For the past 25 years, we have been considering the Stark effect for neutral helium lines in DB white dwarfs using the standard Stark broadening theory in both the impact regime (in the center of the lines) and the quasi-static regime (in the wings) for the electrons, while neglecting the effect of ions in motion. Although this is probably a good approximation based on previous theoretical work, the transition between the two regimes for the electrons and the contribution of the ions very near the core might be poorly represented. To better represent these particularities, we report here the results of a new series of simulations that treat the local dynamics and interactions of both electrons and ions around a neutral helium atom. From these simulations, we produce new improved line profiles, which we compare with our previous analytical results.

Surveys have shown radio-loud (RL) quasars constitute 10%-15% of the total quasar population and rest are radio-quiet (RQ). However, it is unknown if this radio-loud fraction (RLF) remains consistent among different parameter spaces. This study shows that RLF increases for increasing full width half maximum (FWHM) velocity of the Hβ broad emission line (z < 0.75). To analyse the reason, we compared bolometric luminosity of RL and RQ quasars sample which have FWHM of Hβ broad emission line greater than 15000km/s (High Broad Line or HBL) with which have FWHM of Hβ emission line less than 2500km/s (Low Broad Line or LBL). From the distributions we can conclude for the HBL, RQ and RL quasars are peaking separately and RL quasars are having higher values whereas for the LBL the peaks are almost indistinguishable. We predicted selection effects could be the possible reason but to conclude anything more analysis is needed. Then we compared our result with Wills & Brotherton (1995) and have shown that some objects from our sample do not follow the pattern of the logR vs FWHM plot where R is the ratio of 5 GHz radio core flux density with the extended radio lobe flux density.

Theories that attempt to unify the four fundamental interactions and alternative theories of gravity predict time and/or spatial variation of the fundamental constants of nature. Different versions of these theories predict different behaviours for these variations. As a consequence, experimental and observational bounds are an important tool to check the validity of such proposals. In this paper, we review constraints on the possible variation of the fundamental constants from astronomical observations and geophysical experiments designed to test the constancy of the fundamental constants of nature over different timescales. We also focus on the limits that can be obtained from white dwarfs, which can constrain the variation of the constants with the gravitational potential.

Irrespective of whether Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is cored with Supermassive Black Holes (SMBH) or not, there is a general consensus that observations indicate that the AGN plays fundamental role in galaxy evolution. The accretion disc powered fueling of the AGN and counter-feedback on its environment in the form of stress-energy-momentum along the radial component and an associated polodial jets seems viable model. On the theoretical ground there is no unified theory that compromise the observations. But there are pull of such diverse physics simulated to describe the observational works. So, there is unsettled theoretical framework how the activity of the AGN plays role in the evolution of host galaxy. Motivated by this we studied the role of AGN on its host galaxy evolution where General relativistic (GR) Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equation is considered to derive radial pressure that invokes star forming cold gases. Methodologically the central engine of the AGN is considered with SMBH/pseudo-SMBH. Locally, around the AGN, Reissner-Nordstrom-de Sitter metric is considered that reduces to the Schwarzschoild-de Sitter (SdS) background. Geometrically, a simple spherical geometry is superimposed with central disc structure assumed by cored void mass ablating model. The results of the work indicates that the AGN plays role in galaxy evolution, especially in the nearby environment. Also we report that the adjacent envelope to the AGN seems quiet with no activity in formation.

The main sequence offers a method for the systematization of quasar spectral properties. Extreme FeII emitters (or extreme Population A, xA) are believed to be sources accreting matter at very high rates. They are easily identifiable along the quasar main sequence, in large spectroscopic surveys over a broad redshift range. The very high accretion rate makes it possible that massive black holes hosted in xA quasars radiate at a stable, extreme luminosity-to-mass ratio. After reviewing the basic interpretation of the main sequence, we report on the possibility of identifying virial broadening estimators from low-ionization line widths, and provide evidence of the conceptual validity of redshift-independent luminosities based on virial broadening for a known luminosity-to-mass ratio.

Convection is a highly turbulent, three dimensional process that is traditionally treated using a simple, local, time independent description. Convection is one of the largest sources of theoretical uncertainty in stellar modeling. We outline recent progress in studies using pulsating white dwarfs to constrain convection and calibrate mixing length theory.

A powerful tool to investigate the stability of the orbits of natural and artificial bodies is represented by perturbation theory, which allows one to provide normal form estimates for nearly-integrable problems in Celestial Mechanics. In particular, we consider the orbital stability of point-mass satellites moving around the Earth. On the basis of the J 2 model, we investigate the stability of the semimajor axis. Using a secular Hamiltonian model including also lunisolar perturbations, the so-called geolunisolar model, we study the stability of the other orbital elements, namely the eccentricity and the inclination. We finally discuss the applicability of Nekhoroshev’s theorem on the exponential stability of the action variables. To this end, we investigate the non-degeneracy properties of the J 2 and geolunisolar models. We obtain that the J 2 model satisfies a “three-jet” non-degeneracy condition, while the geolunisolar model is quasi-convex non-degenerate.

Tidal evolution of low-eccentric circumbinary planets is expected to drive the rotational evolution toward a pseudo-synchronous solution. In this work, we present a study of the oscillation amplitudes around this state by considering that the two central stars exert creep tides on the planet. These amplitudes are computed by direct numerical integrations of the creep equations and also by means of the calculation of the coefficients of the periodic terms in this stationary solution. As in the two-body-problem, the planetary spin and lag-angle are observed to have maximum oscillation amplitudes for stiff bodies and almost null oscillation for the gaseous regime, while the opposite behaviour is observed in the equatorial and polar flattenings. Our analytical approximation shows to be very accurate and specially necessary for very-low eccentric planets. However, the magnitudes of the oscillation amplitudes around the pseudo-synchronous solution in the circumbinary problem appears to be very small respect to the mean value. Thus, considering these oscillation in the computation of the tidal energy dissipation may not have a substantial contribution in the results, at least compared to the case in which only the mean values are taken into account.

Formation of close double white dwarfs likely requires the initial binary system to evolve through two successive common envelope (CE) phases. A prominent method for describing CE outcomes involves defining an ejection efficiency, αeff, which quantifies the fraction of orbital energy available to unbind the envelope. Reproducing observed post-CE orbital parameters has proven difficult for numerical simulations, as the companion’s decaying orbit fails to eject the envelope. The ejection failure seen in numerical simulations may be resolved with a proper treatment of convection, whereby the binary orbit shrinks before energy can drive ejection. Where the orbital decay timescale exceeds the convective transport timescale, the energy released during inspiral is carried to the stellar surface and radiated away. By including convection, we produce sub-day post-CE orbital periods, a result consistent with observations. We comment on the effects of convection for the population of double white dwarfs that evolve through two CEs.

We have found three new members of the Rampo asteroids family: 2009HD95, 2010VO19, 2013JF69. We estimated the Yarkovsky semimajor axis drift rate. Based on the simulation results, estimates of the asteroid pairs’ age included in the family are obtained. In the scenario of the cascade disruption of the parent body of the asteroid (10321) Rampo, one can note the concentration of estimates of the pairs’ age to values of 900, 750, 500, and 250 kyr.

Perturbative analyses of planetary resonances commonly predict singularities and/or divergences of resonance widths at very low and very high eccentricities. We have recently re-examined the nature of these divergences using non-perturbative numerical analyses, making use of Poincaré sections but from a different perspective relative to previous implementations of this method. This perspective reveals fine structure of resonances which otherwise remains hidden in conventional approaches, including analytical, semi-analytical and numerical-averaging approaches based on the critical resonant angle. At low eccentricity, first order resonances do not have diverging widths but have two asymmetric branches leading away from the nominal resonance location. A sequence of structures called “low-eccentricity resonant bridges” connecting neighboring resonances is revealed. At planet-grazing eccentricity, the true resonance width is non-divergent. At higher eccentricities, the new results reveal hitherto unknown resonant structures and show that these parameter regions have a loss of some – though not necessarily entire – resonance libration zones to chaos. The chaos at high eccentricities was previously attributed to the overlap of neighboring resonances. The new results reveal the additional role of bifurcations and co-existence of phase-shifted resonance zones at higher eccentricities. By employing a geometric point of view, we relate the high eccentricity phase space structures and their transitions to the shapes of resonant orbits in the rotating frame. We outline some directions for future research to advance understanding of the dynamics of mean motion resonances.

Didymos and Dimorphos are primary and secondary, respectively, asteroids who compose a binary system that make up the set of Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs). They are targets of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first test mission dedicated to study of planetary defense, for which the main goal is to measure the changes caused after the secondary body is hit by a kinect impactor. The present work intends to conduct a study, through numerical integrations, on the dynamics of massless particles distributed in the vicinity of the two bodies. An approximate shape for the primary body was considered as a model of mass concentrations (mascons) and the secondary was considered as a massive point. Our results show the location and size of stable regions, and also their lifetime.

Over the past three decades more than 100 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) were measured using the reverberation mapping technique. This technique uses the response of the line emission in the Broad Line Region (BLR) to continuum emission variation and yields a measure for the distance of the BLR from the central Black Hole (BH). This in turn is used to measure the BH’s mass. Almost all of these measurements are of low-luminosity AGNs while for quasars with luminosities higher than 1046 rg s−1 there are hardly any attempts of reverberation mapping. This contribution reports on recent results from a two-decades campaigns to measure the BH mass in high-luminosity quasars using the reverberation mapping technique. BLR distance from the BH, BH mass, and AGN UV luminosity relations over eight orders of magnitude in luminosity are presented, pushing the luminosity limit to the highest point so far.

Multi-wavelength emission maps from dark matter (DM) annihilation processes in galaxy clusters are produced using Marenostrum-MultiDark SImulation of galaxy Clusters (MUSIC-2) high resolution cosmological simulations. Comparison made with observational radio emission flux data (spectral shape) and the spatial distribution from the simulated emission maps show that secondary particles from DM annihilation could describe the origin of energetic particles which are the sources of the diffuse radio emission observed in large number of galaxy clusters. DM sub-halos which are dominantly composed of DM, but with very little or no gas and stellar content, are ideal objects to study the nature and properties of DM. Therefore, statistical studies of a large number of them as well the emission maps of high mass-to-light ratio DM sub-halos will not only explain the observed diffused radio emission but also provide very crucial information about the nature and properties of DM particles.

We have randomly selected 20 close asteroid pairs (younger than 800 kyr) from known pairs, and by the application of backward numerical integration we have calculated their orbits. For the reason of speeding up the process of making the resonances visible, we have used a high value of Yarkowsky drift. The results of the calculation show that only two pairs appear to have a simple resonance with Earth and Jupiter while half of the tested pairs are visibly in the vicinity of three-body resonances.

We have found a 2-1J-1M resonance for the pair (56232) 1999 JM31 and (115978) 2003 WQ56. Following our study of the pair (10123) Fideoja and (117306) 2004 VF21, we discovered a different resonance than the 7-2J mean motion resonance previously published: we have proved that this pair is perturbed by 9-6J-4M three body resonance.

In this talk I will show that multi-wavelength observations can provide novel constraints on the properties of ionized gas outflows in AGN. I will present evidence that the infrared emission in active galaxies includes a contribution from dust which is mixed with the outflow and is heated by the AGN. We detect this infrared component in thousands of AGN for the first time, and use it to constrain the outflow location. By combining this with optical emission lines, we constrain the mass outflow rates and energetics in a sample of 234 type II AGN, the largest such sample to date. The key ingredient of our new outflow measurements is a novel method to estimate the electron density using the ionization parameter and location of the flow. The inferred electron densities, ∼104.5 cm−3, are two orders of magnitude larger than found in most other cases of ionized outflows. We argue that the discrepancy is due to the fact that the commonly-used [SII]-based method underestimates the true density by a large factor. As a result, the inferred mass outflow rates and kinetic coupling efficiencies are 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than previous estimates, and 3–4 orders of magnitude lower than the typical requirement in hydrodynamic cosmological simulations. These results have significant implications for the relative importance of ionized outflows feedback in this population.

We report results from a multi-frequency investigation of very nearby accreting supermassive black holes. We seek to test the hypothesis that imprints of AGN feedback are present at z ˜ 0. Our sample contains about 130 AGN which were chosen to have redshifts less than 0.02, so our optical imaging typically has several spatial resolution elements across the host galaxy. In addition to optical IFU measurements for all the 130 objects, we have GMRT and archival VLA imaging for subsets of the sample, and also ATCA, ASTROSAT and Chandra observations for select objects. We present our most recent results based on the multi-frequency data, for the systematics of the sample as a whole and on individual objects, that includes a binary black hole precursor.

Simulations expect an enhanced star-formation and active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity during galaxy mergers, which can lead to formation of binary/dual AGN. AGN feedback can enhance or suppress star-formation. We have carried out a pilot study of a sample of ˜10 dual nuclei galaxies with AstroSat’s Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT). Here, we present the initial results for two sample galaxies (Mrk 739, ESO 509) and deep multi-wavelength data of another galaxy (Mrk 212). UVIT observations have revealed signatures of positive AGN feedback in Mrk 739 and Mrk 212, and negative feedback in ESO 509. Deeper UVIT observations have recently been approved; these will provide better constraints on star-formation as well as AGN feedback in these systems.

This paper presents a short review on the current state of SN Ia progenitor origin. Type Ia supernova explosions (meaning thermonuclear disruption of a white dwarf) are observed to be widely diverse in peak luminosity, lightcurve width and shape, spectral features, and host stellar population environment. In the last decade alone, theoretical simulations and observational data have come together to seriously challenge the long-standing paradigm that all SNe Ia arise from explosions of Chandrasekhar mass white dwarfs. In this review I highlight some of the major developments (and changing views) of our understanding of the nature of SN Ia progenitor systems. I give a brief overview of binary star configurations and their plausible explosion mechanisms, and infer links between some of the various (observationally-categorized) SN Ia sub-classes and their progenitor origins from a theoretical standpoint.

Motivated by the apparently conflicting results reported in the literature on the effect of environment on nuclear activity, we have carried out a new analysis by comparing the fraction of galaxies hosting active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the most overdense regions (rich galaxy clusters) and the most underdense ones (voids) in the local universe. Exploiting the classical BPT diagnostics, we have extracted volume limited samples of star forming and AGN galaxies. We find that, at variance with star-forming galaxies, AGN galaxies have similar distributions of specific star formation rates and of galactic ages (as indicated by the Dn4000 parameter) both in clusters and in voids. In both environments galaxies hosting AGNs are generally old, with low star formation activity. The AGN fraction increases faster with stellar mass in clusters than in voids, especially above 1010.2 M⊙. Our results indicate that, in the local universe, the nuclear activity correlates with stellar mass and galaxy morphology and is weakly, if at all, affected by the local galaxy density.