February 2026 – Page 9 – Kavli Institute Pre-Print Publications

Functional connectivity profile of the amygdala subfields associates with emotional well-being in aging

Posted by dbos February 18, 2026February 23, 2026NTNU

Kavli Affiliate: Maryam Ziaei and Menno Witter | Authors: Shuer Ye, Arjun Dave, Xiaqing Lan, Menno P. Witter, Alireza Salami and Maryam Ziaei | Summary: Amygdala-related functional connectivity plays a crucial role in human emotion, cognition, and mental well-being. The amygdala is a highly heterogeneous structure, with subregions that have both distinct and overlapping functions. […]

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X-ray Spectral-Timing Properties of Tidal Disruption Events

Posted by klaurent February 18, 2026March 3, 2026MIT

Kavli Affiliate: Erin Kara | Summary:We perform the first systematic study of the minute-to-hours-timescale stochastic variability observed in the X-ray luminosity of tidal disruption events (TDEs) using XMM-Newton data and Fourier analysis methods. We measure the spectral properties, power spectral densities (PSDs), fractional variability amplitudes, and energy dependence of the variability for 18 TDEs spanning […]

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SimToolReal: An Object-Centric Policy for Zero-Shot Dexterous Tool Manipulation

Posted by klaurent February 18, 2026Caltech

Kavli Affiliate: Wei Gao| Summary:The ability to manipulate tools significantly expands the set of tasks a robot can perform. Yet, tool manipulation represents a challenging class of dexterity, requiring grasping thin objects, in-hand object rotations, and forceful interactions. Since collecting teleoperation data for these behaviors is challenging, sim-to-real reinforcement learning (RL) is a promising alternative. […]

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Supersymmetry and Nonreciprocity

Posted by klaurent February 18, 2026March 3, 2026Chicago

Kavli Affiliate: Savdeep Sethi | Summary:Nonreciprocal theories are used to model a broad array of non-equilibrium phenomena found in nature ranging from biological systems like networks of neurons to the behavior of overflowing water fountains. This includes systems broadly classified as active matter systems. We show that the stochastic theories which describe nonreciprocal interactions can […]

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Rescuing Overabundant Dark Matter with a Strongly First Order Phase Transition in the Dark Sector

Posted by klaurent February 18, 2026March 3, 2026Chicago

Kavli Affiliate: Carlos Wagner | Summary:We consider a dark sector consisting of fermionic dark matter (DM) charged under a broken dark $U(1)_D$ gauge symmetry, interacting with the Standard Model through kinetic mixing. In such models, the DM annihilation cross section is typically suppressed by the small kinetic mixing and or a heavy mediator, often leading […]

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A positive period derivative in the quasi-periodic eruptions of ZTF19acnskyy

Posted by klaurent February 18, 2026MIT

Kavli Affiliate: Erin Kara | Summary:We report the first direct measurement of the period derivative in a quasi-periodic eruption (QPE), finding a smoothly increasing period with $dotPapprox (1.7pm 0.02)times10^-2$ d d$^-1$ in the source ZTF19acnskyy/"Ansky". Most models for QPEs invoke repeated interactions of a stellar-mass orbiting companion around the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in an […]

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A positive period derivative in the quasi-periodic eruptions of ZTF19acnskyy

Posted by klaurent February 18, 2026March 3, 2026MIT

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Two warm sub-Saturn mass planets identified from the TESS Full Frame Images

Posted by klaurent February 18, 2026March 3, 2026MIT

Kavli Affiliate: Sara Seager | Summary:Context. Characterization of warm giants is crucial to constrain giant planet formation and evolution. Measuring the mass and radius of these planets, combined with their moderated irradiation, allows us to estimate their planetary bulk composition, which is a key quantity to comprehend giant planet formation and structure. Aims. We present […]

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Searching for White Dwarf Candidates Formed Through Binary evolution in Star Clusters

Posted by klaurent February 18, 2026March 3, 2026Chicago

Kavli Affiliate: David W. Miller | Summary:White dwarfs (WDs), the evolutionary endpoints of most stars, can form through both single-star and binary channels. While single-star evolutionary models enable reliable WD age estimates, binary evolution introduces interactions that can accelerate WD formation and result in a variety of exotic WDs, which may exhibit strong magnetic fields, […]

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SPT-CL J0417-4748: A Deep Chandra Study of a Relaxed Galaxy Cluster Without Central Star Formation

Posted by klaurent February 18, 2026Stanford

Kavli Affiliate: Steven Allen | Summary:We present an in-depth Chandra X-ray analysis of the galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0417$-$4748 (hereafter SPT J0417), at z = 0.58, with a focus on its thermodynamic properties and the apparent absence of central star formation. Utilizing a total Chandra exposure of 103 ks, we find that the large-scale X-ray morphology […]

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