Convergence of random zeros on complex manifolds

We show that the zeros of random sequences of Gaussian systems of polynomials of increasing degree almost surely converge to the expected limit distribution under very general hypotheses. In particular, the normalized distribution of zeros of systems of m polynomials of degree N, orthonormalized on a regular compact subset K of C^m, almost surely converge to the equilibrium measure on K as the degree N goes to infinity.Comment: 16 page

Discovery of a supernova associated with GRB 031203: SMARTS Optical-Infrared Lightcurves from 0.2 to 92 days

Optical and infrared monitoring of the afterglow site of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 031203 has revealed a brightening source embedded in the host galaxy, which we attribute to the presence of a supernova (SN) related to the GRB ("SN 031203"). We present details of the discovery and evolution of SN 031203 from 0.2 to 92 days after the GRB, derived from SMARTS consortium photometry in I and J bands. A template type Ic lightcurve, constructed from SN 1998bw photometry, is consistent with the peak brightness of SN 031203 although the lightcurves are not identical. Differential astrometry reveals that the SN, and hence the GRB, occurred less than 300 h_71^-1 pc (3-sigma) from the apparent galaxy center. The peak of the supernova is brighter than the optical afterglow suggesting that this source is intermediate between a strong GRB and a supernova.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter

Multi-color Optical and NIR Light Curves of 64 Stripped-Envelope Core-Collapse Supernovae

We present a densely-sampled, homogeneous set of light curves of 64 low redshift (z < 0.05) stripped-envelope supernovae (SN of type IIb, Ib, Ic and Ic-bl). These data were obtained between 2001 and 2009 at the Fred L. Whipple Observatory (FLWO) on Mt. Hopkins in Arizona, with the optical FLWO 1.2-m and the near-infrared PAIRITEL 1.3-m telescopes. Our dataset consists of 4543 optical photometric measurements on 61 SN, including a combination of UBVRI, UBVr'i', and u'BVr'i', and 2142 JHKs near-infrared measurements on 25 SN. This sample constitutes the most extensive multi-color data set of stripped-envelope SN to date. Our photometry is based on template-subtracted images to eliminate any potential host galaxy light contamination. This work presents these photometric data, compares them with data in the literature, and estimates basic statistical quantities: date of maximum, color, and photometric properties. We identify promising color trends that may permit the identification of stripped-envelope SN subtypes from their photometry alone. Many of these SN were observed spectroscopically by the CfA SN group, and the spectra are presented in a companion paper (Modjaz et al. 2014). A thorough exploration that combines the CfA photometry and spectroscopy of stripped-envelope core-collapse SN will be presented in a follow-up paper.Comment: 26 pages, 17 figures, 8 tables. Revised version resubmitted to ApJ Supplements after referee report. Additional online material is available through http://cosmo.nyu.edu/SNYU

Shared reading of children's interactive picture books

We report on a study of children and parents shared reading of interactive printed books. We investigated the differences between books with interactive features and books with expressive typography in order to evaluate which features within a book encouraged interaction between the reading participants and the book. 11 parent and child groups took part in the study that involved three observed reading sessions. From our observations we offer suggestions for the development of books and eBooks to encourage shared reading practices

The impact of health on professionally active people's incomes in Poland. Microeconometric analysis

The outcome of the research confirms the occurrence of positive interaction between professionally active people's incomes and the self-assessed state of health. People declaring a bad state of health have incomes by 20% on average lower than people who enjoy good health (assuming that the remaining characteristics of the surveyed person are the same). In case of men, the impact of health state on incomes is slightly greater than in case of women.Wyniki badań potwierdzają istnienie pozytywnej zależności dochodów osób aktywnych zawodowo od stanu zdrowia mierzonego jego samooceną. Osoby deklarujące zły stan zdrowia osiągają dochody przeciętnie o 20% niższe niż osoby, które cieszą się dobrym stanem zdrowia (przy założeniu, że pozostałe charakterystyki badanej osoby są takie same). W przypadku mężczyzn zależność dochodów od stanu zdrowia jest nieznacznie silniejsza niż w przypadku kobiet

Systematic study of Optical Feshbach Resonances in an ideal gas

Using a narrow intercombination line in alkaline earth atoms to mitigate large inelastic losses, we explore the Optical Feshbach Resonance (OFR) effect in an ultracold gas of bosonic $^{88}$Sr. A systematic measurement of three resonances allows precise determinations of the OFR strength and scaling law, in agreement with coupled-channels theory. Resonant enhancement of the complex scattering length leads to thermalization mediated by elastic and inelastic collisions in an otherwise ideal gas. OFR could be used to control atomic interactions with high spatial and temporal resolution.Comment: Significant changes to text and figure presentation to improve clarity. Extended supplementary material. 4 pages, 4 figures; includes supplementary material 8 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letter

The Afterglow, Energetics and Host Galaxy of the Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Burst 051221a

We present detailed optical, X-ray and radio observations of the bright afterglow of the short gamma-ray burst 051221a obtained with Gemini, Swift/XRT, and the Very Large Array, as well as optical spectra from which we measure the redshift of the burst, z=0.5464. At this redshift the isotropic-equivalent prompt energy release was about 1.5 x 10^51 erg, and using the standard afterglow synchrotron model we find that the blastwave kinetic energy is similar, E_K,iso ~ 8.4 x 10^51 erg. An observed jet break at t ~ 5 days indicates that the opening angle is ~ 7 degrees and the total beaming-corrected energy is therefore ~ 2.5 x 10^49 erg, comparable to the values inferred for previous short GRBs. We further show that the burst experienced an episode of energy injection by a factor of 3.4 between t=1.4 and 3.4 hours, which was accompanied by reverse shock emission in the radio band. This result provides continued evidence that the central engines of short GRBs may be active significantly longer than the duration of the burst and/or produce a wide range of Lorentz factors. Finally, we show that the host galaxy of GRB051221a is actively forming stars at a rate of about 1.6 M_solar/yr, but at the same time exhibits evidence for an appreciable population of old stars (~ 1 Gyr) and near solar metallicity. The lack of bright supernova emission and the low circumburst density (n ~ 10^-3 cm^-3) continue to support the idea that short bursts are not related to the death of massive stars and are instead consistent with a compact object merger. Given that the total energy release is a factor of ~ 10 larger than the predicted yield for a neutrino annihilation mechanism, this suggests that magnetohydrodynamic processes may be required to power the burst.Comment: Final version (to appear in ApJ on 20 September 2006

Concurrent constraint programming with process mobility

We propose an extension of concurrent constraint programming with primitives for process migration within a hierarchical network, and we study its semantics. To this purpose, we first investigate a &quot;pure &quot; paradigm for process migration, namely a paradigm where the only actions are those dealing with transmissions of processes. Our goal is to give a structural definition of the semantics of migration; namely, we want to describe the behaviour of the system, during the transmission of a process, in terms of the behaviour of the components. We achieve this goal by using a labeled transition system where the effects of sending a process, and requesting a process, are modeled by symmetric rules (similar to handshaking-rules for synchronous communication) between the two partner nodes in the network. Next, we extend our paradigm with the primitives of concurrent constraint programming, and we show how to enrich the semantics to cope with the notions of environment and constraint store. Finally, we show how the operational semantics can be used to define an interpreter for the basic calculus.