Diffusion in Heterogenous Media and Sorption—Desorption Processes

We investigate particle diffusion in a heterogeneous medium limited by a surface where sorption–desorption processes are governed by a kinetic equation. We consider that the dynamics of the particles present in the medium are governed by a diffusion equation with a spatial dependence on the diffusion coefficient, i.e., K(x) = D|x|−η, with −1 < η and D = const, respectively. This system is analyzed in a semi-infinity region, i.e., the system is defined in the interval [0,∞) for an arbitrary initial condition. The solutions are obtained and display anomalous spreading, that is, the dynamics may be viewed as anomalous diffusion, which in turn is related, and hence, the model can be directly applied to several complex systems ranging from biological fluids to electrolytic cells.

Hopeless Didacticism: Archival Sources and Spectatorial Address in ‘I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians’

This paper examines “Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari” / “I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians” (Radu Jude, 2018) (hereafter “Barbarians”), a film that explores the persistence of problematic official narratives about the Romanian participation in Second World War. I argue that this is a narrative film akin to conceptual art, in which formal elements combine with a variety of heterogenous media, such as archival still and moving imagery, to provide ‘evidence’ about the past while also reflecting on historical truth’s fragility to propagandistic manipulation and on the role that media, film included, can play in it. Through close analysis and drawing on recent theorising on the cinematic dispositif, this article examines the ways in which “Barbarians” encourages complex text–viewer relationships and eventually thwarts spectators’ expectation of being presented with a ‘final truth’. It ultimately reveals the inevitable multitude of perspectives about the past, highlighting the risks of failure that any pedagogical attempt to ‘fix memory’ will face.