Few smooth d-polytopes with n lattice points

We prove that, for fixed n there exist only finitely many embeddings of Q-factorial toric varieties X into P^n that are induced by a complete linear system. The proof is based on a combinatorial result that for fixed nonnegative integers d and n, there are only finitely many smooth d-polytopes with n lattice points. We also enumerate all smooth 3-polytopes with at most 12 lattice points. In fact, it is sufficient to bound the singularities and the number of lattice points on edges to prove finiteness.Comment: 20+2 pages; major revision: new author, new structure, new result

Neutrino emission from dense matter, and neutron star thermal evolution

A brief review is given of neutrino emission processes in dense matter, with particular emphasis on recent developments. These include direct Urca processes for nucleons and hyperons, which can give rise to rapid energy loss from the stellar core without exotic matter, and the effect of band structure on neutrino bremsstrahlung from electrons in the crust, which results in much lower energy losses by this process than had previously been estimated

Algebraic groups and their birational invariants

Since the late 1960s, methods of birational geometry have been used successfully in the theory of linear algebraic groups, especially in arithmetic problems. This book--which can be viewed as a significant revision of the author's book, Algebraic Tori (Nauka, Moscow, 1977)--studies birational properties of linear algebraic groups focusing on arithmetic applications. The main topics are forms and Galois cohomology, the Picard group and the Brauer group, birational geometry of algebraic tori, arithmetic of algebraic groups, Tamagawa numbers, R-equivalence, projective toric varieties, invariants of finite transformation groups, and index-formulas. Results and applications are recent. There is an extensive bibliography with additional comments that can serve as a guide for further reading