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We present a study of the molecular gas in early-mid stage major-mergers, with a sample of 43 major-merger galaxy pairs selected from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey and a control sample of 195 isolated galaxies selected from the xCOLD GASS survey. Adopting kinematic asymmetry as a new effective indicator to describe the merger stage, we aim to study the role of molecular gas in the merger-induced star formation enhancement along the merger sequence of galaxy pairs. We obtain the molecular gas properties from CO observations with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), Institut de Radioastronomie Milimetrique (IRAM) 30-m telescope, and the MASCOT survey. Using these data, we investigate the differences in molecular gas fraction ($f_{\rm H_{2}}$), star formation rate (SFR), star formation efficiency (SFE), molecular-to-atomic gas ratio ($M_{\rm H_{2}}/M_{\rm HI}$), total gas fraction ($f_{\rm gas}$), and the star formation efficiency of total gas (${\rm SFE_{gas}}$) between the pair and control samples. In the full pair sample, our results suggest the $f_{\rm H_{2}}$ of paired galaxies is significantly enhanced, while the SFE is comparable to that of isolated galaxies. We detect significantly increased $f_{\rm H_{2}}$ and $M_{\rm H_{2}}/M_{\rm HI}$ in paired galaxies at the pericenter stage, indicating an accelerated transition from atomic gas to molecular gas due to interactions. Our results indicate that the elevation of $f_{\rm H_{2}}$ plays a major role in the enhancement of global SFR in paired galaxies at the pericenter stage, while the contribution of enhanced SFE in specific regions requires further explorations through spatially resolved observations of a larger sample spanning a wide range of merger stages., Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in ApJS

Polarimetric features during the prompt phase of Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) have been essential for elucidating the debated emission mechanisms and gaining insight into the inner structure of GRBs. However, the potential impact of photon-Axion-Like-Particle (ALP) mixing in extragalactic magnetic fields, leading to significant modifications to the initial polarization state, has been overlooked in discussions concerning prompt phase constraints. In this work, we first examine the statistical characteristics of linear polarization degree ($\Pi_{L}$) in GRBs, by utilizing data from polarimetric missions focusing on sub-MeV emissions. Our analysis, conducted with a restricted sample of GRBs spanning various redshifts, reveals a diverse distribution of $\Pi_{L}$, which currently shows no correlation with the GRBs' spectral parameters or properties of candidate host galaxies. We then explore alternations to the initial $\Pi_{L}$ due to photon-ALP mixing within a domain-like structure of the intergalactic magnetic field (${\bf B}_{\rm IGM} $). With the existence of ALPs with $m_{a}$$~$$\lesssim$$~$$10^{-14}$$~$eV and $g_{a\gamma}~$$\simeq$$~0.5\times10^{-11}$, the mixing leads to a decrease in the polarization degree of initially fully linearly polarized photons, while it induces a certain degree of polarization to initially unpolarized photons. To ensure that the effect of mixing is small enough to be negligible, the mixing term $\Delta_{a\gamma} \equiv 1/2\ g_{a\gamma} {\bf B}_{\rm IGM}$ should be less than $1.5\times 10^{-4}$ Mpc$^{-1}$. Currently, the number of GRBs with both sub-MeV polarization measurement and redshift confirmation remains very limited. Certification of redshift for GRBs with low $\Pi_{L}$ would further constrain the parameter space of ALPs or provide an independent means to determine the upper limit on ${\bf B}_{\rm IGM}$., Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables

The extraplanar diffuse ionized gas (eDIG) represents ionized gases traced by optical/UV lines beyond the stellar extent of galaxies. We herein introduce a novel multi-slit narrow-band spectroscopy method to conduct spatially resolved spectroscopy of the eDIG around a sample of nearby edge-on disk galaxies (eDIG-CHANGES). In this paper, we introduce the project design and major scientific goals, as well as a pilot study of NGC 3556 (M108). The eDIG is detected to a vertical extent of a few kpc above the disk, comparable to the X-ray and radio images. We do not see significant vertical variation of the [N II]/H$\alpha$ line ratio. A rough examination of the pressure balance between different circum-galactic medium (CGM) phases indicates the magnetic field is in a rough pressure balance with the X-ray emitting hot gas, and may play an important role in the global motion of both the eDIG and the hot gas in the lower halo. At the location of an HST/COS observed UV bright background AGN $\sim29\rm~kpc$ from the center of NGC 3556, the magnetic pressure is much lower than that of the hot gas and the ionized gas traced by UV absorption lines, although the extrapolation of the pressure profiles may cause some biases in this comparison. By comparing the position-velocity diagrams of the optical and CO lines, we also find the dynamics of the two gas phases are consistent with each other, with no evidence of a global inflow/outflow and a maximum rotation velocity of $\sim150\rm~km~s^{-1}$., Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ

We conduct an in-depth spectral analysis of $\sim1{\rm ~Ms}$ XMM-Newton data of the narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy RE J1034+396. The long exposure ensures high spectral quality and provides us with a detailed look at the intrinsic absorption and emission features toward this target. Two warm-absorber (WA) components with different ionization states ($\log (\xi/{\rm erg~cm~s}^{-1}) \sim 4$ and $\log (\xi/{\rm erg~cm~s}^{-1}) \sim 2.5-3$) are required to explain the intrinsic absorption features in the RGS spectra. The estimated outflow velocities are around $-1400{\rm ~km~s}^{-1}$ and $-(100-300){\rm ~km~s}^{-1}$ for the high- and low-ionization WA components, respectively. Both absorbers are located beyond the broad-line region and cannot significantly affect the host environment. We analyze the warm absorbers in different flux states. We also examine the May-2007 observation in the low and high phases of quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO). In contrast to previous analyses showing a negative correlation between the high-ionization WA and the QPO phase, we have found no such variation in this WA component. We discover a broad emission bump in the spectral range of $\sim12-18$ Angstrom, covering the primary features of the high-ionization WA. This emission bump shows a dramatic change in different source states, and its intensity may positively correlate with the QPO phase. The absence of this emission bump in previous work may contribute to the suggested WA-QPO connection., Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

We present a study of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) with pseudobulges (bulges with S\'ersic index $\rm n < 2$) in a local close major-merger galaxy pair sample (H-KPAIR). With data from new aperture photometries in the optical and near-infrared bands (aperture size of 7\;kpc) and from the literature, we find that the mean Age of central stellar populations in Spirals with pseudobulges is consistent with that of disky galaxies and is nearly constant against the bulge-to-total ratio (B/T). Paired Spirals have a slightly lower fraction of pure disk galaxies ($\rm B/T \leq 0.1$) than their counterparts in the control sample. Compared to SFGs with classical bulges, those with pseudobulges have a higher ($>2\;\sigma$) mean of specific star formation rate (sSFR) enhancement ($\rm sSFR_{enh} = 0.33\pm0.07$ vs $\rm sSFR_{enh} = 0.12\pm0.06$) and broader scatter (by $\sim 1$\;dex). The eight SFGs that have the highest $\rm sSFR_{enh}$ in the sample all have pseudobulges. A majority (69\%) of paired SFGs with strong enhancement (having sSFR more than 5 times the median of the control galaxies) have pseudobulges. The Spitzer data show that the pseudobulges in these galaxies are tightly linked to nuclear/circum-nuclear starbursts. Pseudobulge SFGs in S+S and in S+E pairs have significantly ($>3\;\sigma$) different sSFR enhancement, with the means of $\rm sSFR_{enh} = 0.45\pm0.08$ and $-0.04\pm0.11$, respectively. We find a decrease in the sSFR enhancements with the density of the environment for SFGs with pseudobulges. Since a high fraction (5/11) of pseudobulge SFGs in S+E pairs are in rich groups/clusters (local density $\rm N_{1Mpc} \geq 7$), the dense environment might be the cause for their low $\rm sSFR_{enh}$., Comment: Accepted for publication in RAA, ?? pages, 10 figures, 4 tables

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules have long been suggested to be present in the interstellar medium (ISM). Nevertheless, despite their expected ubiquity and sustained searching efforts, identifying specific interstellar PAH molecules from their infrared (IR) spectroscopy has so far been unsuccessful. However, due to its unprecedented sensitivity, the advent of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may change this. Meanwhile, recent years have witnessed breakthroughs in detecting specific PAH molecules (e.g., indene, cyanoindene, and cyanonaphthalene) through their rotational lines in the radio frequencies. As JWST holds great promise for identifying specific PAH molecules in the ISM based on their vibrational spectra in the IR, in this work we model the vibrational excitation of indene, a molecule composed of a six-membered benzene ring fused with a five-membered cyclopentene ring, and calculate its IR emission spectra for a number of representative astrophysical regions. This will facilitate JWST to search for and identify indene in space through its vibrational bands and to quantitatively determine or place an upper limit on its abundance., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2403.05043

The unidentified infrared emission (UIE) features at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, 11.3 and 12.7 micron are ubiquitously seen in a wide variety of astrophysical regions and commonly attributed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules. However, the unambiguous identification of any individual, specific PAH molecules has proven elusive until very recently two isomers of cyanonapthalene, which consists of two fused benzene rings and substitutes a nitrile (-CN) group for a hydrogen atom, were discovered in the Taurus Molecular Cloud based on their rotational transitions at radio frequencies. To facilitate the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to search for cyanonapthalenes in astrophysical regions, we model the vibrational excitation of cyanonapthalenes and calculate their infrared emission spectra in a number of representative astrophysical regions. The model emission spectra and intensities will allow JWST to quantitatively determine or place an upper limit on the abundance of cyanonapthalenes., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures; accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal