As LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA enters its fourth observing run, a new opportunity to search for electromagnetic counterparts of compact object mergers will also begin. The light curves and spectra from the first "kilonova" associated with a binary neutron star merger (NSM) suggests that these sites are hosts of the rapid neutron capture ("r") process. However, it is unknown just how robust elemental production can be in mergers. Identifying signposts of the production of particular nuclei is critical for fully understanding merger-driven heavy-element synthesis. In this study, we investigate the properties of very neutron-rich nuclei for which superheavy elements (Z & GE; 104) can be produced in NSMs and whether they can similarly imprint a unique signature on kilonova light-curve evolution. A superheavy-element signature in kilonovae represents a route to establishing a lower limit on heavy-element production in NSMs as well as possibly being the first evidence of superheavy-element synthesis in nature. Favorable NSM conditions yield a mass fraction of superheavy elements X ( Z & GE;104) & AP; 3 x 10(-2) at 7.5 hr post-merger. With this mass fraction of superheavy elements, we find that the component of kilonova light curves possibly containing superheavy elements may appear similar to those arising from lanthanide-poor ejecta. Therefore, photometric characterizations of superheavy-element rich kilonova may possibly misidentify them as lanthanide-poor events.

Stars strongly impact their environment, and shape structures on all scales throughout the universe, in a process known as "feedback." Due to the complexity of both stellar evolution and the physics of larger astrophysical structures, there remain many unanswered questions about how feedback operates and what we can learn about stars by studying their imprint on the wider universe. In this white paper, we summarize discussions from the Lorentz Center meeting "Bringing Stellar Evolution and Feedback Together" in 2022 April and identify key areas where further dialog can bring about radical changes in how we view the relationship between stars and the universe they live in.

Thorne-.Zytkow objects (T.ZO) are potential end products of the merger of a neutron star with a non-degenerate star. In this work, we have computed the first grid of evolutionary models of T.ZOs with the MESA stellar evolution code. With these models, we predict several observational properties of T.ZOs, including their surface temperatures and luminosities, pulsation periods, and nucleosynthetic products. We expand the range of possible T.ZO solutions to cover 3.45 less than or similar to log (T (eff) /K) less than or similar to 3.65 and 4.85 less than or similar to log (L /L (circle dot)) less than or similar to 5.5. Due to the much higher densities our T.ZOs reach compared to previous models, if T.ZOs form we expect them to be stable over a larger mass range than previously predicted, without exhibiting a gap in their mass distribution. Using the GYRE stellar pulsation code we show that T. ZOs should have fundamental pulsation periods of 1000-2000 d, and period ratios of approximate to 0.2-0.3. Models computed with a large 399 isotope fully coupled nuclear network show a nucleosynthetic signal that is different to previously predicted. We propose a new nucleosynthetic signal to determine a star's status as a T. ZO: the isotopologues (44) TiO2 and (44) TiO, which will have a shift in their spectral features as compared to stable titanium-containing molecules. We find that in the local Universe (similar to SMC metallicities and above) T. ZOs show little heavy metal enrichment, potentially explaining the difficulty in finding T.ZOs to-date.

We characterize massive stars (M > 8 M (& ODOT;)) in the nearby (D & SIM; 0.8 Mpc) extremely metal-poor (Z & SIM; 5% Z (& ODOT;)) galaxy Leo A using Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet (UV), optical, and near-infrared (NIR) imaging along with Keck/Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrograph and MMT/Binospec optical spectroscopy for 18 main-sequence OB stars. We find that: (a) 12 of our 18 stars show emission lines, despite not being associated with an H ii region, suggestive of stellar activity (e.g., mass loss, accretion, binary star interaction), which is consistent with previous predictions of enhanced activity at low metallicity; (b) six are Be stars, which are the first to be spectroscopically studied at such low metallicity-these Be stars have unusual panchromatic SEDs; (c) for stars well fit by the TLUSTY nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium models, the photometric and spectroscopic values of log(Teff) log(g) & ODOT;) main-sequence star properties relative to optical spectroscopy; (d) the properties of the most-massive stars in H II regions are consistent with constraints from previous nebular emission line studies; and (e) 13 stars with M > 8M (& ODOT;) are > 40 pc from a known star cluster or H II region. Our sample comprises & SIM;50% of all known massive stars at Z & LSIM; 10% Z (& ODOT;)with derived stellar parameters, high-quality optical spectra, and panchromatic photometry.

Observations of individual massive stars, super-luminous supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and gravitational wave events involving spectacular black hole mergers indicate that the low-metallicity Universe is fundamentally different from our own Galaxy. Many transient phenomena will remain enigmatic until we achieve a firm understanding of the physics and evolution of massive stars at low metallicity (Z). The Hubble Space Telescope has devoted 500 orbits to observing similar to 250 massive stars at low Z in the ultraviolet (UV) with the COS and STIS spectrographs under the ULLYSES programme. The complementary X-Shooting ULLYSES (XShootU) project provides an enhanced legacy value with high-quality optical and near-infrared spectra obtained with the wide-wavelength coverage X-shooter spectrograph at ESO's Very Large Telescope. We present an overview of the XShootU project, showing that combining ULLYSES UV and XShootU optical spectra is critical for the uniform determination of stellar parameters such as effective temperature, surface gravity, luminosity, and abundances, as well as wind properties such as mass-loss rates as a function of Z. As uncertainties in stellar and wind parameters percolate into many adjacent areas of astrophysics, the data and modelling of the XShootU project is expected to be a game changer for our physical understanding of massive stars at low Z. To be able to confidently interpret James Webb Space Telescope spectra of the first stellar generations, the individual spectra of low-Z stars need to be understood, which is exactly where XShootU can deliver.

Recent studies of massive binaries with putative black hole companions have uncovered a phase of binary evolution that has not been observed before, featuring a bloated stripped star that very recently ceased transferring mass to a main-sequence companion. In this study, we focus on the candidate system VFTS 291, a binary with an orbital period of 108 d and a high semi-amplitude velocity ( K 1 = 93.7 +/- 0.2 km s -1). Through our analysis of the disentangled spectra of the two components, together with dynamical and evolutionary arguments, we identify a narrow-lined star of similar to 1.5-2.5 M-circle dot dominating the spectrum, and an early B-type main-sequence companion of 13.2 +/- 1.5 M-circle dot. The low mass of the narrow-lined star, and the high mass ratio, suggest that VFTS 291 is a post-mass-transfer system, with the narrow-lined star being bloated and stripped of its hydrogen-rich envelope, sharing many similarities with other recently disco v ered stripped stars. Our finding is supported by our detailed binary evolution models, which indicate that the system can be well explained by an initial configuration consisting of an 8.1 M-circle dot primary with an 8 M-circle dot companion in a 7 d orbital period. While some open questions remain, particularly concerning the surface helium enrichment of the stripped star and the rotational velocity of the companion, we expect that high-resolution spectroscopy may help reconcile our estimates with theory. Our study highlights the importance of multi-epoch spectroscopic surv e ys to identify and characterize binary interaction products, and provides important insights into the evolution of massive binary stars.

Stellar kinematics and metallicity are key to exploring formation scenarios for galactic disks and halos. In this work, we characterized the relationship between kinematics and photometric metallicity along the line of sight to M31's disk. We combined optical Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys photometry, from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury survey, with Keck/DEIMOS spectra, from the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's Stellar Halo survey. The resulting sample of 3512 individual red giant branch stars spans 4-19 projected kpc, making it a useful probe of both the disk and inner halo. We separated these stars into disk and halo populations, by modeling the line-of-sight velocity distributions as a function of position across the disk region, where similar to 73% stars have a high likelihood of belonging to the disk and similar to 14% to the halo. Although stellar halos are typically thought to be metal-poor, the kinematically identified halo contains a significant population of stars (similar to 29%) with disk-like metallicity ([Fe/H](phot) similar to -0.10). This metal-rich halo population lags the gaseous disk to a similar extent as the rest of the halo, indicating that it does not correspond to a canonical thick disk. Its properties are inconsistent with those of tidal debris originating from the Giant Stellar Stream merger event. Moreover, the halo is chemically distinct from the phase-mixed component previously identified along the minor axis (i.e., away from the disk), implying contributions from different formation channels. These metal-rich halo stars provide direct chemodynamical evidence in favor of the previously suggested "kicked-up" disk population in M31's inner stellar halo.

We examine the azimuthal variations in gas-phase metallicity profiles in simulated Milky Way-mass disc galaxies from the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE-2) cosmological zoom-in simulation suite, which includes a sub-grid turbulent metal mixing model. We produce spatially resolved maps of the discs at z approximate to 0 with pixel sizes ranging from 250 to 750 pc, analogous to modern integral field unit galaxy surveys, mapping the gas-phase metallicities in both the cold and dense gas and the ionized gas correlated with H ii regions. We report that the spiral arms alternate in a pattern of metal rich and metal poor relative to the median metallicity of the order of less than or similar to 0.1 dex, appearing generally in this sample of flocculent spirals. The pattern persists even in a simulation with different strengths of metal mixing, indicating that the pattern emerges from physics above the sub-grid scale. Local enrichment does not appear to be the dominant source of the azimuthal metallicity variations at z approximate to 0: there is no correlation with local star formation on these spatial scales. Rather, the arms are moving radially inwards and outwards relative to each other, carrying their local metallicity gradients with them radially before mixing into the larger-scale interstellar medium. We propose that the arms act as freeways channeling relatively metal poor gas radially inwards, and relatively enriched gas radially outwards.

We present spectroscopic chemical abundances of red giant branch stars in Andromeda (M31), using medium-resolution (R & SIM; 6000) spectra obtained via the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's Stellar Halo survey. In addition to individual chemical abundances, we coadd low signal-to-noise ratio spectra of stars to obtain a high enough signal to measure average [Fe/H] and [& alpha;/Fe] abundances. We obtain individual and coadded measurements for [Fe/H] and [& alpha;/Fe] for M31 halo stars, covering a range of 9-180 kpc in projected radius from the center of M31. With these measurements, we greatly increase the number of outer halo (R (proj) > 50 kpc) M31 stars with spectroscopic [Fe/H] and [& alpha;/Fe], adding abundance measurements for 45 individual stars and 33 coadds from a pool of an additional 174 stars. We measure the spectroscopic metallicity ([Fe/H]) gradient, finding a negative radial gradient of -0.0084 & PLUSMN; 0.0008 for all stars in the halo, consistent with gradient measurements obtained using photometric metallicities. Using the first measurements of [& alpha;/Fe] for M31 halo stars covering a large range of projected radii, we find a positive gradient (+0.0027 & PLUSMN; 0.0005) in [& alpha;/Fe] as a function of projected radius. We also explore the distribution in [Fe/H]-[& alpha;/Fe] space as a function of projected radius for both individual and coadded measurements in the smooth halo, and compare these measurements to those stars potentially associated with substructure. These spectroscopic abundance distributions add to existing evidence that M31 has had an appreciably different formation and merger history compared to our own Galaxy.

The Halo Assembly in Lambda Cold Dark Matter: Observations in 7 Dimensions (HALO7D) survey measures the kinematics and chemical properties of stars in the Milky Way (MW) stellar halo to learn about the formation of our Galaxy. HALO7D consists of Keck II/DEIMOS spectroscopy and Hubble Space Telescope-measured proper motions of MW halo main-sequence turnoff stars in the four Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey fields. HALO7D consists of deep pencil beams, making it complementary to other contemporary wide-field surveys. We present the [Fe/H] and [& alpha;/Fe] abundances for 113 HALO7D stars in the Galactocentric radial range of & SIM;10-40 kpc along four separate pointings. Using the full 7D chemodynamical data (3D positions, 3D velocities, and abundances) of HALO7D, we measure the velocity anisotropy, & beta;, of the halo velocity ellipsoid for each field and for different metallicity-binned subsamples. We find that two of the four fields have stars on very radial orbits, while the remaining two have stars on more isotropic orbits. Separating the stars into high-, mid-, and low-[Fe/H] bins at -2.2 and -1.1 dex for each field separately, we find differences in the anisotropies between the fields and between the bins; some fields appear dominated by radial orbits in all bins, while other fields show variation between the [Fe/H] bins. These chemodynamical differences are evidence that the HALO7D fields have different fractional contributions from the progenitors that built up the MW stellar halo. Our results highlight the additional information available on smaller spatial scales compared to results from a spherical average of the stellar halo.