Waking up in a world where everyone carries a miniature supercomputer, interaction designers find themselves in their forerunners dreams. Faced with the reality of planetary-scale we have to confront the task of articulating approaches responsive this accidental ubiquity of computation. This thesis attempts such a formulation by defining computation as a strange material, a plasticity shaped equally by its technical properties and the mode of production by which is its continuously re-produced. The definition is applied through a methodology of excursions — participatory explorations into two seemingly disparate sites of computation, connected in they ways they manifest a labor of care. First, we visit the social infrastructures that constitute the Linux kernel, examining strangle entanglements of programming and care in the world's largest design process. This is followed by a tour into the thorny lands of artificial intelligence, situated in the smart replies of LinkedIn. Here, we investigate the fluctuating border between the artificial and the human with participants performing AI, formulating new Turing tests in the process. These excursions afford an understanding of computation as fundamentally re-produced through interaction, a strange kind of affective work the understanding of which is crucial if we ambition to disarm the critical accidents of our present future.

<p>In 1998 the Swedish mathematician Warwick Tucker used rigorous interval arithmetic and normal form theory to prove the existence of a strange attractor in the Lorenz system. In large parts, that proof consists of computations implemented and performed on a computer. This thesis is an independent numerical verification of the result obtained by Warwick Tucker, as well as a study of a higher-dimensional system of ordinary differential equations introduced by the Swedish physicist Lennart Stenflo.</p><p>The same type of mapping data as Warwick Tucker obtained is calculated here via a combination of numerical integration, solving optimisation problems and a coordinate change that brings the system to a normal form around the stationary point in the origin. This data is collected in a graph and the problem of determining the existence of a strange attractor is translated to a few graph theoretical problems. The end result, after the numerical study, is a support for the conclusion that the attractor set of the Lorenz system is a strange attractor and also for the conclusion that the Lorenz-Stenflo system possesses a strange attractor.</p>

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:59:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marilene Vieira.pdf: 576617 bytes, checksum: b3f4dd6c271b8f52bc7b5fa3eaacbd0e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-22 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / The present dissertation analyzes the short stories A visita, Uma noite de chuva and A travessia by the writer Josué Guimarães, based on the theoretical teachings of Tzvetan Todorov and Felipe Furtado. Our intention is to specify the characteristics of the fantastic, the strange and the wonderful in each story. We begin with a theoretical discussion in which we put these two authors in dialogue, aiming to emphasize their similarities and differences. Felipe Furtado, in his book A construção do fantastico na narrativa (1980), criticizes the definitions of Todorov s views presented in the book Introdução a literatura fantástica (1992). He argues that, by attributing the primacy of the definition of fantastic, strange and wonderful to the reader, Todorov is actually privileging a second element and not the most important one the ambiguity. Furtado concentrates his definition of fantastic, strange and wonderful on the ambiguity that arises from the stories through the presence of the supernatural element. His definition begins with the mutual reminding of the text elements that must turn themselves to the fantastic, in case the ambiguity remains; or to the strange, in case the superiority from the reality prevails; or still the wonderful, if the elements contribute to the maintenance of an arbitrary reality. With both authors in dialogue, we study the short stories mentioned, intending to explicit and clear the ways and characteristics of the supernatural in the narratives that compose the corpus of the present research and, by doing so, emphasizing the characteristics of each discourse / A presente dissertação faz a análise dos contos A Visita, Uma noite de chuva e A travessia do escritor Josué Guimarães à luz dos ensinamentos teóricos de Tzvetan Todorov e de Felipe Furtado; com o intuito de especificar as peculiaridades do fantástico, do estranho e do maravilhoso em cada narrativa. Para tanto iniciamos com uma discussão teórica em que colocamos em diálogos os dois teóricos, objetivando salientar suas diferenças e semelhanças. Felipe Furtado em seu livro A construção do fantástico na narrativa (1980) critica a teoria e as definições de Todorov presentes no livro Introdução a literatura fantástica (1992). Ele argumenta que Todorov ao atribuir a primazia da definição do fantástico e também do estranho e do maravilhoso ao leitor está privilegiando um elemento secundário e não e não o principal a ambigüidade. Furtado centra sua conceituação do fantástico, do estranho e do maravilhoso na ambigüidade que surge na narrativa a partir da presença do elemento sobrenatural. Sua definição parte da evocação mútua dos elementos do texto que deverão voltar-se ao fantástico, caso haja a permanecia da ambigüidade, ou ao estranho caso ocorra à supremacia da realidade ou ao maravilhoso se os elementos e somarem para a manutenção de uma realidade arbitrária. Com os dois autores em diálogo analisamos os contos citados, objetivando explicitar os caminhos e as peculiaridades do sobrenatural em cada narrativa que compõem o corpus desta pesquisa e assim salientar as características de cada discurso

As the title of this essay suggests, Paul Auster’s 2003 novel Oracle Night is studied with regard to what is here considered to be a search for a way out of estrangement. This search, as narrated from the point of view of the protagonist, is followed by a certain recognition of the limits of human existence – which may be essentially meaningless but is nevertheless portrayed as an intentional state of being, not least through the act of writing as a means of subjectification. Thus, the novel is read with a special focus on the thematic representation of writing and human subjectivity. These overarching themes may be approached with reference to two different philosophies or theoretical positions – postmodernism and existentialism. The purpose of the essay is to study the extent to which Oracle Night may be understood in terms of an existentialist (reconstructive) critique of, or challenge to, a postmodernist (deconstructive) perspective. In order to follow this line of inquiry, the analytic method rests on narrative thematics. This kind of narratological study answers the question what Auster’s novel is about and in what ways the theoretical perspectives in question are expressed in the novel. Thematic motifs are examined within the frame of a six-step model of narrative units. These units are based on Carsten Springer’s (2001) elaboration on the theme of identity crisis in Auster’s fiction and made it possible to put different motifs into a context and convey the point of view of the text in a systematic way.

L'étude de la structure du nucléon est actuellement l'un des principaux défis rencontrées en physique nucléaire. Le présent travail représente une contribution à l'étude de la structure du nucléon et consiste, en particulier, à étudier le rôle des quarks étranges dans le nucléon. Ce dernier peut être examiné en déterminant la distribution des quarks étranges dans le nucléon ainsi que la contribution des spins des quarks étranges au spin du nucléon ($\Delta s$). Ce travail présente une mesure de $\Delta s$ effectuée en utilisant des données de diffusion profondément inélastique de muons polarisés sur une cible de protons et de deutons polarisés, collectées par la collaboration COMPASS. Le résultat dépend fortement des fonctions de fragmentation des quarks en hadrons, qui définissent la probabilité qu'un quark d'une certaine saveur se fragmente en un hadron dans l'état final. Actuellement, les fonctions de fragmentation sont mal connues, en particulier, la fonction de fragmentation des quark étranges en kaons, qui joue un rôle essentiel dans la détermination de $ \Delta s$. En diffusion profondément inélastique, l'accès à ces fonctions est assuré par les multiplicités des hadrons qui, à leur tour, définissent le nombre moyen de hadrons produit par évènement de diffusion inélastique. Les multiplicités des pion et des kaons ont été extraites en fonction de différentes variables cinématiques, en utilisant les données de COMPASS. Une première extraction au leading order des fonctions de fragmentation des pions et des kaons est présentée. / Understanding the nucleon structure is currently one of the main challenges encountered in nuclear physics. The present work represents a contribution to the study of the nucleon structure and deals, in particular, with the study of the role of strange quarks in the nucleon. The latter can be investigated by determing the strange quark distribution in the nucleon as well as the contribution of the spins of strange quarks to the nucleon spin ($\Delta s$). This work first presents a measurement of $\Delta s$ performed via Deeply Inelastic Scattering of a muon beam off polarized proton and deuterium targets. The result is found to be strongly dependent on the quark fragmentation functions into hadrons (FFs), which define the probability that a quark of a given flavour fragments into a final state hadron. The FFs are poorly known, in particular, the FF of strange quark into kaons, which play an important role in the determination of $\Delta s$. In deep inelastic scattering process, the access to the FFs is provided by the hadron multiplicities which, in turn, define the average number of hadrons produced per DIS event. Pion and kaon multiplicities have been extracted versus different kinematic variables, using DIS data collected by deeply inelastic scattering of a $160$ GeV muons off a deuterium target. A first LO extraction of the fragmentation functions has then been performed using the measured pion and kaon multiplicities.

En 2003-2004 le collisionneur HERA à délivré des collisions $e^+p$ avec un faisceau de positrons polarisé longitudinalement. Ce travail présente la mesure des section efficaces de DIS inclusive polarisées Courant Neutre et Courant Chargé avec le détecteur H1 en utilisant un lot de données de 15,3 pb$^(-1)$ de polarisation moyenne $P=0,33$ et un lot de données de 21,7 pb$^(-1)$ de polarisation moyenne $P=-0,40$. La mesure de la section efficace CC totale pour $Q^2>400$ GeV$^2$, $y<0,9$ donne \begin(eqnarray \sigma_(CC)(P=+0,33)&=& 34,67\mbox( pb )\pm 1,94\mbox( pb )\:(\mbox(stat))\pm 1,66\mbox( pb )\:(\mbox(sys)) \\ \sigma_(CC)(P=-0,40)&=& 13,80\mbox( pb )\pm 1,04\mbox( pb )\:(\mbox(stat))\pm 0,94\mbox( pb )\:(\mbox(sys)). \end(eqnarray) En accord avec le Modèle Standard qui prédit la proportionnalité de la section efficace avec la polarisation. Dans une deuxième partie, on réalise une analyse QCD des données de H1 pour extraire les densités de partons. Cette analyse est ensuite étendue à la détermination jointe des paramètres électrofaibles comme la masse du boson $W$ et des couplages des quarks au boson $Z$. Une analyse QCD globale des données de DIS et de Drell-Yan est réalisée, en particulier utilisée pour obtenir l'asymétrie de la mer étrange $\int_0^1 x(s-\bar(s))\mathrm(d)x=(1,8\pm3,8)\times10^(-4)$. L'impact des nouvelles données de E866 sur les densités de quark à très grand $x$ est discuté. On obtient une extraction de la constante de couplage forte $\alpha_s=0,1197\pm0,0008 \mbox( (exp)) ()^(+0,0005)_(-0,0007)\mbox( (mod))\pm0,006 \mbox( (th))$.

<p>The Standard Model describes all elementary particles known today, but at larger energies it will have to be complemented with new particles and interactions. To be able to distinguish new physics at proton colliders such as LHC at CERN, it is essential to have an appropriate description of the colliding protons and their interactions. The study of the proton is important also in itself, to get a better understanding of the non-perturbative aspects of the strong interaction.</p><p>In paper I-IV of this thesis, a model for the non-perturbative dynamics of quarks and gluons is developed, based on quantum fluctuations in hadrons. The parton distributions of the proton are given by momentum fluctuations, with sea quark distributions generated by fluctuations into baryon-meson pairs. This model can reproduce proton structure function data, as well as measured asymmetries between up and down valence quark distributions and between the anti-up and anti-down sea. It provides an intrinsic charm quark component as indicated by data. It also predicts an asymmetry in the strange sea of the proton, which can explain the NuTeV anomaly first attributed to new physics beyond the Standard Model.</p><p>Charged Higgs bosons are predicted by several theories for new physics, including Supersymmetry. At proton colliders, the predicted dominant production mechanism is in association with top and bottom quarks. In paper V-VII, different contributions to this production are studied, and an algorithm is developed for combining the two dominant processes gb -> tH^+/- and gg -> tbH^+/-. The algorithm gives a smooth transition from small to large transverse momenta of the b-quark, which is important when the b-quark is observed. It also gives arguments for the choice of factorisation scale in the process.</p>

The Standard Model describes all elementary particles known today, but at larger energies it will have to be complemented with new particles and interactions. To be able to distinguish new physics at proton colliders such as LHC at CERN, it is essential to have an appropriate description of the colliding protons and their interactions. The study of the proton is important also in itself, to get a better understanding of the non-perturbative aspects of the strong interaction. In paper I-IV of this thesis, a model for the non-perturbative dynamics of quarks and gluons is developed, based on quantum fluctuations in hadrons. The parton distributions of the proton are given by momentum fluctuations, with sea quark distributions generated by fluctuations into baryon-meson pairs. This model can reproduce proton structure function data, as well as measured asymmetries between up and down valence quark distributions and between the anti-up and anti-down sea. It provides an intrinsic charm quark component as indicated by data. It also predicts an asymmetry in the strange sea of the proton, which can explain the NuTeV anomaly first attributed to new physics beyond the Standard Model. Charged Higgs bosons are predicted by several theories for new physics, including Supersymmetry. At proton colliders, the predicted dominant production mechanism is in association with top and bottom quarks. In paper V-VII, different contributions to this production are studied, and an algorithm is developed for combining the two dominant processes gb -&gt; tH+/- and gg -&gt; tbH+/-. The algorithm gives a smooth transition from small to large transverse momenta of the b-quark, which is important when the b-quark is observed. It also gives arguments for the choice of factorisation scale in the process.

In 1998 the Swedish mathematician Warwick Tucker used rigorous interval arithmetic and normal form theory to prove the existence of a strange attractor in the Lorenz system. In large parts, that proof consists of computations implemented and performed on a computer. This thesis is an independent numerical verification of the result obtained by Warwick Tucker, as well as a study of a higher-dimensional system of ordinary differential equations introduced by the Swedish physicist Lennart Stenflo. The same type of mapping data as Warwick Tucker obtained is calculated here via a combination of numerical integration, solving optimisation problems and a coordinate change that brings the system to a normal form around the stationary point in the origin. This data is collected in a graph and the problem of determining the existence of a strange attractor is translated to a few graph theoretical problems. The end result, after the numerical study, is a support for the conclusion that the attractor set of the Lorenz system is a strange attractor and also for the conclusion that the Lorenz-Stenflo system possesses a strange attractor. / QC 20101007

For many years, theorists have turned to popular movies and books to help interpret the difficult principles of Jacques Lacan. However, one story that has gotten very little attention is Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and its derivative body of film adaptations. Both the novella and Rouben Mamoulian’s 1931 film are a small part of an intertextual body of work which contains scenes that play out the Lacanian principles of the mirror stage and the gaze very well. Since art imitates life, an in depth exploration of the way that these scenes play out can illuminate how Lacan’s abstract theories might look in the real life formation of identity and in male/female relations.