Innovation, generative relationships and scaffolding structures: implications of a complexity perspective to innovation for public and private interventions

The linear model of innovation has been superseded by a variety of theoretical models that view the innovation process as systemic, complex, multi-level, multi-temporal, involving a plurality of heterogeneous economic agents. Accordingly, the emphasis of the policy discourse has changed over time. The focus has shifted from the direct public funding of basic research as an engine of innovation, to the creation of markets for knowledge goods, to, eventually, the acknowledgement that knowledge transfer very often requires direct interactions among innovating actors. In most cases, policy interventions attempt to facilitate the match between “demand” and “supply” of the knowledge needed to innovate. A complexity perspective calls for a different framing, one focused on the fostering of processes characterized by multiple agency levels, multiple temporal scales, ontological uncertainty and emergent outcomes. This contribution explores what it means to design interventions in support of innovation processes inspired by a complex systems perspective. It does so by analyzing two examples of coordinated interventions: a public policy funding innovating networks (with SMEs, research centers and university), and a private initiative, promoted by a network of medium-sized mechanical engineering firms, that supports innovation by means of technology brokerage. Relying on two unique datasets recording the interactions of the organizations involved in these interventions, social network analysis and qualitative research are combined in order to investigate network dynamics and the roles of specific actors in fostering innovation processes. Then, some general implications for the design of coordinated interventions supporting innovation in a complexity perspective are drawn

Universality and Scaling at the Onset of Quantum Black Hole Formation

In certain two-dimensional models, collapsing matter forms a black hole if and only if the incoming energy flux exceeds the Hawking radiation rate. Near the critical threshold, the black hole mass is given by a universal formula in terms of the distance from criticality, and there exists a scaling solution describing the formation and evaporation of an arbitrarily small black hole.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures (uuencoded

Security policy refinement using data integration: a position paper.

In spite of the wide adoption of policy-based approaches for security management, and many existing treatments of policy verification and analysis, relatively little attention has been paid to policy refinement: the problem of deriving lower-level, runnable policies from higher-level policies, policy goals, and specifications. In this paper we present our initial ideas on this task, using and adapting concepts from data integration. We take a view of policies as governing the performance of an action on a target by a subject, possibly with certain conditions. Transformation rules are applied to these components of a policy in a structured way, in order to translate the policy into more refined terms; the transformation rules we use are similar to those of global-as-view database schema mappings, or to extensions thereof. We illustrate our ideas with an example. Copyright 2009 ACM

Conformal and Nonconformal Symmetries in 2d Dilaton gravity

We study finite-dimensional extra symmetries of generic 2D dilaton gravity models. Using a non-linear sigma model formulation we show that the unique theories admitting an extra (conformal) symmetry are the models with an exponential potential $V \propto e^{\beta\phi}$ ($S ={1\over2\pi} \int d^2 x \sqrt{-g} [ R \phi + 4 \lambda^2 e^{\beta\phi} ]$), which include the CGHS model as a particular though limiting ($\beta=0$) case. These models give rise to black hole solutions with a mass-dependent temperature. The underlying extra symmetry can be maintained in a natural way in the one-loop effective action, thus implying the exact solubility of the semiclassical theory including back-reaction. Moreover, we also introduce three different classes of (non-conformal) transformations which are extra symmetries for generic 2D dilaton gravity models. Special linear combinations of these transformations turn out to be the (conformal) symmetries of the CGHS and $V \propto e^{\beta\phi}$ models. We show that one of the non-conformal extra symmetries can be converted into a conformal one by means of adequate field redefinitions involving the metric and the derivatives of the dilaton. Finally, by expressing the Polyakov-Liouville effective action in terms of an invariant metric, we are able to provide semiclassical models which are also invariant. This generalizes the solvable semiclassical model of Bose, Parker and Peleg (BPP) for a generic 2D dilaton gravity model.Comment: Latex, no figures. Revised version published i

Symmetries and solvable models for evaporating 2D black holes

We study the evaporation process of a 2D black hole in thermal equilibrium when the ingoing radiation is switched off suddenly. We also introduce global symmetries of generic 2D dilaton gravity models which generalize the extra symmetry of the CGHS model.Comment: 4 pages, Latex. Talk given at the Second Conference on Quantum Gravity and Constrained Dynamics. To appear in Proc. Supp. Nucl. Phys.

Model of black hole evolution

From the postulate that a black hole can be replaced by a boundary on the apparent horizon with suitable boundary conditions, an unconventional scenario for the evolution emerges. Only an insignificant fraction of energy of order $(mG)^{-1}$ is radiated out. The outgoing wave carries a very small part of the quantum mechanical information of the collapsed body, the bulk of the information remaining in the final stable black hole geometry.Comment: 9 pages, harvmac, 3 figures, minor addition

Model of black hole evolution

From the postulate that a black hole can be replaced by a boundary on the apparent horizon with suitable boundary conditions, an unconventional scenario for the evolution emerges. Only an insignificant fraction of energy of order $(mG)^{-1}$ is radiated out. The outgoing wave carries a very small part of the quantum mechanical information of the collapsed body, the bulk of the information remaining in the final stable black hole geometry.Comment: 9 pages, harvmac, 3 figures, minor addition

Initial singularity free quantum cosmology in two-dimensional Brans-Dicke theory

We consider two-dimensional Brans-Dicke theory to study the initial singularity problem. It turns out that the initial curvature singularity can be finite for a certain Brans-Dicke constant $\omega$ by considering the quantum back reaction of the geometry. For $\omega=1$, the universe starts with the finite curvature scalar and evolves into the flat spacetime. Furthermore the divergent gravitational coupling at the initial time can be finite effectively with the help of quantum correction. The other type of universe is studied for the case of $0<\omega<1$.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, revtex, Some references are added. To be published in Phys. Rev.

Low Energy Action of "Covariant" Superstring Field Theory in the NS-NS pp-Wave Background

Exact construction of superstring field theory in some background fields is very important. We construct the low energy NS-NS sector of superstring field action in the pp-wave background with the flux of NS-NS antisymmetric tensor field (NS-NS pp-wave) without gauge fixing up to the second-order where the action is world-sheet BRST invariant. Here we use the word "covariant" in a invariant theory for a symmetric transformation of the pp-wave background which is not the Lorentz transformation in the flat background. Moreover we prove the exact correspondence between this low energy action and the second-order perturbation of supergravity action in the same background. We also prove the correspondence of the gauge transformation in both the actions. This construction is based on the BRST first quantization of superstrings in the pp-wave background in our previous paper.Comment: 34 page