88 research outputs found
Electronic transport in graphene nanoribbons with sublattice-asymmetric doping
Recent experimental findings and theoretical predictions suggest that
nitrogen-doped CVD-grown graphene may give rise to electronic band gaps due to
impurity distributions which favour segregation on a single sublattice. Here we
demonstrate theoretically that such distributions give rise to more complex
behaviour in the presence of edges, where geometry determines whether electrons
in the sample view the impurities as a gap-opening average potential or as
scatterers. Zigzag edges give rise to the latter case, and remove the
electronic bandgaps predicted in extended graphene samples. We predict that
such behaviour will give rise to leakage near grain boundaries with a similar
geometry or in zigzag-edged etched devices. Furthermore, we examine the
formation of one-dimensional metallic channels at interfaces between different
sublattice domains, which should be observable experimentally and offer
intriguing waveguiding possibilities.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, published in PR
Fra JagannÄtha til juggernaut: Billedkult og kristen mission ved den store vognprocession i Puri
English abstract: The Car Festival in Puri, Odisha, is one of the worldâs largest religious processions. About one million pilgrims follow the three god-siblings, JagannÄtha, SubhadrÄ and Balabhadra, each seated in their own gigantic procession chariot pulled by hundreds of pilgrims, on their journey from the main JagannÄtha temple to the Guášá¸icÄ temple three kilometers away. The perception of this procession festival by the British missionaries in Odisha during the first half of the 19th century was the background for the linguistic transformation whereby the name of a god, JagannÄtha, became the notion of an overwhelming destructive force, âjuggernautâ. The article examines the history of this transformation by a reading of quotes from foreign travelers to Odisha during the 14th through the 19th century. It also offers a description of the procession rituals, a reflection on the general characteristics of religious processions, and a discussion of the âidolatryâ discourse that lies behind the linguistic transformation from âJagannÄthaâ to âjuggernautâ.
Dansk resume: Vognprocessionen i Puri, Odisha, er en af verdens største religiøse processioner. Omkring en million pilgrimme følger de tre gude-søskende, JagannÄtha, SubhadrÄ og Balabhadra, hver i deres egen gigantiske processionsvogn trukket af mange hundrede pilgrimme, pĂĽ deres rejse fra det store JagannÄtha-tempel til det mindre Guášá¸icÄ-tempel tre kilometer vĂŚk. Opfattelsen af denne pilgrimsprocession hos de britiske missionĂŚrer i Odisha i den første halvdel af det 19. ĂĽrhundrede var baggrunden for den sproglige transformation der forvandlede navnet pĂĽ en gud, JagannÄtha, til forestillingen om en overvĂŚldende kaotisk kraft, âjuggernautâ. Artiklen undersøger historien bag denne transformation gennem en rĂŚkke citater fra fremmede rejsende i perioden fra det 14. til det 19. ĂĽrhundrede. Den beskriver vognprocessionens ritualer, foreslĂĽr nogle ideer til, hvordan vi generelt skal forstĂĽ religiøse processioner og diskuterer den diskurs om âafgudsdyrkelseâ, som ligger bag forvandlingen fra âJagannÄthaâ til âjuggernautâ
Louis Dumont: Verdensforsagelse, hierarki og renhed
English Abstract: This brief article reviews two main contributions by the French sociologist Louis Dumont, his essay âWorld Renunciation in Indian Religionsâ and his major work on the Indian caste system, Homo Hierarchicus. Some of the critique of Dumontâs ideas about renunciation, hierarchy and purity is discussed with special focus on three points: (1) The creative role of renunciation in the history of Hinduism; (2) the Indian caste system as a hierarchy regulated according to ritual purity and the alternative model by A. M. Hocart of the Indian society as a ritual organization; and (3) theoretical discussions regarding the need to go beyond the purity-impurity dichotomy and integrate another opposition, that between the auspicious and the inauspicious, in order to develop a more precise analytical tool in the research of Hindu culture. Dansk resume: Denne korte artikel diskuterer to vigtige bidrag af den franske sociolog Louis Dumont, hans essay âWorld Renunciation in Indian Religionsâ og hans hovedvĂŚrk om det indiske kastesystem, Homo Hierarchicus. Noget af den kritik, der blev rejst mod Dumonts ideer om verdensforsagelse, hierarki og renhed, diskuteres med sĂŚrlig fokus pĂĽ tre punkter: (1) Verdensforsagelsens kreative betydning for hinduismens udvikling; (2) Dumonts model af det indiske kastesystem som et hierarki reguleret i forhold til rituel renhed og A. M. Hocarts alternative model, der ser hindusamfundet som en rituel organisation koncentrisk centreret omkring kongen; (3) de teoretiske diskussioner om nødvendigheden af at supplere rent-urent dikotomien med endnu en dikotomi, nemlig mellem det lykke- og ildevarslende, for at udvikle et mere prĂŚcist analyseapparat i udforskningen af hinduismen
âRespect Pollutionâ: Urenhed og renselse i hinduismens rituelle personhierarki
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The American anthropologist Edward B. Harper coined the concept ârespect pollutionâ for a practice where a person shows respect towards another person at a higher level in the Hindu ritual hierarchy by doing something in relation to the latter that would normally be regarded as involving impurity and pollution. That could be touching someoneâs feet or foot wear, eating the lefto-vers of others, or getting in physical contact with urine or feces. What would normally be regarded as impure becomes a source of purification or even salvation when it is an index of a ritually superior person, say, a saint or a god, or even, for women, oneâs husband. This article explains the background of these practices in the classical rules of purification known from the medieval Hindu law literature with respect to each of these cases, feet, sandals, leftovers, feces and urine, but ex-pands the field by including places of death and cremation. In the second part of the article examples are given of the ways these cases are turned into ârespect pollutionâ.
DANSK RESUMĂ: Den amerikanske antropolog Edward B. Harper introducere-de begrebet ârespect pollutionâ for en praksis, hvor en person viser respekt for en anden person, der stĂĽr højere i det rituelle personhierarki, ved at gøre noget i for-hold til denne, der almindeligvis involverer rituel urenhed og besmittelse. Det kan vĂŚre at komme i berøring med andres fødder eller fodtøj, at spise rester af mad, andre har spist af, eller at komme i berøring med afføring eller urin. Ting, der el-lers opfattes som urene, bliver i en sĂĽdan praksis kilde til renselse eller endda frel-se, forudsat at de konkrete urenheder er knyttet personer med højere status i det ri-tuelle hierarki, det vĂŚre sig en helgen eller en gud, eller, for kvinder, ens ĂŚgte-mand. Artiklen forklarer baggrunden for disse praksisser i de klassiske regler for renselse, der er formuleret i den middelalderlige hindulovlitteratur, i forhold til hver af disse eksempler, fødder, sandaler, madrester og afføring, men udvider feltet ved ogsĂĽ at inddrage steder, hvor en person er død eller kremeret. I den anden del af artiklen gives der eksempler pĂĽ, hvordan disse felter transformeres til medier for ârespect pollutionâ
Askese som social/politisk mobilisering: Joseph Alters bog om Gandhi, Gandhiâs Body
There are several historical examples of asceticism as a means to social and political mobilization. Gandhiâs use of fasts and sexual abstinence in the larger fight for national independence is a well-known recent example. Joseph Alterâs book, Gandhiâs Body: Sex, Diet, and the Politics of Nationalism from 2000 is a relevant source for such considerations. Alter describes Gandhiâs personal experiments with public health, fast, food, sexual abstinence and both traditional and Western medicine in the perspective of national independence. For Gandhi ascetic practices were at the same time personal and for the sake of the nation. He saw his own success in these practices as guarantee of the necessary social and political changes. âTruthâ was the keyword in Gandhiâs thinking because he regarded truth as a transforming power. The non-violent resistance will either force injustice to yield or it will force it to reveal its true, violent face. But to activate truth one has to integrate truth in oneâs own being. In this Gandhi was in line with an ascetic tradition that has been described by Peter Brown, Michel Foucault and Talal Asad: By eliminating the private I through awareness of hidden desires and through public confession the ascet-ic reaches a state of transparency where the veil between him-/herself and God/Truth is removed. This kind of socially and politically mobilizing asceticism indicates how the ascetic can be a component in a more collective social dynamics
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