Orbital Parameters for the Soft X-ray Transient 4U 1543-47: Evidence for a Black Hole

(shortened) Spectroscopic observations of the soft X-ray transient 4U 1543-47 reveal a radial velocity curve with a period of P=1.123 +/- 0.008 days and a semi-amplitude of K_2 = 124 +/- 4 km/sec. The mass function is f(M) = 0.22 +/- 0.02 solar masses. We derive a distance of d = 9.1 +/-1.1 kpc if the secondary is on the main sequence. The V and I light curves exhibit two waves per orbital cycle with amplitudes of about 0.08 mag. We modeled the light curves as ellipsoidal variations in the secondary star and derive extreme inclination limits of 20 <= i <= 40 deg and formal 3 sigma limits of 24 <= i <= 36 deg for a mass ratio Q = M_1/M_2 > 1. However, there are systematic effects in the data that the model does not account for, so the above constraints should be treated with caution. We argue that the secondary star is still on the main sequence and if the secondary star has a mass near the main sequence values for early A-stars (2.3 <= M_2 <= 2.6 solar masses), then the best fits for the 3 sigma inclination range (24 <= i <= 36 deg) and the 3 sigma mass function range (0.16 <= f(M) <= 0.28 solar masses) imply a primary mass in the range 2.7 <= M_1 <= 7.5 solar masses. Thus the mass of the compact object in 4U 1543-47 is likely to be in excess of approximately 3 solar masses and we conclude 4U 1543-47 most likely contains a black hole.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, LaTeX (uses the standard AAS style file aas2pp4.sty), accepted for publication in the Ap

Self-love and sociability: the ‘rudiments of commerce’ in the state of nature

Istvan Hont’s classic work on the theoretical links between the seventeenth-century natural jurists Hugo Grotius and Samuel Pufendorf and the eighteenth-century Scottish political economists remains a popular trope among intellectual and economic historians of various stamps. Despite this, a common criticism levelled at Hont remains his relative lack of engagement with the relationship between religion and economics in the early modern period. This paper challenges this aspect of Hont’s narrative by drawing attention to an alternative, albeit complementary, assessment of the natural jurisprudential heritage of eighteenth-century British political economy. Specifically, the article attempts to map on to Hont’s thesis the Christian Stoic interpretation of Grotius and Pufendorf which has gained greater currency in recent years. In doing so, the paper argues that Grotius and Pufendorf’s contributions to the ‘unsocial sociability’ debate do not necessarily lead directly to the Scottish school of political economists, as is commonly assumed. Instead, it contends that a reconsideration of Grotius and Pufendorf as neo-Stoic theorists, particularly via scrutiny of their respective adaptations of the traditional Stoic theory of oikeiosis, steers us towards the heart of the early English ‘clerical’ Enlightenment

Designing Affordable Housing out of Shipping Containers for Chicago (Semester Unknown) IPRO 339: DesigningAffordableHousingOutOfShippingContainersForChicagoIPRO339FinalReportSu09

The City of Chicago has been nominated as the U.S. Bid City for 2016 Olympic Games and currently remains a strong contender for this title. If Chicago is selected as the Host City it will face the enormous task of providing temporary housing for all Olympiad participants including athletes, coaches, organizers, and media reporters. Continuing in the vein of last semester’s IPRO, our IPRO is proposing an economical and environmentally friendly solution to this challenge. We propose to utilize thousands of old shipping containers that are cluttering up shipping yards in the Chicago area and to convert them into low-cost housing units. With proper foresight, this challenge can become an opportunity for the I P R O 3 3 9 City to demonstrate an attitude of sustainability that can serve as a model for other cities around the world to follow suit. The intense media attention directed towards the Olympic Games could be channeled to showcase our commitment to environmentally and socially responsible actions.Deliverable

Designing Affordable Housing out of Shipping Containers for Chicago (Semester Unknown) IPRO 339: DesigningAffordableHousingOutOfShippingContainersForChicagoIPRO339BrochureSu09

The City of Chicago has been nominated as the U.S. Bid City for 2016 Olympic Games and currently remains a strong contender for this title. If Chicago is selected as the Host City it will face the enormous task of providing temporary housing for all Olympiad participants including athletes, coaches, organizers, and media reporters. Continuing in the vein of last semester’s IPRO, our IPRO is proposing an economical and environmentally friendly solution to this challenge. We propose to utilize thousands of old shipping containers that are cluttering up shipping yards in the Chicago area and to convert them into low-cost housing units. With proper foresight, this challenge can become an opportunity for the I P R O 3 3 9 City to demonstrate an attitude of sustainability that can serve as a model for other cities around the world to follow suit. The intense media attention directed towards the Olympic Games could be channeled to showcase our commitment to environmentally and socially responsible actions.Deliverable

Designing Affordable Housing out of Shipping Containers for Chicago (Semester Unknown) IPRO 339: DesigningAffordableHousingOutOfShippingContainersForChicagoIPRO339PosterSu09

The City of Chicago has been nominated as the U.S. Bid City for 2016 Olympic Games and currently remains a strong contender for this title. If Chicago is selected as the Host City it will face the enormous task of providing temporary housing for all Olympiad participants including athletes, coaches, organizers, and media reporters. Continuing in the vein of last semester’s IPRO, our IPRO is proposing an economical and environmentally friendly solution to this challenge. We propose to utilize thousands of old shipping containers that are cluttering up shipping yards in the Chicago area and to convert them into low-cost housing units. With proper foresight, this challenge can become an opportunity for the I P R O 3 3 9 City to demonstrate an attitude of sustainability that can serve as a model for other cities around the world to follow suit. The intense media attention directed towards the Olympic Games could be channeled to showcase our commitment to environmentally and socially responsible actions.Deliverable