Astrophysics and Cosmology

This group gathers researchers working on astrophysics and cosmology topics. It covers theoretical, computational and observational skills, potentiating synergies between them to tackle a number of problems of current interest in the field. The main research areas are the physics of white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes, the equation of state of dense hadronic matter, radio astronomy, detection and characterisation of exoplanets, dynamics of stellar and planetary systems, celestial mechanics, computational astrophysics, interplay between particle and gravitational physics, the origin of dark matter, dark energy, inflation, and the baryon asymmetry.

Current projects

Previous projects

Recent Publications

Books

1 - Caderno de Exercícios para as Ciências Farmacêuticas: uma colectânea de exercícios e problemas com resoluções para a unidade curricular de Física Aplicada do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas
C. Cosme, M. R. Silva
(2025)

Papers

International Journals

2 - A Bayesian Inference of Hybrid Stars with Large Quark Cores
Milena Albino, Tuhin Malik, Márcio Ferreira, Constança Providência
Phys. Rev. D 113(8), 083019 (2026)

3 - Classical constant electric fields and the Schwinger effect in de Sitter
M. Bastero-Gil, P.B. Ferraz, A.T. Manso, L. Ubaldi, R. Vega-Morales
J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 4, 040 (2026)

4 - Schwinger current in de Sitter space
M. Bastero-Gil, PB Ferraz, AT Manso, L Ubaldi, R. Vega-Morales
Chin. Phys. C 50(8), 085106 (2026)

5 - Cosmic strings and domain walls: the impact of CMB B-mode data
L. Caloni, RZ Ferreira, L. Sousa, C. Winckler,
J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 7, 018 (2026)

6 - A numerical analysis of planar colliding binary companions
G.A. Caritá, V.M. de Oliveira, S. Mottola, D.L. Silva, S. Aljbaae, H. Hussmann, K. Willner, AFBA Prado
Comm. Nonlinear Sci. 156, 109646 (2026)

7 - StreakMind: AI detection and analysis of satellite streaks in astronomical images with automated database integration
R. Carrillo, R. Duffard, P. García-Martín, J. Romero, N. Morales, LFP Gonçalves
Astron. Astrophys. 708, A211 (2026)

8 - Recurring region for neutron-star observables
A. Clevinger, Z.D. Lin, M. Albino, P. Hammond, A. Steiner, V. Dexheimer
Phys. Rev. D 113(8), L081301 (2026)

9 - Medium effects on light clusters from heavy-ion collisions within a relativistic mean-field description
T. Custódio, F. Gulminelli, A. Rebillard-Soulié, D. Gruyer, R. Bougault, T. Malik, H. Pais, C. Providência
Phys. Rev. C 113(6), 064619 (2026)

10 - Revised optical classification of a sample of gamma-ray-emitting active galactic nuclei with GTC and VLT
B. Dalla Barba, L. Foschini, M. Berton, E. Järvelä, P. Marziani, S. Ciroi, E. Dalla Bontá, L. Crepaldi, A. Vietri, S. Antón, P. Condó, C. Mazzucchelli
Astron. Astrophys. 705, A122 (2026)

11 - AI application to artificial satellite identification in CHEOPS data Scanning the CHEOPS image archive with a neural network
P. García-Martín, L. Gonçalves, S. Hellmich, N. Billot, B. Merín
Astron. Astrophys. 708, A348 (2026)

12 - Space-based surveillance of Resident Space Objects with the CHEOPS space telescope
L.F.P. Gonçalves, N. Billot, S. Hellmich, D. Barbosa, B. Coelho, A.C.M. Correia, A. Fortier, C. Broeg, A. Bekkelien, D. Ehrenreich, B. Merin, M. Günther, A. Heitzmann, W. Benz
Acta Astronaut. 239, 61-75 (2026)

13 - Anthropogenic Space Object attitude and material characterisation through multi-colour light curve inversion
L.F.P. Gonçalves, N. Simone, A.K. de Almeida, D. Barbosa, M. Jah, T. Vaillant, B. Coelho, ACM Correia,
Acta Astronaut. 241, 378-408 (2026)

14 - Preheated inflation
D.S. Gorgulho, J.G. Rosa
J. High Energy Phys. 4, 124 (2026)

15 - Massive cold hybrid stars in a modified Polyakov-Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model
SMA Imam, P. Costa, M. Dutra, O. Lourenço, R. C. Renan, C. Providência
Phys. Rev. D 114(8), 083016 (2026)

16 - Self-consistent single-fluid framework for neutron stars admixed with mirror dark matter
A. Issifu, C. Providência, FM da Silva, DP Menezes, T. Frederico
Phys. Rev. D 114(6), 063032 (2026)

17 - Graph-Based Strategies for Optimizing Wildfire Supression
J. Aveiro, D. Neves, Paulo J. Silva, A. Gameiro Lopes, C. Viegas, O. Oliveira, F. Nogueira, Jaime Oliveira da Silva
J. Phys.: Complex. 7(1), 015002 (2026)

18 - Spontaneous breaking of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry during warm inflation
JG Rosa, Luís B. Ventura
Phys. Rev. D 113(6), 063515 (2026)

19 - Covariant Energy Density Functionals for Neutron Star Matter Equation of State Modeling: Cross-Comparison Analysis Using \texttt{CompactObject}
João Cartaxo, Chun Huang, Tuhin Malik, Shashwat Sourav, Wen-Li Yuan, Tianzhe Zhou, Xuezhi Liu, Constança Providência
Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser (ApJS) 282(2), 33 (2026)

20 - Post-Newtonian constraints on scalar-tensor gravity
A. Karam, SS. López, JJT Diaz,
Phys. Rev. D 114(2), 023528 (2026)

21 - Unified study of nuclear physics and dark matter constraints through gravitational-wave observations of binary neutron star mergers
N. Kunert, G. Grams, W. Newton, E. Giangrandi, A. Puecher, H. Koehn, V. Sagun, T. Dietrich
Phys. Rev. D 114(6), 064056 (2026)

22 - Micro-Bose or Proca dark matter stars from black hole superradiance
J. March-Russell, J.G. Rosa
Phys. Rev. D 113(10), L101304 (2026)

23 - Investigating the Impact of Higher-Order Phase Transitions in Binary Neutron-Star Mergers
P. Hammond, A. Clevinger, Milena Albino, Constança Providência, et al
Phys. Rev. D 113(4), 044057 (2026)

24 - Strongly interacting matter in extreme magnetic fields
Prabal Adhikari, Martin Ammon, Sidney S. Avancini, Alejandro Ayala, ..., HelenaProvidência Pais, Luigi Scurto, ...
Prog.Part.Nucl.Phys. 146, 104199 (2026)

25 - Longitudinal collective modes in relativistic asymmetric magnetized nuclear matter within the covariant Vlasov approach
A. Rabhi, O. Boukari, S. S. Avancini, C. Providência
Phys. Rev. C 113(4), 045803 (2026)

26 - Isentropic thermodynamics across the hadron-quark mixed phase in a two-phase model with a PNJL quark description
ELG Salgado, P. Costa, C. Providência
Phys. Rev. D 114(1), 014042 (2026)

27 - Constraining the orbit of the retrograde planet in the ν Octantis system
AC Signor, A.C.M. Correia, M.H.M. Morais, T. Vaillant, ...
Astron. Astrophys. 712, 712 (2026)

28 - A solution to the paradox of youth in the Galactic centre
R.P. Silva, A.C.M. Correia, T.C.N. Boekholt, P.J.V. Garcia
Astron. Astrophys. 712, L15 (2026)

29 - Dynamical constraints on the S2 (S0-2) star possible companions
R.P. Silva, ACM Correia, TCN Boekholt, PJV Garcia,
Astron. Astrophys. 706, A63 (2026)

30 - Poincaré maps with the theory of functional connections
A. de Almeida Jr, D. Mortari
Nonlinear Dyn. 114(3), 222 (2026)

31 - Segmentation of the spacecraft transfer problem based on overdetermined and continuity constraints using the theory of functional connections
A.K. de Almeida,
Acta Astronaut. 242, 251-263 (2026)

32 - A generalized dipole-segment model for the gravitational field of elongated bodies
A.K. de Almeida, A.F.S. Ferreira, L.B.T. Santos, F. Monteiro, A. Amarante, E. Tresaco, D.M. Sanchez, C. Gomes, A.F.B.A. Prado
Astron. Astrophys. 706, A355 (2026)

33 - Equilibrium points and stability analysis in binary asteroid systems using a double mass dipole model
A.K. de Almeida, L.B.T. Santos, C.E.S. Gomes, E.V.M. Andrade, A.L.S. Barros, K.G.F. Santos, G.M. Fernandes, F. Monteiro, A. Amarante, R.I.S. Bastos, N.B. Lima, H.C.B. Nascimento, N.B.D Lima, A.F.B.A Prado
Adv. Space Res. 77(5), 6122-6142 (2026)

34 - Square Kilometre Array Science Data Challenge 3a: foreground removal for an EoR experiment
A Bonadi, ..., P. Alberto, et al.
Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 543(2), 1092-1119 (2025)

35 - The sharpness of the quark-hadron transition and the properties of hybrid stars
MB Albino, R. Fariello, G: Lugones, F.S. Navarra
Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 34(15) (2025)

36 - A Cloud-native Agile approach to cyber platform prototyping and integration for astronomy: the ENGAGE SKA case
D. Barbosa, D. Regateiro, J.P. Barraca, D. Bartashevich, M. Bartolini, M. di Carlo, P. Harding, D. Maia, B. Morgado, D. Nunes, B. Ribeiro, B. Coelho, V. Ribeiro, Allan K. de Almeida Jr, T. Vaillant, U. Yilmaz
J. Instrum. 20(7), T07004 (2025)

37 - Evaporating Kerr black holes as probes of new physics
M. Calza, J. Rosa
J. High Energy Phys. 11, 44 (2025)

38 - Neural posterior estimation of neutron star equations of state
Valéria Carvalho, Márcio Ferreira, Constança Providência
Phys. Rev. D 112, 083044 (2025)

39 - Rapidly spinning dark matter-admixed neutron stars
L. Cipriani, E. Giangrandi, V. Sagun, D.D. Doneva, S.S. Yazadjiev
Phys. Rev. D 111(12), 123005 (2025)

40 - Calibrating the medium effects of light clusters in heavy-ion collisions
T. Custódio, A. Rebillard-Soulié, R. Bougault, D. Gruyer, F. Gulminelli, T. Malik, H. Pais, C. Providência
Phys. Rev. Lett. 134 (8), 082304 (2025)

41 - Stupendously large primordial black holes from the QCD axion
M. Faria, RZ Ferreira, F. Rompineve,
J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 10, 055 (2025)

42 - The inflation trilogy and primordial black holes
P. Ferraz, J. Rosa,
J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 3, 40 (2025)

43 - Conditional variational autoencoder inference of neutron star equation of state from astrophysical observations
M. Ferreira, M. Bejger
Phys. Rev. D 111 (2), 023035 (2025)

44 - Learning about neutron star composition from the slope of the mass-radius diagram
M. Ferreira, C. Providência
Phys. Rev. D 112(8), 083058 (2025)

45 - Fastest spinning millisecond pulsars: Indicators for quark matter in neutron stars?
C. Gärtlein, V. Sagun, O. Ivanytskyi, D. Blaschke, I. Lopes
Phys. Rev. D 111(12), 123021 (2025)

46 - Constraints on maximum neutron star mass from protoneutron star evolution
D. Kumar, T. Malik, H. Mishra, C. Providência
Phys. Rev. D 112(6), 063042 (2025)

47 - The footprint of nuclear saturation properties on the neutron star f mode oscillation frequencies: a machine learning approach
D. Kumar, T. Malik, Mishra. H.
J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 3, 033 (2025)

48 - Dense matter in neutron stars with eXTP
A Li, AL Watts, GB Zhang, ..., C Providência, et al.
Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astron. 68(11), 119503 (2025)

49 - Scalar-Induced Gravitational Waves in Palatini f(R) gravity
SS Lopez, JJT Diaz
J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 12, 029 (2025)

50 - Exploring the interaction of high-performance triazine-based porous organic polymers with antibiotics and carbon dioxide
P.M.C Matias, S.C.C. Nunes, J.M. Gil, M.J. Ferreira, A.A.C.C. Pais, D. Murtinho, A.J.M. Valente
Chem. Eng. J. 526, 171078 (2025)

51 - Impact of Magnetic-field-driven Anisotropies on the Equation of State Probed in Neutron Star Mergers
E.R. Most, J. Peterson, L. Scurto, H. Pais, V. Dexheimer
Astrophys. J. Lett. 989(2), L29 (2025)

52 - Superradiant Darwinism: survival of the lightest axion
D. Neves, J.G. Rosa
J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 4, 019 (2025)

53 - RheoVolution: An N-body simulator for tidally evolving bodies with complex rheological models
VM Oliveira, C. Ragazzo, ACM Correia
Astron. Astrophys. 693, A5 (2025)

54 - Light clusters as a possible source of crustal impurities: A quasi-particle approach
H. Pais, H.D. Thi, A.F. Fantina, F. Gulminelli, C. Providencia
Astron. Astrophys. 699, A129 (2025)

55 - Inferring the equation of state from neutron star observables via machine learning
N.K. Patra, T. Malik, H. Pais, K. Zhou, B.K. Agrawal, C. Providencia
Phys. Lett. B 865, 139470 (2025)

56 - Collective modes in relativistic cold asymmetric nuclear matter within the covariant Vlasov approach
A. Rabhi, O. Boukari, S. S. Avancini, C. Providência
Phys. Rev. C 111 (1), 015804 (2025)

57 - Comparing strange and nonstrange quark stars within resummed QCD at NLO
TE Restrepo, JL Kneur, C Providência, MB Pinto
Phys. Rev. D 112(5), 054013 (2025)

58 - Role of the δ meson in the equation of state and direct Urca cooling of neutron stars
L. Scurto, H. Pais, M. Antonelli, F. Gulminelli
Astron. Astrophys. 703, A200 (2025)

59 - Feasibility study of a dark matter admixed neutron star based on recent observational constraints
P. Thakur, T. Malik, A. Das, T.K. Jha, B.K. Sharma, C. Providência
Astron. Astrophys. 697, A220 (2025)

60 - Symmetry generators and quantum numbers for fermionic circularly symmetric systems
V.B. Mendrot, A.S. de Castro, P. Alberto
Ann. Phys. 482, 170178 (2025)

61 - Low-thrust transfer with Theory of Functional Connections: Application to 243 Ida with a solar sail
A.K. de Almeida, T. Vaillant, L.B.T. Santos, D. Maia
Adv. Space Res. 75(2), 2108-2125 (2025)

62 - Multistability and complexity in the planar spin-orbit problem
MV de Oliveira,
Comm. Nonlinear Sci. 150, 109024 (2025)

63 - Impact of the scalar isovector δ meson on the description of nuclear matter and neutron star properties
L.G.T. dos Santos, T. Malik, C. Providência
Phys. Rev. C 111 (3), 035805 (2025)

Portuguese Journals

64 - A grande revolta dos gatos de Schrödinger após 100 anos de quântica
Constança Providência, Helena Alberto
Gazeta de Física 48, nº 1, 2-2 (2025)

65 - Estrelas de neutrões como laboratórios de física
Constança Providência, Milena Albino, João Cartaxo, Valéria Carvalho, Tiago Custódio, Luigi Scurto, Márcio Ferreira, Tuhin Malik, Helena Pais
Gazeta de Física 48, nº 2, 38-41 (2025)

66 - Será um osso de mamute?
Constança Providência, Rita Wolters
Gazeta de Física 48, nº 1, 37-38 (2025)

Proceedings

International Conferences

67 - Effect of hadron-quark phase transition on neutron star f-mode oscillations in general relativistic calculations
S Banik, DG Roy, T Malik, S\ Bhattacharya
10th International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics, QNP2024, Barcelona, Spain, JUL 08-12,2024. (2026)

68 - Observational constraints on neutron star matter equation of state
Tuhin Malik, João Cartaxo, Constança Providência
J.Subatomic Part.Cosmol. 4, 100086 (2025)

Communications

Invited

69 - Primordial black holes, the string axiverse and physics beyond the Standard Model
Rosa, J.G.
High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Abu Dhabi Workshop, New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 15 January (2026)

70 - Temperature Evolution in the Early Universe and Freeze-in at stronger coupling
Cosme, C.
Gr@V seminars. 5 Feb. University of Aveiro, Portugal. (2025)

71 - Spanning neutron star properties with microscopic descriptions: can we learn about composition?
Providência, Constança
2nd Workshop on modern equations of state and spectroscopy in neutron-star matter, Universidad de Alcalá May 26-28 (2025)

72 - Learning about the neutron star composition from observations
Providência, Constança
Café com Física Oct 22 (2025)

73 - Spanning neutron star properties within a microscopic description: learning about composition
Providência, Constança
Making Neutron Stars a Laboratory of New Physics: one-week TH-Institute, CERN June 9-13 (2025)

Oral

74 - Temperature evolution in the Early Universe and Freeze-in at stronger coupling
Cosme, C.
FLASY 2025 Conference,.Dipartimento di Architettura Roma Tre. 30 June - 4 July 4. Roma, Italy. (2025)

75 - Hot molecules, cold valve: enhancing molecule vaporization for astrochemistry searches
R.J.C. Roque, F. Ferreira, R.B.L. Vieira, N.M. Campos and S.R. Domingos
29th Colloquium on High-Resolution Molecular Spectroscopy (HRMS 2025) (2025)

76 - Dark micro-boson stars from PBH superradiance
Rosa, J.G.
New Horizons in Primordial Black Holes – NEHOP´2025, Brussels, Belgium, 21 May (2025)

Software

77 - CompactObject: Bayesian EOS inference for neutron stars
Chun Huang, Tuhin Malik, João Cartaxo, Shashwat Sourav, Wenli Yuan, Tianzhe Zhou, Xuezhi Liu, John Groger, Nicole Osborn Xieyuan Dong, Nathan Whitsett, Zhiheng Wang, Constança Providência, Micaela Oertel, Alexander Y Chen, Laura Tolos, Anna Watts
Astrophysics Source Code Library ascl: 2511.030 (2025)

Thesis

PhD thesis

78 - Neutron Stars: General Modelling within a Relativistic Mean-Field Framework
Luigi Scurto
PhD in Physics, 16 Set (2025)

79 - Particle production in inflationary cosmology
Paulo Bernardo Figueira da Silva Ferraz
PhD in Physics, 29 Set (2025)

Other

80 - QuantumLand
Helena Alberto, Sagar Pratapsi, Constança Providência
Rómulo: Exposições (2025)

81 - Selected for the “Visitors´ Program” at CERN
Cosme, C.
CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. (2025)

82 - Astrophysics and Cosmology seminars
Cosme, C.
Organizer of the weekly Astrophysics and Cosmology seminars at the Coimbra University, Theoretical Physics Group, since 2023. (2025)

83 - Numerical Relativity Simulations of Dark Matter Admixed Binary Neutron Stars
Edoardo Giangrandi, Hannes R. Rüter, Nina Kunert, Mattia Emma, Adrian Abac, ..., Tim Dietrich, Violetta Sagun, Wolfgang Tichy, Constança Providência
arxiv 2504.20825 [astro-ph.HE] (2025)

84 - Dark neutron stars from a heavy dark sector
J.A. Litterer, J.G. Rosa
e-print (2025)

85 - From scalar clouds around evaporating black holes to boson stars
D. Neves, J.G. Rosa
e-print (2025)

86 - Constraints on Dark Matter Structures around Gaia Black Holes
Nuno P. Branco, Ricardo Z. Ferreira, João G. Rosa, Rodrigo Vicente
e-print (2025)

87 - Curiosidade: Motor da Ciência
Providência, Constança
Rómulo: Exposição (2025)

88 - Novos Talentos
Providência, Constança
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (2025)

89 - Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 211 "Strong-Interaction Matter under Extreme Conditions"
Providência, Constança
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) June 16-17 (2025)