Supernovae Shedding Light on Gamma-Ray Bursts

We review the observational status of the Supernova (SN)/Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) connection. In section 2 we provide a short summary of the observational properties of core-collapse SNe. In sections 3-6 we review the circumstantial evidences and the direct observations that support the existence of a deep connection between the death of massive stars and GRBs. Present data suggest that SNe associated with GRBs form a heterogeneous class of objects including both bright and faint Hypernovae and perhaps also `standard' Ib/c events. In section 7, we provide an empirical estimate of the rate of Hypernovae, for a ``MilkyWay-like'' galaxy, of about $\sim 2.6\times 10^{-4}$ yr$^{-1}$ that may imply the ratio GRB/Hypernovae to be in the range $\sim 0.03-0.7$. In the same framework we find the ratio GRB/SNe-Ibc to be $\sim 0.008\div 0.05$. In section 8 we discuss the possible existence of a lag between the SN explosion and the associated gamma-ray event. In the few SN/GRB associations so far discovered the SN explosions and GRB events appear to go off simultaneously. In section 9 we present the conclusions and highlight the open problems that Swift hopefully will allow us to solve.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, invited review at the 4th Workshop Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era, Rome,18-22 October 2004. Editors: L. Piro, L. Amati, S. Covino, and B. Gendre. Il Nuovo Cimento, in pres

Cutoff-effects in the spectrum of dynamical Wilson fermions

We investigate the low-lying eigenvalues of the improved Wilson-Dirac operator in the Schroedinger functional with two dynamical quark flavors. At a lattice spacing of approximately 0.1 fm we find more very small eigenvalues than in the quenched case. These cause problems with HMC-type algorithms and in the evaluation of fermionic correlation functions. Through a simulation at a finer lattice spacing we are able to establish their nature as cutoff-effectsComment: Lattice2004(machines), 3 pages, 3 figures, talk by R.

On Core Collapse Supernovae in Normal and in Seyfert Galaxies

This paper estimates the relative frequency of different types of core-collapse supernovae, in terms of the ratio f between the number of type Ib--Ic and of type II supernovae. We estimate f independently for all normal and Seyfert galaxies whose radial velocity is <=14000 km/s, and which had at least one supernova event recorded in the Asiago catalogue from January 1986 to August 2000. We find that the ratio f is approx. 0.23+/-0.05 in normal galaxies. This value is consistent with constant star formation rate and with a Salpeter Initial Mass Function and average binary rate approx. 50 %. On the contrary, Seyfert galaxies exceed the ratio f in normal galaxies by a factor approx. 4 at a confidence level >= 2 sigma. A caveat is that the numbers for Seyferts are still small (6 type Ib-Ic and 6 type II supernovae discovered as yet). Assumed real, this excess of type Ib and Ic with respect to type II supernovae, may indicate a burst of star formation of young age (<= 20 Myr), a high incidence of binary systems in the inner regions (r <= 0.4 R25) of Seyfert galaxies, or a top-loaded mass function.Comment: Accepted for Publication in MNRA

Economic Recovery from the Argentine Great Depression: Institutions, Expectations, and the Change of Macroeconomic Regime

This work explores how Argentina overcame the Great Depression and asks whether active macroeconomic interventions made any contribution to the recovery. In particular, we study Argentine macroeconomic policy as it deviated from gold-standard orthodoxy after the final suspension of convertibility in 1929. As elsewhere, fiscal policy in Argentina was conservative, and had little power to smooth output. Monetary policy became heterodox after 1929. The first and most important stage of institutional change took place with the switch from a metallic monetary regime to a fiduciary regime in 1931; the Caja de Conversi¢n (Conversion Office, a currency board) began rediscounting as a means to sterilize gold outflows and avoid deflationary pressures, thus breaking from orthodox game. and were not enough to fully offset the incipient monetary contractions: the recovery derived from changes in beliefs and expectations surrounding the shift in the monetary and exchange-rate regime, and the delinking of gold flows and the money base. Agents perceived a new regime, as shown by the path of consumption, investment, and estimated ex ante real interest rates: the predated a later, and supposedly more significant, stage of institutional reform, namely the creation of the central bank in 1935. Still, the extent of intervention was weak, and insufficient to fully offset external shocks to prices and money. Argentine macropolicy was heterodox in terms of the change of regime, but still conservative in terms of the tentative scope of the measures taken.