E 0336-248 : A New BL Lac Object Found by an Old Einstein

We obtained new ROSAT HRI and optical observations in the field of the Einstein X-ray source E 0336-248, which we use to identify it as a 19th magnitude BL Lacertae object at z=0.251 with an X-ray luminosity of 10^45 erg/s. It is also a 14 mJy radio source at 20 cm. An emission-line galaxy at z=0.043 that was previously considered a Seyfert identification for E 0336-248 is shown instead to be an unrelated, non-active H II region galaxy that lies 78 arcseconds from the X-ray source. The resolution of this historical case of mistaken identity illustrates that discoveries of non-AGN emission-line galaxies with high X-ray luminosity should be tested carefully. The properties of E 0336-248 are similar to those of other X-ray selected BL Lacs, including its location in an apparent group or cluster of galaxies. Somewhat unusual is the weak contribution of nonstellar optical light relative to the starlight in the spectrum of its host galaxy, which raises once again the possibility that even high-luminosity BL Lac objects may be difficult to identify in X-ray selected samples. We discuss a possible manifestation of this problem that appeared in the recent literature.Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journal. 8 pages including figures (uses psfig.tex, also included

Unbounded-Error Classical and Quantum Communication Complexity

Since the seminal work of Paturi and Simon \cite[FOCS'84 & JCSS'86]{PS86}, the unbounded-error classical communication complexity of a Boolean function has been studied based on the arrangement of points and hyperplanes. Recently, \cite[ICALP'07]{INRY07} found that the unbounded-error {\em quantum} communication complexity in the {\em one-way communication} model can also be investigated using the arrangement, and showed that it is exactly (without a difference of even one qubit) half of the classical one-way communication complexity. In this paper, we extend the arrangement argument to the {\em two-way} and {\em simultaneous message passing} (SMP) models. As a result, we show similarly tight bounds of the unbounded-error two-way/one-way/SMP quantum/classical communication complexities for {\em any} partial/total Boolean function, implying that all of them are equivalent up to a multiplicative constant of four. Moreover, the arrangement argument is also used to show that the gap between {\em weakly} unbounded-error quantum and classical communication complexities is at most a factor of three.Comment: 11 pages. To appear at Proc. ISAAC 200

Bagdad, Berlin, Warschau. Dekonstruktionen der Bildungsreise in Sherko Fatahs postkolonialem Entwicklungsroman ‚Ein weißes Land‘

The paper examines the motif of the Bildungsreise in Sherko Fatah’s post-colonial novel Ein weißes Land (2011). Anwar, the novel’s protagonist, grows up in 1920s Baghdad under British administration, a diverse but profoundly unequal society rife with religious conflict. Driven by a desire for self-development and adventure characteristic of the European Bildungsroman tradition, Anwar sets out on a catastrophic coming-of-age journey. He falls in with thieves, nationalists and religious extremists and eventually ends up in Europe at the cusp of World War II. In a blurring of victim/perpetrator roles, Anwar is recruited by the Waffen-SS and takes part in the conquest of Lebensraum in Eastern Europe, the colonization project of the Third Reich. Beyond these thematic subversions of genre conventions, the paper also explores the novel’s structural innovations. While the classic Bildungsroman has been associated with circular plot patterns (‘return’ signals accommodation to social expectations after a temporary phase of youthful rebellion), Fatah’s novel eschews this conciliatory circularity. It is replaced by aberrant temporal structures such as repetition and regression. As a result, Anwar's youth is framed as a process of disrupted development in the context of European colonialism and the Nazi regime

Pan-STARRS1 Discovery of Two Ultraluminous Supernovae at z ≈ 0.9

We present the discovery of two ultraluminous supernovae (SNe) at z ≈ 0.9 with the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. These SNe, PS1-10ky and PS1-10awh, are among the most luminous SNe ever discovered, comparable to the unusual transients SN 2005ap and SCP 06F6. Like SN 2005ap and SCP 06F6, they show characteristic high luminosities (M_(bol) ≈ –22.5 mag), blue spectra with a few broad absorption lines, and no evidence for H or He. We have constructed a full multi-color light curve sensitive to the peak of the spectral energy distribution in the rest-frame ultraviolet, and we have obtained time series spectroscopy for these SNe. Given the similarities between the SNe, we combine their light curves to estimate a total radiated energy over the course of explosion of (0.9-1.4) × 10^(51) erg. We find photospheric velocities of 12,000-19,000 km s^(–1) with no evidence for deceleration measured across ~3 rest-frame weeks around light curve peak, consistent with the expansion of an optically thick massive shell of material. We show that, consistent with findings for other ultraluminous SNe in this class, radioactive decay is not sufficient to power PS1-10ky, and we discuss two plausible origins for these events: the initial spin-down of a newborn magnetar in a core-collapse SN, or SN shock breakout from the dense circumstellar wind surrounding a Wolf-Rayet star

WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Cosmological neutrino mass constraint from blue high-redshift galaxies

The absolute neutrino mass scale is currently unknown, but can be constrained by cosmology. The WiggleZ high redshift, star-forming, and blue galaxy sample offers a complementary data set to previous surveys for performing these measurements, with potentially different systematics from nonlinear structure formation, redshift-space distortions, and galaxy bias. We obtain a limit of ∑m_ν<0.60  eV (95% confidence) for WiggleZ+Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. Combining with priors on the Hubble parameter and the baryon acoustic oscillation scale gives ∑m_ν<0.29  eV, which is the strongest neutrino mass constraint derived from spectroscopic galaxy redshift surveys

Supernova 2009kf: An Ultraviolet Bright Type IIP Supernova Discovered with Pan-STARRS 1 and GALEX

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of a luminous Type IIP Supernova (SN) 2009kf discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1) survey and also detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The SN shows a plateau in its optical and bolometric light curves, lasting approximately 70 days in the rest frame, with an absolute magnitude of M_V = -18.4 mag. The P-Cygni profiles of hydrogen indicate expansion velocities of 9000 km s^(-1) at 61 days after discovery which is extremely high for a Type IIP SN. SN 2009kf is also remarkably bright in the near-ultraviolet (NUV) and shows a slow evolution 10-20 days after optical discovery. The NUV and optical luminosity at these epochs can be modeled with a blackbody with a hot effective temperature (T ~ 16,000 K) and a large radius (R ~ 1 × 10^(15) cm). The bright bolometric and NUV luminosity, the light curve peak and plateau duration, the high velocities, and temperatures suggest that 2009kf is a Type IIP SN powered by a larger than normal explosion energy. Recently discovered high-z SNe (0.7 < z < 2.3) have been assumed to be IIn SNe, with the bright UV luminosities due to the interaction of SN ejecta with a dense circumstellar medium. UV-bright SNe similar to SN 2009kf could also account for these high-z events, and its absolute magnitude M_(NUV) = -21.5 ± 0.5 mag suggests such SNe could be discovered out to z ~ 2.5 in the PS1 survey

A Reanalysis of the Hydrodynamic Theory of Fluid, Polar-Ordered Flocks

I reanalyze the hydrodynamic theory of fluid, polar ordered flocks. I find new linear terms in the hydrodynamic equations which slightly modify the anisotropy, but not the scaling, of the damping of sound modes. I also find that the nonlinearities allowed {\it in equilibrium} do not stabilize long ranged order in spatial dimensions $d=2$; in accord with the Mermin-Wagner theorem. Nonequilibrium nonlinearities {\it do} stabilize long ranged order in $d=2$, as argued by earlier work. Some of these were missed by earlier work; it is unclear whether or not they change the scaling exponents in $d=2$.Comment: 6 pages, no figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0909.195