Masha and Bear(s): A Russian Palimpsest

When stories are scraped clean and re-written, how much of the original shines through later tales? This paper offers a palimpsest analysis (palímpsestos, “scratched/scraped again”) of the story Masha and the Bear based on a Russian folktale, Tolstoy’s tale The Three Bears, and the transformed folk world in the contemporary cartoon series Masha and the Bear. A palimpsest analysis of a text reveals different layers of readers’, listeners’, and viewers’ expectations, allowing them to challenge the story. Bringing together different versions of a tale with seemingly very similar characters and plot lines, where each subsequent story is regarded as a palimpsest, adds new features to each story’s interpretation. Considering the tale of Masha and the Bear, told differently in Russian folklore, literary tradition and modern media, demonstrates juxtaposition of textual layers that produces a variety of effects, from tragic to comic

Unusual quasiparticles and tunneling conductance in quantum point contacts in ν=2/3\nu=2/3 fractional quantum Hall systems

Understanding topological matter in the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect requires identifying the nature of edge state quasiparticles. FQH edge state at the filling factor $\nu=2/3$ in the spin-polarized and non-polarized phases is represented by the two modes of composite fermions (CF) with the parallel or opposite spins described by the chiral Luttinger liquids. Tunneling through a quantum point contact (QPC) in such systems between different or similar spin phases is solved exactly. With the increase of the applied voltage, the QPC conductance grows from zero and saturates at $e^2/2h$ while a weak electron tunneling between the edge modes with the same spin transforms into a backscattering carried by the charge $q=e/2$ quasiparticles. These unusual quasiparticles and conductance plateau emerge in the QPC with one or two CF modes scattering into a single mode, as occurs in these systems. We propose experiments on the applied voltage and temperature dependence of the QPC conductance and noise that can shed light on the nature of edge states and FQH transport.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure + 4-page supplementary material in a single fil