Physics Commons^™

Changes In The Scattering Phase Shifts For Partial Waves Of Ultracold Particles At Different Energies, Kaaviyan Faezi

Honors Scholar Theses

At low energies, scattering phase shifts, the difference in phases between the incoming and outgoing spherical waves in scattering, for different partial waves follow a similar pattern. The phase shift curves, which are a function of the angular momentum quantum number for different scattering energy, obtain resonances after reaching their maxima, and as energy is increased, these resonances become smaller and eventually disappear. Using numerical methods involving the use of Chebyshev polynomials, we solve the wave equation for a scattering potential to obtain the radial equation. From the radial equation we then find the scattering phase shift for a particular …

Monte Carlo Simulations Of Atmospheric Loss By Stellar Winds From Exoplanets, Daniel Violette

Honors Scholar Theses

Hot Jupiters are a class of extra-solar planets. Massive gas giants on the same size scale as Jupiter, they orbit their host stars closely. This proximity results in large stellar winds capable of stripping away a planet’s atmosphere. Developing a more complete understanding of atmospheric mass loss and evolution in planetary bodies is critical, and Hot Jupiter systems are accessible analogues.

This project will seek to create a computational model capable of estimating mass loss rates due to stellar winds. A Monte Carlo method is utilized to take an ensemble of single, high-energy energetic neutral particles, produced by kilo-electronvolt stellar …