University of Warwick

About: University of Warwick is a education organization based out in Coventry, Warwickshire, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & White dwarf. The organization has 26212 authors who have published 77127 publications receiving 2666552 citations. The organization is also known as: Warwick University & The University of Warwick.

Understanding the Role of Objects in Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Abstract: In this paper we make a case for the use of multiple theoretical perspectives—theory on boundary objects, epistemic objects, cultural historical activity theory, and objects as infrastructure—to understand the role of objects in cross-disciplinary collaboration. A pluralist approach highlights that objects perform at least three types of work in this context: they motivate collaboration, they allow participants to work across different types of boundaries, and they constitute the fundamental infrastructure of the activity. Building on the results of an empirical study, we illustrate the insights that each theoretical lens affords into practices of collaboration and develop a novel analytical framework that organizes objects according to the active work they perform. Our framework can help shed new light on the phenomenon, especially with regard to the shifting status of objects and sources of conflict (and change) in collaboration. After discussing these novel insights, we outline directions for future research stemming from a pluralist approach. We conclude by noting the managerial implications of our findings.

The economics of Accounting for Growth

Abstract: This is a study of the accounting policies of the leading UK companies analysed by Terry Smith in Accounting for Growth (1992). Smith's critical survey achieved a certain notoriety at the time both for the content, which catalogued important ambiguities in UK GAAP, and also because the author was a leading investment analyst whose employers attempted to suppress the publication. The events that led to his dismissal were extensively reported in the financial press. In this paper we revisit the original analysis in the context of recent advances in the economics of accounting policy choice. Agency theory variables are used to predict the individual accounting policy choices and combinations of policies in Terry Smith's analysis. In particular, size, gearing, the presence of an industry regulator and industry classification are good predictors of accounting policy choices. Our results are stronger for the whole set of accounting policies than for each individual policy. This is consistent with accou...

Broadband observations of the naked-eye gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B

Abstract: Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) release copious amounts of energy across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and so provide a window into the process of black hole formation from the collapse of massive stars Previous early optical observations of even the most exceptional GRBs (990123 and 030329) lacked both the temporal resolution to probe the optical flash in detail and the accuracy needed to trace the transition from the prompt emission within the outflow to external shocks caused by interaction with the progenitor environment Here we report observations of the extraordinarily bright prompt optical and gamma-ray emission of GRB 080319B that provide diagnostics within seconds of its formation, followed by broadband observations of the afterglow decay that continued for weeks We show that the prompt emission stems from a single physical region, implying an extremely relativistic outflow that propagates within the narrow inner core of a two-component jet

One-Dimensional Schrödinger Equation with an Almost Periodic Potential

Abstract: Recent theories of scaling in quasiperiodic dynamical systems are applied to the behavior of a particle in an almost periodic potential. A special tight-binding model is solved exactly by a renormalization group whose fixed points determine the scaling properties of both the energy spectrum and certain features of the eigenstates. Similar results are found empirically for Harper's equation. In addition to ordinary extended and localized states, "critical" states are found which are neither extended nor localized according to conventional criteria.