Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Development Of Back-Scatter And Pile-Up Identification For Ucna+, Amelia Greathouse

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The UCNA Experiment at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) uses

an electron spectrometer to observe angular correlations between the neutron spin and the momenta of beta particles emitted during the process of beta (β) decay. Combined with neutron lifetime measurements, these observations probe physics beyond the standard model. In recent years there has been an effort to modernize the equipment to reduce the physical limitations of the experiment. The new prototype helps to reduce error via use of silicon photo-multipliers (SiPMs) and the SiPMs also have a greater quantum efficiency than the photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). However, there is …

Algorithmic Bias: Causes And Effects On Marginalized Communities, Katrina M. Baha

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Individuals from marginalized backgrounds face different healthcare outcomes due to algorithmic bias in the technological healthcare industry. Algorithmic biases, which are the biases that arise from the set of steps used to solve or analyze a problem, are evident when people from marginalized communities use healthcare technology. For example, many pulse oximeters, which are the medical devices used to measure oxygen saturation in the blood, are not able to accurately read people who have darker skin tones. Thus, people with darker skin tones are not able to receive proper health care due to their pulse oximetry data being inaccurate. This …

Recommendations For Sustainable Tourism In Patagonia: An Exploratory Analysis Of Sustainable Tourism In Costa Rica, The Nordic Region, And Thailand’S Communities, Julia K. Lowery

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explores different levels of governance and its role towards actualizing sustainable tourism in Patagonia. With the growing threat of climate change, international destinations such as Patagonia are looking to continue building their tourism industries in a sustainable way. Through analyzing case studies of national governance in Costa Rica, multi-national governance in the Nordic region, and community-based tourism in Thailand, we can better understand how each form of governance has the potential to create a sustainable tourism industry. With this understanding of successful governance in my case studies, as well as understanding the historical and political forces that have …

An Integration Of Art And Mathematics, Henry Jaakola

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mathematics and art are seemingly unrelated fields, requiring different skills and mindsets. Indeed, these disciplines may be difficult to understand for those not immersed in the field. Through art, math can be more relatable and understandable, and with math, art can be imbued with a different kind of order and structure. This project explores the intersection and integration of math and art, and culminates in a physical interdisciplinary product. Using the Padovan Sequence of numbers as a theoretical basis, two artworks are created with different media and designs, yielding unique results. Through these pieces, the order and beauty of number …

Distant Stars Become Future Homes: The Close Relationship Of Interstellar Between Hard Science-Fiction And Spectacle, Gabriel Davis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hard Science-fiction shares a close relationship with the element of spectacle. This is especially apparent in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014), a film based in realistic science and emotional appeal. Nolan makes use of creating a team comprised of creative minds with different backgrounds. This includes theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, co-writer Jonathan Nolan, and composer Hans Zimmer. Together, the four develop a film that focuses on three main facets of science: time dilation, black holes, and dimensions. Incorporating these elements based in the historical world gives Interstellar its classification as hard science-fiction, a genre based more solidly in realistic science than …

“Garden-Magic”: Conceptions Of Nature In Edith Wharton’S Fiction, Jonathan Malks

Undergraduate Honors Theses

I situate Edith Wharton’s guiding idea of “garden-magic” at the center of my thesis because Wharton’s fiction shows how a garden space could naturalize otherwise inadmissible behaviors within upper-class society while helping a character tie such behavior to a greater possibility for escape. To this end, Wharton situates gardens as idealized touchstones within the built environment of New York City, spaces where characters believe they can reach self-actualization within a version of nature that is man-made. Actualization, in this sense, stems from a character’s imaginative escape that is enabled by a perception of the garden as a kind of natural …

Kinetics For Enzymatic Conversion Of Biomass To Glucose, Jordan Broadwater

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Biofuels are a sought-after alternative for fossil fuels in today’s society. More specifically, cellulose-based biofuel is an avenue of research intending to limit waste and provide new renewable energy. Cellulose is a rigid polymer of glucose monomers that is found abundantly across different agriculture crops. However, its stability is a barrier to energy production from this source. Pretreatment followed by hydrolysis of cellulosic materials serves a potential to produce glucose to be used in biofuels in larger quantities compared to other methods. This project studied the effect microwave pretreatment and oxygenation have on hydrolysis of cellulose in Arundo Donax. Arundo …