Search

The origin of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is a key open question for contemporary astrophysics and cosmology. Here we review the features of a cosmological model of SMBH formation from Pop III.1 seeds, i.e., remnants of metal-free stars forming in locally-isolated minihalos, where energy injection from dark matter particle annihilation alters the structure of the protostar allowing growth to supermassive scales (Banik et al. 2019; Singh et al. 2023; Cammelli et al. 2024). The Pop III.1 model explains the paucity of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) via a characteristic SMBH seed mass of $\sim10^5\:M_\odot$ that is set by the baryonic content of minihalos. Ionization feedback from supermassive Pop III.1 stars sets the cosmic number density of SMBHs to be $n_{\rm SMBH}\lesssim 0.2\:{\rm Mpc}^{-3}$. The model then predicts that all SMBHs form by $z\sim20$ with a spatial distribution that is initially unclustered. SMBHs at high redshifts $z\gtrsim7$ should all be single objects, with SMBH binaries and higher order multiples emerging only at lower redshifts. We also discuss the implications of this model for SMBH host galaxy properties, occupation fractions, gravitational wave emission, cosmic reionization, and the nature of dark matter. These predictions are compared to latest observational results, especially from HST, JWST and pulsar timing array observations., Comment: 20 pages; to appear in proceedings of the 17th Marcel Grossmann meeting held on July 7-12, 2024 in Pescara, Italy (World Scientific) Eds: Remo Ruffini and Gregory Vereshchagin; comments welcome

Evidence for similar chemical characteristics around low- and high-mass protostars has been found: in particular, a variety of carbon-chain species and complex organic molecules (COMs) are formed around them. On the other hand, the chemical compositions around intermediate-mass (IM; $2 M_{\odot} < m_* <8 M_{\odot}$) protostars have not been studied with large samples. In particular, it is unclear the extent to which carbon-chain species are formed around them. We aim to obtain the chemical compositions, particularly focusing on carbon-chain species, towards a sample of IM protostars. We have conducted Q-band (31.5-50 GHz) line survey observations towards eleven mainly intermediate-mass protostars with the Yebes 40 m radio telescope. The target protostars were selected from a sub-sample of the source list of the SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation project. Nine carbon-chain species (HC$_3$N, HC$_5$N, C$_3$H, C$_4$H, $linear-$H$_2$CCC, $cyclic-$C$_3$H$_2$, CCS, C$_3$S, and CH$_3$CCH), three COMs (CH$_3$OH, CH$_3$CHO, and CH$_3$CN), H$_2$CCO, HNCO, and four simple sulfur (S)-bearing species ($^{13}$CS, C$^{34}$S, HCS$^+$, H$_2$CS) have been detected. The rotational temperatures of HC$_5$N are derived to be $\sim20-30$ K in three IM protostars and they are very similar compared to those around low- and high-mass protostars. These results indicate that carbon-chain molecules are formed in lukewarm ($\sim20-30$ K) gas around the IM protostars by the Warm Carbon-Chain Chemistry (WCCC) process. Carbon-chain formation occurs ubiquitously in the warm gas around protostars across a wide range of stellar masses. Carbon-chain molecules and COMs coexist around most of the target IM protostars, which is similar to the situation in low- and high-mass protostars. The chemical characteristics around protostars are common in the low-, intermediate- and high-mass regimes., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A)

How embedded, actively accreting low-mass protostars accrete their mass is still greatly debated. Observations are now piecing together the puzzle of embedded protostellar accretion, in particular with new facilities in the near-infrared. However, high-resolution theoretical models are still lacking, with a stark paucity of detailed simulations of these early phases. Here we present high-resolution non-ideal magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of a Solar mass protostar accreting at rates exceeding 10$^{-6} M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. We show the results of the accretion flow for four different protostellar magnetic fields, 10 G, 500 G, 1 kG, and 2 kG, combined with a disk magnetic field. For weaker (10 G and 500 G) protostar magnetic fields, accretion occurs via a turbulent boundary layer mode, with disk material impacting across the protostellar surface. In the 500 G model, the presence of a magnetically dominated outflow focuses the accretion towards the equator, slightly enhancing and ordering the accretion. For kG magnetic fields, the disk becomes truncated due to the protostellar dipole and exhibits magnetospheric accretion, with the 2 kG model having accretion bursts induced by the interchange instability. We present bolometric light curves for the models and find that they reproduce observations of Class I protostars from YSOVAR, with high bursts followed by an exponential decay possibly being a signature of instability-driven accretion. Finally, we present the filling fractions of accretion and find that 90\% of the mass is accreted in a surface area fraction of 10-20\%. These simulations will be extended in future work for a broader parameter space, with their high resolution and high temporal spacing able to explore a wide range of interesting protostellar physics., Comment: Accepted to A&A

We present James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)-NIRCam observations of the massive star-forming molecular cloud Sagittarius C (Sgr C) in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). In conjunction with ancillary mid-IR and far-IR data, we characterize the two most massive protostars in Sgr C via spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, estimating that they each have current masses of $m_* \sim 20\:M_\odot$ and surrounding envelope masses of $\sim 100\:M_\odot$. We report a census of lower-mass protostars in Sgr C via a search for infrared counterparts to mm continuum dust cores found with ALMA. We identify 88 molecular hydrogen outflow knot candidates originating from outflows from protostars in Sgr C, the first such unambiguous detections in the infrared in the CMZ. About a quarter of these are associated with flows from the two massive protostars in Sgr C; these extend for over 1 pc and are associated with outflows detected in ALMA SiO line data. An additional $\sim 40$ features likely trace shocks in outflows powered by lower-mass protostars throughout the cloud. We report the discovery of a new star-forming region hosting two prominent bow shocks and several other line-emitting features driven by at least two protostars. We infer that one of these is forming a high-mass star given an SED-derived mass of $m_* \sim 9\:M_\odot$ and associated massive ($\sim 90\:M_\odot$) mm core and water maser. Finally, we identify a population of miscellaneous Molecular Hydrogen Objects (MHOs) that do not appear to be associated with protostellar outflows., Comment: Appendix figures B1 and B2 will be made into online-only figure sets for the eventual ApJ publication

Accurately measuring magnetic field strength in the interstellar medium, including giant molecular clouds (GMCs), remains a significant challenge. We present a machine learning approach using Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models (DDPMs) to estimate magnetic field strength from synthetic observables such as column density, dust continuum polarization vector orientation angles, and line-of-sight (LOS) nonthermal velocity dispersion. We trained three versions of the DDPM model: the 1-channel DDPM (using only column density), the 2-channel DDPM (incorporating both column density and polarization angles), and the 3-channel DDPM (which combines column density, polarization angles, and LOS nonthermal velocity dispersion). We assessed the models on both synthetic test samples and new simulation data that were outside the training set's distribution. The 3-channel DDPM consistently outperformed both the other DDPM variants and the power-law fitting approach based on column density alone, demonstrating its robustness in handling previously unseen data. Additionally, we compared the performance of the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) methods, both classical and modified, to the DDPM predictions. The classical DCF method overestimated the magnetic field strength by approximately an order of magnitude. Although the modified DCF method showed improvement over the classical version, it still fell short of the precision achieved by the 3-channel DDPM., Comment: submitted to ApJ, comments welcome

Most stars are born in the crowded environments of gradually forming star clusters. Dynamical interactions between close-passing stars and the evolving UV radiation fields from proximate massive stars are expected to sculpt the protoplanetary discs in these clusters, potentially contributing to the diversity of planetary systems that we observe. Here, we investigate the impact of cluster environment on disc demographics by implementing simple protoplanetary disc evolution models within $N$-body simulations of gradual star cluster formation. We consider a range of star formation efficiency per free-fall time, $\epsilon_{\rm ff}$, and mass surface density of the natal cloud environment, $\Sigma_{\rm cl}$, both of which affect the overall duration of cluster formation. We track the interaction history of all stars to estimate the dynamical truncation of the discs around stars involved in close encounters. We also track external photoevaporation of the discs due to the ionizing radiation field of the nearby high- and intermediate-mass ($> 5 M_\odot$) stars. We find that $\epsilon_{\rm ff}$, $\Sigma_{\rm cl}$, and the degree of primordial binarity have major influences on the masses and radii of the disc population. In particular, external photo-evaporation has a greater impact than dynamical interactions in determining the fate of discs in our clusters., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS. 16 pages, 9 figures. Comments welcome

Determining the physical processes that control galactic-scale star formation rates is essential for an improved understanding of galaxy evolution. The role of orbital shear is currently unclear, with some models expecting reduced star formation rates (SFRs) and efficiencies (SFEs) with increasing shear, e.g., if shear stabilizes gas against gravitational collapse, while others predicting enhanced rates, e.g., if shear-driven collisions between giant molecular clouds (GMCs) trigger star formation. Expanding on the analysis of 16 galaxies by Suwannajak, Tan, \& Leroy (2014), we assess the shear dependence of SFE per orbital time ($\epsilon_\mathrm{orb}$) in 49 galaxies selected from the PHANGS-ALMA survey. In particular, we test a prediction of the shear-driven GMC collision model that $\epsilon_\mathrm{orb}\propto(1-0.7\beta)$, where $\beta\equiv{d}\:\mathrm{ln}\:v_\mathrm{circ}/d\:\mathrm{ln}\:r$, i.e., SFE per orbital time declines with decreasing shear. We fit the function $\epsilon_\mathrm{orb}=\epsilon_\mathrm{orb,\,0}(1-\alpha_\mathrm{CC}\beta)$ finding $\alpha_\mathrm{CC}\simeq0.76\pm0.16$; an alternative fit with $\epsilon_\mathrm{orb}$ normalized by the median value in each galaxy yields $\alpha_\mathrm{CC}^*=0.80\pm0.15$. These results are in good agreement with the prediction of the shear-driven GMC collision theory. We also examine the impact of a galactic bar on $\epsilon_\mathrm{orb}$ finding a modest decrease in SFE in the presence of bar, which can be attributed to lower rates of shear in these regions. We discuss the implications of our results for the GMC life cycle and environmental dependence of star formation activity., Comment: Accepted to ApJL, 9 pages, 4 figures

Context. Most stars form in clusters or associations but only a small number of these groups are expected to remain bound for longer than a few Myr. Once star formation has ended and the molecular gas around young stellar objects has been expelled via feedback processes, most initially bound young clusters lose the majority of their binding mass and begin to disperse into the Galactic field. Aims. This process can be investigated by analysing the structure and kinematic trends in nearby young clusters, particularly expansion, the tell-tale sign that a cluster is no longer gravitationally bound but is dispersing into the field. Methods. We combine Gaia DR3 5-parameter astrometry with calibrated radial velocities for members of the nearby young cluster Lambda Ori (Collinder 69). Results. We characterise the plane-of-sky substructure of the cluster using the Q-parameter and Angular Dispersion parameter. We find evidence that the cluster contains significant substructure, but that this is preferentially located away from the central cluster core, which is smooth and likely remains bound. We find strong evidence for expansion in Lambda Ori in the plane-of-sky using a number of metrics, but also that the trends are asymmetric at the 5$\sigma$ significance level. with the maximum rate of expansion being directed nearly parallel to the Galactic plane. We then invert the maximum rate of expansion of $0.144^{+0.003}_{-0.003} kms^{-1}pc^{-1}$ to give an expansion timescale of $6.944^{+0.148}_{-0.142} Myr$, which is slightly larger than typical literature age estimates for the cluster. We also find asymmetry in the velocity dispersion, potential signatures of cluster rotation, and calculate kinematic ages for individual cluster members by tracing their motion back in time to their closest approach to the cluster center., Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, accepted A&A

We present an implementation of Pop III.1 seeding of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in a theoretical model of galaxy formation and evolution to assess the growth the SMBH population and the properties of the host galaxies. The model of Pop III.1 seeding involves SMBH formation at redshifts $z\gtrsim 20$ in dark matter minihalos that are isolated from external radiative feedback, parameterized by isolation distance $d_{\rm iso}$. Within a standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, we generate dark matter halos using the code PINOCCHIO and seed them according to the Pop III.1 scenario, exploring values of $d_{\rm iso}$ from 50 to 100~kpc (proper distance). We consider two alternative cases of SMBH seeding: a Halo Mass Threshold (HMT) model in which all halos $>7\times10^{10}\:M_\odot$ are seeded with $\sim 10^5\:M_\odot$ black holes; an All Light Seed (ALS) model in which all halos are seeded with low, stellar-mass black holes. We follow the redshift evolution of the halos, populating them with galaxies using the GAlaxy Evolution and Assembly theoretical model of galaxy formation, including accretion on SMBHs and related feedback processes. Here we present predictions for the properties of galaxy populations, focusing on stellar masses, star formation rates, and black hole masses. The local, $z\sim0$ metrics of occupation fraction as a function of the galaxy stellar mass, galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF), and black hole mass function (BHMF) all suggest a constraint of $d_{\rm iso}<75\:$kpc. We discuss the implications of this result for the Pop III.1 seeding mechanism., Comment: Accepted to MNRAS

We report first results from a deep near infrared campaign with the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain late-epoch images of the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF), 10-15 years after the first epoch data were obtained. The main objectives are to search for faint active galactic nuclei (AGN) at high redshifts by virtue of their photometric variability, and measure (or constrain) the comoving number density of supermassive black holes (SMBHs), n_{SMBH}, at early times. In this Letter we present an overview of the program and preliminary results concerning eight objects. Three variables are supernovae, two of which are apparently hostless with indeterminable redshifts, although one has previously been recorded at a z\approx 6 object precisely because of its transient nature. Two further objects are clear AGN at z= 2.0 and 3.2, based on morphology and/or infrared spectroscopy from JWST. Three variable targets are identified at z = 6-7, which are also likely AGN candidates. These sources provide a first measure of n_{SMBH} in the reionization epoch by photometric variability, which places a firm lower limit of 3 \times 10^{-4} cMpc^{-3}. After accounting for variability and luminosity incompleteness, we estimate n_{SMBH} \gtrsim 8 \times 10{-3} cMpc{-3}, which is the largest value so far reported at these redshifts. This SMBH abundance is also strikingly similar to estimates of n_{SMBH} in the local Universe. We discuss how these results test various theories for SMBH formation., Comment: In press at ApJL

The origin of the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) and how it may vary with galactic environment is a matter of debate. Certain star formation theories involve a close connection between the IMF and the Core Mass Function (CMF) and so it is important to measure this CMF in a range of locations in the Milky Way. Here we study the CMF of three Galactic Center clouds: G0.253+0.016 ("The Brick"), Sgr B2 (Deep South field) and Sgr C. We use ALMA 1 mm continuum images and identify cores as peaks in thermal dust emission via the dendrogram algorithm. We develop a completeness correction method via synthetic core insertion, where a realistic mass-dependent size distribution is used for the synthetic cores. After corrections, a power law of the form $\text{d}N/\text{d}\log M \propto M^{-\alpha}$ is fit to the CMFs above 2 M$_\odot$. The three regions show disparate CMFs, with the Brick showing a Salpeter-like power law index $\alpha=1.21\pm0.11$ and the other two regions showing shallower indices ($\alpha=0.92\pm0.09$ for Sgr C and $\alpha=0.66\pm0.05$ for Sgr B2-DS). Furthermore, we analyze the spatial distribution and mass segregation of cores in each region. Sgr C and Sgr B2-DS show signs of mass segregation, but the Brick does not. We compare our results to several other CMFs from different Galactic regions derived with the same methods. Finally, we discuss how these results may help define an evolutionary sequence of star cluster formation and can be used to test star formation theories., Comment: Submitted to ApJ, comments welcome. 26 pages, 14 figures

In their early, formative stages star clusters can undergo rapid dynamical evolution leading to strong gravitational interactions and ejection of ``runaway'' stars at high velocities. While O/B runaway stars have been well studied, lower-mass runaways are so far very poorly characterised, even though they are expected to be much more common. We carried out spectroscopic observations with MAG2-MIKE to follow-up 27 high priority candidate runaways consistent with having been ejected from the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) $>2.5$ Myr ago, based on Gaia astrometry. We derive spectroscopic youth indicators (Li \& H$\alpha$) and radial velocities, enabling detection of bona fide runaway stars via signatures of youth and 3D traceback. We successfully confirmed 10 of the candidates as low-mass Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) on the basis of our spectroscopic criteria and derived radial velocities (RVs) with which we performed 3D traceback analysis. Three of these confirmed YSOs have kinematic ejection ages $>4\:$Myr, with the oldest being 4.7~Myr. This yields an estimate for the overall formation time of the ONC to be at least $\sim 5\:$Myr, i.e., about 10 free-fall times, and with a mean star formation efficiency per free-fall time of $\bar{\epsilon}_{\rm ff}\lesssim0.05$. These results favor a scenario of slow, quasi-equilibrium star cluster formation, regulated by magnetic fields and/or protostellar outflow feedback., Comment: submitted to MNRAS, comments welcome

Magnetic fields may play a crucial role in setting the initial conditions of massive star and star cluster formation. To investigate this, we report SOFIA-HAWC+ $214\:\mu$m observations of polarized thermal dust emission and high-resolution GBT-Argus C$^{18}$O(1-0) observations toward the massive Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G28.37+0.07. Considering the local dispersion of $B$-field orientations, we produce a map of $B$-field strength of the IRDC, which exhibits values between $\sim0.03 - 1\:$mG based on a refined Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (r-DCF) method proposed by Skalidis \& Tassis. Comparing to a map of inferred density, the IRDC exhibits a $B-n$ relation with a power law index of $0.51\pm0.02$, which is consistent with a scenario of magnetically-regulated anisotropic collapse. Consideration of the mass-to-flux ratio map indicates that magnetic fields are dynamically important in most regions of the IRDC. A virial analysis of a sample of massive, dense cores in the IRDC, including evaluation of magnetic and kinetic internal and surface terms, indicates consistency with virial equilibrium, sub-Alfv\'enic conditions and a dominant role for $B-$fields in regulating collapse. A clear alignment of magnetic field morphology with direction of steepest column density gradient is also detected. However, there is no preferred orientation of protostellar outflow directions with the $B-$field. Overall, these results indicate that magnetic fields play a crucial role in regulating massive star and star cluster formation and so need to be accounted for in theoretical models of these processes., Comment: Submitted to ApJ, comments welcome

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 inner hundred parsecs of the Milky Way hosts the nearest supermassive black hole, largest reservoir of dense gas, greatest stellar density, hundreds of massive main and post main sequence stars, and the highest volume density of supernovae in the Galaxy. As the nearest environment in which it is possible to simultaneously observe many of the extreme processes shaping the Universe, it is one of the most well-studied regions in astrophysics. Due to its proximity, we can study the center of our Galaxy on scales down to a few hundred AU, a hundred times better than in similar Local Group galaxies and thousands of times better than in the nearest active galaxies. The Galactic Center (GC) is therefore of outstanding astrophysical interest. However, in spite of intense observational work over the past decades, there are still fundamental things unknown about the GC. JWST has the unique capability to provide us with the necessary, game-changing data. In this White Paper, we advocate for a JWST NIRCam survey that aims at solving central questions, that we have identified as a community: i) the 3D structure and kinematics of gas and stars; ii) ancient star formation and its relation with the overall history of the Milky Way, as well as recent star formation and its implications for the overall energetics of our galaxy's nucleus; and iii) the (non-)universality of star formation and the stellar initial mass function. We advocate for a large-area, multi-epoch, multi-wavelength NIRCam survey of the inner 100\,pc of the Galaxy in the form of a Treasury GO JWST Large Program that is open to the community. We describe how this survey will derive the physical and kinematic properties of ~10,000,000 stars, how this will solve the key unknowns and provide a valuable resource for the community with long-lasting legacy value., Comment: This White Paper will be updated when required (e.g. new authors joining, editing of content). Most recent update: 24 Oct 2023

We performed a HST/WFC3-IR imaging survey of the young stellar cluster NGC 2024 in three filters probing the 1.4~$\mu$m H$_2$O absorption feature, characteristic of the population of low mass and sub-stellar mass objects down to a few Jupyter masses. We detect 812 point sources, 550 of them in all 3 filters with signal to noise greater than 5. Using a distance-independent two-color diagram we determine extinction values as high as $A_V\simeq 40$. We also find that the change of effective wavelengths in our filters results in higher $A_V$ values as the reddening increases. Reconstructing a dereddened color-magnitude diagram we derive a luminosity histogram for both the full sample of candidate cluster members and for an extinction-limited sub-sample containing the 50% of sources with $A_V\lesssim 15$. Assuming a standard extinction law like Cardelli et al. (1989) with a nominal $R_V$=3.1 we produce a luminosity function in good agreement with the one resulting from a Salpeter-like Initial Mass Function for a 1~Myr isochrone. There is some evidence of an excess of luminous stars in the most embedded region. We posit that the correlation may be due to those sources being younger, and therefore overluminous than the more evolved and less extinct cluster's stars. We compare our classification scheme based on the depth of the 1.4$\mu$m photometric feature with the results from the spectroscopic survey of Levine et al. (2006), and we report a few peculiar sources and morphological features typical of the rich phenomenology commonly encountered in young star-forming regions., Comment: 26 Pages, 23 Figures The Astrophysical Jornal, accepted

Massive protostars launch accretion-powered, magnetically-collimated outflows, which play crucial roles in the dynamics and diagnostics of the star formation process. Here we calculate the shock heating and resulting free-free radio emission in numerical models of outflows of massive star formation within the framework of the Turbulent Core Accretion model. We post-process 3D magneto-hydrodynamic simulation snapshots of a protostellar disk wind interacts with an infalling core envelope, and calculate shock temperatures, ionization fractions, and radio free-free emission. We find heating up to ~10^7 K and near complete ionization in shocks at the interface between the outflow cavity and infalling envelope. However, line-of-sight averaged ionization fractions peak around ~10%, in agreement with values reported from observations of massive protostar G35.20-0.74N. By calculating radio continuum fluxes and spectra, we compare our models with observed samples of massive protostars. We find our fiducial models produce radio luminosities similar to those seen from low and intermediate-mass protostars that are thought to be powered by shock ionization. Comparing to more massive protostars, we find our model radio luminosities are ~10 to 100 times less luminous. We discuss how this apparent discrepancy either reflects aspects of our modeling related to the treatment of cooling of the post-shock gas or a dominant contribution in the observed systems from photoionization. Finally, our models exhibit 10-year radio flux variability of ~5%, especially in the inner 1000 au region, comparable to observed levels in some hyper-compact HII regions., Comment: Submitted to ApJ

To test theoretical models of massive star formation it is important to compare their predictions with observed systems. To this end, we conduct CO molecular line radiative transfer post-processing of 3D magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of various stages in the evolutionary sequence of a massive protostellar core, including its infall envelope and disk wind outflow. Synthetic position-position-velocity (PPV) cubes of various transitions of CO, 13CO, and C18O emission are generated. We also carry out simulated Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of this emission. We compare the mass, momentum and kinetic energy estimates obtained from molecular lines to the true values, finding that the mass and momentum estimates can have uncertainties of up to a factor of four. However, the kinetic energy estimated from molecular lines is more significantly underestimated. Additionally, we compare the mass outflow rate and momentum outflow rate obtained from the synthetic spectra with the true values. Finally, we compare the synthetic spectra with real examples of ALMA-observed protostars and determine the best fitting protostellar masses and outflow inclination angles. We then calculate the mass outflow rate and momentum outflow rate for these sources, finding that both rates agree with theoretical protostellar evolutionary tracks., Comment: ApJ Accepted

Collisions between giant molecular clouds (GMCs) have been proposed as a mechanism to trigger massive star and star cluster formation. To investigate the astrochemical signatures of such collisions, we carry out 3D magnetohydrodynamics simulations of colliding and non-colliding clouds exposed to a variety of cosmic ray ionization rates (CRIRs), $\zeta$, following chemical evolution including gas and ice-phase components. At the GMC scale, carbon starts mostly in $\rm{C^+}$, but then transitions into C, CO, followed by ice-phase CO and $\rm{CH_3OH}$ as dense, cooler filaments, clumps and cores form from the clouds. The oxygen budget is dominated by O, CO and water ice. In dense regions, we explore the gas phase CO depletion factor, $f_D$, that measures the extent of its freeze-out onto dust grains, including dependence on CRIR and observables of mass surface density and temperature. We also identify dense clumps and analyze their physical and chemical properties, including after synthetic line emission modeling, investigating metrics used in studies of infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), especially abundances of CO, $\rm HCO^+$ and $\rm N_2H^+$. For the colliding case, we find clumps have typical densities of $n_{\rm H}\sim10^5\:{\rm{cm}}^{-3}$ and temperatures of $\sim20\:$K, while those in non-colliding GMCs are cooler. Depending on $\zeta$ and GMC dynamical history, we find CO depletion factors of up to $f_D\sim10$, and abundances of HCO$^+\sim 10^{-9}$ to $10^{-8}$ and $\rm{N_2H^+}\sim10^{-11}$ to $10^{-10}$. Comparison with observed IRDC clumps indicates a preference for low CRIRs ($\sim10^{-18}\:{\rm{s}}^{-1}$) and a more quiescent (non-colliding), cooler and evolved chemodynamical history. We discuss the general implications of our results and their caveats for interpretation of molecular cloud observations., Comment: 32 pages, 30 figures, 2 tables, submitted to MNRAS, comments welcome

The "tuning-fork" (TF) analysis of CO and Halpha emission has been used to estimate the lifetimes of molecular clouds in nearby galaxies. With simple model calculations, we show that this analysis does not necessarily estimate cloud lifetimes, but instead captures a duration of the cloud evolutionary cycle, from dormant to star forming, and then back to a dormant phase. We adopt a hypothetical setup in which molecular clouds (e.g., traced in CO) live forever and form stars (e.g., HII regions) at some frequency, which then drift away from the clouds. The TF analysis still returns a timescale for the immortal clouds. This model requires drifting motion to separate the newborn stars from the clouds, and we discuss its origin. We also discuss the physical origin of the characteristic spatial separation term in the TF analysis and a bias due to systematic error in the determination of the reference timescale., Comment: ApJ accepted

Aims. We analyse unpublished Spitzer observations of the thermal phase-curve of WASP-121 b, a benchmark ultra-hot Jupiter. Methods. We adopted the wavelet pixel-independent component analysis technique to remove challenging instrumental systematic effects in these datasets and we fit them simultaneously with parametric light-curve models. We also performed phase-curve retrievals to better understand the horizontal and vertical thermal structure of the planetary atmosphere. Results. We measured planetary brightness temperatures of $\sim$2700\,K (dayside) and $\sim$700--1100\,K (nightside), along with modest peak offsets of 5.9$^{\circ} \pm$1.6 (3.6\,$\mu$m) and 5.0$^{\circ}$$_{-3.1}^{+3.4}$ (4.5\,$\mu$m) after mid-eclipse. These results suggest inefficient heat redistribution in the atmosphere of WASP-121 b. The inferred atmospheric Bond albedo and circulation efficiency align well with observed trends for hot giant exoplanets. Interestingly, the measured peak offsets correspond to a westward hot spot, which has rarely been observed. We also report consistent transit depths at 3.6 and 4.5\,$\mu$m, along with updated geometric and orbital parameters. Finally, we compared our Spitzer results with previous measurements, including recent JWST observations. Conclusions. We extracted new information on the thermal properties and dynamics of an exoplanet atmosphere from an especially problematic dataset. This study probes the reliability of exoplanet phase-curve parameters obtained from Spitzer observations when state-of-the-art pipelines are adopted to remove the instrumental systematic effects. It demonstrates that Spitzer phase-curve observations provide a useful baseline for comparison with JWST observations, and shows the increase in parameters precision achieved with the newer telescope., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 3 data toward five massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), and investigate relationships between unsaturated carbon-chain species and saturated complex organic molecules (COMs). An HC$_{5}$N ($J=35-34$) line has been detected from three MYSOs, where nitrogen(N)-bearing COMs (CH$_{2}$CHCN and CH$_{3}$CH$_{2}$CN) have been detected. The HC$_{5}$N spatial distributions show compact features and match with a methanol (CH$_{3}$OH) line with an upper-state energy around 300 K, which should trace hot cores. The hot regions are more extended around the MYSOs where N-bearing COMs and HC$_{5}$N have been detected compared to two MYSOs without these molecular lines, while there are no clear differences in the bolometric luminosity and temperature. We run chemical simulations of hot-core models with a warm-up stage, and compare with the observational results. The observed abundances of HC$_{5}$N and COMs show good agreements with the model at the hot-core stage with temperatures above 160 K. These results indicate that carbon-chain chemistry around the MYSOs cannot be reproduced by warm carbon-chain chemistry, and a new type of carbon-chain chemistry occurs in hot regions around MYSOs., Comment: Accepted by the publication for The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 32 pages,18 figures, 11 tables

We introduce the state-of-the-art deep learning Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Model (DDPM) as a method to infer the volume or number density of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) from projected mass surface density maps. We adopt magnetohydrodynamic simulations with different global magnetic field strengths and large-scale dynamics, i.e., noncolliding and colliding GMCs. We train a diffusion model on both mass surface density maps and their corresponding mass-weighted number density maps from different viewing angles for all the simulations. We compare the diffusion model performance with a more traditional empirical two-component and three-component power-law fitting method and with a more traditional neural network machine learning approach (CASI-2D). We conclude that the diffusion model achieves an order of magnitude improvement on the accuracy of predicting number density compared to that by other methods. We apply the diffusion method to some example astronomical column density maps of Taurus and the Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) G28.37+0.07 and G35.39-0.33 to produce maps of their mean volume densities., Comment: ApJ accepted

The presence of carbon-chain molecules in the interstellar medium (ISM) has been known since the early 1970s and $>130$ such species have been identified to date, making up $\sim 43$% of the total of detected ISM molecules. They are prevalent not only in star-forming regions in our Galaxy but also in other galaxies. These molecules provide important information on physical conditions, gas dynamics, and evolutionary stages of star-forming regions. Larger species of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and fullerenes (C$_{60}$ and C$_{70}$), which may be related to the formation of the carbon-chain molecules, have been detected in circumstellar envelopes around carbon-rich Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars and planetary nebulae, while PAHs are also known to be a widespread component of the ISM in most galaxies. Recently, two line survey projects toward Taurus Molecular Cloud-1 with large single-dish telescopes have detected many new carbon-chain species, including molecules containing benzene rings. These new findings raise fresh questions about carbon-bearing species in the Universe. This article reviews various aspects of carbon-chain molecules, including observational studies, chemical simulations, quantum calculations, and laboratory experiments, and discusses open questions and how future facilities may answer them., Comment: A review article in Astrophysics and Space Science (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10509-024-04292-9)

We study the astrochemical diagnostics of the isolated massive protostar G28.20-0.05. We analyze data from ALMA 1.3~mm observations with resolution of 0.2 arcsec ($\sim$1,000 au). We detect emission from a wealth of species, including oxygen-bearing (e.g., $\rm{H_2CO}$, $\rm{CH_3OH}$, $\rm{CH_3OCH_3}$), sulfur-bearing (SO$_2$, H$_2$S) and nitrogen-bearing (e.g., HNCO, NH$_2$CHO, C$_2$H$_3$CN, C$_2$H$_5$CN) molecules. We discuss their spatial distributions, physical conditions, correlation between different species and possible chemical origins. In the central region near the protostar, we identify three hot molecular cores (HMCs). HMC1 is part of a mm continuum ring-like structure, is closest in projection to the protostar, has the highest temperature of $\sim300\:$K, and shows the most line-rich spectra. HMC2 is on the other side of the ring, has a temperature of $\sim250\:$K, and is of intermediate chemical complexity. HMC3 is further away, $\sim3,000\:$au in projection, cooler ($\sim70\:$K) and is the least line-rich. The three HMCs have similar mass surface densities ($\sim10\:{\rm{g\:cm}}^{-2}$), number densities ($n_{\rm H}\sim10^9\:{\rm{cm}}^{-3}$) and masses of a few $M_\odot$. The total gas mass in the cores and in the region out to $3,000\:$au is $\sim 25\:M_\odot$, which is comparable to that of the central protostar. Based on spatial distributions of peak line intensities as a function of excitation energy, we infer that the HMCs are externally heated by the protostar. We estimate column densities and abundances of the detected species and discuss the implications for hot core astrochemistry., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present predictions for cosmic evolution of populations of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) forming from Population III.1 seeds, i.e., early, metal-free dark matter minihalos forming far from other sources, parameterized by isolation distance, $d_{\rm{iso}}$. Extending previous work that explored this scenario to $z=10$, we follow evolution of a $(60\:{\rm{Mpc}})^3$ volume to $z=0$. We focus on evolution of SMBH comoving number densities, halo occupation fractions, angular clustering and 3D clustering, exploring a range of $d_{\rm{iso}}$ constrained by observed local number densities of SMBHs. We also compute synthetic projected observational fields, in particular a case comparable to the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. We compare Pop III.1 seeding to a simple halo mass threshold model, commonly adopted in cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. Major predictions of the Pop III.1 model include that all SMBHs form by $z\sim25$, after which their comoving number densities are near-constant, with low merger rates. Occupation fractions evolve to concentrate SMBHs in the most massive halos by $z=0$, but with rare cases in halos down to $\sim10^8\:M_\odot$. The $d_{\rm{iso}}$ scale at epoch of formation, e.g., $100\:$kpc-proper at $z\sim30$, i.e., $\sim3\:$Mpc-comoving, is imprinted in the SMBH two-point angular correlation function, remaining discernible as a low-amplitude feature to $z\sim1$. The SMBH 3D two-point correlation function at $z=0$ also shows lower amplitude compared to equivalently massive halos. We discuss prospects for testing these predictions with observational surveys of SMBH populations., Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Compression in giant molecular cloud (GMC) collisions is a promising mechanism to trigger formation of massive star clusters and OB associations. We simulate colliding and non-colliding magnetised GMCs and examine the properties of prestellar cores, selected from projected mass surface density maps, including after synthetic {\it ALMA} observations. We then examine core properties, including mass, size, density, velocity, velocity dispersion, temperature and magnetic field strength. After four Myr, $\sim1,000$ cores have formed in the GMC collision and the high-mass end of the core mass function (CMF) can be fit by a power law $dN/d{\rm{log}}M\propto{M}^{-\alpha}$ with $\alpha\simeq0.7$, i.e., relatively top-heavy compared to a Salpeter mass function. Depending on how cores are identified, a break in the power law can appear around a few $\times10\:M_\odot$. The non-colliding GMCs form fewer cores with a CMF with $\alpha\simeq0.8$ to 1.2, i.e., closer to the Salpeter index. We compare the properties of these CMFs to those of several observed samples of cores. Considering other properties, cores formed from colliding clouds are typically warmer, have more disturbed internal kinematics and are more likely to be gravitational unbound, than cores formed from non-colliding GMCs. The dynamical state of the protocluster of cores formed in the GMC-GMC collision is intrinsically subvirial, but can appear to be supervirial if the total mass measurement is affected by observations that miss mass on large scales or at low densities., Comment: 22 pages, 22 figures, 2 tables, accepted to MNRAS

We study the formation and early evolution of star clusters that have a wide range of masses and background cloud mass surface densities, $\Sigma_{\rm cloud}$, which help set the initial sizes, densities, and velocity dispersions of the natal gas clumps. Initial clump masses of 300, $3,000$ and $30,000$ $M_\odot$ are considered, from which star clusters are born with an assumed 50% overall star formation efficiency and with 50% primordial binarity. This formation is gradual, i.e., with a range of star formation efficiencies per free-fall time from 1% to 100%, so that the formation time can range from 0.7 Myr for low-mass, high-$\Sigma_{\rm cloud}$ clumps to $\sim30$ Myr for high-mass, low-$\Sigma_{\rm cloud}$ clumps. Within this framework of the Turbulent Clump model, for a given $\Sigma_{\rm cloud}$, clumps of higher mass are of lower initial volume density, but their dynamical evolution leads to higher bound fractions and causes them to form much higher density cluster cores and maintain these densities for longer periods. This results in systematic differences in the evolution of binary properties, degrees of mass segregation and rates of creation of dynamically ejected runaways. We discuss the implications of these results for observed star clusters and stellar populations., Comment: 28 pages, 20 Figures. Published by MNRAS

We use a suite of 3D simulations of star-forming molecular clouds, with and without stellar feedback, magnetic fields, and driven turbulence, to study the compression and expansion rates of the gas as functions of density. We show that, around the mean density, supersonic turbulence promotes rough equilibrium between the amounts of compressing and expanding gas, consistent with continuous gas cycling between high and low density states. We find that the inclusion of protostellar jets produces rapidly expanding and compressing low-density gas. We find that the gas mass flux peaks at the transition between the lognormal and power-law forms of the density probability distribution function (PDF). This is consistent with the transition density tracking the post-shock density, which promotes an enhancement of mass at this density (i.e., shock compression and filament formation). At high densities, the gas dynamics are dominated by self-gravity: the compression rate in all of our runs matches the rate of the run with only gravity, suggesting that processes other than self-gravity have little effect at these densities. The net gas mass flux becomes constant at a density below the sink formation threshold, where it equals the star formation rate. The density at which the net gas mass flux equals the star formation rate is one order of magnitude lower than our sink threshold density, corresponds to the formation of the second power-law tail in the density PDF, and sets the overall star formation rates of these simulations., Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures. Submitted to ApJ. Comments welcome

Star formation is ubiquitously associated with the ejection of accretion-powered outflows that carve bipolar cavities through the infalling envelope. This feedback is expected to be important for regulating the efficiency of star formation from a natal pre-stellar core. These low-extinction outflow cavities greatly affect the appearance of a protostar by allowing the escape of shorter wavelength photons. Doppler-shifted CO line emission from outflows is also often the most prominent manifestation of deeply embedded early-stage star formation. Here, we present 3D magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of a disk wind outflow from a protostar forming from an initially $60\:M_\odot$ core embedded in a high pressure environment typical of massive star-forming regions. We simulate the growth of the protostar from $m_*=1\:M_\odot$ to $26\:M_\odot$ over a period of $\sim$100,000 years. The outflow quickly excavates a cavity with half opening angle of $\sim10^\circ$ through the core. This angle remains relatively constant until the star reaches $4\:M_\odot$. It then grows steadily in time, reaching a value of $\sim 50^\circ$ by the end of the simulation. We estimate a lower limit to the star formation efficiency (SFE) of 0.43. However, accounting for continued accretion from a massive disk and residual infall envelope, we estimate that the final SFE may be as high as $\sim0.7$. We examine observable properties of the outflow, especially the evolution of the cavity opening angle, total mass and momentum flux, and velocity distributions of the outflowing gas, and compare with the massive protostars G35.20-0.74N and G339.88-1.26 observed by ALMA, yielding constraints on their intrinsic properties., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

We adopt the deep learning method CASI-3D (Convolutional Approach to Structure Identification-3D) to infer the orientation of magnetic fields in sub-/trans- Alfvenic turbulent clouds from molecular line emission. We carry out magnetohydrodynamic simulations with different magnetic field strengths and use these to generate synthetic observations. We apply the 3D radiation transfer code RADMC-3d to model 12CO and 13CO (J = 1-0) line emission from the simulated clouds and then train a CASI-3D model on these line emission data cubes to predict magnetic field morphology at the pixel level. The trained CASI-3D model is able to infer magnetic field directions with low error (< 10deg for sub-Alfvenic samples and <30deg for trans-Alfvenic samples). We furthermore test the performance of CASI-3D on a real sub-/trans- Alfvenic region in Taurus. The CASI-3D prediction is consistent with the magnetic field direction inferred from Planck dust polarization measurements. We use our developed methods to produce a new magnetic field map of Taurus that has a three-times higher angular resolution than the Planck map., Comment: ApJ Accepted

We define a sample of 200 protostellar outflows showing blue and redshifted CO emission in the nearby molecular clouds Ophiuchus, Taurus, Perseus and Orion to investigate the correlation between outflow orientations and local, but relatively large-scale, magnetic field directions traced by Planck 353 GHz dust polarization. At high significance (p~1e-4), we exclude a random distribution of relative orientations and find that there is a preference for alignment of projected plane of sky outflow axes with magnetic field directions. The distribution of relative position angles peaks at ~30deg and exhibits a broad dispersion of ~50deg. These results indicate that magnetic fields have dynamical influence in regulating the launching and/or propagation directions of outflows. However, the significant dispersion around perfect alignment orientation implies that there are large measurement uncertainties and/or a high degree of intrinsic variation caused by other physical processes, such as turbulence or strong stellar dynamical interactions. Outflow to magnetic field alignment is expected to lead to a correlation in the directions of nearby outflow pairs, depending on the degree of order of the field. Analyzing this effect we find limited correlation, except on relatively small scales < 0.5 pc. Furthermore, we train a convolutional neural network to infer the inclination angle of outflows with respect to the line of sight and apply it to our outflow sample to estimate their full 3D orientations. We find that the angles between outflow pairs in 3D space also show evidence of small-scale alignment., Comment: ApJ Accepted