708 research outputs found
Thing Theory
This article is an extended review of Graham Harman's Heidegger Explained: From Phenomenon to Thing. The paper explains Harman's argument that Heidegger's famous broken tool incident - the account that introduces a critique of presence based on the withdrawn dimensions of things - has a much greater relevance than is usually imagined. It explores Harman's extrapolations from Heidegger to rethink the very nature of objects - or things in themselves, their relations to each other, and their own unfathomable inner being. The paper goes on to note the implications of this argument for thinking more generally about relationality, space, and the more-than-human
Solitons from Dressing in an Algebraic Approach to the Constrained KP Hierarchy
The algebraic matrix hierarchy approach based on affine Lie algebras
leads to a variety of 1+1 soliton equations. By varying the rank of the
underlying algebra as well as its gradation in the affine setting, one
encompasses the set of the soliton equations of the constrained KP hierarchy.
The soliton solutions are then obtained as elements of the orbits of the
dressing transformations constructed in terms of representations of the vertex
operators of the affine algebras realized in the unconventional
gradations. Such soliton solutions exhibit non-trivial dependence on the KdV
(odd) time flows and KP (odd and even) time flows which distinguishes them from
the conventional structure of the Darboux-B\"{a}cklund Wronskian solutions of
the constrained KP hierarchy.Comment: LaTeX, 13pg
Nonstandard Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction
Subject to some conditions, the input data for the Drinfeld-Sokolov
construction of KdV type hierarchies is a quadruplet (\A,\Lambda, d_1, d_0),
where the are -gradations of a loop algebra \A and \Lambda\in \A
is a semisimple element of nonzero -grade. A new sufficient condition on
the quadruplet under which the construction works is proposed and examples are
presented. The proposal relies on splitting the -grade zero part of \A
into a vector space direct sum of two subalgebras. This permits one to
interpret certain Gelfand-Dickey type systems associated with a nonstandard
splitting of the algebra of pseudo-differential operators in the
Drinfeld-Sokolov framework.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX fil
Regular Conjugacy Classes in the Weyl Group and Integrable Hierarchies
Generalized KdV hierarchies associated by Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction to grade
one regular semisimple elements from non-equivalent Heisenberg subalgebras of a
loop algebra \G\otimes{\bf C}[\lambda,\lambda^{-1}] are studied. The graded
Heisenberg subalgebras containing such elements are labelled by the regular
conjugacy classes in the Weyl group {\bf W}(\G) of the simple Lie algebra
\G. A representative w\in {\bf W}(\G) of a regular conjugacy class can be
lifted to an inner automorphism of \G given by , where is the defining vector of an subalgebra
of \G.The grading is then defined by the operator and any grade one regular element from the
Heisenberg subalgebra associated to takes the form , where and is included in an
subalgebra containing . The largest eigenvalue of is
except for some cases in , . We explain how these Lie
algebraic results follow from known results and apply them to construct
integrable systems.If the largest eigenvalue is , then
using any grade one regular element from the Heisenberg subalgebra associated
to we can construct a KdV system possessing the standard \W-algebra
defined by as its second Poisson bracket algebra. For \G a classical
Lie algebra, we derive pseudo-differential Lax operators for those
non-principal KdV systems that can be obtained as discrete reductions of KdV
systems related to . Non-abelian Toda systems are also considered.Comment: 44 pages, ENSLAPP-L-493/94, substantial revision, SWAT-95-77. (use
OLATEX (preferred) or LATEX
Extensions of the matrix Gelfand-Dickey hierarchy from generalized Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction
The matrix version of the -KdV hierarchy has been recently
treated as the reduced system arising in a Drinfeld-Sokolov type Hamiltonian
symmetry reduction applied to a Poisson submanifold in the dual of the Lie
algebra . Here a
series of extensions of this matrix Gelfand-Dickey system is derived by means
of a generalized Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction defined for the Lie algebra
using the natural
embedding for any positive integer. The
hierarchies obtained admit a description in terms of a matrix
pseudo-differential operator comprising an -KdV type positive part and a
non-trivial negative part. This system has been investigated previously in the
case as a constrained KP system. In this paper the previous results are
considerably extended and a systematic study is presented on the basis of the
Drinfeld-Sokolov approach that has the advantage that it leads to local Poisson
brackets and makes clear the conformal (-algebra) structures related to
the KdV type hierarchies. Discrete reductions and modified versions of the
extended -KdV hierarchies are also discussed.Comment: 60 pages, plain TE
Heterogenized Pyridine-Substituted Cobalt(II) Phthalocyanine Yields Reduction of CO2 by Tuning the Electron Affinity of the Co Center
Conversion of CO2 to reduced products is a promising route to alleviate irreversible climate change. Here we report the synthesis of a Co-based phthalocyanine with pyridine moieties (CoPc-Pyr), which is supported on a carbon electrode and shows Faradaic efficiency ∼90% for CO at 490 mV of overpotential (-0.6 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)). In addition, its catalytic activity at -0.7 V versus RHE surpasses other Co-based molecular and metal-organic framework catalysts for CO2 reduction at this bias. Density functional theory calculations show that pyridine moieties enhance CO2 adsorption and electron affinity of the Co center by an inductive effect, thus lowering the overpotential necessary for CO2 conversion. Our study shows that CoPc-Pyr reduces CO2 at lower overpotential and with higher activity than noble metal electrodes, such as silver
Between the Natural and the Artificial: The Sublime Sexual Sensation of Car Crashes in J.G. Ballard’s Crash
At a time when technology progressively pushes back nature, the sexual act runs the risk of being denaturalised. The notion of the sublime, which I argue is how humans react to the machine as a surrogate for nature and as a sexual stimulus in Crash (1973), is therefore of central interest in this article. Ballard himself has described Crash as ‘the first pornographic novel based on technology’ (1973, 6). This engagement with a technologised sexuality is explored as a subjective narrative stance, which grants authenticity to the fictive alter ego, who can probe alternatives to an extra-textual reality. This narrative mode is notably potent in relation to the narrator’s estimation of the merge between sexuality and technology in the form of car crashes uniting Eros and Thanatos. I therefore suggest that Crash can be read as an attempt to localise the natural and human in a world dictated by artificiality and technology
Взаємозв’язок великих кондратьєвських циклів розвитку економіки і системних світових конфліктів
Однією з найважливіших проблем, що постала перед сучасною наукою у зв’язку із стрімким розгортанням глобальної економічної кризи, загостренням світових конфліктів, є вироблення науково обґрунтованих «метричних» експрес прогнозів розвитку суспільства на ближчу і далеку перспективу
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