The political import of deconstruction—Derrida’s limits?: a forum on Jacques Derrida’s specters of Marx after 25 Years, part I

Jacques Derrida delivered the basis of The Specters of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning, & the New International as a plenary address at the conference ‘Whither Marxism?’ hosted by the University of California, Riverside, in 1993. The longer book version was published in French the same year and appeared in English and Portuguese the following year. In the decade after the publication of Specters, Derrida’s analyses provoked a large critical literature and invited both consternation and celebration by figures such as Antonio Negri, Wendy Brown and Frederic Jameson. This forum seeks to stimulate new reflections on Derrida, deconstruction and Specters of Marx by considering how the futures past announced by the book have fared after an eventful quarter century. Maja Zehfuss, Antonio Vázquez-Arroyo and Dan Bulley and Bal Sokhi-Bulley offer sharp, occasionally exasperated, meditations on the political import of deconstruction and the limits of Derrida’s diagnoses in Specters of Marx but also identify possible paths forward for a global politics taking inspiration in Derrida’s work of the 1990s

Correlation functions of the One-Dimensional Random Field Ising Model at Zero Temperature

We consider the one-dimensional random field Ising model, where the spin-spin coupling, $J$, is ferromagnetic and the external field is chosen to be $+h$ with probability $p$ and $-h$ with probability $1-p$. At zero temperature, we calculate an exact expression for the correlation length of the quenched average of the correlation function $\langle s_0 s_n \rangle - \langle s_0 \rangle \langle s_n \rangle$ in the case that $2J/h$ is not an integer. The result is a discontinuous function of $2J/h$. When $p = {1 \over 2}$, we also place a bound on the correlation length of the quenched average of the correlation function $\langle s_0 s_n \rangle$.Comment: 12 pages (Plain TeX with one PostScript figure appended at end), MIT CTP #220

Persistence in the Zero-Temperature Dynamics of the Diluted Ising Ferromagnet in Two Dimensions

The non-equilibrium dynamics of the strongly diluted random-bond Ising model in two-dimensions (2d) is investigated numerically. The persistence probability, P(t), of spins which do not flip by time t is found to decay to a non-zero, dilution-dependent, value $P(\infty)$. We find that $p(t)=P(t)-P(\infty)$ decays exponentially to zero at large times. Furthermore, the fraction of spins which never flip is a monotonically increasing function over the range of bond-dilution considered. Our findings, which are consistent with a recent result of Newman and Stein, suggest that persistence in disordered and pure systems falls into different classes. Furthermore, its behaviour would also appear to depend crucially on the strength of the dilution present.Comment: some minor changes to the text, one additional referenc

The asymmetric Exclusion Process and Brownian Excursions

We consider the totally asymmetric exclusion process (TASEP) in one dimension in its maximal current phase. We show, by an exact calculation, that the non-Gaussian part of the fluctuations of density can be described in terms of the statistical properties of a Brownian excursion. Numerical simulations indicate that the description in terms of a Brownian excursion remains valid for more general one dimensional driven systems in their maximal current phase.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure, in latex, e-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Finite Dimensional Representations of the Quadratic Algebra: Applications to the Exclusion Process

We study the one dimensional partially asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP) with open boundaries, that describes a system of hard-core particles hopping stochastically on a chain coupled to reservoirs at both ends. Derrida, Evans, Hakim and Pasquier [J. Phys. A 26, 1493 (1993)] have shown that the stationary probability distribution of this model can be represented as a trace on a quadratic algebra, closely related to the deformed oscillator-algebra. We construct all finite dimensional irreducible representations of this algebra. This enables us to compute the stationary bulk density as well as all correlation lengths for the ASEP on a set of special curves of the phase diagram.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, 1 EPS figur

Exactly solvable model of A + A \to 0 reactions on a heterogeneous catalytic chain

We present an exact solution describing equilibrium properties of the catalytically-activated A + A \to 0 reaction taking place on a one-dimensional lattice, where some of the sites possess special "catalytic" properties. The A particles undergo continuous exchanges with the vapor phase; two neighboring adsorbed As react when at least one of them resides on a catalytic site (CS). We consider three situations for the CS distribution: regular, annealed random and quenched random. For all three CS distribution types, we derive exact results for the disorder-averaged pressure and present exact asymptotic expressions for the particles' mean density. The model studied here furnishes another example of a 1D Ising-type system with random multi-site interactions which admits an exact solution.Comment: 7 pages, 3 Figures, appearing in Europhysics Letter