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First order phase transitions are well motivated and extensively studied sources of gravitational waves (GWs) from the early Universe. The vacuum energy released during such transitions is assumed to be transferred primarily either to the expanding bubble walls, whose collisions source GWs, or to the surrounding plasma, producing sound waves and turbulence, which source GWs. [...]

Truncations of effective field theory expansions are technically necessary but inherently intertwined with the redundancies of general field redefinitions. This can be viewed as a juxtaposition of power-counting and theoretical uncertainties, which seek to estimate neglected higher-dimensional interactions through approaches based on community consensus. [...]

Cosmological first order phase transitions are a frequent phenomenon in particle physics beyond the Standard Model, and the corresponding gravitational wave signal offers a key probe of new physics in the early Universe. Depending on the underlying microphysics, the transition can exhibit either direct or inverse hydrodynamics, leading to a different phenomenology. [...]

Strong first-order phase transitions in a dark sector offer a compelling explanation for the stochastic gravitational wave background in the nano-Hertz range recently detected by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). We explore the possibility that such a phase transition at the same time gives mass to a stable fermion that accounts for the observed dark matter abundance and leads to testable effects in laboratory experiments. [...]

Passivity refers to spontaneous formation of a passive film on the surface of metals. High stability of the passive film on advanced alloys relies on the repassivation ability of the alloys in corrosive environments. [...]

FLASH irradiation, which delivers radiation at ultra-high dose rates (UHDR), has emerged as a promising approach in radiotherapy, with the potential to spare healthy tissue while maintaining tumor control—one of the major challenges in cancer treatment. FLASHlab@PITZ, an R&D platform located at the Photo Injector Test Facility in Zeuthen (PITZ) at DESY, was established for preclinical radiobiological studies, leveraging the capability of PITZ to provide electron-based UHDR irradiation with adjustable dose rates for controlled comparative experiments. [...]

This study investigates the combined effects of salinity and microplastic contamination on the evaporation process and salt crystallization in porous media through complementary column- and pore-scale experiments. Laboratory soil columns were packed with either pure sand or sand mixed with 5% (w/w) poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) microplastics and subsequently saturated with freshwater or saline (NaCl) solution. [...]

Crown ether–amino acid hybrids represent a promising class of amphiphilic molecules combining ionrecognition with self-assembly capabilities. Despite extensive studies on their binding properties, theinfluence of inorganic salt complexation on their liquid crystalline behaviour remains underexplored.Here we synthesized amphiphilic [18]-crown-6 derivatives of L-dihydroxyphenylalanine and tetrahydroisoquinolineanalogues, systematically investigating the effects of alkyl chain length and salt type onmesophase formation. [...]