• #### Large-scale 3D mapping of the intergalactic medium using the Lyman Alpha Forest

Maps of the large-scale structure of the Universe at redshifts 2-4 can be made with the Lyman-alpha forest which are complementary to low redshift galaxy surveys. We apply the Wiener interpolation method of Caucci et al. to construct three-dimensional maps from sets of Lyman-alpha forest spectra taken from cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We mimic some current and future quasar redshift surveys (BOSS, eBOSS and MS-DESI) by choosing similar sightline densities. We use these appropriate subsets of the Lyman-alpha absorption sightlines to reconstruct the full three dimensional Lyman-alpha flux field and perform comparisons between the true and the reconstructed fields. We study global statistical properties of the intergalactic medium (IGM) maps with auto-correlation and cross-correlation analysis, slice plots, local peaks and point by point scatter. We find that both the density field and the statistical proper- ties of the IGM are recovered well enough that the resulting IGM maps can be meaningfully considered to represent large-scale maps of the Universe in agreement with Caucci et al., on larger scales and for sparser sightlines than had been tested previously. Quantitatively, for sightline parameters comparable to current and near future surveys the correlation coefficient between true and reconstructed fields is r > 0.9 on scales > 30 h^-1 Mpc. The properties of the maps are relatively insensitive to the precise form of the covariance matrix used. The final BOSS quasar Lyman-alpha forest sample will allow maps to be made with a resolution of ~ 30 h^-1 Mpc over a volume of ~ 15 h^-3 Gpc^3 between redshifts 1.9 and 2.3.
Line of sightIntergalactic mediumBaryon Oscillation Spectroscopic SurveyQuasarLyman-alpha forestStatisticsTwo-point correlation functionLarge scale structureAbsorptivityCross-correlation...
• #### The low-mass end of the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation

The scaling of disk galaxy rotation velocity with baryonic mass (the "Baryonic Tully-Fisher" relation, BTF) has long confounded galaxy formation models. It is steeper than the M ~ V^3 scaling relating halo virial masses and circular velocities and its zero point implies that galaxies comprise a very small fraction of available baryons. Such low galaxy formation efficiencies may in principle be explained by winds driven by evolving stars, but the tightness of the BTF relation argues against the substantial scatter expected from such vigorous feedback mechanism. We use the APOSTLE/EAGLE simulations to show that the BTF relation is well reproduced in LCDM simulations that match the size and number of galaxies as a function of stellar mass. In such models, galaxy rotation velocities are proportional to halo virial velocity and the steep velocity-mass dependence results from the decline in galaxy formation efficiency with decreasing halo mass needed to reconcile the CDM halo mass function with the galaxy luminosity function. Despite the strong feedback, the scatter in the simulated BTF is smaller than observed, even when considering all simulated galaxies and not just rotationally-supported ones. The simulations predict that the BTF should become increasingly steep at the faint end, although the velocity scatter at fixed mass should remain small. Observed galaxies with rotation speeds below ~40 km/s seem to deviate from this prediction. We discuss observational biases and modeling uncertainties that may help to explain this disagreement in the context of LCDM models of dwarf galaxy formation.
Virial massGalaxy FormationCircular velocityGalaxy massRotation CurveVirial velocityStellar massCosmologyCold dark matterDark matter...
• #### Discrepancies between CFHTLenS cosmic shear & Planck: new physics or systematic effects?

There is currently a discrepancy in the measured value of the amplitude of matter clustering, parameterised using sigma_8, inferred from galaxy weak lensing and CMB data. In this paper we investigate what could mitigate this discrepancy. We consider systematic effects in the weak lensing data and include intrinsic galaxy alignments, and biases in photometric redshift estimates. We also apply a non-parametric approach to model the baryonic feedback on the dark matter clustering, which is flexible enough to reproduce the OWLS and Illustris simulation results. Finally we extend the cosmological analysis of the weak lensing data to include the effect of massive neutrinos. The statistic we use, 3D cosmic shear, is a method that extracts cosmological information from weak lensing data using a spherical-Bessel function power spectrum approach. There are several advantages that this affords, in particular that the method does not rely on binning in redshift, or covariance estimation from simulations. It also allows for a robust scale-dependent analysis of data. We analyse the CFHTLenS weak lensing data and, assuming best fit cosmological parameters from the Planck CMB experiment, we find that there is no evidence for baryonic feedback on the dark matter power spectrum; if the intrinsic alignment amplitude is close to zero, then there is evidence for a bias in the photometric redshifts in the CFHTLenS data. We also find an upper limit to the sum of neutrino masses, directly from the shape of the matter power spectrum, < 0.28 eV (1-sigma), similar to the one obtained from other indirect probes of the matter distribution.
CFHTLenS surveyWeak lensingPhotometric redshiftPlanck missionCosmologyCosmic shearCovarianceOverWhelmingly Large SimulationsBaryonic feedbackCosmological parameters...
• #### Why three generations?

We discuss an anthropic explanation of why there exist three generations of fermions. If one assumes that the right-handed neutrino sector is responsible for both the matter-antimatter asymmetry and the dark matter, then anthropic selection favors three or more families of fermions. For successful leptogenesis, at least two right-handed neutrinos are needed, while the third right-handed neutrino is invoked to play the role of dark matter. The number of the right-handed neutrinos is tied to the number of generations by the anomaly constraints of the $U(1)_{B-L}$ gauge symmetry. Combining anthropic arguments with observational constraints, we obtain predictions for the $X$-ray observations, as well as for neutrinoless double-beta decay.
Sterile neutrinoDark matterCosmologyBaryon asymmetry of the UniverseLeptogenesisRelic abundanceNeutrino massStandard ModelSterile neutrino massGauge symmetry...
• #### Many-body microhydrodynamics of colloidal particles with active boundary layersver. 3

Colloidal particles with active boundary layers - regions surrounding the particles where nonequilibrium processes produce large velocity gradients - are common in many physical, chemical and biological contexts. The velocity or stress at the edge of the boundary layer determines the exterior fluid flow and, hence, the many-body interparticle hydrodynamic interaction. Here, we present a method to compute the many-body hydrodynamic interaction between $N$ spherical active particles induced by their exterior microhydrodynamic flow. First, we use a boundary integral representation of the Stokes equation to eliminate bulk fluid degrees of freedom. Then, we expand the boundary velocities and tractions of the integral representation in an infinite-dimensional basis of tensorial spherical harmonics and, on enforcing boundary conditions in a weak sense on the surface of each particle, obtain a system of linear algebraic equations for the unknown expansion coefficients. The truncation of the infinite series, fixed by the degree of accuracy required, yields a finite linear system that can be solved accurately and efficiently by iterative methods. The solution linearly relates the unknown rigid body motion to the known values of the expansion coefficients, motivating the introduction of propulsion matrices. These matrices completely characterize hydrodynamic interactions in active suspensions just as mobility matrices completely characterize hydrodynamic interactions in passive suspensions. The reduction in the dimensionality of the problem, from a three-dimensional partial differential equation to a two-dimensional integral equation, allows for dynamic simulations of hundreds of thousands of active particles on multi-core computational architectures.
Fluid dynamicsGreen's functionColloidSpherical harmonicsRankOrientationDegree of freedomPartial differential equationStokes EquationsGalerkin method...
• #### The future of gamma-ray astronomy

The field of gamma-ray astronomy has experienced impressive progress over the last decade. Thanks to the advent of a new generation of imaging air Cherenkov telescopes (H.E.S.S., MAGIC, VERITAS) and thanks to the launch of the Fermi-LAT satellite, several thousand gamma-ray sources are known today, revealing an unexpected ubiquity of particle acceleration processes in the Universe. Major scientific challenges are still ahead, such as the identification of the nature of Dark Matter, the discovery and understanding of the sources of cosmic rays, or the comprehension of the particle acceleration processes that are at work in the various objects. This paper presents some of the instruments and mission concepts that will address these challenges over the next decades.
TelescopesCosmic rayFERMI telescopeCherenkov telescopeField of viewScintillationMultidimensional ArrayGamma-ray astronomyTime projection chamberObservatories...
• #### Functional Brain Imaging: A Comprehensive Survey

Functional brain imaging allows measuring dynamic functionality in all brain regions. It is broadly used in clinical cognitive neuroscience as, well as in research. It will allow the observation of neural activities in the brain simultaneously. From the beginning when functional brain imaging was initiated by the mapping of brain functions proposed by phrenologists, many scientists were asking why we need to image brain functionality since we have already structural information. Simply, their important question was including a great answer. Functional information of the human brain would definitely complement structural information, helping to have a better understanding of what is happening in the brain. This paper, which could be useful to those who have an interest in functional brain imaging, such as engineers, will present a quick review of modalities used in functional brain imaging. We will concentrate on the most used techniques in functional imaging which are functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional optical imaging, which is one of novelties in this area of study.
Functional magnetic resonance imagingSurveysMeasurementOptics...
• #### A Precise Determination of the Mid-Infrared Interstellar Extinction Law Based on the APOGEE Spectroscopic Survey

A precise measure of the mid-infrared interstellar extinction law is crucial to the investigation of the properties of interstellar dust, especially of the grains in the large size end. Based on the stellar parameters derived from the SDSS-III/APOGEE spectroscopic survey, we select a large sample of G- and K-type giants as the tracers of the Galactic mid-infrared extinction. We calculate the intrinsic stellar color excesses from the stellar effective temperatures and use them to determine the mid-infrared extinction for a given line of sight. For the entire sky of the Milky Way surveyed by APOGEE, we derive the extinction (relative to the K$_{\rm S}$ band at wavelength $\lambda=2.16\mu$m) for the four \emph{WISE} bands at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22$\mu$m, the four \emph{Spitzer}/IRAC bands at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8$\mu$m, the \emph{Spitzer}/MIPS24 band at 23.7$\mu$m and for the first time, the \emph{AKARI}/S9W band at 8.23$\mu$m. Our results agree with previous works in that the extinction curve is flat in the ~3--8$\mu$m wavelength range and is generally consistent with the $R_V=5.5$ model curve except our determination exceeds the model prediction in the \emph{WISE}/W4 band. Although some previous works found that the mid-IR extinction law appears to vary with the extinction depth $A_{\rm{K_S}}$, no noticeable variation has been found in this work. The uncertainties are analyzed in terms of the bootstrap resampling method and Monte-Carlo simulation and are found to be rather small.
ExtinctionStarColor indexColor excessInterstellar extinctionSilicateA giantsGalactic planeInterstellar mediumPhotometry...
• #### Probing QED and fundamental constants through laser spectroscopy of vibrational transitions in HD+

The simplest molecules in nature, molecular hydrogen ions in the form of H2+ and HD+, provide an important benchmark system for tests of quantum electrodynamics in complex forms of matter. Here, we report on such a test based on a frequency measurement of a vibrational overtone transition in HD+ by laser spectroscopy. We find that the theoretical and experimental frequencies are equal to within 0.6(1.1) parts per billion, which represents the most stringent test of molecular theory so far. Our measurement not only confirms the validity of high-order quantum electrodynamics in molecules, but also enables the long predicted determination of the proton-to-electron mass ratio from a molecular system, as well as improved constraints on hypothetical fifth forces and compactified higher dimensions at the molecular scale. With the perspective of comparisons between theory and experiment at the 0.01 part-per-billion level, our work demonstrates the potential of molecular hydrogen ions as a probe of fundamental physical constants and laws.
Quantum electrodynamicsLasersVibrational transitions of a moleculaMass ratioFifth forcePhysical constantsVibrationSpectroscopyMeasurementIon...
• #### Charm physics with Moebius Domain Wall Fermions

We present results showing that Domain Wall fermions are a suitable discretisation for the simulation of heavy quarks. This is done by a continuum scaling study of charm quarks in a M\"obius Domain Wall formalism using a quenched set-up. We find that discretisation effects remain well controlled by the choice of Domain Wall parameters preparing the ground work for the ongoing dynamical $2+1f$ charm program of RBC/UKQCD.
Domain wallPseudoscalarLight quarkTopological quantum numberQuenched approximationQuark massHeavy quarkStrange quarkCharm quarkAutocorrelation...
• #### Cutoff in the Lyman {\alpha} forest power spectrum: warm IGM or warm dark matter?

We re-analyse high redshift and high resolution Lyman-{\alpha} forest spectra from Viel et al. [1] seeking to constrain properties of warm dark matter particles. Compared to the previous work we consider a wider range on thermal histories of the intergalactic medium and find that both warm and cold dark matter models can explain the cut-off observed in the flux power spectra of high-resolution observations equally well. This implies, however, very different thermal histories and underlying re-ionisation models. We discuss how to remove this degeneracy.
Intergalactic mediumIGM temperatureThermalisationWarm dark matterReionizationCold dark matterDark matterFlux power spectrumCosmologyQuasar...
• #### SDSS-II Supernova Survey: An Analysis of the Largest Sample of Type Ia Supernovae and Correlations with Host-Galaxy Spectral Properties

Using the largest single-survey sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) to date, we study the relationship between properties of SNe Ia and those of their host galaxies, focusing primarily on correlations with Hubble residuals (HR). Our sample consists of 345 photometrically-classified or spectroscopically-confirmed SNeIa discovered as part of the SDSS-II Supernova Survey (SDSS-SNS). This analysis utilizes host-galaxy spectroscopy obtained during the SDSS-I/II spectroscopic survey and from an ancillary program on the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) that obtained spectra for nearly all host galaxies of SDSS-II SN candidates. In addition, we use photometric host-galaxy properties from the SDSS-SNS data release (Sako et al. 2014) such as host stellar mass and star-formation rate. We confirm the well-known relation between HR and host-galaxy mass and find a 3.6{\sigma} significance of a non-zero linear slope. We also recover correlations between HR and host-galaxy gas-phase metallicity and specific star-formation rate as they are reported in the literature. With our large dataset, we examine correlations between HR and multiple host-galaxy properties simultaneously and find no evidence of a significant correlation. We also independently analyze our spectroscopically-confirmed and photometrically-classified SNe Ia and comment on the significance of similar combined datasets for future surveys.
Supernova Type IaHost galaxySupernovaBaryon Oscillation Spectroscopic SurveyStar formation rateLight curveStellar massPhotometryCosmologyCalibration...
• #### How SN Ia host-galaxy properties affect cosmological parameters

We present a systematic study of the relationship between Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) properties, and the characteristics of their host galaxies, using a sample of 581 SNe Ia from the full Sloan Digital Sky Survey II (SDSS-II) SN Survey. We also investigate the effects of this on the cosmological constraints derived from SNe~Ia. Compared to previous studies, our sample is larger by a factor of $>4$, and covers a substantially larger redshift range (up to z~0.5), which is directly applicable to the volume of cosmological interest. We measure a significant correlation (>5\sigma) between the host-galaxy stellar-mass and the SN~Ia Hubble Residuals (HR). We find a weak correlation (1.4\sigma) between the host-galaxy metallicity as measured from emission lines in the spectra, and the SN~Ia HR. We also find evidence that the slope of the correlation between host-galaxy mass and HR is -0.11 $\mathrm{mag}/\mathrm{log}(\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{host}}/\mathrm{M}_{\odot})$ steeper in lower metallicity galaxies. We test the effects on a cosmological analysis using both the derived best-fitting correlations between host parameters and HR, and by allowing an additional free parameter in the fit to account for host properties which we then marginalize over when determining cosmological parameters. We see a shift towards more negative values of the equation of state parameter $w$, along with a shift to lower values of $\Omega_\mathrm{m}$ after applying mass or metallicity corrections. The shift in cosmological parameters with host-galaxy stellar-mass correction is consistent with previous studies. We find a best-fitting cosmology of $\Omega_{\mathrm{m}} =0.266_{-0.016}^{+0.016}$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}=0.740_{-0.018}^{+0.018}$ and $w=-1.151_{-0.121}^{+0.123}$ (statistical errors only).
Supernova Type IaHost galaxyCosmologySupernovaStellar massCosmological parametersStar formation rateStar formationLight curveActive Galactic Nuclei...
• #### Testing the isotropy of the Hubble expansion

We have used the Union2.1 SNIa compilation to search for possible Hubble expansion anisotropies, dividing the sky in 9 solid angles containing roughly the same number of SNIa, as well as in the two Galactic hemispheres. We identified only one sky region, containing 82 SNIa (~15% of total sample with $z>0.02$), that indeed appears to share a significantly different Hubble expansion than the rest of the sample. However, this behavior appears to be attributed to the joint "erratic" behavior of only three SNIa and not to an anisotropic expansion. We also find that the northern and southern galactic hemispheres have different cosmological parameter solutions but still not significant enough to assert the detection of a Hubble expansion anisotropy. We conclude that even a few outliers can have such an effect as to induce artificial indications of anisotropies, when the number of analysed SNIa is relatively small.
Supernova Type IaAnisotropyCosmological parametersCosmic microwave backgroundStatisticsDistance modulusAbsorptivityLight curveHost galaxyGalactic latitude...
• #### Testing the mapping between redshift and cosmic scale factor

The canonical redshift-scale factor relation, 1/a=1+z, is a key element in the standard LambdaCDM model of the Big Bang cosmology. Despite its fundamental role, this relation has not yet undergone any observational tests since Lemaitre and Hubble established the expansion of the Universe. It is strictly based on the assumption of the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker metric describing a locally homogeneous and isotropic universe and that photons move on null geodesics of the metric. Thus any violation of this assumption, within general relativity or modified gravity, can yield a different mapping between the model redshift z=1/a-1 and the actually observed redshift z_obs, i.e. z_obs neq z. Here we perform a simple test of consistency for the standard redshift-scale factor relation by determining simultaneous observational constraints on the concordance LambdaCDM cosmological parameters and a generalized redshift mapping z=f(z_obs). Using current baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and Type Ia supernova (SN) data we demonstrate that the generalized redshift mapping is strongly degenerated with dark energy. Marginalization over a class of monotonic functions f(z_obs) changes substantially degeneracy between matter and dark energy density: the density parameters become anti correlated with nearly vertical axis of degeneracy. Furthermore, we show that current SN and BAO data, analyzed in a framework with the generalized redshift mapping, do not constrain dark energy unless the BAO data include the measurements from the Ly-alpha forest of high-redshift quasars.
Baryon acoustic oscillationsLambda-CDM modelDark energyCosmologyHubble parameterCosmological parametersAngular diameter distanceDensity parameterFriedmann equationsCosmological model...
• #### Warm Dark Matter as a solution to the small scale crisis: new constraints from high redshift Lyman-alpha forest dataver. 2

We present updated constraints on the free-streaming of warm dark matter (WDM) particles derived from an analysis of the Lya flux power spectrum measured from high-resolution spectra of 25 z > 4 quasars obtained with the Keck High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) and the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) spectrograph. We utilize a new suite of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations that explore WDM masses of 1, 2 and 4 keV (assuming the WDM consists of thermal relics), along with different physically motivated thermal histories. We carefully address different sources of systematic error that may affect our final results and perform an analysis of the Lya flux power with conservative error estimates. By using a method that samples the multi-dimensional astrophysical and cosmological parameter space, we obtain a lower limit mwdm > 3.3 keV (2sigma) for warm dark matter particles in the form of early decoupled thermal relics. Adding the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Lya flux power spectrum does not improve this limit. Thermal relics of masses 1 keV, 2 keV and 2.5 keV are disfavoured by the data at about the 9sigma, 4sigma and 3sigma C.L., respectively. Our analysis disfavours WDM models where there is a suppression in the linear matter power spectrum at (non-linear) scales corresponding to k=10h/Mpc which deviates more than 10% from a LCDM model. Given this limit, the corresponding "free-streaming mass" below which the mass function may be suppressed is 2x10^8 Msun/h. There is thus very little room for a contribution of the free-streaming of WDM to the solution of what has been termed the small scale crisis of cold dark matter.
Cold dark matterQuasarWDM particlesIntergalactic mediumFree streaming of particlesMatter power spectrumMean transmitted fluxWarm dark matterLyman-alpha forestUltraviolet background...
• #### The broadening of Lyman-alpha forest absorption linesver. 2

We provide an analytical description of the line broadening of HI absorbers in the Lyman-alpha forest resulting from Doppler broadening and Jeans smoothing. We demonstrate that our relation captures the dependence of the line-width on column density for narrow lines in z~3 mock spectra remarkably well. Broad lines at a given column density arise when the underlying density structure is more complex, and such clustering is not captured by our model. Our understanding of the line broadening opens the way to a new method to characterise the thermal state of the intergalactic medium and to determine the sizes of the absorbing structures.
Temperature-density relationIntergalactic mediumPeculiar velocityJeans lengthReionizationDensity contrastAbsorption lineLyman-alpha forestRadiative coolingAbsorptivity...
• #### R-parity violating supersymmetryver. 2

Theoretical and phenomenological implications of R-parity violation in supersymmetric theories are discussed in the context of particle physics and cosmology. Fundamental aspects include the relation with continuous and discrete symmetries and the various allowed patterns of R-parity breaking. Recent developments on the generation of neutrino masses and mixings within different scenarios of R-parity violation are discussed. The possible contribution of R-parity-violating Yukawa couplings in processes involving virtual supersymmetric particles and the resulting constraints are reviewed. Finally, direct production of supersymmetric particles and their decays in the presence of R-parity-violating couplings is discussed together with a survey of existing constraints from collider experiments.
SuperpotentialSuperfieldNeutrinoGravitinoLightest Supersymmetric ParticleLepton numberCoupling constantCharged leptonNeutralinoFlavour...
• #### Is the corporate elite disintegrating? Interlock boards and the Mizruchi hypothesis

This paper proposes an approach for comparing interlocked board networks over time to test for statistically significant change. In addition to contributing to the conversation about whether the Mizruchi hypothesis (that a disintegration of power is occurring within the corporate elite) holds or not, we propose novel methods to handle a longitudinal investigation of a series of social networks where the nodes undergo a few modifications at each time point. Methodologically, our contribution is twofold: we extend a Bayesian model hereto applied to compare two time periods to a longer time period, and we define and employ the concept of a hull of a sequence of social networks, which makes it possible to circumvent the problem of changing nodes over time.
Social networkBayesianCohesionStatistical significanceGraphFracturePairwise comparisonsVisual observationFinancial crisisBipartite network...
• #### How Much of a Person Influencing the Others and Being Influenced Matters in Opinion Formation Games

The opinion forming process in a social network could be naturally modeled as an opinion in influencing and updating dynamics. This already attracted researchers interest a while ago in mathematical sociology, and recently in theoretical computer science. In so-called "opinion formation games", when underlying networks are directed, a bounded price of anarchy is only known for weighted Eulerian graphs, which may not be the most general class of directed graphs that give a bounded price of anarchy. Thus, we aim to bound the price of anarchy for games with directed graphs more general than weighted Eulerian graphs in this paper. We first bound the price of anarchy for a more general class of directed graphs with conditions intuitively meaning that each node does not influence the others more than she is influenced by herself and the others, where the bounds depend on such influence differences. This generalizes the previous results on directed graphs, and recovers and matches the previous bounds in some specific classes of (directed) Eulerian graphs. We then show that there exists an example that just slightly violates the conditions with an unbounded price of anarchy. We further propose more directions along this line of research.
Price of anarchyGraphDirected graphSocial networkNash equilibriumComputational scienceUndirected graphOptimizationCauchy-Schwarz inequalityCorrelated equilibrium...

Most individuals in social networks experience a so-called Friendship Paradox: they are less popular than their friends on average. This effect may explain recent findings that widespread social network media use leads to reduced happiness. However the relation between popularity and happiness is poorly understood. A Friendship paradox does not necessarily imply a Happiness paradox where most individuals are less happy than their friends. Here we report the first direct observation of a significant Happiness Paradox in a large-scale online social network of $39,110$ Twitter users. Our results reveal that popular individuals are indeed happier and that a majority of individuals experience a significant Happiness paradox. The magnitude of the latter effect is shaped by complex interactions between individual popularity, happiness, and the fact that users cluster assortatively by level of happiness. Our results indicate that the topology of online social networks and the distribution of happiness in some populations can cause widespread psycho-social effects that affect the well-being of billions of individuals.
• #### The Launching of Cold Clouds by Galaxy Outflows I: Hydrodynamic Interactions with Radiative Cooling

To better understand the nature of the multiphase material found in outflowing galaxies, we study the evolution of cold clouds embedded in flows of hot and fast material. Using a suite of adaptive-mesh refinement simulations that include radiative cooling, we investigate both cloud mass loss and cloud acceleration under the full range of conditions observed in galaxy outflows. The simulations are designed to track the cloud center of mass, enabling us to study the cloud evolution at long disruption times. For supersonic flows, a Mach cone forms around the cloud, which damps the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability but also establishes a streamwise pressure gradient that stretches the cloud apart. If time is expressed in units of the cloud crushing time, both the cloud lifetime and the cloud acceleration rate are independent of cloud radius, and we find simple scalings for these quantities as a function of the Mach number of the external medium. A resolution study suggests that our simulations have sufficient resolution to accurately describe the evolution of cold clouds in the absence of thermal conduction and magnetic fields, physical processes whose roles will be studied in forthcoming papers.
• #### A hard X-ray view of the soft excess in AGNver. 2

An excess of X-ray emission below 1 keV, called soft excess, is detected in a large fraction of Seyfert 1-1.5s. The origin of this feature remains debated, as several models have been suggested to explain it, including warm Comptonization and blurred ionized reflection. In order to constrain the origin of this component, we exploit the different behaviors of these models above 10 keV. Ionized reflection covers a broad energy range, from the soft X-rays to the hard X-rays, while Comptonization drops very quickly in the soft X-rays. We present here the results of a study done on 102 Seyfert 1s (Sy 1.0, 1.2, 1.5 and NLSy1) from the Swift/BAT 70-Month Hard X-ray Survey catalog. The joint spectral analysis of Swift/BAT and XMM-Newton data allows a hard X-ray view of the soft excess that is present in about 80% of the objects of our sample. We discuss how the soft-excess strength is linked to the reflection at high energy, to the photon index of the primary continuum and to the Eddington ratio. In particular, we find a positive dependence of the soft-excess intensity on the Eddington ratio. We compare our results to simulations of blurred ionized-reflection models and show that they are in contradiction. By stacking both XMM-Newton and Swift/BAT spectra per soft-excess strength, we see that the shape of reflection at hard X-rays stays constant when the soft excess varies, showing an absence of link between reflection and soft excess. We conclude that the ionized-reflection model as the origin of the soft excess is disadvantaged in favor of the warm Comptonization model in our sample of Seyfert 1s.
IonizationAbsorbanceHard X-rayNull hypothesisAbsorptivitySoft X-rayAccretion diskCoronaStatisticsIntrinsic scatter...
• #### The tight relation between X-ray and ultraviolet luminosity of quasars

The observed relation between the soft X-ray and the optical-ultraviolet emission in active galactic nuclei (AGN) is non-linear and it is usually parametrized as a dependence between the logarithm of the monochromatic luminosity at 2500 {\AA} and at 2 keV. Previous investigations have found that the dispersion of this relation is rather high (~0.35-0.4 in log units), which may be caused by measurement uncertainties, variability, and intrinsic dispersion due to differences in the AGN physical properties (e.g. different accretion modes). We show that, once optically-selected quasars with homogeneous SED and X-ray detection are selected, and dust reddened and/or gas obscured objects are not included, the measured dispersion drops to significantly lower values (i.e. ~0.21-0.24 dex). We show that the residual dispersion is due to some extent to variability, and to remaining measurement uncertainties. Therefore, the real physical intrinsic dispersion should be <0.21 dex. Such a tight relation, valid over 4 decades in luminosity, must be the manifestation of an intrinsic (and universal) physical relation between the disk, emitting the primary radiation, and the hot electron corona emitting X-rays.
QuasarLuminosityActive Galactic NucleiXMM-NewtonRegressionAbsorptivityCoronaHomogenizationReddeningElectron microscopy...
• #### Galaxy Infall by Interacting with its Environment: a Comprehensive Study of 340 Galaxy Clusters

To study systematically the evolution on the angular extents of the galaxy, ICM, and dark matter components in galaxy clusters, we compiled the optical and X-ray properties of a sample of 340 clusters with redshifts $<0.5$, based on all the available data with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and {\it Chandra}/{\it XMM-Newton}. For each cluster, the member galaxies were determined primarily with photometric redshift measurements. The radial ICM mass distribution, as well as the total gravitational mass distribution, were derived from a spatially-resolved spectral analysis of the X-ray data. When normalizing the radial profile of galaxy number to that of the ICM mass, the relative curve was found to depend significantly on the cluster redshift; it drops more steeply towards outside in lower redshift subsamples. The same evolution is found in the galaxy-to-total mass profile, while the ICM-to-total mass profile varies in an opposite way. We interpret that the galaxies, the ICM, and the dark matter components had similar angular distributions when a cluster was formed, while the galaxies travelling interior of the cluster have continuously fallen towards the center relative to the other components, and the ICM has slightly expanded relative to the dark matter although it suffers strong radiative loss. This cosmological galaxy infall, accompanied by an ICM expansion, can be explained by considering that the galaxies interact strongly with the ICM while they are moving through it. The interaction is considered to create a large energy flow of $10^{44-45}$ erg $\rm s^{-1}$ per cluster from the member galaxies to their environment, which is expected to continue over cosmological time scales.
Intra-cluster mediumDark matterMass profileSloan Digital Sky SurveyCosmologyVirial cluster massCluster of galaxiesCosmic X-ray backgroundBlue galaxiesRam pressure...
• #### The clustering amplitude of X-ray selected AGN at z=0.8: Evidence for a negative dependence on accretion luminosity

The northern tile of the wide-area and shallow XMM-XXL X-ray survey field is used to estimate the average dark matter halo mass of relatively luminous X-ray selected AGN [$\rm log\, L_X (\rm 2-10\,keV)= 43.6^{+0.4}_{-0.4}\,erg/s$] in the redshift interval $z=0.5-1.2$. Spectroscopic follow-up observations of X-ray sources in the XMM-XXL field by the Sloan telescope are combined with the VIPERS spectroscopic galaxy survey to determine the cross-correlation signal between X-ray selected AGN (total of 318) and galaxies (about 20,\,000). We model the large scales (2-25\,Mpc) of the correlation function to infer a mean dark matter halo mass of $\log M / (M_{\odot} \, h^{-1}) = 12.50 ^{+0.22} _{-0.30}$ for the X-ray selected AGN sample. This measurement is about 0.5\,dex lower compared to estimates in the literature of the mean dark matter halo masses of moderate luminosity X-ray AGN [$L_X (\rm 2-10\,keV)\approx 10^{42} - 10^{43}\,erg/s$] at similar redshifts. Our analysis also links the mean clustering properties of moderate luminosity AGN with those of powerful UV/optically selected QSOs, which are typically found in halos with masses few times $10^{12}\,M_{\odot}$. There is therefore evidence for a negative luminosity dependence of the AGN clustering. This is consistent with suggestions that AGN have a broad dark matter halo mass distribution with a high mass tail that becomes sub-dominant at high accretion luminosities. We further show that our results are in qualitative agreement with semi-analytic models of galaxy and AGN evolution, which attribute the wide range of dark matter halo masses among the AGN population to different triggering mechanisms and/or black hole fueling modes.
Active Galactic NucleiLuminosityDark matter haloXMM-XXL surveyAccretionTwo-point correlation functionAstronomical X-ray sourceX-ray surveysQuasarCross-correlation function...
• #### The Launching of Cold Clouds by Galaxy Outflows II: The Role of Thermal Conduction

We explore the impact of electron thermal conduction on the evolution of radiatively-cooled cold clouds embedded in flows of hot and fast material, as occur in outflowing galaxies. Performing a parameter study of three-dimensional adaptive mesh refinement hydrodynamical simulations, we show that electron thermal conduction causes cold clouds to evaporate, but it can also extend their lifetimes by compressing them into dense filaments. We distinguish between low column-density clouds, which are disrupted on very short times, and high-column density clouds with much-longer disruption times that are set by a balance between impinging thermal energy and evaporation. We provide fits to the cloud lifetimes and velocities that can be used in galaxy-scale simulations of outflows, in which the evolution of individual clouds cannot be modeled with the required resolution. Moreover, we show that the clouds are only accelerated to a small fraction of the ambient velocity because compression by evaporation causes the clouds to present a small cross-section to the ambient flow. This means that either magnetic fields must suppress thermal conduction, or that the cold clouds observed in galaxy outflows are not formed of cold material carried out from the galaxy.
EvaporationThermal conductivityCoolingCompressibilityMach numberRadiative coolingGalaxy filamentSpeed of soundThermalisationInstability...
• #### Brane Brick Models and 2d (0,2) Triality

We provide a brane realization of 2d (0,2) Gadde-Gukov-Putrov triality in terms of brane brick models. These are Type IIA brane configurations that are T-dual to D1-branes over singular toric Calabi-Yau 4-folds. Triality translates into a local transformation of brane brick models, whose simplest representative is a cube move. We present explicit examples and construct their triality networks. We also argue that the classical mesonic moduli space of brane brick model theories, which corresponds to the probed Calabi-Yau 4-fold, is invariant under triality. Finally, we discuss triality in terms of phase boundaries, which play a central role in connecting Calabi-Yau 4-folds to brane brick models.
TrialityChiralityQuiverGauge theoryOrientationD1 braneRankUnit cellPermutationDuality...
• #### Continuous opinions and discrete actions in social networks: a multi-agent system approach

This paper proposes and analyzes a novel multi-agent opinion dynamics model in which agents have access to actions which are quantized version of the opinions of their neighbors. The model produces different behaviors observed in social networks such as disensus, clustering, oscillations, opinion propagation, even when the communication network is connected. The main results of the paper provides the characterization of preservation and diffusion of actions under general communication topologies. A complete analysis allowing the opinion forecasting is given in the particular cases of complete and ring communication graphs. Numerical examples illustrate the main features of this model.
• #### Immersive Augmented Reality Training for Complex Manufacturing Scenarios

In the complex manufacturing sector a considerable amount of resources are focused on developing new skills and training workers. In that context, increasing the effectiveness of those processes and reducing the investment required is an outstanding issue. In this paper we present an experiment that shows how modern Human Computer Interaction (HCI) metaphors such as collaborative mixed-reality can be used to transmit procedural knowledge and could eventually replace other forms of face-to-face training. We implement a real-time Immersive Augmented Reality (IAR) setup with see-through cameras that allows for collaborative interactions that can simulate conventional forms of training. The obtained results indicate that people who took the IAR training achieved the same performance than people in the conventional face-to-face training condition. These results, their implications for future training and the use of HCI paradigms in this context are discussed in this paper.
Human-computer interactionSimulations
• #### Large-scale magnetic fields can explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe

Helical hypermagnetic fields in the primordial Universe can produce the observed amount of baryon asymmetry through the chiral anomaly without any ingredients beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. While they generate no $B-L$ asymmetry, the generated baryon asymmetry survives the spharelon washout effect, because the generating process remains active until the electroweak phase transition. Solving the Boltzmann equation numerically and finding an attractor solution, we show that the baryon asymmetry of our Universe can be explained, if the present large-scale magnetic fields indicated by the blazar observations have a negative helicity and existed in the early Universe before the electroweak phase transition. We also derive the upper bound on the strength of the helical magnetic field, which is tighter than the CMB constraint, to avoid the overproduction of baryon asymmetry.
Baryon asymmetry of the UniverseHelicityHelical magnetic fieldInverse cascadeElectroweak phase transitionMagnetogenesisSphaleronYukawa interactionHypermagnetic fieldChiral anomaly...
• #### Diphotons from Diaxions

We study models in which the 750 GeV diphoton excess is due to a scalar decaying to two pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons that subsequently decay into two pairs of highly boosted photons, misidentified as individual photons. Performing a model independent analysis we find that, with axion mass around $200$ MeV, this class of theories can naturally explain the observed signal with a large width, without violating monojet constraints. At the same time the requirement of a prompt axion decay can be satisfied only with a relatively large axion-photon coupling, leading to many new charged particles at the TeV scale. However, the required multiplicities of such fields is still moderately reduced relative to models with direct diphoton production.
AxionStandard ModelPseudo-Goldstone bosonAxion decayATLAS Experiment at CERNMono-jetTeV scaleAxion massYukawa couplingPeccei-Quinn symmetry...
• #### Topological BPS vortices in a Maxwell-Higgs model with a CPT-odd and Lorentz-violating nonminimal coupling

We have studied the existence of topological self-dual vortices in a nonminimal CPT-odd and Lorentz-violating Maxwell-Higgs model. The Lorentz-violating nonminimal interaction is introduced via a modification of the usual covariant derivative coupling the Higgs and the gauge sectors. The self-dual solutions behave similarly to the Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortices, are electrically neutral and their total energy is proportional to the quantized magnetic flux.
Lorentz violationVorticityLorentz-violatingNon-minimal couplingCovariant derivativeGauge fieldWinding numberChern-Simons termQuantizationLorentz-violating parameters...
• #### The Velocity Distribution Function of Galaxy Clusters as a Cosmological Probe

We present a new approach for quantifying the abundance of galaxy clusters and constraining cosmological parameters using dynamical measurements. In the standard method, galaxy line-of-sight (LOS) velocities, $v$, or velocity dispersions are used to infer cluster masses, $M$, in order to quantify the halo mass function (HMF), $dn(M)/d\log(M)$, which is strongly affected by mass measurement errors. In our new method, the probability distribution of velocities for each cluster in the sample are summed to create a new statistic called the velocity distribution function (VDF), $dn(v)/dv$. The VDF can be measured more directly and precisely than the HMF and it can also be robustly predicted with cosmological simulations which capture the dynamics of subhalos or galaxies. We apply these two methods to mock cluster catalogs and forecast the bias and constraints on the matter density parameter $\Omega_m$ and the amplitude of matter fluctuations $\sigma_8$ in flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmologies. For an example observation of 200 massive clusters, the VDF with (without) velocity errors constrains the parameter combination $\sigma_8\Omega_m^{0.29\ (0.29)} = 0.587 \pm 0.011\ (0.583 \pm 0.011)$ and shows only minor bias. However, the HMF with dynamical mass errors is biased to low $\Omega_m$ and high $\sigma_8$ and the fiducial model lies well outside of the forecast constraints, prior to accounting for Eddington bias. When the VDF is combined with constraints from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the degeneracy between cosmological parameters can be significantly reduced. Upcoming spectroscopic surveys that probe larger volumes and fainter magnitudes will provide a larger number of clusters for applying the VDF as a cosmological probe.
Halo mass functionVelocity distribution functionCosmologyVirial cluster massCluster of galaxiesLine of sightAbundanceCosmological parametersObservational errorDark matter subhalo...
• #### Pipe3D, a pipeline to analyse integral field spectroscopy data: II. Analysis sequence and CALIFA dataproducts

We present Pipe3D, an analysis pipeline based on the FIT3D fitting tool, devel- oped to explore the properties of the stellar populations and ionized gas of Integral Field Spectroscopy data. Pipe3D was created to provide with coherent, simple to distribute, and comparable dataproducts, independently of the origin of the data, focused on the data of the most recent IFU surveys (e.g., CALIFA, MaNGA, and SAMI), and the last generation IFS instruments (e.g., MUSE). Along this article we describe the different steps involved in the analysis of the data, illustrating them by showing the dataproducts derived for NGC 2916, observed by CALIFA and P-MaNGA. As a practical use of the pipeline we present the complete set of dataproducts derived for the 200 datacubes that comprises the V500 setup of the CALIFA Data Release 2 (DR2), making them freely available through the network (ftp://ftp.caha.es/CALIFA/dataproducts/DR2/Pipe3D). Finally, we explore the hypothesis that the properties of the stellar populations and ionized gas of galaxies at the effective radius are representative of the overall average ones, finding that this is indeed the case.
Stellar populationsField of viewIntensityVelocity dispersionDust attenuation curveIonizationStar formation rateFlexible Image Transport SystemKinematicsLuminosity...
• #### Time Really Passes, Science Can't Deny That

Today's science provides quite a lean picture of time as a mere geometric evolution parameter. I argue that time is much richer. In particular, I argue that besides the geometric time, there is creative time, when objective chance events happen. The existence of the latter follows straight from the existence of free-will. Following the french philosopher Lequyer, I argue that free-will is a prerequisite for the possibility to have rational argumentations, hence can't be denied. Consequently, science can't deny the existence of creative time and thus that time really passes.
CausalityBig BangQuantum theoryRoboticsPhase spaceHypersensitizationHarmonic oscillatorAlice and BobQuantum measurementInfinitesimal...
• #### Cosmological Non-Constant Problem: Cosmological bounds on TeV-scale physics and beyondver. 2

We study the influence of the fluctuations of a Lorentz invariant and conserved vacuum on cosmological metric perturbations, and show that they generically blow up in the IR. We compute this effect using the K\"all\'en-Lehmann spectral representation of stress correlators in generic quantum field theories, as well as the holographic bound on their entanglement entropy, both leading to an IR cut-off that scales as the fifth power of the highest UV scale (in Planck units). One may view this as analogous to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which is imposed on the phase space of gravitational theories by the Einstein constraint equations. The leading effect on cosmological observables come from anisotropic vacuum stresses which imply: i) any extension of the standard model of particle physics can only have masses (or resonances) $\lesssim$ 35 TeV, and ii) perturbative quantum field theory or quantum gravity becomes strongly coupled beyond a cut-off scale of $\Lambda\lesssim1$ PeV. Such a low cut-off is independently motivated by the Higgs hierarchy problem. This result, which we dub the cosmological non-constant problem, can be viewed as an extension of the cosmological constant (CC) problem, demonstrating the non-trivial UV-IR coupling and (yet another) limitation of effective field theory in gravity. However, it is more severe than the old CC problem, as vacuum fluctuations cannot be tuned to cancel due to the positivity of spectral densities or entropy. We thus predict that future advances in cosmological observations and collider technology will sandwich from above and below, and eventually discover, new (non-perturbative) physics beyond the Standard Model within the TeV-PeV energy range.
Quantum field theoryCosmologyMetric perturbationInfrared limitQuantum gravityRenormalizationLorentz invariantTeV scaleScale of new physicsIntegrated Sachs-Wolfe...
• #### LSTM: A Search Space Odyssey

Several variants of the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) architecture for recurrent neural networks have been proposed since its inception in 1995. In recent years, these networks have become the state-of-the-art models for a variety of machine learning problems. This has led to a renewed interest in understanding the role and utility of various computational components of typical LSTM variants. In this paper, we present the first large-scale analysis of eight LSTM variants on three representative tasks: speech recognition, handwriting recognition, and polyphonic music modeling. The hyperparameters of all LSTM variants for each task were optimized separately using random search and their importance was assessed using the powerful fANOVA framework. In total, we summarize the results of 5400 experimental runs (about 15 years of CPU time), which makes our study the largest of its kind on LSTM networks. Our results show that none of the variants can improve upon the standard LSTM architecture significantly, and demonstrate the forget gate and the output activation function to be its most critical components. We further observe that the studied hyperparameters are virtually independent and derive guidelines for their efficient adjustment.
ArchitectureHyperparameterRecurrent neural networkLong short term memoryActivation functionMachine learningNetworks...
• #### MultiDark simulations: the story of dark matter halo concentrations and density profilesver. 2

Accurately predicting structural properties of dark matter halos is one of the fundamental goals of modern cosmology. We use the new suite of MultiDark cosmological simulations to study the evolution of dark matter halo density profiles, concentrations, and velocity anisotropies. The MultiDark simulations cover a large range of masses 1e10-1e15Msun and volumes upto 50Gpc**3. The total number of dark matter halos in all the simulations exceeds 60 billion. We find that in order to understand the structure of dark matter halos and to make ~1% accurate predictions for density profiles, one needs to realize that halo concentration is more complex than the traditional ratio of the virial radius to the core radius in the NFW profile. For massive halos the averge density profile is far from the NFW shape and the concentration is defined by both the core radius and the shape parameter alpha in the Einasto approximation. Combining results from different redshifts, masses and cosmologies, we show that halos progress through three stages of evolution. (1) They start as rare density peaks that experience very fast and nearly radial infall. This radial infall brings mass closer to the center producing a high concentrated halo. Here, the halo concentration increases with the increasing halo mass and the concentration is defined by the alpha parameter with nearly constant core radius. Later halos slide into (2) the plateau regime where the accretion becomes less radial, but frequent mergers still affect even the central region. Now the concentration does not depend on halo mass. (3) Once the rate of accretion slows down, halos move into the domain of declining concentration-mass relation because new accretion piles up mass close to the virial radius while the core radius is staying constant. We provide accurate analytical fits to the numerical results for halo density profiles and concentrations.
• #### Resolved Magnetic-Field Structure and Variability Near the Event Horizon of Sagittarius A*

Near a black hole, differential rotation of a magnetized accretion disk is thought to produce an instability that amplifies weak magnetic fields, driving accretion and outflow. These magnetic fields would naturally give rise to the observed synchrotron emission in galaxy cores and to the formation of relativistic jets, but no observations to date have been able to resolve the expected horizon-scale magnetic-field structure. We report interferometric observations at 1.3-millimeter wavelength that spatially resolve the linearly polarized emission from the Galactic Center supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. We have found evidence for partially ordered fields near the event horizon, on scales of ~6 Schwarzschild radii, and we have detected and localized the intra-hour variability associated with these fields.
Event horizonSagittarius A*Black holeVery long baseline interferometryAccretionCombined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave AstronomyDifferential rotationInstabilitySynchrotron radiationAccretion flow...
• #### Geometry and non-adiabatic response in quantum and classical systemsver. 2

In these lecture notes, partly based on the course taught at the Karpacz Winter School in March 2014, we discuss the close connections between non-adiabatic response of a system with respect to macroscopic parameters and the geometry of quantum and classical states. We center our discussion around adiabatic gauge potentials, which are the generators of the unitary transformations of the basis states in quantum systems and generators of special canonical transformations in classical systems. In quantum systems, expectation values of these potentials in the eigenstates are the Berry connections and the covariance matrix of these gauge potentials is the geometric tensor, whose antisymmetric part defines the Berry curvature and whose symmetric part is the Fubini-Study metric tensor. In classical systems one simply replaces the eigenstate expectation value by an average over the micro-canonical shell. We express the non-adiabatic response of the physical observables of the system through these gauge potentials. We also demonstrate the close connection of the geometric tensor to the notions of Lorentz force and renormalized mass. We show how one can use this formalism to derive equations of motion for slow macroscopic parameters coupled to fast microscopic degrees of freedom to reproduce and even go beyond macroscopic Hamiltonian dynamics. Finally, we illustrate these ideas with a number of simple examples and highlight a few more complicated ones drawn from recent literature.
HamiltonianBerry phaseGeneralized forcesRenormalizationChern numberDegree of freedomManifoldDilationExpectation ValuePerturbation theory...
• #### High-Sensitivity 86GHz (3.5mm) VLBI Observations of M87: Deep Imaging of the Jet Base at a 10 Schwarzschild-Radius Resolution

We report on results from new high-sensitivity, high-resolution 86GHz (3.5 millimeter) observations of the jet base in the nearby radio galaxy M87, obtained by the Very Long Baseline Array in conjunction with the Green Bank Telescope. The resulting image has a dynamic range exceeding 1500 to 1, the highest ever achieved for this jet at this frequency, resolving and imaging a detailed jet formation/collimation structure down to ~10 Schwarzschild radii (Rs). The obtained 86GHz image clearly confirms some important jet features known at lower frequencies, i.e., a wide-opening angle jet base, a limb-brightened intensity profile, a parabola-shape collimation profile and a counter jet. The limb-brightened structure is already well developed at < 0.2mas (< 28Rs, projected) from the core, where the corresponding apparent opening angle becomes as wide as ~100 degrees. The subsequent jet collimation near the black hole evolves in a complicated manner; there is a "constricted" structure at tens Rs from the core, where the jet cross section is locally shrinking. We suggest that an external pressure support from the inner part of radiatively-inefficient accretion flow may be dynamically important in shaping/confining the footprint of the magnetized jet. We also present the first VLBI 86GHz polarimetric experiment for this source, where a highly polarized (~20%) feature is detected near the jet base, indicating the presence of a well-ordered magnetic field. As a by-product, we additionally report a 43/86 GHz polarimetric result for our calibrator 3C 273 suggesting an extreme rotation measure near the core.
Messier 87Very long baseline interferometryVery Long Baseline ArrayLimb brighteningBlack holeCalibrationIntensityProper motionGreen Bank TelescopeAccretion flow...
• #### Constraints on New Scalars from the LHC 125 GeV Higgs Signalver. 2

We study the implications the recent results from the LHC Higgs searches have on scalar new physics. We study the impact on both the Higgs production and decay from scalars with and without colour, and in cases where decoupling do and do not happen. We investigate possible constraints on scalar parameters from the production rate in the diphoton channel, and also the two vector boson channels. Measurements from both channels can help disentangle new physics due to colour from that due to charge, and thus reveal the nature of the new scalar states.
Standard ModelLarge Hadron ColliderGreen's functionBranching ratioTwo Higgs Doublet ModelVector bosonVacuum expectation valueSpontaneous symmetry breakingDegree of freedomElectroweak symmetry breaking...
• #### Possible evidence for an inverted temperature-density relation in the intergalactic medium from the flux distribution of the Lyman-alpha forestver. 2

We compare the improved measurement of the Lya forest flux probability distribution at 1.7<z<3.2 presented by Kim et al. (2007) to a large set of hydrodynamical simulations of the Lya forest with different cosmological parameters and thermal histories. The simulations are in good agreement with the observational data if the temperature-density relation for the low density intergalactic medium (IGM), T=T_0 Delta^{gamma-1}, is either close to isothermal or inverted (gamma<1). Our results suggest that the voids in the IGM may be significantly hotter and the thermal state of the low density IGM may be substantially more complex than is usually assumed at these redshifts. We discuss radiative transfer effects which alter the spectral shape of ionising radiation during the epoch of HeII reionisation as a possible physical mechanism for achieving an inverted temperature-density relation at z~3.
Temperature-density relationIntergalactic mediumThermalisationReionizationRadiative transferFlux power spectrumMatter power spectrumIGM temperatureRedshift binsHydrodynamical simulations...
• #### The Effects of Lyman-Limit Systems on the Evolution and Observability of the Epoch of Reionization

We present the first large-scale, full radiative transfer simulations of the reionization of the intergalactic medium in the presence of Lyman-limit systems (LLSs). To illustrate the impact of LLS opacity, possibly missed by previous simulations, we add either a uniform or spatially-varying hydrogen bound-free opacity. This opacity, implemented as the mean free path (mfp) of the ionizing photons, extrapolates the observed, post-reionization redshift dependence into the epoch of reionization. In qualitative agreement with previous studies, we find that at late times the presence of LLSs slows down the ionization fronts, and alters the size distribution of H II regions. We quantitatively characterize the size distribution and morphological evolution of H II regions and examine the effects of the LLSs on the redshifted 21-cm signal from the patchy reionization. The presence of LLSs extends the ionization history by $\Delta z \sim 0.8$. The LLS absorbers significantly impede the late-time growth of the H II regions. The position dependent LLS distribution slows reionization further and additionally limits the late growth of the ionized regions. However, there is no "freeze out" of the H II regions and the largest regions grow to the size of the simulation volume. The 21-cm power spectra show that at large scales the power drops by a factor of 2 for 50% and 75% ionization stages (at $k = 0.1$ $\text{h} \, \text{Mpc}^{-1}$) reflecting the limiting effect of the LLSs on the growth of ionized patches. The statistical observables such as the RMS of the brightness temperature fluctuations and the peak amplitudes of the 21-cm power spectra at large-scales ($k = 0.05 - 0.1$ $\text{h} \, \text{Mpc}^{-1}$) are diminished by the presence of LLS.