Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Likelihood Search For Low-Mass Dark Matter Via Inelastic Scattering In Supercdms, Daniel Jardin

Physics Theses and Dissertations

An abundance of evidence suggests that most of the Universe is composed of nonluminous matter. This "dark matter” is believed to be a new elementary particle and experiments around the world are attempting to directly detect rare collisions with terrestrial detectors.

The properties of dark matter have yet to be identified, thus efforts are ongoing to explore a range of possible masses and interaction cross-sections. For the latter, experiments can increase exposure by scaling up the detector mass and operating for a longer time. To search for dark matter with less mass than a nucleon, new technologies and analysis techniques …

What Causes Black Holes To Spin?, Mac B. Selesnick

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Black holes are recently at the cutting edge of cosmological and astrophysical research. Both experiment and theory are leading to surprising conclusions on the physical properties of black holes and their affects on space and time. In this project, I set out to explore the origin and mechanics of a black hole's spin, that is, its internal angular momentum. What causes a black hole to spin in the first place is rich and nuanced. In order to make this project accessible and focused I explore the process of a minor merger, a collision between two black holes, one large and …

The Invisible Sun: Building A Radio Interferometer Telescope, Isobel Curtin

Senior Projects Spring 2019

When we think of astronomy, we often associate the word implicitly with observing astronomical bodies with our own eyes, or from a signal collected in the visible light range. However, there is more information we can collect from these bodies when observing them using other kinds of light, unseen to the naked eye. Radio astronomy is an important tool in an astronomer’s toolkit, and can help us image hidden parts of the universe. Recently, radio astronomy was used to directly image a black hole in the center of a nearby galaxy for the first time!

This projects aims to further …

Exploring The Diffuse Neutral Hydrogen In And Around Nearby Galaxies, Amy Sardone

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

We explore the environment of 36 nearby galaxies in neutral hydrogen (H I) as part of the MeerKAT H I Observations of Nearby Galactic Objects; Observing Southern Emitters (MHONGOOSE) survey with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), and the Imaging Galaxies Intergalactic and Nearby En- vironment (IMAGINE) survey with the Parkes Radio Telescope. We obtained deep observations of each of these galaxies, reaching column density detection sensitivities as low as NHI ∼ 1e17 cm^−2, which allowed us to quantify the amount of diffuse H I in both samples of galaxies. This allows us to search for evidence of …

The Impact Of Hii Regions On The Interstellar Medium Of Our Galaxy, Matteo Luisi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The interstellar medium (ISM) of our Galaxy contains low-density diffuse ionized gas known as the warm ionized medium (WIM). O- and B-type stars emit large amounts of ionizing radiation and it is believed that a fraction of this radiation escapes from their fully ionized HII regions and into the ISM where it is responsible for maintaining the ionization of the WIM. Here we aim to better understand how the radiation produced by OB stars is able to leak from the HII regions, how the radiation field changes during this process, and how the radiation affects the ambient ISM. Using Green …