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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Grasping The Fundamental Physics Of Xenon, Matthew M. Szydagis
Grasping The Fundamental Physics Of Xenon, Matthew M. Szydagis
Physics Faculty Scholarship
Direct searches for dark matter using noble liquids, especially liquid xenon in recent years, have obtained the best sensitivities in the field for moderate to high-mass dark-matter WIMPs. Along with the development of this technology, there has been a continued effort in the community to better understand the detailed scintillation and ionization responses of noble liquids in the presence of low-energy ionizing radiation. As this body of knowledge is reaching a mature state, a unified software framework for simulating scintillation and ionization production in these detectors is strongly needed. In this talk, I introduce NEST: Noble Element Simulation Technique, which …
A Xenon Bubble Chamber For Direct Dark Matter Detection, Matthew M. Szydagis
A Xenon Bubble Chamber For Direct Dark Matter Detection, Matthew M. Szydagis
Physics Faculty Scholarship
With the lack of discovery of WIMPs at high mass, and hints of signals at low masses, it is becoming increasingly important for direct dark matter detectors to set low thresholds. With a hypothetically completely tuneable threshold based on pressure and temperature, a bubble chamber could be the ideal detector to search for sub-GeV WIMPs and other light exotica. However, this technology has its own drawbacks, such as an unknown recoil energy on an event-by-event basis. By combining this technology with that of the xenon time-projection chamber, however, the strengths of both of these approaches are merged, leading to a …
Supergravity Backgrounds For Deformations Of Adsn×Sn Supercoset String Models, Oleg Lunin, Radu Roiban, Arkady Tseytlin
Supergravity Backgrounds For Deformations Of Adsn×Sn Supercoset String Models, Oleg Lunin, Radu Roiban, Arkady Tseytlin
Physics Faculty Scholarship
We consider type IIB supergravity backgrounds corresponding to the deformed AdS_n x S^n supercoset string models of the type constructed in arXiv:1309.5850 which depend on one deformation parameter k. In AdS_2 x S^2 case we find that the deformed metric can be extended to a full supergravity solution with non-trivial dilaton, RR scalar and RR 5-form strength. The solution depends on a free parameter (called a) that should be chosen as a particular function of k to correspond to the deformed supercoset model. In AdS_3 x S^3 case the full solution supported by the dilaton, RR scalar and RR 3-form …
A Potential Foundation For Emergent Space-Time, Kevin H. Knuth, Newshaw Bahreyni
A Potential Foundation For Emergent Space-Time, Kevin H. Knuth, Newshaw Bahreyni
Physics Faculty Scholarship
We present a novel derivation of both the Minkowski metric and Lorentz transformations from the consistent quantification of a causally ordered set of events with respect to an embedded observer. Unlike past derivations, which have relied on assumptions such as the existence of a 4-dimensional manifold, symmetries of space-time, or the constant speed of light, we demonstrate that these now familiar mathematics can be derived as the unique means to consistently quantify a network of events. This suggests that space-time need not be physical, but instead the mathematics of space and time emerges as the unique way in which an …
Physics: Rethinking The Foundations, Kevin H. Knuth
Physics: Rethinking The Foundations, Kevin H. Knuth
Physics Faculty Scholarship
Physics is traditionally conceived of as a set of laws that universally governs the behavior of physical systems. These laws, however they are decreed, are believed to govern the behavior of not only everything in the universe, but the form of the universe itself. However, this traditional concept of physics as a universal governance is at odds with our modern theories of quantum mechanics and relativity, which place the observer and information in a central role. In this talk, I aim to rethink the foundations and attempt to build physics from the bottom up based on a very simple foundational …
Modeling A Sensor To Improve Its Efficacy, Nabin K. Malakar, Daniil Gladkov, Kevin H. Knuth
Modeling A Sensor To Improve Its Efficacy, Nabin K. Malakar, Daniil Gladkov, Kevin H. Knuth
Physics Faculty Scholarship
Robots rely on sensors to provide them with information about their surroundings. However, high-quality sensors can be extremely expensive and cost-prohibitive. Thus many robotic systems must make due with lower-quality sensors. Here we demonstrate via a case study how modeling a sensor can improve its efficacy when employed within a Bayesian inferential framework. As a test bed we employ a robotic arm that is designed to autonomously take its own measurements using an inexpensive LEGO light sensor to estimate the position and radius of a white circle on a black field. The light sensor integrates the light arriving from a …
Information-Based Physics: An Intelligent Embedded Agent's Guide To The Universe, Kevin H. Knuth
Information-Based Physics: An Intelligent Embedded Agent's Guide To The Universe, Kevin H. Knuth
Physics Faculty Scholarship
In this talk, I propose an approach to understanding the foundations of physics by considering the optimal inferences an intelligent agent can make about the universe in which he or she is embedded. Information acts to constrain an agent’s beliefs. However, at a fundamental level, any information is obtained from interactions where something influences something else. Given this, the laws of physics must be constrained by both the nature of such influences and the rules by which we can make inferences based on information about these influences. I will review the recent progress we have made in this direction. This …