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Optical phonon engineering through nonlinear effects has been utilized in ultrafast control of material properties. However, nonlinear optical phonons typically exhibit rapid decay due to strong mode-mode couplings, limiting their effectiveness in temperature or frequency sensitive applications. In this study, we report the observation of long-lived nonlinear optical phonons through the spontaneous formation of phonon frequency combs in the van der Waals material CrXTe$_3$ (X=Ge, Si) using high-resolution Raman scattering. Unlike conventional optical phonons, the highest $A_g$ mode in CrGeTe$_3$ splits into equidistant, sharp peaks forming a frequency comb that persists for hundreds of oscillations and survives up to 100K before decaying. These modes correspond to localized oscillations of Ge$_2$Te$_6$ clusters, isolated from Cr hexagons, behaving as independent quantum oscillators. Introducing a cubic nonlinear term to the harmonic oscillator model, we simulate the phonon time evolution and successfully replicate the observed comb structure. Similar frequency comb behavior is observed in CrSiTe$_3$, demonstrating the generalizability of this phenomenon. Our findings reveal that Raman scattering effectively probes high-frequency nonlinear phonon modes, providing new insight into generating long-lived, tunable phonon frequency combs with applications in ultrafast material control and phonon-based technologies., Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures

Since recent years, mass segregation driven by two-body relaxation in star clusters has been proposed to be measured by the so-called dynamical clock, $A^+$, a measure of the area enclosed between the cumulative radial distribution of blue straggler stars and that of a reference population. Since star clusters spend their lifetime immersed in the gravitational potential of their host galaxy, they are also subject to the effects of galactic tides. In this work, I show that the $A^+$ index of a star cluster depends on both, its internal dynamics as it were in isolation and on the effects of galactic tides. Particularly, I focused on the largest sample of open clusters harboring blue straggler stars with robust cluster membership. I found that these open clusters exhibit an overall dispersion of the $A^+$ index in diagnostic diagrams where Milky Way globular clusters show a clear linear trend. However, as also experienced by globular clusters, $A^+$ values of open clusters show some dependence on their galactocentric distances, in the sense that clusters located closer or farther that $\sim$ 11 kpc from the Galactic center have larger and smaller $A^+$ values, respectively. This different response to two-body relaxation and galactic tides in globular and open clusters, which happen concurrently, can be due to their different masses. More massive clusters can somehow protect their innermost regions from galactic tides more effectively., Comment: 9 pages, 22 figures. Accepted for publication in J. Astrophysics & Astronomy

The integration of Reduced Order Models (ROMs) with High-Performance Computing (HPC) is critical for developing digital twins, particularly for real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance of industrial systems. This paper describes a comprehensive, HPC-enabled workflow for developing and deploying projection-based ROMs (PROMs). We use PyCOMPSs' parallel framework to efficiently execute ROM training simulations, employing parallel Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) algorithms such as randomized SVD, Lanczos SVD, and full SVD based on Tall-Skinny QR. In addition, we introduce a partitioned version of the hyper-reduction scheme known as the Empirical Cubature Method. Despite the widespread use of HPC for PROMs, there is a significant lack of publications detailing comprehensive workflows for building and deploying end-to-end PROMs in HPC environments. Our workflow is validated through a case study focusing on the thermal dynamics of a motor. The PROM is designed to deliver a real-time prognosis tool that could enable rapid and safe motor restarts post-emergency shutdowns under different operating conditions for further integration into digital twins or control systems. To facilitate deployment, we use the HPC Workflow as a Service strategy and Functional Mock-Up Units to ensure compatibility and ease of integration across HPC, edge, and cloud environments. The outcomes illustrate the efficacy of combining PROMs and HPC, establishing a precedent for scalable, real-time digital twin applications across multiple industries.

We present results of the analysis of a set of images obtained in the field of the Milky Way bulge globular cluster NGC 6355 using the Dark Energy Camera, which is attached to the 4m Blanco telescope of the Cerro-Tololo Interamerican Observatory. We dealt with a heavy differential absorption across the observed field, a crowded field star population, and the superposition of field stars on to the cluster color-magnitude diagram main features to produce an intrinsic cluster stars density map. The resulting stellar density map reveals the presence of an extended envelope, a tidal tail, and scattered debris; the tidal tails pointing toward the Milky Way center. Such extra-tidal overdensities, detected above the mean star field density, resulted to be between four and six times larger that the local star field density fluctuation. They have also been recently generated by two independent studies which performed numerical simulations of synthetic tidal tails of Milky Way globular clusters. These results contrast with previous theoretical speculations about the possibility to detect tidal tails of globular clusters with chaotic orbits because they would be washed out after they were generated., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures. The Astronomical Journal, in press. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2401.08791

We present the first proof-of-concept application to decay processes at higher perturbative orders of LTD causal unitary, a novel methodology that exploits the causal properties of vacuum amplitudes in the loop-tree duality (LTD) and is directly well-defined in the four physical dimensions of the space-time. The generation of loop- and tree-level contributions to the differential decay rates from a kernel multiloop vacuum amplitude is shown in detail, and explicit expressions are presented for selected processes that are suitable for a lightweight understanding of the method. Specifically, we provide a clear physical interpretation of the local cancellation of soft, collinear and unitary threshold singularities, and of the local renormalisation of ultraviolet singularities. The presentation is illustrated with numerical results that showcase the advantages of the method., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures

Quantum algorithms are a promising framework for a proper treatment of Feynman loop integrals due to the existence of a manifestly causal representation scenario. Particularly, unfolding causal configurations of multiloop Feynman diagrams is understood as querying \textit{directed acyclic graph} (DAG) configurations of undirected graphs in graph theory. In this paper we present a quantum algorithm for querying causality of multiloop Feynman diagrams using an ingenious change in the logic of the design of the oracle operator. The construction of the quantum oracle is surprisingly based exclusively on multicontrolled Toffoli gates and XNOT gates. The efficiency of the algorithm is evaluated performing a comparison with a quantum algorithm based on binary clauses. Additionally, we explicitly analise several three-, four- and five-eloop topologies, which have not been previously explored due to their higher complexity., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables

We investigate the solution of low-rank matrix approximation problems using the truncated SVD. For this purpose, we develop and optimize GPU implementations for the randomized SVD and a blocked variant of the Lanczos approach. Our work takes advantage of the fact that the two methods are composed of very similar linear algebra building blocks, which can be assembled using numerical kernels from existing high-performance linear algebra libraries. Furthermore, the experiments with several sparse matrices arising in representative real-world applications and synthetic dense test matrices reveal a performance advantage of the block Lanczos algorithm when targeting the same approximation accuracy., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures

This paper aims first to perform robust continuous analysis of a mixed nonlinear formulation for stress-assisted diffusion of a solute that interacts with an elastic material, and second to propose and analyse a virtual element formulation of the model problem. The two-way coupling mechanisms between the Herrmann formulation for linear elasticity and the reaction-diffusion equation (written in mixed form) consist of diffusion-induced active stress and stress-dependent diffusion. The two sub-problems are analysed using the extended Babu\v{s}ka--Brezzi--Braess theory for perturbed saddle-point problems. The well-posedness of the nonlinearly coupled system is established using a Banach fixed-point strategy under the smallness assumption on data. The virtual element formulations for the uncoupled sub-problems are proven uniquely solvable by a fixed-point argument in conjunction with appropriate projection operators. We derive the a priori error estimates, and test the accuracy and performance of the proposed method through computational simulations.

Context. Traditionally, supersonic turbulence is considered to be one of the most likely mechanisms to slow down the gravitational collapse in dense clumps, thereby enabling the formation of massive stars. However, several recent studies have raised differing points of view based on observations carried out with sufficiently high spatial and spectral resolution. These studies call for a re-evaluation of the role turbulence plays in massive star-forming regions. Aims. Our aim is to study the gas properties, especially the turbulence, in a sample of massive star-forming regions with sufficient spatial and spectral resolution, which can both resolve the core fragmentation and the thermal line width. Methods. We observed NH3 metastable lines with the Very Large Array (VLA) to assess the intrinsic turbulence. Results. Analysis of the turbulence distribution histogram for 32 identified NH3 cores reveals the presence of three distinct components. Furthermore, our results suggest that (1) sub- and transonic turbulence is a prevalent (21 of 32) feature of massive star-forming regions and those cold regions are at early evolutionary stage. This investigation indicates that turbulence alone is insufficient to provide the necessary internal pressure required for massive star formation, necessitating further exploration of alternative candidates; and (2) studies of seven multi-core systems indicate that the cores within each system mainly share similar gas properties and masses. However, two of the systems are characterized by the presence of exceptionally cold and dense cores that are situated at the spatial center of each system. Our findings support the hub-filament model as an explanation for this observed distribution, Comment: 34 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication on A&A

The spatial metallicity distribution of star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) has recently been found to correlate as a V-shaped function with the semi-major axis of an elliptical framework proposed to assume a projected galaxy flattening. We report results on the impact that the use of such a framework can produce on our understanding of the SMC formation and its chemical enrichment. We show that clusters with similar semi-major axes are placed at a very different distances from the SMC centre. The recently claimed bimodal metallicity distribution of clusters projected on the innermost SMC regions and the V-shaped metallicity gradient fade away when actual distances are used. Although a large dispersion prevails, clusters older than $\sim$ 1 Gyr exhibit a shallow metallicity gradient, caused by slightly different spatial distributions of clusters younger and older than $\sim$ 4 Gyr; the former being more centrally concentrated and having a mean metallicity ([Fe/H]) $\sim$ 0.15 dex more metal-rich than that of older clusters. This metallicity gradient does not show any dependence with the position angle, except for clusters placed beyond 11 kpc, which are located in the eastern side of the galaxy., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

The age distribution of the open cluster system is a key piece of information to decipher the star formation history of the Milky Way disk. Recently, a remarkable earlier drop of its older end was found, which caught our attention. Precisely, we analyzed in detail the population of open clusters older than 1 Gyr located inside a circle of 2.0 kpc from the Sun contained in the Milky Way Star Cluster catalog, using the Data Release 3.0 of the Gaia survey, and found that it contains a slightly larger old open cluster population with respect to that witnessing the earlier drop age distribution. However, there are still some aspects that deserve further attention in order to undoubtedly handle a statistically complete cluster sample, that allows us to comprehensively know the older end of the open cluster age distribution function. We discuss some reasons that affect such a completeness, among them, the photometric depth of the database employed, the performance of machine learning techniques used to recognize open clusters, the cleaning of cluster color-magnitude diagrams from field star contamination, etc., Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in JApA

The tangential velocity dispersion of stars belonging to the Milky Way globular cluster's tidal tails has recently been found from N-body simulations to be a parameter that distinguishes between cored and cuspy profiles of low-mass dwarf galaxy dark matter subhaloes where that globular cluster formed, and the in-situ formation scenario. In this context, we discovered that M5's tidal tails are composed by stars at two different metallicity regimes ([Fe/H] ~ -1.4 dex and -2.0 dex). The more metal-rich tidal tail stars are of the same metal content than M5's members and have a tangential velocity dispersion that coincides with the predicted value for a cuspy formation scenario (subhalo mass $\sim$ 10$^9$ M$_{\odot}$). The more metal-poor stars, that are found along the entire M5 tidal tails and have similar distributions to their more metal-rich counterparts in the M5 colour-magnitude diagram and orbit trajectory, have a tangential velocity dispersion that refers to a cored subhalo (mass $\sim$ 10$^9$ M$_{\odot}$) or an in-situ formation scenario. In order to reconcile the dual distribution of M5 tidal tail stars, in kinematics and chemistry, we propose that M5 collided with another more metal-poor and less massive globular cluster anytime before or after it was accreted into the Milky Way., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters

In the fundamental understanding of magnetic interactions between atoms in solids, the crystal lattice is one of the key parameters. As the effective tool for controlling the lattice using tensile stress is limited, there are only few demonstrations of the control in magnetic properties with expanding the lattice structure. Here, we observe that the Curie temperature (Tc) of quasi two-dimensional Cr2Ge2Te6 with NiO overlayer doubles from ~60 K to ~120 K, describe a clear correlation of magnetic properties with lattice expansion, which is characterized by several probes and computational approaches, and address on the mechanisms leading to the increase in Tc via the change in exchange interactions.

The ancient Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) globular cluster NGC 2005 has recently been reported to have an ex-situ origin, thus, setting precedents that the LMC could have partially formed from smaller merged dwarf galaxies. We here provide additional arguments from which we conclude that is also fairly plausible an in-situ origin of NGC 2005, based on the abundance spread of a variety of chemical elements measured in dwarf galaxies, their minimum mass in order to form globular clusters, the globular cluster formation imprints kept in their kinematics, and the recent modeling showing that explosions of supernovae are responsible for the observed chemical abundance spread in dwarf galaxies. The present analysis points to the need for further development of numerical simulations and observational indices that can help us to differentiate between two mechanisms of galaxy formation for the LMC, namely, a primordial dwarf or an initial merging event of smaller dwarfs., Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

The transport of aerosol discharge in the form of a passive scalar or tracer discharged from a single cough of a patient in a ventilated mock hospital isolation room is investigated via computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Healthcare worker (HCW) exposure to the aerosol is assessed through residence time analysis of the aerosol transported through the imperfect mixing conditions in the room. Flow features responsible for imperfect mixing, including short-circuiting or channeling between the patient and exhaust air vent (which leads to rapid expulsion of aerosols from the room), dead zones or re-circulation flow regions in the room, and the turbulent diffusion or spreading of aerosol across the room, are shown to play important factors determining the HCW exposure to the aerosol. The importance of each of these factors varies depending on the ventilation rate (ACH) and the placement of the exhaust air vent relative to the patient. For example, reducing ACH from 12 to 6 diminishes the importance of these flow features and the aerosol transport may be approximately modeled through the classical perfectly mixed assumption. At ACH = 12, especially when the ceiling exhaust is placed above the patient and the HCW, short-circuiting is the dominant feature in determining HCW exposure. But when the ceiling exhaust is placed away from the patient and HCW, the short-circuiting is weakened and the influence of dead zones, which trap aerosol, and turbulent diffusion, which allow the aerosol to escape, becomes more important. It is shown that the importance of these flow features and the resulting impact on HCW exposure can be quantified in terms of residence time distribution (RTD) metrics such as mean residence time and cumulative RTD. The results suggest that residence time analysis is a useful technique to be employed when designing a hospital isolation room and assessing HCW exposure to aerosols., Comment: 37 pages, Under review in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene

This paper presents a deep learning based model predictive control algorithm for control affine nonlinear discrete time systems with matched and bounded state-dependent uncertainties of unknown structure. Since the structure of uncertainties is not known, a deep neural network (DNN) is employed to approximate the disturbances. In order to avoid any unwanted behavior during the learning phase, a tube based model predictive controller is employed, which ensures satisfaction of constraints and input-to-state stability of the closed-loop states., Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2104.07171

Theoretical models have suggested peculiar velocity dispersion profiles of star clusters facing dissolution. They predicted that, besides bound stars that still belong to the star cluster, and unbound ones already stripped off, there is an intermediate population of stars that having acquired the enough energy to escape the cluster are still within the cluster Jacobi radius. Both, potential escapers and unbound stars, show hot kinematics, not observed along tidal tails of star clusters. We report on the first evidence of an open cluster with stars crossing such a transitional scenario, namely: ASCC 92. The open cluster gathers nearly 10 percent of its initial total mass, and is moving toward Galactic regions affected by higher interstellar absorption. Precisely, the obscured appearance of the cluster could have hampered disentangling its true internal dynamical evolutionary stage, previously., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

I revisited the age of the Small Magellanic Cloud cluster HW 42, whose previous estimates differ in more than 6 Gyr, thus challenging the most updated knowledge of the SMC star formation history. I performed an analysis of number stellar density profiles at different brightness levels; carried out a field star decontamination of the cluster color-magnitude diagram; and estimated the cluster fundamental parameters from the minimization of likelihood functions and their uncertainties from standard bootstrap methods. I conclude that HW 42 is a 6.2$^{\rm +1.6}_{\rm -1.3}$ Gyr old ([Fe/H] = -0.89$^{\rm +0.10}_{\rm -0.11}$ dex) SMC cluster projected on to a SMC composite star field population which shows variations in magnitude, color, and stellar density of Main Sequence stars. The present outcome solves the conundrum of the previous age discrepancies and moves HW~42 to a region in the SMC age-metallicity relationship populated by star clusters., Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in Research Notes of the AAS

A proof-of-concept application of a quantum algorithm to multiloop Feynman integrals in the Loop-Tree Duality (LTD) framework is applied to a representative four-loop topology. Bootstrapping causality in the LTD formalism, is a suitable problem to address with quantum computers given the straightforward possibility to encode the two on-shell states of a propagator on the two states of a qubit. A modification of Grover's quantum search algorithm is developed and the quantum algorithm is successfully implemented on IBM Quantum and QUTE simulators., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Poster contribution for the Proceedings of Science (PoS) of ICHEP 2022

We present a variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) algorithm for the efficient bootstrapping of the causal representation of multiloop Feynman diagrams in the Loop-Tree Duality (LTD) or, equivalently, the selection of acyclic configurations in directed graphs. A loop Hamiltonian based on the adjacency matrix describing a multiloop topology, and whose different energy levels correspond to the number of cycles, is minimized by VQE to identify the causal or acyclic configurations. The algorithm has been adapted to select multiple degenerated minima and thus achieves higher detection rates. A performance comparison with a Grover's based algorithm is discussed in detail. The VQE approach requires, in general, fewer qubits and shorter circuits for its implementation, albeit with lesser success rates., Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures. Discussion improved, accepted for publication in Physical Review D

We present results on the recently discovered stellar system YMCA-1, for which physical nature and belonging to any of the Magellanic System galaxies have been irresolutely analyzed. We used SMASH and {\it Gaia} EDR3 data sets to conclude that we are dealing with a small star cluster. Its reddening free, field star decontaminated colour-magnitude diagram was explored in order to obtain the cluster parameters. We found that YMCA-1 is a small (435 M$_{\odot}$), moderately old (age = 9.6 Gyr), moderately metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -1.16 dex) star cluster, located at a nearly Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) distance (60.9 kpc) from the Sun, at $\sim$ 17.1 kpc to the East from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) centre. The derived cluster brightness and size would seem to suggest some resemblance to the recently discovered faint star clusters in the Milky Way (MW) outer halo, although it does not match their age-metallicty relationship, nor those of MW globular clusters formed in-situ or ex-situ, nor that of LMC clusters either, but is in agreement with that of SMC old star clusters. We performed numerical Monte Carlo simulations integrating its orbital motion backward in the MW-LMC-SMC system with radially extended dark matter haloes that experience dynamical friction, and by exploring different radial velocity (RV) regimes for YMCA-1. For RVs $\gtrsim$ 300 km/s, the cluster remains bound to the LMC during the last 500 Myrs. The detailed tracked kinematic of YMCA-1 suggests that its could have been stripped by the LMC from the SMC during any of the close interactions between both galaxies, a scenario previously predicted by numerical simulations., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

The search of novel topological phases, such as the quantum anomalous Hall insulator (QAHI) or the axion insulator, has motivated different schemes to introduce magnetism into topological insulators. One scheme is to introduce ferromagnetic dopants in topological insulators. However, it is generally challenging and requires carefully engineered growth/heterostructures or relatively low temperatures to observe the QAHI due to issues such as the added disorder with ferromagnetic dopants. Another promising scheme is using the magnetic proximity effect with a magnetic insulator to magnetize the topological insulator. Most of these heterostructures are synthesized so far by growth techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy and metallic organic chemical vapor deposition. These are not readily applicable to allow mixing and matching many of the available ferromagnetic and topological insulators due to difference in growth conditions and lattice mismatch. Here, we demonstrate that the magnetic proximity effect can still be obtained in stacked heterostructures assembled via the dry transfer of exfoliated micrometer-sized thin flakes of van der Waals topological insulator and magnetic insulator materials (BiSbTeSe2/Cr2Ge2Te6), as evidenced in the observation of an anomalous Hall effect (AHE). Furthermore, devices made from these heterostructures can allow modulation of the AHE when controlling the carrier density via electrostatic gating. These results show that simple mechanical transfer of magnetic van der Waals materials provides another possible avenue to magnetize topological insulators by magnetic proximity effect, a key step towards further realization of novel topological phases such as QAHI and axion insulators., Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures

Megaplatypus mutatus is an ambrosia beetle that attacks several species of trees by making galleries in the trunks where its larvae and associated fungi develop. This damage spoils the wood for commercial use and cause stem breakage in front of strong winds. Due to the insect's cryptic lifestyle, gallery analyses have usually been studied by destructive methods. However, they alter the homeostasis of the insect-fungi interaction, modifies the topology of the gallery and, more importantly, does not reveal the 100% complex structure made by the insect. Therefore, a novel way to study this structure is by imaging the galleries by means of computerized axial tomography (CT). This method allows obtaining a three-dimensional representation of the gallery and the pupal chambers to be studied, while the wood and insect sample is not disturbed and generates a high amount of data. The isolation of the galleries and pupal chambers from the CT background images is not simple, because there is not enough contrast between the grey levels of the galleries and the marks generated by internal components of the trunk itself. In this paper, we present a robust algorithm that allows automating the isolation of the galleries and pupal chambers from CT trunk images which can be used in a broad spectrum of image analysis., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures

We study the outer regions of the Milky Way globular cluster NGC 7089 based on new Dark Energy Camera (DECam) observations. The resulting background cleaned stellar density profile reveals the existence of an extended envelope. We confirm previous results that cluster stars are found out to ~ 1deg from the cluster's centre, which is nearly three times the value of the most robust tidal radii estimations. We also used results from direct N-body simulations in order to compare with the observations. We found a fairly good agreement between the observed and numerically generated stellar density profiles. Because of the existence of gaps and substructures along globular cluster tidal tails, we closely examined the structure of the outer cluster region beyond the Jacobi radius. We extended the analysis to a sample of 35 globular clusters, 20 of them with observed tidal tails. We found that if the stellar density profile follows a power law ~ r**(-alpha), the alpha slope correlates with the globular cluster present mass, in the sense that, the more massive the globular cluster the smaller the alpha value. This trend is not found in globular clusters without observed tidal tails. The origin of such a phenomenon could be related, among other reasons, to the proposed so-called potential escapers or to the formation of globular clusters within dark matter mini-haloes., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2111.02496

Van der Waals layered materials are a focus of materials research as they support strong quantum effects and can easily form heterostructures. Electron spins in van der Waals materials played crucial roles in many recent breakthroughs, including topological insulators, two-dimensional (2D) magnets, and spin liquids. However, nuclear spins in van der Waals materials remain an unexplored quantum resource. Here we report the first demonstration of optical polarization and coherent control of nuclear spins in a van der Waals material at room temperature. We use negatively-charged boron vacancy ($V_B^-$) spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride to polarize nearby nitrogen nuclear spins. Remarkably, we observe the Rabi frequency of nuclear spins at the excited-state level anti-crossing of $V_B^-$ defects to be 350 times larger than that of an isolated nucleus, and demonstrate fast coherent control of nuclear spins. We also detect strong electron-mediated nuclear-nuclear spin coupling that is 5 orders of magnitude larger than the direct nuclear spin dipolar coupling, enabling multi-qubit operations. Nitrogen nuclear spins in a triangle lattice will be suitable for large-scale quantum simulation. Our work opens a new frontier with nuclear spins in van der Waals materials for quantum information science and technology.

We confirm the existence of a second Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) star cluster, KMHK 1592, with an age that falls in the middle of the so-called LMC star cluster age gap, a long period of time (~ 4 - 11 Gyr) where no star cluster had been uncovered, except ESO121-SC03. The age (8.0+-0.5 Gyr) and the metallicity ([Fe/H]=-1.0+-0.2 dex) of KMHK1592 were derived from the fit of theoretical isochrones to the intrinsic star cluster colour-magnitude diagram sequences, which were unveiled using a robust star-by-star membership probability procedure. Because of the relative low brightness of the star cluster, deep GEMINI GMOS images were used. We discuss the pros and cons of three glimpsed scenarios that could explain the presence of both LMC age gap star clusters in the outskirts of the LMC, namely: in-situ star cluster formation, capture from the Small Magellanic Cloud, or accretion of a small dwarf galaxy., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters

Neuromorphic computing is poised to further the success of software-based neural networks by utilizing improved customized hardware. However, the translation of neuromorphic algorithms to hardware specifications is a problem that has been seldom explored. Building superconducting neuromorphic systems requires extensive expertise in both superconducting physics and theoretical neuroscience. In this work, we aim to bridge this gap by presenting a tool and methodology to translate algorithmic parameters into circuit specifications. We first show the correspondence between theoretical neuroscience models and the dynamics of our circuit topologies. We then apply this tool to solve linear systems by implementing a spiking neural network with our superconducting nanowire-based hardware., Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures

We report the first evidence of an on-going collision between two star clusters in our Galaxy, namely IC 4665 and Collinder 350. These are open clusters located at a distance of ~330 pc from the Sun and ~100 pc above the Galactic plane, and they both have prograde motions with only a small difference in their velocities (Collinder 350 moves ~5 km/s faster than IC 4665); as inferred from ESA/Gaia based catalogue. Interestingly, the two clusters are physically separated by only 36 pc in space; a distance that is smaller than the sum of their respective radii. Furthermore, the clusters exhibit signatures of elongated stellar density distributions, and we also detect an onset of an inter-cluster stellar bridge. Moreover, the orbit analysis suggests that the younger cluster IC 4665 (age=53 Myr) must have formed at a distance > 500 pc away from Collinder 350 (age=617 Myr). These findings together imply that the two clusters do not represent merging of two objects in a binary system, rather, what we are witnessing is an actual collision between two independently formed star clusters. This collision phenomenon provides a unique opportunity to explore new aspects of formation and evolution theory of star clusters., Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters

We have observed the 70 $\mu$m dark infrared dark cloud (IRDC) G14.492-00.139 in the N$_2$D$^+$ $J$=3--2, DCO$^+$ $J$=3--2, DCN $J$=3--2, and C$^{18}$O $J$=2--1 lines, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) as part of the ALMA Survey of 70 $\mu$m Dark High-mass Clumps in Early Stages (ASHES). We find that the spatial distribution is different among the observed emission from the deuterated molecular lines. The N$_2$D$^+$ emission traces relatively quiescent regions, while both the DCO$^+$ and DCN emission emanates mainly from regions with signs of active star-formation. In addition, the DCO$^+$/N$_2$D$^+$ ratio is found to be lower in several dense cores than in starless cores embedded in low-mass star-forming regions. By comparing the observational results with chemical model calculations, we discuss the origin of the low DCO$^+$/N$_2$D$^+$ ratio in this IRDC clump. The low DCO$^+$/N$_2$D$^+$ ratio can be explained if the temperature of the dense cores is in the range between the sublimation temperature of N$_2$ ($\sim$20 K) and CO ($\sim$25 K). The results suggest that the dense cores in G14.492-00.139 are warmer and denser than the dense cores in low-mass star-forming regions., Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ

Globular clusters are prone to lose stars while moving around the Milky Way. These stars escape the clusters and are distributed throughout extended envelopes or tidal tails. However, such extra-tidal structures are not observed in all globular clusters, and yet there is no structural or dynamical parameters that can predict their presence or absence. NGC\,6864 is an outer halo globular cluster with reported no observed tidal tails. We used Dark Energy Camera (DECam) photometry reaching $\sim$ 4 mag underneath its main sequence turnoff to confidently detect an extra-tidal envelope, and stellar debris spread across the cluster outskirts. These features emerged once robust field star filtering techniques were applied to the fainter end of the observed cluster main sequence. NGC\,6864 is associated to the {\it Gaia}-Enceladus dwarf galaxy, among others 28 globular clusters. Up-to-date, nearly 64$\%$ of them have been targeted looking for tidal tails and most of them have been confirmed to exhibit tidal tails. Thus, the present outcomes allow us to speculate on the possibility that {\it Gaia}-Enceladus globular clusters share a common pattern of mass loss by tidal disruption., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

The outer northeastern region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is populated by a shell-like overdensity whose nature was recently investigated. We analyzed twenty catalogued star clusters projected onto it from Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History data sets. After carrying out a cleaning of field stars in the star cluster colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), and deriving their astrophysical properties from the comparison between the observed and synthetic CMDs, we found that four objects are not genuine star clusters, while the remaining ones are young star clusters (11, age $\sim$ 30-200 Myr) and intermediate-age (5, age $\sim$ 1.7-2.8 Gyr) star clusters, respectively. The resulting distances show that intermediate-age and some young star clusters belong to the SMC main body, while the remaining young star clusters are nearly 13.0 kpc far away from those in the SMC, revealing that the shell-like overdensity is more extended along the line-of-sight than previously thought. We also found a clear age trend and a blurred metallicity correlation along the line-of-sight of young clusters, in the sense that the farther a star cluster from the SMC, the younger, the more metal rich, and the less massive it is. These young clusters are also affected by a slightly larger interstellar reddening than the older ones in the shell-like overdensity. These outcomes suggest that the shell-like overdensity can possibly be another tidally perturbed/formed SMC stellar structure from gas striped off its body, caused by the interaction with the Large Magellanic Cloud or the Milky Way., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Data cleaning is one of the most important tasks in data analysis processes. One of the perennial challenges in data analytics is the detection and handling of non-valid data. Failing to do so can result in inaccurate analytics and unreliable decisions. The process of properly cleaning such data takes much time. Errors are prevalent in time series data. It is usually found that real world data is unclean and requires some pre-processing. The analysis of large amounts of data is difficult. This paper is intended to provide an easy to use and reliable system which automates the cleaning process of univariate time series data. Automating the process greatly reduces the time required. Visualizing a large amount of data at once is not very effective. To tackle this issue, an R package cleanTS is proposed. The proposed system provides a way to analyze data on different scales and resolutions. Also, it provides users with tools and a benchmark system for comparing various techniques used in data cleaning., Comment: The cleanTS package is available in CRAN (https://cran.r-project.org/package=cleanTS)

We present an overview of the analysis of the multiloop topologies that appear for the first time at four loops and the assembly of them in a general expression, the N$^4$MLT universal topology. Based on the fact that the Loop-Tree Duality enables to open any scattering amplitude in terms of convolutions of known subtopologies, we go through the dual representation of the universal N$^4$MLT topology and the manifestly causal representation. Additionally, we expose the application of a quantum algorithm as an alternative methodology to identify the causal singular configurations of multiloop Feynman diagrams., Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of the EPS-HEP 2021 conference

We analyzed the largest Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) cluster sample (32) with proper motions and radial velocity measurements, from which we obtained their space velocity components. By adopting as a reference the recent best-fitted rotating disc of SMC star clusters as a function of the position angle, we computed their residual velocity vectors, and compared their magnitudes ($\Delta$V) with that of a cluster with residual velocity components equal to the velocity dispersions along the three independent SMC rotating disc axes of motion ($\Delta$V = 60 km/s). We found that clusters that belong to SMC tidally induced structures have $\Delta$V > 50 km/s, which suggests that space velocities of clusters in the process of escaping the rotating disc kinematics, are measurably different. Studied clusters pertaining to a northern branch of the Magellanic Bridge, the main Magellanic Bridge, the Counter-Bridge and the West halo give support to these findings. NGC 121, the oldest known SMC cluster, does not belong to any SMC tidal feature, and has $\Delta$V = 64 km/s, slightly above the boundary between bound and kinematically perturbed clusters., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Here, we report ALMA detections of polarized emission from dust, CS($J=5 \rightarrow 4$), and C$^{33}$S($J=5 \rightarrow 4$) toward the high-mass star-forming region NGC6334I(N). A clear ``hourglass'' magnetic field morphology was inferred from the polarized dust emission which is also directly seen from the polarized CS emission across velocity, where the polarization appears to be parallel to the field. By considering previous findings, the field retains a pinched shape which can be traced to clump length-scales from the envelope scales traced by ALMA, suggesting that the field is dynamically important across multiple length-scales in this region. The CS total intensity emission is found to be optically thick ($\tau_{\mathrm{CS}} = 32 \pm 12$) while the C$^{33}$S emission appears to be optically thin ($\tau_{\mathrm{C^{33}S}} = 0.1 \pm 0.01$). This suggests that sources of anisotropy other than large velocity gradients, i.e. anisotropies in the radiation field are required to explain the polarized emission from CS seen by ALMA. By using four variants of the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi technique and the angle dispersion function methods (ADF), we obtain an average of estimates for the magnetic field strength onto the plane of the sky of $\left< \mathrm{B}_{\mathrm{pos}} \right> = 16$ mG from the dust and $\left< \mathrm{B}_{\mathrm{pos}} \right> \sim 2$ mG from the CS emission, where each emission traces different molecular hydrogen number densities. This effectively enables a tomographic view of the magnetic field within a single ALMA observation., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

Recently, new Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy globular clusters were discovered, which opens the question on the actual size of the Sgr globular cluster population, and therefore on our understanding of the Sgr galaxy formation and accretion history onto the Milky Way. Based on Gaia EDR3 and SDSS IV DR16 (APOGEE-2) data sets, we performed an analysis of the color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of the eight new Sgr globular clusters found by from a sound cleaning of the contamination of Milky Way and Sgr field stars, complemented by Minniti et al. (2021b) available kinematic and metal abundance information. The cleaned CMDs and spatial stellar distributions reveal the presence of stars with a wide range of cluster membership probabilities. Minni 332 turned out to be a younger (< 9 Gyr) and more metal-rich ([M/H] > -1.0 dex) globular cluster than M54, the nuclear Sgr globular cluster, as could also be the case of Minni 342, 348, and 349, although their results are less convincing. Minni 341 could be an open cluster candidate (age < 1 Gyr, [M/H] ~ -0.3 dex), while the analyses of Minni 335, 343, and 344 did not allow us to confirm their physical reality. We also built the Sgr cluster frequency (CF) using available ages of the Sgr globular clusters and compared it with that obtained from the Sgr star formation history. Both CFs are in excellent agreement. However, the addition of eight new globular clusters with ages and metallicities distributed according to the Sgr age-metallicity relationship turns out in a remarkably different CF., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

With a mass of $\sim$1000 $M_\odot$ and a surface density of $\sim$0.5 g cm$^{-2}$, G023.477+0.114 also known as IRDC 18310-4 is an infrared dark cloud (IRDC) that has the potential to form high-mass stars and has been recognized as a promising prestellar clump candidate. To characterize the early stages of high-mass star formation, we have observed G023.477+0.114 as part of the ALMA Survey of 70 $\mu$m Dark High-mass Clumps in Early Stages (ASHES). We have conducted $\sim$1."2 resolution observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 1.3 mm in dust continuum and molecular line emission. We identified 11 cores, whose masses range from 1.1 $M_\odot$ to 19.0 $M_\odot$. Ignoring magnetic fields, the virial parameters of the cores are below unity, implying that the cores are gravitationally bound. However, when magnetic fields are included, the prestellar cores are close to virial equilibrium, while the protostellar cores remain sub-virialized. Star formation activity has already started in this clump. Four collimated outflows are detected in CO and SiO. H$_2$CO and CH$_3$OH emission coincide with the high-velocity components seen in the CO and SiO emission. The outflows are randomly oriented for the natal filament and the magnetic field. The position-velocity diagrams suggest that episodic mass ejection has already begun even in this very early phase of protostellar formation. The masses of the identified cores are comparable to the expected maximum stellar mass that this IRDC could form (8-19 $M_\odot$). We explore two possibilities on how IRDC G023.477+0.114 could eventually form high-mass stars in the context of theoretical scenarios., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (September 1, 2021). 33 pages, 20 figures, and 5 tables

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern endangers the long-term control of COVID-19, especially in countries with limited genomic surveillance. In this work, we explored genomic drivers of contagion in Chile. We sequenced 3443 SARS-CoV-2 genomes collected between January and July 2021, where the Gamma (P.1), Lambda (C.37), Alpha (B.1.1.7), B.1.1.348, and B.1.1 lineages were predominant. Using a Bayesian model tailored for limited genomic surveillance, we found that Lambda and Gamma variants' reproduction numbers were about 5% and 16% larger than Alpha's, respectively. We observed an overabundance of mutations in the Spike gene, strongly correlated with the variant's transmissibility. Furthermore, the variants' mutational signatures featured a breakpoint concurrent with the beginning of vaccination (mostly CoronaVac, an inactivated virus vaccine), indicating an additional putative selective pressure. Thus, our work provides a reliable method for quantifying novel variants' transmissibility under subsampling (as newly-reported Delta, B.1.617.2) and highlights the importance of continuous genomic surveillance.

The recently discovered spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), a layered van der Waals material, have great potential in quantum sensing. However, the photoluminescence and the contrast of the optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) of hBN spin defects are relatively low so far, which limits their sensitivity. Here we report a record-high ODMR contrast of 46$\%$ at room temperature, and simultaneous enhancement of the photoluminescence of hBN spin defects by up to 17-fold by the surface plasmon of a gold-film microwave waveguide. Our results are obtained with shallow boron vacancy spin defects in hBN nanosheets created by low-energy He$^+$ ion implantation, and a gold-film microwave waveguide fabricated by photolithography. We also explore the effects of microwave and laser powers on the ODMR, and improve the sensitivity of hBN spin defects for magnetic field detection. Our results support the promising potential of hBN spin defects for nanoscale quantum sensing.

A full understanding of high-mass star formation requires the study of one of the most elusive components of the energy balance in the interstellar medium: magnetic fields. We report ALMA 1.2 mm, high-resolution (700 au) dust polarization and molecular line observations of the rotating hot molecular core embedded in the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 18089-1732. The dust continuum emission and magnetic field morphology present spiral-like features resembling a whirlpool. The velocity field traced by the H13CO+ (J=3-2) transition line reveals a complex structure with spiral filaments that are likely infalling and rotating, dragging the field with them. We have modeled the magnetic field and find that the best model corresponds to a weakly magnetized core with a mass-to-magnetic-flux ratio (lambda) of 8.38. The modeled magnetic field is dominated by a poloidal component, but with an important contribution from the toroidal component that has a magnitude of 30% of the poloidal component. Using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, we estimate a magnetic field strength of 3.5 mG. At the spatial scales accessible to ALMA, an analysis of the energy balance of the system indicates that gravity overwhelms turbulence, rotation, and the magnetic field. We show that high-mass star formation can occur in weakly magnetized environments, with gravity taking the dominant role., Comment: Accepted for publications in ApJL (12 pages, 5 figures, Appendix)

We study the outer regions of the Milky Way globular cluster NGC6809 based on Dark Energy Camera (DECam) observations, which reach nearly 6 mag below the cluster main sequence (MS) turnoff. In order to unveil its fainter outermost structure, we built stellar density maps using cluster MS stars, once the contamination of field stars was removed from the cluster color-magnitude diagram. We found that only the resulting stellar density map for the lightest stars exhibits some excesses of stars at opposite sides from the cluster centre that diminish soon thereafter at ~ 0.32 deg. Studied globular clusters with apogalactic distances smaller than that of NGC6809 (5.5 kpc) do not have observed tidal tails. The lack of detection of tidal tails in the studied inner globular cluster sample could be due to the reduced diffusion time of tidal tails by the kinematically chaotic nature of the orbits of these globular clusters, thus shortening the time interval during which the tidal tails can be detected. Further investigations with an enlarged cluster sample are needed to confirm whether chaotic and non-chaotic orbits are responsible for the existence of globular clusters with tidal tails and those with extra-tidal features that are different from tidal tails or without any signatures of extended stellar density profiles., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present a novel benchmark application of a quantum algorithm to Feynman loop integrals. The two on-shell states of a Feynman propagator are identified with the two states of a qubit and a quantum algorithm is used to unfold the causal singular configurations of multiloop Feynman diagrams. To identify such configurations, we exploit Grover's algorithm for querying multiple solutions over unstructured datasets, which presents a quadratic speed-up over classical algorithms when the number of solutions is much smaller than the number of possible configurations. A suitable modification is introduced to deal with topologies in which the number of causal states to be identified is nearly half of the total number of states. The output of the quantum algorithm in \emph{IBM Quantum} and \emph{QUTE Testbed} simulators is used to bootstrap the causal representation in the loop-tree duality of representative multiloop topologies. The algorithm may also find application and interest in graph theory to solve problems involving directed acyclic graphs., Comment: 28 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables

The cell wall serves as a mechanical protection for the fungi and controls the traffic of molecules entering the cell. However, the optical role of the cell wall has not been fully investigated. In this work, we use a computational simulation to evaluate the optical response of the fungal cell wall. The main advantage of this approach is that the scattering structure can be introduced within the simulation via transmission electronic microscope (TEM) images of its cross section which in this case correspond to real fungal cell walls. The obtained results indicate that the reflectivity of the fungal cell wall depends on the incident wavelength, and then, it modulates the light that reaches the interior of the cell. This suggests that the light stimulus that reaches the inner part of the cell could depend on the structural characteristics of the cell wall. Additionally, regarding the analysis of color, our finding opens up a new and interesting approach to investigate the ecological role of UV light in relation to fungal organisms and their microhabitat., Comment: 4 figures, 10 pages