Hubble Time Research Articles

Reactions Governing Strangeness Abundance in Primordial Universe

Strangness production processes can balance natural strangeness decay in the early hadronic Universe. Comparing to the characteristic Hubble time 1/H, the reaction rates for μ± + νμ → K±, l− + l+ → ϕ, and π+π → K in sequence become slower than expansion rate at T = 33.9 MeV, T = 25MeV and T = 20MeV respectively. This means that in the antibaryon annihilation epoch near to T ≃ 40MeV strangeness is in chemical equilibrium.

Stellar mass segregation as separating classifier between globular clusters and ultrafaint dwarf galaxies

ABSTRACT We have determined the amount of stellar mass segregation in over 50 globular clusters and ultrafaint dwarf galaxy candidates based on deep HST- and ground-based photometry. We find that the amount of mass segregation in globular clusters is strongly correlated with their relaxation time and that all clusters with relaxation times of the order of their ages or longer have little to no mass segregation. For each cluster, the amount of mass segregation seen is fully compatible with the amount expected by dynamical evolution from initially unsegregated clusters, showing that globular clusters formed without primordial mass segregation among their low-mass stars. Ultrafaint dwarf galaxy candidates split into two groups, star clusters which follow the same trend between relaxation time and amount of mass segregation as globular clusters and dark-matter dominated dwarf galaxies that are unsegregated despite having relaxation times smaller than a Hubble time. Stellar abundance and velocity dispersion data, where available, confirm our classification. After classification of the ultrafaint dwarf galaxy candidates, we find that outer halo star clusters have average densities inside their half-light radii of 0.03 ≲ ρh ≲ 1 M⊙ pc–3, while dwarf galaxies have stellar densities of 0.001 ≲ ρh ≲ 0.03 M⊙ pc–3. The reason for this separation in density is most likely a combination of the initial conditions by which the systems formed and the requirement to withstand external tidal forces.

Improved Dynamical Masses for Six Brown Dwarf Companions Using Hipparcos and Gaia EDR3

Abstract We present comprehensive orbital analyses and dynamical masses for the substellar companions Gl 229 B, Gl 758 B, HD 13724 B, HD 19467 B, HD 33632 Ab, and HD 72946 B. Our dynamical fits incorporate radial velocities, relative astrometry, and, most importantly, calibrated Hipparcos-Gaia EDR3 accelerations. For HD 33632 A and HD 72946 we perform three-body fits that account for their outer stellar companions. We present new relative astrometry of Gl 229 B with Keck/NIRC2, extending its observed baseline to 25 yr. We obtain a <1% mass measurement of 71.4 ± 0.6 M Jup for the first T dwarf Gl 229 B and a 1.2% mass measurement of its host star (0.579 ± 0.007 M ⊙) that agrees with the high-mass end of the M-dwarf mass–luminosity relation. We perform a homogeneous analysis of the host stars’ ages and use them, along with the companions’ measured masses and luminosities, to test substellar evolutionary models. Gl 229 B is the most discrepant, as models predict that an object this massive cannot cool to such a low luminosity within a Hubble time, implying that it may be an unresolved binary. The other companions are generally consistent with models, except for HD 13724 B, which has a host star activity age 3.8σ older than its substellar cooling age. Examining our results in context with other mass–age–luminosity benchmarks, we find no trend with spectral type but instead note that younger or lower-mass brown dwarfs are overluminous compared to models, while older or higher-mass brown dwarfs are underluminous. The presented mass measurements for some companions are so precise that the stellar host ages, not the masses, limit the analysis.

A strange star scenario for the formation of eccentric millisecond pulsar PSR J1946+3417

PSR J1946+3417 is a millisecond pulsar (MSP) with a spin period P ≃ 3.17 ms. Harbored in a binary with an orbital period P b ≃ 27 days, the MSP is accompanied by a white dwarf (WD). The masses of the MSP and the WD were determined to be 1.83 M ⊙ and 0.266 M ⊙, respectively. Specially, its orbital eccentricity is e ≃ 0.134, which is challenging the recycling model of MSPs. Assuming that the neutron star in a binary may collapse to a strange star when its mass reaches a critical limit, we propose a phase transition (PT) scenario to account for the origin of the system. The sudden mass loss and the kick induced by asymmetric collapse during the PT may result in the orbital eccentricity. If the PT event takes place after the mass transfer ceases, the eccentric orbit cannot be re-circularized in the Hubble time. Aiming at the masses of both components, we simulate the evolution of the progenitor of PSR J1946+3417 via MESA. The simulations show that an NS / main sequence star binary with initial masses of 1.4+1.6 M ⊙ in an initial orbit of 2.59 days will evolve into a binary consisting of a 2.0 M ⊙ MSP and a 0.27 M ⊙ WD in an orbit of ∼21.5 days. Assuming that the gravitational mass loss fraction during PT is 10%, we simulate the effect of PT via the kick program of BSE with a velocity of σ PT = 60 km s−1. The results show that the PT scenario can reproduce the observed orbital period and eccentricity with higher probability than other values.

Cosmologically Coupled Compact Objects: A Single-parameter Model for LIGO–Virgo Mass and Redshift Distributions

Abstract We demonstrate a single-parameter route for reproducing higher mass objects as observed in the LIGO–Virgo mass distribution, using only the isolated-binary stellar evolution channel. This single parameter encodes the cosmological mass growth of compact stellar remnants that exceed the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit. Cosmological mass growth appears in known solutions to General Relativity with cosmological boundary conditions. We consider the possibility of solutions with cosmological boundary conditions, which reduce to Kerr on timescales short compared to the Hubble time. We discuss complementary observational signatures of these solutions that can confirm or invalidate their astrophysical relevance.

Spurious heating of stellar motions in simulated galactic discs by dark matter halo particles

ABSTRACT We use idealized N-body simulations of equilibrium stellar discs embedded within course-grained dark matter (DM) haloes to study the effects of spurious collisional heating on disc structure and kinematics. Collisional heating artificially increases the vertical and radial velocity dispersions of disc stars, as well as the thickness and size of discs; the effects are felt at all galacto-centric radii. The integrated effects of collisional heating are determined by the mass of DM halo particles (or equivalently, by the number of particles at fixed halo mass), their local density and characteristic velocity dispersion, but are largely insensitive to the stellar particle mass. The effects can therefore be reduced by increasing the mass resolution of DM in cosmological simulations, with limited benefits from increasing the baryonic (or stellar) mass resolution. We provide a simple empirical model that accurately captures the effects of spurious collisional heating on the structure and kinematics of simulated discs, and use it to assess the importance of disc heating for simulations of galaxy formation. We find that the majority of state-of-the-art zoom simulations, and a few of the highest-resolution, smallest-volume cosmological runs, are in principle able to resolve thin stellar discs in Milky Way-mass haloes, but most large-volume cosmological simulations cannot. For example, DM haloes resolved with fewer than ≈106 particles will collisionally heat stars near the stellar half-mass radius such that their vertical velocity dispersion increases by ≳ 10 per cent of the halo’s virial velocity in approximately one Hubble time.

A stringy perspective on the coincidence problem

We argue that, for string compactifications broadly consistent with swampland constraints, dark energy is likely to signal the beginning of the end of our universe as we know it, perhaps even through decompactification, with possible implications for the cosmological coincidence problem. Thanks to the scarcity (absence?) of stable de Sitter vacua, dark energy in string theory is assumed to take the form of a quintessence field in slow roll. As it rolls, a tower of heavy states will generically descend, triggering an apocalyptic phase transition in the low energy cosmological dynamics after at most a few hundred Hubble times. As a result, dark energy domination cannot continue indefinitely and there is at least a percentage chance that we find ourselves in the first Hubble epoch. We use a toy model of quintessence coupled to a tower of heavy states to explicitly demonstrate the breakdown in the cosmological dynamics as the tower becomes light. This occurs through a large number of corresponding particles being produced after a certain time, overwhelming quintessence. We also discuss some implications for early universe inflation.

Birth of the ELMs: a ZTF survey for evolved cataclysmic variables turning into extremely low-mass white dwarfs

ABSTRACT We present a systematic survey for mass-transferring and recently detached cataclysmic variables (CVs) with evolved secondaries, which are progenitors of extremely low mass white dwarfs (ELM WDs), AM CVn systems, and detached ultracompact binaries. We select targets below the main sequence in the Gaia colour–magnitude diagram with ZTF light curves showing large-amplitude ellipsoidal variability and orbital period Porb < 6 h. This yields 51 candidates brighter than G = 18, of which we have obtained many-epoch spectra for 21. We confirm all 21 to be completely or nearly Roche lobe filling close binaries. Thirteen show evidence of ongoing mass transfer, which has likely just ceased in the other eight. Most of the secondaries are hotter than any previously known CV donors, with temperatures 4700 < Teff/K < 8000. Remarkably, all secondaries with $T_{\rm eff} \gtrsim 7000\, \rm K$ appear to be detached, while all cooler secondaries are still mass-transferring. This transition likely marks the temperature where magnetic braking becomes inefficient due to loss of the donor’s convective envelope. Most of the proto-WD secondaries have masses near $0.15\, \rm M_{\odot }$; their companions have masses near $0.8\, \rm M_{\odot }$. We infer a space density of $\sim 60\, \rm kpc^{-3}$, roughly 80 times lower than that of normal CVs and three times lower than that of ELM WDs. The implied Galactic birth rate, $\mathcal {R}\sim 60\, \rm Myr^{-1}$, is half that of AM CVn binaries. Most systems are well-described by mesa models for CVs in which mass transfer begins only as the donor leaves the main sequence. All are predicted to reach minimum periods 5 ≲ Porb min−1 ≲ 30 within a Hubble time, where they will become AM CVn binaries or merge. This sample triples the known evolved CV population and offers broad opportunities for improving understanding of the compact binary population.

Moduli and graviton production during moduli stabilization

In theories beyond the Standard Model, in particular in theories with extra spatial dimensions such as superstring theory, there are a large number of scalar fields which appear in the low energy effective action. These moduli fields must be stabilized. Often, moduli stabilization involves a stage during which the moduli fields oscillate coherently about their ground state value. Here, we study moduli and graviton production during the period during which the background modulus field is oscillating, assuming that this period takes place in the radiation phase. We find a resonant production of moduli fluctuations, and a tachyonic instability to the generation of long wavelength gravitational waves. As a consequence, the period of moduli stabilization is short on a Hubble time scale.

Production and evaporation of micro black holes as a link between mirror universes

It is shown that the equalization of temperatures between our and mirror sectors occurs during one Hubble time due to microscopic black hole production and evaporation in particle collisions if the temperature of the Universe is near the multidimensional Plank mass. This effect excludes the multidimensional Planck masses smaller than the reheating temperature of the Universe ($\sim10^{13}$ GeV) in the mirror matter models, because the primordial nucleosynthesis theory requires that the temperature of the mirror world should be lower than ours. In particular, the birth of microscopic black holes in the LHC is impossible if the dark matter of our Universe is represented by baryons of mirror matter. It excludes some of the possible coexisting options in particle physics and cosmology. Multidimensional models with flat additional dimensions are already strongly constrained in maximum temperature due to the effect of Kaluza-Klein mode (KK-mode) overproduction. In these models, the reheating temperature should be significantly less than the multidimensional Planck mass, so our restrictions in this case are not paramount. The new constraints play a role in multidimensional models in which the spectrum of KK-modes does not lead to their overproduction in the early Universe, for example, in theories with hyperbolic additional space.

On the effect of pulsar evaporation on the cooling of white dwarfs

ABSTRACT Evolution of a large part of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) leads to the formation of rapidly rotating pulsars with a helium white dwarf (He WD) companion. Observations indicate that some He WDs in binary pulsar systems are ultracool (with the effective temperatures Teff ≲ 4000 K). It is hard to cool down a He WD to such low temperatures within the Hubble time because a thick hydrogen envelope was left behind around the He core after the mass transfer process. A possible mechanism that can accelerate the WD cooling is the evaporative wind mass-loss from the He WD driven by the high-energy radiation from the recycled pulsar. In this paper, we evolve a large number of LMXBs and investigate the influence of the pulsar’s high-energy radiation on the WD cooling with different input parameters, including the neutron star’s spin-down luminosity, the evaporation efficiency, and the metallicity of the companion star. By comparing our results with observations we note that, for relatively hot He WDs (with Teff > 7000 K), standard WD cooling without evaporation considered is able to reproduce their temperatures, while evaporation is probably required for the He WDs with relatively low temperatures (Teff < 5000 K).

The origins of off-centre massive black holes in dwarf galaxies

ABSTRACT Massive black holes often exist within dwarf galaxies, and both simulations and observations have shown that a substantial fraction of these may be off-centre with respect to their hosts. We trace the evolution of off-centre massive black holes (MBHs) in dwarf galaxies using cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, and show that the reason for off-centre locations is mainly due to galaxy–galaxy mergers. We calculate dynamical time-scales and show that off-centre MBHs are unlikely to sink to their galaxys’ centres within a Hubble time, due to the shape of the hosts’ potential wells and low stellar densities. These wandering MBHs are unlikely to be detected electromagnetically, nor is there a measurable dynamical effect on the galaxy’s stellar population. We conclude that off-centre MBHs may be common in dwarfs, especially if the mass of the MBH is small or the stellar mass of the host galaxy is large. However, detecting them is extremely challenging, because their accretion luminosities are very low and they do not measurably alter the dynamics of their host galaxies.

Cosmological perturbations for ultralight axionlike particles in a state of Bose-Einstein condensate

For ultra-light scalar particles like axions, dark matter can form a state of the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with a coherent classical wave whose wavelength is of order galactic scales. In the context of an oscillating scalar field with mass $m$, this BEC description amounts to integrating out the field oscillations over the Hubble time scale $H^{-1}$ in the regime $m \gg H$. We provide a gauge-invariant general relativistic framework for studying cosmological perturbations in the presence of a self-interacting BEC associated with a complex scalar field. In particular, we explicitly show the difference of BECs from perfect fluids by taking into account cold dark matter, baryons, and radiation as a Schutz-Sorkin description of perfect fluids. We also scrutinize the accuracy of commonly used Newtonian treatment based on a quasi-static approximation for perturbations deep inside the Hubble radius. For a scalar field which starts to oscillate after matter-radiation equality, we show that, after the BEC formation, a negative self-coupling hardly leads to a Laplacian instability of the BEC density contrast. This is attributed to the fact that the Laplacian instability does not overwhelm the gravitational instability for self-interactions within the validity of the nonrelativistic BEC description. Our analysis does not accommodate the regime of parametric resonance which can potentially occur for a large field alignment during the transient epoch prior to the BEC formation.

Order in the chaos

Black hole (BH) triples represent one of the astrophysical pathways for BH mergers in the Universe detectable by LIGO and VIRGO. We study the formation of BH triples via binary–binary encounters in dense clusters, showing that up to two-thirds of the triples formed through this channel are hierarchical, whereas the remaining one-third are in a non-hierarchical, unstable configuration. We built a database of 32 000 N-body simulations to investigate the evolution of BH triples focusing on mildly hierarchical and non-hierarchical unstable configurations. Varying the mutual orbital inclination, the three BH masses and the inner and outer eccentricities, we show that retrograde, nearly planar configurations lead to a significant shrinkage of the inner binary. We find a universal trend of triple systems, namely that they tend to evolve toward prograde configurations and that the orbital flip, driven by the torque exerted on the inner BH binary (BHB) by the outer BH, leads in general to tighter inner orbits. In some cases, the resulting BHB undergoes coalescence within a Hubble time, releasing gravitational waves. A large fraction of merging BHBs with an initial separation of 1 AU enter the 10−3 − 10−1 Hz frequency band with large eccentricities, thus representing potential eccentric LISA sources. Mergers originating from an initially tighter BHB (a ∼ 0.01 AU), instead often have eccentricities above 0.7 in the 1 Hz band. We find that the mass distribution of the mergers in this astrophysical channel maps the original BH binary spectrum. This might have interesting consequences in light of the growing population of BH mergers detected by LIGO and VIRGO, namely that eccentric sources detected in high-frequency detectors are most likely connected with a high-velocity dispersion stellar environment, whereas eccentric sources detected in low-frequency detectors are likely to develop in low-density clusters.

Local Volume Late-Type Galaxies with an Extreme Ratio of Hα-to-FUV Star-Formation Rates

Abstract Using a currently most representative sample of 477 late-type galaxies within 11 Mpc of the Milky Way with measured star-formation rates (SFRs) from the far ultraviolet (FUV) and Hα emission line fluxes, we select galaxies with the extreme ratios: SFR(Hα)/SFR(FUV) > 2 and SFR(Hα)/SFR(FUV) < 1/20. Each subsample amounts to ∼5% of the total number and consists of dwarf galaxies with the stellar masses M*/M⊙ = (5.5 − 9.5) dex. In spite of a huge difference in their SFR(Hα) activity on a scale of ∼10 Myr, the temporarily “excited” and temporarily “quiescent” galaxies follow one and the same relation between SFR(FUV) and M* on a scale of ∼100 Myr. Their average specific star-formation rate log [SFR(FUV)/M*] = −10.1 ± 0.1 (yr−1) coinsides with the Hubble parameter log (H0) = −10.14 (yr−1). On a scale of t ∼ 10 Myr, variations of SFR have a moderate flash amplitude of less than 1 order above the main-sequence and a fading amplitude to 2 orders below the average level. In general, both temporarily excited and temporarily quiescent galaxies have almost similar gas fractions as normal main-sequence galaxies, being able to maintain the current rate of star-formation on another Hubble time scale. Ranging the galaxies according to the density contrast produced by the nearest massive neighbor exhibits only a low average excess of SFR caused by tidal interactions.

Progenitors of low-mass binary black-hole mergers in the isolated binary evolution scenario

Context. The formation history, progenitor properties, and expected rates of the binary black holes discovered by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration via the gravitational-wave emission during their coalescence are a topic of active research. Aims. We aim to study the progenitor properties and expected rates of the two lowest-mass binary black hole mergers, GW151226 and GW170608, detected within the first two Advanced LIGO-Virgo observing runs, in the context of the classical isolated binary-evolution scenario. Methods. We used the publicly available 1D-hydrodynamic stellar-evolution code MESA, which we adapted to include the black-hole formation and the unstable mass transfer developed during the so-called common-envelope phase. Using more than 60 000 binary simulations, we explored a wide parameter space for initial stellar masses, separations, metallicities, and mass-transfer efficiencies. We obtained the expected distributions for the chirp mass, mass ratio, and merger time delay by accounting for the initial stellar binary distributions. We predicted the expected merger rates and compared them with those of the detected gravitational-wave events. We studied the dependence of our predictions with respect to the (as yet) unconstrained parameters inherent to binary stellar evolution. Results. Our simulations for both events show that while the progenitors we obtained are compatible over the entire range of explored metallicities, they show a strong dependence on the initial masses of the stars, according to stellar winds. All the progenitors we found follow a similar evolutionary path, starting from binaries with initial separations in the 30−200 R⊙ range experiencing a stable mass transfer interaction before the formation of the first black hole, followed by a second unstable mass-transfer episode leading to a common-envelope ejection that occurs either when the secondary star crosses the Hertzsprung gap or when it is burning He in its core. The common-envelope phase plays a fundamental role in the considered low-mass range: only progenitors experiencing such an unstable mass-transfer phase are able to merge in less than a Hubble time. Conclusions. We find integrated merger-rate densities in the range 0.2–5.0 yr−1 Gpc−3 in the Local Universe for the highest mass-transfer efficiencies explored here. The highest rate densities lead to detection rates of 1.2–3.3 yr−1, which are compatible with the observed rates. The common-envelope efficiency αCE has a strong impact on the progenitor populations. A high-efficiency scenario with αCE = 2.0 is favoured when comparing the expected rates with the observations.

Introducing a new multi-particle collision method for the evolution of dense stellar systems

Context. Stellar systems are broadly divided into collisional and non-collisional categories. While the latter are large-N systems with long relaxation timescales and can be simulated disregarding two-body interactions, either computationally expensive direct N-body simulations or approximate schemes are required to properly model the former. Large globular clusters and nuclear star clusters, with relaxation timescales of the order of a Hubble time, are small enough to display some collisional behaviour and big enough to be impossible to simulate with direct N-body codes and current hardware. Aims. We aim to introduce a new method to simulate collisional stellar systems and validate it by comparison with direct N-body codes on small-N simulations. Methods. The Multi-Particle Collision for Dense Stellar Systems (MPCDSS) code is a new code for evolving stellar systems with the multi-particle collision method. Such a method amounts to a stochastic collision rule that makes it possible to conserve the exact energy and momentum over a cluster of particles experiencing the collision. The code complexity scales with N log N in the number of particles. Unlike Monte Carlo codes, MPCDSS can easily model asymmetric, non-homogeneous, unrelaxed, and rotating systems, while allowing us to follow the orbits of individual stars. Results. We evolved small (N = 3.2 × 104) star clusters with MPCDSS and with the direct-summation code NBODY6, finding a similar evolution of key indicators. We then simulated different initial conditions in the 104 − 106 star range. Conclusions. MPCDSS bridges the gap between small collisional systems that can be simulated with direct N-body codes and large non-collisional systems. In principle, MPCDSS allows us to simulate globular clusters such as Ω Centauri and M 54, and even nuclear star clusters, which is beyond the limits of current direct N-body codes in terms of the number of particles.

Numerical simulations of dark matter haloes produce polytropic central cores when reaching thermodynamic equilibrium

ABSTRACT Self-gravitating astronomical objects often show a central plateau in the density profile (core) whose physical origin is hotly debated. Cores are theoretically expected in N-body systems of maximum entropy, however, they are not present in the canonical N-body numerical simulations of cold dark matter (CDM). Our work shows that despite this apparent contradiction between theory and numerical simulations, they are fully consistent. Simply put, cores are characteristic of systems in thermodynamic equilibrium, but thermalizing collisions are purposely suppressed in CDM simulations. When collisions are allowed, N-body numerical simulations develop cored density profiles, in perfect agreement with the theoretical expectation. We compare theory and two types of numerical simulations: (1) when DM particles are self-interacting (SIDM) with enough cross-section, then the effective two-body relaxation time-scale becomes shorter than the Hubble time resulting in cored DM haloes. The haloes thus obtained, with masses from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters, collapse to a single shape after normalization, and this shape agrees with the polytropic density profile theoretically expected. (2) The inner radii in canonical N-body numerical simulations are always discarded because the use of finite-mass DM particles artificially increases the two-body collision rate. We show that the discarded radii develop cores which are larger than the employed numerical softening and have polytropic shape independently of halo mass. Our work suggests that the presence of cores in simulated (or observed) density profiles can used as evidence for systems in thermodynamic equilibrium.

Late-time approaches to the Hubble tension deforming H(z), worsen the growth tension

ABSTRACT Many late-time approaches for the solution of the Hubble tension use late time smooth deformations of the Hubble expansion rate H(z) of the Planck18/ΛCDM best fit to match the locally measured value of H0 while effectively keeping the comoving distance to the last scattering surface and Ω0mh2 fixed to maintain consistency with Planck CMB measurements. A well-known problem of these approaches is that they worsen the fit to low z distance probes. Here, we show that another problem of these approaches is that they worsen the level of the Ω0m − σ8 growth tension. We use the generic class of CPL parametrizations corresponding to evolving dark energy equation of state parameter $w(z)=w_0+w_1\frac{z}{1+z}$ with local measurements H0 prior and identify the pairs (w0, w1) that satisfy this condition. This is a generic class of smooth deformations of H(z) that are designed to address the Hubble tension. We show that for these models the growth tension between dynamical probe data and CMB constraints is worse than the corresponding tension of the standard Planck18/ΛCDM model. We justify this feature using a full numerical solution of the growth equation and fit to the data, as well as by using an approximate analytic approach. The problem does not affect recent proposed solutions of the Hubble crisis involving a SnIa intrinsic luminosity transition at zt ≃ 0.01.

Reaching the Oldest Stars beyond the Local Group: Ancient Star Formation in UGC 4483*

Abstract We present new WFC3/UVIS observations of UGC 4483, the closest example of a metal-poor blue compact dwarf galaxy, with a metallicity of Z ≃ 1/15 Z ⊙ and located at a distance of D ≃ 3.4 Mpc. The extremely high quality of our new data allows us to clearly resolve the multiple stellar evolutionary phases populating the color–magnitude diagram (CMD), to reach more than 4 mag deeper than the tip of the red giant branch, and to detect for the first time core He-burning stars with masses ≲2 M ⊙, populating the red clump and possibly the horizontal branch (HB) of the galaxy. By applying the synthetic CMD method to our observations, we determine an average star formation rate over the whole Hubble time of at least ( 7.01 ± 0.44 ) × 10 − 4 M ⊙ yr − 1 , corresponding to a total astrated stellar mass of ( 9.60 ± 0.61 ) × 10 6 M ⊙, 87% of which went into stars at epochs earlier than 1 Gyr ago. With our star formation history recovery method we find the best fit with a distance modulus of DM = 27.45 ± 0.10, slightly lower than previous estimates. Finally, we find strong evidence of an old (≳10 Gyr) stellar population in UGC 4483 thanks to the detection of an HB phase and the identification of six candidate RR Lyrae variable stars.