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Physics For Everyone, Charles Liu, Sarang Gopalakrishnan, Vadim Oganesyan

Open Educational Resources

The online educational resource Physics For Everyone is the scaffolding for a 3 contact hour, 3 credit general education course that will be offered for the first time at the CUNY College of Staten Island in the spring semester of 2021. This work has been generously supported by New America’s PIT-UN (Public Interest Technology University Network) challenge grant program, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

This slide deck provides the outline for the semester-long course. Each week’s lecture topics, with key points to be covered, are highlighted in two slides, which also list writing prompts, …

Fermi-Unsmearing In Single Charged Pion Electroproduction Cross-Section Measurements For The Neutron And Proton In Deuterium, Gary Hollis

Theses and Dissertations

Electron scattering cross-sections for two different reaction channels, e- + p→ e- + n + ϖ + and e- + n → e- + p ϖ - using an unpolarized deuterium target, were extracted from Jefferson Lab experiment E1E data with a beam energy of 2.039 GeV, providing a (W;Q2) coverage of 1.1 GeV < W < 1.9 GeV and0.4 GeV2< Q2 2. Although there has already been an analysis of this same data set for the second reaction channel listed above [1], more of the cross-section domain has been covered in this analysis due to applying a new technique called Fermi-unsmearing. Fermi-smearing is a distortion in a cross-section measurement which occurs whenever the target is erroneously assumed to be at rest but is in fact a bound nucleon as part of a larger nucleus (and thus is in Fermi-motion). Fermi-unsmearing is a Monte Carlo method presented in this work for generating a correction factor that removes the Fermi-smearing effect from an existing cross-section measurement that suffers from Fermi-smearing. Using Fermi-unsmearing can have the advantage of significantly larger statistical sample sizes given the same data set due to allowing less strict final data selection criteria, as occurs in a Fermi-unsmeared analysis of the e- + n→ e- + p + ϖ- channel in contrast to a fully-exclusive analysis of the same channel. The same Fermi-unsmearing method is applied to the first channel after having established the efficacy of the method using the second channel.

Reconstruction Of Events Recorded With The Surface Detector Of The Pierre Auger Observatory, A. Aab, P. Abreu, M. Aglietta, J. M. Albury, I. Allekotte, A. Almela, J. Alvarez Castillo, J. Alvarez-Muñiz, R. Alves Batista, G. A. Anastasi, L. Anchordoqui, B. Andrada, B. Fick, D. F. Nitz, A. Puyleart, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Cosmic rays arriving at Earth collide with the upper parts of the atmosphere, thereby inducing extensive air showers. When secondary particles from the cascade arrive at the ground, they are measured by surface detector arrays. We describe the methods applied to the measurements of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory to reconstruct events with zenith angles less than 60 using the timing and signal information recorded using the water-Cherenkov detector stations. In addition, we assess the accuracy of these methods in reconstructing the arrival directions of the primary cosmic ray particles and the sizes of the induced showers.

Conductivity Reversal In Silicon Doped With S And Zn, Abdulaziz Shavkatovich Mavlyanov, Nurullo Zikrillayev, Maruf Khaqqulov, Erkin Khaltursunov, Farhod Shakarov

Acta of Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent

Based on experimental results of investigation of type of conductivity of silicon samples doped with sulfur at Т=1250°С, and thereafter with zinc at T=1200°С, the authors put forward the hypothesis about self-assembly of “binary” elementary cells where atoms of elements of group II (Zn) and IV (S) allegedly form ZnS-type compounds in Si. The thermodynamic conditions required for buildup of such elementary cells and assembly of various associations in the basic lattice of silicon including self-assembly of ZnS clusters were theoretically determined and experimentally justified.

Top Hadrons In Lorentz-Violating Field Theory, Brett David Altschul

Faculty Publications

If there is Lorentz symmetry violation in the t quark sector of the standard model, changes to particles’ dispersion relations might allow for the existence of stable top-flavored hadrons. Observations of the survival of high-energy γ-rays over astrophysical distances can be used to place constraints on Lorentz violation coefficients in the t sector at ∼10⁻⁴–10⁻⁶ levels of precision.

The Operational Choi-Jamio Lkowski Isomorphism, Emily Adlam

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this article, I use an operational formulation of the Choi–Jamiołkowski isomorphism to explore an approach to quantum mechanics in which the state is not the fundamental object. I first situate this project in the context of generalized probabilistic theories and argue that this framework may be understood as a means of drawing conclusions about the intratheoretic causal structure of quantum mechanics which are independent of any specific ontological picture. I then give an operational formulation of the Choi–Jamiołkowski isomorphism and show that, in an operational theory which exhibits this isomorphism, several features of the theory which are usually regarded …

Features Of The Energy Spectrum Of Cosmic Rays Above 2.5 × 10 18  Ev Using The Pierre Auger Observatory, A. Aab, P. Abreu, M. Aglietta, J. M. Albury, I. Allekotte, A. Almela, B. Fick, D. F. Nitz, A. Puyleart, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

We report a measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic rays above 2.5×10¹⁸  eV based on 215 030 events. New results are presented: at about 1.3×10¹⁹  eV, the spectral index changes from 2.51±0.03(stat)±0.05(syst) to 3.05±0.05(stat)±0.10(syst), evolving to 5.1±0.3(stat)±0.1(syst) beyond 5×10¹⁹  eV, while no significant dependence of spectral features on the declination is seen in the accessible range. These features of the spectrum can be reproduced in models with energy-dependent mass composition. The energy density in cosmic rays above 5×10¹⁸  eV is [5.66±0.03(stat)±1.40(syst)]×10⁵³  erg Mpc⁻³.

Measurement Of The Cosmic-Ray Energy Spectrum Above 2.5×1018 Ev Using The Pierre Auger Observatory, A. Aab, P. Abreu, M. Aglietta, J. M. Albury, I. Allekotte, A. Almela, J. Alvarez Castillo, J. Alvarez-Muñiz, R. Alves Batista, G. A. Anastasi, L. Anchordoqui, B. Andrada, B. Fick, D. F. Nitz, A. Puyleart, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

We report a measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic rays for energies above 2.5×1018 eV based on 215,030 events recorded with zenith angles below 60°. A key feature of the work is that the estimates of the energies are independent of assumptions about the unknown hadronic physics or of the primary mass composition. The measurement is the most precise made hitherto with the accumulated exposure being so large that the measurements of the flux are dominated by systematic uncertainties except at energies above 5×1019 eV. The principal conclusions are(1) The flattening of the spectrum near 5×1018 eV, the so-called …

Investigation Of Magnetism In Transition Metal Chalcogenide Thin Films, Michael Adventure Hopkins

Dissertations and Theses

Layered two dimensional films have been a topic of interest in the materials science community driven by the intriguing properties demonstrated in graphene. Tunable layer dependent electrical and magnetic properties have been shown in these materials and the ability to grow in the hexagonal phase provides opportunities to grow isostructural stacked heterostructures. In this investigation, cobalt selenide (CoSe) and nickel selenide (NiSe) were grown in the hexagonal phase, which consist of central metal atoms that are natively ferromagnetic in bulk, hence providing the potential for interesting magnetic phases in thin film arrangements as well. These structures may play a role …

Sensitivity And Performance Of The Advanced Ligo Detectors In The Third Observing Run, A. Buikema, C. Cahillane, G. L. Mansell, C. D. Blair, R. Abbott, C. Adams, R. Adhikari, K. E. Ramirez

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

On April 1st, 2019, the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (aLIGO), joined by the Advanced Virgo detector, began the third observing run, a year-long dedicated search for gravitational radiation. The LIGO detectors have achieved a higher duty cycle and greater sensitivity to gravitational waves than ever before, with LIGO Hanford achieving angle-averaged sensitivity to binary neutron star coalescences to a distance of 111 Mpc, and LIGO Livingston to 134 Mpc with duty factors of 74.6% and 77.0% respectively. The improvement in sensitivity and stability is a result of several upgrades to the detectors, including doubled intracavity power, the addition of …

Size Dependence In Chord Characteristics From Simulated And Observed Continental Shallow Cumulus, Philipp J. Griewank, Thijs Heus, Neil P. Lareau, Roel A. J. Neggers

Physics Faculty Publications

© 2020 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved. In this study we compare long-Term Doppler and Raman lidar observations against a full month of large eddy simulations of continental shallow cumulus clouds. The goal is to evaluate if the simulations can reproduce the mean observed vertical velocity and moisture structure of cumulus clouds and their associated subcloud circulations, as well as to establish if these properties depend on the size of the cloud.We propose methods to compare continuous chords of cloud detected from Doppler and Raman lidars with equivalent chords derived from 1D and 3D model output. While …

Resummation Of Non-Global Logarithms In Cross Sections With Massive Particles, Marcel Balsiger, Thomas Becher, Andrea Ferroglia

Publications and Research

A factorization formalism for jet processes involving massive colored particles such as the top quark is developed, extending earlier results for the massless case. The factorization of soft emissions from the underlying hard process is implemented in an effec tive field theory framework, which forms the basis for the resummation of large logarithms. The renormalization group evolution giving rise to non-global logarithms is implemented into a parton shower code in the large-Nc limit. After a comparison of the massive and massless radiation patterns, the cross section for t¯ t production with a veto on additional central jet activity is computed, …

Gw190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger With A Total Mass Of 150 M⊙, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, A. Aich, G. Bissenbayeva, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Malik Rakhmanov, K. E. Ramirez, P. K. Roy, W. H. Wang, A. K. Zadrozny

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

On May 21, 2019 at 03:02:29 UTC Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo observed a short duration gravitational-wave signal, GW190521, with a three-detector network signal-to-noise ratio of 14.7, and an estimated false-alarm rate of 1 in 4900 yr using a search sensitive to generic transients. If GW190521 is from a quasicircular binary inspiral, then the detected signal is consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses of 85+21−14  M⊙ and 66+17−18  M⊙ (90% credible intervals). We infer that the primary black hole mass lies within the gap produced by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova processes, with only a 0.32% probability of …

Variability Of Active Galactic Nuclei From Differential Photometry, Nicholas Steven Yee

Physics

The Seoul AGN Monitoring Project, or SAMP for short, is an international project (PI Jonghak Woo from Korea) with the goal of measuring the masses of black holes residing in the center of massive active galactic nuclei (AGNs). AGNs are some of the brightest objects in the universe. Their light is attributed to the accretion of material onto the black hole. However, these objects are too distant to spatially resolve the gravitational sphere of influence of the black hole directly. Instead, we use a technique called reverberation mapping which observes the variability of the AGN power-law continuum emission and the …

Physics-Constrained Hyperspectral Data Exploitation Across Diverse Atmospheric Scenarios, Nicholas M. Westing

Theses and Dissertations

Hyperspectral target detection promises new operational advantages, with increasing instrument spectral resolution and robust material discrimination. Resolving surface materials requires a fast and accurate accounting of atmospheric effects to increase detection accuracy while minimizing false alarms. This dissertation investigates deep learning methods constrained by the processes governing radiative transfer to efficiently perform atmospheric compensation on data collected by long-wave infrared (LWIR) hyperspectral sensors. These compensation methods depend on generative modeling techniques and permutation invariant neural network architectures to predict LWIR spectral radiometric quantities. The compensation algorithms developed in this work were examined from the perspective of target detection performance using …

Reducing A Class Of Two-Dimensional Integrals To One-Dimension With An Application To Gaussian Transforms, Jack C. Straton

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Quantum theory is awash in multidimensional integrals that contain exponentials in the integration variables, their inverses, and inverse polynomials of those variables. The present paper introduces a means to reduce pairs of such integrals to one dimension when the integrand contains powers multiplied by an arbitrary function of xy/ (x + y) multiplying various combinations of exponentials. In some cases these exponentials arise directly from transition-amplitudes involving products of plane waves, hydrogenic wave functions, and Yukawa and/or Coulomb potentials. In other cases these exponentials arise from Gaussian transforms of such functions.

Particle Dynamics In Anti-De Sitter Space By Eih Method, Jiusi Lei

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Following the work of Einstein, Infeld and Hoffmann, we show that particle dynamics in Anti-de Sitter spacetime can be built up by regarding singularities in spacetime manifold as the source of particles.

Since gauge fields play a foundational role in the action, the singularities are chosen to be point-like instantons. Their winding number, defined by an integration on the spheres surrounding those singularities, will turn out to be related to their masses. And their action, derived from the Chern-Simons forms, will be a co-adjoint orbit action, with group element g ∈ SO(4, 2) describing the collective coordinates of the particle. …

Control Of Molecular Energetics And Transport Via Strong Light-Matter Interaction, Rong Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Strong light-matter coupling in excitonic systems results in the formation of half-light half-matter quasiparticles called exciton polaritons. These hybrid quasiparticles take on the best of both systems, namely, the long-range propagation and coherence arising from the photonic component and the nonlinear interaction from the excitonic component. We develop methods for making high quality factor cavities and investigate the potential applications of these strongly coupled states arising specifically in organic molecular systems.

In the first project we investigate the potential of organic dye molecules to undergo condensation in an optical cavity at room temperature. The second study involves the use of …

Linear And Non-Linear Elastic Constants Of Crystalline Materials From First-Principles Calculations, David Cuffari

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Novel methods based on the use of density functional theory (DFT) calculations are developed and applied to calculate linear and non-linear elastic constants of materials at zero and finite temperature. These methods rely on finite difference techniques and are designed to be general, numerically accurate, and suitable to investigate the thermoelastic properties of anharmonic materials. A first method was developed to compute the third-order elastic constants of crystalline materials at zero temperature, a task that is numerically challenging and is currently undertaken by using approaches typically applicable to cubic and hexagonal crystalline systems. This method relies on numerical differentiation of …

Antimatter Gravity: Second Quantization And Lagrangian Formalism, Ulrich D. Jentschura

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

The application of the CPT (charge-conjugation, parity, and time reversal) theorem to an apple falling on Earth leads to the description of an anti-apple falling on anti–Earth (not on Earth). On the microscopic level, the Dirac equation in curved space-time simultaneously describes spin-1/2 particles and their antiparticles coupled to the same curved space-time metric (e.g., the metric describing the gravitational field of the Earth). On the macroscopic level, the electromagnetically and gravitationally coupled Dirac equation therefore describes apples and anti-apples, falling on Earth, simultaneously. A particle-to-antiparticle transformation of the gravitationally coupled Dirac equation therefore yields information on the behavior of …

Electromagnetic Reciprocity In The Presence Of Topological Insulators, Huai-Yi Xie, P. T. Leung

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Electromagnetic reciprocity is studied in the presence of topological insulators (TI) with application of axion electrodynamics for harmonic electromagnetic fields. The corresponding generalized Lorentz and Feld-Tai type lemmas are derived in terms of the axion coupling parameter, and their correlation to the conditional symmetry in source-observer coordinates for the various Green dyadics is established subjected to different types of boundary conditions. Possible application of the results to the probing of the topological magneto-electric effects from TI is discussed.

Efficient Time-Stepping Approaches For The Dispersive Shallow Water Equations, Linwan Feng

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on developing efficient and stable (high order) time-stepping strategies for the dispersive shallow water equations (DSWE) with variable bathymetry. The DSWE extends the regular shallow water equations to include dispersive effects. Dispersion is physically important and can maintain the shape of a wave that would otherwise form a shock in the shallow water system.

In some cases, the DSWE may be simplified when the bathymetry length scales are small (or large) in relation to other length scales in the shallow water system. These simplified DSWE models, which are related to the full DSWEs, are also considered in …

Flare Emission Observed In High Resolution And Comparison With Numerical Modeling, Nengyi Huang

Dissertations

As one of the most intense activities on the solar surface, flares have been extensively observed and studied ever since the first report. The standard model of solar flares has been established and commonly accepted. However, many limitations from the researching tools have left some of the problems unsolved or controversial. For example, the density of electrons in the corona is lower than it is required to activate the observed emission in HXR, and the mechanism that these electron beams can penetrate down to lower chromosphere is unclear. Many theoretical scenarios were suggested, and more observations had been in need. …

Machine Learning Corrected Quantum Dynamics Calculations, A. Jasinski, J. Montaner, R. C. Forrey, B. H. Yang, P. C. Stancil, Naduvalath Balakrishnan, J. Dai, A. Vargas-Hernandez, R. V. Krems

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Quantum scattering calculations for all but low-dimensional systems at low energies must rely on approximations. All approximations introduce errors. The impact of these errors is often difficult to assess because they depend on the Hamiltonian parameters and the particular observable under study. Here, we illustrate a general, system- and approximation-independent, approach to improve the accuracy of quantum dynamics approximations. The method is based on a Bayesian machine learning (BML) algorithm that is trained by a small number of exact results and a large number of approximate calculations, resulting in ML models that can generalize exact quantum results to different dynamical …

Long‐Term Variations Of Quasi‐Trapped And Trapped Electrons In The Inner Radiation Belt Observed By Demeter And Sampex, Kun Zhang, Xinlin Li, Zheng Xiang, Leng Ying Khoo, Hong Zhao, Mark D. Looper, Michael A. Temerin, Jean-Andre Sauvaud

Publications

Electrons in the Earth's radiation belts can be categorized into three populations: precipitating, quasi‐trapped, and trapped. We use data from the Detection of Electro‐Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions (DEMETER) and Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer satellite (SAMPEX) missions and from ground‐based neutron monitors (NM) and sunspot observations to investigate the long‐term variation of quasi‐trapped and trapped sub‐MeV electrons on different L shells in the inner belt. DEMETER and SAMPEX measurements span over 17 years and show that at L ≤ 1.14 the electron flux is anticorrelated with sunspot number, but proportional to the cosmic ray intensity represented by …

Modeling Anatomic Changes For Adaptive Radiotherapy In Locally Advanced Lung Cancer Patient Population, James Alexander Kavanaugh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Anatomic changes occurring mid-treatment for patients undergoing radiation therapy for locally advanced lung cancer can degrade the quality of the intended treatment plan. These changes include tumor regression, geometric misalignment, and lung density changes (atelectasis and pleural effusion), and are visible on the daily 3D cone beam CT (CBCT). To maintain the intended treatment quality, adaptive radiotherapy (ART) can be employed to modify the treatment plan to account for these anatomic changes. However, the evaluation on when to adapt is currently completed manually by the treating clinicians, resulting in a subjective and inconsistent application. To address these limitations, a series …

Artificial Neural Network Discovery Of A Switchable Metasurface Reflector, J. R. Thompson, J. A. Burrow, P. J. Shah, J. Slagle, E. S. Harper, A. Van Rynbach, I. Agha, M. S. Mills

Electro-Optics and Photonics Faculty Publications

Optical materials engineered to dynamically and selectively manipulate electromag- netic waves are essential to the future of modern optical systems. In this paper, we simulate various metasurface configurations consisting of periodic 1D bars or 2D pillars made of the ternary phase change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST). Dynamic switching behavior in reflectance is exploited due to a drastic refractive index change between the crystalline and amorphous states of GST. Selectivity in the reflection and transmission spectra is manipulated by tailoring the geometrical parameters of the metasurface. Due to the immense number of possible metasurface configurations, we train deep neural networks capable of …

Structural Organization And Chemical Activity Revealed By New Developments In Single-Molecule Fluorescence And Orientation Imaging, Tianben Ding

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Single-molecule (SM) fluorescence and its localization are important and versatile tools for understanding and quantifying dynamical nanoscale behavior of nanoparticles and biological systems. By actively controlling the concentration of fluorescent molecules and precisely localizing individual single molecules, it is possible to overcome the classical diffraction limit and achieve 'super-resolution' with image resolution on the order of 10 nanometers.

Single molecules also can be considered as nanoscale sensors since their fluorescence changes in response to their local nanoenvironment. This dissertation discusses extending this SM approach to resolve heterogeneity and dynamics of nanoscale materials and biophysical structures by using positions and orientations …

Biomedical Applications Of Polarimetry, Nathaniel Owen King

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Non- or minimally-invasive data collection is highly desirable for gathering the broad base of information that facilitates moving technology to the point of care. Polarimetry has been making this transition for years. Early forms of polarization-sensitive optics involved custom multiplexing a series of images to generate a single image, but today’s snapshot polarimeters are readily commercially available.

The research presented in this dissertation advances three areas of polarimetric imaging: First, this research develops a reflectance-based measurement for tracking changes in the alignment of dynamically loaded soft tissue, specifically tendon. This work highlights a range of mounting angles across which signal …

Separating Signal From Noise In High-Density Diffuse Optical Tomography, Arefeh Sherafati

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

High-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) is a relatively new neuroimaging technique that detects the changes in hemoglobin concentrations following neuronal activity through the measurement of near-infrared light intensities. Thus, it has the potential to be a surrogate for functional MRI (fMRI) as a more naturalistic, portable, and cost-effective neuroimaging system. As in other neuroimaging modalities, head motion is the most common source of noise in HD-DOT data that results in spurious effects in the functional brain images. Unlike other neuroimaging modalities, data quality assessment methods are still underdeveloped for HD-DOT. Therefore, developing robust motion detection and motion removal methods in …