Afterglow lightcurves, viewing angle and the jet structure of gamma-ray bursts

Gamma ray bursts are often modelled as jet-like outflows directed towards the observer; the cone angle of the jet is then commonly inferred from the time at which there is a steepening in the power-law decay of the afterglow. We consider an alternative model in which the jet has a beam pattern where the luminosity per unit solid angle (and perhaps also the initial Lorentz factor) decreases smoothly away from the axis, rather than having a well-defined cone angle within which the flow is uniform. We show that the break in the afterglow light curve then occurs at a time that depends on the viewing angle. Instead of implying a range of intrinsically different jets - some very narrow, and others with similar power spread over a wider cone - the data on afterglow breaks could be consistent with a standardized jet, viewed from different angles. We discuss the implication of this model for the luminosity function.Comment: Corrected typo in Eq. 1

Shape maps for second order partial differential equations

We analyse the singularity formation of congruences of solutions of systems of second order PDEs via the construction of \emph{shape maps}. The trace of such maps represents a congruence volume whose collapse we study through an appropriate evolution equation, akin to Raychaudhuri's equation. We develop the necessary geometric framework on a suitable jet space in which the shape maps appear naturally associated with certain linear connections. Explicit computations are given, along with a nontrivial example

Can Modus Vivendi Save Liberalism from Moralism? A Critical Assessment of John Gray’s Political Realism

This chapter assesses John Gray’s modus vivendi-based justification for liberalism. I argue that his approach is preferable to the more orthodox deontological or teleological justificatory strategies, at least because of the way it can deal with the problem of diversity. But then I show how that is not good news for liberalism, for grounding liberal political authority in a modus vivendi undermines liberalism’s aspiration to occupy a privileged normative position vis-à-vis other kinds of regimes. So modus vivendi can save liberalism from moralism, but at cost many liberals will not be prepared to pay

Deformed Double Yangian Structures

Scaling limits when q tends to 1 of the elliptic vertex algebras A_qp(sl(N)) are defined for any N, extending the previously known case of N=2. They realise deformed, centrally extended double Yangian structures DY_r(sl(N)). As in the quantum affine algebras U_q(sl(N)), and quantum elliptic affine algebras A_qp(sl(N)), these algebras contain subalgebras at critical values of the central charge c=-N-Mr (M integer, 2r=ln p/ln q), which become Abelian when c=-N or 2r=Nh for h integer. Poisson structures and quantum exchange relations are derived for their abstract generators.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX2e Document - packages amsfonts,amssymb,subeqnarra

On the Quasi-Hopf structure of deformed double Yangians

We construct universal twists connecting the centrally extended double Yangian DY(sl(2))_c with deformed double Yangians DY_r(sl(2))_c, thereby establishing the quasi-Hopf structures of the latter.Comment: 11 page