5,081 research outputs found
A Systematic Analysis of Supernova Light in Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows
We systematically reanalyzed all Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglow data
published through the end of 2002, in an attempt to detect the predicted
supernova light component and to gain statistical insight on its
phenomenological properties. We fit the observed photometric light curves as
the sum of an afterglow, an underlying host galaxy, and a supernova component.
The latter is modeled using published multi-color light curves of SN 1998bw as
a template. The total sample of afterglows with established redshifts contains
21 bursts (GRB 970228 - GRB 021211). For nine of these GRBs a weak supernova
excess (scaled to SN 1998bw) was found, what makes this to one of the first
samples of high-z core collapse supernovae. Among this sample are all bursts
with redshifts less than ~0.7. These results strongly support the notion that
in fact all afterglows of long-duration GRBs contain light from an associated
supernova. A statistics of the physical parameters of these GRB-supernovae
shows that SN 1998bw was at the bright end of its class, while it was not
special with respect to its light curve shape. Finally, we have searched for a
potential correlation of the supernova luminosities with the properties of the
corresponding bursts and optical afterglows, but we have not found such a
relation.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, accepted by ApJ; revised, shortened and updated
compared to version 1; Title slightly changed; all figures showing individual
afterglow light curves removed, as advised by the referee; conclusions
unchange
JCMmode: An Adaptive Finite Element Solver for the Computation of Leaky Modes
We present our simulation tool JCMmode for calculating propagating modes of
an optical waveguide. As ansatz functions we use higher order, vectorial
elements (Nedelec elements, edge elements). Further we construct transparent
boundary conditions to deal with leaky modes even for problems with
inhomogeneous exterior domains as for integrated hollow core Arrow waveguides.
We have implemented an error estimator which steers the adaptive mesh
refinement. This allows the precise computation of singularities near the
metal's corner of a Plasmon-Polariton waveguide even for irregular shaped metal
films on a standard personal computer.Comment: 11 page
The prompt optical/near-infrared flare of GRB 050904: the most luminous transient ever detected
With a redshift of z=6.295, GRB 050904 is the most distant gamma-ray burst
ever discovered. It was an energetic event at all wavelengths and the afterglow
was observed in detail in the near-infrared bands. We gathered all available
optical and NIR afterglow photometry of this GRB to construct a composite NIR
light curve spanning several decades in time and flux density. Transforming the
NIR light curve into the optical, we find that the afterglow of GRB 050904 was
more luminous at early times than any other GRB afterglow in the
pre-\emph{Swift} era, making it at these wavelengths the most luminous
transient ever detected. Given the intrinsic properties of GRB 050904 and its
afterglow, we discuss if this burst is markedly different from other GRBs at
lower redshifts.Comment: The Astronomical Journal, in press; revised version, including the
comments of the referee (one figure added, text restructured, all conclusions
unchanged), 7 pages, 3 figure
Mid-infrared observations of the SGR 1900+14 error box
We report on mid-infrared observations of the compact stellar cluster located
in the proximity of SGR 1900+14, and the radio/X-ray position of this
soft-gamma repeater. Observations were performed in May and June of 2001 when
the bursting source was in an active state. At the known radio and X-ray
position of the SGR we did not detect transient mid-IR activity, although the
observations were performed only hours before and after an outburst in the
high-energy band.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in "Gamma-Ray Burst and Afterglow
Astronomy 2001", Woods Hole; 5-9 Nov, 200
Higher charges and regularized quantum trace identities in su(1,1) Landau-Lifshitz model
We solve the operator ordering problem for the quantum continuous integrable
su(1,1) Landau-Lifshitz model, and give a prescription to obtain the quantum
trace identities, and the spectrum for the higher-order local charges. We also
show that this method, based on operator regularization and renormalization,
which guarantees quantum integrability, as well as the construction of
self-adjoint extensions, can be used as an alternative to the discretization
procedure, and unlike the latter, is based only on integrable representations.Comment: 27 pages; misprints corrected, references adde
World-sheet scattering in AdS_5 x S^5 at two loops
We study the AdS_5 x S^5 sigma-model truncated to the near-flat-space limit
to two-loops in perturbation theory. In addition to extending previously known
one-loop results to the full SU(2|2)^2 S-matrix we calculate the two-loop
correction to the dispersion relation and then compute the complete two-loop
S-matrix. The result of the perturbative calculation can be compared with the
appropriate limit of the conjectured S-matrix for the full theory and complete
agreement is found.Comment: 26pages, 3 figure
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