The Armenian Apostolic Church and the Challenges of Democratic Development in Armenia

This paper aims to analyze the role of the Armenian Apostolic Church in democratization processes in the Republic of Armenia. The narrative of the first Christian nation and the Armenian Apostolic Church has historically played an important role in shaping the identities (e.g., national, political and cultural) of the Armenian nation throughout history. Taking this fact into consideration, the contribution proposes that the Armenian Apostolic Church, as one of the most trusted institutions in Armenia, has real potential to impact the country's political decision-making processes. To this end, it is quite important to focus on the relationships among civil society, political elites and the Church. This approach will shed light on the limitations of the Armenian Apostolic Church in supporting the democratization of Armenia. Regarding the relationships between political society and the Church, one can conceptualize such relationships as hegemonic. The Apostolic Church plays an important role in establishing and supporting the hegemony and legitimacy of the ruling regime, which makes them loyal to each other's policies and ideologies. Next, the contribution will attempt to understand the attitude of the Apostolic Church toward civic activism or civic actions against the ruling regime and vice versa

Effects on the polarization due to Fast Steering Mirrors

En los instrumentos polarimétricos de imagen es necesario introducir un sistema de estabilización de imagen para la adecuada adquisición de las medidas. Esto se realiza mediante un sistema de control en lazo cerrado en el que un espejo, denominado Fast Steering Mirror (FSM), realiza los movimientos de rotación adecuados para estabilizar la imagen mediante actuadores piezoeléctricos que cambian su inclinación (tip-tilt). Es bien conocido que el estado de polarización de un haz cambia, en general, al ser reflejado por un espejo y este cambio viene determinado por el tipo de recubrimientos (i.e.: metálicos, dieléctricos...) y el ángulo de incidencia. Todo ello viene caracterizado por la matriz de Mueller del espejo y es parte de la calibración del instrumento. Sin embargo, el espejo de estabilización cambia su ángulo con el tiempo por lo que producirá efectos de polarización residual sistemática y despolarización. Tradicionalmente se ha asumido que estos efectos son despreciables y no se han tenido en consideración, sin ninguna evaluación en detalle. Esta problemática es extensible a cualquier instrumento polarimétrico que disponga de sistemas de apuntamiento de este tipo. En este trabajo se desarrollan los modelos matemáticos necesarios y se analizan diversos casos prácticos, para poder alcanzar las máximas prestaciones polarimétricas de estos instrumentos. En particular, se ha estudiado el caso del instrumento SO/PHI (Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager on Solar Orbiter) a bordo de la misión Solar Orbiter de la Agencia Espacial Europea y NASA, así como el caso de instrumentos para la distribución de claves cuántica (QKD, Quantum Key Distribution) que disponen de sistemas FSM similares. De los resultados obtenidos se deduce que los FSM producen cambios en los estados de polarización y despolarización del haz incidente en los instrumentos polarimétricos y, por tanto, deben tenerse en cuenta. La magnitud de estos efectos depende de forma crítica en el ángulo de incidencia nominal, el rango de movimiento de los FSM durante la operación y los tiempos de integración de los detectores del instrumento. Aunque habitualmente, de forma no cuantitativa, se han elegido los parámetros de diseño adecuados en los casos de los sistemas estudiados, los modelos desarrollados en este trabajo permiten definir los requisitos de los FSM durante su diseño para evitar estos efectos indeseados durante el funcionamiento de los instrumentos.In polarimetric imaging instruments it is necessary to introduce an image stabilization system for the proper acquisition of measurements. This is achieved through a closed-loop control system in which a mirror, called Fast Steering Mirror (FSM), performs the appropriate rotational movements to stabilize the image using piezoelectric actuators that change its tilt (tip-tilt ). It is well known that the polarization state of a beam changes, in general, when it is reflected by a mirror and this change is determined by the type of coatings (i.e.: metallic, dielectric...) and the angle of incidence. All of this is characterized by the mirror’s Mueller matrix and is part of the instrument’s calibration. However, the stabilizing mirror changes its angle over time so it will produce systematic residual polarization and depolarization effects. These effects have traditionally been assumed to be negligible and have not been taken into consideration, without any detailed evaluation. This problem is also applicable to any polarimetric instrument that has pointing systems of this type. In this work, the necessary mathematical models are developed and various practical cases are analyzed, in order to achieve the maximum polarimetric performance of these instruments. In particular, the case of the SO/PHI (Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager on Solar Orbiter) instrument on board the Solar Orbiter mission of the European Space Agency and NASA has been studied, as well as the case of instruments for the distribution of quantum keys ( QKD, Quantum Key Distribution) which have similar FSM systems. On the basis of the obtained results, it is clear that in polarimetric instruments in which FSMs are used the polarization and depolarization state of the incident beam changes, therefore these variations must be taken into account. The magnitude of these effects critically depends on the nominal angle of incidence, the range of motion of the FSMs during operation, and the integration times of the instrument’s detectors. Although usually, in a non-quantitative way, the appropriate design parameters have been chosen in the cases of the studied systems, the models developed in this work allow defining the requirements of the FSM during their design to avoid these undesired effects during the operation of the systems. instruments. instrumentos.Máster Universitario en Ingeniería Electrónic

On the distribution of Born transmission eigenvalues in the complex plane

We analyze an approximate interior transmission eigenvalue problem in ${\mathbb R}^d$ for $d=2$ or $d=3$, motivated by the transmission problem of a transformation optics-based cloaking scheme and obtained by replacing the refractive index with its first order approximation, which is an unbounded function. We show the discreteness of transmission eigenvalues in the complex plane. Moreover, using the radial symmetry we show the existence of (infinitely many) complex transmission eigenvalues and prove that there exists a horizontal strip in the complex plane around the real axis, that does not contain any transmission eigenvalues

The EU in Armenia's Official and Public Eyes

This article examines the evolution of Armenian perceptions of the European Union (EU) from official and public perspectives. The goal of study is to (a) reveal the official discourse on relations with the EU and the West from the perspective of the heads of the state since independence, with an emphasis on the transformations during the last two administrations beginning in 2008, and (b) to analyse public narratives interpreting the role of the EU in the light of the wars in Karabakh (2020) and Ukraine (2022), allowing us greater insight into the modes of public thinking on security, foreign policy and their ethics that feed both the pro-Western and pro-Russian domestic agendas

Financial Decision Making Under Stress

The aim of this paper is to examine the link between individuals\u27 financial decisions and stress. In a laboratory experiment, Holt and Laury lottery was used to elicit participants risk preferences. The Cold Pressor Test was used to induce a safe level of stress. In the treatment group, 62% of participants are risk averse; versus 76% in the control group. Additionally, inconsistent financial decision making was observed in both groups: 55% of participants in the treatment group versus 30% in the control