We propose a minimal extension of the type-I seesaw model to realise leptogenesis from the co-annihilation of dark sector particles. The type-I seesaw model is extended with a singlet fermion and two singlet scalars charged under a $Z_{2}$ symmetry. The $Z_{2}$-odd singlet scalar is the dark matter candidate. Here the usual type-I seesaw mechanism generates neutrino mass, and a net lepton asymmetry is generated from the co-annihilation of the dark matter and the $Z_2$-odd singlet fermion. The $Z_{2}$-even singlet scalar is important in dark matter phenomenology. Successful leptogenesis is possible at TeV-scale, unlike the vanilla case. This minimal extension provides an elegant explanation of successful leptogenesis with direct connection to the dark matter abundance in the Universe.

To unravel the dominant cause of the weak emission line in a subset of optically selected radio-quiet 'weak emission line quasars' (WLQs), we have investigated the possibility of an underdeveloped broad line region (BLR). For this, we have modeled spectral energy distributions (SED) of 61 WLQs by using their optical and infrared (IR) photometric observations from SDSS and WISE respectively. SED fit consists of various emission components, including the luminosity from the dusty torus ($L_{tor}$). For comparison with the normal quasar, we have used a control sample of 55 QSOs for each WLQs matching in emission redshift and SDSS r-band. Based on our measurement of $L_{tor}$, we found a decrement of $42\pm2$\% in IR-luminosity in WLQs w.r.t the control sample of normal QSOs. Using $L_{tor}$/$L_{bol}$ as the measure of torus covering factor ($CF_{tor}$) we found a similar decrement in WLQs covering factor, with their $CF_{tor}$ distribution being significantly different w.r.t. the normal QSOs with a KS-test $P_{null}$ of $4.27 \times 10^{-14}$. As dusty torus and BLR covering factors are expected to be of a similar order in AGN, our results suggest that the BLR in the WLQs is underdeveloped and could be a dominant cause of the weakness of their emission line. As a result, our analysis gives support to the models of WLQs based on the evolution scenario being in an early stage of AGNs.

The Riccati-type nonlinear differential equation, also known as the Variable Phase Approach or Phase Function Method, is used to construct local inverse potentials for the $^3S_1$ and $^1S_0$ states of the deuteron. The Morse potential has been optimized by adjusting parameters using the Variational Monte Carlo (VMC) and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) type Neural Networks (NN). The inverse potentials obtained from VMC and NN show almost identical parameters. In VMC, all three parameters of the Morse potential are varied to obtain the phase shifts, while in NN, the 3D-parameter optimization problem is converted to a 1D-parameter optimization problem, thus reducing optimization parameters, time, and computational cost. Recently, the GRANADA group published a comprehensive partial wave analysis of scattering data, which includes 6713 $np$ phase shift data points from 1950 to 2013. Using the final experimental data points from GRANADA, we obtained the parameters for the Morse potential by minimizing the mean square error (MSE) as the cost function. The MSE using VMC (NN) is found to be 0.65 (2.5) for the $^1S_0$ state and 0.16 (0.22) for the $^3S_1$ state. Various quantum functions, such as phase $\delta(r)$, amplitude $A(r)$, and wave function $u(r)$, are described up to 5 fm with energies $E_{\ell ab} = [1-350 \text{ MeV}]$.

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), with its extensive optical monitoring capabilities, has provided an unprecedented opportunity to study the long-term variability of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). In this work, we present a comparative analysis of optical colour and brightness variability for two $\mathrm{log(L_{Bol})}-z$ matched samples, consisting of 2095 Narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies and a control sample consisting of 2380 Broad-line Seyfert 1 (BLSy1) galaxies. Using over six years of r-band and g-band light curves from the ZTF Data Release 22 (DR22), we characterize flux variability, fractional flux variability, and amplitude of temporal variability for each source in the samples. Our results indicate that BLSy1 galaxies exhibit significantly stronger variability compared to NLSy1s. To probe colour variability, we utilize quasi-simultaneous light curves, with half-hour epoch differences between $\mathrm{g}$- and $\mathrm{r}$-band measurements. We evaluated the colour index using both flux-flux space analysis and linear regression in magnitude-magnitude space. We find that large majorities of these sources -- 74% of NLSy1 and 79% of BLSy1 -- exhibit a clear ``bluer-when-brighter'' (BWB) trend, although part of this effect may arise from contamination by the non-varying, predominantly redder flux of the host galaxy. Furthermore, rest-frame structure function analysis reveals that BLSy1 galaxies are $1.44 \pm 0.06$ times more variable than NLSy1s. These results can provide valuable insights into the variability properties of AGN subclasses and their underlying physical drivers.

Background: The study of np and pp scattering, central to understanding nuclear force, remains an optional topic in many undergraduate nuclear physics curriculum. Purpose: The main thrust of this paper is to study pp scattering using the phase function method to obtain the observed S-wave phase shifts and cross-sections at various energies. Methods: The pp interaction has been modeled by choosing the Malfliet-Tjon potential for the nuclear part along with the screened Coulomb potential. The phase equation has been solved to obtain scattering phase shifts using the fourth-order RK method (RK-4). Results: The interaction potential obtained from optimized parameters matches well with the realistic Argonne V18 potential for 1S0 state of pp scattering and the scattering phase shifts as well as the cross-section for energies ranging from 1-350 MeV are in good agreement with expected data. Conclusion: Introducing the phase function method for S-wave (l=0) could bring this interesting study of nucleon-nucleon scattering to the undergraduate classroom.

We study the optical variability characteristics of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) from the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) AGN catalogue by utilising approximately five years of optical light curves from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) survey. We investigate dependencies of the long-term optical variability amplitudes and timescales on (i) supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass, luminosity, and Eddington ratio to explore the influence of accretion disk dynamics and radiative processes; (ii) X-ray properties, such as spectral photon indices and fluxes, to study the effect of high-energy emission mechanisms; and (iii) radio characteristics, such as integrated fluxes and radio loudness, which indicate jet activity. Our findings confirm a positive correlation between the variability time scale and both the SMBH mass and luminosity, suggesting that these physical parameters significantly impact the optical variability timescale. Conversely, no significant dependence is found between optical variability and X-ray properties, indicating that high-energy processes may not substantially influence long-term optical variability. Additionally, a weak anti-correlation between optical variability and radio parameters suggests that jet activity has a negligible effect on causing long-term AGN variability. These results support the hypothesis that long-term optical variability in AGN is primarily governed by thermal emission from the accretion disk. Further investigations with larger samples are essential to refine these correlations and develop robust physical models integrating black hole properties, accretion disk physics, and multi-wavelength radiative transfer.

Since the successful synthesis of the MoSSe monolayer, which violated the out-of-plane mirror symmetry of TMDs monolayers, considerable and systematic research has been conducted on Janus monolayer materials. By systematically analyzing the LaBrI monolayer, we are able to learn more about the novel Janus material by focusing on the halogen family next to group VIA (S, Se, Te). The structural optimizations have been carried out using pseudopotential based Quantum espresso code. Computed structural parameters are in good agreement with literature reports. The optimized crystal structures were used for computing effect of strain on electronic and thermoelectric properties. Dynamical stability predicts that this material can withstand up to 10% of tensile strain. Computed electronic structure reveals material to be indirect wide band gap ferromagnet with magnetic moment 1{\mu}B. With increase in the biaxial tensile strain the band gap decreases. Furthermore, the computed magneto-thermoelectric properties predict high Seebeck coefficient ~ 400 {\mu}V/K and low thermal conductivity of ~ 0.93 W/m.K in LaBrI which results in a high ZT ~ 1.84 for 4% strain at 800 K. The present study supports the fact that tensile strain on ferromagnetic LaBrI material can further enhance TE properties making it to be a promising material for TE applications at higher temperatures.

In this article, we propose a numerical approach to solve quantum mechanical scattering problems, using phase function method, by considering neutron-proton interaction as an example. The nonlinear phase equation, obtained from the time-independent Schrodinger equation, is solved using the Runge-Kutta method for obtaining S-wave scattering phase shifts for neutron-proton interaction modeled using Yukawa and Malfliet-Tjon potentials. While scattering phase shifts of S-states using Yukawa match with experimental data for only lower energies of 50 MeV, Malfliet-Tjon potential with repulsive term gives very good accuracy for all available energies up to 350 MeV. Utilizing these S-wave scattering phase shifts, low energy scattering parameters, and total S-wave cross section have been calculated and found to be consistent with experimental results. This simulation methodology can be easily extended to study scattering phenomenon using phase wave analysis approach in the realms of atomic, molecular, and nuclear physics.

We present the results of a nation-wide baseline survey, conducted by us, for the status of Astronomy education among secondary school students in India. The survey was administered in 10 different languages to over 2000 students from diverse backgrounds, and it explored multiple facets of their perspectives on astronomy. The topics included students' views on the incorporation of astronomy in curricula, their grasp of fundamental astronomical concepts, access to educational resources, cultural connections to astronomy, and their levels of interest and aspirations in the subject. We find notable deficiencies in students' knowledge of basic astronomical principles, with only a minority demonstrating proficiency in key areas such as celestial sizes, distances, and lunar phases. Furthermore, access to resources such as telescopes and planetariums remain limited across the country. Despite these challenges, a significant majority of students expressed a keen interest in astronomy. We further analyze the data along socioeconomic and gender lines. Particularly striking were the socioeconomic disparities, with students from resource-poor backgrounds often having lower levels of access and proficiency. Some differences were observed between genders, although not very pronounced. The insights gleaned from this study hold valuable implications for the development of a more robust astronomy curriculum and the design of effective teacher training programs in the future.

We present a comprehensive spectroscopic and variability-based characterisation of a sample of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs) hosting low mass black holes, identified by $H\beta$ full width at half maximum (FWHM) < 2200 km s$^{-1}$. While the narrow line widths are consistent with the formal definition of narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies, the broader accretion and emission properties reveal key distinctions. The sample exhibits sub-Eddington accretion rates (median $\log R_{Edd} \approx -0.68$) and comparatively weak FeII emission (median $R_{FeII} \approx 0.61$), in contrast to the strong FeII strengths and high Eddington ratios characteristic of classical NLSy1s. Optical variability amplitudes, derived from Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) light curves, are similar to those typically seen in Seyfert 1 galaxies, with a median $\log(\sigma) \approx -0.68$, suggesting the AGN component's significant contribution to variability. In the optical plane of the 4D Eigenvector 1 (4DE1) parameter space, these sources occupy a distinct locus in the low-$R_{FeII}$, low-$R_{Edd}$ regime, suggesting a physically distinct accretion state. Our findings indicate that this population may represent a low-accretion analogue within the broader narrow-line AGN family, offering new insights into black hole growth at low mass scales.

The present study aim is to know the information professionals-library professionals knowledge sharing behaviours and attitudes among the institutes. This study investigated six countries' library professionals: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The study discussed knowledge sharing behaviour, technological equipment used for knowledge management and disseminating the sources of knowledge; academic social networking sites used for sharing the information and knowledge as well as challenges in knowledge management faced by the librarians examined in detail. The implication of the study highlighted the various areas of knowledge management such as training, budget, lack of staff and reward.

We study the regulating mechanism of p53 on the properties of cell cycle dynamics in the light of the proposed model of interacting p53 and cell cycle networks via p53. Irradiation (IR) introduce to p53 compel p53 dynamics to suffer different phases, namely oscillating and oscillation death (stabilized) phases. The IR induced p53 dynamics undergo collapse of oscillation with collapse time \Delta t which depends on IR strength. The stress p53 via IR drive cell cycle molecular species MPF and cyclin dynamics to different states, namely, oscillation death, oscillations of periods, chaotic and sustain oscillation in their bifurcation diagram. We predict that there could be a critical \Delta t_c induced by p53 via IR_c, where, if \Delta t < \Delta t_c the cell cycle may come back to normal state, otherwise it will go to cell cycle arrest (apoptosis).

To quantify the role of radio jets for Intra-Night Optical Variability (INOV) in Radio-Loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (RLNLSy1) galaxies, we report the first systematic comparative INOV study of 23 RLNLSy1 galaxies, with 15 RLNLSy1s having confirmed detection of jets (jetted) and the remaining 8 RLNLSy1s having no detection of jets (non-jetted) based on their Very Long Baseline Array observations. We have monitored these two samples, respectively, in 37 and 16 sessions of a minimum 3-hour duration each. Based upon F$^{\eta}$-test at 99\% confidence level with a typical INOV amplitude ($\psi$) detection threshold of $>$ 3\%, we find the INOV duty cycles of 12\% for the sample of jetted RLNLSy1s, however, none of the sources showed INOV in the sample of non-jetted RLNLSy1s. Among the jetted RLNLSy1s, we find that the Duty Cycle (DC) for jetted $\gamma$-ray detected ($\gamma$-ray) RLNLSy1s is found to be 34\% in contrast to null INOV detection in the case of non-$\gamma$-ray RLNLSy1s. It suggests that instead of the mere presence of a jet, relativistic beaming plays a significant role for INOV in the case of low-luminous high accreting AGNs such as NLSy1s in which dilution of the AGN's non-thermal optical emission by the (much steadier) optical emission contributed by the nuclear accretion disc is quite likely. Our study of jetted $\gamma$-ray RLNLSy1s shows more frequent INOV detection for sources with higher apparent jet speed. Further, our results also suggest that among the NLSy1s, only jetted $\gamma$-ray RNLSy1 galaxies DC approaches blazar like DC.

Weak-emission-line QSOs (WLQs) are an enigmatic subclass of the QSO population, as their optical/UV spectra are marked by abnormally weak (or absent) emission lines. To obtain much-needed additional clues to the origin of this and other known peculiarities of WLQs, we have determined the 'ensemble' optical variability characteristics for a large, well-defined sample of 76 radio-quiet WLQs and also for a matched control sample comprising 603 normal radio-quiet QSOs. This analysis was done using their light-curves recorded in the $g$ and $r$ bands, under the ZTF survey during 2018-2024, with a typical cadence of 3 days. We find that, compared to normal QSOs, WLQs exhibit systematically milder optical variability on month/year-like time scales (by a factor of $\sim$ 1.76$\pm$0.05 in amplitude). We have independently verified this by carrying out an equivalent analysis of the V-band light-curves acquired under the CRTS during 2007- 2014, with a typical cadence of 10 days. This new observational differentiator between WLQs and normal QSOs may provide clues to understanding the intriguing nature of WLQs. It is proposed that the clumpiness of the torus material flowing into the central engine may play a key role in explaining the observed differences between the WLQs and normal QSOs.

In recent years, breakthroughs in methods and data have enabled gravitational time delays to emerge as a very powerful tool to measure the Hubble constant $H_0$. However, published state-of-the-art analyses require of order 1 year of expert investigator time and up to a million hours of computing time per system. Furthermore, as precision improves, it is crucial to identify and mitigate systematic uncertainties. With this time delay lens modelling challenge we aim to assess the level of precision and accuracy of the modelling techniques that are currently fast enough to handle of order 50 lenses, via the blind analysis of simulated datasets. The results in Rung 1 and Rung 2 show that methods that use only the point source positions tend to have lower precision ($10 - 20\%$) while remaining accurate. In Rung 2, the methods that exploit the full information of the imaging and kinematic datasets can recover $H_0$ within the target accuracy ( |A| &lt; 2\%) and precision (&lt; 6\% per system), even in the presence of poorly known point spread function and complex source morphology. A post-unblinding analysis of Rung 3 showed the numerical precision of the ray-traced cosmological simulations to be insufficient to test lens modelling methodology at the percent level, making the results difficult to interpret. A new challenge with improved simulations is needed to make further progress in the investigation of systematic uncertainties. For completeness, we present the Rung 3 results in an appendix, and use them to discuss various approaches to mitigating against similar subtle data generation effects in future blind challenges.

Hawking radiation from a non-extremal black hole is known to be approximately Planckian. The thermal spectrum receives multiple corrections including greybody factors and due to kinematical restrictions on the infrared and ultraviolet frequencies. We show that another significant correction to the spectrum arises if the black hole is assumed to live in a thermal bath and the emitted radiation gets thermalised at the bath temperature. This modification reshapes the thermal spectrum, and leads to appreciable deviation from standard results including modification in the decay rate of black holes. We argue that this altered decay rate has significance for cosmology and, in a realistic setting, show that it alters the life time of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the early universe. In particular, the very light PBHs formed right after the end of inflation decay faster which may have interesting phenomenological implications.

Quasilocal formulations of black hole are of immense importance since they reveal the essential and minimal assumptions required for a consistent description of black hole horizon, without relying on the asymptotic boundary conditions on fields. Using the quasilocal formulation of Isolated Horizons, we construct the Hamiltonian charges corresponding to local Lorentz transformations on a spacetime admitting isolated horizon as an internal boundary. From this construction, it arises quite generally that the \emph{area} of the horizon of an isolated black hole is the Hamiltonian charge for local Lorentz boost on the horizon. Using this argument further, it is shown that, observers at a fixed proper distance $l_{0}$, very close to the horizon, may define a notion of horizon energy given by $E=A/8\pi G l_{0}$, the surface gravity is given by $\kappa=1/l_{0}$, and consequently, the first law can be written in the quasilocal setting as $\delta E=(\kappa/8\pi G)\delta A$..

The real and imaginary scattering phase shifts (SPS) and potentials for $\ell=0,2,4$ partial waves have been obtained by developing a novel algorithm$^{\ref{Fig1}}$ to derive inverse potentials using a phenomenological approach. The phase equation, which is a Riccati-type non-linear differential equation, is coupled with the Variational Monte Carlo method. Comparisons between the resulting SPS for various $\ell$ channels and experimental data are made using mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) as a cost function. Model parameters are fine-tuned through an appropriate optimization technique to minimize MAPE. The results for $\ell=0^+$, $2^+$, and $4^+$ partial waves are generated to align with experimental SPS with mean absolute error (MAE) calculated with respect to experimental data is 3.19, 8.74, 13.06 respectively corresponding to real part and 0.76, 0.76, 0.59 corresponding to imaginary parts of scattering phase shifts.

We aim to constrain the average star formation associated with neutral hydrogen gas reservoirs at cosmic noon. Using a unprecedented sample of 1716 high column density Damped Ly-$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with log($N$(HI) / cm$^{-2}$) $\ge$21, we generated the average Ly-$\alpha$ emission spectrum associated to DLAs, free from emission from the background quasar. We measured Ly$\alpha$ emission at $> 5.8\sigma$ level with luminosity $8.95\pm 1.54 \times \rm 10^{40}\ \text{erg}\ \text{s}^{-1}$ (corresponding to about 0.02 L$^{\star}$ at $z \sim$ 2-3) in systems with average log($N$(HI)/ $cm^{-2}$) $\approx$21.2 and at median redshift of $z \sim$ 2.64. The peak of the Ly$\alpha$ emission is apparently redshifted by $\sim$300 km s$^{-1}$ relative to the absorption redshift, which is seemingly due to suppression of blue Ly-$\alpha$ photons by radiative transfer through expanding gas. We infer that DLAs form stars with an average rate of (0.08 $\pm$ 0.01)/$\text{f}_\text{esc}\ \rm \text{M}_{\odot}\ \text{yr}^{-1}$, i.e, $\approx (0.54\pm 0.09)\rm \text{M}_{\odot}\ \text{yr}^{-1}$ for a typical escape fraction, $\text{f}_{\text{esc}} =0.15$, of Lyman-$\alpha$ emitting galaxies. DLA galaxies follows the star formation main sequence of star-forming galaxies at high redshift, suggesting that the DLA population is dominated by the lower mass end of Lyman-$\alpha$ emitting galaxies.

We report a novel pilot project to characterise intra-night optical variability (INOV) of an extremely rare type of quasar, which has recently been caught in the act of transiting from a radio-quiet to radio-loud state, on a decadal time scale. Such rare transitions may signify a recurrence, or conceivably the first switch-on of jet activity in optically luminous quasars. The newly formed jet could well be jittery and unsteady, both in power and direction. The optically brightest among such radio-state transition candidates, the quasar J0950+5128 ($z = 0.2142$), was monitored by us with dense sampling in the R-band, during 2020-21 in 6 sessions, each lasting &gt; 4 hours. This is the first attempt to characterise the INOV properties associated with this recently discovered, extremely rarely observed phenomenon of quasar radio-state transition. The non-detection of INOV in any of the 6 sessions, down to the 1-2% level, amounts to a lack of evidence for a blazar-like optical activity, $\sim$ 2 years after its transition to radio-loud state was found. The only INOV feature detected in J0950+5128 during our observational campaign was a $\sim$ 0.15-mag spike lasting < 6 minutes, seen at 13.97 UT on 18-March-2021. We also report the available optical light curves of this quasar from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) survey, which indicate that it had experienced a phase of INOV activity around the time its transition to the radio-loud state was detected, however that phase did not sustain until the launch of our INOV campaign $\sim$ 2 years later.