Globalistics and Globalization Studies: Big History & Global History. Yearbook

This yearbook is the fourth in the series with the title Globalistics and Globalization Studies. The subtitle of the present volume is Global History & Big History. The point is that today our global world really demands global knowledge. Thus, there are a few actively developingmultidisciplinary approaches and integral disciplines among which one can name Global Studies,Global History and Big History. They all provide a connection between the past, present, andfuture. Big History with its vast and extremely heterogeneous field of research encompasses allthe forms of existence and all timescales and brings together constantly updated information fromthe scientific disciplines and the humanities. Global History is transnational or world historywhich examines history from a global perspective, making a wide use of comparative history andof the history of multiple cultures and nations. Global Studies express the view of systemicand epistemological unity of global processes. Thus, one may argue that Global Studies and Globalistics can well be combined with Global History and Big History and such a multidisciplinary approach can open wide horizons for the modern university education as it helps to form a global view of various processes

On the CO Near-IR Band and the Line Splitting Phenomenon in the Yellow Hypergiant Rho Cassiopeiae

We report on multi-epoch optical and near-infrared spectroscopy around the first overtone ro-vibrational band of CO in the pulsating yellow hypergiant Rho Cas, one of the most massive stars in the Galaxy and a candidate SN II progenitor. We argue that the double cores of the CO absorption lines, that have previously been attributed to separate circumstellar shells expelled during its recurrent outbursts, result in fact from a superposition of a wide absorption line and a narrow central emission line. The CO line doubling returns over subsequent pulsation cycles, where the superposed line emission assumes its largest intensity near phases of maximum light. We find that the morphology and behavior of the CO band closely resemble the remarkable "line-splitting phenomenon" also observed in optical low-excitation atomic lines. Based on radiative transport calculations we present a simplified model of the near-IR CO emission emerging from cooler atmospheric layers in the immediate vicinity of the photosphere. We speculate that the kinetic temperature minimum in our model results from a periodical pulsation-driven shock wave. We further discuss a number of alternative explanations for the origin of the ubiquitous emission line spectrum, possibly due to a quasi-chromosphere or a steady shock wave at the interface of a fast expanding wind and the ISM. We present a number of interesting spectroscopic similarities between Rho Cas and other types of cool variable supergiants such as the RV Tau and R CrB stars. We further propose a possibly common mechanism for the enigmatic outburst behavior of these luminous pulsating cool stars.Comment: accepted to ApJ; 3 color fig

Asteroseismology and Spectropolarimetry of the Exoplanet Host Star λ Serpentis

The bright star lambda Ser hosts a hot Neptune with a minimum mass of 13.6 M & OPLUS; and a 15.5 day orbit. It also appears to be a solar analog, with a mean rotation period of 25.8 days and surface differential rotation very similar to the Sun. We aim to characterize the fundamental properties of this system and constrain the evolutionary pathway that led to its present configuration. We detect solar-like oscillations in time series photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, and we derive precise asteroseismic properties from detailed modeling. We obtain new spectropolarimetric data, and we use them to reconstruct the large-scale magnetic field morphology. We reanalyze the complete time series of chromospheric activity measurements from the Mount Wilson Observatory, and we present new X-ray and ultraviolet observations from the Chandra and Hubble space telescopes. Finally, we use the updated observational constraints to assess the rotational history of the star and estimate the wind braking torque. We conclude that the remaining uncertainty on the stellar age currently prevents an unambiguous interpretation of the properties of lambda Ser, and that the rate of angular momentum loss appears to be higher than for other stars with a similar Rossby number. Future asteroseismic observations may help to improve the precision of the stellar age

The First Post-Kepler Brightness Dips of KIC 8462852

We present a photometric detection of the first brightness dips of the unique variable star KIC 8462852 since the end of the Kepler space mission in 2013 May. Our regular photometric surveillance started in October 2015, and a sequence of dipping began in 2017 May continuing on through the end of 2017, when the star was no longer visible from Earth. We distinguish four main 1-2.5% dips, named "Elsie," "Celeste," "Skara Brae," and "Angkor", which persist on timescales from several days to weeks. Our main results so far are: (i) there are no apparent changes of the stellar spectrum or polarization during the dips; (ii) the multiband photometry of the dips shows differential reddening favoring non-grey extinction. Therefore, our data are inconsistent with dip models that invoke optically thick material, but rather they are in-line with predictions for an occulter consisting primarily of ordinary dust, where much of the material must be optically thin with a size scale <<1um, and may also be consistent with models invoking variations intrinsic to the stellar photosphere. Notably, our data do not place constraints on the color of the longer-term "secular" dimming, which may be caused by independent processes, or probe different regimes of a single process

High resolution SOFIN CCD échelle spectroscopy

Preface This work is dedicated to high-resolution echelle spectroscopy with SOFIN instrument at the 2.56m Nordic Optical Telescope. The first part describes the instrument, its performance, instrumental effects, and the study of its instrumental profile. The second part describes CCD performance and its characterization in terms of spatial noise distribution where the CCD intensity transfer function was developed. The data reduction package is described in the next part where details of image processing and analysis of spectra are given, such as e.g. the cross-correlation method and its error analysis. Deconvolution of spectra is presented with the use of truncated least-squares based upon principal component analysis. At the end we analyze line profile variability in HgMn enriched star alpha And. Applications of the developed methods are presented with a number of papers with the other authors to the Doppler imaging of cool stars

International Approaches to the Analysis of the Phenomena of BRICS Transregionalism

The article analyzes the essence, location, status, and role of the informal BRICS grouping. The authors examine and compare the different points of view on this phenomenon and believe that the comparative and economical approaches that dominate in the contemporary studies of the BRICS are unproductive. While member countries of the Association are experiencing economic slowdown or recession, BRICS is gradually becoming a political phenomenon of the global world.BRICS is considered the center of an impact of the regional leaders on three continents. A specifi c model of communication of the member countries of the BRICS and their partners is polylogue as one of the methods to solve the problem of equitable participation of all countries of the global world in the process of global governance. In the geopolitical framework of the BRICS and their partners, it is the formation of an extra-American zone of interaction, which will gradually evolve into a Global nonWestern project.

World Order in the Past, Present, and Future

The present article analyzes the world order in the past, present and future as well as the main factors, foundations and ideas underlying the maintaining and change of the international and global order. The first two sections investigate the evolution of the world order starting from the ancient times up to the late twentieth century. The third section analyzes the origin and decline of the world order based on the American hegemony. The authors reveal the contradictions of the current unipolar world and explain in what way globalization has become more profitable for the developing countries but not for the developed ones. In the paper also explains the strengthening belief that the US leading status will inevitably weaken. In this connection we discuss the alternatives of the American strategy and the possibility of the renaissance of the American leadership. The last section presents a factor analysis which allows stating that the world is shifting toward a new balance of power and is likely to become the world without a leader. The new world order will consist of a number of large blocks, coalitions and countries acting within a framework of rules and mutual responsibility. However, the transition to a new world order will take certain time (about two decades). This period, which we denote as the epoch of new coalitions, will involve a reconfiguration of the World System and bring an increasing turbulence and conflict intensity