Physics Commons^™

Investigating The Impacts Of Microgravity On Methanotrophic Bacteria Metabolism For Methane Gas Oxidation, Daisy Li, Elena Zhu, Stella Ristic '25, Joshua Suarez

Distinguished Student Work

An abundance of waste methane gas is produced on the International Space Station (ISS) as a result of the Sabatier Reaction, a part of the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). In order to manage this organic waste, this experiment seeks to understand how microgravity impacts the methane-oxidizing metabolism of methanotrophic bacteria, namely Methylorubrum podarium. As methanotrophs have never been studied in space, this investigation may unlock a novel understanding of their behavior in microgravity, leading to promising future applications such as improved life support systems in deep space. In this experiment, cameras will capture snapshots of the bacterial …

Quantum Computing For The Quantum Curious, Ciaran Hughes, Joshua Isaacson, Anastasia Perry, Ranbel F. Sun, Jessica Turner

Open Access Books and Manuals

This open access book makes quantum computing more accessible than ever before. A fast-growing field at the intersection of physics and computer science, quantum computing promises to have revolutionary capabilities far surpassing “classical” computation. Getting a grip on the science behind the hype can be tough: at its heart lies quantum mechanics, whose enigmatic concepts can be imposing for the novice.

This classroom-tested textbook uses simple language, minimal math, and plenty of examples to explain the three key principles behind quantum computers: superposition, quantum measurement, and entanglement. It then goes on to explain how this quantum world opens up a …

Acoustic Confinement And Characterization Of A Microwave Plasma, Seth Lee Pree '09

Doctoral Dissertations

High amplitude acoustic fields are used to confine, characterize, and manipulate collisional plasmas with temperatures of a few thousand Kelvin. This dissertation describes the theory, experimental techniques, and apparatus necessary both to generate high amplitude sound in a few thousand Kelvin plasma and to use that sound field to manipulate the plasma within a resonant acoustic cavity. The acoustic field in a spherically symmetric oscillating plasma has been measured to have a Mach number of .03, which is sufficient to cause acoustic radiation pressure effects to confine the plasma to the center of its container. This field also generates convection …

Using Forensics To Introduce Ir Spectroscopy & Molecular Modeling, Joseph T. Golab

Faculty Publications & Research

A student activity is reported that analyzes “medical evidence” with experimental and computational methods. The lesson demonstrates benefits of solving practical problems with integrated tools.

The Development Of A Diffraction Grating For An Element Of Directional Output Of Radiation From Microlasers, Evgenii Levdik

The International Student Science Fair 2018

In nanophotonics, axisymmetric microlasers became widespread. As they have lots of advantages, they can be used in many scientific and industrial areas, such as microchips for data transfer in order to make electrical circuits smaller. But there is a drawback: they radiate in all directions in the plane of the substrate. This is why elements of directional output of radiation are being developed. A necessary part of such element is the diffraction grating applied to the surface of the waveguide. Such gratings are already being created, but with very expensive methods, for example, electronic lithography. We present a technique for …

Study Of The Visual Adaptation Mechanism In Marine Species With The Change Of Habitation Depth., Demid Osipov, Daniil Moshnikov

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The goal of our work was to determine the principal mechanisms that provide the difference in visual perception of two marine species that live on different depths: T. Pacificus and O. Vulgaris. In nature, visual perception of species that live deeper is shifted towards the blue region. This is related to the fact that red, orange and yellow light is absorbed more strongly by water than the blue light. On the other hand, the visual perception spectrum of an animal is determined by the absorption spectrum of the "light sensor" located in rods and cones of its eye retina. These …

Investigation Of The Skin Effect In Alternating Currents, Matthew Liang

The International Student Science Fair 2018

My research is on the investigation of the skin effect in alternating currents. The skin effect is when an alternating current tends to flow on the surface of the conductor, such that the current density is highest near the surface, and decreases with greater depths in the conductor. This is due to the alternating current inducing changing magnetic fields, which in turn induces currents that oppose the original flow of current, resisting the current flowing through the centre the most. This reduces the effective cross-sectional area of the conductor and increases the resistance, causing increased power losses. This effect becomes …

Determining The Activation Energy Of Glucose Syrup Using The Arrhenius Equation, Utkarsh Sharma

The International Student Science Fair 2018

This experiment finds the activation energy of corn syrup using the Arrhenius equation. This was done through a simple experiment of dropping a ball into corn syrup and measuring its terminal velocity. From this, the viscosity could be derived, through the use of rearrangement of Newton’s First Law. The temperature of the corn syrup was also varied through the use of a microwave by raising it to 50 degrees Celsius. It is known that the more viscous a liquid is, the greater the activation energy for the liquid, which is essentially the energy barrier that a molecule has to overcome …

The Relationship Between Electrical Conductivity And Magnetically Damped Motion, Kalem Akhtar

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Varying electrical conductivities of different, non-magnetic metals appears to affect the magnitude of magnetically damped motion. To determine the relationship between magnetic damping and conductivity an experiment was designed using different length tubes of aluminium, copper and brass. The tubes had the same diameter and similar wall thickness. A short, cylindrical neodymium magnet was dropped through the tubes of and the time for the magnet to traverse the tube was recorded using a smartphone camera. These times allowed for the terminal velocity to be calculated for each metal length and the average terminal velocity for each metal was determined. This …

Electricity, Light And Semiconductors, Josephine Zhao

The International Student Science Fair 2018

As technology advanced these days, computers are playing a more and more important role in our daily life; especially in those areas that requires higher technology, for example, aerospace. And as computers keep developing, they tend to be smaller and lighter but much more sufficient. It is the base stone of modern information era. A CPU is the brain of a computer, and as the computers get smaller and smaller, the CPUs are getting smaller and smaller, using semiconductors. Semiconductors have many properties that is extremely useful to human, their conductivity are controlled by their environment, and therefore are adaptable …

Energy Conversion System For Travelers (Ecost), Thipok Bovornratanaraks

The International Student Science Fair 2018

We have innovated “The Energy Conversion System for Travelers” or the ECoST. With the fact that most travelers have wheeled cabin-bags, whilst walking, the wheels will rotate so why don’t we harvest electricity from this kinetic energy? We thus install our innovation, the ECoST, to the bag to generate electricity from the spinning wheels. The electricity is then kept in the storage unit and ready to charge your empty battery devices in an emergency case via a USB port. To make life easy, our ECoST was designed to replicate the power bank charging method; therefore, we can charge …

Finding Activation Energy Of Corn Syrup, Utkarsh Sharma

The International Student Science Fair 2018

This experiment finds the activation energy of corn syrup using the Arrhenius equation. This was done through a simple experiment of dropping a ball into corn syrup and measuring its terminal velocity. From this, the viscosity could be derived, through the use of rearrangement of Newton’s First Law. The temperature of the corn syrup was also varied through the use of a microwave by raising it to 50 degrees Celsius. It is known that the more viscous a liquid is, the greater the activation energy for the liquid, which is essentially the energy barrier that a molecule has to overcome …

The Relationship Between Electrical Conductivity And Magnetically Damped Motion, Kalem Akhtar

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Varying electrical conductivities of different, non-magnetic metals appears to affect the magnitude of magnetically damped motion. To determine the relationship between magnetic damping and conductivity an experiment was designed using different length tubes of aluminium, copper and brass. The tubes had the same diameter and similar wall thickness. A short, cylindrical neodymium magnet was dropped through the tubes of and the time for the magnet to traverse the tube was recorded using a smartphone camera. These times allowed for the terminal velocity to be calculated for each metal length and the average terminal velocity for each metal was determined. This …

Study Of The Visual Adaptation Mechanism In Marine Species With The Change Of Habitation Depth., Demid Osipov, Daniil Moshnikov

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The goal of our work was to determine the principal mechanisms that provide the difference in visual perception of two marine species that live on different depths: T. Pacificus and O. Vulgaris. In nature, visual perception of species that live deeper is shifted towards the blue region. This is related to the fact that red, orange and yellow light is absorbed more strongly by water than the blue light. On the other hand, the visual perception spectrum of an animal is determined by the absorption spectrum of the "light sensor" located in rods and cones of its eye retina. These …

The Development Of A Diffraction Grating For An Element Of Directional Output Of Radiation From Microlasers, Evgenii Levdik

The International Student Science Fair 2018

In nanophotonics, axisymmetric microlasers became widespread. As they have lots of advantages, they can be used in many scientific and industrial areas, such as microchips for data transfer in order to make electrical circuits smaller. But there is a drawback: they radiate in all directions in the plane of the substrate. This is why elements of directional output of radiation are being developed. A necessary part of such element is the diffraction grating applied to the surface of the waveguide. Such gratings are already being created, but with very expensive methods, for example, electronic lithography. We present a technique for …

Light, Electricity And Semiconductors, Josephine Zhao

The International Student Science Fair 2018

No abstract provided.

Dynamics Of A Vertically Vibrated Doubly Tethered Granular Chain, Lorenzo P. Joquiño

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Polymer physics studies the structure and dynamics of polymers and polymeric systems. Results from polymer physics have been used in various fields such as biology, polymer processing, and electronics. Mechanical analogs like granular chain have been utilized in studying polymer dynamics as they are able to demonstrate coarsed-grained behavior of polymer motion while still being accurate about a polymer's properties at a larger length scale. In this study, vibrated granular chain of beads was used as an analog system to represent the polymer motion in a solution. The granular chain was confined to a circular container. Its both ends were …

Investigation Of The Skin Effect In Alternating Currents, Matthew Liang

The International Student Science Fair 2018

My research is on the investigation of the skin effect in alternating currents. My project is broken down into 4 sub-aims. The first aim would be, to be able to mathematically model the distribution of current in the radius of the wire, which consists of the applications of the Maxwell equation and solving zeroth order differential Bessel equations of the first kind. The next aim would be to computationally plot out the desired current readings as the depth of the wire increases from the surface, using the Matlab software. The third aim that I have would be conducting an experiment, …

Energy Conversion System For Travelers (Ecost), Thipok Bovornratanaraks

The International Student Science Fair 2018

We have innovated “The Energy Conversion System for Travelers” or the ECoST. With the fact that most travelers have wheeled cabin-bags, whilst walking, the wheels will rotate so why don’t we harvest electricity from this kinetic energy? We thus install our innovation, the ECoST, to the bag to generate electricity from the spinning wheels. The electricity is then kept in the storage unit and ready to charge your empty battery devices in an emergency case via a USB port. To make life easy, our ECoST was designed to replicate the power bank charging method; therefore, we can charge …

Nucleon Decay, Atmospheric Neutrinos, And Cosmic Rays At Dune: September 2016 Progress Report, E. Church, D. Dwyer, H. Gallagher, M. Goodman, R. Hatcher, J. Hewes, A. Higuera, V. A. Kudryavtsev, L. Lin, N. Martinez, H. Méndez, J. L. Raaf, M. Robinson, G. Santucci, M. Sorel, A. Tonazzo, T. K. Warburton, K. Wood, T. Yang

Progress Reports

We report on the progress made within the Nucleon Decay, Atmospheric Neutrinos, and Cosmogenics Physics Working Groups since the DUNE CDR, and in particular in the period September 2015 { September 2016. This note is also intended to provide input for the September 2016 Preliminary Report of the Far Detector Task Force. We report jointly for the three WGs since they are tightly coupled. They make use of the same DUNE Far Detector for their physics studies, they share the same energy regime, and they are all characterized by random, non-beam triggers. Finally, cosmogenic events are a background for atmospheric …

Field-Programmable-Gate-Array Implemented On Time-To-Digital Converter: Improving Its Resolution, Soomin Park '17

IMSAloquium Student Investigation Showcase

The purpose of this investigation is to discover critical experimental factors that could lead to the variation of time measurement by a time-to-digital converter (TDC) implemented on field-programmablegate- array (FPGA). Two pulses were generated by a pulse generator, and the second pulse was given a 20 nanoseconds delay. In an ideal experiment, the mean of the entry data would have been 20 nanoseconds since the two channels (8,c) obtained pulses that were given the same delay. However, due to device errors and quantization errors, which is produced during analog-to-digital conversion, time difference between hits varied from 22.1 to 22.7 nanoseconds. …

Session E-1: Labs For Waves, Sound, And Optics, Brooke Schmidt

Professional Learning Day

I've been reworking our labs for waves, sound, and light this semester and I would like to share my work with you. These are a mix of both derivation and application experiments. I will also give suggestions for modifications for the middle school level.

Session A-1: Teaching Fields In Introductory Physics, Peter Dong

Professional Learning Day

The concept of a field is integral to all areas of contemporary physics - perhaps as fundamental a concept as energy. Fields are mentioned in several NGSS standards and essential to understand physics at an advanced level. However, fields are not difficult and can be taught in an introductory course with minimal math. Students who understand the basic concept early should have less difficulty understanding electric and magnetic fields in later classes. I will discuss our implementation of a fields unit in our introductory physics course and give examples of simple labs and exercises to help students understand this basic …

Session D-4: Particle Physics, Peter Dong

Professional Learning Day

Particle physics is generally seen as far too difficult, too abstract and mathematical, to teach at the high school level — which is a pity, since particle physics is most likely to get students interested in the subject (witness the response to the discovery of the Higgs boson). However, the day-to-day work of experimental particle physicists is remarkably understandable, even for high school students willing to do a little work. We will examine assignments given at IMSA in this vein, including a class-wide analysis that simulated the search for a super symmetric Higgs boson, and discuss how they worked. Attendees …

Increasing Interest Of Young Women In Engineering, Diane Hinterlong, Branson Lawrence, Purva Devol

Publications & Research

The internationally recognized Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) develops creative, ethical leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As a teaching and learning laboratory created by the State of Illinois, IMSA enrolls academically talented Illinois students in grades 10 through 12 in its advanced, residential college preparatory program. IMSA also serves thousands of educators and students in Illinois and beyond through innovative instructional programs that foster imagination and inquiry. IMSA also advances education through research, groundbreaking ventures and strategic partnerships.

Session D-4: Teaching Quantum Mechanics, Peter Dong

Professional Learning Day

Quantum mechanics is a part of modern life, playing a major role in chemistry, computing, nanotechnology, cryptography, and even biology. Many students are fascinated by the principles of quantum mechanics - and wave-particle duality is now in the Next Generation Science Standards. This course will present a basic introduction to quantum mechanics, accessible to middle or high school students, that will give students a taste of how strange and wonderful the universe really is (while also meeting the new standard). Teachers will be given slides and materials so they can teach the lesson themselves.

Session E-4: What's Up With The Higgs Boson? Teaching Particle Physics In High School, Peter Dong

Professional Learning Day

Best-selling books, popular PBS specials, and multi-billion-dollar machines all attest to the fascination with particle physics - including many teenagers. Physics and physical science classes can capitalize on this interest by talking about high-profile results, such as last summer's Higgs Boson Discovery. This session will answer some basic questions about contemporary particle physics and suggest some ideas for lessons and projects in particle physics.

Ads/Cft In String Theory And M-Theory, Daniel R. Gulotta '03

Doctoral Dissertations

The AdS/CFT correspondence is a powerful tool that can help shed light on the relationship between geometry and field theory.

The first part of this thesis will focus on the construction of theories dual to Type IIB string theory on AdS₅ x Y⁵, where Y⁵ is a toric Sasaki-Einstein manifold. This thesis will introduce a consistency condition called "proper ordering" and demonstrate that it is equivalent to several other previously known consistency conditions. It will then give an efficient algorithm that produces a consistent field theory for any toric Sasaki-Einstein Y⁵.

The second part …

Session E-1: Self-Paced Proficiency Based Physics – Updates And Extensions, Brooke Schmidt, Eric Hawker

Professional Learning Day

This presentation will cover how a typical introductory physics course has been transformed into one that is self-paced and proficiency graded. The changes were made so that each student would be challenged at his/her level and therefore be more engaged in the course. This structure allows the teacher to individualize instruction of the students. The presentation will also cover adjustments that were made to this model based on student feedback and experiences. The model used to make this course self-paced and proficiency graded should be transferable to other courses.

Session D-6: Teaching Modern Physics, Peter Dong

Professional Learning Day

Modern physics is an excellent way to get students interested in physics – the “weirdness” of relativity and quantum mechanics captures the imagination. This presentation discusses how to teach the subject in a way that encourages this interest. This year’s session will focus on teaching quantum mechanics in a way that is interesting to students and avoids common misconceptions.