Why Do Some Oil Exporters Experience Civil War But Others Do Not? – A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Net Oil-Exporting Countries

According to quantitative studies, oil is the only resource that is robustly linked to civil war onset. However, recent debates on the nexus of oil and civil war have neglected that there are a number of peaceful oil-rentier states, and few efforts have been spent to explain why some oilexporting countries have experienced civil war and others have not. Methodologically, the debate has been dominated by research using either quantitative methods or case studies, with little genuine medium-N comparison. This paper aims to fill this gap by studying the conditions of civil war onset among net oil exporters using (crisp-set) Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA). Considering a sample of 44 net oil exporters between 1970 and 2008, we test conditions such as oil abundance (per capita) and dependence, the interaction of ethnic exclusion and oil reserve locations (overlap) as well as the type of political regime (polity). Our results point to a combination of necessary and sufficient conditions that has been largely ignored until now: low abundance is a necessary condition of civil war onset. Two pathways lead to civil war: first, a combination of low abundance and high dependence and, second, a combination of low abundance and the geographical overlap of ethnic exclusion with oil reserve areas within autocracies.civil war, oil exports, resource curse, rentier state, QCA

Monitoring Three-Dimensional Packings in Microgravity

We present results from experiments with granular packings in three dimensions in microgravity as realized on parabolic flights. Two different techniques are employed to monitor the inside of the packings during compaction: (1) X-ray radiography is used to measure in transmission the integrated fluctuations of particle positions. (2) Stress-birefringence in three dimensions is applied to visualize the stresses inside the packing. The particle motions below the transition into an arrested packing are found to produce a well agitated state. At the transition, the particles lose their energy quite rapidly and form a stress network. With both methods, non-arrested particles (rattlers) can be identified. In particular, it is found that rattlers inside the arrested packing can be excited to appreciable dynamics by the rest-accelerations (g-jitter) during a parabolic flight without destroying the packings. At low rates of compaction, a regime of slow granular cooling is identified. The slow cooling extends over several seconds, is described well by a linear law, and terminates in a rapid final collapse of dynamics before complete arrest of the packing.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Zuverlässigkeit und strukturelle Parameter von Verkehrsnetzen

Im Vortrag wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit ein Zusammenhang zwischen der Zuverlässigkeit und gewissen strukturellen Parametern eines Verkehrsnetzes besteht. Das Verkehrsnetz wird hierzu als bewerteter Graph aufgefasst. Zur Analyse der Verkehrsnetzzuverlässigkeit werden die Kanten mit ihren Verfügbarkeiten (>Zuverlässigkeiten<) bewertet. Die Zuverlässigkeit des Verkehrsnetzes hat einen großen Einfluss auf die Beurteilung des Straßennetzes. Im Sinne einer Regressionsanalyse soll der Zusammenhang mit weiteren, speziell für die Betrachtung von Verkehrsnetzen entwickelten strukturellen Kenngrößen untersucht werden, das sind insbesondere die Dispersion des Verkehrsnetzes und die Unterentwicklung des Netzes. Aus der Vielzahl der theoretisch denkbaren Verkehrsnetzstrukturen spiegelt die Ring-Radius-Struktur die realen Straßennetze am besten wider. Solche Ring-Radius-Strukturen kommen in vielen Städten vor. Die Berechnung der Verkehrsnetzzuverlässigkeit erfolgt mittels eines Algorithmus, der auf dem Prinzip der vollständigen Enumeration aller möglichen Kombinationen der Verfügbarkeit bzw. Nichtverfügbarkeit der einzelnen Kanten basiert und die gewünschte Kenngröße exakt bestimmt. Obwohl der Algorithmus speziell auf eine möglichst geringe Rechenzeit ausgerichtet ist, bleibt das Verfahren doch numerisch recht aufwendig. An Hand von zehn verschiedenen Ring-Radius-Strukturen wird der Nachweis eines Zusammenhangs zwischen den strukturellen Kenngrößen und der Verkehrsnetzzuverlässigkeit geführt. Damit können mittels struktureller Bewertungen (die mit einem vergleichsweise geringen Aufwand an Input-Daten und Rechenzeit bestimmbar sind) Aussagen über die Zuverlässigkeit des Verkehrsnetzes getroffen werden

Spin-polarized Quantum Transport in Mesoscopic Conductors: Computational Concepts and Physical Phenomena

Mesoscopic conductors are electronic systems of sizes in between nano- and micrometers, and often of reduced dimensionality. In the phase-coherent regime at low temperatures, the conductance of these devices is governed by quantum interference effects, such as the Aharonov-Bohm effect and conductance fluctuations as prominent examples. While first measurements of quantum charge transport date back to the 1980s, spin phenomena in mesoscopic transport have moved only recently into the focus of attention, as one branch of the field of spintronics. The interplay between quantum coherence with confinement-, disorder- or interaction-effects gives rise to a variety of unexpected spin phenomena in mesoscopic conductors and allows moreover to control and engineer the spin of the charge carriers: spin interference is often the basis for spin-valves, -filters, -switches or -pumps. Their underlying mechanisms may gain relevance on the way to possible future semiconductor-based spin devices. A quantitative theoretical understanding of spin-dependent mesoscopic transport calls for developing efficient and flexible numerical algorithms, including matrix-reordering techniques within Green function approaches, which we will explain, review and employ.Comment: To appear in the Encyclopedia of Complexity and System Scienc

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Beitrag während der Weimarer EDOC-Tage 201

Genesis and Propagation of Fractal Structures During Photoelectrochemical Etching of n-Silicon

The genesis, propagation, and dimensions of fractal-etch patterns that form anodically on front- or back-illuminated n-Si(100) photoelectrodes in contact with 11.9 M NH₄F(aq) has been investigated during either linear-sweep voltammetry or when the electrode was held at a constant potential (E = +6.0 V versus Ag/AgCl). Optical images collected in situ during electrochemical experiments revealed the location and underlying mechanism of initiation and propagation of the structures on the surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) data collected for samples emersed from the electrolyte at varied times provided detailed information about the chemistry of the surface during fractal etching. The fractal structure was strongly influenced by the orientation of the crystalline Si sample. The etch patterns were initially generated at points along the circumference of bubbles that formed upon immersion of n-Si(100) samples in the electrolyte, most likely due to the electrochemical and electronic isolation of areas beneath bubbles. XPS data showed the presence of a tensile-stressed silicon surface throughout the etching process as well as the presence of SiO_xF_y on the surface. The two-dimensional fractal dimension D_(f,2D) of the patterns increased with etching time to a maximum observed value of D_(f,2D)=1.82. Promotion of fractal etching near etch masks that electrochemically and electronically isolated areas of the photoelectrode surface enabled the selective placement of highly branched structures at desired locations on an electrode surface

Concentration of Vacancies at Metal Oxide Surfaces: Case Study of MgO (100)

We investigate effects of doping on formation energy and concentration of oxygen vacancies at a metal oxide surface, using MgO (100) as an example. Our approach employs density-functional theory, where the performance of the exchange-correlation functional is carefully analyzed, and the functional is chosen according to a fundamental condition on DFT ionization energies. The approach is further validated by CCSD(T) calculations for embedded clusters. We demonstrate that the concentration of oxygen vacancies at a doped oxide surface is largely determined by formation of a macroscopically extended space charge region

Parabolische Randanfangswertprobleme mit zufälliger Anfangsbedingung

In dieser Arbeit werden parabolische Randanfangswertprobleme mit zufälliger Anfangs- und Neumann-Randbedingung betrachtet. Die zufälligen Einflußgrößen werden dabei als epsilon-korrelierte, zufällige Felder modelliert. Das Hauptinteresse liegt auf der Berechnung stochastischer Kenngrößen der auf Basis der Finite-Elemente Methode erhaltenen Lösung des Randanfangswertproblems. Für die Korrelationsfunktion der Lösung wird eine Entwicklung nach der Korrelationslänge sowie eine explizite Berechnung für spezielle Typen der Vernetzung vorgestellt. Anhand von numerischen Beispielen werden abschließend die auf den verschiedenen Wegen erhaltenen Varianzen mit der einer simulierten Lösung verglichen