Scalar Metric fluctuations in space time matter inflation

Using the Ponce de Leon background metric, which describes a 5D universe in an apparent vacuum: $\bar{G}_{AB}=0$, we study the effective 4D evolution of both, the inflaton and gauge-invariant scalar metric fluctuations, in the recently introduced model of space time matter inflation.Comment: (improved version) Accepted in Physics Letters

Engolo and Capoeira. From Ethnic to Diasporic Combat Games in the Southern Atlantic

This article provides a re-examination of the main Afrocentric narrative of capoeira origins, the engolo or ‘Zebra Dance’, in light of historical primary sources and new ethnographic evidence gathered during fieldwork in south-west Angola. By examining engolo’s bodily techniques, its socio-historical context and cultural meanings, the piece emphasises its insertion into a pastoral lifestyle and highlights the relatively narrow ethnic character of the practice in Angola. This analysis and the comparison with capoeira helps us to develop certain hypotheses about the formation, migration, and re-invention of diasporic combat games between southern Angola and coastal Brazil, and more broadly, to increase our understanding of how African cultures spread across the southern Atlantic