Uncertainty-driven symmetry-breaking and stochastic stability in a generic differential game of lobbying

in Economic Theory (2022)

We study a 2-players stochastic differential game of lobbying. Players invest in lobbying activities to alter the legislation in her own benefit. The payoffs are quadratic and uncertainty is driven by a ... [more ▼]

We study a 2-players stochastic differential game of lobbying. Players invest in lobbying activities to alter the legislation in her own benefit. The payoffs are quadratic and uncertainty is driven by a Wiener process. We consider the Nash symmetric game where players face the same cost and extract symmetric payoffs, and we solve for Markov Perfect Equilibria (MPE) in the class of affine functions. First, we prove a general sufficient (catching up) optimality condition for two-players stochastic games with uncertainty driven by Wiener processes. Second, we prove that the number and nature of MPE depend on the extent of uncertainty (i.e the variance of the Wiener processes). In particular, we prove that while a symmetric MPE always exists, two asymmetric MPE emerge if and only if uncertainty is large enough. Third, we study the stochastic stability of all the equilibria. We notably find, that the state converges to a stationary invariant distribution under asymmetric MPE. Fourth, we study the implications for rent dissipation asymptotically and compare the outcomes of symmetric vs asymmetric MPE in this respect, ultimately enhancing again the role of uncertainty. [less ▲]

Unchaining Social Businesses : Blockchain as the Basic Technology of a Crowdlending Platform

in 38th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) (2017)

Unclonable human-invisible machine vision markers leveraging the omnidirectional chiral Bragg diffraction of cholesteric spherical reflectors

in Light: Science and Applications (2022), 11(309), 10103841377-022-01002-4

The seemingly simple step of molding a cholesteric liquid crystal into spherical shape, yielding a Cholesteric Spherical Reflector (CSR), has profound optical consequences that open a range of ... [more ▼]

The seemingly simple step of molding a cholesteric liquid crystal into spherical shape, yielding a Cholesteric Spherical Reflector (CSR), has profound optical consequences that open a range of opportunities for potentially transformative technologies. The chiral Bragg diffraction resulting from the helical self-assembly of cholesterics becomes omnidirectional in CSRs. This turns them into selective retroreflectors that are exceptionally easy to distinguish— regardless of background—by simple and low-cost machine vision, while at the same time they can be made largely imperceptible to human vision. This allows them to be distributed in human-populated environments, laid out in the form of QR-code-like markers that help robots and Augmented Reality (AR) devices to operate reliably, and to identify items in their surroundings. At the scale of individual CSRs, unpredictable features within each marker turn them into Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), of great value for secure authentication. Via the machines reading them, CSR markers can thus act as trustworthy yet unobtrusive links between the physical world (buildings, vehicles, packaging,...) and its digital twin computer representation. This opens opportunities to address pressing challenges in logistics and supply chain management, recycling and the circular economy, sustainable construction of the built environment, and many other fields of individual, societal and commercial importance. [less ▲]

Unconscious assumptions in mathematical examples

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

Unconventional superconductivity in the extended Hubbard model: Weak-coupling renormalization group

in Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (2018)

Uncovering the Forgotten Roots of Digital History: the Association for History and Computing

Presentation (2023)

In recent years, scholars have started to investigate the diverse genealogies of the digital humanities, as part of efforts to consolidate the field by excavating its historical and intellectual ... [more ▼]

In recent years, scholars have started to investigate the diverse genealogies of the digital humanities, as part of efforts to consolidate the field by excavating its historical and intellectual underpinnings. This paper discusses the history of what we now call digital history, by focusing on its direct predecessor: the history and computing movement. It argues that understanding the current era of digital history is impossible without knowledge of the transnational history & computing movement out of which it emerged. The paper will first offer a conceptual framework for the nexus between technology and historical research practices and provide a brief outline of the uptake of computing in historical research in the post-WWII period, which was rooted in a broader context of engagement with reproduction and data processing technology that began in the late 19th century. From the 1940s onwards, historians begin to use analog and later digital computing, efforts that truly gained momentum from the early 1960s onwards in the United States, Western Europe and the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union, against the backdrop of the Cold War and a general surge in the use of computing in various humanities disciplines. By the late 1960s we begin to see the establishment of networks and structures to support what could be called an emerging transnational field of computing historians. A transition to a new phase began when first micro- and then personal computing were introduced at universities in the early 1980s and a new user generation of computing historians emerged. As had happened almost two decades earlier, a transnational network would develop, but this time formalised in the Association for History and Computing (AHC) which existed until the early 2000s. The AHC’s history, activities, and many publications highlight the transnational outlook and intellectual breadth of the history and computing period and can served to probe the transition to and (dis)continuities with our current era of digital history. As I will argue, the history and computing movement did not simply give rise to digital history around the turn of the millennium. Despite the continued involvement of some older practitioners, many of the new digital historians were, as before, of a different user generation and the transition to digital history was thus much more than discursive. [less ▲]

Und alles immer seltsamer. Besprechung zu der Inszenierung von Becketts "Warten auf Godot" am Schaupielhaus Düsseldorf

in Theater heute (2014)

Und der Mensch ist doch gut! Besprechung zu der Inszenierung von Christoph Nußbaumeders "Mutter Kramers Fahrt zur Gnade" am Schauspiel Bochum

in Theater heute (2013)

„…und die Tradition schweigt“ – Solfège in der Diskussion

in Losert, Martin; Eschen, Andreas (Eds.) Gute Musik? Ästhetische Qualitäten von Musik im Unterricht (2023)

This article focuses on a historical overview, criticism of solfège teaching and more accomplishable approaches to music education. When Guido of Arezzo came up with the invention of the line system and ... [more ▼]

This article focuses on a historical overview, criticism of solfège teaching and more accomplishable approaches to music education. When Guido of Arezzo came up with the invention of the line system and derived tone syllables from the first letters of St John's hymn just under a millennium ago, he laid the foundation for a new approach to musical education: he replaced stubborn memorisation of (church) chants with a learnable, mechanical reading technique. He probably could not have foreseen that after almost a thousand years, 'his' idea would still be relevant. This article is based on several lectures and previous publications. It is intended to show the extent to which Solfège is situated in terms of music aesthetics on the one hand. However, on the other hand, this method of mechanical readability, when it is applied without any claim to music aesthetics, is increasingly causing headaches for music educators. Two years ago, the Kodály concept was recognised as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This mainly brought the preservation of the diverse Hungarian folk music heritage into focus and only secondarily the pedagogical idea associated with it. It should not be forgotten that the latter is based on Guido von Arezzo's predecessor concept and would be inconceivable without it. As a logical consequence, the Solfège should also be included in the list of intangible cultural assets. Its influence is based on a musical pedagogical concept that is more than a thousand years old and still has a decisive effect on musical education in many European countries. The Solfège system is not without controversy, but where is it written that an intangible cultural property must be based on consensus on content? Is not the discourse of musicology or music education the salt in the soup that could stimulate the discussion about the inclusion of cultural property in the UNESCO List [less ▲]

"… und ist lange zyt wunderlichin in landt van Lucemburg umbgangen." Motive und Modalitäten landesherrlicher Pfandpolitik im spätmittelalterlichen Herzogtum Luxemburg (1346-1437)

Scientific Conference (2019, November 15)