Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 52, Number 3, Winter 2010, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - GOOD LIT By Alicia K. Gonzales '09 and Steven Boyd Saum. It's time to light 10 candles on the birthday cake for SCU's California Legacy Series. To date: 43 books, 500 radio broadcasts, and a handful of movies. What's next? Something big.

16 - SHAPING THE FUTURE by Adolfo Nicolas, S.J. What can Jesuit universities do-together-to make the world a more humane, just, and sustainable place? It starts with imagination, an unequaled global network, and a conference in Mexico City- where Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicolas takes stock of challenges to Jesuit higher education today.

24 - A …

A Noneuclidean Universe, Frank A. Farris

Mathematics and Computer Science

Let us construct a hypothetical universe, if for no other reason than to challenge our preconceptions about space. We call it a noneuclidean universe because it contradicts some of the notions central to euclidean geometry, where, for instance, the angle measures in a triangle add up to 180 degrees. There are many noneuclidean universes; ours is of a type called hyperbolic. This hypothetical universe has been constructed before. It is often called the Poincaré Upper Halfplane, in honor of French mathematician Henri Poincaré (1854-1912). I admire Poincaré because he is said to have been the last person in the world …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 53 Number 1, Summer 2011, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

18 - WHAT DO INVESTORS REALLY WANT? By Meir Statman. A renowned behavioral finance expert reveals how our desires shape our actions when it comes to investing. (Hint: It's not just money that we're after.)

20 - LAW AT 100. A century of legal education at SCU. See snapshots from across the years-and look at the big picture of how the legal landscape has changed

22 - THE BIG IDEA!: Michael S. Malone '75, MBA '77 on Silicon Valley high tech gold and a brief history of intellectual property law.

24 - WOMEN'S WORK: Stephanie M. Wildman on jobs, the …

The Gini Index And Measures Of Inequality, Frank A. Farris

Mathematics and Computer Science

The Gini index is a summary statistic that measures how fairly a resource is distributed in a population; income is a primary example. In addition to a self-contained presentation of the Gini index, we give two equivalent ways to interpret this summary statistic: first in terms of the percentile level of the person who earns the average dollar, and second in terms of how the lower of two randomly chosen incomes compares, on average, to mean income.

What Does The Desert Say?: A Rhetorical Analysis Of "Desert Solitaire", John S. Farnsworth

Environmental Studies and Sciences

While Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire has suffered no dearth of critical at tention since its publication in 1968, most of the discourse concerning this work has taken the form of literary criticism, with an increasingly ecocritical focus having been attended to over the course of the past decade. Little, if anything, however, has been published critiquing Abbey's masterwork from the perspec tive of rhetorical analysis. Such analysis, I will contend in what follows, casts new light on the work, and is instrumental in appreciating the more polemic elements of the text. I begin, therefore, with the observation that the author …

Writing The Island, John S. Farnsworth

Environmental Studies and Sciences

The historians may call this a failed expedition. For the first time, we didn’t complete a circumnavigation of Isla Espiritu Santo, an accomplishment that usually entails 50 miles of epic paddling in sea kayaks so loaded with food, water, and gear that it takes eight students to lift one. But in March 2010 it was not to be; El Norte, the bully of the Sea of Cortez, had nearly blown us off the beach, and we’d had to remain on the lee side of the island, roaming the canyons and diving the reefs because we couldn’t safely kayak the windward …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 52 Number 2, Fall 2010, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

16 - JUSTICE, EDUCATION, AND THE CATHOLIC IMAGINATION By Keith Warner, O.F.M. A religious vision of a sustainable future is less about politics than ethics. It means drawing on deep spiritual currents in the Catholic tradition-and environmental concern as if people mattered.

22 - WRITING THE ISLAND An essay in the words and images by John Seibert Farnsworth and Charles Barry. A journey to the Sea of Cortez-to paddle and dive, to hear the island speak, to look carefully, to write, to come home sunburned and transformed.

30 - INTERNET, WE HAVE A PROBLEM. By Sam Scott '96. One fine …

A Grazing Incidence X-Ray Streak Camera For Ultrafast, Single-Shot Measurements, J. Feng, K. Engelhorn, B. I. Cho, H. J. Lee, M. Greaves, Christopher P. Weber, R. W. Falcone, H. A. Padmore, P. A. Heimann

Physics

An ultrafast x-ray streak camera has been realized using a grazing incidence reflection photocathode. X-rays are incident on a gold photocathode at a grazing angle of 20° and photoemitted electrons are focused by a large aperture magnetic solenoid lens. The streak camera has high quantum efficiency, 600 fs temporal resolution, and 6 mm imaging length in the spectral direction. Its single shot capability eliminates temporal smearing due to sweep jitter, and allows recording of the ultrafast dynamics of samples that undergo nonreversible changes.

Influence Of Functionalized Fullerene Structure On Polymer Photovoltaic Degradation, Brian H. Johnson, Enaanake Allagoa, Robert L. Thomas, Gregory Stettler, Marianne Wallis, Justn H. Peel, Thorsteinn Adalsteinsson, Brian J. Mcnelis, Richard P. Barber Jr.

Physics

The time dependence of device performance has been measured for photocells using blends containing the conjugated polymer, poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) with two different functionalized C60 electron acceptor molecules: commercially available [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) or [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid octadecyl ester (PCBOD) produced in this laboratory. Performance was characterized by the short-circuit current output of the devices, with the time dependence of PCBM samples typically degrading exponentially. Variations in the characteristic lifetime of the devices were observed to depend on the molar fraction of the electron acceptor molecules (calculated with respect to the MEH-PPV monomer fraction). In comparison …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 52 Number 1, Summer 2010, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

16 - COURAGE IN THE FACE A photoessay from Haiti by Michael Lattimore. A journey to document humanitarian work by doctors in the wake of the January quake.

20 - PILGRIMAGE By Martha Stortz. Walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, and learning a few things along the way: about big questions, saints, direction, and feet.

28 - THE HISTORIANS An interview by Ron Hansen M.A '95. Between them, historians George Giacomini '56 and Tim O'Keefe can claim nearly a century of educating Santa Clara students. This year, both close the books on teaching in the classroom. But first they …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 51 Number 4, Spring 2010, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - BENDING LIGHT By Steven Boyd Saum. They wanted to show that green living is not a compromise. So, for the international Solar Decathlon, the SCU-led Team California built a house of light and wonder. And it was dazzling enough to win No. 3 on the planet.

22 - CONNECT THE DOTS By Scott Brown '93. From border security to disaster preparedness, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano '79 has one immense portfolio. She's also the point person on immigration. How to put those together?

28 - THIS PLACE WE CALL HOME By Kristina Chiapella '09 '09. Generations ago, …

Josephson Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: A Local And Direct Probe Of The Superconducting Order Parameter, Richard P. Barber Jr., Hikari Kimura, Shuhei Ono, Yoichi Ando, Robert C. Dynes

Physics

Direct measurements of the superconducting superfluid on the surface of vacuum-cleaved Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+ BSCCO samples are reported. These measurements are accomplished via Josephson tunneling into the sample using a scanning tunneling microscope STM equipped with a superconducting tip. The spatial resolution of the STM of lateral distances less than the superconducting coherence length allows it to reveal local inhomogeneities in the pair wave function of the BSCCO. Instrument performance is demonstrated first with Josephson measurements of Pb films followed by the layered superconductor NbSe2. The relevant measurement parameter, the Josephson ICRN product, is discussed within the context of both BCS superconductors …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 51 Number 2, Fall 2009, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

16 - POLITICS AND RELIGION: STILL ON A COLLISION COURSE? An interview with Avraham Burg, former speaker of the Israeli Knesset. Plus excerpts from talks by E.J. Dionne Jr., Lisa Sowle Cahill '70, and Michael Eric Dyson.

20 - THE GULF OF WONDER By Emily Elrod '05. With a movie, Patrick McVeigh '78 offers investors a unique opportunity: Wake up the citizens of America and help them save one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Plus, a 30 percent return.

24 - SEASON PREMIERE: "RESURRECTION" By Karen Crocker Snell. Forensic investigator Horatio Caine lies facedown in a pool …

Synorogenic Evolution Of Large-Scale Drainage Patterns: Isotope Paleohydrology Of Sequential Laramide Basins, Steven J. Davis, Hari T. Mix, Bettina A. Wiegand, Alan R. Carroll, C. Page Chamberlain

Environmental Studies and Sciences

In the past decade, we and others have compiled an extensive dataset of O, C and Sr isotope stratigraphies from sedimentary basins throughout the Paleogene North American Cordillera. In this study, we present new results from the Piceance Creek Basin of northwest Colorado, which record the evolving hydrology of the Eocene Green River Lake system. We then place the new data in the context of the broader Cordilleran dataset and summarize implications for understanding the synorogenic evolution of large-scale drainage patterns. The combined data reflect (1) a period of throughgoing foreland rivers heading in the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt and flowing …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 51 Number 1, Summer 2009, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - INAUGURATING PRESIDENT ENGH By Steven Boyd Saum. On the occasion, a ringing challenge from President Engh: Make SCU a champion for environmental justice. Read the speech and see the photos.

22 - SAVING BOUNTY By Elizabeth Svoboda. Our food-safety system is in shambles, but there are ways to make it work again. For one answer, look to your leafy greens.

28 - CAN WE SOLVE HUNGER IN OUR LIFETIME? BY Dashka Slater. Here are six ideas that, practiced together, will make a difference.

34 - ALTERNATIVE REALITY: "WORLD WITHOUT OIL" By Paul Totah '79. Alternate reality games can …

Emergence Of The Persistent Spin Helix In Semiconductor Quantum Wells, J. D. Koralek, Christopher P. Weber, J. Orenstein, B. Andrei Bernevig, Shou-Cheng Zhang, S. Mack, D. D. Awschalom

Physics

According to Noether’s theorem¹, for every symmetry in nature there is a corresponding conservation law. For example, invariance with respect to spatial translation corresponds to conservation of momentum. In another well-known example, invariance with respect to rotation of the electron’s spin, or SU(2) symmetry, leads to conservation of spin polarization. For electrons in a solid, this symmetry is ordinarily broken by spin–orbit coupling, allowing spin angular momentum to flow to orbital angular momentum. However, it has recently been predicted that SU(2) can be achieved in a two-dimensional electron gas, despite the presence of spin–orbit coupling². The …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 51 Number 3, Winter 2009, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

18 - EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED By Christine Cole. For the first time since the invention of the printing press, artists have put quill pen to paper to hand-write-in calligraphy-the Bible in its entirety. The result is a wonder to behold. And available to readers and gazers at Santa Clara.

24 - HOLD THE LINE By David McKay Wilson. At Harlem's Frederick Douglass Academy, basketball coach Pat Mangan '84 has built a legendary program by making sure his players have their priorities straight. Family first. School second. Then hoops.

28 - LESSONS IN DIPLOMACY. By Sam Scott '96. How Bob LaMonte …

A Window On The Fifth Dimension, Frank A. Farris

Mathematics and Computer Science

Is there enough mathematics in your home? What visual aids do you keep on hand for that inevitable moment when guests want to know why you spend your life on mathematics? Feeling a lack in this area, I commissioned glass artist Hans Schepker to produce a window - from the fifth dimension? - based on an image that came up in my research. It turned out splendidly, and you can see it on the cover of this issue of MAA FOCUS.

Numerical Simulation Of Thermo-Elasticity, Inelasticity And Rupture Inmembrane Theory, Michael Taylor

Mechanical Engineering

Two distinct two-dimensional theories for the modeling of thin elastic bodies are developed. These are demonstrated through numerical simulation of various types of membrane deformation. The work includes a continuum thermomechanics-based theory for wrinkled thin films. The theory takes into account single-layer sheets as well as composite membranes made of multiple lamina. The resulting model is applied to the study of entropic elastic elastomers as well as Mylar/aluminum composite films. The latter has direct application in the area of solar sails. Several equilibrium deformations are illustrated numerically by applying the theory of dynamic relaxation to a finite difference discretization based …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 50 Number 2, Fall 2008, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

10 - MEET MOUNTAIN By Lisa Taggart. A Q&A with SCU women's basketball coach Jennifer Mountain.

12 - KATRINA AT THREE By Pat Semansky '06. A New Orleans photo essay.

16 - THE MEDDLING PRIEST FROM OZ By Emily Elrod '05. An interview with Australian Jesuit John Brennan, S.J.-lauded as a "national treasure" and an "ethical burr."

18 - 20/20 VISION By Robert M. Senkewicz. How has the presidency of Paul Locatelli, S.J., transformed the University-as a place-and as an idea?

28 - GO WITH YOUR HEART By Francisco Jimenez. An exclusive excerpt from his new memoir, Reaching Out.

32 …

The Photooxidation Of Hexabromorhenate(Iv) In Ethyl Bromide, Jessica L. Cohen, Patrick Hoggard

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Irradiation at 254 or 313 nm of solutions of (Bu4N)2[ReBr6] in ethyl bromide exposed to air causes complete conversion of the hexabromorhenate(IV) to perrhenate ion. The rate of the reaction is linearly dependent on the incident light intensity and on a combination of the fraction of light absorbed by the rhenium complex and the fraction absorbed by the ethyl bromide. The experimental results are consistent with a mechanism in which the peroxy radical CH3CH(Br)OO, produced in both the solvent-initiated and metal-initiated pathways, oxidizes [ReBr6]2− by electron transfer.

Scanning Josephson Tunneling Microscopy Of Single Crystal Bi2Sr2Cacu2O8+Δ With A Conventional Superconducting Tip, Richard P. Barber Jr., Hikari Kimura, Shuhei Ono, Yoichi Ando, Robert C. Dynes

Physics

We have performed both Josephson and quasiparticle tunneling in vacuum tunnel junctions formed between a conventional superconducting scanning tunneling microscope tip and overdoped Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ single crystals. A Josephson current is observed with a peak centered at a small finite voltage due to the thermal-fluctuation-dominated superconducting phase dynamics. Josephson measurements at different surface locations yield local values for the Josephson IcRn product. Corresponding energy gap measurements were also performed and a surprising inverse correlation was observed between the local IcRn product and the local energy gap.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 50 Number 1, Summer 2008, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

10 - SPEED RACERS An interview by Gwen Knapp. Cycling legend Greg LeMond talks ethics and doping in sports.

14 - MEET THE NEW FATHER GENERAL By Steven Boyd Saum. Introducing Adolfo Nicols, S.J., the new Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

16 - NO SIMPLE HIGHWAY By Juan Velasco. The Casa de la Solidaridad is less a place than a journey—one that offers a new understanding of solidarity. And a new meaning of home.

22 - EXILES By Ron Hansen. A tale of a shipwreck, a priest, and a poet. Hansen tells the story behind his new novel, …

Darfur: Rainfall And Conflict, Michael Kevane, Leslie C. Gray

Economics

Data on rainfall patterns only weakly corroborate the claim that climate change explains the Darfur conflict that began in 2003 and has claimed more than 200,000 lives and displaced more than two million persons. Rainfall in Darfur did not decline significantly in the years prior to the eruption of major conflict in 2003; rainfall exhibited a flat trend in the thirty-years preceding the conflict (1972-2002). The rainfall evidence suggests instead a break around 1971. Rainfall is basically stationary over the pre- and post-1971 sub-periods. The break is larger for the more northerly rainfall stations, and is less noticeable for En …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 49 Number 4, Spring 2008, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - LET THE SUN SHINE IN By Steven Boyd Saum. In the international Solar Decathlon competition, a team from Santa Clara blazed a dazzling trail from almost-ran to third in the world.

20 - VISIONS FROM THE SIXTIES By Lisa Taggart. It was art that broke all the rules. And now an exhibit at the de Saisset Museum, curated by Santa Clara scholar Andrea Pappas, captures the sense of optimism and energy when the only limits were imagination itself.

26 - JORMA'S JOURNEY By Mark Purdy. With Jefferson Airplane, he helped define the San Francisco sound. With Hot Tuna …

Crafty Counting, Frank A. Farris

Mathematics and Computer Science

To count a set means to put it in one-to-one correspondence with a set of integers {1, 2, 3,...,n}. Direct counting is nice, but in complicated situations it pays to be more crafty. A problem with patterns of colored tiles gives us a chance to illustrate a popular counting principle known by various names. We'll call it the Burnside-Cauchy-Frobenius formula. It is also popularly called the Burnside Orbit-Counting Lemma, though wags refer to it as "not Burnside," because it was known long before Burnside was born. Later Pólya generalized the formula, so some readers may recognize this as Pólya Enumeration.

Cultivating Sustainable Coffee: Persistent Paradoxes, Christopher M. Bacon, V. Ernesto Méndez, Jonathan A. Fox

Environmental Studies and Sciences

This chapter discusses the relationship and interconnections among changing the livelihoods of farmers, initiatives for sustainable coffee, and the production of shade-grown coffee. It examines the advantages and opportunities for farmers and producers engaged in coffee certification and diversification programs. The role of Fair Trade and organic networks in creating awareness of biodiversity conservation, the social and environment costs of coffee systems, and the need for supporting small farmers are also discussed. The methods to increase accountability and improve the efficiency of coffee cooperatives are presented in this chapter, as are the importance of understanding the sustainability initiatives and their …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 50 Number 3, Winter 2008, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

12 - ONE GOLD...AND A HOST OF MEMORIES By Ann Killion. A Beijing Olympic scrapbook.

16 - GOD AND WOMAN AT YALE By Steven Boyd Saum. For more than 300 years, the role of Yale University’s chaplain has never been filled by a woman, a layperson, or a Catholic—until now. Meet Sharon M. K. Kugler ’81.

20 - WITH RENEWED VIGOR AND ZEAL By Michael G. Boughton, S.J. How six decrees define the mission of the Society of Jesus in the years to come.

22 - LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT By Michael S. Malone ’75, MBA ’77. Without meaning to, …

Dancing With Physics, Richard P. Barber Jr., David Popalisky

Physics

Teaching physics by way of the forces on the human body experienced during dance can be an effective way to bring Newton's laws to life.

From Differentiated Coffee Markets Towards Alternative Trade And Knowledge Networks, Roberta Jaffe, Christopher M. Bacon

Environmental Studies and Sciences

This chapter presents a case study focusing on the Community Agroecology Network (CAN), an organization started by the United States and Mesoamerica’s activists, whose effort is to create an alternative trade and knowledge network. The basic aim behind CAN is to benefit conservation and social development efforts by linking producers, consumers, and producer organizations. CAN is a response to the problems arising out of the dominance of certification processes in Fair Trade and organic coffee networks, and the chapter discusses the organization’s main goals of intercommunity relationship development, direct coffee marketing, and ecological sustainability. It moots a comparison between alternative …