Cosmic-ray propagation in extragalactic space and secondary messengers

These notes summarize the lectures about "Cosmic-ray propagation in extragalactic space and secondary messengers", focusing in particular on the interactions of cosmic-ray particles with the background photons in the Universe, including nuclear species heavier than hydrogen, and on the analytical computation of the expected cosmic-ray fluxes at Earth. The lectures were held at the Course 208 of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" on "Foundations of Cosmic-Ray Astrophysics", in Varenna (Como, Italy) from June 23rd to June 29th, 2022. These notes are complementary to the content of the lectures held by Pasquale Dario Serpico at the same school.Comment: 38 pages (including 3 appendices), 19 figures. To appear in "Foundations of Cosmic Ray Astrophysics", Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi", Course 208, Varenna, 24 - 29 June 2022, edited by F. Aharonian, E. Amato, and P. Blas

Joyce and Pirandello’s ‘Foolosopher’ kings and mocking gargoyles : Buck Mulligan and Enrico IV

This paper investigates the affinities between the folly of Buck Mulligan in Joyce’s Ulysses and that of Enrico IV in Pirandello’s homonymous play. After looking at Michel Foucault’s Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique, this paper will postulate that Buck Mulligan and Enrico IV seem to precede Foucault’s destabilizing vision: they are characters who, through various acts of folly, simulate the exterior signs of madness and play the fools to create confusion amidst existing forms of socialization. I shall also be looking into Robert Bell’s Jocoserious Joyce (from where the terms ‘foolosopher king’ and ‘mocking gargoyle’ are borrowed) and at Elio Gioanola’s Pirandello e la follia to prove that these modernist clown prototypes become a mirror of painful truths to other characters. Mulligan, for instance, reveals with irony the true nature of Stephen Dedalus, religion and Ireland, whilst Enrico reveals to his visitors their falsity and the dark realm of life’s masks. In both cases this is expressed with mood swings of mocking irony and effusions of sentiment. Both characters are also portrayed as having no fixed identities: they indulge in a tragicomic ritual of masks and folly with a delight for the ambiguities of self and language. In their words and actions, Mulligan and Enrico seem to be unshaped by history and free from any responsibility; they seem so fulfilled in playing the fools and thus become ‘foolosopher’ kings themselves, which act the part of sceptical jokers of the universe.peer-reviewe

Abhiṣiktānanda: A Reception History1

In this article, I present an evaluation of the scholarly reception history of Abhiṣiktānanda. I argue for an identifiable threefold division in Abhiṣiktānanda scholarship: the earliest biographies and appraisals focused on his ‘spiritual search;’ a second wave of scholarship stressed Abhiṣiktānanda’s role as a pioneer in the interreligious dialogue; and, most recently, a third ‘turn’ has emerged in which a generation of scholars are concentrating on ‘internal’ Christian doctrinal critiques of Abhiṣiktānanda’s theology. I also suggest that today’s escapable and perplexing Abhiṣiktānanda is not necessarily the same Abhiṣiktānanda who inspired scholars in the past

Inter-provincial migration in Italy: a comparison between Italians and foreigners

Internal migration in Italy increased in the 2000s due to foreigners residing in the country. Foreigners have changed the characteristics of Italy’s internal migration. Extended gravity models were run to highlight the differences between the migratory behaviours of Italians and foreigners. The model was implemented to detect the different effects of the Italian and foreign populations, and the distances between the provinces of origin and destinations of the inter-provincial migration of Italians and foreigners. Estimations obtained for the years 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 highlight the different evolutions of the phenomenon

Counterexamples to C∞ C^{\infty} well posedness for some hyperbolic operators with triple characteristics

In this paper we prove that for a class of non-effectively hyperbolic operators with smooth triple characteristics the Cauchy problem is well posed in the Gevrey 2 class, beyond the generic Gevrey class $3/2$ (see e.g. \cite{Bro}). Moreover we show that this value is optimal