Adaptiv stämning : En bedömning av acceptabilitet och tonkvalitetsuppfattning

This thesis presents an adaptive tuning system that can be described as a dynamic Just Intonation tuning system, being compatible with equally tempered instruments. The tuning system is called Hermode Tuning (HMT) and the tuning used as comparison for evaluation is the standardized western tuning, the equal tempered tuning. This study investigates preferences for these two musical tuning systems, depending on whether the tunings are presented on a piano or with woodwind instruments. A listening test was done with students at the Falun Conservatory of Music, including both a vertical listening (intervalls) and a horizontal listening (cadenses and musical compositions) of Hermode tuned musical material. Overall the results showed no significant preferences for either tuning system irrespectively of what instrument it was presented with. The clearest results was that of a misjudged just intonated perfect third on the piano and a preference for an adaptively tuned piano presented in a simple harmonic structure, with a parameter setting of HMT 70%. Materials for comparison was partly taken from Hermode´s own website, but overall the attitude towards these sequenses (using a likert scale of one to five) showed a low expected value. This shows the complexity of the topic and no general conclusions regarding the choice of intonation or tuning system could be done for the presented material.

Gravitational self-localization for spherical masses

In this work, I consider the center-of-mass wave function for a homogenous sphere under the influence of the self-interaction due to Newtonian gravity. I solve for the ground state numerically and calculate the average radius as a measure of its size. For small masses, M≲10−17 kg, the radial size is independent of density, and the ground state extends beyond the extent of the sphere. For masses larger than this, the ground state is contained within the sphere and to a good approximation given by the solution for an effective radial harmonic-oscillator potential. This work thus determines the limits of applicability of the point-mass Newton Schrödinger equations for spherical masses. In addition, I calculate the fringe visibility for matter-wave interferometry and find that in the low-mass case, interferometry can in principle be performed, whereas for the latter case, it becomes impossible. Based on this, I discuss this transition as a possible boundary for the quantum-classical crossover, independent of the usually evoked environmental decoherence. The two regimes meet at sphere sizes R≈10−7 m, and the density of the material causes only minor variations in this value.

Vilhelm Ekelund och den fransk-italienska kultursfären : Några nedslag i de tidiga prosaverken - från Antikt ideal (1909) till Attiskt i fågelperspektiv (1919)

Vilhelm Ekelund och den fransk-italienska kultursfären: Några nedslag i de tidiga prosaverken – från Antikt ideal (1909) till Attiskt i fågelperspektiv (1919). (Vilhelm Ekelund and the French and Italian cultural heritage: A study of his early prose – from Antikt ideal (1909) to Attiskt i fågelperspektiv (1919)). The Swedish poet, essayist and aphorist Vilhelm Ekelund was not only influenced by German literature and philosophy, he also wrote extensive literary criticism on the subject of Romance language authors. This article discusses Ekelund’s relationship to some of the most influential French and Italian writers – as it can be seen in his work during the period 1909-1919. This relationship was ambiguous: he paid homage to French authors such as Montaigne, Montesquieu, Stendhal and Comte – as well as to the Italian poet and philosopher Leopardi – but he also severely criticized such distinguished writers as Baudelaire, Rousseau and Maupassant. One conclusion of this article is that the authors praised by Ekelund all venerate the Greek and Roman cultural heritage, whereas the despised novelists and poets were, in his opinion, either too “modern” or too “feminine” – both highly pejorative adjectives in the author’s terminology. It is also noted that Ekelund’s most ferocious attacks date from the first part of the decade, before he entered a more harmonic period with the works Metron (1918) and Attiskt i fågelperspektiv (1919).