1,768 research outputs found
Polynomial Root Distribution and Its Impact on Solutions to Thue Equations
In this study, we focus on two topics in classical number theory. First, we examine Thue equationsâequations of the form F(x, y) = h where F(x, y) is an irreducible, integral binary form and h is an integerâand we give improvements to both asymptotic and explicit bounds on the number of integer pair solutions to Thue equations. These improved bounds largely stem from improvements to a counting technique associated with âThe Gap Principle,â which describes the gap between denominators of good rational approximations to an algebraic number. Next, we will take inspiration from the impact of polynomial root distribution on solutions to Thue equations and we examine polynomial root distribution as its own topic. Here, we will look at the relation between the separation of a polynomialâthe minimal distance between distinct rootsâand the Mahler measure of a polynomialâa height function which connects the roots of a polynomial with its coefficients. We make a conjecture about how separation can be bounded above by the Mahler measure and we give data supporting that conjecture along with proofs of the conjecture in some low-degree cases
IMAGINING, GUIDING, PLAYING INTIMACY: - A Theory of Character Intimacy Games -
Within the landscape of Japanese media production, and video game production in particular, there is a niche comprising video games centered around establishing, developing, and fulfilling imagined intimate relationships with anime-manga characters. Such niche, although very significant in production volume and lifespan, is left unexplored or underexplored. When it is not, it is subsumed within the scope of wider anime-manga media. This obscures the nature of such video games, alternatively identified with descriptors including but not limited to âvisual novelâ, âdating simulatorâ and âadult computer gameâ.
As games centered around developing intimacy with characters, they present specific ensembles of narrative content, aesthetics and software mechanics. These ensembles are aimed at eliciting in users what are, by all intents and purposes, parasocial phenomena towards the gameâs characters. In other words, these software products encourage players to develop affective and bodily responses towards characters. They are set in a way that is coherent with shared, circulating scripts for sexual and intimate interaction to guide player imaginative action. This study defines games such as the above as âcharacter intimacy gamesâ, video game software where traversal is contingent on players knowingly establishing, developing, and fulfilling intimate bonds with fictional characters. To do so, however, player must recognize themselves as playing that type of game, and to be looking to develop that kind of response towards the gameâs characters. Character Intimacy Games are contingent upon player developing affective and bodily responses, and thus presume that players are, at the very least, non-hostile towards their development. This study approaches Japanese character intimacy games as its corpus, and operates at the intersection of studies of communication, AMO studies and games studies.
The study articulates a research approach based on the double need of approaching single works of significance amidst a general scarcity of scholarly background on the subject. It juxtaposes data-driven approaches derived from fan-curated databases â The Visual Novel Database and Erogescape -ErogÄ HyĆron KĆ«kan â with a purpose-created ludo-hermeneutic process. By deploying an observation of character intimacy games through fan-curated data and building ludo-hermeneutics on the resulting ontology, this study argues that character intimacy games are video games where traversal is contingent on players knowingly establishing, developing, and fulfilling intimate bonds with fictional characters and recognizing themselves as doing so. To produce such conditions, the assemblage of software mechanics and narrative content in such games facilitates intimacy between player and characters. This is, ultimately, conductive to the emergence of parasocial phenomena. Parasocial phenomena, in turn, are deployed as an integral assumption regarding player activity within the gameâs wider assemblage of narrative content and software mechanics
Designing adaptivity in educational games to improve learning
The study of pedagogy has shown that students have different ways of learning and processing information. Students in a classroom learn best when being taught by a teacher who is able to adapt and/or change the pedagogical model being used, to better suit said students and/or the subject being taught. When considering other teaching mediums such as computer-assisted learning systems or educational video games, research also identified the benefits of adapting educational features to better teach players. However, effective methods for adaptation in educational video games are less well researched.This study addresses four points regarding adaptivity within educational games. Firstly, a framework for making any game adaptive was extracted from the literature. Secondly, an algorithm capable of monitoring, modelling and executing adaptations was developed and explained using the framework. Thirdly, the algorithm's effect on learning gains in players was evaluated using a customised version of Minecraft as the educational game and topics from critical thinking as the educational content. Lastly, a methodology explaining the process of utilising the algorithm with any educational game and the evaluation of said methodology were detailed
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Forward Limit Sets of Semigroups of Substitutions and Arithmetic Progressions in Automatic Sequences
This thesis deals with symbolic sequences generated by semigroups of substitutions acting on finite alphabets.
First, we investigate the underlying structure of certain automatic sequences by studying the maximum length A(d) of the monochromatic arithmetic progressions of difference d appearing in these sequences. For example, for the Thue-Morse sequence and a class of generalised Thue-Morse sequences, we give exact values of A(d) or upper bounds on it, for certain differences d. For aperiodic, primitive, bijective substitutions and spin substitutions, which are generalisations of the Thue-Morse and Rudin-Shapiro substitutions, respectively, we study the asymptotic growth rate of A(d). In particular, we prove that there exists a subsequence (d_n) of differences along which A(d_n) grows at least polynomially in d_n. Explicit upper and lower bounds for the growth exponent can be derived from a finite group associated to the substitution considered.
Next, we introduce the forward limit set Î of a semigroup S generated by a family of substitutions of a finite alphabet, which typically coincides with the set of all possible s-adic limits of that family. We provide several alternative characterisations of the forward limit set. For instance, we prove that Î is the unique maximal closed and strongly S-invariant subset of the space of all infinite words, and we prove that it is the closure of the image under S of the set of all fixed points of S. It is usually difficult to compute a forward limit set explicitly; however, we show that, provided certain assumptions hold, Î is uncountable, and we supply upper bounds on its size in terms of logarithmic Hausdorff dimension
Advances in performance and automation of a single ytterbium ion optical clock
While the SI second is currently defined in terms of a microwave transition frequency in
caesium, atomic clocks based on an optical transition are currently outperforming caesium
clocks by up to two orders of magnitude. In order to fully exploit the potential accuracy
achievable by optical clocks, the SI second needs to be redefined in terms of an optical
frequency standard. The Âčâ·ÂčYbâș ion is an excellent candidate thanks to the extremely
narrow linewidth of its electric octupole (E3) transition and its particular insensitivity to
external perturbations.
This thesis is focused on the ytterbium ion optical clock at the National Physical
Laboratory (NPL), consisting of a single Âčâ·ÂčYbâș ion trapped in a radio frequency (RF)
Paul trap and probed by ultrastable 467-nm light to excite the E3 transition. Improved
measurement methods were developed for the evaluation of several systematic frequency
shifts. In particular, the electric quadrupole shift, which used to be the leading source of
uncertainty, can now be directly measured with an accuracy in the low parts in 10Âčâž.
A great focus was put on the automation of several aspects of the experiment.
Because all optical clocks generally require a lot of maintenance and attention during
their operation, many experimental routines were automated in order to minimise the
requirement for human intervention. Furthermore, the analysis of almost all systematic shifts was automated, requiring minimal manual input so that shifts could be evaluated on the fly. Finally, a generalised framework was developed for the automatic evaluation of the absolute frequency of the optical clock via the International Atomic Time (TAI).
In order to increase the confidence in the level of performance of the ytterbium ion optical clock, international clock comparison campaigns are regularly carried out. Between
2019 and 2022, several results were produced: two absolute frequency measurements via
TAI with an uncertainty at the 1 Ă 10â»Âčâ” level; two local frequency ratio measurements between Âčâ·ÂčYbâș (E3) and âžâ·Sr with an uncertainty in the low parts in 10Âčâ·; three uncertainty budgets at the parts in 10Âčâž level; and one measurement of the ratio of the octupole and quadrupole optical clock transitions in Âčâ·ÂčYbâș with an uncertainty of 1.5 Ă 10â»Âčâ¶. All of these results are shown to be consistent with each other and in good agreement with the literature. Furthermore, a prototype optically-steered time scale was successfully demonstrated for the first time at NPL with the contribution of both the Âčâ·ÂčYbâș and âžâ·Sr optical clocks.Open Acces
Evaluation of user response by using visual cues designed to direct the viewer's attention to the main scene in an immersive environment
Today the visualization of 360-degree videos has become a means to live immersive experiences.. However, an important challenge to overcome is how to guide the viewers attention to the video main scene, without interrupting the immersion experience and the narrative thread. To meet this challenge, we have developed a software prototype to assess three approaches: Arrows, Radar and Auto Focus. These are based on visual guidance cues used in first person shooter games such as: Radar-Sonar, Radar-Compass and Arrows. In the study a questionnaire was made to evaluate the comprehension of the narrative, the user's perspective with respect to the design of the visual cues and the usability of the system. In addition, data was collected on the movement of the user's head, in order to analyze the focus of attention. The study used statistical methods to perform the analysis, the results show that the participants who used some visual cue (any of these) showed significant improvements compared to the control group (without using visual cues) in finding the main scene. With respect to narrative compression, significant improvements were obtained in the user group that used Radar and Auto Focus compared to the control group
Animate Being: Extending a Practice of the Image to New Mediums via Speculative Game Design
This post-disciplinary practice as research thesis examines the potential of Carl Jung's therapeutic method of active imagination as a strategy for engaging with an increasingly complex and interconnected technological reality. Embracing a non-clinical, practice-driven approach, I harness James Hillmanâs notion of the image and the imaginal to investigate the interdisciplinary capacity and ethical dimensions of an expansive mode of image-work. My approach to practice theoretically and practically intertwines analytical psychology, feminist worlding and design speculation. Building upon Susan Rowlandâs work, I study image-work as an ecological alchemical craft that seeks to matter the immaterial. Through the cyclic iterative design of a video game, I mobilise and respond to image-work as a mode of myth-making that may facilitate dialogue between human and non-human intelligences. Departing from the essentialism of the hero's journey, I adopt Le Guin's Carrier Bag (1986/2019) as a feminist video game form and by utilising the framework of a video game (Bogost, 2007; Flannigan, 2013), the alchemical processes of image-work are transformed into novel interactive game mechanics. The game I design is both a vessel and a portal to an imaginal ecological realm, an open-world, procedurally generated âliving worldâ sandbox exploration game. This game integrates real-time, real-world data streams to invite the non-human to enter into play as player two, facilitating experimentation with possible new forms of cross-species dialogue, collaboration, and healing
Moving beyond skills acquisition: a multiple case study of situated learning in a league for children with disabilities
In the last few decades, there has been a movement from individualistic and mechanistic notions of learning to approaches that turn attention to the significance of the context of learning. While these approaches have been utilized to point out the significance of the environment for skill acquisition, they have primarily been oriented towards performance-oriented milieus. Inspired by the theory of situated learning in âcommunities of practiceâ (CoP), the aim of the study is to analyze learning processes among members (participants, coaches, parents, etc.) of a diverse sporting community. The article is based on a multiple-case study of a Danish handball community named Lykkeliga (Happy League) that within a few years has attracted more than a thousand children with a remarkable diverse range of age, gender, diagnosis, and disabilities. The data collection included participant observation of training and tournament situations in two clubs over a 3-month period, along with informal interviews. The thematic analysis reveals a range of legitimate ways of participating for members of Happy League clubs, including sitting on the bench and even dating during practice. In sum, our case study sheds light on how situated learning in sporting communities may be directed towards inclusion and expansive understanding of what it means to be a sport participant
Fictional Practices of Spirituality I: Interactive Media
"Fictional Practices of Spirituality" provides critical insight into the implementation of belief, mysticism, religion, and spirituality into worlds of fiction, be it interactive or non-interactive. This first volume focuses on interactive, virtual worlds - may that be the digital realms of video games and VR applications or the imaginary spaces of life action role-playing and soul-searching practices. It features analyses of spirituality as gameplay facilitator, sacred spaces and architecture in video game geography, religion in video games and spiritual acts and their dramaturgic function in video games, tabletop, or LARP, among other topics. The contributors offer a first-time ever comprehensive overview of play-rites as spiritual incentives and playful spirituality in various medial incarnations
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