Quantum Spin Hall insulators are particularly attractive materials due to theintrinsic appearance of robust conducting surface states. They represent anew quantum state of matter and offer the...Show moreQuantum Spin Hall insulators are particularly attractive materials due to theintrinsic appearance of robust conducting surface states. They represent anew quantum state of matter and offer the potential of realizing dissipationa-less spin current devices, making them appealing from both a fundamentaland applied point of view. In realistic devices, multiple such states co-existat the surface, but only one pair can be considered ‘topologically’ protectedfrom back-scattering. Thus, the desired robust pair is buried under ‘triv-ial’ conductance. Would the presence of disorder suppress the conductanceof the trivial states, enabling us to capture the topological states? In thisthesis, using a first-principles derived model, we study the effect of disorderon the electronic transport of nanoribbons. Our results show that trivialconductance vanishes for strong enough disorder, and topological protectionsurvives even when a disorder-induced band gap closing occursShow less
This thesis serves to politically conceptualize and explain the popularity of Pentecostalism in Nigeria. The paper focused on the choice of students and employees Covenant University to join that...Show moreThis thesis serves to politically conceptualize and explain the popularity of Pentecostalism in Nigeria. The paper focused on the choice of students and employees Covenant University to join that same university. Covenant University is a private university which is a subsidiary of the Living Faith Church Worldwide (LFCWW), one of the largest Pentecostal churches in Nigeria. This choice of university represents a clear choice to affiliate with or join the Pentecostal community and faith. Covenant University is also a community under full control of the church and a Pentecostal societal model. As an multidisciplinary project, the thesis involved using system-level conceptual analysis of political theory combined with an anthropological ethnographic micro-level study of the Covenant University community. The main argument of the thesis is that while the Nigerian sociopolitical landscape is in a state of disorder, meaning that it is void of a supraethnoreligious ethic and is plagued by extreme violence in everyday life, Covenant University and the LFCWW present themselves as communities of order. This is because they are governed by an overarching ethic derived from scripture and because the main compound of the LFCWW is safe contrasted to the Nigerian public space. Church members and staff explicitly separate themselves from the non-believing populous and the government in a dichotomous friend-enemy fashion. The thesis concludes that the choice of Covenant University as a workplace or place of study constitutes a political choice of order over disorder. As this choice mirrors becoming a Pentecostal church member, the analysis of it bares the political importance the Pentecostal movement in Nigeria.Show less