Storytelling - SHAPE ENERGY facilitation guidelines for interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder processes

Storytelling as a research and collaboration tool is grounded in several social science disciplines, including Anthropology and Sociology. The storytelling methodology that SHAPE ENERGY will use is developed and coordinated by our project partner Duneworks, and will facilitate productive working in several SHAPE ENERGY activities and within our own communication approaches. This report details the guidelines for facilitators of the 18 SHAPE ENERGY multi-stakeholder workshops and the four Horizon 2020 sandpits with H2020/FP7 project partners. However, these guidelines are also designed to enable wider use by others aiming to facilitate interdisciplinary and/or multi-stakeholder collaboration

Do highway widenings reduce congestion?

Highway construction occurs nowadays mainly through widening of existing roads rather than building new roads. This article documents that highway widenings considerably reduce congestion in the short run, defined here as 6 years. Using longitudinal microdata from highway detector loops in the Netherlands, we find substantial travel time savings. These savings occur despite strong increases in traffic flow. The welfare benefits in the short run already cover 40% of the widenings’ investment costs. Our article contributes to an explanation why countries invest in roadworks even when the fundamental law of congestion predicts that travel savings disappear in the long run

Investigation of 4He3^{4}He_{3} trimer on the base of Faddeev equations in configuration space

Precise numerical calculations of bound states of a three-atomic Helium cluster are performed. The modern techniques of solution of Faddeev equations are combined to obtain an efficient numerical scheme. Binding energies and other observables for ground and excited states are calculated. Geometric properties of the clusters are discussed.Comment: uses elsart.sty, 9 tables, 5 PostScript figure

Ultra-low energy elastic scattering in a system of three He atoms

Differential Faddeev equations in total angular momentum representation are used for the first time to investigate ultra-low energy elastic scattering of a helium atom on a helium dimer. Six potential models of interatomic interaction are investigated. The results improve and extend the Faddeev equations based results known in literature. The employed method can be applied to investigation of different elastic and inelastic processes in three- and four-atomic weakly bounded systems below three-body threshold.Comment: 13 pages, 4 tables, 2 figures, elsar

Coherent generation of symmetry-forbidden phonons by light-induced electron-phonon interactions in magnetite

Symmetry breaking across phase transitions often causes changes in selection rules and emergence of optical modes which can be detected via spectroscopic techniques or generated coherently in pump-probe experiments. In second-order or weakly first-order transitions, fluctuations of the order parameter are present above the ordering temperature, giving rise to intriguing precursor phenomena, such as critical opalescence. Here, we demonstrate that in magnetite (Fe$_3$O$_4$) light excitation couples to the critical fluctuations of the charge order and coherently generates structural modes of the ordered phase above the critical temperature of the Verwey transition. Our findings are obtained by detecting coherent oscillations of the optical constants through ultrafast broadband spectroscopy and analyzing their dependence on temperature. To unveil the coupling between the structural modes and the electronic excitations, at the origin of the Verwey transition, we combine our results from pump-probe experiments with spontaneous Raman scattering data and theoretical calculations of both the phonon dispersion curves and the optical constants. Our methodology represents an effective tool to study the real-time dynamics of critical fluctuations across phase transitions

Exploring quantum chaos with a single nuclear spin

Most classical dynamical systems are chaotic. The trajectories of two identical systems prepared in infinitesimally different initial conditions diverge exponentially with time. Quantum systems, instead, exhibit quasiperiodicity due to their discrete spectrum. Nonetheless, the dynamics of quantum systems whose classical counterparts are chaotic are expected to show some features that resemble chaotic motion. Among the many controversial aspects of the quantum-classical boundary, the emergence of chaos remains among the least experimentally verified. Time-resolved observations of quantum chaotic dynamics are particularly rare, and as yet unachieved in a single particle, where the subtle interplay between chaos and quantum measurement could be explored at its deepest levels. We present here a realistic proposal to construct a chaotic driven top from the nuclear spin of a single donor atom in silicon, in the presence of a nuclear quadrupole interaction. This system is exquisitely measurable and controllable, and possesses extremely long intrinsic quantum coherence times, allowing for the observation of subtle dynamical behavior over extended periods. We show that signatures of chaos are expected to arise for experimentally realizable parameters of the system, allowing the study of the relation between quantum decoherence and classical chaos, and the observation of dynamical tunneling

First-principles calculation of the intrinsic aqueous solubility of crystalline druglike molecules

We demonstrate that the intrinsic aqueous solubility of crystalline druglike molecules can be estimated with reasonable accuracy from sublimation free energies calculated using crystal lattice simulations and hydration free energies calculated using the 3D Reference Interaction Site Model (3D-RISM) of the Integral Equation Theory of Molecular Liquids (IET). The solubilities of 25 crystalline druglike molecules taken from different chemical classes are predicted by the model with a correlation coefficient of R = 0.85 and a root mean square error (RMSE) equal to 1.45 log(10) S units, which is significantly more accurate than results obtained using implicit continuum solvent models. The method is not directly parametrized against experimental solubility data, and it offers a full computational characterization of the thermodynamics of transfer of the drug molecule from crystal phase to gas phase to dilute aqueous solution.PostprintPeer reviewe

The same old story – or not? How storytelling can support inclusive local energy policy

Local energy policy agendas require commonly defined desirable future visions and collective agenda-setting to spur collaborative action. However, methods designed for multi-stakeholder engagement often do not sufficiently open up deliberative processes to all voices, and efforts to envision desired futures built from current local energy challenges are usually designed by and oriented towards specialists. With this paper, we aimed to explore how the theoretical strengths of storytelling for supporting local policy processes play out in practice. We contrast what the literature states about the potential of storytelling for solving complex challenges and facilitating collaborative processes to the lessons learnt from actually using storytelling in a set of 17 multi-stakeholder workshops across 17 European countries run as part of the H2020 SHAPE ENERGY project. The workshops were each designed around a tangible local energy policy challenge. We found storytelling has unique strengths in terms of enabling significant (un)learning regarding stakeholder relationships, allowing participants to step into others’ perspectives, keeping hold of diversity, and the use of ‘we’ in stories leading to concrete future initiatives. We also note specific learnings about when these outcomes may not be achieved, for example due to fears, traditions, hierarchical structures, as well as the need for sufficient time for planning, facilitator training and stakeholder invitations. We conclude that as an innovative, playful and flexible methodology, storytelling can undoubtedly be a valuable additional tool for policymakers where there is a desire for deliberative stakeholder involvement, and appetite to tailor approaches to local contexts

Diluted neural networks with adapting and correlated synapses

We consider the dynamics of diluted neural networks with clipped and adapting synapses. Unlike previous studies, the learning rate is kept constant as the connectivity tends to infinity: the synapses evolve on a time scale intermediate between the quenched and annealing limits and all orders of synaptic correlations must be taken into account. The dynamics is solved by mean-field theory, the order parameter for synapses being a function. We describe the effects, in the double dynamics, due to synaptic correlations.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in PR