetic field of 0.5 G. We estimate the size of the magnetospheres of such exoplanets using the pressure balance equation including the contribution of magnetic and ram pressures from stellar winds. We explore different scenarios, including fast and slow stellar winds, to assess the relevance of kinetic contribution. Furthermore, the effect of tidal locking and potential deviations from the Parker spiral, typically used to describe the interplanetary magnetic field, are analyzed. We show that for low mass stars (M < 0.15 M_odot), the ram pressure exerted by stellar winds affects the size of the magnetosphere more than the stellar wind magnetic pressure. Interestingly, when the ram pressure is not much stronger than the magnetic pressure, typically for higher mass stars, the inclusion of ram pressure can be beneficial to the magnetosphere due to the magnetopause currents. A magnetosphere with the size of that of modern Earth is difficult to achieve with the current assumptions. However, an early Earth magnetosphere is achieved by roughly half of our hypothetical planets orbiting the outer radius of the HZ in most of the considered cases. We find that deviations from the Parker spiral can affect the results significantly, reducing the magnetosphere by 56% in extreme cases. Most of the hypothetical planets are most likely (or might be) tidally locked, with the notable exception of those orbiting the outer HZ of GJ 846 and V1005 Ori.

  • 3 authors
·
Oct 23

What Determines the Brightness of the Magnetically Open Solar Corona?: Insights from Three-dimensional Radiative Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations and Observations

We investigate the relationship between solar coronal holes and open-field regions using three-dimensional radiative magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations combined with remote-sensing observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Our numerical simulations reveal that magnetically open regions in the corona can exhibit brightness comparable to quiet regions, challenging the conventional view that open-field regions are inherently dark coronal holes. We find that the coronal brightness is primarily determined by the total energy input from photospheric magnetic activities, such as the small-scale dynamo, rather than differences in dissipative processes within the corona. Using synthesized EUV intensity maps, we show that brightness thresholds commonly used to identify coronal holes may overlook open-field regions, especially at lower spatial resolutions. Observational analysis utilizing SDO/HMI and AIA synoptic maps supports our simulation results, demonstrating that magnetic field extrapolation techniques, such as the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model, are sensitive to the chosen parameters, including the source surface height. We suggest that discrepancies in estimates of open magnetic flux (the ``open flux problem'') arise both from the modeling assumptions in coronal magnetic field extrapolation and systematic biases in solar surface magnetic field observations. Our findings indicate the need for reconsidering criteria used to identify coronal holes as indicators of open-field regions to better characterize the solar open magnetic flux.

  • 1 authors
·
Apr 18

Quarks to Cosmos: Particles and Plasma in Cosmological evolution

We describe in the context of the particle physics (PP) standard model (SM) `PP-SM' the understanding of the primordial properties and composition of the Universe in the temperature range 130GeV>T>20keV. The Universe evolution is described using FLRW cosmology. We present a global view on particle content across time and describe the different evolution eras using deceleration parameter q. We follow the arrow of time in the expanding and cooling Universe: After the PP-SM heavies (t, h, W, Z) diminish in abundance below Tsimeq 50GeV, the PP-SM plasma in the Universe is governed by the strongly interacting Quark-Gluon content. Once the temperature drops below Tsimeq 150MeV, quarks and gluons hadronize into strongly interacting matter particles. Rapid disappearance of baryonic antimatter completes at T_B=38.2MeV. We study the ensuing disappearance of strangeness and mesons in general. We show that the different eras defined by particle populations are barely separated from each other with abundance of muons fading out just prior to T=O(2.5)MeV, the era of emergence of the free-streaming neutrinos. We discuss the two relevant fundamental constants controlling the decoupling of neutrinos. We subsequently follow the primordial Universe as it passes through the hot dense electron-positron plasma epoch. The high density of positron antimatter disappears near T=20.3keV: Nuclear reactions occur in the presence of a highly mobile and relatively strongly interacting electron-positron plasma phase. We apply plasma theory methods to describe the strong screening effects between heavy dust particle (nucleons). We analyze the paramagnetic characteristics of the electron-positron plasma when exposed to an external primordial magnetic field.

  • 5 authors
·
Sep 26, 2024

Radiation-magnetohydrodynamics with MPI-AMRVAC using flux-limited diffusion

Context. Radiation plays a significant role in solar and astrophysical environments as it may constitute a sizeable fraction of the energy density, momentum flux, and the total pressure. Modelling the dynamic interaction between radiation and magnetized plasmas in such environments is an intricate and computationally costly task. Aims. The goal of this work is to demonstrate the capabilities of the open-source parallel, block-adaptive computational framework MPI-AMRVAC, in solving equations of radiation-magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD), and to present benchmark test cases relevant for radiation-dominated magnetized plasmas. Methods. The existing magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and flux-limited diffusion (FLD) radiative-hydrodynamics physics modules are combined to solve the equations of radiation-magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD) on block-adaptive finite volume Cartesian meshes in any dimensionality. Results. We introduce and validate several benchmark test cases such as steady radiative MHD shocks, radiation-damped linear MHD waves, radiation-modified Riemann problems and a multi-dimensional radiative magnetoconvection case. We recall the basic governing Rankine-Hugoniot relations for shocks and the dispersion relation for linear MHD waves in the presence of optically thick radiation fields where the diffusion limit is reached. The RMHD system allows for 8 linear wave types, where the classical 7-wave MHD picture (entropy and three wave pairs for slow, Alfven and fast) is augmented with a radiative diffusion mode. Conclusions. The MPI-AMRVAC code now has the capability to perform multidimensional RMHD simulations with mesh adaptation making it well-suited for larger scientific applications to study magnetized matter-radiation interactions in solar and stellar interiors and atmospheres.

  • 5 authors
·
Mar 4

CHGNet: Pretrained universal neural network potential for charge-informed atomistic modeling

The simulation of large-scale systems with complex electron interactions remains one of the greatest challenges for the atomistic modeling of materials. Although classical force fields often fail to describe the coupling between electronic states and ionic rearrangements, the more accurate ab-initio molecular dynamics suffers from computational complexity that prevents long-time and large-scale simulations, which are essential to study many technologically relevant phenomena, such as reactions, ion migrations, phase transformations, and degradation. In this work, we present the Crystal Hamiltonian Graph neural Network (CHGNet) as a novel machine-learning interatomic potential (MLIP), using a graph-neural-network-based force field to model a universal potential energy surface. CHGNet is pretrained on the energies, forces, stresses, and magnetic moments from the Materials Project Trajectory Dataset, which consists of over 10 years of density functional theory static and relaxation trajectories of sim 1.5 million inorganic structures. The explicit inclusion of magnetic moments enables CHGNet to learn and accurately represent the orbital occupancy of electrons, enhancing its capability to describe both atomic and electronic degrees of freedom. We demonstrate several applications of CHGNet in solid-state materials, including charge-informed molecular dynamics in Li_xMnO_2, the finite temperature phase diagram for Li_xFePO_4 and Li diffusion in garnet conductors. We critically analyze the significance of including charge information for capturing appropriate chemistry, and we provide new insights into ionic systems with additional electronic degrees of freedom that can not be observed by previous MLIPs.

  • 7 authors
·
Feb 27, 2023

The Simons Observatory: Cryogenic Half Wave Plate Rotation Mechanism for the Small Aperture Telescopes

We present the requirements, design and evaluation of the cryogenic continuously rotating half-wave plate (CHWP) for the Simons Observatory (SO). SO is a cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at Parque Astron\'{o}mico Atacama in northern Chile that covers a wide range of angular scales using both small (0.42 m) and large (6 m) aperture telescopes. In particular, the small aperture telescopes (SATs) focus on large angular scales for primordial B-mode polarization. To this end, the SATs employ a CHWP to modulate the polarization of the incident light at 8 Hz, suppressing atmospheric 1/f noise and mitigating systematic uncertainties that would otherwise arise due to the differential response of detectors sensitive to orthogonal polarizations. The CHWP consists of a 505 mm diameter achromatic sapphire HWP and a cryogenic rotation mechanism, both of which are cooled down to sim50 K to reduce detector thermal loading. Under normal operation the HWP is suspended by a superconducting magnetic bearing and rotates with a constant 2 Hz frequency, controlled by an electromagnetic synchronous motor. We find that the number of superconductors and magnets that make up the superconducting magnetic bearing are important design parameters, especially for the rotation mechanism's vibration performance. The rotation angle is detected through an angular encoder with a noise level of 0.07 muradmathrm{s}. During a cooldown, the rotor is held in place by a grip-and-release mechanism that serves as both an alignment device and a thermal path. In this paper we provide an overview of the SO SAT CHWP: its requirements, hardware design, and laboratory performance.

  • 27 authors
·
Sep 26, 2023

Multiphysics Bench: Benchmarking and Investigating Scientific Machine Learning for Multiphysics PDEs

Solving partial differential equations (PDEs) with machine learning has recently attracted great attention, as PDEs are fundamental tools for modeling real-world systems that range from fundamental physical science to advanced engineering disciplines. Most real-world physical systems across various disciplines are actually involved in multiple coupled physical fields rather than a single field. However, previous machine learning studies mainly focused on solving single-field problems, but overlooked the importance and characteristics of multiphysics problems in real world. Multiphysics PDEs typically entail multiple strongly coupled variables, thereby introducing additional complexity and challenges, such as inter-field coupling. Both benchmarking and solving multiphysics problems with machine learning remain largely unexamined. To identify and address the emerging challenges in multiphysics problems, we mainly made three contributions in this work. First, we collect the first general multiphysics dataset, the Multiphysics Bench, that focuses on multiphysics PDE solving with machine learning. Multiphysics Bench is also the most comprehensive PDE dataset to date, featuring the broadest range of coupling types, the greatest diversity of PDE formulations, and the largest dataset scale. Second, we conduct the first systematic investigation on multiple representative learning-based PDE solvers, such as PINNs, FNO, DeepONet, and DiffusionPDE solvers, on multiphysics problems. Unfortunately, naively applying these existing solvers usually show very poor performance for solving multiphysics. Third, through extensive experiments and discussions, we report multiple insights and a bag of useful tricks for solving multiphysics with machine learning, motivating future directions in the study and simulation of complex, coupled physical systems.

  • 5 authors
·
May 23

ConStellaration: A dataset of QI-like stellarator plasma boundaries and optimization benchmarks

Stellarators are magnetic confinement devices under active development to deliver steady-state carbon-free fusion energy. Their design involves a high-dimensional, constrained optimization problem that requires expensive physics simulations and significant domain expertise. Recent advances in plasma physics and open-source tools have made stellarator optimization more accessible. However, broader community progress is currently bottlenecked by the lack of standardized optimization problems with strong baselines and datasets that enable data-driven approaches, particularly for quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarator configurations, considered as a promising path to commercial fusion due to their inherent resilience to current-driven disruptions. Here, we release an open dataset of diverse QI-like stellarator plasma boundary shapes, paired with their ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibria and performance metrics. We generated this dataset by sampling a variety of QI fields and optimizing corresponding stellarator plasma boundaries. We introduce three optimization benchmarks of increasing complexity: (1) a single-objective geometric optimization problem, (2) a "simple-to-build" QI stellarator, and (3) a multi-objective ideal-MHD stable QI stellarator that investigates trade-offs between compactness and coil simplicity. For every benchmark, we provide reference code, evaluation scripts, and strong baselines based on classical optimization techniques. Finally, we show how learned models trained on our dataset can efficiently generate novel, feasible configurations without querying expensive physics oracles. By openly releasing the dataset along with benchmark problems and baselines, we aim to lower the entry barrier for optimization and machine learning researchers to engage in stellarator design and to accelerate cross-disciplinary progress toward bringing fusion energy to the grid.

  • 11 authors
·
Jun 24

Algorithm-assisted discovery of an intrinsic order among mathematical constants

In recent decades, a growing number of discoveries in fields of mathematics have been assisted by computer algorithms, primarily for exploring large parameter spaces that humans would take too long to investigate. As computers and algorithms become more powerful, an intriguing possibility arises - the interplay between human intuition and computer algorithms can lead to discoveries of novel mathematical concepts that would otherwise remain elusive. To realize this perspective, we have developed a massively parallel computer algorithm that discovers an unprecedented number of continued fraction formulas for fundamental mathematical constants. The sheer number of formulas discovered by the algorithm unveils a novel mathematical structure that we call the conservative matrix field. Such matrix fields (1) unify thousands of existing formulas, (2) generate infinitely many new formulas, and most importantly, (3) lead to unexpected relations between different mathematical constants, including multiple integer values of the Riemann zeta function. Conservative matrix fields also enable new mathematical proofs of irrationality. In particular, we can use them to generalize the celebrated proof by Ap\'ery for the irrationality of zeta(3). Utilizing thousands of personal computers worldwide, our computer-supported research strategy demonstrates the power of experimental mathematics, highlighting the prospects of large-scale computational approaches to tackle longstanding open problems and discover unexpected connections across diverse fields of science.

  • 9 authors
·
Aug 22, 2023

Simulating 2+1D Lattice Quantum Electrodynamics at Finite Density with Neural Flow Wavefunctions

We present a neural flow wavefunction, Gauge-Fermion FlowNet, and use it to simulate 2+1D lattice compact quantum electrodynamics with finite density dynamical fermions. The gauge field is represented by a neural network which parameterizes a discretized flow-based transformation of the amplitude while the fermionic sign structure is represented by a neural net backflow. This approach directly represents the U(1) degree of freedom without any truncation, obeys Guass's law by construction, samples autoregressively avoiding any equilibration time, and variationally simulates Gauge-Fermion systems with sign problems accurately. In this model, we investigate confinement and string breaking phenomena in different fermion density and hopping regimes. We study the phase transition from the charge crystal phase to the vacuum phase at zero density, and observe the phase seperation and the net charge penetration blocking effect under magnetic interaction at finite density. In addition, we investigate a magnetic phase transition due to the competition effect between the kinetic energy of fermions and the magnetic energy of the gauge field. With our method, we further note potential differences on the order of the phase transitions between a continuous U(1) system and one with finite truncation. Our state-of-the-art neural network approach opens up new possibilities to study different gauge theories coupled to dynamical matter in higher dimensions.

  • 4 authors
·
Dec 14, 2022

Astrometric Effects of a Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background

A stochastic gravitational wave background causes the apparent positions of distant sources to fluctuate, with angular deflections of order the characteristic strain amplitude of the gravitational waves. These fluctuations may be detectable with high precision astrometry, as first suggested by Braginsky et al. in 1990. Several researchers have made order of magnitude estimates of the upper limits obtainable on the gravitational wave spectrum \Omega_gw(f), at frequencies of order f ~ 1 yr^-1, both for the future space-based optical interferometry missions GAIA and SIM, and for VLBI interferometry in radio wavelengths with the SKA. For GAIA, tracking N ~ 10^6 quasars over a time of T ~ 1 yr with an angular accuracy of \Delta \theta ~ 10 \mu as would yield a sensitivity level of \Omega_gw ~ (\Delta \theta)^2/(N T^2 H_0^2) ~ 10^-6, which would be comparable with pulsar timing. In this paper we take a first step toward firming up these estimates by computing in detail the statistical properties of the angular deflections caused by a stochastic background. We compute analytically the two point correlation function of the deflections on the sphere, and the spectrum as a function of frequency and angular scale. The fluctuations are concentrated at low frequencies (for a scale invariant stochastic background), and at large angular scales, starting with the quadrupole. The magnetic-type and electric-type pieces of the fluctuations have equal amounts of power.

  • 2 authors
·
Sep 21, 2010

The Duality of Whittaker Potential Theory: Fundamental Representations of Electromagnetism and Gravity, and Their Orthogonality

E. T. Whittaker produced two papers in 1903 and 1904 that, although sometimes considered mere mathematical statements (Barrett, 1993), held important implications for physical theory. The Whittaker 1903 paper united electrostatic and gravitational attraction as resulting from longitudinal waves - waves whose wavefronts propagate parallel to their direction. The Whittaker 1904 paper showed that electromagnetic waves resulted from the interference of two such longitudinal waves or scalar potential functions. Although unexplored, the implications of these papers are profound: gravitational lensing, gravitational waves, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, the existence of a hyperspace above or behind normal space, the elimination of gravitational and point charge singularities, MOND, and the expansion of the universe. This last implication can be related to the recent finding that black holes with posited vacuum energy interior solutions alongside cosmological boundaries have a cosmological coupling constant of k=3, meaning that black holes gain mass-proportional to a3 in a parameterization equation within a Robertson-Walker cosmology and are a cosmological accelerated expansion species (Farrah et al., 2023). This expansion and many features of General Relativity can be explained by the mass-proportionality and preferred direction of the longitudinal waves within the two underlying non-local Whittaker potentials (Titleman, 2022). Whittaker potential theory also offers a simple explanation for expansion of the universe - it is produced as longitudinal motion within the Whittaker potentials only when dynamic electromagnetism is separate from time-static gravity in intergalactic space.

  • 1 authors
·
May 13, 2022

Standardized Benchmark Dataset for Localized Exposure to a Realistic Source at 10-90 GHz

The lack of freely available standardized datasets represents an aggravating factor during the development and testing the performance of novel computational techniques in exposure assessment and dosimetry research. This hinders progress as researchers are required to generate numerical data (field, power and temperature distribution) anew using simulation software for each exposure scenario. Other than being time consuming, this approach is highly susceptible to errors that occur during the configuration of the electromagnetic model. To address this issue, in this paper, the limited available data on the incident power density and resultant maximum temperature rise on the skin surface considering various steady-state exposure scenarios at 10-90 GHz have been statistically modeled. The synthetic data have been sampled from the fitted statistical multivariate distribution with respect to predetermined dosimetric constraints. We thus present a comprehensive and open-source dataset compiled of the high-fidelity numerical data considering various exposures to a realistic source. Furthermore, different surrogate models for predicting maximum temperature rise on the skin surface were fitted based on the synthetic dataset. All surrogate models were tested on the originally available data where satisfactory predictive performance has been demonstrated. A simple technique of combining quadratic polynomial and tensor-product spline surrogates, each operating on its own cluster of data, has achieved the lowest mean absolute error of 0.058 {\deg}C. Therefore, overall experimental results indicate the validity of the proposed synthetic dataset.

  • 3 authors
·
May 3, 2023

IXPE Observation of the Low-Synchrotron Peaked Blazar S4 0954+65 During An Optical-X-ray Flare

The X-ray polarization observations made possible with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) offer new ways of probing high-energy emission processes in astrophysical jets from blazars. Here we report on the first X-ray polarization observation of the blazar S4 0954+65 in a high optical and X-ray state. During our multi-wavelength campaign on the source, we detected an optical flare whose peak coincided with the peak of an X-ray flare. This optical-X-ray flare most likely took place in a feature moving along the parsec-scale jet, imaged at 43 GHz by the Very Long Baseline Array. The 43 GHz polarization angle of the moving component underwent a rotation near the time of the flare. In the optical band, prior to the IXPE observation, we measured the polarization angle to be aligned with the jet axis. In contrast, during the optical flare the optical polarization angle was perpendicular to the jet axis; after the flare, it reverted to being parallel to the jet axis. Due to the smooth behavior of the optical polarization angle during the flare, we favor shocks as the main acceleration mechanism. We also infer that the ambient magnetic field lines in the jet were parallel to the jet position angle. The average degree of optical polarization during the IXPE observation was (14.3pm4.1)%. Despite the flare, we only detected an upper limit of 14% (at 3sigma level) on the X-ray polarization degree; although a reasonable assumption on the X-ray polarization angle results in an upper limit of 8.8% (3sigma). We model the spectral energy distribution (SED) and spectral polarization distribution (SPD) of S4 0954+65 with leptonic (synchrotron self-Compton) and hadronic (proton and pair synchrotron) models. The constraints we obtain with our combined multi-wavelength polarization observations and SED modeling tentatively disfavor hadronic models for the X-ray emission in S4 0954+65.

  • 137 authors
·
Nov 25, 2024

Unlocking the radio-gamma spectrum of the pulsar wind nebula around PSR J1124-5916 in SNR G292.0+1.8

We present the first detection of GeV gamma-ray emission potentially associated with the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) hosted by the young core-collapse supernova remnant G292.0+1.8, based on a detailed time-resolved analysis of Fermi-LAT data. By isolating the unpulsed component from the dominant magnetospheric radiation of PSR~J1124-5916, we successfully disentangle a candidate nebular emission in the GeV range, characterise its morphology and extract its spectrum. This identification places G292.0+1.8 among the few systems in which the pulsar and PWN contributions have been spectrally resolved at high energies, offering new insight into their respective emission mechanisms. We characterise the gamma-ray spectrum of the pulsar and model the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of the PWN using radio, X-ray, and GeV data. The emission is well described by a single electron population with two spectral breaks: one intrinsic to the injection spectrum and another produced by synchrotron cooling in a magnetic field of sim15~muG. Notably, the inferred magnetic field and the low TeV flux of the nebula resemble those of 3C~58, suggesting that similar low-field environments can arise in young PWNe. The high-energy portion of the SED is now tightly constrained by our GeV detection and existing TeV upper limits. Compared to our model, earlier predictions tend to underpredict the gamma-ray flux, while others that succeed in reproducing the GeV component often overpredict the TeV emission. This mismatch underscores the challenges in modelling particle acceleration and radiation processes in young PWNe and establishes G292.0+1.8 as a valuable benchmark for testing and refining such models.

  • 3 authors
·
Oct 27

ECM: A Unified Electronic Circuit Model for Explaining the Emergence of In-Context Learning and Chain-of-Thought in Large Language Model

Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have led to significant successes across various applications, where the most noticeable is to a series of emerging capabilities, particularly in the areas of In-Context Learning (ICL) and Chain-of-Thought (CoT). To better understand and control model performance, many studies have begun investigating the underlying causes of these phenomena and their impact on task outcomes. However, existing explanatory frameworks predominantly focus on isolating and explaining ICL and CoT independently, leading to an incomplete understanding of their combined influence on model performance. To address this gap, we propose the Electronic Circuit Model (ECM), which provides a foundation for developing scalable, learnable policies and improving the management of AI-generated content. Specifically, ECM conceptualizes model behavior as an electronic circuit: ICL is represented as semantic magnetic field to providing an additional voltage following Faraday's Law, while CoT is modeled as series resistors to constrain the model output performance following Ohm's Law. Experimental results demonstrate that the ECM effectively predicts and explains LLM performance across a variety of prompting strategies. Furthermore, we apply ECM to advanced reasoning strategy optimization on a series of tasks, such as the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) and the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), achieving competitive performance that surpasses nearly 80% of top human competitors.

  • 9 authors
·
Feb 5

Potential Contribution of Young Pulsar Wind Nebulae to Galactic High-Energy Neutrino Emission

Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), especially the young ones, are among the most energetic astrophysical sources in the Galaxy. It is usually believed that the spin-down energy injected from the pulsars is converted into magnetic field and relativistic electrons, but the possible presence of proton acceleration inside PWNe cannot be ruled out. Previous works have estimated the neutrino emission from PWNe using various source catalogs measured in gamma-rays. However, such results rely on the sensitivity of TeV gamma-ray observations and may omit the contribution by unresolved sources. Here we estimate the potential neutrino emission from a synthetic population of PWNe in the Galaxy with a focus on the ones that are still in the free expansion phase. In the calculation, we model the temporal evolution of the free-expanding PWNe and consider the transport of protons inside the PWNe. The Crab nebula is treated as a standard template for young PWNe to evaluate some model parameters, such as the energy conversion fraction of relativistic protons and the target gas density for the hadronic process, which are relevant to neutrino production. In the optimistic case, the neutrino flux from the simulated young PWNe may constitute to 5% of the measured flux by IceCube around 100 TeV. At higher energy around 1 PeV, the neutrino emission from the population highly depends on the injection spectral shape, and also on the emission of the nearby prominent sources.

  • 5 authors
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Jan 15

Is planetary inward migration responsible for GJ 504's fast rotation and bright X-ray luminosity? New constraints from eROSITA

The discovery of an increasing variety of exoplanets in very close orbits around their host stars raised many questions about how stars and planets interact, and to which extent host stars' properties may be influenced by the presence of close-by companions. Understanding how the evolution of stars is impacted by the interactions with their planets is fundamental to disentangle their intrinsic evolution from Star-Planet Interactions (SPI)-induced phenomena. GJ 504 is a promising candidate for a star that underwent strong SPI. Its unusually short rotational period (3.4 days), while being in contrast with what is expected by single-star models, could result from the inward migration of a close-by, massive companion, pushed starward by tides. Moreover, its brighter X-ray luminosity may hint at a rejuvenation of the dynamo process sustaining the stellar magnetic field, consequent to the SPI-induced spin-up. We aim to study the evolution of GJ 504 and establish whether by invoking the engulfment of a planetary companion we can better reproduce its rotational period and X-ray luminosity. We simulate the past evolution assuming two different scenarios: 'Star without close-by planet', 'Star with close-by planet'. In the second scenario, we investigate how inward migration and planetary engulfment driven by tides spin up the stellar surface and rejuvenate its dynamo. We compare our tracks with rotational period and X-ray data collected from the all-sky surveys of the ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array (eROSITA) on board the Russian Spektrum-Roentgen-Gamma mission (SRG). Despite the very uncertain stellar age, we found that the second evolutionary scenario is in better agreement with the short rotational period and the bright X-ray luminosity of GJ 504, thus strongly favouring the inward migration scenario over the one in which close-by planets have no tidal impact on the star.

  • 7 authors
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Jan 13

Evolution of the Accretion Disk and Corona During the Outburst of the Neutron Star Transient MAXI J1807+132

Low-mass X-ray binaries with a neutron star as the primary object show a complex array of phenomenology during outbursts. The observed variability in X-ray emission primarily arises from changes in the innermost regions of the accretion disk, neutron star surface, and corona. In this work, we present the results of a comprehensive X-ray spectral and timing analysis of the neutron star transient MAXI J1807+132 during its 2023 outburst using data from the NICER observatory. The outburst is marked by a very rapid rise in the count rate by about a factor of 20 in a day. The source undergoes full state transitions and displays hysteresis effect in the hardness and rms intensity diagrams. Spectral analysis with a three-component model is consistent with disk truncation during the hard states and reaching the last stable orbit during the intermediate and soft states. We discuss the different values of the last stable radius in the context of possible distance of the source and magnetic field strength. The characteristic frequencies throughout the hard and intermediate states are found to be strongly correlated with the inner radius of the disk. Together with the spectral and fast variability properties, we attempt to trace the evolution of the size of the corona along the outburst. Following the main outburst, the source undergoes a high amplitude reflare wherein it shows a complex behavior with relatively high variability (10 %), but low hardness.

  • 7 authors
·
Dec 11, 2024

Connecting the Dots: A Machine Learning Ready Dataset for Ionospheric Forecasting Models

Operational forecasting of the ionosphere remains a critical space weather challenge due to sparse observations, complex coupling across geospatial layers, and a growing need for timely, accurate predictions that support Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), communications, aviation safety, as well as satellite operations. As part of the 2025 NASA Heliolab, we present a curated, open-access dataset that integrates diverse ionospheric and heliospheric measurements into a coherent, machine learning-ready structure, designed specifically to support next-generation forecasting models and address gaps in current operational frameworks. Our workflow integrates a large selection of data sources comprising Solar Dynamic Observatory data, solar irradiance indices (F10.7), solar wind parameters (velocity and interplanetary magnetic field), geomagnetic activity indices (Kp, AE, SYM-H), and NASA JPL's Global Ionospheric Maps of Total Electron Content (GIM-TEC). We also implement geospatially sparse data such as the TEC derived from the World-Wide GNSS Receiver Network and crowdsourced Android smartphone measurements. This novel heterogeneous dataset is temporally and spatially aligned into a single, modular data structure that supports both physical and data-driven modeling. Leveraging this dataset, we train and benchmark several spatiotemporal machine learning architectures for forecasting vertical TEC under both quiet and geomagnetically active conditions. This work presents an extensive dataset and modeling pipeline that enables exploration of not only ionospheric dynamics but also broader Sun-Earth interactions, supporting both scientific inquiry and operational forecasting efforts.

  • 11 authors
·
Nov 18

New Radio Observations of the Supernova Remnant CTA 1

We present new radio images of the supernova remnant (SNR) CTA 1 at 1420 and 408 MHz, and in the 21 cm line of H I observed with the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory Synthesis Telescope and at 1420 MHz observed with the Effelsberg 100 m telescope. We confirm previously described continuum features and elaborate further on filamentary features identified using the high-resolution (1') maps from these new observations. We investigate the abrupt change in sign of rotation measure (RM) across the SNR, using the linear polarization observations in the four bands around 1420 MHz. Following X. H. Sun et al.'s (2011) investigation, we both confirm that the distribution of signs of the RMs for extragalactic sources in the area appears to match that of the shell, as well as combine the data from the four bands to estimate the relative depolarization and the intrinsic rotation measure of the SNR. We do not conclusively reject X. H. Sun et al.'s (2011) claim of a Faraday screen in the foreground causing the distribution of RMs that we observe; however, we do suggest an alternative explanation of a swept-up stellar wind from the progenitor star with a toroidal magnetic field. Finally, we expand on the analysis of the H I observations by applying the Rolling Hough Transform to isolate filamentary structure and better identify H I emission with the SNR. Further constraining the H I velocity channels associated with CTA 1, we use more recent Galactic rotation curves to calculate an updated kinematic distance of 1.09 +/- 0.2 kpc.

  • 6 authors
·
Dec 19, 2024

Unveiling two deeply embedded young protostars in the S68N Class 0 protostellar core with JWST/NIRSpec

The near-infrared (NIR) emission of the youngest protostars still needs to be characterized to better understand the evolution of their accretion and ejection activity. We analyze James Webb Space Telescope NIRSpec 1.7 -- 5.3 mum observations of two deeply embedded sources in the S68N protostellar core in Serpens. The North Central (NC) source exhibits a highly obscured spectrum (A_K ~ 4.8 mag) that is modeled with a pre-main-sequence photosphere and a hot disk component. The photospheric parameters are consistent with a young, low-mass photosphere, as suggested by the low surface gravity, log g of 1.95 pm 0.15 cm s^{-2}. The hot disk suggests that accretion onto the central protostellar embryo is ongoing, although prototypical accretion-tracing emission lines HI are not detected. The South Central (SC) source, which is even more embedded (A_K ~ 8 mag; no continuum is detected shortward of 3.6 mum) appears to be driving the large-scale S68N protostellar outflow, and launches a collimated hot molecular jet detected in \Ht and CO ro-vibrational lines. Shock modeling of the \Ht (ro)vibrational lines establishes that fast C-type shocks (geq 30 km s^{-1}), with high pre-shock density (geq 10^7 cm^{-3}), and strong magnetic field (b ~ 3--10, where B = b,times,textrm{n_{H} (cm^{-3})},muG) best match the data. The bright CO fundamental line forest suggests energetic excitation, with the contribution of non-LTE effects, ie irradiation pumping. Detected OH and CH^{+} ro-vibrational lines support this hypothesis. These two Class 0 protostars seem to be in very young evolutionary stages and still have to acquire the bulk of their final stellar masses. These results demonstrate that JWST enables unprecedented diagnostics of these first stages of the protostellar evolutionary phase.

  • 14 authors
·
Oct 14, 2024

First systematic study reporting the changes in eclipse cut-off frequency for pulsar J1544+4937

We present results from a long-term monitoring of frequency dependent eclipses of the radio emission from PSR J1544+4937 which is a ``black widow spider'' millisecond pulsar (MSP) in a compact binary system. The majority of such systems often exhibit relatively long duration radio eclipses caused by ablated material from their companion stars. With the wide spectral bandwidth of upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT), we present first systematic study of temporal variation of eclipse cut-off frequency. With decade-long monitoring of 39 eclipses for PSR J1544+4937, we notice significant changes in the observed cut-off frequency ranging from 343 pm 7 MHz to > 740 MHz. We also monitored changes in eclipse cut-off frequency on timescales of tens of days and observed a maximum change of ge 315 MHz between observations that were separated by 22 days. In addition, we observed a change of sim 47 MHz in eclipse cut-off frequency between adjacent orbits, i.e. on timescales of sim 2.9 hours. We infer that such changes in the eclipse cut-off frequency depict an eclipse environment for the PSR J1544+4937 system that is dynamically evolving, where, along with the change in electron density, the magnetic field could also be varying. We also report a significant correlation between the eclipse cut-off frequency and the mass loss rate of the companion. This study provides the first direct evidence of mass loss rate affecting the frequency dependent eclipsing in a spider MSP.

  • 6 authors
·
Nov 3, 2023

Neural Fields in Robotics: A Survey

Neural Fields have emerged as a transformative approach for 3D scene representation in computer vision and robotics, enabling accurate inference of geometry, 3D semantics, and dynamics from posed 2D data. Leveraging differentiable rendering, Neural Fields encompass both continuous implicit and explicit neural representations enabling high-fidelity 3D reconstruction, integration of multi-modal sensor data, and generation of novel viewpoints. This survey explores their applications in robotics, emphasizing their potential to enhance perception, planning, and control. Their compactness, memory efficiency, and differentiability, along with seamless integration with foundation and generative models, make them ideal for real-time applications, improving robot adaptability and decision-making. This paper provides a thorough review of Neural Fields in robotics, categorizing applications across various domains and evaluating their strengths and limitations, based on over 200 papers. First, we present four key Neural Fields frameworks: Occupancy Networks, Signed Distance Fields, Neural Radiance Fields, and Gaussian Splatting. Second, we detail Neural Fields' applications in five major robotics domains: pose estimation, manipulation, navigation, physics, and autonomous driving, highlighting key works and discussing takeaways and open challenges. Finally, we outline the current limitations of Neural Fields in robotics and propose promising directions for future research. Project page: https://robonerf.github.io

  • 8 authors
·
Oct 26, 2024 2

Nonequilibrium Phenomena in Driven and Active Coulomb Field Theories

The classical Coulomb gas model has served as one of the most versatile frameworks in statistical physics, connecting a vast range of phenomena across many different areas. Nonequilibrium generalisations of this model have so far been studied much more scarcely. With the abundance of contemporary research into active and driven systems, one would naturally expect that such generalisations of systems with long-ranged Coulomb-like interactions will form a fertile playground for interesting developments. Here, we present two examples of novel macroscopic behaviour that arise from nonequilibrium fluctuations in long-range interacting systems, namely (1) unscreened long-ranged correlations in strong electrolytes driven by an external electric field and the associated fluctuation-induced forces in the confined Casimir geometry, and (2) out-of-equilibrium critical behaviour in self-chemotactic models that incorporate the particle polarity in the chemotactic response of the cells. Both of these systems have nonlocal Coulomb-like interactions among their constituent particles, namely, the electrostatic interactions in the case of the driven electrolyte, and the chemotactic forces mediated by fast-diffusing signals in the case of self-chemotactic systems. The results presented here hint to the rich phenomenology of nonequilibrium effects that can arise from strong fluctuations in Coulomb interacting systems, and a rich variety of potential future directions, which are discussed.

  • 2 authors
·
Jul 1, 2022