A Memetic Analysis of a Phrase by Beethoven: Calvinian Perspectives on Similarity and Lexicon-Abstraction

This article discusses some general issues arising from the study of similarity in music, both human-conducted and computer-aided, and then progresses to a consideration of similarity relationships between patterns in a phrase by Beethoven, from the first movement of the Piano Sonata in A flat major op. 110 (1821), and various potential memetic precursors. This analysis is followed by a consideration of how the kinds of similarity identified in the Beethoven phrase might be understood in psychological/conceptual and then neurobiological terms, the latter by means of William Calvin’s Hexagonal Cloning Theory. This theory offers a mechanism for the operation of David Cope’s concept of the lexicon, conceived here as a museme allele-class. I conclude by attempting to correlate and map the various spaces within which memetic replication occurs

A geographical information systems-based approach to health facilities and urban traffic system in Belgrade, Serbia

We studied the geospatial distribution of health facilities in Belgrade, the capital of the Republic of Serbia, in relation to the public transport system. Analyses in this research were based on advanced geographical information systems using numerical methods. We calculated accessibility to health centres as based on public transport properties accounting for the movement of citizens, as well as patients, through the city. Based on results, the city of Belgrade has a moderate connectivity. Public health centres and a group of other health centres in the central-east part of the city have a better connectivity. Also, in this paper we estimated that the average time necessary to reach health facilities on foot is 100 minutes and by public transport vehicles such as buses, trams and trolleys is 42 minutes

Marine Data Fusion for Analyzing Spatio-Temporal Ocean Region Connectivity

This thesis develops methods to automate and objectify the connectivity analysis between ocean regions. Existing methods for connectivity analysis often rely on manual integration of expert knowledge, which renders the processing of large amounts of data tedious. This thesis presents a new framework for Data Fusion that provides several approaches for automation and objectification of the entire analysis process. It identifies different complexities of connectivity analysis and shows how the Data Fusion framework can be applied and adapted to them. The framework is used in this thesis to analyze geo-referenced trajectories of fish larvae in the western Mediterranean Sea, to trace the spreading pathways of newly formed water in the subpolar North Atlantic based on their hydrographic properties, and to gauge their temporal change. These examples introduce a new, and highly relevant field of application for the established Data Science methods that were used and innovatively combined in the framework. New directions for further development of these methods are opened up which go beyond optimization of existing methods. The Marine Science, more precisely Physical Oceanography, benefits from the new possibilities to analyze large amounts of data quickly and objectively for its exact research questions. This thesis is a foray into the new field of Marine Data Science. It practically and theoretically explores the possibilities of combining Data Science and the Marine Sciences advantageously for both sides. The example of automating and objectifying connectivity analysis between marine regions in this thesis shows the added value of combining Data Science and Marine Science. This thesis also presents initial insights and ideas on how researchers from both disciplines can position themselves to thrive as Marine Data Scientists and simultaneously advance our understanding of the ocean

Ab-initio two-dimensional digital twin for quantum computer benchmarking

Large-scale numerical simulations of the Hamiltonian dynamics of a Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) computer - a digital twin - could play a major role in developing efficient and scalable strategies for tuning quantum algorithms for specific hardware. Via a two-dimensional tensor network digital twin of a Rydberg atom quantum computer, we demonstrate the feasibility of such a program. In particular, we quantify the effects of gate crosstalks induced by the van der Waals interaction between Rydberg atoms: according to an 8x8 digital twin simulation based on the current state-of-the-art experimental setups, the initial state of a five-qubit repetition code can be prepared with a high fidelity, a first indicator for a compatibility with fault-tolerant quantum computing. The preparation of a 64-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state with about 700 gates yields a 99.9% fidelity in a closed system while achieving a speedup of 35% via parallelization.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Computational Design of Flexible Electride with Nontrivial Band Topology

Electrides, with their excess electrons distributed in crystal cavities playing the role of anions, exhibit a variety of unique electronic and magnetic properties. In this work, we employ the first-principles crystal structure prediction to identify a new prototype of A3B electride in which both interlayer spacings and intralayer vacancies provide channels to accommodate the excess electrons in the crystal. This A3B type of structure is calculated to be thermodynamically stable for two alkaline metals oxides (Rb3O and K3O). Remarkably, the unique feature of multiple types of cavities makes the spatial arrangement of anionic electrons highly flexible via elastic strain engineering and chemical substitution, in contrast to the previously reported electrides characterized by a single topology of interstitial electrons. More importantly, our first-principles calculations reveal that Rb3O is a topological Dirac nodal line semimetal, which is induced by the band inversion at the general electronic k momentums in the Brillouin zone associated with the intersitial electric charges. The discovery of flexible electride in combining with topological electronic properties opens an avenue for electride design and shows great promises in electronic device applications

Communications system evolutionary scenarios for Martian SEI support

In the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) mission scenarios, expanding human presence is the primary driver for high data rate Mars-Earth communications. To support an expanding human presence, the data rate requirement will be gradual, following the phased implementation over time of the evolving SEI mission. Similarly, the growth and evolution of the space communications infrastructure to serve this requirement will also be gradual to efficiently exploit the useful life of the installed communications infrastructure and to ensure backward compatibility with long-term users. In work conducted over the past year, a number of alternatives for supporting high data rate Mars-Earth communications have been analyzed with respect to their compatibility with gradual evolution of the space communications infrastructure. The alternatives include RF, millimeter wave (MMW), and optical implementations, and incorporate both surface and space-based relay terminals in the Mars and Earth regions. Each alternative is evaluated with respect to its ability to efficiently meet a projected growth in data rate over time, its technology readiness, and its capability to satisfy the key conditions and constraints imposed by evolutionary transition. As a result of this analysis, a set of attractive alternative communications architectures have been identified and described, and a road map is developed that illustrates the most rational and beneficial evolutionary paths for the communications infrastructure

Encapsulation kinetics and dynamics of carbon monoxide in clathrate hydrate.

Carbon monoxide clathrate hydrate is a potentially important constituent in the solar system. In contrast to the well-established relation between the size of gaseous molecule and hydrate structure, previous work showed that carbon monoxide molecules preferentially form structure-I rather than structure-II gas hydrate. Resolving this discrepancy is fundamentally important to understanding clathrate formation, structure stabilization and the role the dipole moment/molecular polarizability plays in these processes. Here we report the synthesis of structure-II carbon monoxide hydrate under moderate high-pressure/low-temperature conditions. We demonstrate that the relative stability between structure-I and structure-II hydrates is primarily determined by kinetically controlled cage filling and associated binding energies. Within hexakaidecahedral cage, molecular dynamic simulations of density distributions reveal eight low-energy wells forming a cubic geometry in favour of the occupancy of carbon monoxide molecules, suggesting that the carbon monoxide-water and carbon monoxide-carbon monoxide interactions with adjacent cages provide a significant source of stability for the structure-II clathrate framework

Apropos Obsolescence

Apropos Obsolescence is the title of this PhD in visual art dissertation and exhibition. It is an exploration of how a human mind interfaces with and mediates both proximal space and the larger environment of planet Earth. How is the outside brought inside? What is mediation and how does it operate upon our consciousness? Within the exhibition explored in this text are several works that investigate mediation. The main work, Hexagraphy, is a rudimentary backlit screen; a sculpture that refers to a field of neurons using light. Neurons in the brains hippocampus region are active during movement as a component of our agency in connecting to the navigational aspect of consciousness. These neurons operating in grids are calculating our direction and placement in space as we move around. To engage with this information, I improvised a decentered geometry for some of the work in the exhibition. In other works, I included signs of the enormous physical forces that are in play on the planet, the non-local phased objects we are immersed within that are not easily represented due to their enormity, but that technoscience exposes. Two questions became evident to me through looking at both science and new materialist philosophy. The first is that following the digital turn, an extension of our senses aided by computation, it is clear that humanity exists contingently on planet Earth. Humanity was not the beginning and is not the end of evolution. Thus, upending any notion that any thing was created for us. Secondly, is technology as an end in itself helpful for humanity? Through its decentering of humanity and imposing an acknowledgement of contingency upon us, the entire realm of objects is paradoxically elevated. This decentering could be the only thing that saves our species from extinction. It may be the objects that save us. Hyperobjects like hurricanes and El Nino, or climate change in general are caused by a combination of cyclical forces. These large objects decenter humanity, and in my artwork, I want to emphasize the fact that I am a fragile human and not a machine