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Full-Text Articles in Astrophysics and Astronomy

Temperature Predictions With Zncuins/Zns Quantum Dots, Reu/Fri Program Physics And Astronomy, Amber Banks Aug 2026

Temperature Predictions With Zncuins/Zns Quantum Dots, Reu/Fri Program Physics And Astronomy, Amber Banks

Student Works

For hundreds of years, humans have built thermometers based on the principles of thermal expansion and contraction. In the modern world, there is a need to scale down our thermometers to monitor cellular reactions, both within the human body and within artificial organ chips. Lewis et al. (2020) introduces a nanoscale thermometer based on the thermal expansion of CdTe quantum dots. When ex panded, these dots exhibit systematic changes in photoluminescence (PL) which are recognized by a neural network as an increase in temperature. Our research builds upon the framework of Lewis et al. (2020), testing its feasibility with ZnCuInS/ZnS …

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The Computed Microwave Spectrum Of The Protonated Fullerene C60H+, Laszlo Nemes, Jos Oomens, Vincent J. Esposito, Vincent Boudon, Alexander G. G. M. Tielens Aug 2026

The Computed Microwave Spectrum Of The Protonated Fullerene C60H+, Laszlo Nemes, Jos Oomens, Vincent J. Esposito, Vincent Boudon, Alexander G. G. M. Tielens

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The largest known molecule in the interstellar medium of galaxies, C60, has been detected in its neutral and cationic form through its vibrational, UV-driven fluorescence emission spectrum and its electronic absorption spectrum, respectively. The detection of several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules through their pure rotation spectrum in cold, dense, molecular cloud cores suggests that C60 might be present in these environments as well. The low flux of UV pumping photons in molecular cloud cores and the absence of suitably bright background stars, make detection of C60 and its cation through the commonly used methods impractical. As …

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Ultraviolet Imaging Of Sr 12 C With Hst/Wfc3: Accretion And Variability Of A Giant Planet At The End Stages Of Growth, Claire O. Finley, Brendan P. Bowler, Ya-Lin Wu, Adam L. Kraus, Yifan Zhou, Yuhiko Aoyama, William Best, Ian Czekala, Catherine C. Espaillat, Katherine B. Follette, Gregory J. Herczeg, Raquel A. Martinez, Connor E. Robinson, Quang H. Tran, K. Ward-Duong Aug 2026

Ultraviolet Imaging Of Sr 12 C With Hst/Wfc3: Accretion And Variability Of A Giant Planet At The End Stages Of Growth, Claire O. Finley, Brendan P. Bowler, Ya-Lin Wu, Adam L. Kraus, Yifan Zhou, Yuhiko Aoyama, William Best, Ian Czekala, Catherine C. Espaillat, Katherine B. Follette, Gregory J. Herczeg, Raquel A. Martinez, Connor E. Robinson, Quang H. Tran, K. Ward-Duong

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

Many details of the gas accretion phase during giant planet formation remain untested. We present new 0.2–0.7 μm UV-through-red optical imaging of the young, wide-orbit planetary-mass companion SR 12 c from the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instrument on board the Hubble Space Telescope. SR 12 c exhibits strong accretion-related continuum excess blueward of∼5000 Å and clear signs of the Balmer jump at 3646 Å. We derive a total accretion luminosity of1.65 ±0.19× 10−5L⊙and a mass accretion rate of 8 ±2 × 10−12 M⊙yr−1. Based on its mass and age,SR12 c …

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Emergent De Sitter Expansion And Closed Topology From The Cosmic Fabric Model As An Open Thermodynamic System: Resolving The Negative Bulk Modulus Paradox, T G. Tenev, C B. Ward, T F. Tenev, M F. Horstemeyer Jul 2026

Emergent De Sitter Expansion And Closed Topology From The Cosmic Fabric Model As An Open Thermodynamic System: Resolving The Negative Bulk Modulus Paradox, T G. Tenev, C B. Ward, T F. Tenev, M F. Horstemeyer

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Cosmic Fabric Model establishes a continuum-mechanics isomorphism to General Relativity by representing physical space as an elastic three-dimensional hyperplate embedded in a four-dimensional spatial bulk. Reproducing vacuum kinematics requires a vanishing P-wave modulus, which in turn implies a negative bulk modulus—an apparent thermodynamic instability in a closed system. This paradox is resolved by recasting the framework as an open system: the instability is not pathological but instead drives cosmic expansion. In this interpretation, the observable universe is a lower-energy solid formed through continuous solidification from a higher-dimensional precursor fluid. Using multiplicative kinematics from finite-growth mechanics, the model shows that …

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Narrowband Searches For Continuous Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars In The First Two Parts Of The Fourth Ligo–Virgo–Kagra Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Soma Mukherjee, Gaukhar Nurbek, Volker Quetschke, Wenhui Wang Jul 2026

Narrowband Searches For Continuous Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars In The First Two Parts Of The Fourth Ligo–Virgo–Kagra Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Soma Mukherjee, Gaukhar Nurbek, Volker Quetschke, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Rotating nonaxisymmetric neutron stars (NSs) are promising sources for continuous gravitational waves (CWs). CWs may, if detected, inform us about the internal structure and equation of state of NSs. Here, we present a narrowband search for CWs from known pulsars, for which a matched-filter search can be applied. Narrowband searches are robust to mismatches between electromagnetic (EM) and gravitational emissions, in contrast to fully targeted searches where they are assumed to be phase-locked. In this work, we search for the CW counterparts emitted by 34 pulsars using data from the first and second parts of the fourth LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA observing run. …

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Gwtc-4.0: Population Properties Of Merging Compact Binaries, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Wenhui Wang Jul 2026

Gwtc-4.0: Population Properties Of Merging Compact Binaries, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We detail the population properties of binary neutron star, neutron star–black hole binary, and binary black hole mergers using 158 events from the cumulative Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 4.0. The black hole primary mass distribution consists of a power-law-like continuum that steepens above 35 M⊙ with overdensities at 10 M⊙ and 35 M⊙. Binary black holes with primary masses near 10 M⊙ are more likely to have less massive secondaries, with a mass ratio distribution peaking at  q=0.74+0.13−0.13, potentially a signature of stable mass transfer during binary evolution. Black hole spins are inferred to be nonextremal, with …

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Jwst-Tst High Contrast: First Direct Spectroscopy Of Gj 504 B Reveals Clouds And Possible Metal Enrichment, Aneesh Baburaj, Jean-Baptiste Ruffio, Marshall Perrin Perrin, Jerry W. Xuan, William O. Balmer, Yayaati Chachan, Quinn M. Konopacky, Travis S. Barman, Mathilde Mâlin, Kielan K.W. Hoch, Emily Rickman, K. Ward-Duong, Laurent Pueyo, Julien H. Girard, Isabel Rebollido, Nikole K. Lewis, Jeff Valenti, Sara Seager, Chris Stark, Rémi Soummer, Jay Anderson, Charles-Philippe Lajoie, Mark Clampin, C. Matt Mountain Jul 2026

Jwst-Tst High Contrast: First Direct Spectroscopy Of Gj 504 B Reveals Clouds And Possible Metal Enrichment, Aneesh Baburaj, Jean-Baptiste Ruffio, Marshall Perrin Perrin, Jerry W. Xuan, William O. Balmer, Yayaati Chachan, Quinn M. Konopacky, Travis S. Barman, Mathilde Mâlin, Kielan K.W. Hoch, Emily Rickman, K. Ward-Duong, Laurent Pueyo, Julien H. Girard, Isabel Rebollido, Nikole K. Lewis, Jeff Valenti, Sara Seager, Chris Stark, Rémi Soummer, Jay Anderson, Charles-Philippe Lajoie, Mark Clampin, C. Matt Mountain

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

Characterizing the coldest directly imaged companions through direct spectroscopy has only recently become possible with the James Webb Space Telescope. We present moderate-resolution (R ∼ 2700) spectroscopic observations of the directly imaged planetary-mass companion (PMC), GJ 504 b, using the JWST/NIRSpec. The coldest imaged PMC of the pre-JWST era GJ 504 b is too faint for ground-based spectroscopy, with only photometric observations possible. Leveraging advanced postprocessing techniques with a forward-modeling framework, we detect the companion at high signal-to-noise (S/N > 300). We also present the first successful point-spread function (PSF) subtraction with angular differential imaging (ADI) in the NIRSpec point …

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Interfacial Redox Mediation By Amine/Alkyne-Functionalized Silicon Nanoparticles: Surfactant-Free Gold Nanoparticle Synthesis, Amber L. Garcia, Brittany Griggs, Brian S. Mitchell, Mark J. Fink, Julie P. Vanegas Jul 2026

Interfacial Redox Mediation By Amine/Alkyne-Functionalized Silicon Nanoparticles: Surfactant-Free Gold Nanoparticle Synthesis, Amber L. Garcia, Brittany Griggs, Brian S. Mitchell, Mark J. Fink, Julie P. Vanegas

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We develop a surfactant-free synthesis method for gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using 2-propynylamine-functionalized silicon nanoparticles as integrated redox-active supports. Surface-anchored amine groups act as built-in reducing sites for Au3+ precursors at the hexane–water interface under ambient conditions, enabling in situ AuNP nucleation and growth. Time-resolved UV-vis spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering track the emergence of plasmonic AuNPs, while quantitative morphology analysis reveals a final population dominated by spherical and near-spherical nanoparticles (∼74%), with faceted polyhedral structures (∼4%) and dendritic, hollow, irregular, and rod-like morphologies (∼22%) as minority species. The temporal evolution proceeds from early dendritic and irregular aggregates to a …

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Constraints On Gravitational Waves From The 2024 Vela Pulsar Glitch, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang Jul 2026

Constraints On Gravitational Waves From The 2024 Vela Pulsar Glitch, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Among known neutron stars, the Vela pulsar is one of the best targets for gravitational-wave searches. It is also one of the most prolific in terms of glitches, which are sudden frequency changes in a pulsar’s rotation. Such glitches could cause a variety of transient gravitational-wave signals. Here, we search for signals associated with a Vela glitch on 2024 April 29 in data of the two LIGO detectors from the fourth LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA observing run. We search both for seconds-scale burst-like emission, primarily from fundamental (f-)mode oscillations, and for longer quasi-monochromatic transients up to 4 months in duration, primarily …

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Frequency And Radiative Analysis Of Random Yagi-Uhf/Vhf Phased Array, Luis M. Bres, Luis A. Hernandez, Teviet Creighton Jun 2026

Frequency And Radiative Analysis Of Random Yagi-Uhf/Vhf Phased Array, Luis M. Bres, Luis A. Hernandez, Teviet Creighton

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

This study investigates a phased array ground station capable of tracking multiple sources, multi-beamforming, electronic steering, easy scaling, and low cost. The project will develop a 20-pair dual-polarized Yagi-UHF/VHF phased array, comparing the parameters of random and uniform layouts. This study will be divided into two domains: frequency, and radiative domain. The frequency domain will explore the reception and transmission spectra analysis under several scenarios for our antennas. The radiative domain will explore the following: general side lobe analysis across both elevation and azimuth, antenna element sweep analysis, electronic beam steering analysis, electro-mechanical beam steering analysis, array density analysis, and …

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Potential For Lunar Interior Science By The Gravitational-Wave Detector Lila, Mark P. Panning, Philippe Lognonné, Teviet Creighton, James Trippe, Volker Quetschke, Josipa Majstorović, Karan Jani Jun 2026

Potential For Lunar Interior Science By The Gravitational-Wave Detector Lila, Mark P. Panning, Philippe Lognonné, Teviet Creighton, James Trippe, Volker Quetschke, Josipa Majstorović, Karan Jani

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The laser interferometer lunar antenna (LILA), a concept for measuring sub-Hz gravitational waves on the Moon, would use laser strainmeters to obtain extremely sensitive strain measurements from 1 mHz to 1 Hz. With proposed strain sensitivities, LILA would also be able to measure the normal modes of the Moon from 1–10 mHz at high signal-to-noise ratio. Such measurements would enable significant advances in our understanding of both the spherically symmetric and even 3D deep internal structure of the Moon. Strainmeter measurements may even be able to detect the translational mode of the solid inner core of the Moon at frequencies …

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Gwtc-4.0: Updating The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog With Observations From The First Part Of The Fourth Ligo–Virgo–Kagra Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang Jun 2026

Gwtc-4.0: Updating The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog With Observations From The First Part Of The Fourth Ligo–Virgo–Kagra Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Version 4.0 of the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC-4.0) adds new candidates detected by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA observatories through the first part of the fourth observing run (O4a: 2023 May 24 15:00:00 to 2024 January 16 16:00:00 UTC) and a preceding engineering run. In these new data, we find 128 compact binary coalescence candidates that are identified by at least one of our search algorithms with a probability of astrophysical origin pastro ≥ 0.5 and that are not vetoed during event validation. We also provide detailed source property measurements for 86 of these that have a false-alarm rate …

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Open Data From Ligo, Virgo, And Kagra Through The First Part Of The Fourth Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang Jun 2026

Open Data From Ligo, Virgo, And Kagra Through The First Part Of The Fourth Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA form a network of gravitational-wave observatories. Data and analysis results from this network are made publicly available through the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center. This paper describes open data from this network, including the addition of data from the first part of the fourth observing run and selected periods from the preceding engineering run, collected from 2023 May to 2024 January. The public dataset includes calibrated strain time series for each instrument, data from additional channels used for noise subtraction and detector characterization, and analysis data products from version 4.0 of the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog.

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Searches For Continuous Gravitational Waves From Supernova Remnants In The First Part Of The Ligo-Virgo-Kagra Fourth Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang Jun 2026

Searches For Continuous Gravitational Waves From Supernova Remnants In The First Part Of The Ligo-Virgo-Kagra Fourth Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present results from directed searches for continuous gravitational waves from a sample of 15 nearby supernova remnants, likely hosting young neutron star candidates, using data from the first eight months of the fourth observing run (O4) of the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration. The analysis employs five pipelines: four semicoherent methods—the Band-Sampled-Data directed pipeline, Weave, and two Viterbi pipelines (single- and dual-harmonic)—and PyStoch, a cross-correlation-based pipeline. These searches cover wide frequency bands and do not assume prior knowledge of the targets’ ephemerides. No evidence of a signal is found from any of the 15 sources. We set 95% confidence-level upper limits on …

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Gw230814: Investigation Of A Loud Gravitational-Wave Signal Observed With A Single Detector, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang Jun 2026

Gw230814: Investigation Of A Loud Gravitational-Wave Signal Observed With A Single Detector, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

GW230814, detected by the LIGO Livingston observatory with a signal-to-noise ratio of 42.4, represents the loudest gravitational-wave signal in the GWTC-4.0 catalog. Its source is consistent with a binary black hole coalescence with component masses m1=33.7+2.9−2.2M⊙, m2=29.9+2.1−2.8M⊙, and a small effective inspiral spin χeff=−0.01+0.06−0.07. The high signal-to-noise ratio enabled us to detect an ℓ = ∣m∣ = 4 mode in the inspiral–merger–ringdown signal for the first time (with Bayes factor ≈10), as well as enabling a range of tests of consistency between theoretical predictions and the observed waveform. While most of these tests show agreement with theoretical predictions, there are …

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Gwtc-4.0: Methods For Identifying And Characterizing Gravitational-Wave Transients, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Wenhui Wang Jun 2026

Gwtc-4.0: Methods For Identifying And Characterizing Gravitational-Wave Transients, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul Alberto Espinosa Perez, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC) is a collection of candidate gravitational-wave transient signals identified and characterized by the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration. Producing the contents of the GWTC from detector data requires complex analysis methods. These comprise techniques to model the signal; identify the transients in the data; evaluate the quality of the data and mitigate possible instrumental issues; infer the parameters of each transient; compare the data with the waveform models for compact binary coalescences; and handle the large amount of results associated with all of these different analyses. In this paper, we describe the methods employed to produce the catalog’s …

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Detection Of C60 Combination Bands In The Near-Ir Spectrum Of Tc 1, Morgan M. Giese, Vincent J. Esposito, Simon Van Schuylenbergh, Jan Cami, Els Peeters, Charmi Bhatt, Dries Van De Putte, A. G. G. M. Tielens, Michael J. Barlow, Jeronimo Bernard-Salas, Alessandra Candian, Bryan Changala, Nick L. J. Cox, Harriet L. Dinerstein, D. A. García-Hernández, Marco A. Gómez-Muñoz, Kay Justtanont, Kathleen E. Kraemer, Eric Lagadec, Arturo Manchado, Ana Monreal Ibero, Raghvendra Sahai, Ameek Sidhu, G. C. Sloan, N. C. Sterling, Jeremy R. Walsh, Roger Wesson, Joshua Cole Whitman, Albert Zijlstra Jun 2026

Detection Of C60 Combination Bands In The Near-Ir Spectrum Of Tc 1, Morgan M. Giese, Vincent J. Esposito, Simon Van Schuylenbergh, Jan Cami, Els Peeters, Charmi Bhatt, Dries Van De Putte, A. G. G. M. Tielens, Michael J. Barlow, Jeronimo Bernard-Salas, Alessandra Candian, Bryan Changala, Nick L. J. Cox, Harriet L. Dinerstein, D. A. García-Hernández, Marco A. Gómez-Muñoz, Kay Justtanont, Kathleen E. Kraemer, Eric Lagadec, Arturo Manchado, Ana Monreal Ibero, Raghvendra Sahai, Ameek Sidhu, G. C. Sloan, N. C. Sterling, Jeremy R. Walsh, Roger Wesson, Joshua Cole Whitman, Albert Zijlstra

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

We report the detection of a set of new near-infrared emission features between 3.5 and 5.2 μm in JWST/NIRSpec observations of Tc 1, the planetary nebula known for displaying the cleanest and most prominent mid-infrared cosmic fullerene spectrum. These broad features share the same spatial distribution as the well-known C60 and C70 mid-infrared emission bands, peaking in an asymmetric ring approximately 5″–6″ from the central star. Through comparison with new anharmonic quantum chemical calculations, we demonstrate that these features arise from C60 combination bands, marking their first detection in an astrophysical environment. The total energy radiated …

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What's The Big Picture? Capturing All The Companions To The Lowest-Mass Stars, Eliot Vrijmoet, K. Ward-Duong, Susan Niu, Alette Matthews, Todd Henry, Lucy Williams Jun 2026

What's The Big Picture? Capturing All The Companions To The Lowest-Mass Stars, Eliot Vrijmoet, K. Ward-Duong, Susan Niu, Alette Matthews, Todd Henry, Lucy Williams

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

The M dwarfs are frequently orbited by low-mass stars and terrestrial planets, yet rarely by the brown dwarfs and Jovian planets between those mass regimes. The collective orbital architectures of those unusual substellar companions thus present a valuable opportunity to learn about those objects' formation, dynamical evolution, and original circumstellar environments. Accessing those parameter spaces, however, requires complementary observing techniques to truly map orbits and thoroughly assess the masses and mass ratios that occur. Here we present our pilot study of five M dwarfs with strong evidence of potentially substellar companions, combining 20+ years of astrometric monitoring from RECONS with …

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Measuring And Modeling The Circumplanetary Dust Disk Around The Planetary-Mass Companion Sr 12 C, Nathaniel Kerman, Kimberly Ward-Duong, Mickael Bonnefoy, Kj Soto Villarreal, Nicole Arulanantham, Benoît Tabone, Catherine Dougados, Laurent Pueyo, Mathilde Mâlin, Claire Finley, Et Al Jun 2026

Measuring And Modeling The Circumplanetary Dust Disk Around The Planetary-Mass Companion Sr 12 C, Nathaniel Kerman, Kimberly Ward-Duong, Mickael Bonnefoy, Kj Soto Villarreal, Nicole Arulanantham, Benoît Tabone, Catherine Dougados, Laurent Pueyo, Mathilde Mâlin, Claire Finley, Et Al

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

SR 12 c, a planetary mass companion in a ~1000 au orbit around its binary host, is one of only three planetary mass objects surrounded by an ALMA-detected circumplanetary disk (CPD). CPDs with different masses and orbits provide crucial laboratories to study substellar formation: the structure and mass of CPDs govern planet formation timescales and may distinguish between formation mechanisms, while dust composition and grain sizes ultimately affect atmospheric metallicity and satellites. CPD properties can also be compared against better-understood brown dwarf and low-mass star disks to test how disk properties scale with central object mass at the low-mass extreme. …

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A Detailed Jwst Exploration Of Gas Chemistry And Dust Within The Disk Of A Young Giant Planet, K. Ward-Duong, Mickaël Bonnefoy, Nathaniel Kerman, Kj Soto Villarreal, Nicole Arulanantham, Benoît Tabone, Catherine Dougados, Laurent Pueyo, Mathilde Mâlin, Et Al Jun 2026

A Detailed Jwst Exploration Of Gas Chemistry And Dust Within The Disk Of A Young Giant Planet, K. Ward-Duong, Mickaël Bonnefoy, Nathaniel Kerman, Kj Soto Villarreal, Nicole Arulanantham, Benoît Tabone, Catherine Dougados, Laurent Pueyo, Mathilde Mâlin, Et Al

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

We present near- to mid-infrared spectroscopy of the young (2 Myr), wide-orbit planetary mass companion SR 12 c, recently observed with JWST at unprecedented spectral resolution and sensitivity. With a mass of only 11 Jupiter masses, and a projected separation of nearly 1000 au from its cool (K+M type) binary host, SR 12 c represents an important and uniquely accessible case study of a circumplanetary disk. It is one of only three such objects detected to date in ALMA continuum observations, alongside the PDS 70 system and the free-floating planet OTS 44. Using JWST/MRS spectra at R3000, we characterize the …

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Powerful Radio Sources In The Southern Sky. Iv. Observations Of The G4jy-3cre Catalog With The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, Siegfried A. Gawenda, Juan P. Madrid, Francesco Massaro, Sarah V. White, C. C. Cheung, C. Mazzucchelli, Abigail García-Pérez, I. Andruchow, V. Chavushyan, Ralph P. Kraft May 2026

Powerful Radio Sources In The Southern Sky. Iv. Observations Of The G4jy-3cre Catalog With The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, Siegfried A. Gawenda, Juan P. Madrid, Francesco Massaro, Sarah V. White, C. C. Cheung, C. Mazzucchelli, Abigail García-Pérez, I. Andruchow, V. Chavushyan, Ralph P. Kraft

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

A recent 2023 paper by Massaro et al. introduced the G4Jy-3CRE, a new catalog of the brightest radio sources in the Southern Hemisphere that serve as a southern equivalent to the Third Cambridge Catalog Revised (3CR). The G4Jy-3CRE catalog selected 264 sources from the GLEAM-4Jy survey based on the same criteria used to select the sources in the 3CR. In this paper, we present new Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) continuum imaging of the G4Jy-3CRE catalog. We use the three most recent data releases from the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS), covering the sky south of +30° decl.: RACS-low1, …

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Deep Search For Joint Sources Of Gravitational Waves And High-Energy Neutrinos With Icecube During The Third Observing Run Of Ligo And Virgo, R. Abbasi, M. Ackermann, Mario C. Diaz, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Wenhui Wang May 2026

Deep Search For Joint Sources Of Gravitational Waves And High-Energy Neutrinos With Icecube During The Third Observing Run Of Ligo And Virgo, R. Abbasi, M. Ackermann, Mario C. Diaz, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The discovery of joint sources of high-energy neutrinos and gravitational waves has been a primary target for the LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, and IceCube observatories. The joint detection of high-energy neutrinos and gravitational waves would provide insight into cosmic processes, from the dynamics of compact object mergers and stellar collapses to the mechanisms driving relativistic outflows. The joint detection of multiple cosmic messengers can also elevate the significance of the common observation even when some or all of the constituent messengers are subthreshold, i.e., not significant enough to declare their detection individually. Using data from the LIGO, Virgo, and IceCube observatories, …

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Evidence For Environmental Stripping In The Coma Cluster, Richard T. Pomeroy, Juan P. Madrid, Conor R. O’Neill, Alexander T. Gagliano May 2026

Evidence For Environmental Stripping In The Coma Cluster, Richard T. Pomeroy, Juan P. Madrid, Conor R. O’Neill, Alexander T. Gagliano

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The stability and longevity of globular clusters (GCs) make them effective tracers of the dynamical histories of galaxies in cluster environments. We construct a catalog of 23,351 GC candidates in the Coma Cluster using imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys. We cross-match galaxy data from the SIMBAD, NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database, and Sloan Digital Sky Survey archives to construct a galaxy sample and model their GC populations using the GC specific frequency. We find several galaxies with significantly smaller GC populations than expected from their luminosities, consistent with either tidal stripping or intrinsically low formation efficiencies. We …

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Kl Dra As A Benchmark Laboratory For Accretion-Disk Physics: Constraints From Tess And Ground-Based Surveys, Luis E. Salazar Manzano, Liliana E. Rivera Sandoval, Jean-Marie Hameury, Craig O. Heinke, Iwona Kotko, Thomas J. Maccarone, Manuel Pichardo Marcano May 2026

Kl Dra As A Benchmark Laboratory For Accretion-Disk Physics: Constraints From Tess And Ground-Based Surveys, Luis E. Salazar Manzano, Liliana E. Rivera Sandoval, Jean-Marie Hameury, Craig O. Heinke, Iwona Kotko, Thomas J. Maccarone, Manuel Pichardo Marcano

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present the longest-term optical analysis of the AM CVn system KL Dra using ∼11 yr of monitoring from TESS and wide-field ground-based surveys. The continuous TESS coverage allows us to characterise its frequent outbursts with unprecedented detail, providing the first comprehensive study of an AM CVn during outbursts and enabling detailed modelling of these systems. The superoutbursts in KL Dra generally include a precursor and are followed by a series of rebrightenings after which a sequence of 3–4 large amplitude normal outbursts is observed. We fit parametric profiles to each superoutburst component (precursor, rise to plateau, plateau, and decay), …

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Impact Of Intravenous Thrombolysis On Aspiration Thrombectomy Outcomes: An Imperative Trial Subgroup Analysis, Yi-Qian Qian, Yan Wang, Soumya Mohanty, Siyuan Chen May 2026

Impact Of Intravenous Thrombolysis On Aspiration Thrombectomy Outcomes: An Imperative Trial Subgroup Analysis, Yi-Qian Qian, Yan Wang, Soumya Mohanty, Siyuan Chen

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Bayesian methods for the detection of continuous gravitational waves (CGWs) in pulsar timing array (PTA) data incur substantial computational costs that grow rapidly due to the number of noise and signal parameters characterizing the fitted model being proportional to the size of the PTA. This computational burden limits the scalability of these methods for large-scale PTAs comprising hundreds of pulsars anticipated from next-generation radio astronomy facilities. In this work, we introduce a computationally efficient frequentist method designed to circumvent this challenge. This is achieved by combining an adaptive spline fitting algorithm that nonparametrically suppresses red noise, thereby eliminating the need …

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A Catalogue Of Orbital Periods Of Cataclysmic Variables And Candidates From Tess Observations, Meryem K. Dag, Simone Scaringi, Kieran O’Brien, Martina Veresvarska, Nikita Rawat, Yusuke Tampo, Santiago Hernández-Díaz, Liliana Rivera Sandoval, Wendy Mendoza, Ryan J. Oelkers, Jan Kára May 2026

A Catalogue Of Orbital Periods Of Cataclysmic Variables And Candidates From Tess Observations, Meryem K. Dag, Simone Scaringi, Kieran O’Brien, Martina Veresvarska, Nikita Rawat, Yusuke Tampo, Santiago Hernández-Díaz, Liliana Rivera Sandoval, Wendy Mendoza, Ryan J. Oelkers, Jan Kára

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present a systematic analysis of 2544 cataclysmic variable systems and related candidates observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), with the aim of compiling a comprehensive catalogue of orbital periods. Using 2-min photometric time-series data, we applied an automated algorithm to generate Lomb–Scargle periodograms and identify the most significant coherent periodic signals, which were subsequently verified through visual inspection. This process yielded a confident sample of 910 sources exhibiting at least one periodic signal, hereafter referred to as the Cataclysmic Variable Confident Catalogue (CCC). For each object, we report the most likely orbital period together with …

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Optical Counterparts To X-Ray Sources In Lsst Dp1, Yuankun David Wang, Eric Bellm, Robert I. Hynes, Yue Zhao, Poshak Gandhi, Liliana E. Rivera Sandoval, Sandro Campos, Neven Caplar, Melissa Delucchi, Konstantin Malanchev May 2026

Optical Counterparts To X-Ray Sources In Lsst Dp1, Yuankun David Wang, Eric Bellm, Robert I. Hynes, Yue Zhao, Poshak Gandhi, Liliana E. Rivera Sandoval, Sandro Campos, Neven Caplar, Melissa Delucchi, Konstantin Malanchev

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present a crossmatch between a combined catalog of X-ray sources and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Data Preview 1 (DP1) to identify optical counterparts. The six fields targeted as part of DP1 include the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (E-CDF-S), the Euclid Deep Field South, the Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy (Fornax dSph), 47 Tucanae (47 Tuc), and science validation fields with low Galactic and ecliptic latitude (SV_95_-25 and SV_38_7, respectively). We find matches to 2314 of 3830 X-ray sources. We also compare our crossmatch to DP1 in the E-CDF-S field to previous efforts to identify optical counterparts. The probability …

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The Trouble Of Energy: Theoretical Foundations Of Loop Quantum Gravity, Hallie Gift May 2026

The Trouble Of Energy: Theoretical Foundations Of Loop Quantum Gravity, Hallie Gift

Senior Honors Theses

While general relativity and quantum mechanics have proved to be successful theories with elegant explanations of special cases, an underlying theory is needed to harmonize their copious discrepancies. Popular theories to reconcile the two are broadly termed “quantum gravity,” which refers to theories that introduce a discretized component of gravity either by directly suggesting gravitational quanta or attempting to discretize spacetime geometry. Loop quantum gravity falls under the latter category; it respects the background independence intrinsic to general relativity while attempting to provide an explanation of underlying quantum behavior via Planck-scale-level geometrical discretization. This thesis aims to provide a primer …

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What Do Black Holes Teach Us About Wigner’S Friend?, Emily Adlam Apr 2026

What Do Black Holes Teach Us About Wigner’S Friend?, Emily Adlam

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Recently, Hausmann and Renner have pointed out that several famous paradoxes relating to black holes have a similar character to various Extended Wigner’s Friend paradoxes. In this paper I consider what the connection between these things could teach us about the Wigner’s Friend scenarios. I argue that if we take the analogy between these cases seriously, the black hole paradoxes appear to favour a certain class of response to the Wigner’s Friend scenario - specifically, those which posit intrinsic relationality, rather than effective and emergent relationality, and also those which posit some kind of retrocausality.

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All-Sky Search For Long-Duration Gravitational-Wave Transients In The First Part Of The Fourth Ligo-Virgo-Kagra Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, F. Acernese, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul A. Espinosa, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang Apr 2026

All-Sky Search For Long-Duration Gravitational-Wave Transients In The First Part Of The Fourth Ligo-Virgo-Kagra Observing Run, A. G. Abac, I. Abouelfettouh, F. Acernese, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Raul A. Espinosa, J. Lawrence, Francisco Llamas Villarreal, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Miriam Ramos Arevalo, Wenhui Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present an all-sky search for long-duration gravitational waves (GWs) from the first part of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA fourth observing run (O4), called O4a and comprising data taken between May 24, 2023, and January 16, 2024. The GW signals targeted by this search are the so-called “long-duration” ( ≳1  s) transients expected from a variety of astrophysical processes, including nonaxisymmetric deformations in magnetars or eccentric binary coalescences. We make minimal assumptions on the emitted GW waveforms in terms of morphologies and durations. Overall, our search targets signals with durations of ∼1–1000  s and frequency content in the range 16–2048 Hz. In …

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