Other Physics Commons^™

Development And Demonstration Of A Pico-Watt Calorimeter For Optical Absorption Spectroscopy, Behshad Roshanzadeh

Optical Science and Engineering ETDs

An optical calorimeter for sensitive absorption measurements of non-radiative samples at 4 K was designed, built, and demonstrated. It consists of a cryostat cooled by a commercial pulse tube (PTC) refrigerator, a measurement chamber housing the sample and thermometers, and various fiber-coupled light sources. By employing measures to damp mechanical noise from the environment and active temperature stabilization of critical components of the instrument temperature noise as low as 6 nK/√Hz at 50 mHz was achieved under 15 mW of optical excitation. An optical absorption induced temperature increase of the sample as small as 2.5 nK could be resolved using …

Learning Assistant And Instructor Communication: Impacts On Perceived Efficacy, Jahangir Rassouli, Laura Ríos

Physics

The Learning Assistant (LA) Model was co-developed by Richard McCray and Valerie Otero at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2003. In this model, senior undergraduate students serve as facilitators for group discussion in lower-division courses, and employ evidenced-based practices for promoting inquiry and active learning [1]. Since its inception, the LA model has grown to various departments, disciplines, and universities.

At California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), the LA program in the physics department is still in its early stages. As such, it is an environment rich for exploration into the affordances, limitations, and benefits of …

Visualization Of Brown Fat Using X-Ray Dark Field Imaging, Troy D. Jacobs

LSU Master's Theses

Introduction: Obesity has become a major societal issue. Many researchers are looking for ways to combat this growing epidemic. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) might be a way to help individuals overcome the challenges associated with weight loss and maintenance of weight loss, but a better understanding of BAT and how to control and utilize it is needed. BAT differs from white adipose tissue (WAT) in that BAT is rich with mitochondria and therefore is metabolically active. BAT is a source of non-shivering thermogenesis and can be activated both by cold exposure and pharmacologically. Current methods of assessing BAT activity are …

The Impacts Of Small Group Interactions And Social Interdependence In Introductory Physics, Miguel Angel Rodriguez Velazquez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The collected works in my dissertation are centered around the dynamics and impacts of small group learning in introductory physics. It is motivated by a desire to better understand which classroom practices and learning processes may lead to students achieving greater understanding or affinity to physics. Several theoretical frameworks are leveraged in my work including physics identity theory, social interdependence theory and social metacognition. The research design employed quantitative and qualitative methods including regression analysis, descriptive statistics, and observational analysis.

Firstly, students across the U.S. enrolled in first semester introductory physics courses were surveyed at the beginning and end of …

Noncontextuality Inequalities From Antidistinguishability, Matthew S. Leifer, Cristhiano Duarte

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Noncontextuality inequalities are usually derived from the distinguishability properties of quantum states, i.e., their orthogonality. Here, we show that antidistinguishability can also be used to derive noncontextuality inequalities. The Yu-Oh 13-ray noncontextuality inequality can be rederived and generalized as an instance of our antidistinguishability method. For some sets of states, the antidistinguishability method gives tighter bounds on noncontextual models than just considering orthogonality, and the Hadamard states provide an example of this. We also derive noncontextuality inequalities based on mutually unbiased bases and symmetric informationally complete positive operator-valued measures. Antidistinguishability based inequalities were initially discovered as overlap bounds for the …

Analytical Setup Margin For Spinal Sbrt Based On Measured Errors, Audrey Copeland

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: No consensus currently exists in the radiotherapy community about the correct margin size to use for spinal SBRT. Margins have been proposed to account for various errors individually, but not with all errors combined to result in a single margin value. The purpose of this work was to determine a setup margin for spinal SBRT based on known and measurable errors during radiotherapy to achieve at least 90% coverage of the clinical target volume (CTV) with the prescription dose for at least 90% of patients and not exceed a 30 Gy point dose or 23 Gy to 10% of …

Perspective: Ferromagnetic Liquids, Robert Streubel, Xubo Liu, Xuefei Wu, Thomas P. Russell

Robert Streubel Papers

Mechanical jamming of nanoparticles at liquid-liquid interfaces has evolved into a versatile approach to structure liquids with solid-state properties. Ferromagnetic liquids obtain their physical and magnetic properties, including a remanent magnetization that distinguishes them from ferrofluids, from the jamming of magnetic nanoparticles assembled at the interface between two distinct liquids to minimize surface tension. This perspective provides an overview of recent progress and discusses future directions, challenges and potential applications of jamming magnetic nanoparticles with regard to 3D nano-magnetism. We address the formation and characterization of curved magnetic geometries, and spin frustration between dipole-coupled nanostructures, and advance our understanding of …

Surface Termination And Schottky-Barrier Formation Of In4Se3(001), Archit Dhingra, Pavlo V. Galiy, Lu Wang, Nataliia S. Vorobeva, Alexey Lipatov, Angel Torres, Taras M. Nenchuk, Simeon J. Gilbert, Alexander Sinitskii, Andrew J. Yost, Wai-Ning Mei, Keisuke Fukutani, Jia Shiang Chen, Peter Dowben

Peter Dowben Publications

The surface termination of In₄Se₃(001) and the interface of this layered trichalcogenide, with Au, was examined using x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Low energy electron diffraction indicates that the surface is highly crystalline, but suggests an absence of C2v mirror plane symmetry. The surface termination of the In₄Se₃(001 is found, by angle-resolved x-ray photoemission spectroscopy, to be In, which is consistent with the observed Schottky barrier formation found with this n-type semiconductor. Transistor measurements confirm earlier results from photoemission, suggesting that In₄Se₃(001 is an n-type semiconductor, so that Schottky barrier …

Calculating Elastic Properties Of Confined Simple Fluids, Christopher D. Dobrzanski

Dissertations

Confinement in nanoporous materials is known to affect many properties of the fluids confined within their pores. The elastic properties are no exception. This dissertation begins with an overview of the relevant literature on ways of obtaining elastic properties of confined fluids. It outlines some fundamental gaps in our understanding. The chapters following address some of these gaps in understanding elastic properties of the confined fluid, in particular, how the shape of the confining pore matters, how supercriticality effects the properties, how an equation of state designed for confined fluids can be used to calculate elastic properties, and if an …

A Numerical Survey Of Multi-Planet Systems’ Inclination Excitation And Survival Under The Influence Of An Oblate, Tilted Star, Kathleen M T Schultz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Among the many exciting and thought-provoking discoveries facilitated by the Kepler telescope, one of the most puzzling is the very large proportion of systems with only a single transiting planet in them, relative to the number of systems with multiple transiting planets. Given that most of these multis are close together and have low mutual inclinations, and that planetary systems tend to form in such a configuration, the next logical step is to guess that at least some of the singles are part of multi-planet systems with large mutual inclinations between planets, excited by some other object’s gravitational perturbations. A …

Acoustic Versus Electromagnetic Field Theory: Scalar, Vector, Spinor Representations And The Emergence Of Acoustic Spin, Lucas Burns, Konstantin Y. Bliokh, Franco Nori, Justin Dressel

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We construct a novel Lagrangian representation of acoustic field theory that describes the local vector properties of longitudinal (curl-free) acoustic fields. In particular, this approach accounts for the recently-discovered nonzero spin angular momentum density in inhomogeneous sound fields in fluids or gases. The traditional acoustic Lagrangian representation with a scalar potential is unable to describe such vector properties of acoustic fields adequately, which are however observable via local radiation forces and torques on small probe particles. By introducing a displacement vector potential analogous to the electromagnetic vector potential, we derive the appropriate canonical momentum and spin densities as conserved Noether …

Waiting-Time Paradox In 1922, Naoki Masuda, Takayuki Hiraoka

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

We present an English translation and discussion of an essay that a Japanese physicist, Torahiko Terada, wrote in 1922. In the essay, he described the waiting-time paradox, also called the bus paradox, which is a known mathematical phenomenon in queuing theory, stochastic processes, and modern temporal network analysis. He also observed and analyzed data on Tokyo City trams to verify the relevance of the waiting-time paradox to busy passengers in Tokyo at the time. This essay seems to be one of the earliest documentations of the waiting-time paradox in a sufficiently scientific manner.

Heel Down And Toe-Off Time Measured With Ultrasonic Doppler System And Force Plate Sensor, Sabin Timsina

Honors Theses

Collie Box is a medical device that measures the gait parameters of the person walk- ing in front of it. This device uses the Ultrasonic Doppler system to extract the heel-contact and toe-off times of a person walking within the range of 2-10 meters. These times are used to determine the leg’s swing phase and double stance times. The ultrasonic transducer of 10mm diameter is driven at 40kHz. At the time of the heel-contact and toe-off, foot velocity is zero while the torso part of the human body is still in motion. The wide directivity of 10mm diameter ultrasonic transducer …

Numerical Modeling Of Magnetic Fields For Mirror Neutron Search Experiment, Adam Johnston

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This paper will outline the configuration of 3D magnetic field model simulated from electric current sources using MATLAB. The model is using 3D arrays allowing for quick and accurate numerical approximations of Bio-Savart integrals, of error < , modeling the behavior of a magnetic field due to current carrying wires. We will discuss the development of a 3D magnetic field configuration produced by the current carrying wires around a large 2.5 m diameter vacuum beam tube in the proposed mirror neutron search experiment at High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The simulations demonstrate that the magnetic field with uniformity better than ± 2.5 mG that will allow for optimal results in experiment within the controlled range of net magnetic field magnitudes |B| 500 mG and in the large vacuum tube along 20-m neutron flight path can be achieved for an approximately 6 cm radius section at the center of the tube.

Skyrmion Fluctuations At A First-Order Phase Transition Boundary, V. Esposito, X. Y. Zheng, M. H. Seaberg, S. A. Montoya, B. Holladay, A. H. Reid, R. Streubel, J. C.T. Lee, L. Shen, J. D. Koralek, G. Coslovich, P. Walter, S. Zohar, V. Thampy, M. F. Lin, P. Hart, K. Nakahara, P. Fischer, W. Colocho, A. Lutman, F. J. Decker, S. K. Sinha, E. E. Fullerton, S. D. Kevan, S. Roy, M. Dunne, J. J. Turner

Robert Streubel Papers

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures with promising prospects for applications in data storage. They can form a lattice state due to competing magnetic interactions and are commonly found in a small region of the temperature - magnetic field phase diagram. Recent work has demonstrated that these magnetic quasi-particles fluctuate at the μeV energy scale. Here, we use a coherent x-ray correlation method at an x-ray free-electron laser to investigate these fluctuations in a magnetic phase coexistence region near a first-order transition boundary where fluctuations are not expected to play a major role. Surprisingly, we find that the relaxation …

Infiltration Into Water-Repellent Sand: The Role Of Sorptivity, Rose Marie Shillito

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Soil water repellency (SWR) is believed to contribute to the increased potential for post-fire runoff and erosion. Currently, no quantitative method exists to account for SWR in physically-based runoff models. A physically-based model incorporating SWR (through the contact angle) in the infiltration parameter, sorptivity, was developed. The model was tested and verified with controlled laboratory tests on a fully characterized sand treated to create various degrees of SWR. The ability to create the wetting water characteristic curve for untreated and treated sand, appropriate for the infiltration process, was presented. Additionally, the ability to measure sorptivity with widely used infiltration tests …

Perturbation Of Lagrange Points In Effective Potential Simulations, Swapnil Bhatta

Honors Theses

Lagrange points are analytically proven to exist at certain positions in a two-body gravitational system, simply as a function of the gravitational force governing the motion of the bodies and the centrifugal potential due to rotation, providing regions of varying effective potentials. In a system involving interactions between the gravitational forces of multiple bodies however, the position of the Lagrange points ought to change. The purpose of this research project is to verify that the change does indeed occur when a new body is introduced, and compute the perturbation in the position of these points given various parameters.

A Note On The Fine Structure Constant, Bilal Khan, Irshadullah Khan

CSE Technical reports

We derive the numerical value of the fine structure constant in purely number-theoretic terms, under the assumption that in a system of charges between two parallel conducting plates, the Casimir energy and the mutual Coulomb interaction energy agree.

A Note On The Fine Structure Constant, Bilal Khan, Irshadullah Khan

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

We derive the numerical value of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ in purely number-theoretic terms, under the assumption that in a system of charges between two parallel conducting plates, the Casimir energy and the mutual Coulomb interaction energy agree.

A Note On The Fine Structure Constant, Bilal Khan, Irshadullah Khan

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

We derive the numerical value of the fine structure constant in purely number-theoretic terms, under the assumption that in a system of charges between two parallel conducting plates, the Casimir energy and the mutual Coulomb interaction energy agree.