This chapter is about the interpretation of parameters. Parameter interpretation in the stochastic actor-oriented model is difficult for two reasons. The first, shared with the conditional multinomial logit model on which it is based, is the non-linearity of the link function. The second is the unobserved nature of the sequence of ministeps, the small network changes connecting the consecutive network measurements. The chapter starts with the basics of parameter interpretation in this model and continues with interpretation of parameters specific for actor attributes; for such parameters, the selection plot is presented, a graphical possibility for interpretation. The last section presents three kinds of effect sizes.

We develop the central idea of emergence in the uniform random graph models of this book. We illustrate this with old unsolved problems connected with circle and sphere packings. We introduce notions of entropy, phase space, phases, phase transitions, and order parameters imported from statistical mechanics. We then adapt these notions to define uniform random graph models and in particular the edge-triangle model, which uses a uniform distribution on graphs with given densities of edges and triangles. We argue that the techniques of this book are broadly applicable to other optimization problems, for instance Plateau’s problem and Optimal Transport. We close with a summary of the results of the book, introducing a conjectured phase diagram for the edge-triangle model and indicating which features of that diagram are rigorously proven in later chapters.

We develop the basic notions used throughout the book, providing precise definitions of graphons, Boltzmann and Shannon entropies, phases, and phase transitions, and give proofs of some essential properties. We present graphons from three perspectives, as limits of large graphs, as lists of subgraph densities, and as random processes for generating graphs. A Large Deviations Principle (LDP) relates the Shannon entropy of a graphon to the number of finite graphs approximated by the graphon. Using this LDP, we show that the Boltzmann entropy equals the maximal Shannon entropy of those graphons meeting certain integral constraints. If there is a unique graphon maximizing the Shannon entropy, then typical graphs in the ensemble are described by that graphon. This reduces most questions about phases in uniform random graph models to entropy maximization problems, with the bulk of the book devoted to such problems. To support this, we develop the theory of Lagrange multipliers for graphons, and in particular the "worth" of a column of a graphon, proving that all columns of an optimal graphon have the same worth.

The chapter studies Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Coming Race (1871) and Gabriel Tarde’s Underground Man (1896). Drawing on the pictorial and literary reception of the Thames Tunnel and the Parisian underground, the chapter investigates how the material change of subterranean space in nineteenth-century Britain and France stimulated the conception of a “new” underground associated with the technological future. Comparing the two authors’ intersection of the new underground with climate control, it ventures that Bulwer-Lytton Lytton demonstrates the calamitous aesthetic consequences of climate technology employed by an underground race. In contrast, Tarde portrays the flourishing of decadent underground civilisation prompted by the heat death of the sun. The chapter concludes that the discursive network turning the underground into an inorganic, climate-controlled place peaks in Underground Man, where the climate becomes an engineerable simulacrum, spelling out a progression from dystopian to utopian depictions of deliberate climate change.

Chapter 2 delves into the interconnections between heat, entropy, and temperature, and their relation to phases of matter. We cover heat capacities, specific heats, and the relation they have to the change in entropy. Similarly, we cover latent heat and its direct connection to entropy and enthalpy. We then return to the Clausius–Clapeyron equation and express it in terms of quantities that are readily measured experimentally, such as heat, temperature, and density. It is then applied to both the solid–liquid and liquid–vapor phase boundaries. Finally, we turn to the topic of heat engines and refrigerators, emphasizing the Carnot cycle and its connection to maximum efficiency and absolute temperature.

Timothy S. Murphy explores William Burroughs’ oeuvre as a “singularity” in three overlapping senses: aesthetic uniqueness, philosophical resistance to generalization, and cosmological metaphor. Burroughs’ cut-up novels – Naked Lunch, The Nova Trilogy, and beyond – embody a form of narrative experimentation that resists categorization and disrupts conventional literary logic. Drawing on concepts from astrophysics, Murphy aligns Burroughs’ work with the disruptive force of black holes, novae, and supernovae. Through a close reading of the trilogy’s stellar metaphors, especially the figure of Mr. Bradly Mr. Martin, Murphy argues that Burroughs anticipates a model of narrative that is both destructive and generative – annihilating fixed identities and control structures while offering the possibility of linguistic and ontological renewal. The “Burroughs singularity,” codenamed WSB X-1, represents a continual feedback loop between collapse and creation, producing texts as unstable, irradiated, and transformative as the cosmic phenomena they metaphorically invoke.

We introduce the simplest photonic spin glass by leveraging the so-called random energy model (REM), which allows one to derive a phase diagram with reasonable mathematical complexity. We introduce some concepts of nonequilibrium thermodynamic phases in a multimode photonic system.

This chapter introduces the two main, and original, statements of the second law of thermodynamics: the Clausius statement and the Kelvin–Planck statement. In addition, this chapter discusses the idea of a perfect engine and its requirements. Then, a discussion of reversibility ensues. This leads to the introduction of the Carnot engine, which is considered a perfect engine. Then, Carnot’s propositions are put forth, which paves the way for the introduction of thermodynamic temperature, which is a temperature scale that does not rely on the material used for the temperature measurement. Using these concepts, a new thermodynamic property is deduced: entropy. Entropy and heat are related to each other for reversible processes, and the idea of a temperature–entropy diagram is introduced and discussed. Although this chapter does not quite follow the historical timeline, the discussion of the second law is still nevertheless motivated by the historical development.

In this chapter, the equations that were defined in Chapters 1–3 are used to solve some problems. In addition, the existing equations are modified to make them more useful for finding various property values. Also, two new thermodynamic properties are very briefly introduced, Gibbs energy (or Gibbs free energy) and Helmholtz energy (or Helmholtz free energy), in order to provide a full set of equations often associated with the laws of thermodynamics.

Chapter 5 covers research on visual perception and related psychological theories needed to fully understand the visualisation process. Cues and heuristics are discussed since they are effortless and quick ways for the brain to support human decision-making. Cues are stimuli in the environment triggering a habitual thought, i.e., a heuristic. On average, cues and heuristics will help shoppers come to sufficiently good decisions, but it is highly possible that in most situations a bit of more effortful reflection would lead to even better solutions. The chapter also goes through how heuristics can be misleading. For instance, if retailers reduce the number of stock-keeping units (SKUs), the ones remaining will more easily enter the awareness of the shoppers since there is less clutter. The fact that more products enter the shoppers' awareness will be misinterpreted by the shoppers who think that the number of SKUs has increased. Furthermore, research shows that colour is the visual quality that the brain accesses most easily and that brightness contrast is the dimension of colour that the brain uses most effortlessly. Finally, eye-tracking and the physics of the eye are discussed.