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Edward J Shaya

Publications and source records attributed to Edward J Shaya.

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KKR 18: A Late Arrival Galaxy?

KKR 18 is a dwarf irregular galaxy in the Local Void at a distance of 9.46 Mpc. It is gas rich and was experiencing vigorous star formation 20 - 100 Myr ago. Its metallicity is 4% of Solar from an emission spectrum, qualifying is as extremely metal poor (XMP). Its most remarkable characteristic is an extremely deficient Red Giant Branch. This feature is shared with a small number of other dwarf galaxies and it is inferred that they lack ancient stellar components. It is suggested that these are late arrival galaxies (LAG).

astro-ph.GA

The Topological Multiverse as the Self-Consistent Extension of Everettian QM to Quantum Gravity

The ``fine-tuning" of the fundamental constants, from the cosmological constant to the gauge structure of the Standard Model, suggests that our universe inhabits a rare, life-permitting island within a vast landscape of theoretical possibilities. We argue that this landscape arises as a self-consistent extension of Everettian quantum mechanics, once the Wheeler--DeWitt path integral is allowed to sum over admissible topologies rather than being restricted to a single background. Enlarging the DeWitt sum of geometries to include all smooth manifolds supporting causal dynamics promotes the dimensionality, gauge groups, and coupling constants from fixed background inputs to dynamical variables of the sum. The functional integral requires a differentiable manifold, so the geometry terminates where curvature reaches the Planck scale and $W^{2,2}$ regularity fails; the universe originates at this boundary $\mathcal{B}_Q$ as a smooth manifold, rather than from a singularity or a pre-geometric foam. At $\mathcal{B}_Q$, the integral generates a coherent superposition of distinct topologies that branch into disjoint U-sectors, each governed by its own effective field theory, with inter-sector transitions dynamically frozen shortly after nucleation. We further identify a thermodynamic selection rule governing nucleation: the Gibbons--Hawking weight, with the free gravitational field's contribution expressed through the Bel--Robinson super-energy, favors hot, homogeneous, low-Weyl seeds. This furnishes a dynamical realization of Penrose's Weyl curvature hypothesis and supplies Big-Bang-like initial conditions without a separate inflationary potential. The topological multiverse is, in this view, not imposed but implicit in Everettian quantum mechanics applied to a gravitational sum over geometries.

gr-qc

Cosmicflows-3: Cosmography of the Local Void

Cosmicflows-3 distances and inferred peculiar velocities of galaxies have permitted the reconstruction of the structure of over and under densities within the volume extending to 0.05c. This study focuses on the under dense regions, particularly the Local Void that lies largely in the zone of obscuration and consequently has received limited attention. Major over dense structures that bound the Local Void are the Perseus-Pisces and Norma-Pavo-Indus filaments separated by 8,500 km/s. The void network of the universe is interconnected and void passages are found from the Local Void to the adjacent very large Hercules and Sculptor voids. Minor filaments course through voids. A particularly interesting example connects the Virgo and Perseus clusters, with several substantial galaxies found along the chain in the depths of the Local Void. The Local Void has a substantial dynamical effect, causing a deviant motion of the Local Group of 200-250 km/s. The combined perturbations due to repulsion from the Local Void and attraction toward the Virgo Cluster account for about 50% of the motion of the Local Group in the rest frame given by the cosmic microwave background.

astro-ph.CO