Abstract. The bead process is the particle system defined on parallel lines, with underlying measure giving constant weight to all configurations in which particles on neighbouring lines interlace, and zero weight otherwise. Motivated by the statistical mechanical model of the tiling of an abc-hexagon by three species of rhombi, a finitized version of the bead process is defined. The corresponding joint distribution can be realized as an eigenvalue probability density function for a sequence of random matrices. The finitized bead process is determinantal, and we give the correlation kernel in terms of Jacobi polynomials. Two scaling limits are considered: a global limit in which the spacing between lines goes to zero, and a certain bulk scaling limit. In the global limit the shape of the support of the particles is determined, while in the bulk scaling limit the bead process kernel of Boutillier is reclaimed, after approriate identification of the anisotropy parameter therein.
Motivated by the problem of domino tilings of the Aztec diamond, a weighted particle system is defined on N lines, with line j containing j particles. The particles are restricted to lattice points from 0 to N , and particles on successive lines are subject to an interlacing constraint. It is shown that marginal distributions for this particle system can be computed exactly. This in turn is used to give unified derivations of a number of fundamental properties of the tiling problem, for example the evaluation of the number of distinct configurations and the relation to the GUE minor process. An interlaced particle system associated with the domino tiling of a certain half Aztec diamond is similarly defined and analyzed.
This article is the first publication of the Bogra copperplate, the eighth known land-grant inscription issued by Śrīcandra (r. c. 925–975 ce), one of the kings of the Candra dynasty of Bengal. A diplomatic transcription is included, together with an annotated English translation and a critically edited text in Devanāgarī. The inscription describes a gift of land to a Brahmin named Śrīkaradatta Śarman, who probably hails from North Bengal (“Hastipada [in the region of] Śrāvasti”). While the praśasti (praise) portions largely parallel the king's other known inscriptions, the inscription contributes new information about place names and regions associated with the Candra dynasty, as well as attesting the movements of Brahmins associated with the Parāśara Gotra and Chandoga Caraṇa. The article also provides an overview and assessment of research on the inscriptions and history of the Candra dynasty, particularly in light of the discovery and identification of this new inscription.
This pair of essays reflects upon the unexpected encounter of Hindu and Jewish perspectives in the wake of the prohibition of wigs with human hair from India for use by Jewish women by prominent Haredi (‘‘ultra-orthodox’’) legal authorities in May 2004. The rulings sparked distress among Haredi communities in New York, London, and Jerusalem; some women took to the streets to burn their wigs, attracting international media attention. Yet questions about the status of the wigs also occasioned intensive halakhic discussions of Hindu rituals among Orthodox Jews, centered on tonsuring practices of pilgrims to the Ve kateśvara temple near the city of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India. These essays explore some of the insights that arise when one examines the controversy from historical perspectives, and in relation to theoretical questions about comparison and the study of religions. The first essay focuses on the tensions surrounding hair and its interpretation within Vaisnavite textual traditions and ritual practices, while the second essay situates the controversy within the history of Jewish discourses about ritual, ‘‘idolatry,’’ and the ‘‘Other.’’
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