Introduction to the David Foster Wallace special section of the Lettera Matematica International Edition

An introduction to the work of American novelist, David Foster Wallace, emphasizing his literary ancestry, the emergence of his best work from its 1990s context, and his engagement with mathematics

"At the edges of perception": William Gaddis and the encyclopedic novel from Joyce to David foster Wallace

"Longer works of fiction," a character in William Gaddis's JR complains of the current literary scene, are now "dismissed as classics and remain . . . largely unread due to the effort involved in reading and turning any more than two hundred pages" (527). This study argues that despite most literary critics constructing American postmodernism as a movement that privileges short works, in contrast to the encyclopedic masterworks of modernism, there are in fact a large number of artistically sophisticated contemporary novels of encyclopedic scope that demonstrate often ignored lines of continuity from works like James Joyce's Ulysses. In arguing this, I attempt not just to draw attention to a neglected strain in contemporary American fiction, but also to provide a more accurate context in which those few recent encyclopedic novels that have assumed centrality, like Gravity's Rainbow, might be evaluated. In doing so, this thesis also seeks to demonstrate the pivotal position of William Gaddis who, despite publishing four impressive novels that engage with the legacy of modernism and pre-empt elements of postmodernism, has been excluded from most studies dealing with the transition between the two movements. Through detailed readings of four encyclopedic novels - Gaddis's The Recognitions, Don DeLillo's Underworld, Richard Powers's The Gold Bug Variations, and David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest - I show Gaddis's continuation of encyclopedic modernism, the importance of his example to later writers, and the continuing vitality of the encyclopedic novel beyond the defined limits of modernism. However, as these novels try to encompass the full circle of knowledge, in order to do justice to their diverse learning I have adopted a different approach in each chapter. Very broadly, they attempt to encircle art, psychology, science, and literature, which, taken together, attempt to synthesise a defence of the contemporary encyclopedic novel. While minimalist writers from Raymond Carver to Ann Beattie have affirmed that less is more, this thesis argues that, in some cases, more really is more

A novel method for the injection and manipulation of magnetic charge states in nanostructures

Realising the promise of next-generation magnetic nanotechnologies is contingent on the development of novel methods for controlling magnetic states at the nanoscale. There is currently demand for simple and flexible techniques to access exotic magnetisation states without convoluted fabrication and application processes. 360 degree domain walls (metastable twists in magnetisation separating two domains with parallel magnetisation) are one such state, which is currently of great interest in data storage and magnonics. Here, we demonstrate a straightforward and powerful process whereby a moving magnetic charge, provided experimentally by a magnetic force microscope tip, can write and manipulate magnetic charge states in ferromagnetic nanowires. The method is applicable to a wide range of nanowire architectures with considerable benefits over existing techniques. We confirm the method's efficacy via the injection and spatial manipulation of 360 degree domain walls in Py and Co nanowires. Experimental results are supported by micromagnetic simulations of the tip-nanowire interaction.Comment: in Scientific Reports (2016

Without consent: Forced marriage in Australia

This article explores Australia's response to the emerging issue of forced marriage. In light of community and government responses to forced marriage, we review the challenges involved in defining forced marriage and the degree to which the practice overlaps with other forms of exploitative conduct such as servitude and slavery. While we welcome the reform of existing criminal laws to fully reflect Australia's international obligations to prohibit 'practices similar to slavery', we caution against prioritising prosecutions over preventative and protective strategies. We argue that the creation of specific criminal offences of forced marriage should be accompanied by the introduction of new, family law-based civil remedies for people seeking to avoid or escape forced marriage, and targeted support services for people in, or facing, forced marriage. These measures should be accompanied by investment in community legal education and consultation in order to deepen the community's understanding of forced marriage in Australia

86 GHz Very Long Baseline Polarimetry of 3C273 and 3C279 with the Coordinated Millimeter VLBI Array

86 GHz Very Long Baseline Polarimetry probes magnetic field structures within the cores of Active Galactic Nuclei at higher angular resolutions and a spectral octave higher than previously achievable. Observations of 3C273 and 3C279 taken in April 2000 with the Coordinated Millimeter VLBI Array have resulted in the first total intensity (Stokes I) and linear polarization VLBI images reported of any source at 86 GHz. These results reveal the 86 GHz electric vector position angles within the jets of 3C273 and 3C279 to be orthogonal to each other, and the core of 3C273 to be unpolarized. If this lack of polarization is due to Faraday depolarization alone, the dispersion in rotation measure is >=90000 rad/m^2 for the core of 3C273.Comment: AASTeX v5.02; 10 pages; 4 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

All Change Please.

Published versio

On the depolarization of discrete radio sources by faraday dispersion technical report no. 440

Discrete radio source depolarization by Faraday dispersio

Does ‘playtime’ reduce stimulus-seeking and other boredom-like behaviour in laboratory ferrets?

Much environmental enrichment for laboratory animals is intended to enhance animal welfare and normalcy by providing stimulation to reduce 'boredom'. Behavioural manifestations of boredom include restless sensation-seeking behaviours combined with indicators of sub-optimal arousal. Here, we explored whether these signs could be reduced by extra daily play opportunity in laboratory ferrets (Mustela putorius furo). Specifically, we hypothesised that playtime would reduce restlessness, aggression, sensation-seeking and awake drowsiness, even 24 h later in the home-cage. Female ferrets (n = 14) were group-housed in enriched multi-level cages. Playtime involved exploring a room containing a ball pool, paper bags, balls containing bells, and a familiar interactive human for 1h. This was repeated on three consecutive mornings, and on the fourth, home-cage behaviour was compared between ferrets which had experienced the playtime treatment versus control cage-mates which had not. Their investigation of stimuli (positive=mouse odour or ball; ambiguous = empty bottle or tea-strainer; and negative = peppermint or bitter apple odour) was also recorded. We then swapped treatments, creating a paired experimental design. Ferrets under control conditions lay awake with their eyes open and screeched significantly more, but slept and sat/stood less, than following playtime. They also contacted negative and ambiguous stimuli for significantly longer under control conditions than following playtime; contact with positive stimuli showed no effects. Attempts to blind the observer to treatments were unsuccessful, so replication is required, but the findings suggest that playtime may have reduced both sub-optimal arousal and restless sensation-seeking behaviour, consistent with reducing boredom