Supercritical holes for the doubling map

For a map $S:X\to X$ and an open connected set ($=$ a hole) $H\subset X$ we define $\mathcal J_H(S)$ to be the set of points in $X$ whose $S$-orbit avoids $H$. We say that a hole $H_0$ is supercritical if (i) for any hole $H$ such that $\bar{H_0}\subset H$ the set $\mathcal J_H(S)$ is either empty or contains only fixed points of $S$; (ii) for any hole $H$ such that \barH\subset H_0 the Hausdorff dimension of $\mathcal J_H(S)$ is positive. The purpose of this note to completely characterize all supercritical holes for the doubling map $Tx=2x\bmod1$.Comment: This is a new version, where a full characterization of supercritical holes for the doubling map is obtaine

(Dis)-Intersecting Intersectionality in the Time of Queer Syrian-Refugee-ness in Lebanon

This is the final version. Available on open access from Heinrich Böll Stiftung via the link in this recordThis paper heeds Jasbir Puar’s call to supplement an intersectional analysis with an exercise of assemblage when examining identity politics. It argues that asylum organizations’ unwillingness to account for the interplay between the receiving state (in this case Lebanon) and the lived reality of (Syrian) LGBT refugees results in a “one size fits all” narrative that forces the latter into a more visible and potentially death-instigating corporeality. The interplay between refugees and the receiving state is summed up in the elitist discourse of a “Syrian neo-invasion” that results in the revival of an “authentic Lebanese masculinity.” Whereas the Syrian refugee is vilified as “rapist” in a heterosexual context, they are emasculated as “necessarily bottom” in a same-sex one. This discourse is hegemonized through its emergence at the intersection of sect, political loyalty, and class. At the empirical level, this paper draws on narratives recollected during fieldwork in order to show the limits of an analysis that takes identity politics as given, as seen in asylum organization’s westernimbued “fixed” interpretations of what LGBT identities should “look like” and “act like.

The Reluctant Queer

This is the final version. Available on open access from Heinrich Böll Stiftung via the link in this recordIn “The Locations of Homophobia,” Rahul Rao (2014, 174-175) invites us to complicate our examination of homophobia by turning our analysis inwardly. Whilst I maintain the bearing of the sexed (read: homophobic) colonial legacies on the contemporary discourse surrounding sexuality, including homophobia, across much of the MENA region, I agree with Rao on the importance of turning our analytic gaze inwardly in order to account for the agency of “local actors” in sustaining homophobic narratives and practices. Three concrete location(s) of homophobia are identified in this paper: the role of the Lebanese ruling-class elite in the neo-liberalisation (read: depoliticization through economization) of same-sex desire, the alien rhetoric of local LGBT activism, and the “fractal orientalism” (Moussawi 2013) that reproduces Beirut as an LGBT haven. I conceptualize the “reluctant queer” in relation to each in order to challenge mainstream global media’s depictions of Lebanon as exceptionally LGBT-friendly, particularly where LGBT activism is concerned

Western Media as 'Technology of Affect': The Affective Making of the Angry Arab Man

This is the final version. Available on open access from Amsterdam University Press via the link in this recordThis paper works through the framework of affect theory in order to show how Western media and foreign policy contribute towards the intensification of the stereotype of the ‘Angry Arab Man’. It follows the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari on affect in order to show how a ‘refrain’ or stereotype emerges. In addition to arguing that Western media acts as technology of affect, this paper shows the emotive component of the interplay between Western media, foreign policy, and their audiences. It challenges the autonomous and pre-cognitive aspects of affect, and draws on feminist and postcolonial scholars in an attempt to reinsert the ‘social’ into debates about affect theory

A Review of Jasbir Puar's "The Right to Maim" (and additional interjections)

This is the final version. Available on open access from Heinrich Böll Stiftung via the link in this recor

Enumeration and Decidable Properties of Automatic Sequences

We show that various aspects of k-automatic sequences -- such as having an unbordered factor of length n -- are both decidable and effectively enumerable. As a consequence it follows that many related sequences are either k-automatic or k-regular. These include many sequences previously studied in the literature, such as the recurrence function, the appearance function, and the repetitivity index. We also give some new characterizations of the class of k-regular sequences. Many results extend to other sequences defined in terms of Pisot numeration systems

Canonical Representatives of Morphic Permutations

An infinite permutation can be defined as a linear ordering of the set of natural numbers. In particular, an infinite permutation can be constructed with an aperiodic infinite word over $\{0,\ldots,q-1\}$ as the lexicographic order of the shifts of the word. In this paper, we discuss the question if an infinite permutation defined this way admits a canonical representative, that is, can be defined by a sequence of numbers from [0, 1], such that the frequency of its elements in any interval is equal to the length of that interval. We show that a canonical representative exists if and only if the word is uniquely ergodic, and that is why we use the term ergodic permutations. We also discuss ways to construct the canonical representative of a permutation defined by a morphic word and generalize the construction of Makarov, 2009, for the Thue-Morse permutation to a wider class of infinite words.Comment: Springer. WORDS 2015, Sep 2015, Kiel, Germany. Combinatorics on Words: 10th International Conference. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1503.0618

Ultimate periodicity of b-recognisable sets : a quasilinear procedure

It is decidable if a set of numbers, whose representation in a base b is a regular language, is ultimately periodic. This was established by Honkala in 1986. We give here a structural description of minimal automata that accept an ultimately periodic set of numbers. We then show that it can verified in linear time if a given minimal automaton meets this description. This thus yields a O(n log(n)) procedure for deciding whether a general deterministic automaton accepts an ultimately periodic set of numbers.Comment: presented at DLT 201

Different normativity and strategic nomadic marriages: area studies and queer theory

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this recordThis article embraces Maya Mikdashi and Jasbir Puar’s recent recommendation ‘for a politics in queer theory that works to displace the United States as the prehensive force for everyone else’s future’ in order to ponder the scope and reach of queer theory through/as area studies (Middle East). The article draws upon personal experiences and narratives of homo-desiring men and women in/from Lebanon who perform hetero married life whilst pursuing same-sex desire elsewhere, in order to conceive ‘different normativity’ and ‘nomadic unions.’ The article posits ‘strategic nomadic marriages’ as a fluctuating and unsteady type of union that accommodates the particularity of the ‘sex/gender systems’ of global south societies

NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF COVER FOR RIVERINE FISH.

This review attempts to assess the nature and the role of cover for riverine fish assemblages. Although early identified as a key factor for fish distribution, especially for salmonids, cover (i.e. woody debris, undercut banks, boulders, turbidity...) still remains the variable least considered in the studies of fish habitat relationships. This is mainly due to the diversity of ecological functions of cover structures in fish assemblages. Cover structures are structuring components of fish habitat and contribute to the biological productivity of streams. But, at the individual scale, cover fulfils three main functions: protection against predators, visual isolation reducing competition, and hydraulic shelter. In fact, the use of cover by fish results from a trade-off between the costs and the benefits associated with its use. Although the relationships between fish and cover appear extremely complex and context-specific, a growing body of evidence highlights the potential role of cover for management purposes