1,465 research outputs found

    Structuring the State’s Voice of Contention in Harmonious Society: How Party Newspapers Cover Social Protests in China

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    During the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) campaign of building a ‘harmonious society’, how do the official newspapers cover the instances of social contention on the ground? Answering this question will shed light not only on how the party press works but also on how the state and the society interact in today’s China. This thesis conceptualises this phenomenon with a multi-faceted and multi-levelled notion of ‘state-initiated contentious public sphere’ to capture the complexity of mediated relations between the state and social contention in the party press. Adopting a relational approach, this thesis analyses 1758 news reports of ‘mass incident’ in the People’s Daily and the Guangming Daily between 2004 and 2020, employing cluster analysis, qualitative comparative analysis, and social network analysis. The thesis finds significant differences in the patterns of contentious coverage in the party press at the level of event and province and an uneven distribution of attention to social contention across incidents and regions. For ‘reported regions’, the thesis distinguishes four types of coverage and presents how party press responds differently to social contention in different scenarios at the provincial level. For ‘identified incidents’, the thesis distinguishes a cumulative type of visibility based on the quantity of coverage from a relational visibility based on the structure emerging from coverage and explains how different news-making rationales determine whether instances receive similar amounts of coverage or occupy similar positions within coverage. Eventually, by demonstrating how the Chinese state strategically uses party press to respond to social contention and how social contention is journalistically placed in different positions in the state’s eyes, this thesis argues that what social contention leads to is the establishment of complex state-contention relations channelled through the party press

    The Commercialisation of English and Scottish Higher Education and its Impact on Academic Misconduct

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    This thesis aims to investigate the impact of the commercialisation of higher education in England and Scotland on academic misconduct. Commercialisation has positioned students as customers, which has been linked to a rise in student consumerism among them. It has also led to widening participation to include more students from non-traditional backgrounds who are more likely to struggle academically. In accordance with general strain theory, these students may experience strain due to an inability to attain a good grade through legitimate means, potentially leading them to turn to illegitimate means such as academic misconduct instead. Previous research has found a link between student consumerism and academic entitlement and between academic entitlement and academic misconduct. Based on this, the present study assessed how well academic entitlement mediated the effects of student consumerism and strain on students’ attitudes towards academic misconduct.To achieve this, data were collected from undergraduate and taught postgraduate students from across England and Scotland using an online questionnaire. Of the 432 responses retained for analysis, 421 were used in an SEM model to assess the relationships between the variables of concern. The results showed that student consumerism was positively related to academic entitlement, that academic entitlement was positively related to lenient attitudes towards academic misconduct, and that the relationship between student consumerism and attitudes towards academic misconduct was fully mediated by academic entitlement. Strain in the form of poor test-taking ability, attention problems, and course disinterest was positively related to academic entitlement, and academic entitlement was the strongest mediator of the relationship between strain and attitudes towards academic misconduct. Moreover, post-hoc tests revealed no significant differences in the student consumerism and academic entitlement of English and Scottish students or of students with differing levels of fee responsibility. The thesis therefore makes a significant contribution to knowledge by showing how two consequences of commercialisation, namely student consumerism and the strain experienced by a greater number of students, lead to more lenient attitudes towards academic misconduct through academic entitlement.<br/

    On the Global Topology of Moduli Spaces of Riemannian Metrics with Holonomy Sp(n)\operatorname{Sp}(n)

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    We discuss aspects of the global topology of moduli spaces of hyperkähler metrics. If the second Betti number is larger than 44, we show that each connected component of these moduli spaces is not contractible. Moreover, in certain cases, we show that the components are simply connected and determine the second rational homotopy group. By that, we prove that the rank of the second homotopy group is bounded from below by the number of orbits of MBM-classes in the integral cohomology. \\ An explicit description of the moduli space of these hyperkähler metrics in terms of Torelli theorems will be given. We also provide such a description for the moduli space of Einstein metrics on the Enriques manifold. For the Enriques manifold, we also give an example of a desingularization process similar to the Kummer construction of Ricci-flat metrics on a Kummer K3K3 surface.\\ We will use these theorems to provide topological statements for moduli spaces of Ricci-flat and Einstein metrics in any dimension larger than 33. For a compact simply connected manifold NN we show that the moduli space of Ricci flat metrics on N×TkN\times T^k splits homeomorphically into a product of the moduli space of Ricci flat metrics on NN and the moduli of sectional curvature flat metrics on the torus TkT^k

    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum

    Investigating the learning potential of the Second Quantum Revolution: development of an approach for secondary school students

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    In recent years we have witnessed important changes: the Second Quantum Revolution is in the spotlight of many countries, and it is creating a new generation of technologies. To unlock the potential of the Second Quantum Revolution, several countries have launched strategic plans and research programs that finance and set the pace of research and development of these new technologies (like the Quantum Flagship, the National Quantum Initiative Act and so on). The increasing pace of technological changes is also challenging science education and institutional systems, requiring them to help to prepare new generations of experts. This work is placed within physics education research and contributes to the challenge by developing an approach and a course about the Second Quantum Revolution. The aims are to promote quantum literacy and, in particular, to value from a cultural and educational perspective the Second Revolution. The dissertation is articulated in two parts. In the first, we unpack the Second Quantum Revolution from a cultural perspective and shed light on the main revolutionary aspects that are elevated to the rank of principles implemented in the design of a course for secondary school students, prospective and in-service teachers. The design process and the educational reconstruction of the activities are presented as well as the results of a pilot study conducted to investigate the impact of the approach on students' understanding and to gather feedback to refine and improve the instructional materials. The second part consists of the exploration of the Second Quantum Revolution as a context to introduce some basic concepts of quantum physics. We present the results of an implementation with secondary school students to investigate if and to what extent external representations could play any role to promote students’ understanding and acceptance of quantum physics as a personal reliable description of the world

    Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Meets Deep Learning

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    This reprint focuses on the application of the combination of synthetic aperture radars and depth learning technology. It aims to further promote the development of SAR image intelligent interpretation technology. A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an important active microwave imaging sensor, whose all-day and all-weather working capacity give it an important place in the remote sensing community. Since the United States launched the first SAR satellite, SAR has received much attention in the remote sensing community, e.g., in geological exploration, topographic mapping, disaster forecast, and traffic monitoring. It is valuable and meaningful, therefore, to study SAR-based remote sensing applications. In recent years, deep learning represented by convolution neural networks has promoted significant progress in the computer vision community, e.g., in face recognition, the driverless field and Internet of things (IoT). Deep learning can enable computational models with multiple processing layers to learn data representations with multiple-level abstractions. This can greatly improve the performance of various applications. This reprint provides a platform for researchers to handle the above significant challenges and present their innovative and cutting-edge research results when applying deep learning to SAR in various manuscript types, e.g., articles, letters, reviews and technical reports

    Handbook Transdisciplinary Learning

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    What is transdisciplinarity - and what are its methods? How does a living lab work? What is the purpose of citizen science, student-organized teaching and cooperative education? This handbook unpacks key terms and concepts to describe the range of transdisciplinary learning in the context of academic education. Transdisciplinary learning turns out to be a comprehensive innovation process in response to the major global challenges such as climate change, urbanization or migration. A reference work for students, lecturers, scientists, and anyone wanting to understand the profound changes in higher education

    Geometry of the doubly periodic Aztec dimer model

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    The purpose of the present work is to provide a detailed asymptotic analysis of the k×k\times\ell doubly periodic Aztec diamond dimer model of growing size for any kk and \ell and under mild conditions on the edge weights. We explicitly describe the limit shape and the 'arctic' curves that separate different phases, as well as prove the convergence of local fluctuations to the appropriate translation-invariant Gibbs measures away from the arctic curves. We also obtain a homeomorphism between the rough region and the amoeba of an associated Harnack curve, and illustrate, using this homeomorphism, how the geometry of the amoeba offers insight into various aspects of the geometry of the arctic curves. In particular, we determine the number of frozen and smooth regions and the number of cusps on the arctic curves. Our framework essentially relies on three somewhat distinct areas: (1) Wiener-Hopf factorization approach to computing dimer correlations; (2) Algebraic geometric `spectral' parameterization of periodic dimer models; and (3) Finite-gap theory of linearization of (nonlinear) integrable partial differential and difference equations on the Jacobians of the associated algebraic curves. In addition, in order to access desired asymptotic results we develop a novel approach to steepest descent analysis on Riemann surfaces via their amoebas.Comment: 94 pages, 22 figure

    Exotic Ground States and Dynamics in Constrained Systems

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    The overarching theme of this thesis is the question of how constraints influence collective behavior. Constraints are crucial in shaping both static and dynamic properties of systems across diverse areas within condensed matter physics and beyond. For example, the simple geometric constraint that hard particles cannot overlap at high density leads to slow dynamics and jamming in glass formers. Constraints also arise effectively at low temperature as a consequence of strong competing interactions in magnetic materials, where they give rise to emergent gauge theories and unconventional magnetic order. Enforcing constraints artificially in turn can be used to protect otherwise fragile quantum information from external noise. This thesis in particular contains progress on the realization of different unconventional phases of matter in constrained systems. The presentation of individual results is organized by the stage of realization of the respective phase. Novel physical phenomena after conceptualization are often exemplified in simple, heuristic models bearing little resemblance of actual matter, but which are interesting enough to motivate efforts with the final goal of realizing them in some way in the lab. One form of progress is then to devise refined models, which retain a degree of simplification while still realizing the same physics and improving the degree of realism in some direction. Finally, direct efforts in realizing either the original models or some refined version in experiment today are mostly two-fold. One route, having grown in importance rapidly during the last two decades, is via the engineering of artificial systems realizing suitable models. The other, more conventional way is to search for realizations of novel phases in materials. The thesis is divided into three parts, where Part I is devoted to the study of two simple models, while artificial systems and real materials are the subject of Part II and Part III respectively. Below, the content of each part is summarized in more detail. After a general introduction to entropic ordering and slow dynamics we present a family of models devised as a lattice analog of hard spheres. These are often studied to explore whether low-dimensional analogues of mean-field glass- and jamming transitions exist, but also serve as the canonical model systems for slow dynamics in granular materials more generally. Arguably the models in this family do not offer a close resemblance of actual granular materials. However, by studying their behavior far from equilibrium, we observe the onset of slow dynamics and a kinetic arrest for which, importantly, we obtain an essentially complete analytical and numerical understanding. Particularly interesting is the fact that this understanding hinges on the (in-)ability to anneal topological defects in the presence of a hardcore constraints, which resonates with some previous proposals for an understanding of the glass transition. As another example of anomalous dynamics arising in a magnetic system, we also present a detailed study of a two-dimensional fracton spin liquid. The model is an Ising system with an energy function designed to give rise to an emergent higher-rank gauge theory at low energy. We show explicitly that the number of zero-energy states in the model scales exponentially with the system size, establishing a finite residual entropy. A purpose-built cluster Monte-Carlo algorithm makes it possible to study the behavior of the model as a function of temperature. We show evidence for a first order transition from a high-temperature paramagnet to a low-temperature phase where correlations match predictions of a higher-rank coulomb phase. Turning away from heuristic models, the second part of the thesis begins with an introduction to quantum error correction, a scheme where constraints are artificially imposed in a quantum system through measurement and feedback. This is done in order to preserve quantum information in the presence of external noise, and is widely believed to be necessary in order to one day harness the full power of quantum computers. Given a certain error-correcting code as well as a noise model, a particularly interesting quantity is the threshold of the code, that is the critical amount of external noise below which quantum error correction becomes possible. For the toric code under independent bit- and phase-flip noise for example, the threshold is well known to map to the paramagnet to ferromagnet transition of the two-dimensional random-bond Ising model along the Nishimori line. Here, we present the first generalization of this mapping to a family of codes with finite rate, that is a family where the number of encoded logical qubits grows linearly with the number of physical qubits. In particular, we show that the threshold of hyperbolic surface codes maps to a paramagnet to ferromagnet transition in what we call the 'dual'' random-bond Ising model on regular tessellations of compact hyperbolic manifolds. This model is related to the usual random-bond Ising model by the Kramers-Wannier duality but distinct from it even on self-dual tessellations. As a corollary, we clarify long-standing issues regarding self-duality of the Ising model in hyperbolic space. The final part of the thesis is devoted to the study of material candidates of quantum spin ice, a three-dimensional quantum spin liquid. The work presented here was done in close collaboration with experiment and focuses on a particular family of materials called dipolar-octupolar pyrochlores. This family of materials is particularly interesting because they might realize novel exotic quantum states such as octupolar spin liquids, while at the same time being described by a relatively simple model Hamiltonian. This thesis contains a detailed study of ground state selection in dipolar-octupolar pyrochlore magnets and its signatures as observable in neutron scattering. First, we present evidence that the two compounds Ce2Zr2O7 and Ce2Sn2O7 despite their similar chemical composition realize an exotic quantum spin liquid state and an ordered state respectively. Then, we also study the ground-state selection in dipolar-octupolar pyrochlores in a magnetic field. Most importantly, we show that the well-known effective one-dimensional physics -- arising when the field is applied along a certain crystallographic axis -- is expected to be stable at experimentally relevant temperatures. Finally, we make predictions for neutron scattering in the large-field phase and compare these to measurements on Ce2Zr2O7

    Electron Thermal Runaway in Atmospheric Electrified Gases: a microscopic approach

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    Thesis elaborated from 2018 to 2023 at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía under the supervision of Alejandro Luque (Granada, Spain) and Nikolai Lehtinen (Bergen, Norway). This thesis presents a new database of atmospheric electron-molecule collision cross sections which was published separately under the DOI : With this new database and a new super-electron management algorithm which significantly enhances high-energy electron statistics at previously unresolved ratios, the thesis explores general facets of the electron thermal runaway process relevant to atmospheric discharges under various conditions of the temperature and gas composition as can be encountered in the wake and formation of discharge channels
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