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1. Metallicity Dependence of Pressure-regulated Feedback-modulated Star Formation in the TIGRESS-NCR Simulation Suite

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad59ab  

   Kim, Chang-Goo; Ostriker, Eve C; Kim, Jeong-Gyu; Gong, Munan; Bryan, Greg L; Fielding, Drummond B; Hassan, Sultan; Ho, Matthew; Jeffreson, Sarah_M R; Somerville, Rachel S; et al (August 2024, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We present a new suite of numerical simulations of the star-forming interstellar medium (ISM) in galactic disks using the TIGRESS-NCR framework. Distinctive aspects of our simulation suite are (1) sophisticated and comprehensive numerical treatments of essential physical processes including magnetohydrodynamics, self-gravity, and galactic differential rotation, as well as photochemistry, cooling, and heating coupled with direct ray-tracing UV radiation transfer and resolved supernova feedback and (2) wide parameter coverage including the variation in metallicity over $Z\prime \equiv Z/Z_{\odot }\sim 0.1-3$, gas surface density Σ_gas∼ 5–150M_⊙pc⁻², and stellar surface density Σ_star∼ 1–50M_⊙pc⁻². The range of emergent star formation rate surface density is Σ_SFR∼ 10⁻⁴–0.5M_⊙kpc⁻²yr⁻¹, and ISM total midplane pressure isP_tot/k_B= 10³–10⁶cm⁻³K, withP_totequal to the ISM weight $\mathcal{W}$. For given Σ_gasand Σ_star, we find ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{\mathrm{SFR}}\propto Z{\prime }^{0.3}$. We provide an interpretation based on the pressure-regulated feedback-modulated (PRFM) star formation theory. The total midplane pressure consists of thermal, turbulent, and magnetic stresses. We characterize feedback modulation in terms of the yield ϒ, defined as the ratio of each stress to Σ_SFR. The thermal feedback yield varies sensitively with both weight and metallicity as ${\mathrm{\Upsilon }}_{\mathrm{th}}\propto {\mathcal{W}}^{-0.46}Z{\prime }^{-0.53}$, while the combined turbulent and magnetic feedback yield shows weaker dependence ${\mathrm{\Upsilon }}_{\mathrm{turb}+\mathrm{mag}}\propto {\mathcal{W}}^{-0.22}Z{\prime }^{-0.18}$. The reduction in Σ_SFRat low metallicity is due mainly to enhanced thermal feedback yield, resulting from reduced attenuation of UV radiation. With the metallicity-dependent calibrations we provide, PRFM theory can be used for a new subgrid star formation prescription in cosmological simulations where the ISM is unresolved. 

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2. Spectroscopic Confirmation of an Ultra-Massive Galaxy in a Protocluster at $z\sim 4.9$

   https://doi.org/10.33232/001c.120087  

   Urbano_Stawinski, Stephanie M; Cooper, M C; Forrest, Ben; Muzzin, Adam; Marchesini, Danilo; Wilson, Gillian; Gomez, Percy; McConachie, Ian; Marsan, Z Cemile; Annuziatella, Marianna; et al (June 2024, The Open Journal of Astrophysics)

   We present spectroscopic confirmation of an ultra-massive galaxy (UMG) with $log\left(M_{\star }/M_{\odot }\right)=10.98\pm 0.07$at $z_{\mathrm{s}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{c}}=4.8947$in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS), based on deep observations of Ly $\alpha$emission with Keck/DEIMOS. The ultra-massive galaxy (UMG-28740) is the most massive member in one of the most significant overdensities in the EGS, with four additional photometric members with $log\left(M_{\star }/M_{\odot }\right)>10.5$within $R_{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{j}}\sim 1$cMpc. Spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting using a large suite of star formation histories and two sets of high-quality photometry from ground- and space-based facilities consistently estimates the mass of this object to be $log\left(M_{\star }/M_{\odot }\right)\sim 11$with a small standard deviation between measurements ( $\sigma =0.07$). While the best-fit SED models agree on stellar mass, we find discrepancies in the estimated star formation rate for UMG-28740, resulting in either a star-forming or quiescent system. $𝐽𝑊𝑆𝑇$/NIRCam photometry of UMG-28740 strongly favors a quiescent scenario, demonstrating the need for high-quality mid-IR observations. Assuming the galaxy to be quiescent, UMG-28740 formed the bulk of its stars at $z>10$and is quenching at $z\sim 8$, resulting in a high star formation efficiency at high redshift ( $ϵ\sim 0.2$at $z\sim 5$and $ϵ\gtrsim 1$at $z\gtrsim 8$). As the most massive galaxy in its protocluster environment, UMG-28740 is a unique example of the impossibly early galaxy problem. 

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3. Anomalies in Hadronic $B$ Decays

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.211802  

   Berthiaume, Raphaël; Bhattacharya, Bhubanjyoti; Boumris, Rida; Jean, Alexandre; Kumbhakar, Suman; London, David (November 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   In this Letter, we perform fits to $B\to PP$decays, where $B=\{B^0,B^{+},B_s^0\}$and the pseudoscalar $P=\{\pi ,K\}$, under the assumption of flavor SU(3) symmetry [ ${\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F$]. Although the fits to $\mathrm{\Delta }S=0$or $\mathrm{\Delta }S=1$decays individually are good, the combined fit is very poor: there is a $3.6\sigma$disagreement with the ${\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F$limit of the standard model ( ${\mathrm{SM}}_{{\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_{\mathrm{F}}}$). One can remove this discrepancy by adding ${\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F$-breaking effects, but 1000% ${\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F$breaking is required. The above results are rigorous, group theoretically—no dynamical assumptions have been made. When one adds an assumption motivated by QCD factorization, the discrepancy with the ${\mathrm{SM}}_{{\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_{\mathrm{F}}}$grows to $4.4\sigma$. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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4. Star formation beyond galaxies: widespread in-situ formation of intra-cluster stars

   https://doi.org/10.33232/001c.127132  

   Ahvazi, Niusha; Sales, Laura V; Navarro, Julio F; Benson, Andrew; Boselli, Alessandro; D'Souza, Richard (January 2024, The Open Journal of Astrophysics)

   We study the fraction of the intra-cluster light (ICL) formed in-situ in the three most massive clusters of the TNG50 simulation, with virial masses $\sim {10}^{14}$. We find that a significant fraction of ICL stars ( $8\%$- $28\%$) are born in-situ. This amounts to a total stellar mass comparable to the central galaxy itself. Contrary to simple expectations, only a sub-dominant fraction of these in-situ ICL stars are born in the central regions and later re-distributed to more energetic orbits during mergers. Instead, many in-situ ICL stars form directly hundreds of kiloparsecs away from the central galaxy, in clouds condensing out of the circum-cluster medium. The simulations predict a present-date diffuse star formation rate of $$1 ${\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$/yr, with higher rates at higher redshifts. The diffuse star forming component of the ICL is filamentary in nature, extends for hundreds of kiloparsecs and traces the distribution of neutral gas in the cluster host halo. We discuss briefly how numerical details of the baryonic treatment in the simulation, in particular the density threshold for star formation and the equation of state, may play a role in this result. We conclude that a sensitivity of $1.6\times {10}^{-19}-2.6\times {10}^{-18}$erg s ${}^{-1}$cm ${}^{-2}$arcsec ${}^{-2}$in H ${}_{\alpha }$flux (beyond current observational capabilities) would be necessary to detect this diffuse star-forming component in galaxy clusters. 

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5. Anomalies in hadronic $B$ decays: An update

   https://doi.org/10.1103/5jp1-7cfw  

   Bhattacharya, Bhubanjyoti; Bouchard, Marianne; Hudy, Luke; Jean, Alexandre; London, David; MacKenzie, Christopher (September 2025, Physical Review D)

   Recently, $B\to PP$decays ( $B=\{B^0,B^{+},B_s^0\}$, $P=\{\pi ,K\}$) were analyzed under the assumption of flavor SU(3) symmetry ( ${\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F$). Although the individual fits to $\mathrm{\Delta }S=0$or $\mathrm{\Delta }S=1$decays are good, it was found that the combined fit is very poor: there is a $3.6\sigma$disagreement with the ${\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F$limit of the standard model ( ${\mathrm{SM}}_{{\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F}$). One can remove this discrepancy by adding ${\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F$-breaking effects, but 1000% ${\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F$breaking is required. In this paper, we extend this analysis to include decays in which there is an $\eta$and/or ${\eta }^{\prime }$meson in the final state. We now find that the combined fit exhibits a $4.1\sigma$discrepancy with the ${\mathrm{SM}}_{{\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F}$, and 1000% ${\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F$-breaking effects are still required to explain the data. These results are rigorous, group-theoretically—no theoretical assumptions have been made. But when one adds some theoretical input motivated by QCD factorization, the discrepancy with the ${\mathrm{SM}}_{{\mathrm{SU}\left(3\right)}_F}$grows to $4.9\sigma$. 

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