Después de Einstein: una arquitectura para una teoría

En 1905, aparecen en la revista "Annalen der physik" tres artículos que revolucionarán las ciencias físicas y pondrán en jaque los asentados conceptos newtonianos de Espacio y Tiempo. La formulación de la Teoría de la Relatividad por Albert Einstein pone en crisis el valor absoluto de estos conceptos, y permite proponer nuevas reflexiones a propósito de su concepción dentro del campo de la física. Esta revolución ¿podría extrapolarse al campo de la arquitectura, donde Espacio y Tiempo tienen un papel protagonista? Hay que entender la complejidad del hecho arquitectónico y las innumerables variables que participan de su definición. Se estudia en esta Tesis Doctoral un aspecto muy concreto: cómo un paradigma (la Teoría de la Relatividad) puede intervenir y modificar, o no, la Arquitectura. Se plantea para ello ir al origen; desentrañar el momento de interacción entre la Teoría de la Relatividad y la Teoría de la Arquitectura, que permita determinar si aquella influyó sobre ésta en los escritos teóricos de las vanguardias aplicados a la Arquitectura. “Después de Einstein. Una arquitectura para una teoría” buscará los puntos de conexión de la Teoría de la Relatividad con la teoría arquitectónica de las vanguardias de principio del siglo XX, su influencia, la contaminación entre una y otra, con posibles resultados arquitectónicos a partir de esta interacción, capaz de definir nuevos argumentos formales para un nuevo lenguaje enArquitectura. Annalen der physik Después de Einstein. Una arquitectura para una teoría Para ello la Tesis se estructura en cuatro capítulos. El primero expone el ámbito geográfico y cronológico donde se desarrolla la Teoría de la Relatividad con la repercusión teórica que tiene para el arte, en función de una nueva definición de espacio vinculado al tiempo, como evento que se desarrolla en un ámbito cuatridimensional; la indeterminación de las medidas de espacio y de las medidas de tiempo, y la importancia de entender la materia como energía. El segundo capítulo estudia los movimientos de vanguardia coetáneos a la eclosión de la Relatividad, enmarcados en su ámbito geográfico más próximo. El cubismo se muestra como movimiento que participa ocasionalmente de las matemáticas y la geometría, bajo el influjo del científico Henri Poincaré y las geometrías no euclidianas. El futurismo indaga en los avances de la ciencia desde una cierta lejanía, cierta falta de rigor o profundidad científica para extraer las leyes de su nuevo idealismo plástico constructivo, definiendo e interpretando su Universo a partir de los avances de la ciencia, en respuesta a la crisis del espacio y del tiempo newtonianos. El lenguaje científico se encuentra presente en conceptos como "simultaneidad" (Boccioni), "expansión esférica de la luz en el espacio" (Severini y Carrá), "cuatridimensionalidad", "espacio-tiempo", "aire-luz-fuerza", "materia y energía" que paralelamente conforman el cuerpo operacional de la teoría de Einstein. Si bien no es posible atribuir a la Teoría de la Relatividad un papel protagonista como referente para el pensamiento artístico, en 1936, con la aparición del manifiesto Dimensionista, se atribuyen explícitamente a las teorías de Einstein las nuevas ideas de espacio-tiempo del espíritu europeo seguido por cubistas y futuristas. El tercer capítulo describe cómo la Teoría de la Relatividad llegó a ser fuente de inspiración para la Teoría de la Arquitectura. Estructurado en tres subcapítulos, se estudia el autor principal que aportó para la Arquitectura conceptos e ideas extrapoladas de la Teoría de la Relatividad después de su estudio e interpretación (Van Doesburg), dónde se produjeron las influencias y puntos de contacto (Lissitzky, Eggeling, Moholy-Nagy) y cómo fueron difundidas a través de la arquitectura (Einsteinturm de Mendelsohn) y de las revistas especializadas. El cuarto capítulo extrae las conclusiones del estudio realizado en esta Tesis, que bien pudiera resumir MoholyNagy en su texto "Vision inmotion" (1946) al comentar: "Ya que el "espacio-tiempo" puede ser un término engañoso, tiene que hacerse especialmente hincapié en que los problemas de espacio-tiempo en el arte no están necesariamente basados en la Teoría de la Relatividad de Einstein. Esto no tiene intención de descartar la relevancia de su teoría para las artes. Pero los artistas y los laicos rara vez tienen el conocimiento matemático para visualizar en fórmulas científicas las analogías con su propio trabajo. La terminología de Einstein del "espacio-tiempo" y la "relatividad" ha sido absorbida por nuestro lenguaje diario." ABSTRACT. "AFTER EINSTEIN:ANARCHITECTUREFORATHEORY." In 1905, three articles were published in the journal "Annalen der Physik ". They revolutionized physical sciences and threw into crisis the newtonian concepts of Space and Time. The formulation of the Theory of Relativity by Albert Einstein put a strain on the absolute value of these concepts, and proposed new reflections about them in the field of Physics. Could this revolution be extrapolated to the field of Architecture, where Space and Time have a main role? It is necessary to understand the complexity of architecture and the countless variables involved in its definition. For this reason, in this PhD. Thesis, we study a specific aspect: how a paradigm (Theory of Relativity) can intervene and modify -or not- Architecture. It is proposed to go back to the origin; to unravel the moment in which the interaction between the Theory of Relativity and the Theory of Architecture takes place, to determine whether the Theory of Relativity influenced on the theoretical avant-garde writings applied to Architecture. "After Einstein.An architecture for a theory " will search the connection points between the Theory of Relativity and architectural avant-garde theory of the early twentieth century, the influence and contamination between them, giving rise to new architectures that define new formal arguments for a new architectural language. Annalen der Physik This thesis is divided into four chapters. The first one describes the geographical and chronological scope in which the Theory of Relativity is developed showing its theoretical implications in the field of art, according to a new definition of Space linked to Time, as an event that takes place in a fourdimensional space; the indetermination of the measurement of space and time, and the importance of understanding "matter" as "energy". The second chapter examines the avant-garde movements contemporary to the theory of relativity. Cubism is shown as an artist movement that occasionally participates in mathematics and geometry, under the influence of Henri Poincaré and non-Euclidean geometries. Futurism explores the advances of science at a certain distance, with lack of scientific rigor to extract the laws of their new plastic constructive idealism. Scientific language is present in concepts like "simultaneity" (Boccioni), "expanding light in space" (Severini and Carra), "four-dimensional space", "space-time", "light-air-force," "matter and energy" similar to the operational concepts of Einstein´s theory. While it is not possible to attribute a leading role to the Theory of Relativity, as a benchmark for artistic laws, in 1936, with the publication of the Dimensionist manifest, the new ideas of space-time followed by cubist and futurist were attributed to the Einstein's theory. The third chapter describes how the Theory of Relativity became an inspiration for the architectural theory. Structured into three subsections, we study the main author who studied the theory of relativity and ,as a consequence, contributed with some concepts and ideas to the theory of architecture (Van Doesburg), where influences and contact points took place (Lissitzky, Eggeling, Moholy-Nagy) and how were disseminated throughArchitecture (Einsteinturm, by Mendelsohn) and journals. The fourth chapter draws the conclusions of this PhD. Thesis, which could be well summarized by Moholy Nagy in his text "Vision in Motion" (1946): vi Since "space-time" can be a misleading term, it especially has to be emphasized that the space-time problems in the arts are not necessarily based upon Einstein´s Theory of Relativity. This is not meant to discount the relevance of his theory to the arts. But artists and laymen seldom have the mathematical knowledge to visualize in scientific formulae the analogies to their own work. Einstein's terminology of "space-time" and "relativity" has been absorbed by our daily language.

Desarrollo de estructuras nanofotonicas de campo cercano para intensificacion localizada de luz en celulas solares de banda intermedia - Near-field nanophotonic structures for localized light enhancement in intermediate band solar cells

This doctoral thesis explores some of the possibilities that near-field optics can bring to photovoltaics, and in particular to quantum-dot intermediate band solar cells (QD-IBSCs). Our main focus is the analytical optimization of the electric field distribution produced in the vicinity of single scattering particles, in order to produce the highest possible absorption enhancement in the photovoltaic medium in their surroundings. Near-field scattering structures have also been fabricated in laboratory, allowing the application of the previously studied theoretical concepts to real devices. We start by looking into the electrostatic scattering regime, which is only applicable to sub-wavelength sized particles. In this regime it was found that metallic nano-spheroids can produce absorption enhancements of about two orders of magnitude on the material in their vicinity, due to their strong plasmonic resonance. The frequency of such resonance can be tuned with the shape of the particles, allowing us to match it with the optimal transition energies of the intermediate band material. Since these metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) are to be inserted inside the cell photovoltaic medium, they should be coated by a thin insulating layer to prevent electron-hole recombination at their surface. This analysis is then generalized, using an analytical separation-of-variables method implemented in Mathematica7.0, to compute scattering by spheroids of any size and material. This code allowed the study of the scattering properties of wavelengthsized particles (mesoscopic regime), and it was verified that in this regime dielectric spheroids perform better than metallic. The light intensity scattered from such dielectric spheroids can have more than two orders of magnitude than the incident intensity, and the focal region in front of the particle can be shaped in several ways by changing the particle geometry and/or material. Experimental work was also performed in this PhD to implement in practice the concepts studied in the analysis of sub-wavelength MNPs. A wet-coating method was developed to self-assemble regular arrays of colloidal MNPs on the surface of several materials, such as silicon wafers, amorphous silicon films, gallium arsenide and glass. A series of thermal and chemical tests have been performed showing what treatments the nanoparticles can withstand for their embedment in a photovoltaic medium. MNPs arrays are then inserted in an amorphous silicon medium to study the effect of their plasmonic near-field enhancement on the absorption spectrum of the material. The self-assembled arrays of MNPs constructed in these experiments inspired a new strategy for fabricating IBSCs using colloidal quantum dots (CQDs). Such CQDs can be deposited in self-assembled monolayers, using procedures similar to those developed for the patterning of colloidal MNPs. The use of CQDs to form the intermediate band presents several important practical and physical advantages relative to the conventional dots epitaxially grown by the Stranski-Krastanov method. Besides, this provides a fast and inexpensive method for patterning binary arrays of QDs and MNPs, envisioned in the theoretical part of this thesis, in which the MNPs act as antennas focusing the light in the QDs and therefore boosting their absorption

A Light-Weight On-Chip Monitoring Network for Dynamic Adaptation and Calibration

Current nanometer technologies suffer within-die parameter uncertainties, varying workload conditions, aging, and temperature effects that cause a serious reduction on yield and performance. In this scenario, monitoring, calibration, and dynamic adaptation become essential, demanding systems with a collection of multi purpose monitors and exposing the need for light-weight monitoring networks. This paper presents a new monitoring network paradigm able to perform an early prioritization of the information. This is achieved by the introduction of a new hierarchy level, the threshing level. Targeting it, we propose a time-domain signaling scheme over a single-wire that minimizes the network switching activity as well as the routing requirements. To validate our approach, we make a thorough analysis of the architectural trade-offs and expose two complete monitoring systems that suppose an area improvement of 40% and a power reduction of three orders of magnitude compared to previous works.

Explaining light vehicle demand evolution in interurban toll roads: a dynamic panel data analysis in Spain

Tolls have increasingly become a common mechanism to fund road projects in recent decades. Therefore, improving knowledge of demand behavior constitutes a key aspect for stakeholders dealing with the management of toll roads. However, the literature concerning demand elasticity estimates for interurban toll roads is still limited due to their relatively scarce number in the international context. Furthermore, existing research has left some aspects to be investigated, among others, the choice of GDP as the most common socioeconomic variable to explain traffic growth over time. This paper intends to determine the variables that better explain the evolution of light vehicle demand in toll roads throughout the years. To that end, we establish a dynamic panel data methodology aimed at identifying the key socioeconomic variables explaining changes in light vehicle demand over time. The results show that, despite some usefulness, GDP does not constitute the most appropriate explanatory variable, while other parameters such as employment or GDP per capita lead to more stable and consistent results. The methodology is applied to Spanish toll roads for the 1990?2011 period, which constitutes a very interesting case on variations in toll road use, as road demand has experienced a significant decrease since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008.

Analysis by finite element calculations of light scattering in laser-textured AZO films for PV thin-film solar cells

In the thin-film photovoltaic industry, to achieve a high light scattering in one or more of the cell interfaces is one of the strategies that allow an enhancement of light absorption inside the cell and, therefore, a better device behavior and efficiency. Although chemical etching is the standard method to texture surfaces for that scattering improvement, laser light has shown as a new way for texturizing different materials, maintaining a good control of the final topography with a unique, clean, and quite precise process. In this work AZO films with different texture parameters are fabricated. The typical parameters used to characterize them, as the root mean square roughness or the haze factor, are discussed and, for deeper understanding of the scattering mechanisms, the light behavior in the films is simulated using a finite element method code. This method gives information about the light intensity in each point of the system, allowing the precise characterization of the scattering behavior near the film surface, and it can be used as well to calculate a simulated haze factor that can be compared with experimental measurements. A discussion of the validation of the numerical code, based in a comprehensive comparison with experimental data is included.

On-chip Monitoring: A Light-Weight Interconnection Network Approach

Current nanometer technologies are subjected to several adverse effects that seriously impact the yield and performance of integrated circuits. Such is the case of within-die parameters uncertainties, varying workload conditions, aging, temperature, etc. Monitoring, calibration and dynamic adaptation have appeared as promising solutions to these issues and many kinds of monitors have been presented recently. In this scenario, where systems with hundreds of monitors of different types have been proposed, the need for light-weight monitoring networks has become essential. In this work we present a light-weight network architecture based on digitization resource sharing of nodes that require a time-to-digital conversion. Our proposal employs a single wire interface, shared among all the nodes in the network, and quantizes the time domain to perform the access multiplexing and transmit the information. It supposes a 16% improvement in area and power consumption compared to traditional approaches.