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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Design, Construction, And Investigation Of A Small Polarimeter, Kelvy Zucca
Design, Construction, And Investigation Of A Small Polarimeter, Kelvy Zucca
Honors College
This project uses a custom polarimeter to measure the polarization of light we receive from stars. Most bright stars emit unpolarized radiation, so measuring non-zero polarization is significant. Even highly polarized stars only have degrees of polarization around five percent. Polarized light from a star may mean 1) the star is actually a binary system, 2) the star has a significant magnetic field, or 3) the star has some other feature or variability that is atypical of the majority of bright stars. A polarimeter is used to measure polarization. As the Jordan Observatory did not have a polarimeter, the project …
Ode To Applied Physics: The Intellectual Pathway Of Differential Equations In Mathematics And Physics Courses: Existing Curriculum And Effective Instructional Strategies, Brandon L. Clark
Honors College
The purpose of this thesis is to develop a relationship between mathematics and physics through differential equations. Beginning with first-order ordinary differential equations, I develop a pathway describing how knowledge of differential equations expands through mathematics and physics disciplines. To accomplish this I interviewed mathematics and physics faculty, inquiring about their utilization of differential equations in their courses or research. Following the interviews I build upon my current knowledge of differential equations in order to reach the varying upper-division differential equation concepts taught in higher-level mathematics and physics courses (e.g., partial differential equations, Bessel equation, Laplace transforms) as gathered from …
A Lateral Field Excited Thin Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Sensor, Michael R. Fitzgerald
A Lateral Field Excited Thin Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Sensor, Michael R. Fitzgerald
Honors College
Medical and environmental needs have served as a catalyst for the development of sensors that can probe the molecular level and below. This study addresses the practicality of highly sensitive aluminum nitride (AlN) thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBARs) as sensors from theoretical and experimental points of view. Theoretically, COMSOL Multiphysics simulations predict that lateral field excitation of AlN produces an electric field perpendicular to the c-axis, with the electrical energy density being concentrated in the active area of the sensor. An analysis of the piezoelectrically stiffened Christoffel equation shows that the shear mode can be excited by an …
Exact Results In Model Statistical Systems, Peter H. Kleban
Exact Results In Model Statistical Systems, Peter H. Kleban
University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports
Intellectual merit: This project focuses on continued research on the exact study of the statistical mechanics of model systems. The research concentrates on two areas:
1) critical percolation in two dimensions, an important and very extensively studied model system, to which we are bringing new and unexpected approaches, and
2) the thermodynamics of the Farey fraction spin chain, a set of one dimensional models with interesting phase transition behavior and connections to multifractals, and dynamical systems.
This project aims at new results and insights in both these areas. Research on the Farey models illuminates an interesting borderline case in the …