Related papers: Artificial intelligence and quasar absorption syst…
(abridged) We present a new analysis of a large sample of quasar absorption-line spectra obtained using UVES (the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph) on the VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile. In the VLT sample (154 absorbers), we…
Recent detections of high-redshift absorption by both atomic hydrogen and molecular gas in the radio spectra of quasars have provided a powerful tool to measure possible temporal and spatial variations of physical `constants' in the…
The weather and climate domains are undergoing a significant transformation thanks to advances in AI-based foundation models such as FourCastNet, GraphCast, ClimaX and Pangu-Weather. While these models show considerable potential, they are…
Nine quasar absorption spectra at 21-cm and UV rest-wavelengths are used to estimate possible variations in x=alpha^2 g_p mu, (alpha is the fine structure constant, g_p the proton g-factor and mu=me/mp the electron-to-proton mass ratio). We…
Observations of metal absorption systems in the spectra of distant quasars allow to constrain a possible variation of the fine-structure constant throughout the history of the Universe. Such a test poses utmost demands on the wavelength…
Sampling is a fundamental aspect of any implementation of compressive sensing. Typically, the choice of sampling method is guided by the reconstruction basis. However, this approach can be problematic with respect to certain hardware…
The data analysis software (DAS) for VLT ESPRESSO is aimed to set a new benchmark in the treatment of spectroscopic data towards the extremely-large-telescope era, providing carefully designed, fully interactive recipes to take care of…
To use strong gravitational lenses as an astrophysical or cosmological probe, models of their mass distributions are often needed. We present a new, time-efficient automation code for uniform modeling of strongly lensed quasars with GLEE, a…
The main purpose of this work is to improve the existing knowledge about the most powerful engines in the Universe - quasars. Although a lot is already known, we still have only a vague idea how these engines work exactly, why they behave…
Machine learning techniques are utilised in several areas of astrophysical research today. This dissertation addresses the application of ML techniques to two classes of problems in astrophysics, namely, the analysis of individual…
Quasars accreting at very high rates are believed to be prime movers of galactic evolution because of their high radiative and mechanical output. The study presented in this paper investigates a sample of six highly accreting quasars at…
Forthcoming astronomical surveys are expected to detect new sources in such large numbers that measuring their spectroscopic redshift measurements will be not be practical. Thus, there is much interest in using machine learning to yield the…
Quasars have long been known as intrinsically variable sources, but the physical mechanism underlying the temporal optical/UV variability is still not well understood. We propose a novel nonparametric method for modeling and forecasting the…
We present a new `supercalibration' technique for measuring systematic distortions in the wavelength scales of high resolution spectrographs. By comparing spectra of `solar twin' stars or asteroids with a reference laboratory solar…
Spectra of quasars at high redshift with high resolution and high signal-to-noise allow in favorable circumstances detection of absorption by deuterium and ultimately measurement of its primordial abundance. Ultraviolet spectra of high…
Kernel Adaptive Filtering (KAF) are mathematically principled methods which search for a function in a Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space. While they work well for tasks such as time series prediction and system identification they are…
The majority of data assimilation (DA) methods in the geosciences are based on Gaussian assumptions. While these assumptions facilitate efficient algorithms, they cause analysis biases and subsequent forecast degradations. Non-parametric,…
Spectroscopy has an illustrious history delivering serendipitous discoveries and providing a stringent testbed for new physical predictions, including applications from trace materials detection, to understanding the atmospheres of stars…
We address the problem of inferring the three-dimensional matter distribution from a sparse set of one-dimensional quasar absorption spectra of the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest. Using a Bayesian forward modelling approach, we focus on extending…
Resolving transient atomic configurations in non-crystalline or dynamic environments remains a fundamental bottleneck in the physical sciences. While X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a premier probe of local structure, inverting…