Digital Commons Network^™

Tissue Characterization And Imaging Using Photon Density Waves, Lars O. Svaasand, Bruce J. Tromberg, Richard C. Haskell, Tsong-Tseh Tsay, Michael W. Berns

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

The optical properties of brain tissues have been evaluated by measuring the phase velocity and attenuation of harmonically modulated light. The phase velocity for photon density waves at 650-nm wavelength has been found to be in the range of 5 to 12% of the corresponding velocity in a nonscattering medium, and the optical penetration depth was in the range 2.9 to 5.2 mm. These results are used to predict the resolution of optical imaging of deep tissue structures by diffusely propagating incoherent photons. The results indicate that structures of a few millimeters in linear dimension can be identified at 10 …

A Theoretical Investigation Of The Geometries, Vibrational Frequencies, And Binding Energies Of Several Alkali Halide Dimers, Robert P. Dickey '93, David Maurice '91, Robert J. Cave, Richard J. Mawhorter

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Results are presented from ab initio calculations on the symmetrical alkali halide dimers made up of Li, Na, K, F, and Cl. We examine the sensitivity of representative monomer and dimer geometries to the variation of the basis set with and without polarization and diffuse functions. The geometries are then compared with available experimental results. We have also calculated vibrational frequencies at the restricted Hartree–Fock level and examined the changes in geometry brought about by correlation using second‐order Møller–Plesset perturbation theory. It is found that Hartree–Fock theory in a modest basis set with diffuse and polarization functions yields results comparable …

Nonlinear Analysis Of Relativistic Harmonic Generation By Intenselasers In Plasmas, Eric Esarey, A. Ting, P. Sprangle, Donald Umstadter, X. Liu

Donald Umstadter Publications

A linearly polarized, ultra-intense laser field induces transverse plasma currents which are highly relativistic and nonlinear, resulting in the generation of coherent harmonic radiation in the forward direction (i.e., copropagating with the incident laser field). A nonlinear cold fluid model, valid for ultrahigh intensities, is formulated and used to analyze relativistic harmonic generation. The plasma density response is included self-consistently and is shown to significantly reduce the current driving the harmonic radiation. Phase detuning severely limits the growth of the harmonic radiation. The effects of diffraction are considered in the mildly relativistic limit. No third-harmonic signal emerges from a uniform …

Measurement Of The Casimir-Polder Force, C. I. Sukenik, M. G. Boshier, S. Cho, V. Sandoghdar, E. A. Hinds

Physics Faculty Publications

The authors have studied the deflection of ground-state sodium atoms passing through a micron-sized parallel-plate cavity by measuring the intensity of a sodium atomic beam transmitted through the cavity as a function of cavity plate separation. This experiment provides clear evidence for the existence of the Casimir-Polder force, which is due to modification of the ground-state Lamb shift in the confined space of a cavity. The results confirm the magnitude of the force and the distance dependence predicted by quantum electrodynamics.

Multiplet-Changing Auger Transitions In Valence Double Photoionization, U. Becker, Oliver Hemmers, B. Langer, I. Lee, A. Menzel, R. Wehlitz, M. Ya Amusia

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

The decay of valence satellite states in neon above the first double-ionization threshold has been studied experimentally and theoretically. Special emphasis was given to differentiate between two decay modes: valence Auger and valence-multiplet Auger decay. It is shown that the latter process is predominant in the low kinetic energy part of the spectrum. The main structures of this low-energy Auger spectrum could be designated by help of calculated transition energies and decay rates.

Weak Radiative Decay Λ→Nγ And The Radiative Capture Reaction K‾P→∑(1385)Γ, William J. Fickinger, D. K. Robinson

Faculty Scholarship

The branching ratio for the Λ weak radiative decay Λ→nγ has been measured. Three statistically independent results from the same experiment (Brookhaven E811) are reported here. They are combined with a previously published measurement, also from Brookhaven E811, to yield a result of (Λ→nγ)/(Λ→anything)=(1.75±0.15)×10-3, based on 1800 events after background subtraction. This represents a factor of 75 increase in statistics over the previous world total. A comparison with recent theoretical papers shows that no existing model provides a completely satisfactory description of all data on weak radiative decays. A search is also reported for the radiative capture process K-p→Σ(1385)γ at …

Ion-Director Coupling In A Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal, Min-Hua Lu, Charles Rosenblatt, Rolfe G. Petschek

Faculty Scholarship

The coupling between the motion of ionic impurities and the bend-type director distortion in a ferroelectric liquid crystal is examined theoretically. We calculate the relaxation rate of the (fast) director mode to lowest order in the ion concentration. Moreover, we calculate the ratio Kfast(=0)/K(=0), where K() is the amplitude of the temporal autocorrelation function for director fluctuations, is the correlation time, and Kfast() is the corresponding value for the quickly decaying component of this quantity. The ratio, which can be measured in a light-scattering experiment, yields the inverse Debye-Hückel screening length.

In-Medium Behavior Of The Qcd ϴ Term And The Value Of Cp Violation In Nuclei, Vladimir Gudkov

Faculty Publications

The expectation value of the θ term in QCD for nuclear matter is estimated in the nucleon gas approximation. There is no significant renormalization (to an accuracy ∼10%) of the CP violation in nuclei due to the similar behaviors for the in-medium values of the θ term and quark condensates.

H+-H- Coincidences From The Three-Body Dissociation Of Excited H3+, Orhan Yenen, D. Calabrese, L.M. Wiese, Duane H. Jaecks, Gordon A. Gallup

Gordon Gallup Publications

The laboratory energy distribution of protons in coincidence with an H^- ion, resulting from the dissociation of excited H_3⁺, has been measured for H⁺-H^- pairs emitted along the beam for 4.0-keV H_3⁺-He collisions. An approximate energy distribution of H⁺-H^- pairs for the collinear configuration of the dissociation products is obtained by transforming the measured laboratory spectrum to the H_3⁺ center-of-mass (c.m.) frame. Coincidence data suggest that the reaction producing H⁺-H^- pairs where the H⁺ ion has near-zero energies (3⁺ ions …

Harmonic Generation By An Intense Laser Pulse In Neutral And Ionized Gases, X. Liu, Donald Umstadter, Eric Esarey, A. Ting

Donald Umstadter Publications

Reported are the results of a harmonic generation experiment in a simple gas (hydrogen) using 1-ps, 1-pm laser pulses with a range of intensities extending from below to far above the laser ionization saturation threshold. The scaling with intensity above saturation of the third harmonic generated by a single laser-pulse in a filled gas cell is observed to not fit with a simple model that takes into consideration volume ionization effects alone. In another experiment, a pump-probe type, an upper limit on the conversion efficiency of third harmonic generation in a preformed plasma is determined. It is found to be …

Application Of Sunlight Mapping In Solar Car Design, Jeffrey Shapiro, Rob Ziegler, Matt Spaethe, Rick Jenkins

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The design of a solar car is a combination of trade-offs between the mechanical, aerodynamic, and photovoltaic systems. The mechanical and aerodynamic systems can be computationally modeled very well using commercial software. Clouds prevent the photovoltaic system from being modeled as well. This research explores a new way to accurately simulate almost every array configuration imaginable. Using this method, quantitative simulations are produced.

Motorized Throttle Plate, John D. Crawford

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The objective of this project was to develop a throttle plate mechanism that can be used to simulate transient engine operation. This throttle plate was designed so as to regulate the quantity of air flow entering a Port Fuel Injected (PFI) spark ignition engine prior to the combustion of the fuel-air mixture. The throttle plate is linked to a data acquisition system in order to study the port fuel injection characteristics of the fuel-air mixture. This data acquisition system links the throttle plate angular position information to data obtained using a nonintrusive laser based diagnostic technique, therefore enabling the study …

Performance Analysis For The Ccn Collection Apparatus, Deborah K. Bircher

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

This paper concerns the performance testing of a system to collect and chemically analyze cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). These are the atmospheric particles which nucleate cloud drops.

The air is humidified by passage through the "haze chamber", consisting of parallel vertical plates that are covered with cotton cloth and are kept wet by water supplied at the top edge. The plates are adiabatic , and should equilibrate in temperature at the wet bulb temperature of the incoming air. Measurements of the plate temperature with eighty thermocouples indicate behavior consistent with theory.

Another part of the system is called the CFD …

Astronomical Ccd Imaging At Umr: An Interim Report, David A. Thilker, Jon R. Fox

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Progress towards the modernization and update of the UMR observatory through the implementation of astronomical CCD technology is detailed. Preliminary image data is presented, specifically: globular cluster M13 and the lunar surface. An evaluation of the Santa Barbara Instrument Group’s (SBIG) ST-6 CCD camera is presented; bias frames, dark frames, and flat-fields are all examined. A custom optical assembly for instrument focusing and housing BVRI photometry and RGB colorimetry filters is described. The ST60PS data acquisition program, provided by SBIG, is reviewed. Additional work towards the development of a custom image processing utility program is mentioned. Finally, optical telescope collimation …

Two Methods For Attenuation Of Vibration In Structures, Kevin Mark Mcclendon

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The purpose of this report is to discuss methods of suppressing vibration in space trusses. The discussion is centered on the approach, structural attributes, and effectiveness of each method. One approach uses structural active members which are actuated to produce “anti-vibration” to cancel vibrations in the truss. The other method is to implement passive and active damping devices at the base of the space truss, where it will absorb vibrations by fluctuating the stiffness of the structures foundation.

Damage Assessment Of Composite Structures With Embedded Optical Fibers, Peter E. Hackett

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

One of the important features of smart composite structures is their capability to observe their own performance for proper functioning and self-diagnostic purposes. The low velocity impact damage of composite structures (matrix cracking, fiber breakage, delamination, etc.) is often difficult to detect visually and can significantly reduce the strength of the structure. The objective of this research is to develop a technique for fabricating composite laminates that will facilitate the embedment of optical fibers. Composite test specimens will be fabricated in the composite material laboratory. The fabrication of composite laminates with a health monitoring and damage assessment system capable of …

Active Buckling Control Of Composite Plates, Bradley Wayne Gentelin

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The objective of the research project is to investigate the feasibility of using the rapidly growing technology of smart materials in actively controlling the buckling of laminated composite plates. Advanced composite structures are susceptible to structural instabilities under compression loadings, and the proper control of such instabilities is essential to the effective performance of the structures. The focus of the research activity is to perform an experimental study of using embedded piezoelectric materials for enhancing the critical buckling loads of laminated composite plates. The forces induced by the piezoelectric actuators under the applied voltage fields will be used to counterbalance …

Catalysis Of Charcoal Emissions, James M. Horak

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

This paper is about the development of a system to reduce the emissions of charcoal kilns with the catalyst from automotive catalytic converters. This device, called the charcoal kiln emissions oxidizer (CKEO), was designed and fabricated to meet the goal of a cost effective means to reduce the carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions from charcoal kilns. Testing of the CKEO was never carried out as a test site could not be secured by this writing. The need for the CKEO, the theory behind it, and a procedure to test it are presented.

A Track Physics Retrospective, Robert Katz

Robert Katz Publications

Many condensed matter dosimeters and detectors respond to the perspectives of track physics, a parametric model which relates their response to gamma rays to their response to heavy ions through the radial distribution of dose about a heavy ion’s path. Most dosimeters are treated as 1-hit detectors, a classification which includes emulsions, scintillators, TLDs, the Fricke dosimeter, alanine, and some biological substances: enzymes and Eschericia coli, among others. We have discovered many hit detectors. An extended model describes the killing, transformation, and mutation of biological cells after gamma and heavy ion irradiation. A detector is treated as a black box, …

Quantam Wave Turbulence, Alejandro Garcia, M. Haeri, S. Putterman, P. Roberts

Faculty Publications

The nonlinear quantum kinetic equation for the interaction of sound waves is solved via analytic and numerical techniques. In the classical regime energy cascades to higher frequency (ω) according to the steady-state power law ω-3/2. In the quantum limit, the system prefers a reverse cascade of energy which follows the power law ω-6. Above a critical flux, a new type of spectrum appears which is neither self-similar nor close to equilibrium. This state of nonlinear quantum wave turbulence represents a flow of energy directly from the classical source to the quantum degrees of freedom.

Contributions Of The Low-Latitude Boundary Layer To The Finite Width Magnetotail Convection Model, Harlan E. Spence, M. G. Kivelson

Physics & Astronomy

Convection of plasma within the terrestrial nightside plasma sheet contributes to the structure and, possibly, the dynamical evolution of the magnetotail. In order to characterize the steady state convection process, we have extended the finite tail width model of magnetotail plasma sheet convection. The model assumes uniform plasma sources and accounts for both the duskward gradient/curvature drift and the earthward E × B drift of ions in a two-dimensional magnetic geometry. During periods of slow convection (i.e., when the cross-tail electric potential energy is small relative to the source plasma's thermal energy), there is a significant net duskward displacement of …

Selective Excitation Via The Continuum And Suppression Of Ionization, C. E. Carroll, Foek T. Hioe

Physics Faculty/Staff Publications

Two laser pulses that overlap in time have been successfully used for coherent excitation of a molecule or atom to a desired state. An intermediate state that is at or near resonance with the laser frequencies has been used in past experiments and calculations. Here we replace this intermediate state by a continuum of intermediate states. An analytic solution of a simple model suggests that the continuum can be used in such an excitation scheme, provided that the laser pulses are arranged in the so-called counter intuitive order. %'e use a special case of this solution to relate this work …

A Fast Serial Algorithm For The Finite Temperature Quenched Potts Model, Gregory N. Hassold, Elizabeth A. Holm

Physics Publications

An efficient serial algorithm for finite temperature, quenched Potts model simulations of domain evolution has been developed. This ''n‐fold way'' algorithm eliminates unsuccessful spin flip attempts a priori by flipping sites with a frequency proportional to their site activity, defined as the sum of the probability of success for every possible spin flip at that site. Finite temperature efficiency for high‐spin degeneracy systems is achieved by utilizing a new, analytical expression for the portion of the site activity due to flips to non-neighbor spin values. Hence, to determine the activity of a site, only flips to the …

Magnetic Multilayers: Quasiclassical Transport Via The Kubo Formula, Horacio E. Camblong

Physics and Astronomy

A real‐space quantum approach, based on the Kubo formula, is used to describe the quasiclassical transport behavior of metallic multilayers. We emphasize the differences between the cases of current in the plane of the layers, for which size effects play a dominant role and current perpendicular to the planes, for which we provide several proofs that the so‐called series resistor model holds for all length scales.

Femtosecond Thermionic Emission In The Space-Charge Limited Regime, D. Mark Riffe, X. Y. Wang, M. C. Downer, D. L. Fisher, T. Tajima, J. L. Erskine

All Physics Faculty Publications

We study femtosecond-laser-pulse-induced electron emission from W(100), Al(110), and Ag(lll) in the sub-damage regime (1–44 mJ/cm² fluence) by simultaneously measuring the incident-light reflectivity, total electron yield, and electron-energy distribution curves of the emitted electrons. The total-yield results are compared with a space-charge-limited extension of the Richardson-Dushman equation for short-time-scale thermionic emission and with particle-in-a-cell computer simulations of femtosecond-pulsed-induced thermionic emission. Quantitative agreement between the experimental results and two calculated temperature-dependent yields is obtained and shows that the yield varies linearly with temperature beginning at a threshold electron temperature of ~0.25 eV The particle-in-a-cell simulations also reproduce the experimental electron-energy …

Parameterized Study Of The Ionospheric Modification Associated With Sun-Aligned Polar Cap Arcs, D. J. Crain, Jan Josef Sojka, Robert W. Schunk, Lie Zhu

All Physics Faculty Publications

Sun-aligned (SA) arcs are a prevalent feature of the polar cap ionosphere during northward interplanetary magnetic field conditions. These arcs are, like the auroral arc, a complex electrodynamic system coupling the ionosphere and magnetosphere. The electron precipitation and convection electric field associated with this system modify the polar cap ionospheric plasma distribution. In the past decade, a wealth of observational information has indicated the complexity of these ionospheric modifications, but only a limited number of model studies have been carried out to elucidate the changes associated with SA arcs. In this investigation, an extensive parametric study has been conducted to …

Modeling Polar Cap F-Region Patches Using Time Varying Convection, Jan Josef Sojka, M. D. Bowline, Robert W. Schunk, D. T. Decker, Cesar E. Valladares, R. Sheehand, D. N. Anders, R. A. Heelis

All Physics Faculty Publications

Creation of polar cap F‐region patches are simulated for the first time using two independent physical models of the high latitude ionosphere. The patch formation is achieved by temporally varying the magnetospheric electric field (ionospheric convection) input to the models. The imposed convection variations are comparable to changes in the convection that result from changes in the B_y IMF component for southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Solar maximum‐winter simulations show that simple changes in the convection pattern lead to significant changes in the polar cap plasma structuring. Specifically, in winter, as enhanced dayside plasma convects into the polar …

Influence Of Horizontal Inhomogeneity In The Ionosphere On The Reflection Of Alfvén Waves, Lie Zhu, Jan Josef Sojka, Robert W. Schunk, D. J. Crain

All Physics Faculty Publications

A study of the reflection of Alfvén waves at a horizontally inhomogeneous ionosphere has been carried out. In this study, the Alfvén speed above the ionosphere is assumed to be uniform and the ionosphere is treated as a height‐integrated conducting slab. Analytical and numerical results indicate that the horizontal nonuniformity of the ionospheric conductivity can lead to a rotation of the reflected wave fields and cause field‐aligned currents that originate in the ionosphere. A strong conductivity nonuniformity in the direction perpendicular to the incident wave field, large Hall to Pedersen conductivity ratios, and low conductivity values lead to a large …

Time Projection Chamber's Efficiency, Obtained Using Cern's Geant Code, Christine A. Byrd, Charles M. Byrd, Wilfred J. Braithwaite

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Geometrical acceptance and reconstruction of tracks have been carried out for a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) used in Experiment NA35: the 35th experiment in the North Area of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), located at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). NA35 used the SPS at CERN to produce 6.4 TeV beams of 32S for central collisions with Au nuclei. The TPC modeling effort used a modified version of CERN's Monte Carlo program GEANT, which simulates the response of the NA35 TPC to output from CERN's primary event generators. GEANT was used to simulate three-dimensional pixel data in the …

Gravitational Observables And Local Symmetries, Charles G. Torre

All Physics Faculty Publications

Using a recent classification of local symmetries of the vacuum Einstein equations, it is shown that there can be no observables for the vacuum gravitational field (in a closed universe) built as spatial integrals of local functions of Cauchy data and their derivatives.