Molecules in galaxies

The main achievements, current developments and prospects of molecular studies in external galaxies are reviewed. They are put in the context of the results of several decades of studies of molecules in local interstellar medium, their chemistry and their importance for star formation. CO observations have revealed the gross structure of molecular gas in galaxies. Together with other molecules, they are among the best tracers of star formation at galactic scales. Our knowledge about molecular abundances in various local galactic environments is progressing. They trace physical conditions and metallicity, and they are closely related to dust processes and large aromatic molecules. Major recent developments include mega-masers, and molecules in Active Galactic Nuclei; millimetre emission of molecules at very high redshift; and infrared H2 emission as tracer of warm molecular gas, shocks and photodissociation regions. The advent of sensitive giant interferometers from the centimetre to sub-millimetre range, especially ALMA in the near future in the mm/submm range, will open a new area for molecular studies in galaxies and their use to trace star formation at all distances.Comment: 96 pages, 11 figure

Non-avoided crossings for n-body balanced configurations in R^3 near a central configuration

The balanced configurations are those n-body configurations which admit a relative equilibrium motion in a Euclidean space E of high enough dimension 2p. They are characterized by the commutation of two symmetric endomorphisms of the (n-1)-dimensional Euclidean space of codispositions, the intrinsic inertia endomorphism B which encodes the shape and the Wintner-Conley endomorphism A which encodes the forces. In general, p is the dimension d of the configuration, which is also the rank of B. Lowering to 2(d-1) the dimension of E occurs when the restriction of A to the (invariant) image of B possesses a double eigenvalue. It is shown that, while in the space of all dxd-symmetric endomorphisms, having a double eigenvalue is a condition of codimension 2 (the avoided crossings of physicists), here it becomes of codimension 1 provided some condition (H) is satisfied. As the condition is always satisfied for configurations of the maximal dimension (i.e. if d=n-1), this implies in particular the existence, in the neighborhood of the regular tetrahedron configuration of 4 bodies with no three of the masses equal, of exactly 3 families of balanced configurations which admit relative equilibrium motion in a four dimensional space.Comment: 35 pages, 1 diagram, 6 figures Section 1.5.2 is new: it introduces the condition (H) which had been overlooked in the first versio

Self-awareness review Part 1: Do you “self-reflect” or “self-ruminate”?

We all spend time analyzing our inner thoughts and feelings; past research looked at this activity as being unitary in nature (i.e., simply focusing on the self), examined how frequently people introspect, and identified the effects of self-focus on behavior. Current studies indicate that people actually engage in two different types of self-analysis: self-reflection (enjoying analyzing the self) and self-rumination (not being able to shut off thoughts about the self), each leading to opposite consequences

Right hemispheric self-awareness: A critical assessment

In this commentaryI evaluate the claim made byKeenan, Nelson, OConnor, and Pascual-Leone (2001) that since self-recognition results from right hemispheric activity, self-awareness too is likely to be produced by the activity of the same hemisphere. This reasoning is based on the assumption that self-recognition represents a valid operationalization of self-awareness; I present two views that challenge this rationale. Keenan et al. also support their claim with published evidence relating brain activityand self-awareness; I closely examine their analysis of one specific review of literature and conclude that it appears to be biased. Finally, recent research suggests that inner speech (which is associated with left hemispheric activity) is linked to self-awareness—an observation that further casts doubt on the existence of a right hemispheric self-awareness

Self-awareness, self-recognition, and Theory of Mind: Conceptual distinctions and neuroanatomic localization

Comment on Keenan's (2003) hypothesis that self-recognition, Theory-of-Mind, and self-awareness are located in the right hemispher

Dynamic Cues for Network Music Interactions

This paper provides an overview of a cueing system, the Master Cue Generator (MCG) used to trigger performers (humans or computers) over an IP-based network. The performers are scattered in several locations and receive cues to help them interact musically over the net- work. The paper proposes a classification of cues that dynamically evolve and reshape as the performance takes place. This begets the explo- ration of various issues such as how to represent and port a hierarchy of control over a net- worked music performance (NMP) and also takes into account parameters inherent to a net- work such as latency and distance. This ap- proach is based on several years of practice-led research in the field of NMP, a discipline that is gaining grounds within the music technology community both as a practice and through the development of tools and strategies for interact- ing over disparate locations

Wave asymptotics at a cosmological time-singularity: classical and quantum scalar fields

We investigate the propagation of the scalar waves in the FLRW universes beginning with a Big Bang and ending with a Big Crunch, a Big Rip, a Big Brake or a Sudden Singularity. We obtain the sharp description of the asymptotics for the solutions of the linear Klein-Gordon equation, and similar results for the semilinear equation with a subcritical exponent. We prove that the number of cosmological particle creation is finite under general assumptions on the initial Big Bang and the final Big Crunch or Big Brake.Comment: 40 p., 5 figure