Landscape versus Swampland for Higher Derivative Gravity

We survey recent studies of Gauss-Bonnet gravity and its dual conformal field theories, including their relation to the violation of the Kovtun-Starinets-Son viscosity bound. Via holography, we can also study properties such as microcausality and unitarity of boundary field theory duals. Such studies in turn supply constraints on bulk gravitational theories, consigning some of them to the swampland.Comment: 2 pages, prepared for the Proceedings of the Cargese Summer School 200

An efficient representation for kernels in the 2d dynamics displacement discontinuity method for cracked elastic materials

The displacement discontinuity method is a rather standard approach to study cracks in elastic materials. This is in fact a certain technique to construct the system of Boundary Integral Equations (BIE), or equivalently, Boundary Element Methods (BEM). In the static case this typically results in explicit expressions for the kernels of respective BIE, both in 2d and 3d problems. In the work the authors give efficient representations for such kernels in explicit form

Reconstruction of Crack Cluster in the Rectangular Domain by Ultrasonic Waves

In the present article we study the reconstruction problem for clusters of linear cracks inside a rectangular domain. The parameters to be reconstructed are the number of cracks and the size and slope of each defect. The scanning is performed by a single ultrasonic transducer placed at a certain boundary point. The input data, used for the reconstruction algorithm, is taken as measured oscillation amplitudes over an array of chosen boundary points. The proposed numerical algorithm is tested on some examples with multiple clusters of cracks whose position and geometry are known a priori

Evaluation of the damages caused by seismic events: First tests on supporting traditional multispectral classification with DSM

Seismic damages, as a roof entirely collapsed on the ground, are very difficult to be found using only multispectral classification algorithms. The availability of high resolution stereopairs from satellite disclose new possible fields of application to estimate changes and transformations of areas following catastrophic events. Combining both techniques it is obviously possible only when stereoscopic and multispectral images are available. In this case, as for all monitoring studies, it is necessary to compare the present situation to the pre-seismic one. The pre-seismic situation can be advantageously studied by classic photogrammetric techniques based on aerial frames, that are available in archives managed by photogrammetric companies and local government agencies. But it is also possible to extract the pre-seismic morphology from digital maps, containing the three-dimensional characteristics of the buildings. The present research tries to: a) improve the digital surface model extracted from Ikonos satellite images covering an area of central Italy (Foligno, Umbria), through a pre-treatment of images and a manual editing b) study the best DSM models to improve the detection of height difference, mainly in urban areas, and evaluate the results of the classification of land cover as further data to detect changes in building shape. DSM obtained by three-dimensional maps have been compared with DSM extracted directly from aerial stereo-pairs using different approaches. In the area under study a seismic event happened in September of the '97 causing relevant damages to different urbanized centres of the area

Inheritance principle and Non-renormalization theorems at finite temperature

We present a general proof of an ``inheritance principle'' satisfied by a weakly coupled SU(N) gauge theory with adjoint matter on a class of compact manifolds (like $S^3$). In the large $N$ limit, finite temperature correlation functions of gauge invariant single-trace operators in the low temperature phase are related to those at zero temperature by summing over images of each operator in the Euclidean time direction. As a consequence, various non-renormalization theorems of \NN=4 Super-Yang-Mills theory on $S^3$ survive at finite temperature despite the fact that the conformal and supersymmetries are both broken.Comment: 14 pages, uses harvmac v2: reference added, the role of hep-th/0505148 emphasize

Digitalization and Public Services: critical notes concerning emerging ways of administrating

The aim of the present work is to propose a legal perspective of analysis for issues of relationships that are relevant in field of digitalization and delivery of public services, in relation to services quality, protection of citizens and businesses, and risks of destructuring a system, which in Italian law, has been marked by an enduring regulatory instability

The troubled development of the public-private partnership in the Italian administrative law. its persistent relation with the notion of economic risk and critical reflection about the proper implementation of the idea of flexibility

The purpose of this work is to provide an analysis of the patterns of collaboration between the public and private sectors in relation to the stringent financial obligations imposed to administrations and the analysis takes into account both contractual and corporate-based PPPs. In this perspective, the PPP is a solution that public administrations can take advantage of, in relation to the many benefits provided by the current rules, both in terms of respect for public finances and optimal allocation of risks between administration and firms. Specifically, the investigation is focused on the notions of flexibility and economic risk, to provide a legislative and interpretative fra- mework that takes into account the objectives that administrations must achieve, especially with regard to infrastructure development

Efficient governance and spending constraints in public holding companies of Campania Region. Notes from two strategic sectors

Il saggio si propone di analizzare il tema della gestione dei servizi pubblici, attraverso le società a partecipazione pubblica, nelle ipotesi di dissesto economico istituzionale, con specifico riferimento ai settori strategici dei trasporti e della sanità pubblica

Ecobalance Sheet, Mandate Accounting, and Administrative Function: Suggestions in terms of environmental protection and emergency management

The paper aimed to analyze the tightness and balances between environment, financial resources and administrative function