Topic Review
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Astronomy & Astrophysics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. The journal is run by a Board of Directors representing 27 sponsoring countries plus a representative of the European Southern Observatory. The main editors of A&A are the editor-in-chief,  Thierry Forveille (fr); the Letters editor-in-chief, João Alves; and the managing editor David Elbaz. The journal is published by EDP Sciences in 12 issues per year. With an impact factor of 5.802 (2020), A&A is one of the most important academic journals in its field. Several sections of the journal are available in Open Access, and the latest issue is also available for free online reading on the journal website.
  • 417
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Astronomy in the Medieval Islamic World
Islamic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age (9th–13th centuries), and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and North Africa, and later in the Far East and India. It closely parallels the genesis of other Islamic sciences in its assimilation of foreign material and the amalgamation of the disparate elements of that material to create a science with Islamic characteristics. These included Greek, Sassanid, and Indian works in particular, which were translated and built upon. Islamic astronomy played a significant role in the revival of Byzantine and European astronomy following the loss of knowledge during the early medieval period, notably with the production of Latin translations of Arabic works during the 12th century. Islamic astronomy also had an influence on Chinese astronomy and Malian astronomy. A significant number of stars in the sky, such as Aldebaran, Altair and Deneb, and astronomical terms such as alidade, azimuth, and nadir, are still referred to by their Arabic names. A large corpus of literature from Islamic astronomy remains today, numbering approximately 10,000 manuscripts scattered throughout the world, many of which have not been read or catalogued. Even so, a reasonably accurate picture of Islamic activity in the field of astronomy can be reconstructed.
  • 10.3K
  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Astrophotonic Spectrographs
Astrophotonics is the application of photonic technologies to channel, manipulate, and disperse light from one or more telescopes to achieve scientific objectives in astronomy in an efficient and cost-effective way. Utilizing photonic advantage for astronomical spectroscopy is a promising approach to miniaturizing the next generation of spectrometers for large telescopes. 
  • 630
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that employs the principles of physics and chemistry "to ascertain the nature of the astronomical objects, rather than their positions or motions in space". Among the objects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Emissions from these objects are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists apply concepts and methods from many disciplines of physics, including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics. In practice, modern astronomical research often involves a substantial amount of work in the realms of theoretical and observational physics. Some areas of study for astrophysicists include their attempts to determine the properties of dark matter, dark energy, black holes, and other celestial bodies; whether or not time travel is possible, wormholes can form, or the multiverse exists; and the origin and ultimate fate of the universe. Topics also studied by theoretical astrophysicists include Solar System formation and evolution; stellar dynamics and evolution; galaxy formation and evolution; magnetohydrodynamics; large-scale structure of matter in the universe; origin of cosmic rays; general relativity, special relativity, quantum and physical cosmology, including string cosmology and astroparticle physics.
  • 1.1K
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Astrophysics Data System
The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is an online database of over 16 million astronomy and physics papers from both peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed sources. Abstracts are available free online for almost all articles, and full scanned articles are available in Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) and Portable Document Format (PDF) for older articles. It was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and is managed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ADS is a powerful research tool and has had a significant impact on the efficiency of astronomical research since it was launched in 1992. Literature searches that previously would have taken days or weeks can now be carried out in seconds via the ADS search engine, which is custom-built for astronomical needs. Studies have found that the benefit to astronomy of the ADS is equivalent to several hundred million US dollars annually, and the system is estimated to have tripled the readership of astronomical journals. Use of ADS is almost universal among astronomers worldwide, and therefore ADS usage statistics can be used to analyze global trends in astronomical research. These studies have revealed that the amount of research an astronomer carries out is related to the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of the country in which he/she is based, and that the number of astronomers in a country is proportional to the GDP of that country, so the total amount of research done in a country is proportional to the square of its GDP divided by its population.
  • 532
  • 28 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Asymmetric Conductivity in Heavy-Fermion Metals
We consider the time reversal T and particle-antiparticle C symmetries that, being most fundamental, can be violated at microscopic level by a weak interaction. The notable example here is from condensed matter, where strongly correlated Fermi systems like HF metals and high-Tc superconductors (or HF compounds) exhibit C and T symmetries violation due to the so-called non-Fermi liquid (NFL) behavior rather than to microscopic inter-particle interaction. When a HF compound is near the topological fermion condensation quantum phase transition (FCQPT), it exhibits the NFL properties, so that the C symmetry breaks down, making the differential tunneling conductivity to be an asymmetric function of the bias voltage V. This asymmetry does not take place in normal metals, where Landau Fermi liquid (LFL) theory holds. Under the application of magnetic field, a HF compound transits to the LFL state, and σ(V) becomes symmetric function of V. These findings are in good agreement with experimental observations. We suggest that the same topological FCQPT defines the baryon asymmetry in the Universe. Thus, the most fundamental features of the nature are defined by its topological and symmetry properties.
  • 2.0K
  • 29 Apr 2021
Topic Review
AT2018cow
Coordinates: 16h 16m 00.2242 s, +22° 16′ 04.890 ″ AT2018cow (ATLAS name: ATLAS18qqn; also known as Supernova 2018cow, SN 2018cow, and "The Cow") was a very powerful astronomical explosion, 10 – 100 times brighter than a normal supernova, spatially coincident with galaxy CGCG 137-068, approximately 200 million ly (60 million pc) distant in the Hercules constellation. It was first detected on 16 June 2018 by the ATLAS-HKO telescope, and had generated significant interest among astronomers throughout the world. Later, on 10 July 2018, and after AT2018cow had significantly faded, astronomers, based on followup studies with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), formally described AT2018cow as SN 2018cow, a type Ib supernova, showing an "unprecedented spectrum for a supernova of this class"; although others, mostly at first but also more recently, have referred to it as a type Ic-BL supernova. An explanation to help better understand the unique features of AT2018cow has been presented.
  • 444
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Atmospheric Transparency at Candidate Sites for Sub-Millimeter-Wave Telescopes
Radio astronomical observations at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths are a very important tool for astrophysical research. However, there is a huge area in northeastern Eurasia, including the whole Russian territory, which lacks sufficiently large radio telescopes effectively operating at these wavelengths. 
  • 190
  • 03 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Atmospheric-pressure Chemical Ionization
Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) is an ionization method used in mass spectrometry which utilizes gas-phase ion-molecule reactions at atmospheric pressure (105 Pa), commonly coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). APCI is a soft ionization method similar to chemical ionization where primary ions are produced on a solvent spray. The main usage of APCI is for polar and relatively less polar thermally stable compounds with molecular weight less than 1500 Da. The application of APCI with HPLC has gained a large popularity in trace analysis detection such as steroids, pesticides and also in pharmacology for drug metabolites.
  • 1.6K
  • 01 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Atom Chips for Absolute Gravity Sensors
As a powerful tool in scientific research and industrial technologies, the cold atom absolute gravity sensor (CAGS) based on cold atom interferometry has been proven to be the most promising new generation high-precision absolute gravity sensor. However, large size, heavy weight, and high–power consumption are still the main restriction factors of CAGS being applied for practical applications on mobile platforms. Combined with cold atom chips, it is possible to drastically reduce the complexity, weight, and size of CAGS.
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  • 07 Jun 2023
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