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N. Martin

Publications and source records attributed to N. Martin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

The metal-poor tail of the APOGEE survey I. Uncovering [Fe/H] < -2.5 stars from the inner Galaxy to the Magellanic Clouds

In the search for metal-poor stars, large spectroscopic surveys are an invaluable tool. However, the spectra of metal-poor stars can be difficult to analyse because of the relative lack of available lines, which can also lead to misclassification. We aim to identify the stars observed by the APOGEE survey that are below the metallicity limit of APOGEE's analysis. For the highest confidence candidates, we classify the orbital properties of the stars to investigate whether their orbital distribution matches what we would expect for stars that are this metal poor and to select especially interesting targets for spectroscopic follow-up purposes. We examined the properties derived by APOGEE for metal-poor stars from the literature to find signatures of stars with a metallicity below the range of the grid used for spectral analysis. The calibrated APOGEE stellar parameters provide a clear signature of the most metal-poor stars in the survey, indicated by null values for their metallicities while having effective temperatures and surface gravities determined by the pipeline. From comparison with the literature, we find that, within a temperature range of 3700 - 6700 K and above a threshold of S/N > 30, the vast majority of APOGEE stars without calibrated metallicities are very metal poor. The radial velocities provided by APOGEE, Gaia DR3 positions and astrometry along with spectrophotometric distances derived in this work allowed for the computation of their orbits. In this work, we select 289 very metal-poor red giant stars (likely below = -2.5) from the APOGEE results. Our sample contains 16 very metal-poor member candidates of the Magellanic Clouds, 14 very metal-poor stars with orbits confined to the inner Galaxy, and 13 inner Galaxy halo interlopers.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2026

The metal-poor tail of the APOGEE survey II. Spectral analysis of Mg and Si in very metal-poor APOGEE spectra

H-band spectra contain very limited spectral information for stars at the most metal-poor tail ( Fe/H < -2.5) because the available Fe lines in FGK stars in this wavelength range are weak. The first paper in this series successfully identified a sample of 327 very metal-poor stars (with [Fe/H] < -2) from the APOGEE database, 289 of which are on the red giant branch. The spectra of these stars were not properly analysed by the APOGEE main pipeline because they are very metal poor. In this work, we measure metallicities for these stars using the abundances of the elements Mg and Si. We demonstrate that the absorption lines of the elements Mg and Si are of good quality despite the challenging combination of (low) metallicity, wavelength regime, spectral resolution, and signal-to-noise ratios available for these spectra. A specialised pipeline was designed to measure the abundance of Mg and Si in APOGEE spectra and yielded a robust estimate of the overall metallicity. In order to provide reliable measurements, we tested three different sets of assumptions for Mg and Si enhancement. We present Mg and Si abundances as well as overall metallicities for 327 stars, all of which had previously gotten null values from the main APOGEE pipeline for either the calibrated M/H or [Fe/H] . The typical uncertainties for our measurements are 0.2 dex. We found five stars in our sample with unusual [Si/Mg] abundances higher than 0.5, and we connect this signature to globular cluster stars, and this might be related to specific supernova events. Our data suggest a concentration of high [Si/Mg] stars in the Sextans dwarf galaxy. Other dwarf galaxies are found to agree well with results in the literature. Our derived metallicities range between -3.1 $\leq$ [M/H] $\leq$ -2.25, thereby pushing the metal-poor tail of APOGEE results down by 0.6 dex.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2025

Low Temperature Formation of Crystalline VO2 Domains in Porous 1 Nanocolumnar Thin Films for Thermochromic Applications

The formation of VO2 crystalline domains in amorphous substoichiometric nanocolumnar VOx thin films subjected to an oxidation process at temperatures below 300{\deg}C has been studied. It is obtained that values of [O]/[V] above 1.9 lead to the sole formation of V2O5 after oxidation, while values below 1.9 favor the formation of VO2, V3O7 and V2O5 crystalline domains for temperatures as low as 260{\deg}C. Moreover, it is found that the adsorption of oxygen and its incorporation into the film network produce a relevant volume expansion in a so-called swelling mechanism that makes pores shrink. Under some specific conditions, the low temperature oxidation does not only trigger the formation of VO2 domains but also a drastic reduction of oxygen-deficient amorphous VOx in the films, which clearly improves the overall transparency and thermochromic modulation capabilities. The changes in the optical and electrical properties of these films during the metal-insulator transition have been studied, finding the best performance when the stoichiometry of the film before oxidation is [O]/[V]=1.5 and the oxidation temperature 280{\deg}C. These conditions yield a relatively transparent coating that presents an optical modulation in the near-infrared range of nearly 50% and a drop of electrical resistivity of more than two orders of magnitude. A tentative model based on the volume increase experienced by film upon oxidation is proposed to link the structural/chemical features of the films and the formation of VO2 domains at such relatively low temperatures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2025

A Pristine-UNIONS view on the Galaxy: Kinematics of the distant spur feature of the Sagittarius stream traced by Blue Horizontal Branch stars

Providing a detailed picture of the Sagittarius (Sgr) stream offers important constraints on the build-up of the Galactic halo as well as its gravitational potential at large radii. While several attempts have been made to model the structure of the Sgr stream, no model has yet been able to match all the features observed for the stream. Moreover, for several of these features, observational characterisation of their properties is rather limited, particularly at large distances. The aim of this work is to investigate the kinematics of the Sgr stream outermost spur feature using blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars. Candidate BHB stars were selected by combining two approaches; one capitalising on Pan-STARRS1 3$\Pi$ griz and u photometry taken as part of UNIONS, the other using Pristine Survey CaHK and SDSS ugr photometry. Follow-up optical spectra are obtained using ESO/VLT/FORS2 to confirm their BHB nature and obtain line-of-sight (LOS) velocities. Of our 25 candidates, 20 stars can be confirmed as bona fide BHB stars. Their LOS velocities, together with the 3D positions of these stars qualitatively match well with Sgr model predictions and trace the outer apocentre of the trailing arm and its spur feature very nicely. The quantitative offsets that are found between our data and the different models can be used to provide information about the Galactic gravitational potential at large distances. We present a first, tentative, analysis in this direction, showing that the model of Vasiliev et al. (2021) would provide better agreement with our observations if the enclosed mass of the Milky Way within 100 kpc were lowered to $(5.3\!\pm\!0.4)\!\times\!10^{11}$ M$_\odot$ (versus $(5.6\!\pm\!0.4)\!\times\!10^{11}$ M$_\odot$). Our selection of BHB stars provides a new view on the outermost structure in 3D positions and LOS velocities of the Sgr debris.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2025

The Hubble Space Telescope Survey of M31 Satellite Galaxies IV. Survey Overview and Lifetime Star Formation Histories

From $>1000$ orbits of HST imaging, we present deep homogeneous resolved star color-magnitude diagrams that reach the oldest main sequence turnoff and uniformly measured star formation histories (SFHs) of 36 dwarf galaxies ($-6 \ge M_V \ge -17$) associated with the M31 halo, and for 10 additional fields in M31, M33, and the Giant Stellar Stream. From our SFHs we find: i) the median stellar age and quenching epoch of M31 satellites correlate with galaxy luminosity and galactocentric distance. Satellite luminosity and present-day distance from M31 predict the satellite quenching epoch to within $1.8$ Gyr at all epochs. This tight relationship highlights the fundamental connection between satellite halo mass, environmental history, and star formation duration. ii) There is no difference between the median SFH of galaxies on and off the great plane of Andromeda satellites. iii) $\sim50$\% of our M31 satellites show prominent ancient star formation ($>12$ Gyr ago) followed by delayed quenching ($8-10$ Gyr ago), which is not commonly observed among the MW satellites. iv) A comparison with TNG50 and FIRE-2 simulated satellite dwarfs around M31-like hosts show that some of these trends (dependence of SFH on satellite luminosity) are reproduced in the simulations while others (dependence of SFH on galactocentric distance, presence of the delayed-quenching population) are weaker or absent. We provide all photometric catalogs and SFHs as High-Level Science Products on MAST.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2024

The Pristine survey. XXVI. Chemical abundances of subgiant stars of the extremelymetal-poor stream C-19

Context: The C-19 stellar stream is the most metal-poor stream known to date. While its width and velocity dispersion indicate a dwarf galaxy origin, its metallicity spread and abundance patterns are more similar to those of globular clusters (GCs). If it is indeed of GC origin, its extremely low metallicity ([Fe/H]=-3.4, estimated from giant stars) implies that these stellar systems can form out of gas that is as extremely poor in metals as this. Previously, only giant stream stars were observed spectroscopically, although the majority of stream stars are unevolved stars. Aims: We pushed the spectroscopic observations to the subgiant branch stars ($G\approx 20$) in order to consolidate the chemical and dynamical properties of C-19. Methods: We used the high-efficiency spectrograph X-shooter fed by the ESO 8.2 m VLT telescope to observe 15 candidate subgiant C-19 members. The spectra were used to measure radial velocities and to determine chemical abundances using the \mygi\ code. Results; We developed a likelihood model that takes metallicity and radial velocities into account. We conclude that 12 stars are likely members of C-19, while 3 stars (S05, S12, and S13) are likely contaminants. When these 3 stars are excluded, our model implies a mean metallicity $\rm \langle [Fe/H]\rangle = -3.1\pm 0.1$, the mean radial velocity is $\langle v_r\rangle = -192\pm3$ kms$^{-1}$, and the velocity dispersion is $\sigma_{vr} = 5.9^{+3.6}_{-5.9}$ kms$^{-1}$. This all agrees within errors with previous studies. The A(Mg) of a sample of 15 C-19 members, including 6 giant stars, shows a standard deviation of 0.44 dex, and the mean uncertainty on Mg is 0.25 dex. Conclusions: Our preferred interpretation of the current data is that C-19 is a disrupted GC. We cannot completely rule out the possibility that the GC could have belonged to a dwarf galaxy that contained more metal-rich stars, however. This scenario would explain the radial velocity members at higher metallicity, as well as the width and velocity dispersion of the stream. In either case, a GC formed out of gas as poor in metals as these stars seems necessary to explain the existence of C-19. The possibility that no GC was associated with C-19 cannot be ruled out either.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2024

Controlling coherence between waveguide-coupled quantum dots

We present a novel waveguide design that incorporates a split-diode structure, allowing independent electrical control of transition energies of multiple emitters over a wide range with minimal loss in waveguide coupling efficiency. We use this design to systematically map out the transition from superradiant to independent emission from two quantum dots. We perform both lifetime as well as Hanbury Brown-Twiss measurements on the device, observing anti-dips in the photon coincidences indicating collective emission while at the same time observing a drop in lifetime around zero detuning, indicating superradiant behaviour. Performing both measurement types allows us to investigate detuning regions which show both superradiant rate enhancement and inter-emitter coherence, as well as regions in which correlations persist in the absence of rate enhancement.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

The Two-Particle Self-Consistent Approach for Multiorbital models: application to the Emery model

The Emery model, or three-band Hubbard model, is a Hamiltonian that is thought to contain much of the physics of cuprate superconductors. This model includes two noninteracting $p$ orbitals and one interacting $d$ orbital per unit cell. Few methods that can solve multiorbital interacting Hamiltonians reliably and efficiently exist. Here, we introduce an application of the two particle self-consistent (TPSC) approach to the Emery model. We construct this method within the framework of the TPSC+DMFT method, which can be seen as a way to introduce nonlocal corrections to dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). We show that interacting orbital densities, rather than the noninteracting ones, must be used in the calculations. For the Emery model, we find that at constant bare interaction $U$, the vertex for spin fluctuations, $U_{sp}$, decreases rapidly with filling. This may be one of the factors that contributes to electron-doped cuprates appearing less correlated than hole-doped ones. More generally, our work opens the road to the application of the TPSC approach to spin fluctuations in multiorbital models.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2023

The Hubble Space Telescope Survey of M31 Satellite Galaxies II. The Star Formation Histories of Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies

We present the lifetime star formation histories (SFHs) for six ultra-faint dwarf (UFD; $M_V>-7.0$, $ 4.9<\log_{10}({M_*(z=0)}/{M_{\odot}})<5.5$) satellite galaxies of M31 based on deep color-magnitude diagrams constructed from \textit{Hubble Space Telescope} imaging. These are the first SFHs obtained from the oldest main sequence turn-off of UFDs outside the halo of the Milky Way (MW). We find that five UFDs formed at least 50\% of their stellar mass by $z=5$ (12.6~Gyr ago), similar to known UFDs around the MW, but that 10-40\% of their stellar mass formed at later times. We uncover one remarkable UFD, \A{XIII}, which formed only 10\% of its stellar mass by $z=5$, and 75\% in a rapid burst at $z\sim2-3$, a result that is robust to choices of underlying stellar model and is consistent with its predominantly red horizontal branch. This "young" UFD is the first of its kind and indicates that not all UFDs are necessarily quenched by reionization, which is consistent with predictions from several cosmological simulations of faint dwarf galaxies. SFHs of the combined MW and M31 samples suggest reionization did not homogeneously quench UFDs. We find that the least massive MW UFDs ($M_*(z=5) \lesssim 5\times10^4 M_{\odot}$) are likely quenched by reionization, whereas more massive M31 UFDs ($M_*(z=5) \gtrsim 10^5 M_{\odot}$) may only have their star formation suppressed by reionization and quench at a later time. We discuss these findings in the context of the evolution and quenching of UFDs.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2022

Nonlocal corrections to dynamical mean-field theory from the two-particle self-consistent method

Theoretical methods that are accurate for both short-distance observables and long-wavelength collective modes are still being developed for the Hubbard model. Here, we benchmark an approach that combines dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) observables with the two-particle self-consistent theory (TPSC). This offers a way to include non-local correlations in DMFT while also improving TPSC. The benchmarks are published diagrammatic quantum Monte Carlo results for the two-dimensional square lattice Hubbard model with nearest-neighbor hopping. This method (TPSC+DMFT) is relevant for weak to intermediate interaction, satisfies the local Pauli principle and allows us to compute a spin susceptibility that satisfies the Mermin-Wagner theorem. The DMFT double occupancy determines the spin and charge vertices through local spin and charge sum rules. The TPSC self-energy is also improved by replacing its local part with the local DMFT self-energy. With this method, we find improvements for both spin and charge fluctuations and for the self-energy. We also find that the accuracy check developed for TPSC is a good predictor of deviations from benchmarks for this model. TPSC+DMFT can be used in regimes where quantum Monte Carlo is inaccessible. In addition, this method paves the way to multi-band generalizations of TPSC that could be used in advanced electronic structure codes that include DMFT.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2022

Split of the magnetic and crystallographic states in Fe$_{1-x}$Rh$_{x}$Ge

We report on a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of Fe$_{1-x}$Rh$_{x}$Ge compounds, within the entire concentration range $x \in \left[0.0 - 1.0\right]$, using X-Ray diffraction, small-angle neutron scattering, magnetometry and theoretical calculations. While FeGe and RhGe are single phase helimagnet and unconventional superconductor, respectively, an internal splitting of the crystallographic and magnetic states is found for intermediate compositions $x \in \left[0.2 - 0.9\right]$. A theoretical analysis of the stability of the two detected phases, together with the experimental data, indicate that this splitting preserves a common space group and occurs within single crystallites. Despite their apparent similarity, these two phases however display different magnetic structures, with distinct ferro- and helimagnetic character.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2021

The Pristine survey -- XV. A CFHT ESPaDOnS view on the Milky Way halo and disc populations

We present a one-dimensional, local thermodynamic equilibrium (1D-LTE) homogeneous analysis of 132 stars observed at high-resolution with ESPaDOnS. This represents the largest sample observed at high resolution (R$\sim$40,000) from the Pristine survey. This sample is based on the first version of the Pristine catalog and covers the full range of metallicities from [Fe/H]$\sim -3$ to $\sim +0.25$, with nearly half of our sample (58 stars) composed of very metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] $\le$ $-$2). This wide range of metallicities provides the opportunity of a new detailed study of the Milky Way stellar population. Because it includes both dwarf and giant stars, it also enables the analysis of any potential bias induced by the Pristine selection process. Based on Gaia EDR3, the orbital analysis of this Pristine$-$Espadons sample shows that it is composed of 65 halo stars and 67 disc stars. After a general assessment of the sample chemical properties with the $\alpha$-elements Mg and Ca, we focus on the abundance of carbon and the neutron capture elements Ba and Sr. While most of our very metal-poor subsample is carbon normal, we also find that 14 stars out of the 38 stars with [Fe/H] $\leq$ $-$2 and measured carbon abundances turn out to be carbon enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars. We show that these CEMP stars are nearly exclusively (i.e. 12 stars out of 14) in the regime of low luminosity, unevolved, dwarf stars, which we interpret as the consequence of bias of the Pristine filter against C-rich giants. Among the very metal-poor (VMP) stars, we identify 2 CEMP stars with no enhancement in neutron-capture process elements (CEMP-no) and another one enriched in s-process element (CEMP-s). Finally, one VMP star is found with a very low [Sr/Fe] abundance ratio for its metallicity, as expected if it had been accreted from an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2021

Empirical phi-divergence test statistics in the logistic regression model

In this paper we apply divergence measures to empirical likelihood applied to logistic regression models. We define a family of empirical test statistics based on divergence measures, called empirical phi-divergence test statistics, extending the empirical likelihood ratio test. We study the asymptotic distribution of these empirical test statistics, showing that it is the same for all the test statistics in this family, and the same as the classical empirical likelihood ratio test. Next, we study the power function for the members in this family, showing that the empirical phi-divergence tests introduced in the paper are consistent in the Fraser sense. In order to compare the differences in behavior among the empirical phi-divergence test statistics in this new family, considered for the first time in this paper, we carry out a simulation study.

math.ST↗
arXiv2021

Field-induced vortex-like textures as a probe of the critical line in reentrant spin glasses

We study the evolution of the low-temperature field-induced magnetic defects observed under an applied magnetic field in a series of frustrated amorphous ferromagnets (Fe$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$)$_{75}$P$_{16}$B$_{3}$Al$_{3}$ (a-FeMn). Combining small-angle neutron scattering and Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the morphology of these defects resemble that of quasi-bidimensional spin vortices. They are observed in the reentrant spin-glass (RSG) phase, up to the critical concentration $x_{\rm C} \approx 0.36$ which separates the RSG and "true" spin glass (SG) within the low temperature part of the magnetic phase diagram of a-FeMn. These vortices systematically decrease in size with increasing magnetic field or decreasing the average exchange interaction, and they finally disappear in the SG sample ($x = 0.41$), being replaced by field-induced correlations over finite length scales. We argue that the study of these nanoscopic defects could be used to probe the nature of the critical line between the RSG and SG phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2020

MOONS Surveys of the Milky Way and its Satellites

The study of resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way and other Local Group galaxies can provide us with a fossil record of their chemo-dynamical and star-formation histories over timescales of many billions of years. In the galactic components and stellar systems of the Milky Way and its satellites, individual stars can be resolved. Therefore, they represent a unique laboratory in which to investigate the details of the processes behind the formation and evolution of the disc and dwarf/irregular galaxies. MOONS at the VLT represents a unique combination of an efficient infrared multi-object spectrograph and a large-aperture 8-m-class telescope which will sample the cool stellar populations of the dense central regions of the Milky Way and its satellites, delivering accurate radial velocities, metallicities, and other chemical abundances for several millions of stars over its lifetime (see Cirasuolo et al., this issue). MOONS will observe up to 1000 targets across a 25-arcminute field of view in the optical and near-infrared (0.6-1.8 micron) simultaneously. A high-resolution (R~19700) setting in the H band has been designed for the accurate determination of stellar abundances such as alpha, light, iron-peak and neutron-capture elements.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2020

Anisotropic fractal magnetic domain pattern in bulk Mn$_{1.4}$PtSn

The tetragonal compound Mn$_{1.4}$PtSn with the $D_{2d}$ symmetry recently attracted attention as the first known material that hosts magnetic antiskyrmions, which differ from the so far known skyrmions by their internal structure. The latter have been found in a number of magnets with the chiral crystal structure. In previous works, the existence of antiskyrmions in Mn$_{1.4}$PtSn was unambiguously demonstrated in real space by means of Lorentz transmission electron microscopy on thin-plate samples ($\sim$100~nm thick). In the present study, we used small-angle neutron scattering and magnetic force microscopy to perform reciprocal- and real-space imaging of the magnetic texture of bulk Mn$_{1.4}$PtSn single-crystals at different temperatures and in applied magnetic field. We found that the magnetic texture in the bulk differs significantly from that of thin-plate samples. Instead of spin helices or an antiskyrmion lattice, we observe an anisotropic fractal magnetic pattern of closure domains in zero field above the spin-reorientation transition temperature, which transforms into a set of bubble domains in high field. Below the spin-reorientation transition temperature the strong in-plane anisotropy as well as the fractal self-affinity in zero field is gradually lost, while the formation of bubble domains in high field remains robust. The results of our study highlight the importance of dipole-dipole interactions in thin-plate samples for the stabilization of antiskyrmions and identify criteria which should guide the search for potential (anti)skyrmion host materials. Moreover, they provide consistent interpretations of the previously reported magnetotransport anomalies of the bulk crystals.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2020

Power divergence approach for one-shot device testing under competing risks

Most work on one-shot devices assume that there is only one possible cause of device failure. However, in practice, it is often the case that the products under study can experience any one of various possible causes of failure. Robust estimators and Wald-type tests are developed here for the case of one-shot devices under competing risks. An extensive simulation study illustrates the robustness of these divergence-based estimators and test procedures based on them. A data-driven procedure is proposed for choosing the optimal estimator for any given data set which is then applied to an example in the context of survival analysis.

stat.AP↗