Quantum Black Hole Wave Packet: Average Area Entropy and Temperature Dependent Width

A quantum Schwarzschild black hole is described, at the mini super spacetime level, by a non-singular wave packet composed of plane wave eigenstates of the momentum Dirac-conjugate to the mass operator. The entropy of the mass spectrum acquires then independent contributions from the average mass and the width. Hence, Bekenstein's area entropy is formulated using the $\langle \text{mass}^2 \rangle$ average, leaving the $\langle \text{mass} \rangle$ average to set the Hawking temperature. The width function peaks at the Planck scale for an elementary (zero entropy, zero free energy) micro black hole of finite rms size, and decreases Doppler-like towards the classical limit.Comment: 5 PRD pages, 1 figure; v.2 minor typo correction

Computing the channel capacity of a communication system affected by uncertain transition probabilities

We study the problem of computing the capacity of a discrete memoryless channel under uncertainty affecting the channel law matrix, and possibly with a constraint on the average cost of the input distribution. The problem has been formulated in the literature as a max-min problem. We use the robust optimization methodology to convert the max-min problem to a standard convex optimization problem. For small-sized problems, and for many types of uncertainty, such a problem can be solved in principle using interior point methods (IPM). However, for large-scale problems, IPM are not practical. Here, we suggest an $\mathcal{O}(1/T)$ first-order algorithm based on Nemirovski (2004) which is applied directly to the max-min problem.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure

Between Geopolitics and Identity Struggle: Why Israel Took Sides with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

In the second Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, Azer­baijan achieved a decisive victory over Armenia. Quite sur­prisingly, Israel was a key player in this conflict, providing Azerbaijan with exten­sive support in the form of technology and arms. This support is part of a bigger research puzzle: How can Israel’s involve­ment in this conflict be explained? This report offers an explanation by showing how both geo­political factors and identity struggle are inter­twined. Using the lens of critical geo­political analysis, the report argues that not only realist factors, but also social con­structions of security as well as natio­nal and cul­tural iden­tity play into Israel’s inte­rest in the region

Superpower by invitation:late Cold War diplomacy and leveraging Armenian terrorism as a means to rapprochement in Israeli-Turkish relations (1980–1987)

This article puts forth the argument that Israel’s desire to repair its deteriorating relations with Turkey between 1980 and 1985 drove Israeli diplomats to leverage Armenian terrorism as an issue of shared concern with Turkey. Specifically, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (hereafter, ASALA), apparent affiliation with a similar brand of Palestinian terrorism, which was supported by the Soviet Union, was used to court Turkey. This overlooked factor also provides a template with which to understand Israel’s policy on the contested memories of the Armenian Genocide during the 1980s. In the context of a late Cold War superpower rivalry, this article demonstrates how Israeli diplomats assigned the US to mediate between Ankara and Jerusalem. This context highlights the degree to which Cold War dynamics were two-sided: how regional powers such as Israel attempted to influence the policies of the superpower US in the later Cold War years through leveraging global terrorism for diplomatic gains with TurkeyMiddle Eastern Studie

How Do We Remember the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust? A Global View of an Integrated Memory of Perpetrators, Victims and Third-Party Countries

While acknow­ledge­ment that the Holo­caust took place has become a distinct aspect of Western culture, the genocide against the Arme­nians is still denied by many states and a culture of memo­rialisation is missing. What drives these diver­gent trends in Holo­caust and Armenian genocide memory? And why is there such a sig­nifi­cant diffe­rence in the way in which these two geno­cides have been re­presented in the public, political and inter­national arena by the perpetrators, victims and third-party countries? The author presents answers and causes and con­cludes with recommen­dations for current domestic and foreign policy