Efficient computation of maximal orders in radical (including Kummer) extensions

AbstractWe describe an algorithm, linear in the degree of the field, for computing a (pseudo) basis for P-maximal orders of radical (which includes Kummer) extensions of global arithmetic fields. We construct our basis in such a way as to further improve maximal order computations in these radical extensions. Using this algorithm for the similar problem of computing maximal orders of class fields is discussed. We give examples of both function fields and number fields comparing the running time of our algorithm to that of the Round 2 or 4 and Fraatz (2005)

Making Trauma Visible: Representations of Shell Shock and War Trauma in Films about the First World War

Mental illness has historically been stigmatised as something associated with a weakness of character and ‘femininity.’ During the First World War, doctors began to encounter large numbers of soldiers exhibiting hitherto unseen physical and psychological disorders resulting from combat activity. These disorders came to be known under the umbrella term of ‘shell shock,’ and were often considered to be the product of weakness, cowardice, and a lack of masculine fortitude. The social outlook for a man returning from the Great War with shell shock was bleak. The attitudes of the military toward mental illness only served to exacerbate the stigma attached to those suffering from the psychological effects of shell shock. Popular culture, however, took a more sympathetic approach. Cinema played an important role in unpacking social and political issues surrounding shell shock and the returned soldier. My thesis examines films about the Great War from the past one hundred years to highlight the enduring consequences of the war for soldiers, their families, and societies. In three case studies I assess the way the cinema of the twentieth century used the shell-shocked soldier as a powerful anti-war symbol in its attempt to remove some of the condition’s social stigma. I also examine the way representations of shell shock have changed over time, particularly in recent years, as advances in the fields of psychiatry and psychology have deepened our understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Algorithms for Galois extensions of global function fields

In this thesis we consider the computation of integral closures in cyclic Galois extensions of global function fields and the determination of Galois groups of polynomials over global function fields. The development of methods to efficiently compute integral closures and Galois groups are listed as two of the four most important tasks of number theory considered by Zassenhaus. We describe an algorithm each for computing integral closures specifically for Kummer, Artin--Schreier and Artin--Schreier--Witt extensions. These algorithms are more efficient than previous algorithms because they compute a global (pseudo) basis for such orders, in most cases without using a normal form computation. For Artin--Schreier--Witt extensions where the normal form computation may be necessary we attempt to minimise the number of pseudo generators which are input to the normal form. These integral closure algorithms for cyclic extensions can lead to constructing Goppa codes, which can correct a large proportion of errors, more efficiently. The general algorithm we describe to compute Galois groups is an extension of the algorithm of Fieker and Klueners to polynomials over function fields of characteristic p. This algorithm has no restrictions on the degrees of the polynomials it can compute Galois groups for. Previous algorithms have been restricted to polynomials of degree at most 23. Characteristic 2 presents additional challenges as we need to adjust our use of invariants because some invariants do not work in characteristic 2 as they do in other characteristics. We also describe how this algorithm can be used to compute Galois groups of reducible polynomials, including those over function fields of characteristic p. All of the algorithms described in this thesis have been implemented by the author in the Magma Computer Algebra System and perform effectively as is shown by a number of examples and a collection of timings

Constructions using Galois Theory

We describe algorithms to compute fixed fields, minimal degree splitting fields and towers of radical extensions using Galois group computations. We also describe the computation of geometric Galois groups and their use in computing absolute factorizations

Same Polytechnic College - Phase Zero

The Same Polytechnic College, located in Same (Sah-may), Tanzania, is an on-going project that has been worked on by approximately 600 Cal Poly students over the past decade. The college is being designed for the Mbesese Initiative for Sustainable Development (MISD), a nonprofit organization working towards alleviating poverty in rural East Africa through the expansion of access to education. As an interdisciplinary team of architectural engineering, architecture, and landscape architecture students, the master plan of the college was refined and the design of “Phase Zero” was created as the first step towards the organization’s goal

Neo-nationalist ideology : a discourse theoretical approach to the SNP and the CSU

The concept of ideology's theory-building potential has been under-exploited in studies of contemporary nationalism. This study offers a novel approach to 'neo-nationalism' by defining it as an ideology, embedding it in a theory of discourse, and extending this framework to a methodology based on text analysis. Qualitative deconstruction of texts using the tools of literary theory is one of the research methods used, complemented by evidence from elite interviews and a survey of primary sources. In order to illustrate how neo-nationalism is discursively constructed, the core of the ideology is distinguished from its periphery. Furthermore, parties are characterised as ideologues in contemporary society and placed within the postmodern framework of discourse theory. Case studies of the Scottish National Party and the Christlich-Soziale Union in Bavaria examine their interpretations of nationalist ideology through analysis of the rhetoric used in recent election campaigns. The parties are of particular interest because they attempt to reconcile core nationalist goals with contemporary political issues, such as that of integration within the European Union. The SNP is an example of a neo-nationalist party in that it pursues its core, immutable goal of prioritising the nation by promoting Scottish autonomy within a larger European framework. The CSU, on the other hand, is neo-nationalist in that its policies and rhetorical appeals revolve around a national nodal point articulated in terms of the Heimat. It has sought to defend Bavarian autonomy by profiling itself as the archetypal Bavarian party with an important role to play in both the German and European political arenas. The case studies demonstrate that a nationalist party's support for European integration may reinforce rather than undermine its core commitment to self-determination. Moreover, the ideological constructs developed by neo-nationalist parties can usefully be characterised in terms of discourse theory. Both the CSU and the SNP seek to 'de-contest' their interpretations of the nation and achieve conceptual hegemony by establishing their ideology as 'common sense'. Post-modem theory thus not only provides the epistemological grounding of the study, but also paves the way for a methodological approach designed to analyse neo-nationalism in its specificity

Management by results and facets of information: focus on the Pact for Life of Pernambuco State, Brazil

The new public management (NPM) was adopted by many countries in response to the inefficiency of the public sector and economic inertia in the 1970s. The state government of Pernambuco, Brazil, adopted the NPM ideas as a broader scope of public management. This management model has several strategic objectives and their performance indicators to measure the results. The government has been using information as a strategic element and it permeates all functions of management, policy and planning. This study chose the Pacto pela Vida – PPV (Pact for Life), which is the public security policy. As object of analysis, it offers through the information management practices, based on Braman’s information policy, the theoretical and methodological examples needed to provide evidence, as informational practices reveal the use of power. It concludes that information policy demonstrated informational and symbolic powers of the actors who have been processing and gathering information in the PPV