Astrophysics forms a cornerstone of human curiosity and has revolutionised our understanding of the Universe. However, conventional academic structures often hinder collaboration, transparency, and discovery. We present COOL Research DAO, a next-generation framework for cosmic origins astrophysics research that uses decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) principles to make astrophysics research globally accessible, economically fair, and intellectually open. COOL Research DAO is designed to address four key systemic problems and their manifestations in traditional academic research: general inaccessibility, hierarchical organisation, unfair economic structures, and inefficient knowledge transfer. We describe how these inefficiencies can be addressed using blockchain-based tools and token systems. By fostering bottom-up governance, open-access knowledge networks, and transparent rewards, COOL Research DAO reshapes economic, organisational, and educational paradigms in astrophysics research. Our approach leverages the data-rich and inherently international nature of astrophysics, ensuring a scalable, collaborative platform that welcomes contributions ranging from computational a
Cool pavements designate alternative pavements designed to reduce their contribution to urban heating. Urban heating generally refers to the sensible heat exchanged with the atmosphere by urban materials but can also include the radiative load they impose on pedestrians. In either case, pavement surface temperature is a very important parameter, which cool pavements seek to decrease compared with standard pavement designs. The energy balance of a pavement surface or very thin pavement slab helps identify the outbound flows which cool pavements attempt to promote and fundamental physical principles which govern them. On this basis, cool pavements can be classified as reflective pavements, green and evaporative pavements, high inertia or phase changing pavements as well as conductive or heatharvesting pavements. This chapter presents the urban heat island and the urban heating phenomena and provides an overview of cool pavement technologies, detailing areas which require further scientific investigation.
In this paper, we propose to combine two promising research topics in accelerator physics, i.e., optical stochastic cooling (OSC) and steady-state microbunching (SSMB). Our study shows that such an OSC-SSMB storage ring with a circumference of 50 m and beam energy of several hundred MeVs using present technology can deliver kilowatt radiation at 100 nm wavelength. A more ambitious application of OSC in an SSMB ring can push the radiation wavelength to an even shorter wavelength, such as EUV and soft X-ray. Such a powerful compact light source could benefit fundamental science research and industry applications.
The Integrable Optics Test Accelerator at Fermilab will explore beam dynamics in a ring with intense space-charge using 2.5 MeV proton beams with an incoherent tune shift approaching -0.5. We will use this machine to explore the interplay between electron cooling, intense space-charge, and coherent instabilities. In this contribution, we describe the machine setup including the design of the electron cooler and the lattice, list specific experiments and discuss the results of numerical simulations which include the effects of electron cooling and transverse space-charge forces.
During the last three decades, evidence has mounted that star and planet formation is not an isolated process, but is influenced by current and previous generations of stars. Although cool stars form in a range of environments, from isolated globules to rich embedded clusters, the influences of other stars on cool star and planet formation may be most significant in embedded clusters, where hundreds to thousands of cool stars form in close proximity to OB stars. At the cool stars 14 meeting, a splinter session was convened to discuss the role of environment in the formation of cool stars and planetary systems; with an emphasis on the ``hot'' environment found in rich clusters. We review here the basic results, ideas and questions presented at the session. We have organized this contribution into five basic questions: what is the typical environment of cool star formation, what role do hot star play in cool star formation, what role does environment play in planet formation, what is the role of hot star winds and supernovae, and what was the formation environment of the Sun? The intention is to review progress made in addressing each question, and to underscore areas of agreement an
Why do some clusters have cool cores while others do not? In this paper, cosmological simulations, including radiative cooling and heating, are used to examine the formation and evolution of cool core (CC) and non-cool core (NCC) clusters. Numerical CC clusters at z=0 accreted mass more slowly over time and grew enhanced cool cores via hierarchical mergers; when late major mergers occurred, the CCs survived the collisions. By contrast, NCC clusters of similar mass experienced major mergers early in their evolution that destroyed embryonic cool cores and produced conditions that prevent CC re-formation. We discuss observational consequences.
We summarize recent improvements in model atmosphere and internal structure of faint white dwarfs. We derive an analytical cooling theory which illustrates the effects of various physical processes on the energy budget and the cooling history of cool white dwarfs. We consider in particular the effect of chemical fractionation at crystallization. This process, although it liberates a small amount of energy, affects significantly the cooling time of white dwarfs at their low-luminosity stages. This modifies the age of the faintest white dwarf ever observed, ESO 439-26, and bears important consequences for the Galactic implications of white dwarf evolution, age of the Galactic disk and expected contribution to the halo mass. We briefly consider the remaining major uncertainties in white dwarf cooling theory.
This Cool Stars 16 splinter session was devoted to reviewing our current knowledge of correlated X-ray and radio emission from cool stars in order to prepare for new large radio observatories such as the EVLA. A key interest was to discuss why the X-ray and radio luminosities of some cool stars are in clear breach of a correlation that holds for other active stars, the so-called Güdel-Benz relation. This article summarizes the contributions whereas the actual presentations can be accessed on the splinter website (http://cxc.harvard.edu/cs16xrayradio/).
Some peculiarities of fast laser cooling of long-lived ion beams in storage rings are discussed. Selective interaction of ions and broadband laser beam with sharp frequency and geometric edges is used while laser and ion beams are partially overlapped. The rates of change of the ion beam density in different regions of the phase space and at different moments of time in this scheme of cooling differ. That is why the generalized Robinson theorem valid for the infinitesimal phase space regions of non exponential cooling in turn is used to interpret the results.
We present a summary of the splinter session on "touchstone stars" -- stars with directly measured parameters -- that was organized as part of the Cool Stars 18 conference. We discuss several methods to precisely determine cool star properties such as masses and radii from eclipsing binaries, and radii and effective temperatures from interferometry. We highlight recent results in identifying and measuring parameters for touchstone stars, and ongoing efforts to use touchstone stars to determine parameters for other stars. We conclude by comparing the results of touchstone stars with cool star models, noting some unusual patterns in the differences.
Magnetic fields in cool stars are ubiquitous but can still be challenging to characterize due to their complexity and relatively low strength. The polarization signature amplitudes are proportional to the field strength, and current studies of cool star magnetic fields are using circular polarization only since linear polarization is even weaker. However, circular polarization is only sensitive to the line-of-sight component of the magnetic field, meaning that many structural features are not recovered or may be misinterpreted when only circular polarization is used for reconstruction of stellar magnetic topologies. Linear polarization, on the other hand, is sensitive to the transverse component of the magnetic field and would provide a more complete picture of the magnetic field topology if combined with circular polarization. We have identified the first cool target, the RS CVn star II~Peg, suitable for full Stokes vector analysis. Using current instrumentation, we have succeeded in systematically detecting its linear polarization signatures with a precision and rotational phase coverage sufficient for magnetic mapping. Here we present the very first temperature and magnetic fiel
Magnetic fields are essential ingredients of many physical processes in the interiors and envelopes of cool stars. Yet their direct detection and characterisation is notoriously difficult, requiring high-quality observations and advanced analysis techniques. Significant progress has been recently achieved by several types of direct magnetic field studies on the surfaces of cool active stars. In particular, complementary techniques of the field topology mapping with polarisation data and total magnetic flux measurements from intensity spectra have been systematically applied to different classes of active stars leading to interesting and occasionally controversial results. In this paper we summarise the current status of direct magnetic field studies of cool stars, and investigations of surface inhomogeneities caused by the field, based on the material presented at the Cool Stars 19 splinter session.
All cool stars show magnetic activity, and X-ray emission is the hallmark of this activity. Gaining an understanding of activity aids us in answering fundamental questions about stellar astrophysics and in determining the impact of activity on the exoplanets that orbit these stars. Stellar activity is driven by magnetic fields, which are ultimately powered by convection and stellar rotation. However, the resulting dynamo properties heavily depend on the stellar interior structure and are far from being understood. X-ray radiation can evaporate exoplanet atmospheres and damage organic materials on the planetary surface, reducing the probability that life can form or be sustained, but also provides an important source of energy for prebiotic chemical reactions. Over the next two years, the TESS mission will deliver a catalog of the closest exoplanets, along with rotation periods and activity diagnostics for millions of stars, whether or not they have a planet. We propose to include all cool stars that are TESS targets and bright enough for Chandra observations, as determined by their detection and flux in the ROSAT all-sky survey (RASS), to the list of Chandra Cool Attitude Targets (
The complex circumstellar ejecta of highly evolved, cool hypergiants are indicative of multiple, asymmetric mass loss events. To explore whether such episodic, non-isotropic mass loss may be driven by surface magnetic activity, we have observed the archetypical cool hypergiant VY CMa with the XMM-Newton X-ray satellite observatory. The hypergiant itself is not detected in these observations. From the upper limit on the X-ray flux from VY CMa at the time of our observations ($F_{X,UL}~\approx~8\times10^{-14} {\rm~erg~cm}^{-2} {\rm~s}^{-1}$, corresponding to $\log~L_X/L_{bol}\leq-8$), we estimate an average surface magnetic field strength $fB \leq 2\times10^{-3}$~G (where $f$ is the filling factor of magnetically active surface regions). These X-ray results for VY CMa represent the most stringent constraints to date on the magnetic field strength near the surface of a hypergiant. VY CMa's mass loss is episodic and may have been in a state of low surface magnetic activity during the XMM observations. The XMM observations also yield detections of more than 100 X-ray sources within $\sim$15$^{\prime}$ of VY CMa, roughly 50 of which have near-infrared counterparts. Analysis of X-ray hard
We examine the gender balance of the 18th and 19th meetings of the Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stellar Systems and the Sun (CS18 and CS19). The percent of female attendees at both meetings (31% at CS18 and 37% at CS19) was higher than the percent of women in the American Astronomical Society (25%) and the International Astronomical Union (18%). The representation of women in Cool Stars as SOC members, invited speakers, and contributed speakers was similar to or exceeded the percent of women attending the meetings. We requested that conference attendees assist in a project to collect data on the gender of astronomers asking questions after talks. Using this data, we found that men were over-represented (and women were under-represented) in the question sessions after each talk. Men asked 79% of the questions at CS18 and 75% of the questions at CS19, but were 69% and 63% of the attendees respectively. Contrary to findings from previous conferences, we did not find that the gender balance of questions was strongly affected by the session chair gender, the speaker gender, or the length of the question period. We also found that female and male speakers were asked a comparable number of
The Folded-port InfraRed Echellette (FIRE) has recently been commissioned on the Magellan 6.5m Baade Telescope. This single object, near-infrared spectrometer simultaneously covers the 0.85-2.45 micron window in both cross-dispersed (R ~ 6000) or prism-dispersed (R ~ 250-350) modes. FIRE's compact configuration, high transmission optics and high quantum efficiency detector provides considerable sensitivity in the near-infrared, making it an ideal instrument for studies of cool stars and brown dwarfs. Here we present some of the first cool star science results with FIRE based on commissioning and science verification observations, including evidence of clouds in a planetary-mass brown dwarf, accretion and jet emission in the low-mass T Tauri star TWA 30B, radial velocities of T-type brown dwarfs, and near-infrared detection of a debris disk associated with the DAZ white dwarf GALEX 1931+01.
We present results from a near infrared survey of the He I line (10830 Angstrom) in cool dwarf stars taken with the PHOENIX spectrograph at the 4-m Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Spectral synthesis of this region reproduces some but not all atomic and molecular features. The equivalent width of the He line appears directly correlated with the soft X-ray stellar surface flux except among the coolest M dwarf stars, where the helium is surprisingly weak.
In this review given at the Hot and Cool: Bridging Gaps in Massive Star Evolution conference, I present the state of the art in red supergiant star atmosphere modelling. The last generation of hydrostatic 1D LTE MARCS models publicly released in 2008 have allowed great achievements in the past years, like the calibration of effective temperature scales. I rapidly describe this release, and then I discuss in some length the impact of the opacity sampling approximation on the thermal structure of models and on their emergent spectra. I also insist on limitations inherent to these models. Estimates of collisional and radiative time scales for electronic transitions in e.g. TiO suggest that non-LTE effects are important, and should be further investigated. Classical 1D models are not capable either to provide the large and non-gaussian velocity fields we know exist in red supergiants atmospheres. I therefore also present current efforts in 3D radiative hydrodynamical simulation of RSGs. I show that line profiles and shifts are predicted by these simulations, without the need for fudge micro- and macroturbulence velocities. This is a great progress, although line depths and widths are s
We present modeling research work of the winds and circumstellar environments of prototypical hot and cool massive stars using advanced radiative transfer (RT) calculations. This research aims at unraveling the detailed physics of various mass-loss mechanisms of luminous stars in the upper H-R diagram. Very recent 3-D RT calculations, combined with hydrodynamic simulations, show that radiatively-driven winds of OB supergiants are structured due to large-scale density- and velocity-fields caused by rotating bright spots. The mass-loss rates computed from matching DACs in HD 64760 (B Ib) do not reveal appreciable changes from the rates of smooth wind models. Intermediate yellow supergiants (such as Rho Cas, F-G Ia0), on the other hand, show prominent spectroscopic signatures of strongly increased mass-loss rates during episodic outbursts. Long-term spectroscopic monitoring of hypergiants near the Yellow Evolutionary Void reveals that their mass-loss rates and wind-structure are dominated by photospheric eruptions and large-amplitude pulsations that impart mechanical momentum to the circumstellar environment by propagating shock waves. In massive red supergiants, however, clear eviden
All embodied agents are fundamentally patterns in physiological or other excitable media, blurring the distinction between objects and processes. Emergent patterns with complex behaviors, such as Gliders in the Game of Life and virtual patterns in Lenia, are powerful model systems in which to understand the properties and origins of behavioral traits in novel agents. To evaluate the behavior of patterns in Lenia, we introduce regions into their environment from which no sensory information is available - in effect, making creatures blind to parts of their surroundings. Complementing the conventional concept of infotaxis, we find that creatures tend to avoid these regions, a behavior we term agnosiophobia. To explain this behavior, we map each test creature's sensitivity to targeted occlusions and interpret the results in the language of dynamical systems. We observe Lenia creatures taking advantage of their freedom to change heading in order to achieve what appears to be a more fundamental goal: the preservation of their morphology. This work illustrates the beginning of an important roadmap to understand how emergent agents' behavioral propensities interact with the informational,