The Lick Observatory Supernova Search follow-up program: photometry data release of 70 stripped-envelope supernovae

We present BVRI and unfiltered Clear light curves of 70 stripped-envelope supernovae (SESNe), observed between 2003 and 2020, from the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) follow-up program. Our SESN sample consists of 19 spectroscopically normal SNe~Ib, two peculiar SNe Ib, six SN Ibn, 14 normal SNe Ic, one peculiar SN Ic, ten SNe Ic-BL, 15 SNe IIb, one ambiguous SN IIb/Ib/c, and two superluminous SNe. Our follow-up photometry has (on a per-SN basis) a mean coverage of 81 photometric points (median of 58 points) and a mean cadence of 3.6d (median of 1.2d). From our full sample, a subset of 38 SNe have pre-maximum coverage in at least one passband, allowing for the peak brightness of each SN in this subset to be quantitatively determined. We describe our data collection and processing techniques, with emphasis toward our automated photometry pipeline, from which we derive publicly available data products to enable and encourage further study by the community. Using these data products, we derive host-galaxy extinction values through the empirical colour evolution relationship and, for the first time, produce accurate rise-time measurements for a large sample of SESNe in both optical and infrared passbands. By modeling multiband light curves, we find that SNe Ic tend to have lower ejecta masses and lower ejecta velocities than SNe~Ib and IIb, but higher $^{56}$Ni masses.Comment: Accepted by MNRA

Prospects for kSZ²–Galaxy Cross-correlations during Reionization

Abstract We explore a new approach for extracting reionization-era contributions to the kinetic Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (kSZ) effect. Our method utilizes the cross-power spectrum between filtered and squared maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and photometric galaxy surveys during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). This kSZ2–galaxy cross-power spectrum statistic has been successfully detected at lower redshifts (z ≲ 1.5). Here we extend this method to z ≳ 6 as a potential means to extract signatures of patchy reionization. We model the expected signal across multiple photometric redshift bins using seminumeric simulations of the reionization process. In principle, the cross-correlation statistic robustly extracts reionization-era contributions to the kSZ signal, while its redshift evolution yields valuable information regarding the timing of reionization. Specifically, the model cross-correlation signal near ℓ ∼ 1000 peaks during the early stages of the EoR, when about 20% of the volume of the universe is ionized. Detectable ℓ modes mainly reflect squeezed-triangle configurations of the related bispectrum, quantifying correlations between the galaxy overdensity field on large scales and the smaller-scale kSZ power. We forecast the prospects for detecting this signal using future wide-field samples of Lyman-break galaxies from the Roman Space Telescope and next-generation CMB surveys including the Simons Observatory, CMB-S4, and CMB-HD. We find that a roughly 13σ detection is possible for CMB-HD and Roman after summing over all ℓ modes. We discuss the possibilities for improving this approach and related statistics, with the aim of moving beyond simple detections to measure the scale and redshift dependence of the cross-correlation signals.</jats:p

Fuzzy Dark Matter Constraints from the Hubble Frontier Fields

In fuzzy dark matter (FDM) cosmologies, the dark matter consists of ultralight bosons ($m\lesssim10^{-20}$ eV). The astrophysically large de Broglie wavelengths of such particles hinder the formation of low-mass dark matter halos. This implies a testable prediction: a corresponding suppression in the faint-end of the ultraviolet luminosity function (UVLF) of galaxies. Notably, recent estimates of the faint-end UVLF at $z\sim5-9$ in the Hubble Frontier Fields, behind foreground lensing clusters, probe up to five magnitudes fainter than typical ("blank-field") regions. These measurements thus far disfavor prominent turnovers in the UVLF at low luminosity, implying bounds on FDM. We fit a semi-empirical model to these and blank-field UVLF data, including the FDM particle mass as a free parameter. This fit excludes cases where the dark matter is entirely a boson of mass $m<1.5\times10^{-21}$ eV (with $2\sigma$ confidence). We also present a less stringent bound deriving solely from the requirement that the total observed abundance of galaxies, integrated over all luminosities, must not exceed the total halo abundance in FDM. This more model-agnostic bound disfavors $m<5\times10^{-22}$ eV ($2\sigma$). We forecast that future UVLF measurements from JWST lensing fields may probe masses several times larger than these bounds, although we demonstrate this is subject to theoretical uncertainties in modeling the FDM halo mass function.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Fuzzy dark matter constraints from the Hubble Frontier Fields

In fuzzy dark matter (FDM) cosmologies, the dark matter consists of ultralight bosons (⁠m≲10−20 eV). The astrophysically large de Broglie wavelengths of such particles hinder the formation of low-mass dark matter haloes. This implies a testable prediction: a corresponding suppression in the faint end of the ultraviolet luminosity function (UVLF) of galaxies. Notably, recent estimates of the faint-end UVLF at z∼5−9 in the Hubble Frontier Fields, behind foreground lensing clusters, probe up to five magnitudes fainter than typical (‘blank-field’) regions. These measurements thus far disfavour prominent turnovers in the UVLF at low luminosity, implying bounds on FDM. We fit a semi-empirical model to these and blank-field UVLF data, including the FDM particle mass as a free parameter. This fit excludes cases where the dark matter is entirely a boson of mass m\u3c 1.5×10−21 eV (with 2σ confidence). We also present a less stringent bound deriving solely from the requirement that the total observed abundance of galaxies, integrated over all luminosities, must not exceed the total halo abundance in FDM. This more model-agnostic bound disfavours m\u3c 5×10−22 eV (⁠2σ⁠). We forecast that future UVLF measurements from JWST lensing fields may probe masses several times larger than these bounds, although we demonstrate this is subject to theoretical uncertainties in modelling the FDM halo mass function

REPEAT OFFENDERS - SIMPLE REPEAT SEQUENCES AND COMPLEX GENETIC PROBLEMS [Review]

Relative single base-pair substitution rates in human genes, derived from a collection of > 2,700 point mutations causing human genetic disease, were related to the results of an evolutionary gene/pseudogene comparison. At the mononucleotide level, notable differences between the two datasets were confined to C-to-T and G-to-A transitions, both being rarer in gene/pseudogene alignments than among disease-associated lesions. Relative nearest neighbour-dependent substitution rates were found to be similar in the two datasets, indicating the long-term stability of these parameters during human genome evolution. Allowing for the 5' and 3' nucleotides flanking mutated sites, the primary likelihood of mutation generation could be demonstrated to be biased toward the avoidance of replacements that: (1) change the chemical characteristics of the encoded amino acid residue substantially, and (2) have a high chance of resulting in genetic disease in humans. A similar bias is also reflected in the evolutionary history of human and rodent proteins: amino acid replacements that currently exhibit a high likelihood of coming to clinical attention have been less likely to be accepted during protein evolution