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Creators/Authors contains: "Rapetti, David"

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  1. Abstract We present the discovery of TOI 762 A b and TIC 46432937 b, two giant planets transiting M-dwarf stars. Transits of both systems were first detected from observations by the NASA TESS mission, and the transiting objects are confirmed as planets through high-precision radial velocity observations carried out with Very Large Telescope/ESPRESSO. TOI 762 A b is a warm sub-Saturn with a mass of 0.251 ± 0.042MJ, a radius of 0.744 ± 0.017RJ, and an orbital period of 3.4717 days. It transits a mid-M-dwarf star with a mass of 0.442 ± 0.025Mand a radius of 0.4250 ± 0.0091R. The star TOI 762 A has a resolved binary star companion, TOI 762 B, that is separated from TOI 762 A by 3.″2 (∼319 au) and has an estimated mass of 0.227 ± 0.010M. The planet TIC 46432937 b is a warm super-Jupiter with a mass of 3.20 ± 0.11MJand radius of 1.188 ± 0.030RJ. The planet’s orbital period isP= 1.4404 days, and it undergoes grazing transits of its early M-dwarf host star, which has a mass of 0.563 ± 0.029Mand a radius of 0.5299 ± 0.0091R. TIC 46432937 b is one of the highest-mass planets found to date transiting an M-dwarf star. TIC 46432937 b is also a promising target for atmospheric observations, having the highest transmission spectroscopy metric or emission spectroscopy metric value of any known warm super-Jupiter (mass greater than 3.0MJ, equilibrium temperature below 1000 K). 
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  2. ABSTRACT We perform cosmological zoom-in simulations of 19 relaxed cluster-mass haloes with the inclusion of adiabatic gas in the cold dark matter (CDM) and self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) models. These clusters are selected as dynamically relaxed clusters from a parent simulation with $$M_{\rm 200} \simeq (1\!-\!3)\times 10^{15}{\, \rm M_\odot }$$. Both the dark matter and the intracluster gas distributions in SIDM appear more spherical than their CDM counterparts. Mock X-ray images are generated based on the simulations and are compared to the real X-ray images of 84 relaxed clusters selected from the Chandra and ROSAT archives. We perform ellipse fitting for the isophotes of mock and real X-ray images and obtain the ellipticities at cluster-centric radii of $$r\simeq 0.1\!-\!0.2R_{\rm 200}$$. The X-ray isophotes in SIDM models with increasing cross-sections are rounder than their CDM counterparts, which manifests as a systematic shift in the distribution function of ellipticities. Unexpectedly, the X-ray morphology of the observed non-cool-core clusters agrees better with SIDM models with cross-section $$(\sigma /m)= 0.5\!-\!1\, {\rm cm}^2\, {\rm g}^{-1}$$ than CDM and SIDM with $$(\sigma /m)=0.1\, {\rm cm}^2\, {\rm g}^{-1}$$. Our statistical analysis indicates that the latter two models are disfavoured at the $$68{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$$ confidence level (as conservative estimates). This conclusion is not altered by shifting the radial range of measurements or applying a temperature selection criterion. However, the primary uncertainty originates from the lack of baryonic physics in the adiabatic model, such as cooling, star formation and feedback effects, which still have the potential to reconcile CDM simulations with observations. 
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  3. ABSTRACT We present updated cosmological constraints from measurements of the gas mass fractions (fgas) of massive, dynamically relaxed galaxy clusters. Our new data set has greater leverage on models of dark energy, thanks to the addition of the Perseus cluster at low redshifts, two new clusters at redshifts z ≳ 1, and significantly longer observations of four clusters at 0.6 < z < 0.9. Our low-redshift (z < 0.16) fgas data, combined with the cosmic baryon fraction measured from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), imply a Hubble constant of h = 0.722 ± 0.067. Combining the full fgas data set with priors on the cosmic baryon density and the Hubble constant, we constrain the dark energy density to be ΩΛ = 0.865 ± 0.119 in non-flat Lambda cold dark matter (cosmological constant) models, and its equation of state to be $$w=-1.13_{-0.20}^{+0.17}$$ in flat, constant-w models, respectively 41 per cent and 29 per cent tighter than our previous work, and comparable to the best constraints available from other probes. Combining fgas, CMB, supernova, and baryon acoustic oscillation data, we also constrain models with global curvature and evolving dark energy. For the massive, relaxed clusters employed here, we find the scaling of fgas with mass to be consistent with a constant, with an intrinsic scatter that corresponds to just ∼3 per cent in distance. 
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  4. TOI-2015 is a known exoplanetary system around an M4 dwarf star, consisting of a transiting sub-Neptune planet in a 3.35-day orbital period, TOI-2015 b, accompanied by a non-transiting companion, TOI-2015 c. High-precision radial-velocity measurements were taken with the MAROON-X spectrograph, and high-precision photometric data were collected, primarily using the SPECULOOS, MUSCAT, TRAPPIST and LCOGT networks. We collected 63 transit light curves and 49 different transit epochs for TOI-2015 b. We recharacterized the target star by combining optical spectra obtained by the MAROON-X, Shane/KAST and IRTF/SpeX spectrographs, Bayesian model averaging (BMA) and spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis. The TOI-2015 host star is aK= 10.3 mag M4-type dwarf with a subsolar metallicity of [Fe/H] = −0.31 ± 0.16, and an effective temperature ofTeff≈ 3200 K. Our photodynamical analysis of the system strongly favors the 5:3 mean-motion resonance and in this scenario the planet b (TOI-2015 b) has an orbital period ofPb= 3.34 days, a mass ofMp= 9.02-0.36+0.32M, and a radius ofRp= 3.309-0.011+0.013R, resulting in a density ofρp= 0.25 ± 0.01ρ= 1.40 ± 0.06 g cm−3; this is indicative of a Neptune-like composition. Its transits exhibit large (> 1 hr) timing variations characteristic of an outer perturber in the system. We performed a global analysis of the high-resolution radial-velocity measurements, the photometric data, and the TTVs, and inferred that TOI-2015 hosts a second planet, TOI-2015 c, in a non-transiting configuration. Our analysis places it near a 5:3 resonance with an orbital period ofPc= 5.583 days and a mass ofMp= 8.91-0.40+0.38M. The dynamical configuration of TOI-2015 b and TOI-2015 c can be used to constrain the system’s planetary formation and migration history. Based on the mass-radius composition models, TOI-2015 b is a water-rich or rocky planet with a hydrogen-helium envelope. Moreover, TOI-2015 b has a high transmission-spectroscopic metric (TSM=149), making it a favorable target for future transmission spectroscopic observations with theJWSTto constrain the atmospheric composition of the planet. Such observations would also help to break the degeneracies in theoretical models of the planet’s interior structure. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available March 1, 2026