Black-hole lattices

The construction of black-hole lattices, first attempted by Richard Lindquist and John Wheeler in 1957, has recently been tackled with renewed interest, as a test bed for studying the behavior of inhomogeneities in the context of the backreaction problem. In this contribution, I discuss how black-hole lattices can help shed light on two important issues, and illustrate the conclusions reached so far in the study of these systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the Proceedings of the 2012 Spanish Relativity Meetin

Solving the Einstein constraints in periodic spaces with a multigrid approach

Novel applications of Numerical Relativity demand for more flexible algorithms and tools. In this paper, I develop and test a multigrid solver, based on the infrastructure provided by the Einstein Toolkit, for elliptic partial differential equations on spaces with periodic boundary conditions. This type of boundary often characterizes the numerical representation of cosmological models, where space is assumed to be made up of identical copies of a single fiducial domain, so that only a finite volume (with periodic boundary conditions at its edges) needs to be simulated. After a few tests and comparisons with existing codes, I use the solver to generate initial data for an infinite, periodic, cubic black-hole lattice.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures. Fixed typos, added references and software release informatio

Evolution of a family of expanding cubic black-hole lattices in numerical relativity

We present the numerical evolution of a family of conformally-flat, infinite, expanding cubic black-hole lattices. We solve for the initial data using an initial-data prescription presented recently, along with a new multigrid solver developed for this purpose. We then apply the standard tools of numerical relativity to calculate the time development of this initial dataset and derive quantities of cosmological relevance, such as the scaling of proper lengths. Similarly to the case of S3 lattices, we find that the length scaling remains close to the analytical solution for Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmologies throughout our simulations, which span a window of about one order of magnitude in the growth of the scale factor. We highlight, however, a number of important departures from the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker class.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures. A few minor correction

Hablar de política en la Red: los newgroups políticos.

Sin resume

Herbert Marcuse y la agonía de Eros

The purpose of this essay is to make a critical review of certain key ideas about art and eroticism, as outlined by Herbert Marcuse. The reconsideration of these concepts is the appreciation of the theoretical core of Marcuse's project: to revitalize the symbolic potential of art moving it to the social dimension of everyday life. However, this approach inherently involves the risk that the art and eroticism become a powerful tool of alienation, promoting the exploitation of individuals and their absolute submission to a particular economic and productive system.EI propósito de este ensayo es hacer una revisión crítica sobre ciertas ideas clave en torno al arte y el erotismo, esbozadas por Herbert Marcuse. El replanteamiento de dichos conceptos constituye la revalorización del núcleo teórico del proyecto marcusiano: revitalizar el potencial simbólico del arte trasladándolo a la dimensión social de la vida cotidiana. Sin embargo, este mismo planteamiento comporta intrínsecamente el peligro de que el arte y el erotismo se conviertan en una poderosa herramienta de enajenamiento, favoreciendo la explotación de los individuos y su absoluta sumisión a un determinado sistema económico y productivo

Voicing Kinship with Machines: Diffractive Empathetic Listening to Synthetic Voices in Performance.

This thesis contributes to the field of voice studies by analyzing the design and production of synthetic voices in performance. The work explores six case studies, consisting of different performative experiences of the last decade (2010- 2020) that featured synthetic voice design. It focusses on the political and social impact of synthetic voices, starting from yet challenging the concepts of voice in the machine and voice of the machine. The synthetic voices explored are often playing the role of simulated artificial intelligences, therefore this thesis expands its questions towards technology at large. The analysis of the case studies follows new materialist and posthumanist premises, yet it tries to confute the patriarchal and neoliberal approach towards technological development through feminist and de-colonial approaches, developing a taxonomy for synthetic voices in performance. Chapter 1 introduces terms and explains the taxonomy. Chapter 2 looks at familiar representations of fictional AI. Chapter 3 introduces headphone theatre exploring immersive practices. Chapters 4 and 5 engage with chatbots. Chapter 6 goes in depth exploring Human and Artificial Intelligence interaction, whereas chapter 7 moves slightly towards music production and live art. The body of the thesis includes the work of Pipeline Theatre, Rimini Protokoll, Annie Dorsen, Begüm Erciyas, and Holly Herndon. The analysis is informed by posthumanism, feminism, and performance studies, starting from my own practice as sound designer and singer, looking at aesthetics of reproduction, audience engagement, and voice composition. This thesis has been designed to inspire and provoke practitioners and scholars to explore synthetic voices further, question predominant biases of binarism and acknowledge their importance in redefining technology