10,527 research outputs found
Uncanny survivors and the Nazi beast: Monstrous imagination in See under: Love
In the past three decades, as writers have grappled with the legacy of the Holocaust and its aftermath, figures of the uncanny—such as ghosts, monsters, and mythic beings—have consistently appeared as salient metaphors in Holocaust fiction. As symbols of the vexed relationship between Jewish past and present, monstrous creatures demand that readers examine what it means to be human in a post-Holocaust universe, a universe that has exhibited an extreme capacity for inhumanity. This essay examines David Grossman’s See Under: Love—especially its renowned first chapter, “Momik”—as one of the most effective Holocaust narratives to employ a monster motif. The “Nazi Beast” and eerie survivors in the novel self-consciously call into question the strategies writers and readers use when wrestling with ideas about postwar trauma. By exploring the ethical and aesthetic implications of Momik’s “Beast” this essay also asks what is gained or lost by using such an overdetermined symbol as the monster to grapple with the equally problematic constructions of both perpetrators and traumatized survivors
On Representations of Conformal Field Theories and the Construction of Orbifolds
We consider representations of meromorphic bosonic chiral conformal field
theories, and demonstrate that such a representation is completely specified by
a state within the theory. The necessary and sufficient conditions upon this
state are derived, and, because of their form, we show that we may extend the
representation to a representation of a suitable larger conformal field theory.
In particular, we apply this procedure to the lattice (FKS) conformal field
theories, and deduce that Dong's proof of the uniqueness of the twisted
representation for the reflection-twisted projection of the Leech lattice
conformal field theory generalises to an arbitrary even (self-dual) lattice. As
a consequence, we see that the reflection-twisted lattice theories of Dolan et
al are truly self-dual, extending the analogies with the theories of lattices
and codes which were being pursued. Some comments are also made on the general
concept of the definition of an orbifold of a conformal field theory in
relation to this point of view.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX. Updated references and added preprint n
Mathematical practice, crowdsourcing, and social machines
The highest level of mathematics has traditionally been seen as a solitary
endeavour, to produce a proof for review and acceptance by research peers.
Mathematics is now at a remarkable inflexion point, with new technology
radically extending the power and limits of individuals. Crowdsourcing pulls
together diverse experts to solve problems; symbolic computation tackles huge
routine calculations; and computers check proofs too long and complicated for
humans to comprehend.
Mathematical practice is an emerging interdisciplinary field which draws on
philosophy and social science to understand how mathematics is produced. Online
mathematical activity provides a novel and rich source of data for empirical
investigation of mathematical practice - for example the community question
answering system {\it mathoverflow} contains around 40,000 mathematical
conversations, and {\it polymath} collaborations provide transcripts of the
process of discovering proofs. Our preliminary investigations have demonstrated
the importance of "soft" aspects such as analogy and creativity, alongside
deduction and proof, in the production of mathematics, and have given us new
ways to think about the roles of people and machines in creating new
mathematical knowledge. We discuss further investigation of these resources and
what it might reveal.
Crowdsourced mathematical activity is an example of a "social machine", a new
paradigm, identified by Berners-Lee, for viewing a combination of people and
computers as a single problem-solving entity, and the subject of major
international research endeavours. We outline a future research agenda for
mathematics social machines, a combination of people, computers, and
mathematical archives to create and apply mathematics, with the potential to
change the way people do mathematics, and to transform the reach, pace, and
impact of mathematics research.Comment: To appear, Springer LNCS, Proceedings of Conferences on Intelligent
Computer Mathematics, CICM 2013, July 2013 Bath, U
Bridges Between Subriemannian Geometry and Algebraic Geometry
We consider how the problem of determining normal forms for a specific class
of nonholonomic systems leads to various interesting and concrete bridges
between two apparently unrelated themes. Various ideas that traditionally
pertain to the field of algebraic geometry emerge here organically in an
attempt to elucidate the geometric structures underlying a large class of
nonholonomic distributions known as Goursat constraints. Among our new results
is a regularization theorem for curves stated and proved using tools
exclusively from nonholonomic geometry, and a computation of topological
invariants that answer a question on the global topology of our classifying
space. Last but not least we present for the first time some experimental
results connecting the discrete invariants of nonholonomic plane fields such as
the RVT code and the Milnor number of complex plane algebraic curves.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of 10th AIMS Conference on Dynamical
Systems, Differential Equations and Applications, Madrid 201
cGAN-based Manga Colorization Using a Single Training Image
The Japanese comic format known as Manga is popular all over the world. It is
traditionally produced in black and white, and colorization is time consuming
and costly. Automatic colorization methods generally rely on greyscale values,
which are not present in manga. Furthermore, due to copyright protection,
colorized manga available for training is scarce. We propose a manga
colorization method based on conditional Generative Adversarial Networks
(cGAN). Unlike previous cGAN approaches that use many hundreds or thousands of
training images, our method requires only a single colorized reference image
for training, avoiding the need of a large dataset. Colorizing manga using
cGANs can produce blurry results with artifacts, and the resolution is limited.
We therefore also propose a method of segmentation and color-correction to
mitigate these issues. The final results are sharp, clear, and in high
resolution, and stay true to the character's original color scheme.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figure
Messing with nature? Exploring public perceptions of geoengineering in the UK
Anthropogenic influence on the climate – and possible societal responses to it – offers a unique window through which to examine the way people think about and relate to the natural world. This paper reports data from four, one-day deliberative workshops conducted with members of the UK public during early 2012. The workshops focused on geoengineering – the deliberate, large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment – as one of three possible responses to climate change (alongside mitigation and adaptation). Here, we explore one of the most pervasive and wide-ranging themes to emerge from the workshops: whether geoengineering represented an unprecedented human intervention into ‘nature’, and what the moral consequences of this might be. Using the concept of ‘messing with nature’ as an analytical lens, we explore public perceptions of geoengineering. We also reflect on why ‘messing with nature’ was such a focal point for debate and disagreement, and whether the prospect of geoengineering may reveal new dimensions to the way that people think about the natural world, and their relationship to it
A villain and a monster : the literary portrait of Richard III by Thomas More and William Shakespeare
The process of vilification of Richard III started at the end of the fifteenth century, when a well-planned policy of Tudor propaganda was set in motion by Henry VII himself, who commissioned a series of historiographical writings, mainly aiming at the solidification of the newly founded dynasty. One of the strategies, probably the major one, consisted in the definitive annihilation of the last Plantagenet king of England, whose defeat and death on the battlefield should not by any means transform him into the York victimised hero of the Wars of the Roses. Thus, various historiographers delineated Richard of Gloucester as a vile, wicked, monstrous creature. But the hyperbolic process of vilification undoubtedly reached its highest climax with two major early modern authors. The Life written by Thomas More – The History of King Richard the Third (ca. 1514) – and the play written by William Shakespeare – King Richard III (ca. 1591) – may be considered the epitomes of the tradition that has forever shaped the king as a monster.
In this text, I focus on the way More and Shakespeare exploit and amplify the vituperative historiographical tradition, though mostly based on rumour, uncertainties and legendary elements. Within this widely accepted tradition, both authors manage to shape a solid portrait of Richard III, an exemplum not to be imitated or followed, but whose performance, built through a set of powerful rhetorical devices, is masterful, both in the Life and in the play
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