Physics | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Teaching College Physics To A Blind Student, Michelle Parry, Mark Brazier, Ephraim Fischbach

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Metastable States In Classical And Quantum Systems, Mark Makela, Samantha Parmley, Roger Yu

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The classical vibrational metastable states in a one-dimensional two-mass system are investigated experimentally and theoretically via the transmission of a coherent wave packet propagating through the system. The Fourier transform of the vibrational signal recorded in between the masses reveals resonant excitations by the coherent wave packet. The time-resolved spectrum indicates that the lifetime of a metastable state of higher frequency is longer than that of lower frequency, which is in contrast with the quantum mechanical double-barrier system. This study, which is easily accessible to physics majors, also demonstrates quantum resonant tunneling in a very simple classical way.

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Coplanarity Test For Selecting A Pair Of Charged-Particle Tracks Resulting From A Single Neutral-Particle Decay, Edwin S. Braithwaite, Wilfred J. Braithwaite

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

It is hard to determine directly the position of a neutral subatomic particle, but when such a particle decays into a pair of charged particles, it is easy to determine the positions of the charged decay particles and thereby infer the position of the parent particle at the time of its decay. A minimum of two coordinate points for each of the two decay particles is needed to reconstruct the position of the parent vertex. The mathematics of the reconstruction process is inherently interesting, and it can be used to demonstrate to students the utility of some of the most …