@article{23042, abstract = {One of the most surprising results of early James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations is the discovery of an abundance of red, compact, broad-line objects dubbed “little red dots” (LRDs) at z > 4. Their spatial density (∼10−4–10−5 cMpc−3) is 100 times more abundant than UV-selected quasars at that redshift if one extrapolates the quasar luminosity function (QLF) down to the LRD regime. However, whether LRDs dominate black hole accretion at quasar-like luminosities (Lbol ≳ 1045−46 erg s−1) remains unanswered, as probing the bright end of the LRD luminosity function requires a much larger area than that which is able to be surveyed by JWST. In this work, we present our search for the brightest LRDs (K < 23.7) at 4.5 < z < 4.9 using wide-area multiwavelength imaging surveys from the near-UV to the infrared bands. With over 15 deg2 of sky coverage, we only identify one single LRD candidate at zphot ≈ 4.6, which translates into a spatial density of n(M5100 < −23.5) ≈ 10−8 cMpc−3—this is nearly 10 times less abundant than the UV-selected quasars at similar optical luminosity. When combined with the LRD sample identified by JWST at the same redshift range, we find a sharp cutoff in the optical luminosity function at λL5100 ≈ 2.2 × 1044 erg s−1, while the quasar luminosity function (QLF) turnover occurs at ≳20 times higher luminosity. We therefore confirm the exclusively low-luminosity nature of LRDs, ruling out that LRDs are the counterparts of quasars. Furthermore, we speculate that, if the shape of the luminosity function holds up, it points to LRDs being powered by low-mass black holes with a narrow range of Eddington-level accretion rates.}, author = {Ma, Yilun and Greene, Jenny E. and Volonteri, Marta and Goulding, Andy D. and Setton, David J. and Annunziatella, Marianna and Egami, Eiichi and Fan, Xiaohui and Kokorev, Vasily and Labbe, Ivo and Lin, Xiaojing and Marchesini, Danilo and Matthee, Jorryt J and Nanayakkara, Themiya and Robbins, Luke and Sajina, Anna and Sawicki, Marcin}, issn = {2041-8213}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal Letters}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{No luminous Little Red Dots: A sharp cutoff in their luminosity function}}, doi = {10.3847/2041-8213/aea071}, volume = {1008}, year = {2026}, } @article{23054, abstract = {We investigate the cosmological information in higher-order statistics of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing convergence field for a near-term experiment with noise properties similar to the Simons Observatory (SO). Using a fully field-level forward-modeling pipeline based on ray-traced simulations from the massivenus suite and realistic SO-like CMB lensing reconstruction, we naturally include nonlinear structure formation, post-Born effects, and higher-order reconstruction noise. We measure several non-Gaussian statistics, including Minkowski functionals, peak and minima counts, moments, and wavelet-scattering coefficients. We train Gaussian-process emulators to model each statistic’s dependence on the matter density fraction Ω𝑚, the scalar power spectrum amplitude 𝐴𝑠, and the neutrino mass sum 𝑀𝜈. We quantify the relative information gain these statistics provide beyond the lensing power spectrum and identify which are most robust to reconstruction noise. We find that morphology-based statistics, particularly Minkowski functionals and peak/minima counts, offer significant complementary constraining power: combining all non-Gaussian statistics with the power spectrum yields reductions of 40% and 38% in the marginalized uncertainties on Ω𝑚 and 𝐴𝑠, respectively, and a 70% reduction in the one-sided uncertainty on 𝑀𝜈. These gains remain non-negligible even when the power spectrum is extended to larger scales and combined with primary CMB and BAO data, with Minkowski functionals providing an additional 11% improvement in 𝜎⁡(𝑀𝜈) and 35% in 𝜎⁡(Ω𝑚) beyond the extended power spectrum. By contrast, moments and wavelet-scattering coefficients provide more limited gains at SO noise levels. Our results highlight the potential of non-Gaussian statistics to enhance cosmological constraints from SO and future CMB surveys.}, author = {Chen, Shu Fan and Hill, J. Colin and Haiman, Zoltán}, issn = {2470-0029}, journal = {Physical Review D}, number = {2}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Probing cosmology through higher-order CMB lensing statistics}}, doi = {10.1103/CLVJ-GL8P}, volume = {114}, year = {2026}, } @phdthesis{23033, author = {Stöllner, Andrea}, issn = {2663-337X}, keywords = {aerosol physics, electrostatics, optics, optical tweezers, atmospheric electricity}, pages = {88}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Microscale electrical behavior of highly charged individual aerosol particles using optical tweezers}}, doi = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-23033}, year = {2026}, } @unpublished{23038, abstract = {Electrical discharge at the smallest possible length and charge scales is not well understood. Using optical tweezers, we investigate spontaneous discharges of a single micron-scale particle levitated in air. These ``microdischarges'' have a typical size of $\sim$40 $|e|$, but can be as small as a few $|e|$ and as large as several hundred. The absence of a well-defined trigger charge and the weak dependence on particle size suggest events are not classical gaseous breakdown. Instead, we show that microdischarge events arise from the rapid capture of ions left in the tracks of nearby passing ionizing radiation. Our results highlight the role of natural ionizing radiation in initiating micron-scale discharges and provide a platform for studying discharge physics in electrode-free environments and at the smallest scales.}, author = {Stöllner, Andrea and Lenton, Isaac C. D. and Muller, Caroline J and Waitukaitis, Scott R}, booktitle = {arXiv}, title = {{Discharge at the microscale: Using optical tweezers to observe Muon-induced discharges of a levitated microparticle in air}}, doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2604.16040}, year = {2026}, } @article{23051, abstract = {Most massive stars (∼8–25M⊙) interact with a binary companion during their lifetimes. These interactions can remove the hydrogen-rich envelope, producing intermediate-mass (∼2–8M⊙) and helium-rich stars. These “stripped stars” are predicted to emit predominantly in the ultraviolet (UV) and can therefore be identified via a UV excess—provided they are not outshone by their companion. However, despite their importance to binary evolution, supernovae, and ionizing feedback, few stripped stars have been confirmed. This is likely due to the scarcity of wide-field, high angular-resolution, UV surveys of stellar populations with reliable distances and extinction estimates. To address this, we present the Stripped-Star Ultraviolet Magellanic Clouds Survey catalog. We use the Tractor forward modeling software to perform point-spread function photometry on 2420 Swift UVOT images of the LMC and SMC. The resulting catalog contains 734,862 sources in three UV filters to a depth of ∼20 Vega mag. We perform validation tests on the photometry pipeline and highlight the catalog’s broad applicability. We then identify sources with excess UV light compared to main-sequence stars and apply a series of quality cuts. From this, we identify 522 candidate stripped stars in the LMC and 298 in the SMC. We assess the potential contamination from other UV excess systems and argue the dominant uncertainty to be dust: early main-sequence stars can mimic the colors of stripped-star binaries when extinction is overcorrected. This survey lays the groundwork for the first systematic census of stripped stars and opens new windows into binary evolution and massive star populations.}, author = {Ludwig, B. and Drout, M. R. and Götberg, Ylva Louise Linsdotter and Lang, D. and Laroche, A.}, issn = {1538-4357}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, number = {1}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{The Stripped-Star Ultraviolet Magellanic Cloud Survey (SUMS): The ultraviolet photometric catalog and stripped-star candidate selection}}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae2d13}, volume = {999}, year = {2026}, } @article{23052, abstract = {While bursty star formation in low-mass galaxies has been observed in local populations and reproduced in simulations, the dormant phase of the burst cycle has not been well studied beyond the local Universe due to observational limitations. We present a unique sample of 43 JWST PRISM spectra of low-mass galaxies (M⋆ < 10^9.5 M⊙) at cosmic noon (1 < z < 3), uniformly selected on F200W magnitude and precise photometric redshifts enabled by 20-band JWST photometry from the UNCOVER and MegaScience surveys. The spectra reveal numerous strong Balmer breaks, which are negatively correlated with the galaxies’ Hα equivalent width. By comparing these observations to synthetic samples of spectra generated using a simple parameterization of bursty star formation histories, we show that star formation in low-mass galaxies at cosmic noon is likely dominated by burst cycles with long timescales (≳100 Myr) and large deviations below the star-forming main sequence (≳0.8 dex). Our results suggest that galaxies in this population—at least those within our detection limits—should not be classified solely by their current star formation rates, but instead viewed as a unified population undergoing dynamic movement above and below the star-forming main sequence. The derived constraints demonstrate that long-timescale fluctuations are important for this class of galaxies, indicating that galaxy-scale gas cycles—rather than molecular-cloud-scale stochasticity—are the primary regulators of star formation variability in low-mass galaxies at cosmic noon.}, author = {Mintz, Abby and Setton, David J. and Greene, Jenny E. and Leja, Joel and Wang, Bingjie and Burnham, Emilie and Suess, Katherine A. and Atek, Hakim and Bezanson, Rachel and Brammer, Gabriel and Cutler, Sam E. and Dayal, Pratika and Feldmann, Robert and Furtak, Lukas J. and Glazebrook, Karl and Khullar, Gourav and Kokorev, Vasily and Labbé, Ivo and Matthee, Jorryt J and Maseda, Michael V. and Miller, Tim B. and Mitsuhashi, Ikki and Nanayakkara, Themiya and Pan, Richard and Price, Sedona H. and Weaver, John R. and Whitaker, Katherine E. and Wu, Belinda}, issn = {1538-4357}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Taking a break at cosmic noon: Continuum-selected low-mass galaxies require long burst cycles}}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae328c}, volume = {998}, year = {2026}, } @article{23053, abstract = {Stripped stars are hot, helium-rich stars formed when binary interactions remove a star’s hydrogen envelope. While low-mass (≲1 M⊙) and high-mass (≳8 M⊙) stripped stars are well studied as hot subdwarfs and Wolf–Rayet stars, their intermediate-mass counterparts (1–8 M⊙) have only recently been discovered. The Stripped-Star Ultraviolet Magellanic Cloud Survey (SUMS) identified UV-excess sources (i.e., sources lying blueward of the main sequence) in the Magellanic Clouds using Swift-UVOT photometry and selected 820 photometric stripped-star candidates. However, the completeness and purity of this sample remain poorly understood. We forward model the population of stripped stars in the Magellanic Clouds using a binary population synthesis model combined with spatially resolved star formation histories and simulated UV photometry. To assess survey sensitivity, we inject simulated sources into real Swift-UVOT images and reproduce the SUMS selection process, including crowding, extinction, and photometric quality cuts. For the SMC and LMC, we respectively recover 31% and 15% of sources with intrinsic UV excess, and 11% and 7% of all stripped stars. The rest are missed due to dilution by luminous companions, crowding, high extinction, and limited survey coverage. The observed population is biased toward systems with low-mass companions formed by common envelope evolution and systems with compact object companions. We predict contamination of the observed stripped-star candidates by main-sequence stars with spurious UV excess due to crowding and provide guidelines for selecting higher-purity subsamples. Our population synthesis model matches the number and properties of observed stripped star candidates with masses of (2–5) M⊙ well. It underpredicts the number of lower- and higher-mass candidates, perhaps due to contamination.}, author = {Blomberg, Lisa and El-Badry, Kareem and Ludwig, Bethany and Drout, Maria R. and Götberg, Ylva Louise Linsdotter}, issn = {1538-3873}, journal = {Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Intermediate-mass stripped stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Forward modeling the observed population discovered via UV excess}}, doi = {10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19}, volume = {138}, year = {2026}, } @article{23058, abstract = {NiPS3 has attracted considerable attention, yet the origin of its intriguing magnetic behaviors remains elusive due to limited insight into its low-energy anisotropy. Here, high-field torque magnetometry measurements are performed, revealing a previously unrecognized anisotropic spin response that reflects interaction terms beyond the standard XY or XXZ models. In combination with relativistic density functional theory calculations and magnetic force response theory, an effective low-energy spin Hamiltonian is constructed, elucidating not only the observed anomalous magnetic behavior but also other recent experiments. Remarkably, the magnetic dipole interaction and the associated spin-flop transition play a crucial role in driving the deviation from two-dimensional spin alignment, providing direct insight into the underlying anisotropic energy hierarchy. The generalized Hamiltonian can serve as the important fundamental ground for future study, and our approach adopted here will hopefully be relevant to many other related material systems.}, author = {Kiem, Do Hoon and Nauman, Muhammad and Choi, Joonyoung and Graf, David and Kim, Junghyun and Yang, Heejun and Park, Je Geun and Jo, Younjung and Han, Myung Joon}, issn = {1613-6829}, journal = {Small}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Crucial role of magnetic dipole and anomalous field dependence in NiPS3}}, doi = {10.1002/smll.75903}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{23055, abstract = {We report progress toward strong electric-dipole coupling of polar molecules in cryogenic crystals to superconducting microwave resonators for hybrid quantum computing. We detect crystal-shifted inversion transitions of ammonia in neon using a multimode resonator.}, author = {De Zordo, Nikolaus and Borja Espinosa, Carla N and Al Hyder, Ragheed and Li, Jinglun and Kersten, Wenzel and Kanagin, Andrew and Koutentakis, Georgios and Kluibenschedl, Florian and Lemeshko, Mikhail and Fink, Johannes M and Schmiedmayer, Jörg and Redchenko, Elena}, booktitle = {Quantum 2.0 Conference and Exhibition}, isbn = {9781957171616}, location = {Glasgow, United Kingdom}, publisher = {Optica Publishing Group}, title = {{Detecting polar molecules with superconducting microwave resonators}}, year = {2026}, } @article{23087, abstract = {Disordered materials such as glasses are promising candidates as solid-state electrolytes for batteries, but they tend to exhibit low ionic conductivity and current methods for investigating and predicting the ionic conductivity of electrolyte materials are inefficient. Here, we propose a framework that summarizes the topological properties of the electrolyte material’s atomic structure with a weighted graph based on periodic boundary conditions. We then compute a variation of the max-flow algorithm, a commonly used model in continuum models of transportation and liquid flow, on this summary and show that it is compatible with the simulated periodic atomic structures. Using molecular dynamics simulations of various glassy solid-state electrolyte families including both mobile lithium and sodium ions, we validate the approach by showing a positive correlation between the area-normalized maximum flow predicted from the static glass structures and the ionic conductivity as obtained from the simulations, especially in the case of high-conductivity sulfide glass electrolytes. We envision that the developed methodology, which only relies on static atomic structure, will accelerate the discovery of highly conductive sulfide glassy electrolytes for high-performance all-solid-state batteries.}, author = {Pegoraro, Matteo and Christensen, Rasmus and Sørensen, Søren S. and Lindbjerg, Anders R. and Du, Tao and Bleile, Yossi and Svane, Anne Marie and Biscio, Christophe A.N. and Fajstrup, Lisbeth and Smedskjaer, Morten M.}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Predicting ionic conductivity of sulfide glass solid-state electrolytes using max-flow methodology}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-77363-w}, volume = {17}, year = {2026}, } @article{23091, abstract = {Glaciers worldwide are becoming increasingly debris-covered, yet many aspects within the coupled glacier-debris system are not well-understood. While the insulating effect of continuous debris layers is well-known, the transient feedbacks with glacier dynamics are poorly understood. The main aim of this study is to better understand the complex transient glacier response and debris-induced feedbacks through numerical flow modelling. We present an improved flowline model that couples ice flow, depth-resolved debris transport, and debris cover impact on mass balance. This approach allows for a detailed examination of the dynamics of debris-covered glaciers under transient forcing conditions of climate and debris input over extended timescales. Our results indicate that low-amplitude, decade-scale variability in debris or climate forcing does not substantially impact glacier evolution. However, large debris supply events can have a sustained impact. We find that debris-covered glacier response to warming climate forcing is non-monotonic, with distinct phases of thinning, retreat, and long-term re-advance. We attribute this to a separate, longer timescale process of englacial debris transport. Additionally, feedbacks in the englacial debris trajectory and complex bed topography further amplify the non-linear pattern of retreat in the transient glacier response to warming.}, author = {Hardmeier, Florian and Ferguson, James and Vieli, Andreas}, issn = {1994-0424}, journal = {The Cryosphere}, number = {9}, pages = {5365--5392}, publisher = {Copernicus Publications}, title = {{Feedbacks and timescales in the modelled transient response of debris-covered glaciers}}, doi = {10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026}, volume = {20}, year = {2026}, } @article{23057, abstract = {We recently showed that macroscopic nuclear spin ensembles prepared in coherent spin states can dramatically enhance the interaction rates of weakly interacting cosmic relics, such as dark matter and the cosmic neutrino background, through collective quantum effects analogous to Dicke superradiance, where the deexcitation and excitation rates scale as the square of the number of spins 𝑁2. We thus coined these processes superradiant interactions. In this paper, we propose a protocol to realize this enhancement and boost the discovery potential for such relics. We show how concepts from quantum optics can be adapted to nuclear spins coupled to superconducting circuits, enabling high-sensitivity systems. The spins are first initialized into a coherent spin state via a 𝜋/2 Rabi pulse from the ground state. When the circuit is sufficiently detuned from resonance, the spin-circuit interaction implements a squeezing Hamiltonian. Because squeezing must outpace spin relaxation and dephasing, the protocol favors macroscopic ensembles and high-quality superconducting circuits. During this squeezing phase, the standard quantum variance is reduced by up to 4.8 orders of magnitude, equivalent to 48 dB of squeezing, for circuits with quality factors 𝑄∼10^8–10^9. The signal imprinted on the spins during the squeezing protocol can be magnified by further utilizing the squeezing interactions, easing the requirement for shot-noise-limited readout. This protocol has the potential to significantly accelerate axion and dark photon dark matter searches and extend the reach of existing axion experiments to probe QCD axion-nuclear spin couplings. More broadly, it paves the way for detecting coherent inelastic interactions from other cosmic relics, most notably the cosmic neutrino background, and establishes nuclear-spin-based systems as a class of quantum, ultra-low-threshold detectors.}, author = {Galanis, Marios and Hosten, Onur and Arvanitaki, Asimina and Dimopoulos, Savas}, issn = {2469-9934}, journal = {Physical Review A}, number = {6}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Superradiant interactions for relic detection with entangled nuclear spins}}, doi = {10.1103/Z2D9-4GV6}, volume = {113}, year = {2026}, } @inbook{23086, abstract = {The division of a mother cell into two daughter cells is a fundamental process in biology, involving the transfer of genomic information to the next generation of cells. In plant roots, cell divisions occur in the root apical meristem, a specialized tissue located at the plant’s root tip. Cell proliferation rates in the root apical meristem shape root growth, thereby contributing to general development as well as the acclimatization to stressful environmental conditions through phenotypic plasticity. Here, we present a protocol for the microscopical analysis of cell proliferation in Arabidopsis thaliana root meristems by 5-ethynyl-2ʹ-deoxyuridine (EdU) staining. EdU, a thymine-analog, is incorporated into newly synthesized DNA of proliferative cells during the S-phase of the cell cycle. Subsequently, EdU-containing nuclei can be labeled with a fluorophore and detected by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The combination of the EdU assay with cell wall staining enables the quantification of root meristem architecture parameters and cell division activity from microscopic images. Together, this can elucidate how root meristems respond to changes in environmental conditions or address fundamental questions of developmental plant biology.}, author = {Jacob, Tilman and Ai, Haiyue and Quint, Marcel}, booktitle = {Root Development}, issn = {1940-6029}, keywords = {Root growth, Root development, Root meristem, Cell cycle, Cell division, S-phase, EdU, Arabidopsis thaliana, Microscopy}, pages = {165--176}, publisher = {Springer}, title = {{EdU-Based Quantitative Analysis of Cell Proliferation in Arabidopsis Root Meristems}}, doi = {10.1007/978-1-0716-5603-7_13}, volume = {3086}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{23056, abstract = {Superconducting qubits face scaling challenges due to millikelvin temperature requirements. Here we demonstrate the generation and low-noise upconversion of single microwave photons to telecom frequencies, paving the way for quantum networks with superconducting qubits.}, author = {Militaru, Andrei and Werner, Thomas and Riyazi, Erfan and Hawaldar, Samarth and Sahu, Rishabh and Arnold, Georg M and Falthansl-Scheinecker, Paul and Sanchez Naranjo, Jennifer Anais and Loi, Dante and Kapoor, Lucky and Zemlicka, Martin and Qiu, Liu and Fink, Johannes M}, booktitle = {Quantum 2.0 Conference and Exhibition}, isbn = {9781957171616}, location = {Glasgow, United Kingdom}, publisher = {Optica Publishing Group}, title = {{Electro-optic conversion of itinerant Fock states}}, year = {2026}, } @article{23092, abstract = {We present the number density of massive (log(M*/Mo)> 10.3) quiescent galaxies at 2 < z < 5 using JWST NIRSpec PRISM spectra. This work relies on spectra from RUBIES, which provides excellent data quality and an unparalleled, well-defined targeting strategy to robustly infer physical properties and number densities. We identify quiescent galaxy candidates within RUBIES through principal component analysis and construct a final sample using star formation histories derived from spectrophotometric fitting of the NIRSpec PRISM spectra and NIRCam photometry. By inverting the RUBIES selection function, we correct for survey incompleteness and calculate the number density of massive quiescent galaxies at these redshifts, providing the most complete spectroscopic estimates prior to cosmic noon to date. We find that early massive quiescent galaxies are surprisingly common (≳10−5 Mpc−3 by 4 < z < 5), which is consistent with previous studies based on JWST photometry alone and/or in smaller survey areas. We compare our number densities with predictions from six state-of-the-art cosmological galaxy formation simulations. At z > 3, most simulations fail to produce enough massive quiescent galaxies, suggesting the treatment of feedback and/or the channels for early efficient formation are incomplete in most galaxy evolution models.}, author = {Zhang, Yunchong and De Graaff, Anna and Setton, David J. and Price, Sedona H. and Bezanson, Rachel and Del P. Lagos, Claudia and Cutler, Sam E. and Mcconachie, Ian and Cleri, Nikko J. and Cooper, Olivia R. and Gottumukkala, Rashmi and Greene, Jenny E. and Hirschmann, Michaela and Khullar, Gourav and Labbe, Ivo and Leja, Joel and Maseda, Michael V. and Matthee, Jorryt J and Miller, Tim B. and Nanayakkara, Themiya and Suess, Katherine A. and Wang, Bingjie and Whitaker, Katherine E. and Williams, Christina C.}, issn = {1538-4357}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{RUBIES spectroscopically confirms the high number density of quiescent galaxies from2