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We present new time delays, the main ingredient of time delay cosmography, for 22 lensed quasars resulting from high-cadencer-band monitoring on the 2.6 m ESO VLT Survey Telescope and Max-Planck-Gesellschaft 2.2 m telescope. Each lensed quasar was typically monitored for one to four seasons, often shared between the two telescopes to mitigate the interruptions forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample of targets consists of 19 quadruply and 3 doubly imaged quasars, which received a total of 1918 hours of on-sky time split into 21 581 wide-field frames, each 320 seconds long. In a given field, the 5-σdepth of the combined exposures typically reaches the 27^thmagnitude, while that of single visits is 24.5 mag – similar to the expected depth of the upcoming Vera-Rubin LSST. The fluxes of the different lensed images of the targets were reliably de-blended, providing not only light curves with photometric precision down to the photon noise limit, but also high-resolution models of the targets whose features and astrometry were systematically confirmed inHubbleSpace Telescope imaging. This was made possible thanks to a new photometric pipeline,lightcurver, and the forward modelling methodSTARRED. Finally, the time delays between pairs of curves and their uncertainties were estimated, taking into account the degeneracy due to microlensing, and for the first time the full covariance matrices of the delay pairs are provided. Of note, this survey, with 13 square degrees, has applications beyond that of time delays, such as the study of the structure function of the multiple high-redshift quasars present in the footprint at a new high in terms of both depth and frequency. The reduced images will be available through the European Southern Observatory Science Portal. 

ABSTRACT A search of the first Data Release of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) Survey discovered the exceptionally red transient VVV-WIT-01 (H − Ks = 5.2). It peaked before March 2010, then faded by ∼9.5 mag over the following 2 yr. The 1.6–22 μm spectral energy distribution in March 2010 was well fit by a highly obscured blackbody with T ∼ 1000 K and $$A_{K_s} \sim 6.6$$ mag. The source is projected against the Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) SDC G331.062−0.294. The chance projection probability is small for any single event (p ≈ 0.01–0.02), which suggests a physical association, e.g. a collision between low mass protostars. However, blackbody emission at T ∼ 1000 K is common in classical novae (especially CO novae) at the infrared peak in the light curve due to condensation of dust ∼30–60 d after the explosion. Radio follow-up with the Australia Telescope Compact Array detected a fading continuum source with properties consistent with a classical nova but probably inconsistent with colliding protostars. Considering all VVV transients that could have been projected against a catalogued IRDC raises the probability of a chance association to p = 0.13–0.24. After weighing several options, it appears likely that VVV-WIT-01 was a classical nova event located behind an IRDC. 

Abstract The Pixel Luminosity Telescope is a silicon pixel detector dedicated to luminosity measurement at the CMS experiment at the LHC. It is located approximately 1.75 m from the interaction point and arranged into 16 “telescopes”, with eight telescopes installed around the beam pipe at either end of the detector and each telescope composed of three individual silicon sensor planes. The per-bunch instantaneous luminosity is measured by counting events where all three planes in the telescope register a hit, using a special readout at the full LHC bunch-crossing rate of 40 MHz. The full pixel information is read out at a lower rate and can be used to determine calibrations, corrections, and systematic uncertainties for the online and offline measurements. This paper details the commissioning, operational history, and performance of the detector during Run 2 (2015–18) of the LHC, as well as preparations for Run 3, which will begin in 2022. 

Abstract The exclusive photoproduction of $$\mathrm {\Upsilon }\mathrm {(nS)} $$ Υ ( nS ) meson states from protons, $$\gamma \mathrm {p} \rightarrow \mathrm {\Upsilon }\mathrm {(nS)} \,\mathrm {p}$$ γ p → Υ ( nS ) p (with $$\mathrm {n}=1,2,3$$ n = 1 , 2 , 3 ), is studied in ultraperipheral $$\mathrm {p}$$ p Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $$\sqrt{\smash [b]{s_{_{\mathrm {NN}}}}} = 5.02\,\text {TeV} $$ s NN = 5.02 TeV . The measurement is performed using the $$\mathrm {\Upsilon }\mathrm {(nS)} \rightarrow \mu ^+\mu ^-$$ Υ ( nS ) → μ + μ - decay mode, with data collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 32.6 $$\,\text {nb}^{-1}$$ nb - 1 . Differential cross sections as functions of the $$\mathrm {\Upsilon }\mathrm {(nS)} $$ Υ ( nS ) transverse momentum squared $$p_{\mathrm {T}} ^2$$ p T 2 , and rapidity y , are presented. The $$\mathrm {\Upsilon (1S)}$$ Υ ( 1 S ) photoproduction cross section is extracted in the rapidity range $$|y |< 2.2$$ | y | < 2.2 , which corresponds to photon–proton centre-of-mass energies in the range $$91 

Abstract A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model, based on measurements of dijet angular distributions in proton–proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=13\hbox {TeV}$$ s = 13 TeV . The data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 $$\,\text {fb}^{-1}$$ fb - 1 . The observed distributions, corrected to particle level, are found to be in agreement with predictions from perturbative quantum chromodynamics that include electroweak corrections. Constraints are placed on models containing quark contact interactions, extra spatial dimensions, quantum black holes, or dark matter, using the detector-level distributions. In a benchmark model where only left-handed quarks participate, contact interactions are excluded at the 95% confidence level up to a scale of 12.8 or 17.5TeV, for destructive or constructive interference, respectively. The most stringent lower limits to date are set on the ultraviolet cutoff in the Arkani–Hamed–Dimopoulos–Dvali model of extra dimensions. In the Giudice–Rattazzi–Wells convention, the cutoff scale is excluded up to 10.1TeV. The production of quantum black holes is excluded for masses below 5.9 and 8.2TeV, depending on the model. For the first time, lower limits between 2.0 and 4.6TeVare set on the mass of a dark matter mediator for (axial-)vector mediators, for the universal quark coupling $$g_{\mathrm {\mathrm {q}}} =1.0$$ g q = 1.0 .