Macbeth in Nineteenth-Century Bengal: A Case of Conflicted Indigenization

Adaptation, a complex bilingual and bicultural process, is further problematised in a colonial scenario inflected by burgeoning nationalism and imperialist counter-oppression. Nagendranath Bose’s Karnabir (1884/85), the second extant Bengali translation of Macbeth was written after the First War of Indian Independence in 1857 and its aftermath - the formation of predominantly upper and middle class nationalist organisations that spearheaded the freedom movement. To curb anti-colonial activities in the cultural sphere, the British introduced repressive measures like the Theatre Censorship Act and the Vernacular Press Act. Bengal experienced a revival of Hinduism paradoxically augmented by the nationalist ethos and the divisive tactics of British rule that fostered communalism. This article investigates the contingencies and implications of domesticating and othering Macbeth at this juncture and the collaborative/oppositional strategies of the vernacular text vis-à-vis colonial discourse. The generic problems of negotiating tragedy in a literary tradition marked by its absence are compounded by the socio-linguistic limitations of a Sanskritised adaptation. The conflicted nature of the cultural indigenisation evidenced in Karnabir is explored with special focus on the nature of generic, linguistic and religious acculturation, issues of nomenclature and epistemology, as well as the political and ideological negotiations that the target text engages in with the source text and the intended audience

Low-frequency phase diagram of irradiated graphene and periodically driven spin-1/2 XYXY chain

We study the Floquet phase diagram of two-dimensional Dirac materials such as graphene and the one-dimensional (1D) spin-1/2 $XY$ model in a transverse field in the presence of periodic time-varying terms in their Hamiltonians in the low drive frequency ($\omega$) regime where standard $1/\omega$ perturbative expansions fail. For graphene, such periodic time dependent terms are generated via the application of external radiation of amplitude $A_0$ and time period $T = 2\pi/\omega$, while for the 1D $XY$ model, they result from a two-rate drive protocol with time-dependent magnetic field and nearest-neighbor couplings between the spins. Using the adiabatic-impulse method, we provide several semi-analytic criteria for the occurrence of changes in the topology of the phase bands of such systems. For irradiated graphene, we point out the role of the symmetries of $H(t)$ and $U$ behind such topology changes. Our analysis reveals that at low frequencies, phase band topology changes may also happen at $t= T/3, 2T/3$ (apart from $t=T$). We chart out the phase diagrams at $t=T/3, 2T/3,\, {\rm and }\, T$ as a function of $A_0$ and $T$ using exact numerics, and compare them with the prediction of the adiabatic-impulse method. We show that several characteristics of these phase diagrams can be analytically understood from results obtained using the adiabatic-impulse method and point out the crucial contribution of the high-symmetry points in the graphene Brillouin zone to these diagrams. Finally we study the 1D $XY$ model with a two-rate driving protocol using the adiabatic-impulse method and exact numerics revealing a phase band crossing at $t=T/2$ and $k=\pi/2$. We also study the anomalous end modes generated by such a drive. We suggest experiments to test our theory.Comment: v1; 26 pages, 19 Fig

Hemoglobin E genotypes and fertility: a study among the Ahom of Upper Assam, India

Background: Differential fertility is reported in areas where prevalence of hemoglobin E (Hb E) is high. At this backdrop a representative Ahom sample from Upper Assam is studied to examine if differential fertility exist between Hb E and normal Hb A mothers and whether there is significant difference between them with regard to the hemoglobin (Hb) concentration.Methods: Detailed reproductive histories are collected from 119 Ahom couples followed by Hb typing by ‘Cellulose Acetate Gel’ electrophoresis (pH 8.9) and fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) determined by Acid Elution technique. Hb concentration (in g/dl) is measured by Sahley’s method. Results: The calculated Hb E allele frequencies for the Ahom male and the female subjects are 0.424 and 0.403 respectively. β-carrier frequency in the total sample is found to be 0.42%. There is no differential fertility observed between Hb A/Hb A (AA), Hb A/Hb E (AE) and Hb E/Hb E (EE) mothers. Reproductive performance of the couples revealed that the mothers with an Hb E complement either heterozygous or homozygous are more likely to have a spontaneous abortion or an infant mortality. Conclusions: It may be concluded that Hb E induced anemia may increase spontaneous abortion and infant mortality in AE and EE mothers

Periodically driven Rydberg chains with staggered detuning

We study the stroboscopic dynamics of a periodically driven finite Rydberg chain with staggered ( Δ ) and time-dependent uniform [ λ ( t ) ] detuning terms using exact diagonalization. We show that at intermediate drive frequencies ( ω D ), the presence of a finite Δ results in violation of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) via clustering of Floquet eigenstates. Such clustering is lost at special commensurate drive frequencies for which ℏ ω d = n Δ ( n ∈ Z ) leading to restoration of ergodicity. The violation of ETH in these driven finite-sized chains is also evident from the dynamical freezing displayed by the density-density correlation between Rydberg excitations at even sites of the chain for specific ω D . Such a correlator exhibits stable oscillations with perfect revivals when driven close to the freezing frequencies for initial all spin-down ( | 0 ⟩ ) or Neel ( | Z 2 ⟩ , with up spins on even sites) states. In contrast, for the ∣ ∣ ¯¯¯ Z 2 ⟩ (time-reversed partner of | Z 2 ⟩ ) initial state, we find complete absence of such oscillations leading to freezing for a range of ω D ; this range increases with Δ . We also study the properties of quantum many-body scars in the Floquet spectrum of the model as a function of Δ and show the existence of mid-spectrum scars at large Δ which do not have overlap with either | 0 ⟩ or | Z 2 ⟩ states. We supplement our numerical results with those from an analytic Floquet Hamiltonian computed using Floquet perturbation theory which allows us to provide qualitative analytical explanations of the above-mentioned numerical results

Terms of trade, capital accumulation and the macro-economy in a developing country: a theoretical analysis

This paper attempts to explain the terms of trade adjustment and the process of capital accumulation in a monetary model of sectoral interlinkage under rational expectation. The paper utilises a very standard dual economy framework in which industry and agriculture are two distinct sectors of production. Agriculture production is supply constrained. This may arise due to fixed endowment of land, weather condition etc. On the other hand, employment and output in the industrial sector are determined on the basis of profit maximisation in the presence of wage indexation. The asset structure of the economy includes the stock of primary commodities as one form of asset holding. Since the stock of agricultural commodities is one of the financial assets, its demand is subject to speculation which may entail fluctuating agricultural prices. Many factors have effects on fluctuating agricultural prices. These include monetary shock, parametric changes in agricultural production, changes in government expenditure etc. In this paper we discuss the comparative static effects of parametric changes of these factors. The paper shows that the short run and long run effects of any particular shock are quite different, not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively. Accordingly, the policy message of the paper is that the short run response may not be a reliable guide to the design of policy

Strong Hilbert space fragmentation via emergent quantum drums in two dimensions

We introduce a disorder-free model of $S=1/2$ spins on the square lattice in a constrained Hilbert space where two up-spins are not allowed simultaneously on any two neighboring sites of the lattice. The interactions are given by ring-exchange terms on elementary plaquettes that conserve both the total magnetization as well as dipole moment. We show that this model provides a tractable example of strong Hilbert space fragmentation in two dimensions with typical initial states evading thermalization with respect to the full Hilbert space. Given any product state, the system can be decomposed into disjoint spatial regions made of edge and/or vertex sharing plaquettes that we dub as ``quantum drums''. These quantum drums come in many shapes and sizes and specifying the plaquettes that belong to a drum fixes its spectrum. The spectra of some small drums is calculated analytically. We study two bigger quasi-one-dimensional drums numerically, dubbed ``wire'' and a ``junction of two wires'' respectively. We find that these possess a chaotic spectrum but also support distinct families of quantum many-body scars that cause periodic revivals from different initial states. The wire is shown to be equivalent to the one-dimensional PXP chain with open boundaries, a paradigmatic model for quantum many-body scarring; while the junction of two wires represents a distinct constrained model.Comment: v3: 57 pages, 30 figs; resubmission to SciPost Physic