The dependence of Swift’s detection sensitivity on a burst’s temporal and spectral properties shapes the detected burst population. Using simplified models of the detector hardware and the burst trigger system I find that Swift is more sensitive to long, soft bursts than CGRO’s BATSE, a reference detector because of the large burst database it accumulated. Thus Swift has increased sensitivity i...

We introduce SWiFT, a toolkit for building adaptive system software using a control-theoretic approach. SWiFT allows systematic implementation of feedback-control mechanisms. It also provides a framework for composing simple feedback mechanisms that operate within limited domains, and for dynamically reconfiguring them. This composition allows the application to adapt efficiently across a wide ...

In the search for robust, accurate, and highly efficient financial option valuation techniques, we here present the SWIFT method (Shannon wavelets inverse Fourier technique), based on Shannon wavelets. SWIFT comes with control over approximation errors made by means of sharp quantitative error bounds. The nature of the local Shannon wavelets basis enables us to adaptively determine the proper s...

In the search for robust, accurate, and highly efficient financial option valuation techniques, we here present the SWIFT method (Shannon wavelets inverse Fourier technique), based on Shannon wavelets. SWIFT comes with control over approximation errors made by means of sharp quantitative error bounds. The nature of the local Shannon wavelets basis enables us to adaptively determine the proper s...

Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are unique probes of the cosmic star formation history and the state of the intergalactic medium up to the redshifts of the first stars. In particular, the ongoing Swift mission might be the first observatory to detect individual Population III stars, provided that the massive, metal-free stars were able to trigger GRBs. Swift will empirically constrain the redshift at w...

I describe the modifications to the standard forward-shock model required to account for the X-ray light-curve features discovered by Swift in the early afterglow emission and propose that a delayed, pair-enriched, and highly relativistic outflow, which bulk-scatters the forward-shock synchrotron emission, yields sometimes a brighter X-ray emission, producing short-lived X-ray flares, X-ray lig...

Assessing future changes in the suitability of the climate niche for interacting species across different trophic levels can identify direct and indirect effects of climate change that may be missed using single-species approaches. We use ensembles of species distribution models based on a dynamically down-scaled regional climate model to project the future suitability of climate for the Swift ...

The Swift parallel scripting language allows for the specification, execution and analysis of large-scale computations in parallel and distributed environments. It incorporates a data model for recording and querying provenance information. In this article we describe these capabilities and evaluate interoperability with other systems through the use of the Open Provenance Model. We describe Sw...

I argue that “good” mathematical models of spatio-temporal dynamics in two-dimensions require non-local operators in the nonlinear terms. Consequently, the often used Swift-Hohenberg equation requires modification as it is purely local. My aim here is to provoke more critical examination of the rationale for using the Swift-Hohenberg equations as a reliable model of the spatial pattern evolutio...