3,936 research outputs found
Between order and disorder: a 'weak law' on recent electoral behavior among urban voters?
A new viewpoint on electoral involvement is proposed from the study of the
statistics of the proportions of abstentionists, blank and null, and votes
according to list of choices, in a large number of national elections in
different countries. Considering 11 countries without compulsory voting
(Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland,
Romania, Spain and Switzerland), a stylized fact emerges for the most populated
cities when one computes the entropy associated to the three ratios, which we
call the entropy of civic involvement of the electorate. The distribution of
this entropy (over all elections and countries) appears to be sharply peaked
near a common value. This almost common value is typically shared since the
1970's by electorates of the most populated municipalities, and this despite
the wide disparities between voting systems and types of elections. Performing
different statistical analyses, we notably show that this stylized fact reveals
particular correlations between the blank/null votes and abstentionists ratios.
We suggest that the existence of this hidden regularity, which we propose to
coin as a `weak law on recent electoral behavior among urban voters', reveals
an emerging collective behavioral norm characteristic of urban citizen voting
behavior in modern democracies. Analyzing exceptions to the rule provide
insights into the conditions under which this normative behavior can be
expected to occur.Comment: Version 1: main text 19 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables; Supporting
Information: 19 pages. Version 2: minor correction
Fuzzy spheres from inequivalent coherent states quantizations
We present a new procedure which allows a coherent state (CS) quantization of
any set with a measure. It is manifest through the replacement of classical
observables by CS quantum observables, which acts on a Hilbert space of
prescribed dimension . The algebra of CS quantum observables has the finite
dimension . The application to the 2-sphere provides a family of
inequivalent CS quantizations, based on the spin spherical harmonics (the CS
quantization from usual spherical harmonics appears to give a trivial issue for
the cartesian coordinates). We compare these CS quantizations to the usual
(Madore) construction of the fuzzy sphere. The difference allows us to consider
our procedures as the constructions of new type of fuzzy spheres. The very
general character of our method suggests applications to construct fuzzy
versions of a variety of sets.Comment: 20 page
Detection mechanism in highly sensitive ZnO nanowires network gas sensors
Metal-oxide nanowires are showing a great interest in the domain of gas
sensing due to their large response even at a low temperature, enabling
low-power gas sensors. However their response is still not fully understood,
and mainly restricted to the linear response regime, which limits the design of
appropriate sensors for specific applications. Here we analyse the non-linear
response of a sensor based on ZnO nanowires network, both as a function of the
device geometry and as a response to oxygen exposure. Using an appropriate
model, we disentangle the contribution of the nanowire resistance and of the
junctions between nanowires in the network. The applied model shows a very good
consistency with the experimental data, allowing us to demonstrate that the
response to oxygen at room temperature is dominated by the barrier potential at
low bias voltage, and that the nanowire resistance starts to play a role at
higher bias voltage. This analysis allows us to find the appropriate device
geometry and working point in order to optimize the sensitivity. Such analysis
is important for providing design rules, not only for sensing devices, but also
for applications in electronics and opto-electronics using nanostructures
networks with different materials and geometries
Municipalités de tous pays, unissez vous ! L'Union Internationale des Villes ou l'Internationale municipale (1913-1940)
article écrit avec Renaud Payre, publié en italienInternational audienceNotre connaissance sur le mouvement municipaliste international est encore lacunaire. Notre recherche cherche à reconstituer une véritable nébuleuse et souhaite être attentive aux nombreux liens noués autour de cette entreprise, liens entre individus, entre espaces, entre structures. Des pistes sont encore à suivre. Ce texte propose donc, avant tout, d'offrir des éléments de cadrage et des premières hypothèses sur les enjeux politiques et sociaux poursuivis par les intermunicipalistes de l'entre-deux-guerres. Il s'agit de s'intéresser à un moment historique - moment où l'urbanisation de la société, où l'image de la "ville tentaculaire" s'impose aux édiles - présentant des alternatives. Ces débats concernent le niveau d'agrégation politique, l'image de l'action politique municipale ou encore la figure de l'édile. Il est possible d'entrer dans ces débats en suivant l'un des protagonistes ; pour le dire autrement, l'Union Internationale des Villes est une des réponses politiques possibles au défi de l'urbanisation des sociétés occidentales. Il reste, alors, à analyser ce possible, ses conditions d'énonciation, sa mise en visibilité. L'UIV est toujours active aujourd'hui et organise encore la vie inter-municipale depuis ses locaux de La Haye. Nous avons choisi ici de nous concentrer sur les premières décennies de son existence, d'analyser ses activités, ses réseaux, sa logistique afin de saisir "l'Internationale Municipale" dans une de ses manifestations
Un guide du routard de la Grande-Bretagne au début du XVIIe siècle selon John Taylor, le poète batelier
John Taylor (1580-1653), aubergiste, poète et batelier sur la Tamise, effectua plusieurs voyages en Grande-Bretagne dont il publia les récits. Il y signale la qualité des hôtels, les difficultés du trajet, et rédige les premiers indicateurs sur les horaires des diligences. Il suggéra des améliorations quant aux conditions de navigation sur les rivières du royaume et fit partie d’une «commission ad hoc» créée par Charles Ier
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