Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Hhl Algorithm On The Honeywell H1 Quantum Computer, Adrik B. Herbert, Eric A. F. Reinhardt

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

The quantum algorithm for linear systems of equations (HHL algorithm) provides an efficient tool for finding solutions to systems of functions with a large number of variables and low sensitivity to changes in inputs (i.e. low error rates). For complex problems, such as matrix inversion, HHL requires exponentially less computational time as compared with classical computation methods. HHL can be adapted to current quantum computing systems with limited numbers of qubits (quantum computation bits) but a high reusability rate such as the Honeywell H1 quantum computer. Some methods for improving HHL have been proposed through the combination of quantum and …

Experience Doesn't Matter, But The Direction Does, Hailey Blythe

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Catalytic Pyrolysis Of Lignin Model Compounds (Pyrocatechol, Guaiacol, Vanillic And Ferulic Acids) Over Nanoceria Catalyst For Biomass Conversion, Nataliia Nastasiienko, Tetiana Kulik, Borys Palianytsia, Julia Laskin, Tetiana Cherniavska, Mykola Kartel, Mats Larsson

Department of Chemistry Faculty Publications

Understanding the mechanisms of thermal transformations of model lignin compounds (MLC) over nanoscale catalysts is important for improving the technologic processes occurring in the pyrolytic conversion of lignocellulose biomass into biofuels and value-added chemicals. Herein, we investigate catalytic pyrolysis of MLC (pyrocatechol (P), guaiacol (G), ferulic (FA), and vanillic acids (VA)) over nanoceria using FT-IR spectroscopy, temperature-programmed desorption mass spectrometry (TPD MS), and thermogravimetric analysis (DTG/DTA/TG). FT-IR spectroscopic studies indicate that the active groups of aromatic rings of P, G, VA, and FA as well as carboxylate groups of VA and FA are involved in the interaction with nanoceria surface. …

Simulating Quantum Systems Using The D-Wave Quantum Computer, Justin M. Copenhaver, Raunaq Kumaran, Birgit Kaufmann, Adam Wasserman

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

No abstract provided.

The Challenge For Vision Of Fluctuating Real-World Illumination, David H. Foster

MODVIS Workshop

No abstract provided.

Exploring Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (Libs) For Post-Detonation Nuclear Forensics Debris Analysis, Justin Knoll, Chad Schools, David Fobar

Purdue Workshop on Nonproliferation: Technology and Approaches

In the unlikely but catastrophic event of a nuclear terrorist attack our government leadership will need reliable information to rapidly inform critical decisions. This research explores the use of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) as a potential analysis tool in the National Technical Nuclear Forensics process. The current state of post detonation nuclear forensics requires ground and air samples be collected and shipped to state-of-the-art laboratories for radiochemical analysis. The samples undergo many measurements and useable data is produced as these measurements are completed. This data flows back into the process to guide additional measurements and inform the process of …

A Theoretical Model Of Underground Dipole Antennas For Communications In Internet Of Underground Things, Abdul Salam, Mehmet C. Vuran, Xin Dong, Christos Argyropoulos, Suat Irmak

Faculty Publications

The realization of Internet of Underground Things (IOUT) relies on the establishment of reliable communication links, where the antenna becomes a major design component due to the significant impacts of soil. In this paper, a theoretical model is developed to capture the impacts of change of soil moisture on the return loss, resonant frequency, and bandwidth of a buried dipole antenna. Experiments are conducted in silty clay loam, sandy, and silt loam soil, to characterize the effects of soil, in an indoor testbed and field testbeds. It is shown that at subsurface burial depths (0.1-0.4m), change in soil moisture impacts …

Limitations Of Zt As A Figure Of Merit For Nanostructured Thermoelectric Materials, Xufeng Wang, Mark Lundstrom

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Thermoelectric properties of nanocomposites are numerically studied as a function of average grain size or nanoparticle density by simulating the measurements as they would be done experimentally. In accordance with previous theoretical and experimental results, we find that the Seebeck coefficient, power factor and figure of merit, zT, can be increased by nanostructuring when energy barriers exist around the grain boundaries or embedded nanoparticles. When we simulate the performance of a thermoelectric cooler with the same material, however, we find that the maximum temperature difference is much less than expected from the given zT. This occurs because the …

Incorporating Collisions And Resistance Into The Transition From Field Emission To The Space Charge Regime, Samuel D. Dynako, Adam M. Darr, Allen L. Garner

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Advancements in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and microplasmas, particularly with respect to applications in combustion and biotechnology, motivate studies into microscale gas breakdown to enable safe system design and implementation. Breakdown at microscale deviates from that predicted by Paschen’s law due to field emission—the stripping of electrons from the cathode in the presence of strong surface field—and follows the Fowler-Nordheim (FN) law. As injected current increases at this length scale, electrons accumulate in the gap and FN electron emission becomes space charge limited, leading to the Child-Langmuir (CL) law at vacuum and the Mott-Gurney (MG) law at high pressure. While theoretical …

Majorana Spin-Flip Transition In The Alpha Magnetic Trap, Miguel Alarcon, Colin Riggert, Francis Robicheaux

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The main purpose of the ALPHA collaboration is to trap antihydrogen atoms so that the Charge Conjugation-Parity Transformation-Time Reversal (CPT) symmetry can be tested. The trapping mechanism consists on an octupole magnet that traps the atoms near the magnetic field minima. Once trapped, due to the Majorana spin-flip effect, atoms can escape by changing the orientation of its spin. The magnetic field generated by the octupole magnet present in the trap has multiple zeroes of different orders. These zeroes could affect the probability of a spin flip, and therefore alter the number of escaped atoms. The main problem tackled by …

Steady-State Method To Measure The In-Plane Thermal Conductivity Of Thin Sheet Materials, Evgeny Pakhomenko, Andrew James Wildridge, Abraham Mathew Koshy, Souvik Das, Andreas Jung

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

A new generation of silicon pixel detectors is required to cope with the unprecedented luminosities at the high-luminosity phase of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) in 2025. The HL-LHC provides a high radiation, high interaction rate environment for the innermost detector region of the CMS detector. This can lead to an uncontrolled increase in temperature of the detector that can destroy the silicon pixels. Moreover, too high operating temperature can add noise to the data obtained from the detector and can slow the read out cheap down. Therefore, the Phase II upgrade to the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment requires …

Stability Of The Interface Between Two Immiscible Liquids During Injection Into A Tapered Hele-Shaw Cell, Zihao Lin, Ivan C. Christov, Daihui Lu

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

In the early twentieth century, petroleum and mining engineers noticed that water does not displace oil uniformly. This phenomenon, when water penetrates through oil, is now known as viscous fingering. This discovery and the following extensive research have contributed to enhancing oil recovery. In this paper, we describe a numerical study conducted on the stability of the interface between two immiscible liquids in converging and diverging Hele-Shaw cells with varying gradients. Hele-Shaw cells are narrow flow geometries that mimic the properties of a porous medium with fixed permeability. By using computational tools built on the OpenFOAM platform, the multiphase flow …

Thermomechanical Properties Of Aluminium Heaters To Test The Compact Muon Solenoid Cooling System For Phase Two Upgrade, Sandra Jimena González, Timothy Matthew Jones

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The main objectives of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider are precision studies of the Standard Model of Particle Physics and the discovery of physics beyond it. To meet that, it is essential for the CMS detector to function at the highest efficiency for detecting subatomic particles within various technical constraints. In particular, the readout chips of the Pixel Tracker sub-detector produce significant heat and must be kept at -10 °C to ensure optimal performance and reduce cumulative damage in the high radiation environment. Thus, it is necessary to design a cooling system to extract …

Design And Fabrication Of An Electrical Breakdown Facility, Prit Chovatiya, Animesh Sharma, Alexey Shashurin

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Usage of traditional experimental instrumentation has not kept up with the rate of advancement in the modern educational material. Teaching aids used in academia have to be updated to ensure effective understanding of content among the students. The use of outdated vacuum chambers as visual aids in plasma physics classrooms have proven to be ineffective for the students and teachers, due to limited viewing ports on the metallic walls of the vacuum chamber for viewing the plasma discharge phenomenon. It is important to address this challenge, which invigorates the need for the use of a transparent vacuum chamber as a …

Optimization And Control Of Production Of Graphene, Atharva Hans, Nimish M. Awalgaonkar, Majed Alrefae, Ilias Bilionis, Timothy S. Fisher

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Graphene is a 2-dimensional element of high practical importance. Despite its exceptional properties, graphene’s real applications in industrial or commercial products have been limited. There are many methods to produce graphene, but none has been successful in commercializing its production. Roll-to-roll plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is used to manufacture graphene at large scale. In this research, we present a Bayesian linear regression model to predict the roll-to-roll plasma system’s electrode voltage and current; given a particular set of inputs. The inputs of the plasma system are power, pressure and concentration of gases; hydrogen, methane, oxygen, nitrogen and argon. This …

Raman Spectroscopy Of Oxygen Evolution Catalysts And Psii Manganese Model Compounds, Sergei Shmakov, Daniel A. Hartzler, Alireza Karbakhsh Ravari, Yulia Pushkar

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Photosynthesis is the basis of life on earth, and oxygen evolution catalysts are key components of this complicated, yet not fully understood process. Photosystem II, a large membrane bound pigment-protein complex, is the key system that facilitates oxygenic photosynthesis via the oxygen evolving complex (a natural oxygen evolving catalyst). It is a key component in oxygen producing catalysts, which can be used in fields such as energy production and biomimetic catalysts. The oxygen evolution cycle, or Kok cycle going within it is still not studied completely. In this project, we were studying the vibrational (and structural) state of a Manganese …

Machine Learning In Xenon1t Analysis, Dillon A. Davis, Rafael F. Lang, Darryl P. Masson

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

In process of analyzing large amounts of quantitative data, it can be quite time consuming and challenging to uncover populations of interest contained amongst the background data. Therefore, the ability to partially automate the process while gaining additional insight into the interdependencies of key parameters via machine learning seems quite appealing. As of now, the primary means of reviewing the data is by manually plotting data in different parameter spaces to recognize key features, which is slow and error prone. In this experiment, many well-known machine learning algorithms were applied to a dataset to attempt to semi-automatically identify known populations, …

How To Enhance Interdisciplinary Competence—Interdisciplinary Problem-Based Learning Versus Interdisciplinary Project-Based Learning, Mirjam Brassler, Jan Dettmers

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Interdisciplinary competence is important in academia for both employability and sustainable development. However, to date, there are no specific interdisciplinary education models and, naturally, no empirical studies to assess them. Since problem-based learning (PBL) and project-based learning (PjBL) are learning approaches that emphasize students’ collaboration, both pedagogies seem suitable to enhance students’ interdisciplinary competence. Based on the principle of constructive alignment and four instructional principles on interdisciplinary learning, this paper proposes that students profit more from interdisciplinary PBL (iPBL) than interdisciplinary PjBL (iPjBL). A pre-post study was conducted with a sample of 95 students participating in iPBL and 183 students …

Mathematical Description And Mechanistic Reasoning: A Pathway Toward Stem Integration, Paul J. Weinberg

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Because reasoning about mechanism is critical to disciplined inquiry in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains, this study focuses on ways to support the development of this form of reasoning. This study attends to how mechanistic reasoning is constituted through mathematical description. This study draws upon Smith’s (2007) characterization of mathematical description of scientific phenomena as ‘‘bootstrapping,’’ where negotiating the relationship between target phenomena and represented relations is fundamental to learning. In addition, the development of mathematical representation presents a viable pathway towards STEM integration. In this study, participants responded to an assessment of mechanistic reasoning while cognitive interviews …

Combinatorial Algorithms For Perturbation Theory And Application On Quantum Computing, Yudong Cao

Open Access Dissertations

Quantum computing is an emerging area between computer science and physics. Numerous problems in quantum computing involve quantum many-body interactions. This dissertation concerns the problem of simulating arbitrary quantum many-body interactions using realistic two-body interactions. To address this issue, a general class of techniques called perturbative reductions (or perturbative gadgets) is adopted from quantum complexity theory and in this dissertation these techniques are improved for experimental considerations. The idea of perturbative reduction is based on the mathematical machinery of perturbation theory in quantum physics. A central theme of this dissertation is then to analyze the combinatorial structure of the perturbation …

Gravity-Assist Trajectories To Venus, Mars, And The Ice Giants: Mission Design With Human And Robotic Applications, Kyle M. Hughes

Open Access Dissertations

Gravity-assist trajectories to Uranus and Neptune are found (with the allowance of impulsive maneuvers using chemical propulsion) for launch dates ranging from 2024 to 2038 for Uranus and 2020 to 2070 for Neptune. Solutions are found using a patched conic model with analytical ephemeris via the Satellite Tour Design Program (STOUR), originally developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Delivered payload mass is computed for all solutions for select launch vehicles, and attractive solutions are identified as those that deliver a specified amount of payload mass into orbit at the target body in minimum time. The best cases for each …

Plasmonic Devices Based On Transparent Conducting Oxides For Near Infrared Applications, Kim Jongbum

Open Access Dissertations

In the past decade, there have been many breakthroughs in the field of plasmonics and nanophotonics that have enabled optical devices with unprecedented functionalities. Even though remarkable demonstration of at photonic devices has been reported, constituent materials are limited to the noble metals such as gold (Au) and silver (Ag) due to their abundance of free electrons which enable the support of plasmon resonances in the visible range. With the strong demand for extension of the optical range of plasmonic applications, it is now a necessity to explore and develop alternative materials which can overcome intrinsic issues of noble metals …

The Search For Dark Matter In Xenon: Innovative Calibration Strategies And Novel Search Channels, Shayne Edward Reichard

Open Access Dissertations

The direct detection dark matter experiment XENON1T became operational in early 2016, heralding the era of tonne-scale dark matter detectors. Direct detection experiments typically search for elastic scatters of dark matter particles off target nuclei. XENON1T's larger xenon target provides the advantage of stronger dark matter signals and lower background rates compared to its predecessors, XENON10 and XENON100; but, at the same time, calibration of the detector's response to backgrounds with traditional external sources becomes exceedingly more difficult.

A 220Rn source is deployed on the XENON100 dark matter detector in order to address the challenges in calibration of tonne-scale liquid …

Dynamic Holography In Semiconductors And Biomedical Optics, Hao Sun

Open Access Dissertations

Three-dimensional scanning and display are rapidly-advancing new technologies with important commercial drivers such as 3D printing and remote imaging for big data applications. Holography is a natural approach to recording and displaying three-dimensional information because it uses phase-sensitive interferometry to record interference patterns when a reference beam encounters coherent light arriving from an object. The 3D information is contained in the values of wave optics. Holography is a broad field that goes beyond recording and displaying. For instance, holographic optical elements, which take advantage of holographic imaging principles, perform the functions of lenses, gratings or mirrors. Holographic interferometry is also …

Wave Propagation And Imaging In Structured Optical Media, Zun Huang

Open Access Dissertations

Structured optical media, usually characterized by periodic patterns of inhomogeneities in bulk materials, provide a new approach to ultimate control of wave propagation with possible practical applications: from distributed feedback lasers by diffraction gratings, to highly nonlinear performance for super-continuum generation, to fiber-optic telecommunications by microstructured photonic crystal fibers, to invisibility cloaking, to super-resolution imaging with metamaterials etc.

In particular, structured optical media allow to manipulate the wave propagation and dispersion. In this thesis, we focus on engineering the propagation phase dispersion by modulating the compositions and dimensions of the periodic elements. By tailoring the dispersion in momentum space, we …

Modeling The Impact Of Land Surface Feedbacks On Post Landfall Tropical Cyclones, Subashini Subramanian

Open Access Dissertations

The land surface is an important component of numerical models. The land surface models are modules that control energy partitioning, compute surface exchange coefficients and form the only physical boundary in a regional scale numerical model. Thus, an accurate representation of land surface is critical to compute surface fluxes, represent the boundary layer evolution and affect changes in weather systems. Land surface can affect landfalling tropical cyclones in two ways: (i) when the cyclone is offshore and land can influence cyclones by introducing dry (or moist) air that can weaken (or strengthen) the organized convective structure of cyclones, and (ii) …

Thermodynamic Calculation Of The Liquidus Surface Projection Of Multi-Component Aluminum Alloys, Jingrui Zhao, Yong Du, Lijun Zhang, Jixue Zhou, Yuansheng Yang

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.

An Antireflective Tco Film For Czts Solar Cells, Feng Zhan

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.

A Measuring Method For Abundance Of Uranium Components Based On Active Source Of Neutron, Li Li, Gen Hu, Keqi Liu

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.

To Prepare Silica Soda Borate Glass From Biomass Ash And Study Its Optical Properties, Seema Ubale, Shraddha Bansod

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.