Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

3d-Magnetometer Arrays In Physics Experiments, Shaun G. Vavra

Masters Theses

This study presents the design and experimental evaluation of a magnetometer array utilizing LIS3MDL chips integrated with an Arduino microcontroller. Magnetometer arrays find crucial applications in various fields, including physics research, geophysics, and navigation systems. The goal of this research is to create an affordable and versatile magnetometer array for scientific investigations and practical applications. The paper begins by outlining the hardware and software components of the array. The LIS3MDL chips, known for their high sensitivity and low power consumption, are employed as the core sensing elements. The Arduino microcontroller is utilized for data acquisition and processing. The integration of …

Electroweak Interactions On The Deuteron, Jose Luis Bonilla

Doctoral Dissertations

This research explores the intricacies of Electroweak Interactions on the Deuteron, with a particular focus on muon capture and the hyperfine shift in atomic and muonic deuterium. These processes are phenomena of significant importance in nuclear physics. Understanding these interactions is crucial for illuminating fundamental aspects of nuclear structure and providing insight into the fundamental forces and interactions governing atomic and nuclear systems, as well as related processes such as proton-proton fusion or other astrophysical reactions, which are phenomena that cannot be easily reproduced in a laboratory and require a theoretical treatment to predict observables. Through this research, we systematically …

2d Temperature Map Acquisition Using Hyperspectral Imaging System (Hsis), Anthony Kim

Masters Theses

Imaging techniques are close to our lives and are used for various applications. In the engineering field, one of the dominant techniques is hyperspectral imaging. It is a necessary tool that combines spectroscopy and digital photography and provides additional information on what is imaged by the imaging system. Hyperspectral imaging has been applied to various fields including remote sensing, cultural relic conservation, food microbiology, forensic science, biomedicine, etc.

In particular, work was done to apply hyperspectral imaging to measure the temperature and emissivity of an object. Due to its ability to measure temperature and emissivity without being in contact with …

Pion, Kaon, And Proton Production In Jet-Hadron Correlations From Pb-Pb Collisions At $\Sqrt{S_{Nn}}$=5.02 Tev Using The Alice Detector, Patrick J. Steffanic

Doctoral Dissertations

Interactions between hard probes and the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) are a rich probe of the dynamics of the QGP. In this thesis, we study the production of pions, kaons and protons from jet-hadron correlations in 0-10% and 30-50% central Pb-Pb collisions at √s_NN = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. We focus our studies on low momentum jets with 20 GeV/c < p_T^jet < 40 GeV/c using associated hadrons with 1 GeV/c < p_T^assoc. < 10 GeV/c. The yields of associate pions, kaons and protons were measured in the near-side and away-side regions of the jet-hadron correlation function, and the baryon to meson and strange to non-strange meson ratios were computed. This is the first measurement of the strange to non-strange meson ratio for hadrons associated with a jet. We find the baryon to meson ratio for associated hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions to be within uncertainty of the ratio for inclusive charged hadrons in proton-proton collisions. The strange to non-strange meson ratio for associated hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions shows strong enhancement at intermediate p_T^assoc. relative to the ratio for inclusive charged hadrons in proton-proton collisions, with a hint of enhancement over the ratio for inclusive charged hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions. We find that …

Prompt Vs Local Redeposition: Model Refinement And Experimental Design For Understanding High-Z Net Erosion In Magnetic Confinement Fusion, Davis C. Easley

Doctoral Dissertations

The economic and engineering success of magnetic confinement fusion reactors significantly depends upon the optimization of plasma facing component (PFC) design. For high-Z PFCs, the critical engineering condition is minimal net erosion (i.e. gross erosion – redeposition). Here, we present a high-Z net erosion model discriminating three primary redeposition mechanisms: prompt (geometric-driven), local (sheath-driven), and far (scrape-off-layer-driven). Using these distinctions, we show modeling for high-Z net erosion in magnetic-confinement fusion over a matrix of key plasma parameters. With Sobol’ methods we assess the sensitivity of each mechanism and show that prompt-vs-local trade-off critically explains underprediction in redeposition losses of up …

Novel Quantum Algorithms For Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (Nisq) Devices, Shikha Bangar

Doctoral Dissertations

Quantum computers hold the immense potential to revolutionize the current computing technology. However, the available quantum hardware, known as noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices, poses a challenge as these devices have noise and imperfect qubits. Hence, there is a critical need to develop novel algorithms specifically designed to harness the capabilities of these devices. This work aims to develop and optimize such quantum algorithms for implementation on current quantum technologies by integrating principles from physics and machine learning. First, we developed the Quantum Imaginary Time Evolution (QITE) and Quantum Lanczos (QLanczos) algorithms on discrete-variable quantum computing settings to study the …

Quantum Computing And Information For Nuclear Physics, Chenyi Gu

Doctoral Dissertations

Quantum computation and quantum information, hot topics with immense potential, are making exciting strides in nuclear physics. The computational complexity of nuclear physics problems often surpasses the capabilities of classical computers, but quantum computing offers a promising solution. My research delves into the application of quantum computation and quantum information in nuclear physics.

I am curious about how to approach nuclear physics problems on a quantum computer. This dissertation studies how to prepare quantum states with quantum algorithms, as state preparation is a crucial initial step in studying nuclear dynamics. Two different quantum algorithms are studied: (i) the time-dependent method, …

Renormalization As A Tool For Nuclear Scattering & Binding, Chinmay Mishra

Doctoral Dissertations

Chiral effective field theory is the state-of-the-art when it comes to describing low-energy nuclear phenomena in a systematically-improvable and model-independent fashion. It is grounded in quantum chromodynamics – the fundamental theory underlying nuclear interactions – and consists of pion and nucleon degrees of freedom. In this framework, nuclear interaction is mediated by pions at long distances (in comparison to length scales at which quarks and gluons can be resolved), while finite-range “contact” terms account for the physics at short-distances. Together, they are organized into a hierarchy based on the orders (in powers of small momenta over a large momentum scale) …

Thermal Hydraulic Analysis For Different Subchannels Of Generic Vver-1200, Mosaddak Ahamed Zahid, Md. Imam Mehedi, Shamsul Arefin Shibly, A. S. Mollah

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The demand for nuclear energy is steadily increasing all over the world. Most nuclear power is used for peaceful applications such as power generation, healthcare, agriculture, food security, industry, and research. One of the primary applications of nuclear energy is the generation of electricity through nuclear power plants based on nuclear reactors. Many developing countries around the world (such as Bangladesh) are moving toward nuclear power plants because they have huge advantages, including low-cost energy, reliable energy sources, zero carbon emissions, and high energy concentration. As a result, the demand for nuclear reactor protection and operational protection of nuclear power …

Jet Production And Rppb In Pp Collisions At Sqrt(S) = 8 Tev And P--Pb Collisions At Sqrt(Snn) = 8.16 Tev Using The Alice Detector, Austin Schmier

Doctoral Dissertations

At the CERN Large Hadron Collider, protons and heavy ions are collided at relativistic
speeds in order to study the behavior and processes of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). One such process is the production of collimated sprays of particles called jets resulting from the hard scattering of two partons. Jets are an important probe that provide a window into the early stages of the collision.

Measurements in small systems such as proton-proton (pp) and proton-lead (p–Pb)
collisions are important in order to provide constraints on nuclear parton distribution
functions and the strong coupling constant αS [55]. Measurements at different center of …

Towards Continuous Variable Quantum Computation Of Lattice Gauge Theories, Shane Nicklaus Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations

The calculation of physical quantities in a relativistic quantum field theory (rQFT) is a computationally demanding task due to the presence of an infinite number of degrees of freedom. This problem carries over to discretized versions of these theories, i.e. lattice field theories, where the Hilbert space size increases exponentially with the size of the lattice. Despite the success of some classical techniques such as Monte Carlo, their applicability is limited. For instance, Monte Carlo is associated with a sign problem that makes real-time evolution and high-fermion-density systems particularly challenging to compute. Quantum computation is a promising avenue thanks to …

Understanding The Impact Of Divertor And Main Chamber Ion Fluxes On Divertor Closure In The Diii-D Tokamak, Kirtan M. Davda

Doctoral Dissertations

The diverted tokamak redirects extreme heat and particles to targets, a plasma-facing component designed for such loads. Here, the local fluxes produce strong particle recycling and sputtering. Recycled neutrals can “leak” into the region between the core and wall, the scrape-off-layer (SOL), impacting plasma performance. Increasing divertor closure can reduce leakage by containing neutrals within the divertor. However, there exists a need to quantify divertor baffle restrictions and understand closure directly from empirical data as opposed to indirectly through modeling.

Our study introduces the Geometric Restriction Parameter (GRP) based on simplifying neutral transport to ballistic pathways. Specifically, it considers the …

Novel Energy Scale Calibration Strategies For The Prospect-Ii Experiment, Xiaobin Lu

Doctoral Dissertations

Nuclear reactors contributed to the first discovery of the elusive neutrino particle and continue to play a significant role in our understanding of neutrino masses and oscillations. The PROSPECT reactor neutrino experiment, the Precision Reactor Oscillation and SPECTrum Experiment, took data at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This work discusses calibration procedures and the establishment of an energy scale model, and details the development of efficient analysis cuts and subsequent selection cut optimization. The precise energy scale calibration and efficient analysis cuts produced a high quality dataset of neutrino interactions of more than 50,000 …

Experimental Quantum Key Distribution In Turbulent Channels, Kazi Mh Reaz

Doctoral Dissertations

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) ensures security by relying on the laws of quantum physics rather than the mathematical intricacy of encryption algorithms. The transmission medium is a critical restricting factor for any quantum communication protocol. Fiber-based optical networks suffer great losses, making quantum communication impossible beyond metropolitan scales. Here free-space quantum communication can be a great alternative for long-distance communication. Even though modern Communications are mostly wireless the atmosphere poses a challenge for QKD. So QKD must be resistant to both atmospheric loss and variations in transmittance. In this thesis we conduct an experiment to strengthen the BB84 protocol's resistance …

Particle Classification Of Electromagnetic Clusters Using The Sphenix Detector, Fredrick J. Melhorn

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of Spectroscopic Databases: Content, Structure, Toolsets, Usability, And Documentation, Joseph William Braker

Masters Theses

Spectroscopic databases provide a critical service in the greater field of spectroscopy. Many subdisciplines of spectroscopists use the data contained within, whether calculating theoretical models, evaluating the atmosphere of a planet in the furthest reaches of the galaxy, or monitoring the emission levels of a chemical process. The intention of this research is to seek a deeper level of understanding of spectroscopy and the resources available while providing a comparison of the databases, the content within, and their peripheral tools and features. An experimental effort was derived to utilize existing experimental data from multiple sources and determine which data source …

From Norms Taker To Norms Breaker: A Comparative Study Of Turkey’S Nuclear Discourses Before And After The Ostensible Coup Of 2016, Sarah Tzinieris, Zenobia S. Homan, Cem Boke, Amna Javed

International Journal of Nuclear Security

This article offers an analysis of public statements made by Turkish government leaders, contrasting official attitudes on nuclear nonproliferation before and after the alleged military coup attempt in 2016. Significant developments in this period include deteriorating democracy and the rule of law in Turkey and the emergence of destabilizing foreign policy differences between Turkey and Western states. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also sought to consolidate domestic power and play a more assertive security role in the Middle East. This analysis of official statements reveals a distinct shift in Turkey’s nonproliferation rhetoric after the 2016 coup. In particular, Turkish government ministers …

Year-2 Progress Report On Numerical Methods For Bgk-Type Kinetic Equations, Steven M. Wise, Evan Habbershaw

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Mathematics

In this second progress report we expand upon our previous report and preliminary work. Specifically, we review some work on the numerical solution of single- and multi-species BGK-type kinetic equations of particle transport. Such equations model the motion of fluid particles via a density field when the kinetic theory of rarefied gases must be used in place of the continuum limit Navier-Stokes and Euler equations. The BGK-type equations describe the fluid in terms of phase space variables, and, in three space dimensions, require 6 independent phase-space variables (3 for space and 3 for velocity) for each species for accurate simulation. …

Atomic-Level Mechanisms Of Fast Relaxation In Metallic Glasses, Leo W. Zella

Doctoral Dissertations

Glasses are ubiquitous in daily life and have unique properties which are a consequence of the underlying disordered structure. By understanding the fundamental processes that govern these properties, we can modify glasses for desired applications. Key to understanding the structure-dynamics relationship in glasses is the variety of relaxation processes that exist below the glass transition temperature. Though these relaxations are well characterized with macroscopic experimental techniques, the microscopic nature of these relaxations is difficult to elucidate with experimental tools due to the requirements of timescale and spatial resolution. There remain many questions regarding the microscopic nature of relaxation in glass …

A Measurement Of Neutron Polarization And Transmission For The Nedm@Sns Experiment, Kavish Imam

Doctoral Dissertations

The D.O.E Nuclear Science Advisory Committee Long Range Plan has called for experimental programs to explore fundamental symmetry violations and their implications in nuclear, particle and cosmological physics. The neutron electric dipole moment experiment at the Spallation Neutron Source (nEDM@SNS) aims to search for new physics in the Time-reversal (T) and Charge-Parity (CP) symmetry violating sector by setting a new limit on the nEDM down to a few x 10^-28 e·cm using a novel cryogenic technique, which combines the unique properties of polarized Ultracold Neutrons (UCN), polarized ³He, and superfluid ⁴He. The experiment will employ a cryogenic …

Short Range Correlation Measurements In The Quasielastic Region With An 11 Gev Beam, Casey Morean

Doctoral Dissertations

Electron scattering is a significant means of studying internal high momentum
nucleon and quark distributions in nuclei. Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator
Facility (JLab) with its 11GeV beam is capable of studying high momentum nucleons
with unmatched precision. The role of short range nucleon configurations and
quark distributions is significant for understanding the dynamics of nuclei and their
underlying components. Scattering cross section measurements in the kinematic
regime x > 1, where the free nucleon is forbidden, are sensitive to high momentum
nucleons, which are believed to come from short range correlations (SRCs). SRCs are
strongly interacting, high momentum nucleons with a …

Generative Adversarial Game With Tailored Quantum Feature Maps For Enhanced Classification, Anais Sandra Nguemto Guiawa

Doctoral Dissertations

In the burgeoning field of quantum machine learning, the fusion of quantum computing and machine learning methodologies has sparked immense interest, particularly with the emergence of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. These devices hold the promise of achieving quantum advantage, but they grapple with limitations like constrained qubit counts, limited connectivity, operational noise, and a restricted set of operations. These challenges necessitate a strategic and deliberate approach to crafting effective quantum machine learning algorithms.

This dissertation revolves around an exploration of these challenges, presenting innovative strategies that tailor quantum algorithms and processes to seamlessly integrate with commercial quantum platforms. A …

Perception Of Nuclear Security As A Barrier To Female Representation In Africa, Primerose Ruhukwa

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Women are strongly underrepresented in the nuclear energy sector, particularly in the field of Nuclear security. Regardless of several government efforts to increase the number of women in this field, which include gender balance polices, education, and awareness campaigns, the nuclear security industry remains a male-dominated field. The reason why nuclear security is shunned by most women in Africa is because of an incorrect perception of what nuclear security is. When a lay person hears the term nuclear, the first thing that comes to mind is nuclear weapons, and many are quick to judge, saying that Africa does not …

Chirality, Symmetry-Breaking, And Chemical Substitution In Multiferroics, Kiman Park

Doctoral Dissertations

Multiferroic materials attract significant attention due to their potential utility in a broad range of device applications. The inclusion of heavy metal centers in these materials enhances their magnetoelectric properties, yielding fascinating physical phenomena such as the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, nonreciprocal directional dichroism, enhancement of spin-phonon coupling, and spin-orbit-entangled ground states. This dissertation provides a comprehensive survey of magnetoelectric multiferroics containing heavy metal centers and explores spectroscopic techniques under extreme conditions. A microscopic examination of phase transitions, symmetry-breaking, and structure-property relationships enhances the fundamental understanding of coupling mechanisms.

In A2Mo3O8 (A = Fe, Zn, Ni, and Mn), we use optical spectroscopy …

Exploring Skyrmions Dynamics And Structure Using Neutron Scattering, W-L-Namila Chandula Liyanage

Doctoral Dissertations

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected chiral spin textures with great potential for next-generation consumer technologies. These magnetic structures can be described as spins continuously wrapping into a closed coplanar loop, featuring a core and fencing perimeter with opposite out-of-plane orientations. While conventional depictions of magnetic skyrmions use a two-dimensional projection, recent research underscores the importance of their three-dimensional structure in determining their topology and stability. Magnetic skyrmions typically emerge just below the curie temperature of a magnetic material, creating what is known as a skyrmion pocket. In most materials the stability pocket is at low temperatures and finite fields, however …

Dinitrogen Functionalization Using A Molybdenum Atom: Bridging The Gap Between Small And Coordination Complexes Via Quantum Mechanical Methods, Maria Virginia White

Doctoral Dissertations

Chemistry devotes a significant amount of its research to understanding small molecule activation from an electronic structure perspective to help with the investigation of the reaction pathways of catalytically active substances that can promote biomimetic catalysis. A large portion of the energy used annually in our planet is used for the artificial nitrogen fixation (Haber-Bosch process), which renders dinitrogen activation a subject of study. Molybdenum, a fourth row transitional metal, has demonstrated its effectiveness as an essential component of the dinitrogen reduction catalytic process. To better understand the multiple dinitrogen molybdenum binding modes, the work described herein combines wave function …

Sub-Chandrasekhar Type Ia Supernovae Scenarios With Increased Pathways For Neutronization, Fernando Hernan Rivas

Doctoral Dissertations

Type Ia supernovae are thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs (WD), electron-degenerate cores of old intermediate mass stars(under 8$M_{\odot}$). Reaching energies of $10^{51}$\si{\erg}, they outshine whole galaxies as they synthesize and distribute most of the iron group elements (IGE; V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) into the interstellar medium, thus being one of the main agents in cosmic chemical evolution. Also, given their notably homogeneous lightcurves, they form the last step in the cosmic distance ladder outdistancing Cepheid variables by orders of magnitude. Though calibration of said lightcurves is dependent on a high number of confirmed events, the limits of statistical …

Fabrication, Measurements, And Modeling Of Semiconductor Radiation Detectors For Imaging And Detector Response Functions, Corey David Ahl

Doctoral Dissertations

In the first part of this dissertation, we cover the development of a diamond semiconductor alpha-tagging sensor for associated particle imaging to solve challenges with currently employed scintillators. The alpha-tagging sensor is a double-sided strip detector made from polycrystalline CVD diamond. The performance goals of the alpha-tagging sensor are 700-picosecond timing resolution and 0.5 mm spatial resolution. A literature review summarizes the methodology, goals, and challenges in associated particle imaging. The history and current state of alpha-tagging sensors, followed by the properties of diamond semiconductors are discussed to close the literature review. The materials and methods used to calibrate the …

Pointing Control And Stabilization Of The High-Energy Uv Laser For Laser-Assisted Charge Exchange, Martin Joseph Kay

Doctoral Dissertations

Laser-Assisted Charge Exchange (LACE) is an experimental method of charge exchange injection into a proton accumulator ring that is being developed at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) in Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as an alternative to hazardous injection foils. The current scheme of LACE requires a high-energy, low-repetition-rate UV (355 nm) laser beam (140 mJ pulses at 10 Hz) to be transported over 65 meters to the laser-particle interaction point (IP) in a high-radiation area of the accelerator. Thermal effects and other disturbances along the free-space laser transport line cause the beam to slowly drift away from the IP …

Total Absorption Spectroscopy Of Mo-106 And Tc-106, Michael Cooper

Doctoral Dissertations

Total absorption spectroscopy is a method of gamma-ray spectroscopy that has gained prominence in the past several decades, as nuclear data revisions are performed on older nuclear data, which is often incomplete. A strong understanding of underlying nuclear data, particularly fission and beta decay data, is essential for nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel decay heat. This PhD work involves the analysis of fission fragments 106Mo [Mo-106] and 106Tc [Tc-106]. These neutron rich isotopes contribute upwards of 6% of the cumulative fission yield of 241Pu [Pu-241] fission, and 4% of 239Pu [Pu-239] fission. Prior data for these two fission fragments only …