1,720,997 research outputs found
Statistical mechanics and thermodynamics of small systems
Full text linkIn this thesis many aspects of the statistical mechanics and thermodynamics of small systems are studied. The very same possibility of defining a thermodynamics for this class of systems, for which the usual properties of the thermodynamic limit do not apply, is discussed by means of general considerations and specific examples. We show that it is possible to preserve most of the features of thermodynamics for a specific class of systems which are, at the same time, far enough from the infinite-N limit to be small, but large enough to be studied with a statistical approach. A review of the necessary mathematical and physical tools to study this particular class of systems is included.
Eventually, a specific system is studied, both from an equilibrium and a non- equilibrium perspective: it is found that this system, composed by a gas included in a container with a moving wall (the piston), has an highly non-trivial dynamics caused by the interplay of the different degrees of freedom of the system, which cannot be easily reproduced by means of coarse-grained equations. At the same time, the smallness of the system is responsible for large fluctuations that strongly characterize the system. We show that this system reproduces the behavior of an heat engine, when the external parameters vary in time: in particular we show that different working regimes (engine, refrigerator, heat pump) can be obtained depending upon the total time of a cycle of the external parameters. We also derive some analytical results reproducing, with a fair degree of approximation, the behavior of the system
Bonn, Wegdam, and Schall Reply
Full text linkA Reply to the Comment by Andrea Gambassi and S. Dietrich
On dimensional regularization of sums
No full textWe discuss a systematic way to dimensionally regularize divergent sums arising in field theories with an arbitrary number of physical compact dimensions or finite temperature. The method preserves the same symmetries of the action as the conventional dimensional regularization and allows an easy separation of the regulated divergence from the finite term that depends on the compactification radius (temperature).We discuss a systematic way to dimensionally regularize divergent sums arising in field theories with an arbitrary number of physical compact dimensions or finite temperature. The method preserves the same symmetries of the action as the conventional dimensional regularization and allows an easy separation of the regulated divergence from the finite term that depends on the compactification radius (temperature)
Nonmonotonic Effects of Migration in Subdivided Populations
No full textThe influence of migration on the stochastic dynamics of subdivided populations is still an open issue in various evolutionary models. Here, we develop a self-consistent mean-field-like method in order to determine the effects of migration on relevant nonequilibrium properties, such as the mean fixation time. If evolution strongly favors coexistence of species (e. g., balancing selection), the mean fixation time develops an unexpected minimum as a function of the migration rate. Our analysis hinges only on the presence of a separation of time scales between local and global dynamics, and therefore, it carries over to other nonequilibrium processes in physics, biology, ecology, and social sciences
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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