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  1. Context. TOI-732 is an M dwarf hosting two transiting planets that are located on the two opposite sides of the radius valley. Inferring a reliable demographics for this type of systems is key to understanding their formation and evolution mechanisms.

    Aims. By doubling the number of available space-based observations and increasing the number of radial velocity (RV) measurements, we aim at refining the parameters of TOI-732 b and c. We also use the results to study the slope of the radius valley and the density valley for a well-characterised sample of M-dwarf exoplanets.

    Methods. We performed a global Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis by jointly modelling ground-based light curves and CHEOPS and TESS observations, along with RV time series both taken from the literature and obtained with the MAROON-X spectrograph. The slopes of the M-dwarf valleys were quantified via a support vector machine (SVM) procedure.

    Results. TOI-732b is an ultrashort-period planet (P= 0.76837931-0.00000042+0.0000039days) with a radiusRb= 1.325-0.058+0.057R, a massMb= 2.46 ± 0.19M, and thus a mean densityρb= 5.8-0.8+1.0g cm-3, while the outer planet atP= 12.252284 ± 0.000013 days hasRc= 2.39-0.11+0.10R,Mc= 8.04-0.48+0.50M, and thusρc= 3.24-0.43+0.55g cm-3. Even with respect to the most recently reported values, this work yields uncertainties on the transit depths and on the RV semi-amplitudes that are smaller up to a factor of ~1.6 and ~2.4 for TOI-732 b and c, respectively. Our calculations for the interior structure and the location of the planets in the mass-radius diagram lead us to classify TOI-732 b as a super-Earth and TOI-732 c as a mini-Neptune. Following the SVM approach, we quantified d logRp,valley/ d logP= -0.065-0.013+0.024, which is flatter than for Sun-like stars. In line with former analyses, we note that the radius valley for M-dwarf planets is more densely populated, and we further quantify the slope of the density valley as d log ρ^valley/ d logP= -0.02-0.04+0.12.

    Conclusions. Compared to FGK stars, the weaker dependence of the position of the radius valley on the orbital period might indicate that the formation shapes the radius valley around M dwarfs more strongly than the evolution mechanisms.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 1, 2025
  2. Context.Since 2019, GRAVITY has provided direct observations of giant planets and brown dwarfs at separations of down to 95 mas from the host star. Some of these observations have provided the first direct confirmation of companions previously detected by indirect techniques (astrometry and radial velocities).

    Aims.We want to improve the observing strategy and data reduction in order to lower the inner working angle of GRAVITY in dual-field on-axis mode. We also want to determine the current limitations of the instrument when observing faint companions with separations in the 30–150 mas range.

    Methods.To improve the inner working angle, we propose a fiber off-pointing strategy during the observations to maximize the ratio of companion-light-to-star-light coupling in the science fiber. We also tested a lower-order model for speckles to decouple the companion light from the star light. We then evaluated the detection limits of GRAVITY using planet injection and retrieval in representative archival data. We compare our results to theoretical expectations.

    Results.We validate our observing and data-reduction strategy with on-sky observations; first in the context of brown dwarf follow-up on the auxiliary telescopes with HD 984 B, and second with the first confirmation of a substellar candidate around the starGaiaDR3 2728129004119806464. With synthetic companion injection, we demonstrate that the instrument can detect companions down to a contrast of 8 × 10−4Κ= 7.7 mag) at a separation of 35 mas, and a contrast of 3 × 10−5Κ= 11 mag) at 100 mas from a bright primary (K< 6.5), for 30 min exposure time.

    Conclusions.With its inner working angle and astrometric precision, GRAVITY has a unique reach in direct observation parameter space. This study demonstrates the promising synergies between GRAVITY andGaiafor the confirmation and characterization of substellar companions.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2025
  3. While planets are commonly discovered around main-sequence stars, the processes leading to their formation are still far from being understood. Current planet population synthesis models, which aim to describe the planet formation process from the protoplanetary disk phase to the time exoplanets are observed, rely on prescriptions for the underlying properties of protoplanetary disks where planets form and evolve. The recent development in measuring disk masses and disk-star interaction properties, i.e., mass accretion rates, in large samples of young stellar objects demand a more careful comparison between the models and the data. We performed an initial critical assessment of the assumptions made by planet synthesis population models by looking at the relation between mass accretion rates and disk masses in the models and in the currently available data. We find that the currently used disk models predict mass accretion rate in line with what is measured, but with a much lower spread of values than observed. This difference is mainly because the models have a smaller spread of viscous timescales than what is needed to reproduce the observations. We also find an overabundance of weakly accreting disks in the models where giant planets have formed with respect to observations of typical disks. We suggest that either fewer giant planets have formed in reality or that the prescription for planet accretion predicts accretion on the planets that is too high. Finally, the comparison of the properties of transition disks with large cavities confirms that in many of these objects the observed accretion rates are higher than those predicted by the models. On the other hand, PDS70, a transition disk with two detected giant planets in the cavity, shows mass accretion rates well in line with model predictions. 
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  4. Planets with radii between that of the Earth and Neptune (hereafter referred to as `sub-Neptunes') are found in close-in orbits around more than half of all Sun-like stars1,2. However, their composition, formation and evolution remain poorly understood3. The study of multiplanetary systems offers an opportunity to investigate the outcomes of planet formation and evolution while controlling for initial conditions and environment. Those in resonance (with their orbital periods related by a ratio of small integers) are particularly valuable because they imply a system architecture practically unchanged since its birth. Here we present the observations of six transiting planets around the bright nearby star HD 110067. We find that the planets follow a chain of resonant orbits. A dynamical study of the innermost planet triplet allowed the prediction and later confirmation of the orbits of the rest of the planets in the system. The six planets are found to be sub-Neptunes with radii ranging from 1.94R⊕ to 2.85R⊕. Three of the planets have measured masses, yielding low bulk densities that suggest the presence of large hydrogen-dominated atmospheres. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available November 30, 2024
  5. Aims. HD 206893 is a nearby debris disk star that hosts a previously identified brown dwarf companion with an orbital separation of ∼10 au. Long-term precise radial velocity (RV) monitoring, as well as anomalies in the system proper motion, has suggested the presence of an additional, inner companion in the system. Methods. Using information from ongoing precision RV measurements with the HARPS spectrograph, as well as Gaia host star astrometry, we have undertaken a multi-epoch search for the purported additional planet using the VLTI/GRAVITY instrument. Results. We report a high-significance detection over three epochs of the companion HD 206893c, which shows clear evidence for Keplerian orbital motion. Our astrometry with ∼50−100 μarcsec precision afforded by GRAVITY allows us to derive a dynamical mass of 12.7$ ^{+1.2}_{-1.0} $ M Jup and an orbital separation of 3.53$ ^{+0.08}_{-0.06} $ au for HD 206893c. Our fits to the orbits of both companions in the system use both Gaia astrometry and RVs to also provide a precise dynamical estimate of the previously uncertain mass of the B component, and therefore allow us to derive an age of 155 ± 15 Myr for the system. We find that theoretical atmospheric and evolutionary models that incorporate deuterium burning for HD 206893c, parameterized by cloudy atmosphere models as well as a “hybrid sequence” (encompassing a transition from cloudy to cloud-free), provide a good simultaneous fit to the luminosity of both HD 206893B and c. Thus, accounting for both deuterium burning and clouds is crucial to understanding the luminosity evolution of HD 206893c. Conclusions. In addition to using long-term RV information, this effort is an early example of a direct imaging discovery of a bona fide exoplanet that was guided in part by Gaia astrometry. Utilizing Gaia astrometry is expected to be one of the primary techniques going forward for identifying and characterizing additional directly imaged planets. In addition, HD 206893c is an example of an object narrowly straddling the deuterium-burning limit but unambiguously undergoing deuterium burning. Additional discoveries like this may therefore help clarify the discrimination between a brown dwarf and an extrasolar planet. Lastly, this discovery is another example of the power of optical interferometry to directly detect and characterize extrasolar planets where they form, at ice-line orbital separations of 2−4 au. 
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  6. ABSTRACT

    We report the discovery of two warm sub-Neptunes transiting the bright (G = 9.5 mag) K-dwarf HD 15906 (TOI 461, TIC 4646810). This star was observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in sectors 4 and 31, revealing two small transiting planets. The inner planet, HD 15906 b, was detected with an unambiguous period but the outer planet, HD 15906 c, showed only two transits separated by ∼ 734 d, leading to 36 possible values of its period. We performed follow-up observations with the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) to confirm the true period of HD 15906 c and improve the radius precision of the two planets. From TESS, CHEOPS, and additional ground-based photometry, we find that HD 15906 b has a radius of 2.24 ± 0.08 R⊕ and a period of 10.924709 ± 0.000032 d, whilst HD 15906 c has a radius of 2.93$^{+0.07}_{-0.06}$ R⊕ and a period of 21.583298$^{+0.000052}_{-0.000055}$ d. Assuming zero bond albedo and full day-night heat redistribution, the inner and outer planet have equilibrium temperatures of 668 ± 13 K and 532 ± 10 K, respectively. The HD 15906 system has become one of only six multiplanet systems with two warm (≲ 700 K) sub-Neptune sized planets transiting a bright star (G ≤ 10 mag). It is an excellent target for detailed characterization studies to constrain the composition of sub-Neptune planets and test theories of planet formation and evolution.

     
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  7. Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2025
  8. A<sc>bstract</sc>

    The production yields of the Σ(1385)±and Ξ(1530)0resonances are measured in pp collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$s= 13 TeV with ALICE. The measurements are performed as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity ⟨dNch/dη⟩, which is related to the energy density produced in the collision. The results include transverse momentum (pT) distributions,pT-integrated yields, mean transverse momenta of Σ(1385)±and Ξ(1530)0, as well as ratios of thepT-integrated resonance yields relative to yields of other hadron species. The Σ(1385)±±and Ξ(1530)0±yield ratios are consistent with the trend of the enhancement of strangeness production from low to high multiplicity pp collisions, which was previously observed for strange and multi-strange baryons. The yield ratio between the measured resonances and the long-lived baryons with the same strangeness content exhibits a hint of a mild increasing trend at low multiplicity, despite too large uncertainties to exclude the flat behaviour. The results are compared with predictions from models such as EPOS-LHC and PYTHIA 8 with Rope shoving. The latter provides the best description of the multiplicity dependence of the Σ(1385)±and Ξ(1530)0production in pp collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$s= 13 TeV.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available May 1, 2025
  9. A<sc>bstract</sc>

    Measurements of inclusive charged-particle jet production in pp and p-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision$$ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $$sNN= 5.02 TeV and the corresponding nuclear modification factor$$ {R}_{\textrm{pPb}}^{\textrm{ch}\ \textrm{jet}} $$RpPbchjetare presented, using data collected with the ALICE detector at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed in the central rapidity region |ηjet|<0.5 from charged particles using the anti-kTalgorithm with resolution parametersR= 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4. ThepT-differential inclusive production cross section of charged-particle jets, as well as the corresponding cross section ratios, are reported for pp and p-Pb collisions in the transverse momentum range 10<$$ {p}_{\textrm{T},\textrm{jet}}^{\textrm{ch}} $$pT,jetch<140 GeV/cand 10<$$ {p}_{\textrm{T},\textrm{jet}}^{\textrm{ch}} $$pT,jetch<160 GeV/c, respectively, together with the nuclear modification factor$$ {R}_{\textrm{pPb}}^{\textrm{ch}\ \textrm{jet}} $$RpPbchjetin the range 10<$$ {p}_{\textrm{T},\textrm{jet}}^{\textrm{ch}} $$pT,jetch<140 GeV/c. The analysis extends thepTrange of the previously-reported charged-particle jet measurements by the ALICE Collaboration. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with one and independent of the jet resolution parameter with the improved precision of this study, indicating that the possible influence of cold nuclear matter effects on the production cross section of charged-particle jets in p-Pb collisions at$$ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $$sNN= 5.02 TeV is smaller than the current precision. The obtained results are in agreement with other minimum bias jet measurements available for RHIC and LHC energies, and are well reproduced by the NLO perturbative QCD Powhegcalculations with parton shower provided by Pythia8 as well as by Jetscapesimulations.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available May 1, 2025
  10. A<sc>bstract</sc>

    Results on the transverse spherocity dependence of light-flavor particle production (π, K, p,ϕ, K*0,$$ {\textrm{K}}_{\textrm{S}}^0 $$KS0, Λ, Ξ) at midrapidity in high-multiplicity pp collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$s= 13 TeV were obtained with the ALICE apparatus. The transverse spherocity estimator$$ \left({S}_{\textrm{O}}^{p_{\textrm{T}}=1}\right) $$SOpT=1categorizes events by their azimuthal topology. Utilizing narrow selections on$$ {S}_{\textrm{O}}^{p_{\textrm{T}}=1} $$SOpT=1, it is possible to contrast particle production in collisions dominated by many soft initial interactions with that observed in collisions dominated by one or more hard scatterings. Results are reported for two multiplicity estimators covering different pseudorapidity regions. The$$ {S}_{\textrm{O}}^{p_{\textrm{T}}=1} $$SOpT=1estimator is found to effectively constrain the hardness of the events when the midrapidity (|η| < 0.8) estimator is used.

    The production rates of strange particles are found to be slightly higher for soft isotropic topologies, and severely suppressed in hard jet-like topologies. These effects are more pronounced for hadrons with larger mass and strangeness content, and observed when the topological selection is done within a narrow multiplicity interval. This demonstrates that an important aspect of the universal scaling of strangeness enhancement with final-state multiplicity is that high-multiplicity collisions are dominated by soft, isotropic processes. On the contrary, strangeness production in events with jet-like processes is significantly reduced.

    The results presented in this article are compared with several QCD-inspired Monte Carlo event generators. Models that incorporate a two-component phenomenology, either through mechanisms accounting for string density, or thermal production, are able to describe the observed strangeness enhancement as a function of$$ {S}_{\textrm{O}}^{p_{\textrm{T}}=1} $$SOpT=1.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available May 1, 2025