Innovation as a Nonlinear Process, the Scientometric Perspective, and the Specification of an "Innovation Opportunities Explorer"

The process of innovation follows non-linear patterns across the domains of science, technology, and the economy. Novel bibliometric mapping techniques can be used to investigate and represent distinctive, but complementary perspectives on the innovation process (e.g., "demand" and "supply") as well as the interactions among these perspectives. The perspectives can be represented as "continents" of data related to varying extents over time. For example, the different branches of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in the Medline database provide sources of such perspectives (e.g., "Diseases" versus "Drugs and Chemicals"). The multiple-perspective approach enables us to reconstruct facets of the dynamics of innovation, in terms of selection mechanisms shaping localizable trajectories and/or resulting in more globalized regimes. By expanding the data with patents and scholarly publications, we demonstrate the use of this multi-perspective approach in the case of RNA Interference (RNAi). The possibility to develop an "Innovation Opportunities Explorer" is specified.Comment: Technology Analysis and Strategic Management (forthcoming in 2013

Feynman's Decoherence

Gell-Mann's quarks are coherent particles confined within a hadron at rest, but Feynman's partons are incoherent particles which constitute a hadron moving with a velocity close to that of light. It is widely believed that the quark model and the parton model are two different manifestations of the same covariant entity. If this is the case, the question arises whether the Lorentz boost destroys coherence. It is pointed out that this is not the case, and it is possible to resolve this puzzle without inventing new physics. It is shown that this decoherence is due to the measurement processes which are less than complete.Comment: RevTex 15 pages including 6 figs, presented at the 9th Int'l Conference on Quantum Optics (Raubichi, Belarus, May 2002), to be published in the proceeding

Aharonov-Bohm cages in two-dimensional structures

We present an extreme localization mechanism induced by a magnetic field for tight-binding electrons in two-dimensional structures. This spectacular phenomenon is investigated for a large class of tilings (periodic, quasiperiodic, or random). We are led to introduce the Aharonov-Bohm cages defined as the set of sites eventually visited by a wavepacket that can, for particular values of the magnetic flux, be bounded. We finally discuss the quantum dynamics which exhibits an original pulsating behaviour.Comment: 4 pages Latex, 3 eps figures, 1 ps figur

The Algorithmic Origins of Life

Although it has been notoriously difficult to pin down precisely what it is that makes life so distinctive and remarkable, there is general agreement that its informational aspect is one key property, perhaps the key property. The unique informational narrative of living systems suggests that life may be characterized by context-dependent causal influences, and in particular, that top-down (or downward) causation -- where higher-levels influence and constrain the dynamics of lower-levels in organizational hierarchies -- may be a major contributor to the hierarchal structure of living systems. Here we propose that the origin of life may correspond to a physical transition associated with a shift in causal structure, where information gains direct, and context-dependent causal efficacy over the matter it is instantiated in. Such a transition may be akin to more traditional physical transitions (e.g. thermodynamic phase transitions), with the crucial distinction that determining which phase (non-life or life) a given system is in requires dynamical information and therefore can only be inferred by identifying causal architecture. We discuss some potential novel research directions based on this hypothesis, including potential measures of such a transition that may be amenable to laboratory study, and how the proposed mechanism corresponds to the onset of the unique mode of (algorithmic) information processing characteristic of living systems.Comment: 13 pages, 1 tabl

Hall conductance of Bloch electrons in a magnetic field

We study the energy spectrum and the quantized Hall conductance of electrons in a two-dimensional periodic potential with perpendicular magnetic field WITHOUT neglecting the coupling of the Landau bands. Remarkably, even for weak Landau band coupling significant changes in the Hall conductance compared to the one-band approximation of Hofstadter's butterfly are found. The principal deviations are the rearrangement of subbands and unexpected subband contributions to the Hall conductance.Comment: to appear in PRB; Revtex, 9 pages, 5 postscript figures; figures with better resolution may be obtained from http://www.chaos.gwdg.d

Cantor Spectra for Double Exchange Model

We numerically study energy spectra and localization properties of the double exchange model at irrational filling factor. To obtain variational ground state, we use a mumerical technique in momentum space by ``embedded'' boundary condition which has no finite size effect a priori. Although the Hamiltonian has translation invariance, the ground state spontaneously exhibits a self-similarity. Scaling and multi-fractal analysis for the wave functions are performed and the scaling indices $\alpha$'s are obtained. The energy spectrum is found to be a singular continuous, so-called the Cantor set with zero Lebesque measure.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revtex, corrected some typos, accepted for publication in PR

Academic freedom in Europe: time for a Magna Charta?

This paper is a preliminary attempt to establish a working definition of academic freedom for the European Union states. The paper details why such a definition is required for the European Union and then examines some of the difficulties of defining academic freedom. By drawing upon experience of the legal difficulties beset by the concept in the USA and building on previous analyses of constitutional and legislative protection for academic freedom, and of legal regulations concerning institutional governance and academic tenure, a working definition of academic freedom is then derived. The resultant definition which, it is suggested, could form the basis for a European Magna Charta Libertatis Academicae, goes beyond traditional discussions of academic freedom by specifying not only the rights inherent in the concept but also its accompanying duties, necessary limitations and safeguards. The paper concludes with proposals for how the definition might be tested and carried forward

Academic freedom: in justification of a universal ideal

This paper examines the justification for, and benefits of, academic freedom to academics, students, universities and the world at large. The paper surveys the development of the concept of academic freedom within Europe, more especially the impact of the reforms at the University of Berlin instigated by Wilhelm von Humboldt. Following from this, the paper examines the reasons why the various facets of academic freedom are important and why the principle should continue to be supported

A Poetics of Designing

The chapter provides an overview on what it means to be in a world that is uncertain, e.g., how under conditions of limited understanding any activity is an activity that designs and constructs, and how designing objects, spaces, and situations relates to the (designed) meta-world of second-order cybernetics. Designers require a framework that is open, but one that supplies ethical guidance when ‘constructing’ something new. Relating second-order design thinking to insights in philosophy and aesthetics, the chapter argues that second-order cybernetics provides a response to this ethical challenge and essentially it entails a poetics of designing. //// 'A Poetics of Designing' is part of the first book-length collection of texts in Design Cybernetics. It introduces the subject from the point of view of aesthetics. Importantly, the chapter argues that second-order cybernetics circumvents the necessity for a muse inspired artist or genius as a mediator between higher spirits and life, in favour of artists and designers who have true agency. //// Cybernetics is often associated with AI, which is, however, only one of the branches that developed on the basis of the interdisciplinary research begun in the 1940s and entitled cybernetics. I hope the chapter contributes to a better understanding of the second-order cybernetics that has been conceived in close relationship with art and design from the late 60s onwards

Gamma ray astrophysics: the EGRET results

Cosmic gamma rays provide insight into some of the most dynamic processes in the Universe. At the dawn of a new generation of gamma-ray telescopes, this review summarizes results from the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the principal predecessor mission studying high-energy photons in the 100 MeV energy range. EGRET viewed a gamma-ray sky dominated by prominent emission from the Milky Way, but featuring an array of other sources, including quasars, pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, and many sources that remain unidentified. A central feature of the EGRET results was the high degree of variability seen in many gamma-ray sources, indicative of the powerful forces at work in objects visible to gamma-ray telescopes.Comment: 23 pages, 24 figure