Log-lightning computation of capacity and Green's function

See Video Abstract (click the "Video Abstract" button next to the "PDF" button) A basic measure of the size of a set E in the complex plane is the logarithmic capacity cap(E). Capacities are known analytically for a few simple shapes like ellipses, but in most cases they must be computed numerically. We explore their computation by the new "log-lightning'' method based on reciprocal-log approximations in the complex plane. For a sequence of 16 examples involving both connected and disconnected sets E, we compute capacities to 8–15 digits of accuracy at great speed in MATLAB. The convergence is almost-exponential with respect to the number of reciprocal-log poles employed, so it should be possible to compute many more digits if desired in Maple or another extended-precision environment. This is the first systematic exploration of applications of the log-lightning method, which opens up the possibility of solving Laplace problems with an efficiency not achievable by previous methods. The method computes not just the capacity, but also the Green's function and its harmonic conjugate. It also extends to "domains of negative measure" and other Riemann surfaces.

Knowledge, Public Communication and “Post-Truth”: What is Left of Truth in a Time of Pandemic?

The pandemic seems to have reversed the relationship between Knowledge and Communication: communication prevails and determines the significance and meaning of events, just as it happened in premodern times. Public knowledge is being eroded. Post-modern scientific knowledge, already unfathomably complex and technical, is both evolving and becoming obsolete at such great speed that it unveils, paradoxically, the vulnerability and relativity of the truth it claims to grasp. Alongside truth-correspondence and truth-coherence, the older truth-significance also makes itself known. Amplified by the resonance chamber of new media and social networks, the latter can emerge as the “post-truth” and “fake-news” that transform Public Communication into Public Relations.

The Chaos-world: Towards an Aesthetic of Relation

Chaos theory is applied to processes of cultural mixing in which cultures retain their differences, and which used to occur over large expanses of time but now happen at great speed. The notion of an erratic deterministic system allows us to understand the unpredictability that is seen as a major feature of contemporary cultures. Such a system is sensitive to its initial conditions, so that the present-day cultures of the Caribbean and the Americas, and Africa, cannot be understood without reference to the slave trade. The unpredictability of the erratic deterministic system allows us to distinguish between hybridity, which is predictable, and creolization, which is not. It is poetics that enables us to live with unpredictability. Measure and immeasurability combine in different relationships to characterize different periods in world literature.

COVID 19 Corona – Pathway to Environmental Rejuvenation

Coronavirus also known as COVID 19 or SARS N-CoV2 is a recent virus outbreak and pandemic in nature infecting and spreading among humans all around the earth. Since it’s a communicable disease it’s considered to be most dangerous in terms of spread regardless of its mortality rate. However, World Health Organization (WHO) has given guidelines to overcome the spread of the pandemic and at the same time, all the nations have followed serious actions and procedures by way of social distancing, lockdown, home quarantine etc. to curb the spread and to curtain the virus. The lockdown has stopped human activities and paralysed economic conditions but environmental rejuvenation is taking place at a great speed.

Directing actors in continuing drama

This article examines how three directors approach working with actors in one of the most exacting creative contexts – long-running television. Via new interviews with three directors of the flagship BBC continuing drama, EastEnders (1985–), this article explores their approaches in the context of the time constraints in production which preclude rehearsal and where directors and actors alike must work with great speed and precision. The three directors interviewed, Sophie Lifschutz, Kate Saxon and Rebecca Gatward, all trained in and have significant experience of theatre. This article thus explores the elements of their theatre training and experience that translated to their television work with actors, elements that required remodelling, and what was completely new to them and thus can be classified as medium specific. ‘Emotional action’ and ‘physical action’ emerge as key terms in the directors’ work, and the article explores how these directors worked to afford the actor creative space within such a formidable shooting schedule. With reference to Stanislavski’s writing on the ‘Method of Physical Action’ and the theatre technique of ‘actioning’, this article brings to light the hidden processes of television direction and locates the directors’ approach to working with actors as a creative labour which is a significant meaning-making component in continuing drama.

Los desafíos éticos en la globalización

La globalización se extiende con gran rapidez y complejidad afectando el orden social, cultural y económico de los países. Este fenómeno puede ser una gran oportunidad de crecimiento para las empresas pero a su vez puede convertirse en una amenaza para aquellas que no han desarrollado una cultura fuerte centrada en sus valores. En este contexto, el objetivo de este artículo es reflexionar sobre la importancia de la ética en la globalización y presentar algunas iniciativas difundidas mundialmente a favor de códigos de ética, especialmente los códigos globales. Los códigos éticos globales ayudan a definir el camino y la manera de hacer negocios de tal manera que la globalización sea un instrumento para el desarrollo de los países.ABSTRACTThe globalization extends with great speed and complexity, affecting economic, cultural and social order of the countries. This phenomenon can be a great growth opportunity for businesses but in turn, it could become a threat to those who have not developed a strong culture focused on values. In this context, the aim of this article is to reflect on the importance of ethics in globalization and it discusses some initiatives of global ethics codes. The global ethical codes are those that mark the way and the way of doing business so that globalization becomes an instrument for developing countries.Fecha de recepción: 15 diciembre 2015Fecha de aprobación: 14 junio de 2016Fecha de publicación: 6 de enero de 2017

‘Tomb to Give Away’: The Significance of Graves and Dead Bodies in Present-Day Austria

Several years ago, my son and I moved into an apartment on the northern fringe of Graz, the capital of Styria, Austria. One day I decided to take a walk in a nearby forest through which a small stream, the Gabriachbach, flows. As I walked along the stream, I noticed in the water coloured glass shards as well as many nicely cut stone blocks. I became increasingly more curious and started to search the stream bed systematically. Picking up more and more artefacts, my collection grew at a great speed and soon the pockets of my trousers and the plastic shopping bag that I happened to have on me started to burst. Among other items, I found a water container, a broken lantern, several small glass bottles, and the fragment of a human long bone. As I gradually moved upstream, I found more worked stones in association with the remains of an iron fence. At that moment the realization dawned upon me that I was standing in the midst of the cleared out and dumped remains from a cemetery. Inquiring about the provenance of the remains, I was told by a friend of mine that they derive from a nearby graveyard, most likely of St Veit, and date to the first half of the twentieth century; he found a gravestone with the inscription ‘1943’. The dumping probably took place at the end of the 1970s since at that time the stream channel had been reconstructed, apparently with stones and other materials deriving from the cemetery. To find myself amidst discarded cemetery remains did not particularly shock me at the time. I assume it is my cultural disposition as an Austrian—we have a reputation for concerning ourselves with death quite happily—not worrying about such types of confrontations with the inevitability of death. I remember feeling a bit sad about all the dead people, their grave stones, flower vases, candle holders, and all the other belongings. My thoughts also went to those who had cared for the graves and who were also long gone. What really stuck in my mind though, is that overwhelming feeling of the futility of any material accomplishment by the dead as well as the lack of remembrance for them.

Textos huastecos

The author has included five annotated Huastec texts. Four are by Cándido Hernandez: "The story of the Tepa", "The homed serpent", "Respect for the stars", and "The influence of the moon and the stars", and a fifth, the "Tsakam kwitool" or "Little Boy", is by Francisca Vidales. The "Tepa" is described as a man who was born in the mountains and baptized in water, and who grew up with the ability to fly at great speed, even as far as Spain. In this particular story he helps a poor man by giving him food. Edmonson notes that the text "The little boy", in which the title character brings water and fire to the village, is told with great drama and much use of dialogue. The texts referring to the stars report various Huastec beliefs about these, while "The horned serpent" describes a serpent with golden horns that leave gold in its path.