We use the TreeSPH simulation code Gadget-3 including a recently improved smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) module, a detailed metallicity evolution model and sophisticated subresolution feedback models for supernovae and supermassive black holes in order to study the metallicity evolution in disk galaxy mergers. In addition, we examine the simulated morphology, star formation histories, metallicity gradients and kinematic properties of merging galaxies and merger remnants. We will compare our simulation results with observations of the early-type Centaurus A galaxy and the currently colliding Antennae galaxies.

Understanding the internal structure and spatial distribution of cosmic voids is crucial when considering them as probes of cosmology. We present recent advances in modeling void density- and velocity-profiles in real space, as well as void two-point statistics in redshift space, by examining voids identified via the watershed transform in state-of-the-art ΛCDM n-body simulations and mock galaxy catalogs. The simple and universal characteristics that emerge from these statistics indicate the self-similarity of large-scale structure and suggest cosmic voids to be among the most pristine objects to consider for future studies on the nature of dark energy, dark matter and modified gravity.

Relying on a separable modal expansion of the bispectrum, the implementation of a fast estimator for the full bispectrum of a 3d particle distribution is presented. The computational cost of accurate bispectrum estimation is negligible relative to simulation evolution, so the bispectrum can be used as a standard diagnostic whenever the power spectrum is evaluated. As an application, the time evolution of gravitational and primordial dark matter bispectra was measured in a large suite of N-body simulations. The bispectrum shape changes characteristically when the cosmic web becomes dominated by filaments and halos, therefore providing a quantitative probe of 3d structure formation. Our measured bispectra are determined by ∼ 50 coefficients, which can be used as fitting formulae in the nonlinear regime and for non-Gaussian initial conditions. We also compare the measured bispectra with predictions from the Effective Field Theory of Large Scale Structures (EFTofLSS).

Be star phenomenology is strongly associated with their viscous circumstellar disks. Recently, models became available for the temporal evolution of these disks when subject to variable mass ejection rates. In this contribution we will discuss how these dynamical disk models, modeled with the radiative transfer code HDUST, can be used for constraining fundamental disk parameters, such as the α viscosity parameter, and we will report on an ongoing effort to model light curves of a large number of stars.

Magnetic B-type stars are often host to Centrifugal Magnetospheres (CMs). Here we describe the results of a population study encompassing the full sample of known magnetic early B-type stars, focusing on those with detectable CMs. We present revised rotational and magnetic parameters for some stars, clarifying their positions on the rotation-confinement diagram, and find that plasma densities within their CMs is much lower than those predicted by centrifugal breakout.

For 30 years, cyclical wind variability in OB stars has puzzled the astronomical community. Phenomenological models involving co-rotating bright spots provide a potential explanation for the observed variations, but the underlying physics remains unknown. We present recent results from hydrodynamical simulations constraining bright spot properties and compare them to what can be inferred from space-based photometry. We also explore the possibility that these spots are caused by magnetic fields and discuss the detectability of such fields.

The Cosmic Web is a complicated highly-entangled geometrical object. Remarkably it has formed from practically Gaussian initial conditions, which may be regarded as the simplest departure from exactly uniform universe in purely deterministic mapping. The full complexity of the web is revealed neither in configuration no velocity spaces considered separately. It can be fully appreciated only in six-dimensional (6D) phase space. However, studies of the phase space is complicated by the fact that every projection of it on a three-dimensional (3D) space is multivalued and contained caustics. In addition phase space is not a metric space that complicates studies of geometry. We suggest to use Lagrangian submanifold i.e., x = x(q), where both x and q are 3D vectors instead of the phase space for studies the complexity of cosmic web in cosmological N-body dark matter simulations. Being fully equivalent in dynamical sense to the phase space it has an advantage of being a single valued and also metric space.

The intrinsic linearly polarized light arising from electron scattering of stellar radiation in a non-spherically symmetric distribution of gas is a characterizing feature of classical Be stars. The distinct polarimetric signature provides a mean for directly probing the physical and geometric properties of the gaseous material enveloping these rapidly-rotating massive stars. Using a Monte Carlo radiative transfer computation and a self-consistent radiative equilibrium solution for the circumstellar gas, we explore the role of this observable signature in investigating the dynamical nature of classical Be star disks. In particular, we focus on the potential for using linearly polarized light to develop diagnostics of mass-loss events and to trace the evolution of the gas in a circumstellar disk. An informed context for interpreting the observed linear polarization signature can play an important role in identifying the physical process(es) which govern the formation and dissipation of the gaseous disks surrounding classical Be stars.

15 Canis Majoris is a quite massive (M ~ 14 M⊙) main sequence pulsator of the β Cephei type. Recent photometric (Handler 2014) and spectroscopic (Saesen & Briquet, priv. comm.) observations confirm four pulsational frequencies and indicate possible additional modes. We calculated models fitting two frequencies identified as radial and dipole modes. Our analysis indicates rather effective overshooting from the convective core as well as a strong dependence of the minimal required overshooting parameter (αov,min) on the metallicity, Z (αov,min ~ -2.5 Z).

When incorporating the non-adiabatic f-parameter (Daszynśka-Daszkiewicz & Walczak 2009), defined as the ratio of the bolometric flux changes to the radial displacement, significant differences between the opacity tables were obtained. The comparison of the models derived with different codes is also interesting. We used two evolutionary codes: Warsaw-New Jersey (Pamyatnykh et al.1998) and MESA (Paxton et al.2011) and some systematic differences were found.

We present the first systematic survey of dusty massive stars (RSGs, LBVs, sgB[e]) in nearby galaxies, with the goal of understanding their importance in massive star evolution. Using the fact that these stars are bright in mid-infrared colors due to dust, we provide a technique for selecting and identifying dusty evolved stars based on the results of Bonanos et al. (2009, 2010), Britavskiy et al. (2014), and archival Spitzer/IRAC photometry. We present the results of our spectroscopic follow-up of luminous infrared sources in the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxies: Pegasus, Phoenix, Sextans A and WLM. The survey aims to complete the census of dusty massive stars in the Local Group.

Numerical simulations predict that gas accretion from the cosmic web drives star formation in disks galaxies. The process is important in low mass haloes (< 1012 M⊙), therefore, in the early universe when galaxies were low mass, but also in dwarf galaxies of the local universe. The gas that falls in is predicted to be tenuous, patchy, partly ionized, multi-temperature, and large-scale; therefore, hard to show in a single observation. One of the most compelling cases for gas accretion at work in the local universe comes from the extremely metal poor (XMP) galaxies. They show metallicity inhomogeneities associated with star-forming regions, so that large starbursts have lower metallicity than the underlying galaxy. Here we put forward the case for gas accretion from the web posed by XMP galaxies. Two other observational results are discussed too, namely, the fact that the gas consumption time-scale is shorter than most stellar ages, and the systematic morphological distortions of the HI around galaxies.

Using high accuracy distance estimates, we study the three-dimensional distribution of galaxies in five galaxy groups at a distance less than 5 Mpc from the Milky Way. Due to proximity of these groups our sample of galaxies is nearly complete down to extremely small dwarf galaxies with absolute magnitudes M B = -12. We find that the average number-density profile of the groups shows a steep power-law decline dn/dV ∼ R-3 at distances R=(100–500) kpc consistent with predictions of the standard cosmological model. We also find that there is no indication of a truncation or a cutoff in the density at the expected virial radius: the density profile extends at least to 1.5 Mpc. Vast majority of galaxies within 1.5 Mpc radius around group centres are gas-rich star-forming galaxies. Early-type galaxies are found only in the central ∼ 300 kpc region. Lack of dwarf spheroidal and dwarf elliptical galaxies in the field and in the outskirts of large groups is a clear indication that these galaxies experienced morphological transformation when they came close to the central region of forming galaxy group.

We examine some debated points in current discussions about rotating stars: the shape, the gravity darkening, the critical velocities, the mass loss rates, the hydrodynamical instabilities, the internal mixing and N–enrichments. The study of rotational mixing requires high quality data and careful analysis. From recent studies where such conditions are fulfilled, rotational mixing is well confirmed. Magnetic coupling with stellar winds may produce an apparent contradiction, i.e. stars with a low rotation and a high N–enrichment. We point out that it rather confirms the large role of shears in differentially rotating stars for the transport processes. New models of interacting binaries also show how shears and mixing may be enhanced in close binaries which are either spun up or down by tidal interactions.

Our new survey for Wolf-Rayet stars in the Magellanic Clouds is only 15% complete but has already found 9 new Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This suggests that the total WR population in the LMC may be underestimated by 10-40%. Eight of the nine are of the WN subtype, demonstrating that the “observed” WC to WN ratio is too large, and is biased towards WC stars. The ninth is another rare WO star, the second we have found in the LMC in the past two years. Five (and possibly six) of the 8 WNs are of a new class of WRs, which pose a significant challenge to our understanding. Naively we would classify these stars as “WN3+O3V,” but there are several reasons why such a pairing is unlikely, not the least of which is that the absolute visual magnitudes of these stars are faint, with MV ~ -2.3 to -3.1. We have performed a preliminary analysis with the atmospheric code CMFGEN, and we find that (despite the faint visual magnitudes) the bolometric luminosities of these stars are normal for early-type WNs. Our fitting suggests that these stars are evolved, with significantly enriched N and He. Their effective temperatures are also normal for early-type WNs. What is unusual about these stars is that they have a surprisingly small mass-loss rate compared to other early-type WNs. How these stars got to be the way they are (single star evolution? binary evolution?) remains an open question. For now, we are designating this class as WN3/O3, in analogy to the late-type WN “slash” stars.

ξ1 CMa is a rare β Cep star with a strong magnetic field. To gain new insight on this object, a dedicated campaign using XMM-Newton was performed. These data reveal a new type of variations, X-ray pulsations, posing a new challenge to our understanding of stellar winds.

Cool supergiants offer a good opportunity to study the interplay of magnetic fields and stellar evolution. We present the results of spectropolarimetric study of the cool supergiants and classical Cepheids η Aql and ζ Gem.

We present the first results of our analysis of the famous variable star, WR6 (HD50896). Using IUE ultraviolet data and an ESPaDOnS spectropolarimetric survey of this star, we plan to determine possible variation of the stellar and wind parameters during the different phases using the radiative transfer code CMFGEN. After the detection of parameter's modifications as a function of the phase, we will analyse deeper the origin of these variability (for example, CIRs?). In the present poster we show the first results of our analysis of the variability and the first step of the stellar parameter determination of the average spectrum of this star.

Recent stellar evolution computations indicate that massive stars in the range ~ 20-30 M⊙ are located in the blue supergiant (BSG) region of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram at two different stages of their life: immediately after the main sequence (MS, group 1) and during a blueward evolution after the red supergiant phase (group 2). From the observation of the pulsationnal properties of a subgroup of variable BSGs (α Cyg variables), one can deduce that these stars belongs to group 2. It is however difficult to simultaneously fit the observed surface abundances and gravity for these stars, and this allows to constrain the physical processes of chemical species transport in massive stars. We will show here that the surface abundances are extremely sensitive to the physics of convection, particularly the location of the intermediate convective shell that appears at the ignition of the hydrogen shell burning after the MS. Our results show that the use of the Ledoux criterion to determine the convective regions in the stellar models leads to a better fit of the surface abundances for α Cyg variables than the Schwarzschild one.