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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Neutron Electric Dipole Moment: Research And Development, Benjamin Barber
Neutron Electric Dipole Moment: Research And Development, Benjamin Barber
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
The neutron's electric dipole moment (nEDM) serves as an important test of the Standard Model of particle physics and it's various alternatives. Various models of fundamental physics allow for different magnitudes for the nEDM, and recent experiments have begun to exclude some models. Valparaiso University is part of a collaboration of institutions working on an improved experiment to measure the nEDM, to be conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the next few years. The experiment will be performed at 0.4 Kelvin, and will involve the use of magnetic fields and very large electric fields. Research at Los Alamos National …
Finding Variable Stars In Planetary Nebulae Using The Isis Image Subtraction Software, Jake Long, Kevin Nault
Finding Variable Stars In Planetary Nebulae Using The Isis Image Subtraction Software, Jake Long, Kevin Nault
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
Planetary nebulae are a brief and often spectacular stage in the life of stars like the sun during which the star expels its outer layers into space. In order to explain the great variety of observed shapes among planetary nebulae, we are examining the theory that binary central stars of planetary nebulae are a significant factor in their shaping. We determine if the central star of planetary nebulae is binary by looking for photometric periodic variability, a common feature of close binary systems. Using existing data we evaluate the variability using a computer program called ISIS. We have seen the …
The Reaction Of Methane With Platinum Oxide Nanoclusters: A Computational Study, Dane Stewart
The Reaction Of Methane With Platinum Oxide Nanoclusters: A Computational Study, Dane Stewart
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
Previous studies have shown that small clusters of transition metals like Pt, when reacted with oxygen, have useful catalytic properties compared to thin-film or bulk catalysts. These clusters have the potential for use in developing cheaper methods for converting propane to propene, which is a high-value compound used in making plastics. Understanding the structure and formation of these clusters is essential to gauging how reactive each catalyst is. Computational studies of Pt4O2 are being done using Gaussian 03 to understand their formation, and determine the stability of different spin states. The effectiveness of these clusters is then being tested using …
Performance Studies Of The Forward Gem Tracker, Malorie Stowe
Performance Studies Of The Forward Gem Tracker, Malorie Stowe
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
The spin of the proton is thought to be produced by several constituents including quarks, antiquarks, and gluons. It has been the goal of STAR (Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC) to measure the contribution of gluons and various sea quarks to the proton spin. The Forward GEM Tracker (FGT) is a detector in STAR, which is located at the RHIC (Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The FGT serves to track the position of forward-going charged particles, and it will be instrumental in observing the decay leptons from W bosons created by the interaction of the quark of …
Neutral Pion Background Analysis At Star, Adam Clark
Neutral Pion Background Analysis At Star, Adam Clark
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
The STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory takes measurements of cross section and spin observables of polarized proton collisions. The Endcap Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EEMC) allows measurements of electromagnetic particles in the forward direction, 1 < η < 2. The EEMC detector will be used to measure the neutral pion (π0) double longitudinal spin asymmetry which gives us information about the gluon contribution to the proton's spin. The π0 cross section is an important measurement to verify our signal reconstruction and the background characterization. In order to measure the π0 cross section and asymmetry, the backgrounds must be identified (such as those from photon conversions and …
Studying The Variability Of Dying Stars, Austin Bain, Hannah Rotter, Aaron Seider
Studying The Variability Of Dying Stars, Austin Bain, Hannah Rotter, Aaron Seider
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
In this project, we are observing and analyzing the light variability in a class of dying stars. This involves observing then on clear nights, primarily at the Valparaiso University Observatory but also including a few nights at the SARA Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. Thus far this summer we have observed for 25 nights and we observed 31 stars. Some of them we observed on every clear night and others we observed once or twice a week. We are analyzing a subset of 18 of these. We find that they have varied in light by 12 to …
The Reduction And Reporting Of Data On Proto-Planetary Nebulae From Two Observatories, Wesley Cheek
The Reduction And Reporting Of Data On Proto-Planetary Nebulae From Two Observatories, Wesley Cheek
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
I am documenting the light variability in a sample of proto-planetary nebulae (PPNs) observed from two observatories. PPNs are stars in the stage of evolution between the AGB and planetary nebula phases. I analyzed the digital images of the data taken on 34 nights from the SARA-South observatory located in Cerro Tololo, Chile along with data taken from the SARA-North Observatory located in Tucson, Arizona. This was done to obtain quantitative measurements of the brightness variations over time. Once I had this information for each object, I plotted light curves, which can be used to document the amplitudes and possible …
Measurements Of The Angular Cross-Sections Of The Decay Products Of Proton Capture By Lithium-6, Benjamin Barber
Measurements Of The Angular Cross-Sections Of The Decay Products Of Proton Capture By Lithium-6, Benjamin Barber
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
We have studied the nuclear reaction Li-6 + p => He-3 + He-4 using protons from the 200-keV linear accelerator located in the Manning Nuclear Physics Laboratory in the Neils Science Center. We have measured the angular distribution and energy of the resulting He-3 and He-4 nuclei. Measurements were made using a Si surface barrier detector. The incident proton energy was 125 keV, and the angular measurements were made between 150 and 120 degrees downstream of the beam. Results and highlights are presented.
Calibrating The Star Endcap Electromagnetic Calorimeter Using Pi-O’S, Benjamin Barber
Calibrating The Star Endcap Electromagnetic Calorimeter Using Pi-O’S, Benjamin Barber
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
The default energy calibration of the STAR EEMC (Endcap ElectroMagnetic Calorimeter) uses the energy deposition of minimally ionizing particles (MIPs). An alternate method is to use pi-0's. We are reporting a preliminary proof-of-principle calibration method using pi-0's. This method reconstructs the invariant mass of photon pairs, assumed to be resulting from pi-0 decays, using standard two-body kinematics. When many photon pairs are analyzed, a peak is expected in the resulting invariant mass distribution near the pi-0 mass. Using the measured mass of this peak, and the known mass of the pi-0, a minimization routine adjusts the detector gains to optimize …