Search

We present the discovery and early observations of the nearby Type II supernova (SN) 2024ggi in NGC 3621 at 6.64 +/- 0.3 Mpc. The SN was caught 5.8 (+1.9 -2.9) hours after its explosion by the ATLAS survey. Early-phase, high-cadence, and multi-band photometric follow-up was performed by the Kinder (Kilonova Finder) project, collecting over 1000 photometric data points within a week. The combined o- and r-band light curves show a rapid rise of 3.3 magnitudes in 13.7 hours, much faster than SN 2023ixf (another recent, nearby, and well-observed SN II). Between 13.8 and 18.8 hours after explosion SN 2024ggi became bluer, with u-g colour dropping from 0.53 to 0.15 mag. The rapid blueward evolution indicates a wind shock breakout (SBO) scenario. No hour-long brightening expected for the SBO from a bare stellar surface was detected during our observations. The classification spectrum, taken 17 hours after the SN explosion, shows flash features of high-ionization species such as Balmer lines, He I, C III, and N III. Detailed light curve modeling reveals critical insights into the properties of the circumstellar material (CSM). Our favoured model has an explosion energy of 2 x 10^51 erg, a mass-loss rate of 10^-3 solar_mass/yr (with an assumed 10 km/s wind), and a confined CSM radius of 6 x 10^14 cm. The corresponding CSM mass is 0.4 solar_mass. Comparisons with SN 2023ixf highlight that SN 2024ggi has a smaller CSM density, resulting in a faster rise and fainter UV flux. The extensive dataset and the involvement of citizen astronomers underscore that a collaborative network is essential for SBO searches, leading to more precise and comprehensive SN characterizations., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures in manuscript, 6 pages in appendix, submitted to ApJL

The discrepancy between the CDF measurement and the Standard Model theoretical prediction for the $W$-boson mass underscores the importance of conducting high-precision studies on the $W$ boson, which is one of the predominant objectives of proposed future $e^+e^-$ colliders. We investigate in detail the production of $W$-boson pairs at $e^+e^-$ colliders, and compute the next-to-next-to-leading order mixed QCD-EW corrections to both the integrated cross section and various kinematic distributions. By employing the method of differential equations, we analytically calculate the two-loop master integrals for the mixed QCD-EW virtual corrections to $e^+e^- \rightarrow W^+W^-$. Utilizing the Magnus transformation, we derive a set of canonical master integrals for each integral family. This canonical basis satisfies a system of differential equations in which the dependence on the dimensional regulator is linearly factorized from the kinematics. We then express all these canonical master integrals as Taylor series in $\epsilon$ up to $\epsilon^4$, with coefficients articulated in terms of Goncharov polylogarithms up to weight four. Upon applying our analytic expressions of these master integrals to the phenomenological analysis of $W$-pair production, we observe that the $\mathcal{O}(\alpha\alpha_s)$ corrections are significantly impactful in the $\alpha(0)$ scheme, particularly in certain phase-space regions. However, these mixed QCD-EW corrections can be heavily suppressed by adopting the $G_{\mu}$ scheme., Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures

We present a comprehensive analytic calculation of the next-to-next-to-leading order $\text{QCD} \otimes \text{EW}$ corrections to $Z$-boson pair production at electron-positron colliders. The two-loop master integrals essential to this calculation are evaluated using the differential equation method. In this work, we detail the formulation and solution of the canonical differential equations for the two-loop three-point master integrals with two on-shell $Z$-boson external legs and a massive internal quark in the loops. These canonical master integrals are systematically expanded as Taylor series in the dimensional regulator, $\epsilon = (4-d)/2$, up to the order of $\epsilon^4$, with coefficients expressed in terms of Goncharov polylogarithms up to weight four. Upon applying our analytic expressions of these master integrals to the phenomenological analysis of $Z$-pair production, we observe that the $\mathcal{O}(\alpha \alpha_s)$ corrections manifest at a level of approximately one percent compared to the leading-order predictions, underscoring their significance for comparisons with future high-precision experimental data., Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures

Although type Ia supernovae are so important in many astrophysical field, e.g. in cosmology, their explosion mechanism and progenitor system are still unclear. In physics, the relative equivalent width (REW) of the Si II 635.5 nm absorption feature reflects the velocity interval of silicon in the supernova ejecta and then may provide constraints on the explosion mechanism of SNe Ia. In this paper, we divide the SNe Ia into broad line (BL) and normal line (NL) subsamples based on their REW of Si II 635.5 nm absorption lines around maximum light, and find that the BL SNe Ia have a dimmer mean brightness than NL ones, which possibly results from their different metallicities. However, based on the pixel statistics study on the environments of two subsamples, we do not find any significant potential difference on the environments between BL and NL SNe Ia, which implies that the explosion mechanism of SNe Ia could be independent of their progenitor populations., Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

The Hubble diagram of type-Ia supernovae (SNe-Ia) provides cosmological constraints on the nature of dark energy with an accuracy limited by the flux calibration of currently available spectrophotometric standards. The StarDICE experiment aims at establishing a 5-stage metrology chain from NIST photodiodes to stars, with a targeted accuracy of \SI{1}{mmag} in $griz$ colors. We present the first two stages, resulting in the calibration transfer from NIST photodiodes to a demonstration \SI{150}{Mpixel} CMOS sensor (Sony IMX411ALR as implemented in the QHY411M camera by QHYCCD). As a side-product, we provide full characterization of this camera. A fully automated spectrophotometric bench is built to perform the calibration transfer. The sensor readout electronics is studied using thousands of flat-field images from which we derive stability, high resolution photon transfer curves and estimates of the individual pixel gain. The sensor quantum efficiency is then measured relative to a NIST-calibrated photodiode. Flat-field scans at 16 different wavelengths are used to build maps of the sensor response. We demonstrate statistical uncertainty on quantum efficiency below \SI{0.001}{e^-/\gamma} between \SI{387}{nm} and \SI{950}{nm}. Systematic uncertainties in the bench optics are controlled at the level of \SI{1e-3}{e^-/\gamma}. Uncertainty in the overall normalization of the QE curve is 1\%. Regarding the camera we demonstrate stability in steady state conditions at the level of \SI{32.5}{ppm}. Homogeneity in the response is below \SI{1}{\percent} RMS across the entire sensor area. Quantum efficiency stays above \SI{50}{\percent} in most of the visible range, peaking well above \SI{80}{\percent} between \SI{440}{nm} and \SI{570}{nm}. Differential non-linearities at the level of \SI{1}{\percent} are detected. A simple 2-parameter model is proposed to mitigate the effect., Comment: accepted for publication in A&A, correct author list

iPTF14hls is a luminous Type II supernova (SN) with a bumpy light curve that remains debated for its origin. It maintains roughly a constant effective temperature and luminosity since discovery for about 600 days, followed by a slow decay. On $\sim 1000$\ days post discovery the light curve transitions to a very steep decline. A spectrum taken during this steep decline phase shows clear signatures of shock interaction with dense circumstellar medium (CSM). Here we explore the possibility of iPTF14hls as an interaction-powered SN. The light curve of iPTF14hls can be fitted with wind-like CSMs. Analytic modeling indicates that iPTF14hls may have undertaken six episodes of mass loss during the last $\sim 200\mathrm{yr}$. Assuming that the 1954 eruption triggered the last mass-loss episode, the stellar-wind velocity is determined to be $40-70\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$, depending on different models. Mass loss rates are in the range $% 0.4-3.3M_{\odot }\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. The inferred total mass of ejecta and CSMs ($M_{\mathrm{ej}}+M_{\mathrm{CSMs}}\simeq 245M_{\odot }$) supports the idea that iPTF14hls may be a candidate for a (pulsational) pair-instability SN. Discovery and observations of more similar stellar explosions will help understand these peculiar SNe., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

The discovery of early bumps in some type-I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) before the main peaks offers an important clue to their energy source mechanisms. In this paper, we updated an analytic magnetar-powered model for fitting the multi-band light curves of double-peaked SLSNe-I: the early bump is powered by magnetar-driven shock breakout thermal emission, and the main peak is powered by a radiative diffusion through the SN ejecta as in the standard magnetar-powered model. Generally, the diffusive luminosity is greater than the shock breakout luminosity at the early time, which makes the shock breakout bumps usually not clearly seen as observed. To obtain a clear double-peaked light curve, inefficient magnetar heating at early times is required. This model is applied to three well-observed double-peaked SLSNe-I (i.e., SN2006oz, LSQ14bdq, and DES14Xtaz). We find that a relative massive SN ejecta with $M_{\mathrm{ej}} \simeq 10.2-18.1 M_{\odot}$ and relative large kinetic energy of SN ejecta $E_{\mathrm{sn}} \simeq (3.8-6.5) \times 10^{51}$ erg are required, and the thermalization efficiency of the magnetar heating is suppressed before $t_{\mathrm{delay}}$, which are in the range of $\simeq 15- 43$ days. The model can well reproduce the observed light curves, with a reasonable and similar set of physical parameters for both the early bump and the main peak, strengthening support for magnetar-powered model. In the future, modeling of the double-peaked SLSNe-I will become more feasible as more events are discovered before the early bump., Comment: 12 page, 3 figures, Accepted by ApJ

Over the past decade, time-domain astronomy in optical bands has developed rapidly with the operations of some wide-field survey facilities. However, most of these surveys are conducted with only a single band, and simultaneous color information is usually unavailable for the objects monitored during the survey. Here we present introductions to the system of Tsinghua University-Ma Huateng Telescopes for Survey (TMTS), which consists of an array of four optical telescopes installed on a single equatorial mount. Such a system is designed to get multiband photometry simultaneously for stars and transients discovered during the survey. The optics of each telescope is a modified Hamilton-Newtonian system, covering the wavelengths from 400 to 900 nm, with a field of view (FoV) of about 4.5 deg2 and a plate scale of 1.86"/pixel when combining with a 4K*4K QHY4040 CMOS detector. The TMTS system can have a FoV of about 9 deg2 when monitoring the sky with two bands (i.e., SDSS g and r filters) at the same time, and a maximum FoV of ~18 deg2 when four telescopes monitor different sky areas in monochromatic filter mode. For an exposure time of 60 s, the average 3{\sigma} detection limit of the TMTS system can reach at ~19.4 mag in Luminous filter and at ~18.7 mag in SDSS r filter. The preliminary discovery obtained during the first few months' survey is briefly discussed. As this telescope array is located at the Xinglong Observatory of NAOC, it can have an excellent synergy with the spectroscopic survey by the LAMOST (with a FoV of about 20 deg2) at the same site, which will benefit the studies of stellar and binary physics besides the transient sciences., Comment: 27 pages, 21 figures

We apply a quark combination model to study yield densities and transverse momentum ($p_{T}$) spectra of strange (anti-)hadrons at mid-rapidity in central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39 and 200 GeV. We show that experimental data for $p_{T}$ spectra of (anti-)hadrons in these collisions can be systematically described by the equal velocity combination of constituent quarks and antiquarks at hadronization. We obtain $p_{T}$ spectra of quarks and antiquarks at hadronization and study their collision energy dependence. We also reproduce the yield densities of hadrons and anti-hadrons. In particular, we demonstrate that yield ratios of anti-hadrons to hadrons $K^{-}/K^{+}$, $\bar{p}/p$, $\bar{\Lambda}/\Lambda$, $\bar{\Xi}^{+}/\Xi^{-}$ and $\bar{\Omega}^{+}/\Omega^{-}$ simply correlate with each other and their experimental data except $\bar{\Omega}^{+}/\Omega^{-}$ at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 7.7 GeV are systematically described by the model. These results suggest that the equal velocity combination mechanism for quarks and antiquarks at hadronization plays an important role in Au+Au collisions at low RHIC energies ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}\geq$ 11.5 GeV)., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures

We study the lifetime and weak decays of the full-heavy S-wave $0^+$ tetraquark $T^{\{bb\}}_{\{\bar c\bar c\}}$. Using the operator product expansion rooted in heavy quark expansion, we find a rather short lifetime, at the order $(0.1-0.3)\times 10^{-12}s$ depending on the inputs. With the flavor SU(3) symmetry, we then construct the effective Hamiltonian at the hadron level, and derive relations between decay widths of different channels. According to the electro-weak effective operators, we classify different decay modes, and make a collection of the golden channels, such as $T_{\{\bar c \bar c\}}^{\{bb\}}\to B^- K^0 B_c^-$ for the charm quark decay and $T_{\{\bar c \bar c\}}^{\{bb\}}\to B^-D^-$ for the bottom quark decay. Our results for the lifetime and golden channels are helpful to search for the fully-heavy tetraquark in future experiments., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures

iPTF14hls is an unusually bright, long-lived II-P supernova (SN), whose light curve has at least five peaks. We propose that the outflows from the black hole hyperaccretion systems in the center of the collapsars should continuously inject into the envelope. For a jet-driven core-collapsar model, the outflow feedback results in prolonging the accretion timescale and fluctuating accretion rates in our analytic solutions. Thus, the long period of luminous, varying SN iPTF14hls might originate from the choked jets, which are regulated by the feedback of the strong disk outflows in a massive core-collapsar. One can expect that jet-driven iPTF14hls may last no more than approximately 3,000 days, and the luminosity may quickly decrease in the later stages. Moreover, the double-peak light curves in some SNe might be explained by the outflow feedback mechanism., Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of High Energy Astrophysics

We study the weak decays of exotic tetraquark states ${b\bar c}{q\bar q}$ with two heavy quarks. Under the SU(3) symmetry for light quarks, these tetraquarks can be classified into an octet plus a singlet: $3\bigotimes\bar 3=1\bigoplus8$. We will concentrate on the octet tetraquarks with $J^{P}=0^{+}$, and study their weak decays, both semileptonic and nonleptonic. Hadron-level effective Hamiltonian is constructed according to the irreducible representations of the SU(3) group. Expanding the Hamiltonian, we obtain the decay amplitudes parameterized in terms of a few irreducible quantities. Based on these amplitudes, relations for decay widths are derived, which can be tested in future. We also give a list of golden channels that can be used to look for these states at various colliders., Comment: 14 pages,3 figures