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L'objectif de cette étude consiste à synthétiser les figures de solitaires chez Albert Camus. Ses personnages, ainsi que l'auteur, se tiennent souvent à distance d'autrui et s'enferment dans un espace clos. En comparant ces personnages solitaires aux images que Camus nous présente à propos de la création, nous montrons, dans un premier temps, que la solitude concerne les racines de son activité créatrice et la naissance de la narration dans son œuvre. Malgré leur nécessité de solitude, ses personnages espèrent, en même temps, établir un contact humain. Il est possible de trouver, dans leur dilemme, les deux aspects de la solitude : l'aspect fermé et oppressif qui les conduit littéralement à l'isolement, et l'aspect ouvert et libérateur qui leur sert à prendre conscience de l'existence d'autres solitaires et à former une collectivité. Chez Camus, ce sont les artistes qui jouent un rôle de pont, permettant ainsi que les solitaires agissent pour la solidarité. En portant notre attention sur ces deux aspects, nous cherchons ensuite l'existence d'une nouvelle relation entre la solitude et la solidarité, et réfléchissons également sur la communauté qui unit les solitaires chez Camus. Nous analysons enfin « la pensée de midi » qu'il atteint après de longues considérations sur l'absurde et la révolte, du point de vue des attitudes que les solitaires ont en face de diverses frontières. / The purpose of this study consists in synthesizing the figures of solitaires in Albert Camus. His characters, as well as the author, often distance themselves from others and confine themselves to a closed space. By comparing these characters with images which Camus have about the creation, we try to show, at first, that the solitude concerns the roots of his creative activity and the birth of the narration in his works. Despite their need for solitude, Camus’s characters hope to establish human contact at the same time. It is possible to find, in their dilemma, the two aspects of the solitude : the closed and oppressive aspect which literally leads them to isolation, and the open and liberating one which help them to be conscious of other solitaires and to form a community. And in his works, it is artists that act as a mediator, allowing solitaires to act for solidarity. By looking at these two aspects, we try to find a new relationship between the solitude and the solidarity, and also think about Camus’s community which bring solitaires closer to each other. We finally analyze “The thought on Midday” which he reaches after long considerations of the Absurd and the Rebellion, from a point of view of attitudes when solitaires face different frontiers.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 10, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. Satish S. Nair, Dr. Jeffery T. Potts. Includes "Presentations and Publications" by author. Includes bibliographical references.

The simulation of solitary wave run up on a slope is evaluated using a volume of fluid method in OpenFOAM. The simulated results are compared to experimental and nonlinear potential flow results for a 1 to 15 run up slope. The breaking region profile is shown to agree well with previous results except a larger jet tip calculated by OpenFOAM. Elevation through the run up of the wave is compared to the same data set. OpenFOAM shows a decreased peak amplitude when compared. A grid study is completed. The dissipation is investigated and a correction is applied to the OpenFOAM results. Corrected data shows a more accurate profile in the breaking region. Results shown indicate that more work is needed to improve two phase modeling within OpenFOAM for application to the case of solitary wave run up on a slope. Simulations are also completed for a vehicle fording case.

This thesis presents a study of Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs) in hybrid metal-dielectric waveguides. The embedding of metal in nanostructured photonic components allows for manipulating and guiding light at the subwavelength scale. Such an extreme confinement enhances the nonlinear response of the dielectric medium, which is important for applications in optical processing of information, but is paid in terms of considerable ohmic loss in the metal. It is, however, possible to embed externally pumped active inclusions in the dielectric in order to compensate for the metal loss. A novel perturbative theory for Maxwell equations is introduced and applied to various nonlinear metal-dielectric structures, deriving the propagation equation for the optical field. The nonlinear dispersion law for amplified SPPs, filamentation and dissipative plasmon-soliton formation have been studied, revealing intrinsic core and tail instabilities that prevent solitons to propagate over long distances. Stable propagation of plasmon-solitons can be achieved in insulator-metal-insulator structures with active and passive interfaces. The active SPP is coupled with the passive SPP, which absorbs the perturbations destabilising the zero background of the soliton. Theoretical modelling of optical propagation in metal-dielectric stacks predicts a modified two-band structure, allowing for gap/discrete plasmon-soliton formation. Loss and nonlinear parameters in subwavelength nanowire waveguides are evaluated and compared to the results obtained by other research groups. In all calculations, particular attention is paid in considering boundary conditions accounting for loss and nonlinear corrections, which contribute to the propagation equation with a surface term that becomes significant in the subwavelength regime.

Internal solitary waves (ISW) have been detected on the interface of a stratified water column in the ocean. It is believed that ISW could affect oil drilling operations, nutrient pumping, and acoustic signal obstruction. In the ocean, the thickness of a pycnocline is finite which differs with the theoretical assumption as being a thin layer. This thesis reports the effect of an ISW propagation in various pycnocline thicknesses. Laboratory experiments were conducted in an internal wave flume (0.5¡Ñ0.7¡Ñ12m) at the National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. ISW in depression or elevation type were generaled using a stratified two-layer fresh/brine water system with a total depth of 50 cm in the flume. Upon creating an ISW propagating on a flat bed or over a triangular obstacle later, several physical parameters of the ISW (i.e. wave amplitude, phase speed, characteristic wave length, and wave energy) were measured or calculated for different thicknesses of the pycnocline. The major controlling factors in the experiments included the depth ratio of the upper to lower layer H1/H2, interface displacement £b0 between the wave generating chamber and the main flume, and the thickness of the pycnocline. The thickness of the pycnocline was estimated from the result of density profile in the vertical direction in the flume, experiments under the same H1/H2 and £b was terminated when the pycnocline thickness became large enough. As the thickness of the pycnoline increased, the values of all the physical parameters (including wave amplitude, phase speed, and wave energy) under consideration decreased. Their reduction rates were more significant in the case of small interface displacement (£b0=10cm) than that with large £b0=15cm. On the other hand, the changes in the physical variables associated with a depression ISW were more significant than those in an elevation ISW.

This thesis examines the world of solitary confinement within the prison system. My research was inspired by Ashley Smith, a 19-year old segregated inmate who died in isolation while seven guards watched. This outrageous occurrence prompted me to question the practice of solitary confinement and a prison system in which such an event could occur. Studying the history of solitary confinement left me surprised to learn that it was originally intended as a therapeutic and merciful alternative to the punishments of the day. This revelation was one of a series of inversions that led me to conclude that solitary confinement is a world apart, not just physically, but also socially, temporally and legally. I have concluded that improving the lives of those segregated within our prisons requires the world of solitary confinement to become anchored within the broader legal and social context.

This thesis examines the world of solitary confinement within the prison system. My research was inspired by Ashley Smith, a 19-year old segregated inmate who died in isolation while seven guards watched. This outrageous occurrence prompted me to question the practice of solitary confinement and a prison system in which such an event could occur. Studying the history of solitary confinement left me surprised to learn that it was originally intended as a therapeutic and merciful alternative to the punishments of the day. This revelation was one of a series of inversions that led me to conclude that solitary confinement is a world apart, not just physically, but also socially, temporally and legally. I have concluded that improving the lives of those segregated within our prisons requires the world of solitary confinement to become anchored within the broader legal and social context.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-184). Also available on the Internet.