4,257 research outputs found

    Further Notes on the Kikuyu Tribe of British East Africa

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    “Leaves From my Journal”: William T. Beatty’s Civil War Account of the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry

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    During his time in service, Beatty kept a journal and meticulously recorded dates and key events, though Beatty was not unique in doing so, as diaries, journals, and letters were essential correspondence during the Civil War (Maness and Combs 2010). However, Beatty, who moved to Gibbon, Nebraska following the war in 1872, later shared his original journal entries which were reprinted in the Buffalo County Beacon (Gibbon, Nebraska’s newspaper). Over the course of thirty-three newspaper articles – running from February 1, 1883 to September 21, 1883 – Beatty provided his personal account in the Buffalo County Beacon and referred to each article as “Leaves From my Journal” (Fig. 2).1 These first-hand accounts serve as a unique way to track both physical and political landscapes during the Civil War

    Searching in an Unknown Environment: An Optimal Randomized Algorithm for the Cow-Path Problem

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    AbstractSearching for a goal is a central and extensively studied problem in computer science. In classical searching problems, the cost of a search function is simply the number of queries made to an oracle that knows the position of the goal. In many robotics problems, as well as in problems from other areas, we want to charge a cost proportional to the distance between queries (e.g., the time required to travel between two query points). With this cost function in mind, the abstract problem known as thew-lane cow-path problem was designed. There are known optimal deterministic algorithms for the cow-path problem; we give the first randomized algorithm in this paper. We show that our algorithm is optimal for two paths (w=2) and give evidence that it is optimal for larger values ofw. Subsequent to the preliminary version of this paper, Kaoet al.(in“Proceedings, 5th ACM–SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithm,” pp. 372–381, 1994) have shown that our algorithm is indeed optimal for allw⩾2. Our randomized algorithm gives expected performance that is almost twice as good as is possible with a deterministic algorithm. For the performance of our algorithm, we also derive the asymptotic growth with respect tow—despite similar complexity results for related problems, it appears that this growth has never been analyzed

    Modelling gravity on a hyper-cubic lattice

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    We present an elegant and simple dynamical model of symmetric, non-degenerate (n x n) matrices of fixed signature defined on a n-dimensional hyper-cubic lattice with nearest-neighbor interactions. We show how this model is related to General Relativity, and discuss multiple ways in which it can be useful for studying gravity, both classical and quantum. In particular, we show that the dynamics of the model when all matrices are close to the identity corresponds exactly to a finite-difference discretization of weak-field gravity in harmonic gauge. We also show that the action which defines the full dynamics of the model corresponds to the Einstein-Hilbert action to leading order in the lattice spacing, and use this observation to define a lattice analogue of the Ricci scalar and Einstein tensor. Finally, we perform a mean-field analysis of the statistical mechanics of this model.Comment: 5 page

    Arithmetic Spacetime Geometry from String Theory

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    An arithmetic framework to string compactification is described. The approach is exemplified by formulating a strategy that allows to construct geometric compactifications from exactly solvable theories at c=3c=3. It is shown that the conformal field theoretic characters can be derived from the geometry of spacetime, and that the geometry is uniquely determined by the two-dimensional field theory on the world sheet. The modular forms that appear in these constructions admit complex multiplication, and allow an interpretation as generalized McKay-Thompson series associated to the Mathieu and Conway groups. This leads to a string motivated notion of arithmetic moonshine.Comment: 36 page

    The Anatomy of Memory Politics: A Formalist Analysis of Tate Britain’s ‘Artist and Empire’ and the Struggle over Britain’s Imperial Past

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    In this paper, I propose a new approach for understanding the meaning of memory politics, which draws upon the archetypal literary criticism of Northrop Frye. I suggest that the four archetypes elaborated by Frye—comedy, romance, tragedy, and satire—can be used as a heuristic device for interpreting the contested historical narratives that are associated with the politics of memory. I illustrate this approach through a case-study of Artists and Empire: Facing Britain’s Imperial Past, an exhibition held at Tate Britain in 2016, amidst increasing contestation over the meaning of the British Empire. In sum, I find that the exhibit narrated Britain’s imperial past as a comedy, in which a key theme was the progressive cultural mixing of the British and the people they colonized. To conclude, I discuss the implications of such a narrative for constructing an inclusive, postcolonial British identity. As an alternative, I draw on Aristotle to suggest that a tragic narrative would have been more propitious

    Composites Materials and Manufacturing Technologies for Space Applications

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    Composite materials offer significant advantages in space applications. Weight reduction is imperative for deep space systems. However, the pathway to deployment of composites alternatives is problematic. Improvements in the materials and processes are needed, and extensive testing is required to validate the performance, qualify the materials and processes, and certify components. Addressing these challenges could lead to the confident adoption of composites in space applications and provide spin-off technical capabilities for the aerospace and other industries. To address the issues associated with composites applications in space systems, NASA sponsored a Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) entitled, "Composites Materials and Manufacturing Technologies for Space Applications," the proceedings of which are summarized in this Conference Publication. The NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate and the Game Changing Program chartered the meeting. The meeting was hosted by the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing (NCAM)-a public/private partnership between NASA, the State of Louisiana, Louisiana State University, industry, and academia, in association with the American Composites Manufacturers Association. The Louisiana Center for Manufacturing Sciences served as the coordinator for the TIM
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