Geometrizing the Quantum - A Toy Model

It is shown that the equations of relativistic Bohmian mechanics for multiple bosonic particles have a dual description in terms of a classical theory of conformally "curved" space-time. This shows that it is possible to formulate quantum mechanics as a purely classical geometrical theory. The results are further generalized to interactions with an external electromagnetic field.Comment: Talk given the XXV Max Born Symposium, 6 pages, no figur

Oor literêre geskiedskrywing en Suid-Afrikaanse studies in Europa: Hoe om die eksotiese vertroud te maak

This article is an adapted and elaborated version of the memorial lecture (sponsored by the National Afrikaans Literature Museum and Research Centre in Bloemfontein) delivered in Potchefstroom on 4 March 2005. My encounter with the famous scholar P. J. Nienaber prompted deeper reflection on literary historiography and education methodology at tertiary institutions. The core question of the essay is to which extent the traditional way of thinking about Afrikaans literature, as applied in South Africa, should be rewritten when the Afrikaans literary historical process is explained to an external, foreign target audience. I argue from my experience as the author of a history of Afrikaans literature written for an European audience. The second related issue under investigation and supplied with examples is in connection with the new field of study “South African Studies” as it is planned and being realised in Poland. Here I go deeper into the question of what the possibilities of knowledge transfer are when the object of study is an exotic reality as well as ways of familiarizing it. The idea is that the new Polish curriculum should benefit the student in two ways: to transfer a certain amount of knowledge and, by this indirect route, give new insights into the student’s own familiar reality

Afrikaanse plaas versus Antilliaanse plantage. Ruimte, lokaliteit en identiteit in Mijn zuster de negerin van Cola Debrot¹

Propositions formulated with reference to one literary tradition could have a stimulating effect on research conducted in another. This contribution is aimed at establishing whether it is possible to analyse Dutch Antillean literature with Afrikaans literary concepts. To illustrate this, Cola Debrot’s (1902-1981) Mijn zuster de negerin (My sister, the Negress, 1935) will be placed within the framework of the Afrikaans plaasroman (farm novel). This historical subgenre of the South African novel came to full bloom in the 1930s and 1940s. Central to the plaasroman is the farm-experience. The fact that contemporary Afrikaans authors are still interested in this novelistic mode testifies to its viability, which derives from the ample scope it provides for giving expression to problems concerning identity and locality. Mijn zuster de negerin, a true classic of Dutch literature, is studied here through the prism of the most typical elements of the plaasroman, for example the close connection with the soil and with nature, the space of the rural districts, the “plaas” as an idyllic place, the motif of the prodigal son, the rejection and acceptance of an inheritance/a legacy, the motif of the ancestors and rebellion against the older generation or the patriarchal order. Special emphasis is placed on the motif of house/homestead and barnyard, as the experience of these spaces contains the quintessenceof all the other important motifs. Since the issue of identity and locality is central also to Debrot’s novella, the Afrikaans plaasroman provides an expansive framework within which this Dutch story can be interpreted

On the dark age before the linguistic turn : what J. M. Coetzee saw in Willem Termeer and what he did about it

The South African Nobel Prize winner, J. M. Coetzee has a particular connection to the Netherlands. For instance, he had reviewed Dutch literature for the New York Times (the reviews were later included in a book called Stranger Shores: essays 1986–1999) and he translated and compiled an anthology of Dutch poetry (Landscape with Rowers, 2004) for the English readership. Moreover, his books are frequently published in their Dutch translation prior to their official English releases. In 1976, Coetzee translated a novel by Marcelus Emants Een nagelaten bekentenis (1894), published in English as A Posthumous Confession. Parallel to this translation work, Coetzee also worked on his second novel In the Heart of the Country (1977). This paper is devoted to a detective-like tracing of reflections that Coetzee’s close reading of the Dutch novelist might have left in his own book. Why did Coetzee in the first place decide to translate Emants’ novel? What was its appeal that attracted him so much? What was Coetzee’s reading of Emants back in the 1970s?http://www.letterkunde.up.ac.za

Congo in de literatuur Themanummer van Armada: Tijdschrift voor wereldliteratuur

Review of: Congo in de literatuur Themanummer van Armada : Tijdschrift voor wereldliteratuur Zestiende jaargang, nr 59, juni 2010. 119 pp. ISBN 978 90 284 2317 6 / NUR 324 / ISSN 1384 105

New Lie-Algebraic and Quadratic Deformations of Minkowski Space from Twisted Poincare Symmetries

We consider two new classes of twisted D=4 quantum Poincar\'{e} symmetries described as the dual pairs of noncocommutative Hopf algebras. Firstly we investigate a two-parameter class of twisted Poincar\'{e} algebras which provide the examples of Lie-algebraic noncommutativity of the translations. The corresponding associative star-products and new deformed Lie-algebraic Minkowski spaces are introduced. We discuss further the twist deformations of Poincar\'{e} symmetries generated by the twist with its carrier in Lorentz algebra. We describe corresponding deformed Poincar\'{e} group which provides the quadratic deformations of translation sector and define the quadratically deformed Minkowski space-time algebra.Comment: LaTeX 16 pages. The version which appear in PL

Self-gravitating elastic bodies

Extended objects in GR are often modelled using distributional solutions of the Einstein equations with point-like sources, or as the limit of infinitesimally small "test" objects. In this note, I will consider models of finite self-gravitating extended objects, which make it possible to give a rigorous treatment of the initial value problem for (finite) extended objects.Comment: 16 pages. Based on a talk given at the 2013 WE-Heraeus seminar on "Equations of motion in relativistic gravity

Smart mobility: a mobile approach

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the key ingredients for the realization of Smart Cities. IoT devices are essential components of the Smart Cities infrastructure, as they can provide information collected from the environment through sensors or allow other systems to reach out and act on the world through actuators. IoT data collection, however, is not limited to sensors and machines, but to data from social networks, and the web. Social networks have a huge impact on the amount of data being produced daily, becoming an increasingly central and important data source. The exploitation of these data sources, combined with the growing popularity of mobile devices, can lead to the development of better solutions to improve people’s quality of life. This paper discusses how to take advantage of the benefits of mobile devices and the vast range of information sources and services, such as traffic conditions, and narrow, closed or conditioned roads data. The proposed system uses a real-time collection, organization, and transmission of traffic and road conditions data to provide efficient and accurate information to drivers. With the purpose of supporting and improving traffic data collection and distribution, an Android application was developed to collect information about extraordinary events that take place in a city, providing warnings and alternative routes to drivers and helping them to improve their time management. The developed solution also exploits the existing gaps in other applications, implementing a more specific solution for the Madeira Island traffic condition problems.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio