Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 130

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Using Coherence To Improve The Calculation Of Active Acoustic Intensity With The Phase And Amplitude Gradient Estimator Method, Mylan Ray Cook Jan 2019

Using Coherence To Improve The Calculation Of Active Acoustic Intensity With The Phase And Amplitude Gradient Estimator Method, Mylan Ray Cook

Theses and Dissertations

Coherence, which gives the similarity of signals received at two microphone locations, can be a powerful tool for calculating acoustic quantities, particularly active acoustic intensity. To calculate active acoustic intensity, a multi-microphone probe is often used, and therefore coherence between all microphone pairs on the probe can be obtained. The phase and amplitude gradient estimator (PAGE) method can be used to calculate intensity, and is well suited for many situations. There are limitations to this method—such as multiple sources or contaminating noise in the sound field—which can cause significant error. When there are multiple sources or contaminating noise present, the …


Writing And Designing A Chapter On Mercury And Pluto For The Textbook Exploring The Planets (Explanet.Info), Braxton Clark Spilker Nov 2018

Writing And Designing A Chapter On Mercury And Pluto For The Textbook Exploring The Planets (Explanet.Info), Braxton Clark Spilker

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring the Planets (http://explanet.info) is a free online college textbook covering thebasic concepts of planetary science emphasizing the character and evolution of the planetarybodies in the Solar System. The latest edition (3rd edition) was published online in 2007 by EricH Christiansen. Since the release of the third edition, two important planetary missions havebeen completed: MESSENGER (to Mercury) and New Horizons (to Pluto). These missionsprovided new information and fundamental insights into these planetary bodies, which have notyet been included in Exploring the Planets. The modern results based on recent investigations ofMercury and Pluto are critical for our understanding of the nature …


Ion Friction At Small Values Of The Coulomb Logarithm, Robert Tucker Sprenkle Jul 2018

Ion Friction At Small Values Of The Coulomb Logarithm, Robert Tucker Sprenkle

Theses and Dissertations

We create a dual-species ultracold neutral plasma (UNP) by photo-ionizing Yb and Ca atoms in a dual-species magneto-optical trap. Unlike single-species UNP expansion, these plasmas are well outside of the collisionless (Vlasov) approximation. We observe the mutual interaction of the Yb and Ca ions by measuring the velocity distribution for each ion species separately. We model the expansion using a fluid code including ion-ion friction and compare with experimental results to obtain a value of the Coulomb logarithm of Λ= 0.04.


Use Of Phase And Amplitude Gradient Estimation For Acoustic Source Characterization And Localization, Joseph Scott Lawrence Jul 2018

Use Of Phase And Amplitude Gradient Estimation For Acoustic Source Characterization And Localization, Joseph Scott Lawrence

Theses and Dissertations

Energy-based acoustic quantities provide vital information about acoustic fields and the characterization of acoustic sources. Recently, the phase and amplitude gradient estimator (PAGE) method has been developed to reduce error and extend bandwidth of energy-based quantity estimates. To inform uses and applications of the method, analytical and experimental characterizations of the method are presented. Analytical PAGE method bias errors are compared with those of traditional estimation for two- and three-microphone one-dimensional probes. For a monopole field when phase unwrapping is possible, zero bias error is achieved for active intensity using three-microphone PAGE and for specific acoustic impedance using two-microphone PAGE. …


Thin Film Carbon Nanofuses For Permanent Data Storage, Kevin Robert Laughlin Apr 2018

Thin Film Carbon Nanofuses For Permanent Data Storage, Kevin Robert Laughlin

Theses and Dissertations

We have fabricated nanofuses from thin-film, arc-evaporation carbon for use in permanent data storage. Thin film carbon fuses have fewer fabrication barriers and retain the required resistivity and structural stability to work as a data storage medium. Carbon thin films were characterized for their electrical, microstructural, and chemical bonding properties. Annealing the thin-film carbon in an argon environment at 400°C reduced the resistivity from about 4*10-2 Ω cm as deposited down to about 5*10-4 Ω cm, allowing a lower blowing voltage. Nanofuses with widths ranging from 200 nm down to 60 nm were fabricated and tested. They blow …


Development Of A Real-Time Auralization System For Assessment Of Vocal Effort In Virtual-Acoustic Environments, Jennifer Kay Whiting Apr 2018

Development Of A Real-Time Auralization System For Assessment Of Vocal Effort In Virtual-Acoustic Environments, Jennifer Kay Whiting

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes the development of the real-time convolution system (RTCS) for a little-studied talker/listener in virtual acoustic environments. We include descriptions of the high-resolution directivity measurements of human speech, the RTCS system components, the measurement and characterization of oral-binaural room impulse responses (OBRIRs) for a variety of acoustic environments, and the compensation filter necessary for its validity. In addition to incorporating the high-resolution directivity measurements, this RTCS improved on that developed by Cabrera et al. [1] through the derivation and inclusion of the compensation filter. Objective measures in the time- and frequency-domains, as well as subjective measures, were developed …


Evaporated Aluminum Fluoride As A Barrier Layer To Retard Oxidation Of Aluminum Mirrors, Margaret Miles Dec 2017

Evaporated Aluminum Fluoride As A Barrier Layer To Retard Oxidation Of Aluminum Mirrors, Margaret Miles

Theses and Dissertations

The aluminum oxide growth rate for aluminum protected with 2.4 nm of aluminum fluoride has been determined. We show that a 2.4 nm aluminum fluoride layer does not prevent aluminum from oxidation but does significantly retard the oxide growth – decreasing the oxide layer thickness from 1 nm in less than an hour to 0.9 nm over 116 hours. Additionally, the optical constants for aluminum oxide growing under an aluminum fluoride barrier layer have been determined – showing an increase in absorption at high energies for Al2O3 forming at room temperature as compared to highly ordered Al …


The Morphology And Uniformity Of Circumstellar Oh/H2O Masers Around Oh/Ir Stars, Derek Sean Felli Dec 2017

The Morphology And Uniformity Of Circumstellar Oh/H2O Masers Around Oh/Ir Stars, Derek Sean Felli

Theses and Dissertations

Even though low mass stars (< 8 solar masses) vastly outnumber high mass stars (< 8 solar masses), the more massive stars drive the chemical evolution of galaxies from which the next generation of stars and planets can form. Understanding mass loss of asymptotic giant branch stars contributes to our understanding of the chemical evolution of the galaxy, stellar populations, and star formation history. Stars with mass < 8 solar masses form planetary nebulae, while those with mass < 8 solar masses go supernova. In both cases, these stars enrich their environments with elements heavier than simple hydrogen and helium molecules. While some general info about how stars die and form planetary nebulae are known, specific details are missing due to a lack of high-resolution observations and analysis of the intermediate stages. For example, we know that mass loss in stars creates morphologically diverse planetary nebulae, but we do not know the uniformity of these processes, and therefore lack detailed models to better predict how spherically symmetric stars form asymmetric nebulae. We have selected a specific group of late-stage stars and observed them at different scales to reveal the uniformity of mass loss through different layers close to the star. This includes observing nearby masers that trace the molecular shell structure around these stars. This study revealed detailed structure that was analyzed for uniformity to place constraints on how the mass loss processes behave in models. These results will feed into our ability to create more detailed models to better predict the chemical evolution of the next generation of stars and planets.


Machine Learning To Discover And Optimize Materials, Conrad Waldhar Rosenbrock Dec 2017

Machine Learning To Discover And Optimize Materials, Conrad Waldhar Rosenbrock

Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, scientists have dreamed of creating materials by design. Rather than discovery by accident, bespoke materials could be tailored to fulfill specific technological needs. Quantum theory and computational methods are essentially equal to the task, and computational power is the new bottleneck. Machine learning has the potential to solve that problem by approximating material behavior at multiple length scales. A full end-to-end solution must allow us to approximate the quantum mechanics, microstructure and engineering tasks well enough to be predictive in the real world. In this dissertation, I present algorithms and methodology to address some of these problems at …


Using Advanced Psf Subtraction Techniques On Archival Data Of Herbig Ae/Be Stars To Search For New Candidate Companions, Emily Diane Safsten Jul 2017

Using Advanced Psf Subtraction Techniques On Archival Data Of Herbig Ae/Be Stars To Search For New Candidate Companions, Emily Diane Safsten

Theses and Dissertations

Herbig Ae/Be (HAeBe) stars are intermediate mass (2-10 solar mass) pre-main sequence stars with circumstellar disks. Observing planets within these young disks would greatly aid in understanding planet formation processes and timescales particularly around massive stars. So far, only one planet, HD 100546 b, has been confirmed to orbit a HAeBe star. With over 250 HAeBe stars known, and several observed to have disks with structures thought to be related to planet formation, it seems likely that there are as yet undiscovered planetary companions within the circumstellar disks of some of these young stars. Direct detection of a low-luminosity companion …


Active Control Of Cylindrical Shells Using The Weighted Sum Of Spatial Gradients (Wssg) Control Metric, Pegah Aslani Jun 2017

Active Control Of Cylindrical Shells Using The Weighted Sum Of Spatial Gradients (Wssg) Control Metric, Pegah Aslani

Theses and Dissertations

Cylindrical shells are common structures that are often used in industry, such as pipes, ducts, aircraft fuselages, rockets, submarine pressure hulls, electric motors and generators. In many applications it is desired to attenuate the sound radiated from the vibrating structure. There are both active and passive methods to achieve this purpose. However, at low frequencies passive methods are less effective and often an excessive amount of material is needed to achieve acceptable results. There have been a number of works regarding active control methods for this type of structure. In most cases a considerable number of error sensors and secondary …


Energy Quantity Estimation In Radiated Acoustic Fields, Eric B. Whiting Sep 2016

Energy Quantity Estimation In Radiated Acoustic Fields, Eric B. Whiting

Theses and Dissertations

Energy quantities, which are calculated from pressure and particle velocity, yield a great deal of information about acoustic fields. Errors in pressure or particle velocity estimation lead to bias errors the estimation of energy quantities. The bias errors arise from different probe configurations and processing methods. Two processing methods are examined: the traditional method and the recently developed Phase and Amplitude Gradient Estimation (PAGE) method. These two methods are compared to investigate how each estimates pressure and particle velocity and the subsequent bias errors in a plane wave, standing wave, and spherical spreading wave field. Analytical expressions are derived for …


Increasing The Computational Efficiency Of Combinatoric Searches, Wiley Spencer Morgan Sep 2016

Increasing The Computational Efficiency Of Combinatoric Searches, Wiley Spencer Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

A new algorithm for the enumeration of derivative superstructures of a crystal is presented. The algorithm will help increase the efficiency of computational material design methods such as cluster expansion by increasing the size and diversity of the types of systems that can be modeled. Modeling potential alloys requires the exploration of all possible configurations of atoms. Additionally, modeling the thermal properties of materials requires knowledge of the possible ways of displacing the atoms. One solution to finding all symmetrically unique configurations and displacements is to generate the complete list of possible configurations and remove those that are symmetrically equivalent. …


Emission From Black Holes And Supernovae In The Early Universe, Brandon Kerry Wiggins Jul 2016

Emission From Black Holes And Supernovae In The Early Universe, Brandon Kerry Wiggins

Theses and Dissertations

To constrain the era when the first galaxies and stars appeared upcoming instruments will rely on the brightest events in the universe: supernovae and brilliant emission from massive black holes. In this dissertation, we investigate the observability of certain types of supernovae of the very first stars (Population III stars) and find that while these events are sufficiently luminous to be observed with deep-sky instruments such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), they may not observe these particular types of events in their lifetimes. We next explore the origins of massive black holes and introduce the direct collapse hypothesis …


In Situ Magnetic Field Characterization With The Directional Hanle Effect, Jarom Silver Jackson Jun 2016

In Situ Magnetic Field Characterization With The Directional Hanle Effect, Jarom Silver Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

We present a novel method of in situ magnetic field mapping related to the Hanle effect. This method uses the change in spatial radiation pattern of scattered light, which we call a 'directional Hanle effect,' rather than the loss of polarization more commonly associated with the Hanle effect. It is particularly well suited for fields in a magneto-optical trap (MOT), requiring only the addition of a narrow slit and a camera to typical MOT components. The use of this method is demonstrated by measuring the gradient through, and location of, the zero-point of the field in our strontium MOT.


Microfabrication With Smooth, Thin Cnt/Polymer Composite Sheets, Nathan Edward Boyer Jun 2016

Microfabrication With Smooth, Thin Cnt/Polymer Composite Sheets, Nathan Edward Boyer

Theses and Dissertations

Carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composite sheets can be extremely high strength and lightweight, which makes them attractive for fabrication of mechanical structures. This thesis demonstrates a method whereby smooth, thin CNT/polymer composite sheets can be fabricated and patterned on the microscale using a process of photolithography and plasma etching. CNT/polymer composites were made from CNTs grown using chemical vapor deposition using supported catalyst growth and floating catalyst growth. The composite sheets had a roughness of approximately 30nm and were about 61¼m or 261¼m depending on whether they were made from supported catalyst grown or floating catalyst grown CNTs. The composites were …


Improvements To The Two-Point In Situ Method For Measurement Of The Room Constant And Sound Power In Semi-Reverberant Rooms, Zachary R. Jensen Mar 2016

Improvements To The Two-Point In Situ Method For Measurement Of The Room Constant And Sound Power In Semi-Reverberant Rooms, Zachary R. Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

The two-point in situ method is a technique for measuring the room constant of a semi-reverberant room and the sound power of a source in that room simultaneously using two measurement positions. Using a reference directivity source, where the directivity factor along any given axis of the source has been measured, one is able to use the Hopkins-Stryker equation to measure both the room constant and the sound power level of another source rather simply. Using both numerical and experimental data, it was found that by using generalized energy density (GED) as a measurement quantity, the results were more accurate …


Development, Evaluation, And Validation Of A High-Resolution Directivity Measurement System For Played Musical Instruments, K Joshua Bodon Mar 2016

Development, Evaluation, And Validation Of A High-Resolution Directivity Measurement System For Played Musical Instruments, K Joshua Bodon

Theses and Dissertations

A high-resolution directivity measurement system at Brigham Young University has been renovated and upgraded. Acoustical treatments have been installed on the microphone array, professional-grade audio hardware and cabling have been utilized, and user-friendly MATLAB processing and plotting codes have been developed. The directivities of 16 played musical instruments and several loudspeakers have been measured by the system, processed, and plotted. Using loudspeakers as simulated musicians, a comprehensive analysis was completed to validate the system and understand its error bounds. A comparison and evaluation of repeated-capture to single-capture spherical systems was made to demonstrate the high level of detail provided by …


Construction Of A 408 Nm Laser System For Use In Ion Interferometry, Lawrence Archibald Dec 2015

Construction Of A 408 Nm Laser System For Use In Ion Interferometry, Lawrence Archibald

Theses and Dissertations

This work reports on the construction of a 408 nm laser system designed to drive stimulated Raman transitions between the F = 4 and F = 5 2 S 1/2 states of 87 Sr + using the 2 P 3/2 state as the intermediate state. This laser system will be used as part of a 87 Sr + ion interferometer. This work also includes a discussion of relevant theory describing the interaction of the ions and laser, along with a calculation of the transition rates as a function of laser power and detuning.


Silicon Carbon Nanotube Lithium Ion Batteries, Lawrence Kent Barrett Dec 2015

Silicon Carbon Nanotube Lithium Ion Batteries, Lawrence Kent Barrett

Theses and Dissertations

Silicon has the highest theoretical capacity of any known anode material, and silicon coated carbon nanotubes (Si-CNTs) have shown promise of dramatically increasing battery capacity. However, capacity fading with cycling and low rate capability prevent widespread use. Here, three studies on differing aspects of these batteries are presented. Here, three studies on differing aspects of these batteries are presented. The first examines the rate capability of these batteries. It compares the cycling of electrodes hundreds of microns thick with and without ten micron access holes to facilitate diffusion. The holes do not improve rate capability, but thinner coatings of silicon …


Comparing Theory And Experiment For Analyte Transport In The First Vacuum Stage Of The Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer, Matthew R. Zachreson Jul 2015

Comparing Theory And Experiment For Analyte Transport In The First Vacuum Stage Of The Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer, Matthew R. Zachreson

Theses and Dissertations

The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) has been used in laboratories for many years. The majority of the improvements to the instrument have been done empirically through trial and error. A few fluid models have been made, which have given a general description of the flow through the mass spectrometer interface. However, due to long mean free path effects and other factors, it is very difficult to simulate the flow details well enough to predict how changing the interface design will change the formation of the ion beam. Towards this end, Spencer et al. developed FENIX, a direct simulation …


A Feasibility Study Of Photometric Reverberation Mapping With Meter-Class Telescopes, Carla June Carroll Jun 2015

A Feasibility Study Of Photometric Reverberation Mapping With Meter-Class Telescopes, Carla June Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

For the past several decades, mass estimates for supermassive black holes hosted by active galactic nuclei (AGN) have been made with the reverberation mapping (RM) technique. This methodology has produced consistent results and has been used to establish several relations that link the characteristics of the host galaxy to the mass of the central black hole. Despite this success, there are less than 50 AGN with black hole masses derived from RM. This low number is generally attributed to the difficulties in coordinating large blocks of telescope time for making simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic observations. Spectroscopic observations also generally require …


Characterization Of Order-Disorder Phase Transition Temperature For Select Nanoparticles, Gregory J. Sutherland Jun 2015

Characterization Of Order-Disorder Phase Transition Temperature For Select Nanoparticles, Gregory J. Sutherland

Theses and Dissertations

A method was found for creating ordered nanoparticles whose size and theoretical order-disorder temperature are ideal for study in the TEM. Specifically FePt, NiPt, FeNiPt and AuCu nanoparticles were studied. We were able to show how a nanoparticle's size affects its order-disorder temperature (Tod). When the particles were around 6 nm in diameter there was a shift downward of the Tod of 10-15 percent compared to the bulk. While particles around 10 nm in diameter experienced a downward shift of 0-6 percent compared to the bulk. One can approximate that particles less than 10-15 nm in diameter would show significant …


Simulations Of Electron Trajectories In An Intense Laser Focus For Photon Scattering Experiments, Grayson J. Tarbox Mar 2015

Simulations Of Electron Trajectories In An Intense Laser Focus For Photon Scattering Experiments, Grayson J. Tarbox

Theses and Dissertations

An experiment currently underway at BYU is designed to test whether the size of a free electron wave packet affects the character of scattered radiation. Using a semi-classical argument wherein the wave packet is treated as a diffuse charge distribution, one would expect strong suppression of radiation in the direction perpendicular to the propagating field as the wave packet grows in size to be comparable to the wavelength of the driving field. If one disallows the interaction of the wave packet with itself, as is the case when calculating the rate of emission using QED, then regardless of size, the …


Radio Emission Toward Regions Of Massive Star Formation In The Large Magellanic Cloud, Adam Johanson Mar 2015

Radio Emission Toward Regions Of Massive Star Formation In The Large Magellanic Cloud, Adam Johanson

Theses and Dissertations

Four regions of massive star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) were observed for water and methanol maser emission and radio continuum emission. A total of 42 radio detections were made including 27 new radio sources, four water masers, and eight compact HII regions. The lobes of a radio galaxy were resolved for the first time, and the host galaxy identified. Seven sources were associated with known massive young stellar objects (YSOs). A multi-wavelength analysis using both the infrared and radio spectrum was used to characterize the sources. Mid-infrared color-magnitude selection criteria for ultracompact HII (UCHII) regions in the …


Re-Calibration Of The Periods Of Selected Cepheids From The Hubble Space Telescope Key Project Using Time Correction, Muxue Liu Mar 2015

Re-Calibration Of The Periods Of Selected Cepheids From The Hubble Space Telescope Key Project Using Time Correction, Muxue Liu

Theses and Dissertations

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was originally proposed and funded in the 1970's with a launch planned for the early 1980's. However, the launch finally occurred on April 24, 1990, largely due to the Challenger accident. Once launched in 1990, one of HST's earliest projects was the Key Project. One of the main purposes of the Key Project was to calibrate the distances to nearby galaxies and determine a definitive value of the Hubble constant H0. All secondary distance determination methods were based on the period-luminosity relation of Cepheid variable stars. This thesis examines the Cepheid data from the Key …


Algebraic Semi-Classical Model For Reaction Dynamics, Tim Glenn Wendler Dec 2014

Algebraic Semi-Classical Model For Reaction Dynamics, Tim Glenn Wendler

Theses and Dissertations

We use an algebraic method to model the molecular collision dynamics of a collinear triatomic system. Beginning with a forced oscillator, we develop a mathematical framework upon which inelastic and reactive collisions are modeled. The model is considered algebraic because it takes advantage of the properties of a Lie algebra in the derivation of a time-evolution operator. The time-evolution operator is shown to generate both phase-space and quantum dynamics of a forced oscillator simultaneously. The model is considered semi-classical because only the molecule's internal degrees-of-freedom are quantized. The relative translation between the colliding atom and molecule in an exchange reaction …


Towards Stronger Coulomb Coupling In An Ultracold Neutral Plasma, Mary Elizabeth Lyon Jul 2014

Towards Stronger Coulomb Coupling In An Ultracold Neutral Plasma, Mary Elizabeth Lyon

Theses and Dissertations

Ultracold neutral plasmas are created by photoionizing laser-cooled atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Due to their large electrical potential energies and comparatively small kinetic energies, ultracold plasmas fall into a regime of plasma systems which are called “strongly coupled.” A priority in the field of ultracold plasmas is to generate plasmas with higher values of the strong coupling parameter Γ, which is given as the ratio of the nearest-neighbor Coulomb potential energy to the average kinetic energy. The equilibrium strong coupling in ultracold plasmas is limited by the ultrafast relaxation of the ions due to spatial disorder in the …


Investigation Of A New Method Of Estimating Acoustic Intensity And Its Application To Rocket Noise, Benjamin Young Christensen Jul 2014

Investigation Of A New Method Of Estimating Acoustic Intensity And Its Application To Rocket Noise, Benjamin Young Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

An alternative pressure-sensor based method for estimating the acoustic intensity, the phase and amplitude gradient estimation (PAGE) method, is presented. This method is similar to the finite-difference p-p (FD) method, in which the intensity is estimated from pressure measurements made using an array of closely spaced microphones. The PAGE method uses the same hardware as the FD method, but does not suffer from the frequency-dependent bias inherent to the FD method. Detailed derivations of the new method and the traditional FD method are presented. Both methods are then compared using two acoustic fields: a plane wave and a three monopole …


Introduction To The Development Of A Radio Astronomy System At Brigham Young University, Daniel Robert Blakley Jul 2014

Introduction To The Development Of A Radio Astronomy System At Brigham Young University, Daniel Robert Blakley

Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this project was founded upon the need to train students in the techniques of radio astronomy with the purpose of establishing a radio telescope in order to teach the principles and practice of radio astronomy.This document describes the theory, research, to establish the 1st generation radio telescope system within the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Brigham Young University. Included are introductions to: (1) The nature of star forming regions in the spiral arm structure of the galaxy, H I (the hydrogen spin-flip transition) and OH MASERS, (2) The of terminology used with the system components and …