The peak-flux of GRB 221009A measured with GRBAlpha

The brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed, long-duration GRB 221009A, was detected by GRBAlpha nano-satellite without saturation. We present light curves of the prompt emission in 13 energy bands, from 80 keV to 950 keV, and perform a spectral analysis to calculate the peak flux and peak isotropic-equivalent luminosity. Since the satellite's attitude information is not available for the time of this GRB, more than 200 incident directions were probed in order to find the median luminosity and its systematic uncertainty. We found that the peak flux in the $80-800$ keV range (observer frame) was $F_{\rm{ph}}^{\rm{p}}=1300_{-200}^{+1200}$ ph cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ or $F_{\rm{erg}}^{\rm{p}}=5.7_{-0.7}^{+3.7}\times10^{-4}$ erg cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ and the fluence in the same energy range of the first GRB episode lasting 300 s, which was observable by GRBAlpha, was $S=2.2_{-0.3}^{+1.4}\times10^{-2}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ or $S^{\rm{bol}}=4.9_{-0.5}^{+0.8}\times10^{-2}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ for the extrapolated range of $0.9-8,690$ keV. We infer the isotropic-equivalent released energy of the first GRB episode to be $E_{\rm{iso}}^{\rm{bol}}=2.8_{-0.5}^{+0.8}\times10^{54}$ erg in the $1-10,000$ keV band (rest frame at $z=0.15$). The peak isotropic-equivalent luminosity in the $92-920$ keV range (rest frame) was $L_{\rm{iso}}^{\rm{p}}=3.7_{-0.5}^{+2.5}\times10^{52}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and the bolometric peak isotropic-equivalent luminosity was $L_{\rm{iso}}^{\rm{p,bol}}=8.4_{-1.5}^{+2.5}\times10^{52}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (4 s scale) in the $1-10,000$ keV range (rest frame). The peak emitted energy is $E_p^\ast=E_p(1+z)=1120\pm470$ keV. Our measurement of $L_{\rm{iso}}^{\rm{p,bol}}$ is consistent with the Yonetoku relation. It is possible that, due to the spectral evolution of this GRB and orientation of GRBAlpha at the peak time, the true values of peak flux, fluence, $L_{\rm{iso}}$, and $E_{\rm{iso}}$ are even higher. [abridged]Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

The Illusion of Inclusion: Configurations of populism in Hungary

Populist rhetoric always promises a new, more inclusive political community but very often this only achieves new ways of exclusion. Populism is one of the most flexible terms in the history of ideas and in political science therefore it can often co-exist with different regimes and ideologies. In the case of Hungary, populism appeared first as a reaction to Western capitalism and to the lost World War I, and offered a dream-like “garden country” against major international regimes, totalitarian or democratic. However, populism changed its character from time to time: it revived nationalism in the communist period, it expressed reservations to the elite-driven regime change, it featured anti-liberalism, and finally it presented itself as a renewed rhetoric of “nationalist neoliberalism”. Among the several understandings of populism, Edward Shils’ definition is accepted – this states that in populist discourse the will of the people enjoys top priority in the face of any other principle, right or institutional standard. Populism identifies the people with justice and morality. The discourse analytic approach to populism is broad enough to discuss different historical epochs with regard to populism without inflating the concept

Theoretical Interpretations of Elite Change in East Central Europe

http://www.iue.it/RSCAS/WP-Texts/02_55.pd

Shaping parties’ legitimacy: Internal regulations and membership organisations in post-communist Europe

For more than two decades post-communist political parties have sought to increase their popular legitimacy. The membership organisation is one way to achieve this goal, but its size varies considerably across parties. This article contributes to research on the causes of membership variation by analysing the effects of party statute regulations. In doing so, it controls for previous explanations such as age, ideology, incumbency, and electoral support. The analysis focuses on 28 parliamentary parties from six Eastern European countries between 2005 and 2008, using qualitative content analysis and statistics. The empirical evidence supports the expectation that political parties with more regulations benefit from having larger membership organisations. The multivariate analysis shows statute provisions to be the second-best predictors of membership size