Synaesthesia and the creative process: a study of its inspiration in Scriabin’s "Prometheus"

The role of synaesthesia in composition is difficult to assess, but for those who possess it synaesthesia is an inherent source of inspiration. It is not a compositional tool as such, yet synaesthesia is fundamental to the creative and compositional processes of certain artists. The term synaesthesia describes various multi-sensory experiences of artistic expression. Though many are riveted by synaesthesia, there is a lot of literature dismissing it as a gimmick used by artists and composers to increase their popularity among audiences. Synaesthesia, however, has been integral to the compositional processes of composers such as Olivier Messiean, Michael Torke and specifically Alexandre Scriabin. The pieces written by Scriabin were expressions of what he saw, tasted and felt when hearing music. There would not be a Prometheus: The Poem of Fire if Scriabin had not harnessed his synaesthesia to inform his compositional process. This paper will cover several topics in relation to synaesthesia. Firstly synaesthesia will be defined and its historical background will briefly be discussed. Information on academic interest and inventors will follow, shedding light on the research that has already been conducted in this field. This paper will then explore the impact that synaesthesia has on the artistic community and on the lives of particular composers; namely Michael Torke and Alexandre Scriabin. The second section will specifically cover Scriabin’s composition Prometheus. It will be analysed from a synaesthetic point of view, both from the author’s perspective and that of Scriabin, which will take the paper to its conclusion. This paper contributes to a developing academic sector that deals with synaesthesia and how it has been treated over time; with a view to explains its role and impact on musical composition

SATURN'S INNER SATELLITES: ORBITS, MASSES, AND THE CHAOTIC MOTION OF ATLAS FROM NEW CASSINI IMAGING OBSERVATIONS

We present numerically-derived orbits and mass estimates for the inner Saturnian satellites, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Janus and Epimetheus from a fit to 2580 new Cassini ISS astrometric observations spanning February 2004 to August 2013. The observations are provided in a supplementary table. We estimate GM_ Atlas=0.384+/-0.001 x 10^(-3)km^3s^(-2), a value 13% smaller than the previously published estimate but with an order of magnitude reduction in the uncertainty. We also find GM_ Prometheus=10.677+/-0.006x10(-3)km^3s^(-2), GM_Pandora=9.133+/-0.009x10^(-3)km^3s^(-2), GM_Janus=126.51+/-0.03x10^(-3)km^3s^(-2) and GM_Epimetheus=35.110+/-0.009x10^(-3)km^3s^(-2), consistent with previously published values, but also with significant reductions in uncertainties. We show that Atlas is currently librating in both the 54:53 co-rotation-eccentricity resonance (CER) and the 54:53 inner Lindblad (ILR) resonance with Prometheus, making it the latest example of a coupled CER-ILR system, in common with the Saturnian satellites Anthe, Aegaeon and Methone, and possibly Neptune's ring arcs. We further demonstrate that Atlas's orbit is chaotic, with a Lyapunov time of ~10 years, and show that its chaotic behaviour is a direct consequence of the coupled resonant interaction with Prometheus, rather than being an indirect effect of the known chaotic interaction between Prometheus and Pandora. We provide an updated analysis of the second-order resonant perturbations involving Prometheus, Pandora and Epimetheus based on the new observations, showing that these resonant arguments are librating only when Epimetheus is the innermost of the co-orbital pair, Janus and Epimetheus. We also find evidence that the known chaotic changes in the orbits of Prometheus and Pandora are not confined to times of apse anti-alignement.Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal 23 September 2014 (corrected Fig. 11

Three-dimensional Models of Core-collapse Supernovae From Low-mass Progenitors With Implications for Crab

We present 3D full-sphere supernova simulations of non-rotating low-mass (~9 Msun) progenitors, covering the entire evolution from core collapse through bounce and shock revival, through shock breakout from the stellar surface, until fallback is completed several days later. We obtain low-energy explosions [~(0.5-1.0)x 10^{50} erg] of iron-core progenitors at the low-mass end of the core-collapse supernova (LMCCSN) domain and compare to a super-AGB (sAGB) progenitor with an oxygen-neon-magnesium core that collapses and explodes as electron-capture supernova (ECSN). The onset of the explosion in the LMCCSN models is modelled self-consistently using the Vertex-Prometheus code, whereas the ECSN explosion is modelled using parametric neutrino transport in the Prometheus-HOTB code, choosing different explosion energies in the range of previous self-consistent models. The sAGB and LMCCSN progenitors that share structural similarities have almost spherical explosions with little metal mixing into the hydrogen envelope. A LMCCSN with less 2nd dredge-up results in a highly asymmetric explosion. It shows efficient mixing and dramatic shock deceleration in the extended hydrogen envelope. Both properties allow fast nickel plumes to catch up with the shock, leading to extreme shock deformation and aspherical shock breakout. Fallback masses of <~5x10^{-3} Msun have no significant effects on the neutron star (NS) masses and kicks. The anisotropic fallback carries considerable angular momentum, however, and determines the spin of the newly-born NS. The LMCCSNe model with less 2nd dredge-up results in a hydrodynamic and neutrino-induced NS kick of >40 km/s and a NS spin period of ~30 ms, both not largely different from those of the Crab pulsar at birth.Comment: 47 pages, 27 figures, 6 tables; minor revisions, accepted by MNRA

The Prometheus Challenge Redux

Following up on its predecessor in this Journal, the article defends philosophy as a guide to making and analyzing art; identifies Cubist solutions to the Prometheus Challenge, including a novel analysis of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon; defines a new concept of aesthetic attitude; proves the compatibility of Prometheus Challenge artworks with logic; and explains why Plato would have welcomed such artworks in his ideal state

Arrival of the Fittest

Prometheus, the fifth film of the Alien franchise, maintains narrative connections to the original four films but the inclusion of new aliens—the Engineers—radically shifts the feminist politic of the series. There is a move away from centralising the monster and the repressed feminine, through images of horror and bodily abjection, toward a politic of carnival, seen in representations of multiple grotesque bodies and subversion of the affect of primal scenes. Carnival is a space where the authority and stability of current social powers and orders are challenged and subverted. This article contends that in Prometheus such a process occurs in the deliberate mixing of scientific knowledge and religious cosmologies, the ambivalent relationship of horror and SF genres to science and scientific knowledge, the gendered complexities of the specific bodies of astronauts and of scientists, and disruptions of the notion of gaze and viewer positioning in the opening scenes

Resolution Study for Three-dimensional Supernova Simulations with the Prometheus-Vertex Code

We present a carefully designed, systematic study of the angular resolution dependence of simulations with the Prometheus-Vertex neutrino-hydrodynamics code. Employing a simplified neutrino heating-cooling scheme in the Prometheus hydrodynamics module allows us to sample the angular resolution between 4 degrees and 0.5 degrees. With a newly-implemented static mesh refinement (SMR) technique on the Yin-Yang grid, the angular coordinates can be refined in concentric shells, compensating for the diverging structure of the spherical grid. In contrast to previous studies with Prometheus and other codes, we find that higher angular resolution and therefore lower numerical viscosity provides more favorable explosion conditions and faster shock expansion. We discuss the possible reasons for the discrepant results. The overall dynamics seem to converge at a resolution of about 1 degree. Applying the SMR setup to marginally exploding progenitors is disadvantageous for the shock expansion, however, because kinetic energy of downflows is dissipated to internal energy at resolution interfaces, leading to a loss of turbulent pressure support and a steeper temperature gradient. We also present a way to estimate the numerical viscosity on grounds of the measured turbulent kinetic-energy spectrum, leading to smaller values that are better compatible with the flow behavior witnessed in our simulations than results following calculations in previous literature. Interestingly, the numerical Reynolds numbers in the turbulent, neutrino-heated postshock layer (some 10 to several 100) are in the ballpark of expected neutrino-drag effects on the relevant length scales in the turbulent postshock layer. We provide a formal derivation and quantitative assessment of the neutrino drag terms in an appendix.Comment: 37 pages, 14 figures, 4 tables; revised version with neutrino drag discussion extended for numerical evaluation; accepted by Ap

The Language of the cybersouls

Debates about technology are mostly staged in a grand setting: presented as the sinister toolkit of authoritarian organisations, or as the progressive fabric of the future. Yet everyone is involved in technology as part of every microscopic action in every humdrum life. How do theories about technology cope with this political spectrum? One option is to treat technology as we treat language and specifically use Wittgenstein’s language games as an analogy. So that technology, like language, becomes inseparable from us and an intimate part of us, and this merging of technology and the human transforms us all into cyborgs