The Afterlives of the Algerian War in Contemporary France: Literary Narratives and Contested Spaces of Memory

Commemoration of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) is increasingly widespread in the public space in contemporary France, but is also the subject of a range of political disputes over representation. Among the large population in France shaped by the conflict and its consequences there are several different groups, each with specific historical narratives and reference points around which memory is mobilized. This thesis analyses a corpus of narratives published between 2002 and 2014 that represent processes of remembrance relating to three of these groups: Harkis – Algerians who served in the French military, pieds-noirs – members of the European settler population, and former French conscripts and reservist soldiers. The aim of this thesis is to assess how these recent literary works mediate memories of the conflict and its lasting consequences in a context of divisions and fractious commemorations in France. The Introduction presents an overview of the research questions of the thesis and the framework for analysis of texts. Chapter 1 establishes the context of the political debates over commemoration during the period in question. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 study each of the three constituencies and focus consistently on the original ways in which texts deal with dynamics of the intergenerational transmission of memory in order to achieve greater clarity on the past. Across all eight works, the conceptualization by authors of approaches towards the mediation of memory also supports new forms of interaction between the different groups. These methods of engagement with legacies of the conflict stand in contrast to many recent physical sites of memory and political initiatives for commemoration in France. By combining textual analysis with the historical and socio-political contextualization of debates over collective memory, this thesis overall examines the ways in which contemporary literary works represent effective ways of negotiating the tensions in France that continue to surround connections to the Algerian War of Independence and colonialism

Gamma-Ray Bursts and Quantum Cosmic Censorship

Gamma-ray bursts are believed to result from the coalescence of binary neutron stars. However, the standard proposals for conversion of the gravitational energy to thermal energy have difficulties. We show that if the merger of the two neutron stars results in a naked singularity, instead of a black hole, the ensuing quantum particle creation can provide the requisite thermal energy in a straightforward way. The back-reaction of the created particles can avoid the formation of the naked singularity predicted by the classical theory. Hence cosmic censorship holds in the quantum theory, even if it were to be violated in classical general relativity.Comment: Latex File, 6 pages. This essay received the third award from the Gravity Research Foundation for the year 199

Derivation of fluid dynamics from kinetic theory with the 14--moment approximation

We review the traditional derivation of the fluid-dynamical equations from kinetic theory according to Israel and Stewart. We show that their procedure to close the fluid-dynamical equations of motion is not unique. Their approach contains two approximations, the first being the so-called 14-moment approximation to truncate the single-particle distribution function. The second consists in the choice of equations of motion for the dissipative currents. Israel and Stewart used the second moment of the Boltzmann equation, but this is not the only possible choice. In fact, there are infinitely many moments of the Boltzmann equation which can serve as equations of motion for the dissipative currents. All resulting equations of motion have the same form, but the transport coefficients are different in each case.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, typos fixed and discussions added; EPJA: Topical issue on "Relativistic Hydro- and Thermodynamics

Second Order Dissipative Fluid Dynamics for Ultra-Relativistic Nuclear Collisions

The M\"uller-Israel-Stewart second order theory of relativistic imperfect fluids based on Grad's moment method is used to study the expansion of hot matter produced in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. The temperature evolution is investigated in the framework of the Bjorken boost-invariant scaling limit. The results of these second-order theories are compared to those of first-order theories due to Eckart and to Landau and Lifshitz and those of zeroth order (perfect fluid) due to Euler.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, size of y-axis tick marks for Figs. 3 and 4 fixe