The twilight of resource nationalism: From cyclicality to singularity?

The transition to a low-carbon world invites us to reassess the utility of concepts that were developed to understand the interactions between energy systems and the modern world. To this end the article critically unpacks the key concept of resource nationalism which asserts that clashes between resource-rich states and extractive companies are of a cyclical nature and are predominantly triggered by a combination of economic factors. The analysis demonstrates that such a reading of various conflicts between states and companies is of limited value and can only be presented if non-economic factors are largely downplayed. Most importantly, decolonization, which was a vital driver behind state-companies disputes in the second half of the last century, is often decentred in favour of other aspects, in particular, fluctuating commodity prices. The article argues that studies of today’s clashes between states and extractive companies that predominately focus on minerals - which are critical for the low-carbon transition and renewable industries - should move away from a focus on cyclicality and give way to greater historical contextualization and emphasis on individual cases

Russia, Transition and Poland’s Energy Security: A Retrospective View

This article asserts that debates concerning Poland’s energy security should be analysed in the context of transition politics and domestic politics. Most importantly, domestic politics reveal the corrupted environment of the 1990s and early 2000s, which allowed Polish and Russian political, commercial and private actors to engage in rent seeking activities. The collusion between the two sets of actors had a detrimental effect on the way in which the debate concerning Polish energy security has developed. Furthermore, corruption scandals that brought to the open murky dealings between the Russian oil and gas sectors and Polish political actors, have not only kept generating interest around the question of the country’s energy security but also further fuelled concerns about Russia’s real intentions

Investigation of galactic alignment in LSC galaxy clusters

We investigate the galactic axes orientations within 18 selected clusters, sub-structures of the Local Supercluster. For every cluster we map the parameter \Delta_{11} (Flin & God{\l}owski 1986) describing the galactic axes alignment with respect to a cluster pole changing along the entire celestial sphere. The resulting maps are analyzed for correlations of its maxima with directions from the cluster centre to 1.) the derived `physical' cluster poles, 2.) the Local Supercluster centre, 3.) the Virgo A centre and 4.) the Earth, i.e. along the line of sight (LOS). The strong maxima - with one exception - exist only for non-spiral (NS) sub-samples, with the maximum well correlated with the LOS direction. For clusters with a clearly defined weak maximum the conclusion generally does not change. For the spiral (S) sub-samples the maps are usually at the random noise level. In these cases a weaker, but still existent correlation with the LOS is observed and no other evident correlations are noted. We conclude that the strong systematic effect, generated by the process of galactic axis de-projection from its optical image, is present in the catalogue data. With the use of a simple model for the systematic effect we are able to reproduce the main characteristic features of the maps for NS galaxies. We note, however, a few clusters showing significant differences with respect to this model.Comment: LaTeX (21 pages, 10 gif figures); MNRAS, accepte

Rethinking Energy Policy in Central and Eastern Europe

This paper provides an overview of an upcoming book which seeks to do just this by asking the questions, what role does Russia play in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) energy sector and how did the Russian-CEE energy relationship develop since the early 1990s? One of the central thesis outlined here argues that in order to fully understand Russian involvement in the regional CEE energy complex, the RussianCEE energy relationship should be analysed in the context of the political and economic transition that both Russia and the CEE states underwent following 1989. It is asserted that questions on which energy security analysis normally center—such as a country’s energy mix, its transport system, and energy vulnerabilities—have to be considered along with questions related to the post-communist transformation, interactions between emerging post-socialist elites in Russia and the CEE region, as well as general governance structures

Self-Similar Collisionless Shocks

Observations of gamma-ray burst afterglows suggest that the correlation length of magnetic field fluctuations downstream of relativistic non-magnetized collisionless shocks grows with distance from the shock to scales much larger than the plasma skin depth. We argue that this indicates that the plasma properties are described by a self-similar solution, and derive constraints on the scaling properties of the solution. For example, we find that the scaling of the characteristic magnetic field amplitude with distance from the shock is B \propto D^{s_B} with -1<s_B<=0, that the spectrum of accelerated particles is dn/dE \propto E^{-2/(s_B+1)}, and that the scaling of the magnetic correlation function is \propto x^{2s_B} (for x>>D). We show that the plasma may be approximated as a combination of two self-similar components: a kinetic component of energetic particles and an MHD-like component representing "thermal" particles. We argue that the latter may be considered as infinitely conducting, in which case s_B=0 and the scalings are completely determined (e.g. dn/dE \propto E^{-2} and B \propto D^0). Similar claims apply to non- relativistic shocks such as in supernova remnants, if the upstream magnetic field can be neglected. Self-similarity has important implications for any model of particle acceleration and/or field generation. For example, we show that the diffusion function in the angle \mu of momentum p in diffusive shock acceleration models must satisfy D_{\mu\mu}(p,D) = D^{-1}D'_{\mu\mu}(p/D), and that a previously suggested model for the generation of large scale magnetic fields through a hierarchical merger of current-filaments should be generalized. A numerical experiment testing our analysis is outlined (Abridged).Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Ap

Quantum system ascribed to the Oppenheimer-Snyder model of massive star

We quantize the Oppenheimer-Snyder model of black hole using the integral quantization method. We treat spatial and temporal coordinates on the same footing both at classical and quantum levels. Our quantization resolves or smears the singularities of the classical curvature invariants. Quantum trajectories with bounces can replace singular classical ones. The considered quantum black hole may have finite bouncing time. As a byproduct, we obtain the resolution of the gravitational singularity of the Schwarzschild black hole at quantum level.Comment: 29 pages, one figure, version accepted for publication in EPJ

Analytical Study of Diffusive Relativistic Shock Acceleration

Particle acceleration in relativistic shocks is studied analytically in the test-particle, small-angle scattering limit, for an arbitrary velocity-angle diffusion function D. Accurate analytic expressions for the spectral index s are derived using few (2-6) low-order moments of the shock-frame angular distribution. For isotropic diffusion, previous results are reproduced and justified. For anisotropic diffusion, s is shown to be sensitive to D, particularly downstream and at certain angles, and a wide range of s values is attainable. The analysis, confirmed numerically, can be used to test collisionless shock models and to observationally constrain D. For example, strongly forward- or backward-enhanced diffusion downstream is ruled out by GRB afterglow observations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, PRL accepted, minor change