Clustering estimates in galaxy redshift surveys need to account and correct for the way targets are selected from the general population, as to avoid biasing the measured values of cosmological parameters. The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) is no exception to this, involving slit collisions and masking effects. Pushed by the increasing precision of the measurements, e.g. of the growth rate f, we have been re-assessing these effects in detail. We present here an improved correction for the two-point correlation function, capable to recover the amplitude of the monopole of the two-point correlation function ξ(r) above 1 h-1 Mpc to better than 2.

We present a mechanism for generating cosmological magnetic fields during the Epoch of Reionization, based on the photoionization of intergalactic hydrogen. A general formula is presented, together with an example numerical application which yields magnetic field strengths between 10−23 to 10−19 G on intersource scales. This mechanism, which operates all along Reionization around any ionizing source, participates to the premagnetization of the whole intergalactic medium. Also, the spatial configuration of these fields may help discriminate them from those produced by other mechanisms in future observations.

Many studies focused on very massive stars (VMS) within the framework of Pop. III stars, because this is where they were thought to be abundant. In this work, we focus on the evolution of VMS in the local universe following the discovery of VMS in the R136 cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We computed grids of VMS evolutionary tracks in the range 120–500 M⊙ with solar, LMC and Small Magellanic Cloud metallicities. All models end their lives as Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars of the WC (or WO) type. We discuss the evolution and fate of VMS around solar metallicity with particular focus on the WR phase. For example, we show that a distinctive feature that may be used to disentangle Wolf-Rayet stars originating from VMS from those originating from lower initial masses is the enhanced abundances of Ne and Mg at the surface of WC stars.

We present the results of investigation of most luminous stars belonging to the Cyg OB2 association using quantitative analysis of high-resolution spectra. Physical parameters derived using the cmfgen and tlusty atmospheric codes allow us to estimate the mass and age of these stars.

Observed spectra of quasars provide a powerful tool to test the possible spatial and temporal variations of the fine-structure constant α = e 2/ћc over the history of the Universe. It is demonstrated that high sensitivity to the variation of α can be obtained from a comparison of the spectra of quasars and laboratories. We reported a new constraint on the variation of the fine-structure constant based on the analysis of the optical spectra of the fine-structure transitions in [NeIII], [NeV], [OIII], [OI] and [SII] multiplets from 14 Seyfert 1.5 galaxies. The weighted mean value of the α-variation derived from our analysis over the redshift range 0.035 < z < 0.281 Δα/α= (4.50 ± 5.53) \times 10-5. This result presents strong limit improvements on the constraint on Δα/α compared to the published in the literature

Semi-convection is a slow mixing process in chemically-inhomogeneous radiative interiors of stars. In massive OB stars, it is important during the main sequence. However, the efficiency of this mixing mechanism is not properly gauged yet. Here, we argue that asteroseismology of β Cep pulsators is capable of distinguishing between models of varying semi-convection efficiencies. We address this in the light of upcoming high-precision space photometry to be obtained with the Kepler two-wheel mission for massive stars along the ecliptic.

The basic concepts of long-baseline optical interferometery are presented herein.

Claims of a significant underdensity or void in the density distribution on scales out to ≃ 300 Mpc have recently been made using samples of galaxies. We present the results of an alternative test of the matter distribution on these scales using clusters of galaxies, which provide an independent and powerful probe of large-scale structure. We study the density distribution of X-ray clusters from the ROSAT-based REFLEX II catalogue, which covers a contiguous area of 4.24 steradians in the southern hempsphere (34% of the entire sky). Using the normalised comoving number density of clusters we find evidence for an underdensity (30-40%), out to z∼ 0.04, equivalent to ≃170 Mpc and with a significance of 3.4σ. On scales between 300 Mpc and 1 Gpc the distribution of REFLEX II clusters is consistent with being uniform. We also confirm recent results that the underdensity has a large contribution from the direction of the South Galactic Cap region, but is not significant in the direction of the Northern Galactic Cap as viewed from the southern sky. Both the limited size of the detected underdensity and its lack of isotropy, argue against the idea that the Type Ia supernovae data can be explained without the need for dark energy.

Fundamental parameters of 26 well-studied sharp-lined single early B-type stars in OB associations and in the field within a distance of ≤400 pc from the Sun are compared to high-precision data from detached eclipsing binaries (DEBs). Fundamental parameters are derived from accurate and precise atmospheric parameters determined earlier by us from non-LTE analyses of high-quality spectra, utilising the new Geneva stellar evolution models in the mass-range ~6 to 18 M⊙ at metallicity Z = 0.014. Evolutionary masses, radii and luminosities are determined to better than typically 5%, 10%, and 20% uncertainty, respectively, facilitating the mass-radius and mass-luminosity relationships to be recovered for single core hydrogen-burning objects with a similar precision as derived from DEBs. Good agreement between evolutionary and spectroscopic masses is found. Absolute visual and bolometric magnitudes are derived to typically ~0.15-0.20 mag uncertainty. Metallicities are constrained to better than 15-20% uncertainty and tight constraints on evolutionary ages of the stars are provided. The spectroscopic distances and ages of individual sample stars agree with independently derived values for the host OB associations. The accuracy and precision achieved in the determination of fundamental stellar parameters from the quantitative spectroscopy of single early B-type stars comes close (within a factor 2-4) to data derived from DEBs.

We derive constraints on radio source clustering towards Planck-selected galaxy clusters using the NVSS point source catalog. The constraint can be used for making a more realistic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (SZE) mocks, calculating predictions of detectable clusters count and for quantifying source confusion in radio surveys.

Intrinsic alignments are believed to be a major source of systematics for future generation of weak gravitational lensing surveys like Euclid or LSST. Direct measurements of the alignment of the projected light distribution of galaxies in wide field imaging data seem to agree on a contamination at a level of a few per cent of the shear correlation functions, although the amplitude of the effect depends on the population of galaxies considered. Given this dependency, it is difficult to use dark matter-only simulations as the sole resource to predict and control intrinsic alignments. We report here estimates on the level of intrinsic alignment in the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation Horizon-AGN that could be a major source of systematic errors in weak gravitational lensing measurements. In particular, assuming that the spin of galaxies is a good proxy for their ellipticity, we show how those spins are spatially correlated and how they couple to the tidal field in which they are embedded. We will also present theoretical calculations that illustrate and qualitatively explain the observed signals.

Early-type stars are well-known to be sources of soft X-rays. However, this high-energy emission can be supplemented by bright and hard X-rays when magnetically confined winds are present. In an attempt to clarify the systematics of the observed X-ray properties of this phenomenon, a large series of Chandra and XMM observations was analyzed, over 100 exposures of 60% of the known magnetic massive stars listed recently by Petit et al. (2013). It is found that the X-ray luminosity is strongly correlated with mass-loss rate, in agreement with predictions of magnetically confined wind models, though the predictions of higher temperature are not always verified. We also investigated the behaviour of other X-ray properties (absorption, variability), yielding additional constraints on models. This work not only advances our knowledge of the X-ray emission of massive stars, but also suggests new observational and theoretical avenues to further explore magnetically confined winds.

For the first time spectropolarimetric observations of Wolf-Rayet star WR156 (WN8h) were conducted. Medium resolution spectropolarimetric data in the range of 3500-7200 ÅÅ were obtained at Russian 6-m telescope of Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO RAS). These data show that the light from the star is significantly polarized, with the degree of polarization P=1.38±0.06%, and the position angle Θ=77.4°±1.2°. This polarization, most probably, has an interstellar origin, as its magnitude and orientation are similar to the ones of field stars. Also, we present results of numerical modeling of WR156 atmosphere performed using cmfgen code. According to it, WR156 is the richest hydrogen Wolf-Rayet star of WN8 type in the Galaxy.

We investigate void properties in f(R) models using N-body simulations, focusing on their differences from General Relativity (GR) and their detectability. In the Hu-Sawicki f(R) modified gravity (MG) models, the halo number density profiles of voids are not distinguishable from GR. In contrast, the same f(R) voids are more empty of dark matter, and their profiles are steeper. This can in principle be observed by weak gravitational lensing of voids, for which the combination of a spectroscopic redshift and a lensing photometric redshift survey over the same sky is required. Neglecting the lensing shape noise, the f(R) model parameter amplitudes fR0=10-5 and 10-4 may be distinguished from GR using the lensing tangential shear signal around voids by 4 and 8 σ for a volume of 1 (Gpc/h)3. The line-of-sight projection of large-scale structure is the main systematics that limits the significance of this signal for the near future wide angle and deep lensing surveys. For this reason, it is challenging to distinguish fR0=10-6 from GR. We expect that this can be overcome with larger volume. The halo void abundance being smaller and the steepening of dark matter void profiles in f(R) models are unique features that can be combined to break the degeneracy between fR0 and σ8.

In the conference presentation we have reviewed the theory of non-Gaussian geometrical measures for 3D Cosmic Web of the matter distribution in the Universe and 2D sky data, such as Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) maps that was developed in a series of our papers. The theory leverages symmetry of isotropic statistics such as Minkowski functionals and extrema counts to develop post Gaussian expansion of the statistics in orthogonal polynomials of invariant descriptors of the field, its first and second derivatives. The application of the approach to 2D fields defined on a spherical sky was suggested, but never rigorously developed. In this paper we present such development treating the effects of the curvature and finiteness of the spherical space $S_2$ exactly, without relying on flat-sky approximation. We present Minkowski functionals, including Euler characteristic and extrema counts to the first non-Gaussian correction, suitable for weakly non-Gaussian fields on a sphere, of which CMB is the prime example.

The intergalactic medium (IGM) accounts for ≳ 90% of baryons at all epochs and yet its three dimensional distribution in the cosmic web remains mostly unknown. This is so because the only feasible way to observe the bulk of the IGM is through intervening absorption line systems in the spectra of bright background sources, which limits its characterization to being one-dimensional. Still, an averaged three dimensional picture can be obtained by combining and cross-matching multiple one-dimensional IGM information with three-dimensional galaxy surveys. Here, we present our recent and current efforts to map and characterize the IGM in the cosmic web using galaxies as tracers of the underlying mass distribution. In particular, we summarize our results on: (i) IGM around star-forming and non-star-forming galaxies; (ii) IGM within and around galaxy voids; and (iii) IGM in intercluster filaments. With these datasets, we can directly test the modern paradigm of structure formation and evolution of baryonic matter in the Universe.

We present preliminary results of seismic modeling of β Cephei-type stars in NGC 6910 based on simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic observations carried out in 2013 in Białków (photometry) and Apache Point (spectroscopy) observatories.

Fast rotation in massive stars is predicted to induce mixing in their interior, but a population of fast-rotating stars with normal nitrogen abundances at their surface has recently been revealed (Hunter et al.2009; Brott et al.2011, but see Maeder et al.2014). However, as the binary fraction of these stars is unknown, no definitive statements about the ability of single-star evolutionary models including rotation to reproduce these observations can be made. Our work combines for the first time a detailed surface abundance analysis with a radial-velocity monitoring for a sample of bright, fast-rotating Galactic OB stars to put strong constraints on stellar evolutionary and interior models.

We report the results of our study of the fast line profile variability (LPV) (hours – few days) in the spectra of bright OB and WR stars. All spectra were obtained with 6-m and 1-m telescope of Russian Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and 1.8-m telescope of Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory, Korea (BOAO). We detected both the stochastic LPV, connected with the formation of small-scale structures in the stellar wind and the regular LPV induced by the large-scale structures in the wind.

Massive stars often experience fast rotation, which is known to induce turbulent mixing with a strong impact on the evolution of these stars. Local direct numerical simulations of turbulent transport in stellar radiative zones are a promising way to constrain phenomenological transport models currently used in many stellar evolution codes. We present here the results of such simulations of stably-stratified sheared turbulence taking notably into account the effects of thermal diffusion and chemical stratification. We also discuss the impact of theses results on stellar evolution theory.