By employing Monte Carlo simulations, both the helicity modulus and the heat capacity of a coupled classical XY model in two dimensions have been calculated. The model is based on the Hamiltonian proposed by Bruinsma and Aeppli [Phys. Rev. Lett. 48, 1625 (1982)]. For the first time, the model...

Experimental results from extremely thin free-standing liquid-crystal films have been found to exhibit divergent heat-capacity anomalies in the vicinity of the smectic-A-hexatic-B (SmA-HexB) transition. In fact, the data can be successfully fit to a power-law expression yielding the critical...

The high-quality magnetic fluid composition is capable of forming two-dimensional lattices of concentrated magnetic particle columns in a thin film in magnetic fields. The extraordinary lattices, a kind of novel mesoscopic system, have been explored with optical microscopy, digital imaging, and...

This paper explores Singapore's Little India historic district as an example of a contested urban landscape. Specifically, it argues that Little India is a site of struggle between 'insider' and 'outsider' groups. Using primarily Relph's notion of 'insideness' and 'outsideness', and other...

Transnational practices and networks of capital, labour, business and commodity markets, political movements and cultural flows are both the products of, and catalyst for, contemporary globalisation processes. An important site where the analytical lens can be trained to examine the way in which...

In creative cities, new enterprises emerge all the time catering to the changing needs and lifestyles of visitors and local communities. Reputable institutions, cultural activities, iconic buildings as well as small, local businesses all play a role in `branding' the creative city. This study...

Singapore is renowned as a global business and financial centre, an international hub of air and sea transport, and Asia's leading convention city. In the new millennium, the government has envisioned a new role for the city-state as a 'Renaissance City' and 'Global City for the Arts'. This...