Max Planck Institutes and Experts

Historical spaces can be reconstructed only as conveyed by their representations in various media. In addition to selected case studies reconstructing pre-modern spaces in southern Italy and Naples, a project at the Bibliotheca Hertziana particularly addresses historical spatial constructions themselves. Investigating the interplay of several media that construct space, the project traces the historical process through which the spaces were collectively perceived and defined. The aim is to develop a dynamic model of space that situates art historical objects in a more nuanced manner.

Information processing in mammalian brains requires exceptional coordination of neural activity ranging from local groups of cells to brain wide interactions. To bridge these scales and understand brain function at the system level, we investigate the relationship between action potentials, local field potentials, and blood oxygen level dependent activity in various structures. The development of simultaneous recordings methodologies and data analysis techniques enables us to characterize the brain states associated to memory functions.

In almost all welfare states, life expectancy has been rising across the social strata, but more rapidly so in the higher social classes, resulting in remarkable life-expectancy differentials between the lower and the higher social classes over time. Contributing factors are not only poorer life and working conditions of the lower social classes, but also different smoking, drinking, and dietary habits. Analyses of historical data indicate that social life-expectancy differentials emerged as late as in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Phase field models are a crucial tool in the modeling of complex phenomena. In this context, simulation can help to avoid or reduce the number of costly experiments. For this it is necessary to work with efficient algorithms. Here, we describe iterative solvers that deal with the discretized differential equation models and thus allow for an accurate solution of the problems.

The question about the origin and dispersal of the Transeurasian languages is among the most disputed issues in linguistic history. The Eurasia3angle group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History intends to address these questions by testing the Farming/Language Dispersal Hypothesis for the Transeurasian languages from an interdisciplinary perspective. The group’s key objective is to integrate linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence in a single approach. A method for which the group uses the term Triangulation.