Search Publications
First Evidence of Running Cosmic Vacuum: Challenging the Concordance Model
Solà, Joan; Gómez-Valent, Adrià; de Cruz Pérez, Javier
Despite the fact that a rigid {{Λ }}-term is a fundamental building block of the concordance ΛCDM model, we show that a large class of cosmological scenarios with dynamical vacuum energy density {ρ }{{Λ }} together with a dynamical gravitational coupling G or a possible non-conservation of matter, are capable of seriously challenging th…
The Python Sky Model: software for simulating the Galactic microwave sky
Dunkley, J.; Alonso, D.; Thorne, B. +1 more
We present a numerical code to simulate maps of Galactic emission in intensity and polarization at microwave frequencies, aiding in the design of cosmic microwave background experiments. This python code builds on existing efforts to simulate the sky by providing an easy-to-use interface and is based on publicly available data from the WMAP (Wilki…
The Kepler Follow-up Observation Program. I. A Catalog of Companions to Kepler Stars from High-Resolution Imaging
Teske, J. K.; Barrado, D.; Ciardi, D. R. +16 more
We present results from high-resolution, optical to near-IR imaging of host stars of Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs), identified in the original Kepler field. Part of the data were obtained under the Kepler imaging follow-up observation program over six years (2009-2015). Almost 90% of stars that are hosts to planet candidates or confirmed plane…
Star formation inside a galactic outflow
Maiolino, R.; Sturm, E.; Colina, L. +13 more
Recent observations have revealed massive galactic molecular outflows that may have the physical conditions (high gas densities) required to form stars. Indeed, several recent models predict that such massive outflows may ignite star formation within the outflow itself. This star-formation mode, in which stars form with high radial velocities, cou…
Prospects for detection of detached double white dwarf binaries with Gaia, LSST and LISA
Toonen, Silvia; Brown, Anthony G. A.; Nelemans, Gijs +3 more
Double white dwarf (DWD) binaries are expected to be very common in the Milky Way, but their intrinsic faintness challenges the detection of these systems. Currently, only a few tens of detached DWDs are know. Such systems offer the best chance of extracting the physical properties that would allow us to address a wealth of outstanding questions r…
Intermittent energy dissipation by turbulent reconnection
Eastwood, J. P.; André, M.; Vaivads, A. +5 more
Magnetic reconnection—the process responsible for many explosive phenomena in both nature and laboratory—is efficient at dissipating magnetic energy into particle energy. To date, exactly how this dissipation happens remains unclear, owing to the scarcity of multipoint measurements of the "diffusion region" at the sub-ion scale. Here we report suc…
Constraining dark energy dynamics in extended parameter space
Di Valentino, Eleonora; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Silk, Joseph +1 more
Dynamical dark energy has been recently suggested as a promising and physical way to solve the 3 sigma tension on the value of the Hubble constant H0 between the direct measurement of Riess et al. (2016) (R16, hereafter) and the indirect constraint from cosmic microwave anisotropies obtained by the Planck satellite under the assumption …
The third data release of the Kilo-Degree Survey and associated data products
Hoekstra, Henk; Gwyn, Stephen D. J.; Heymans, Catherine +41 more
Context. The Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) is an ongoing optical wide-field imaging survey with the OmegaCAM camera at the VLT Survey Telescope. It aims to image 1500 square degrees in four filters (ugri). The core science driver is mapping the large-scale matter distribution in the Universe, using weak lensing shear and photometric redshift measureme…
A millimeter Continuum Size-Luminosity Relationship for Protoplanetary Disks
Wilner, David J.; Andrews, Sean M.; Birnstiel, Tilman +1 more
We present a survey at subarcsecond resolution of the 340 GHz dust continuum emission from 50 nearby protoplanetary disks, based on new and archival observations with the Submillimeter Array. The observed visibility data were modeled with a simple prescription for the radial surface brightness profile. The results were used to extract intuitive, e…
Possible Dark Matter Annihilation Signal in the AMS-02 Antiproton Data
Yuan, Qiang; Fan, Yi-Zhong; Tsai, Yue-Lin Sming +1 more
Using the latest AMS-02 cosmic-ray antiproton flux data, we search for a potential dark matter annihilation signal. The background parameters about the propagation, source injection, and solar modulation are not assumed a priori but based on the results inferred from the recent B / C ratio and proton data measurements instead. The possible dark ma…