Digital Commons Network^™

Circuits And Enumeration Problems For Matroids, Christine H. Cho

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a collection of work concerning the structure and enumeration of circuits and other distinguished sets in a matroid. The Tutte polynomial, recognized as the universal deletion-contraction invariant in matroid and graph theory, is a natural starting point when considering enumeration problems for matroids. The main result in Chapter 2 generalizes a theorem of Dean Lucas concerning the Tutte polynomial and its behavior under rank-preserving weak maps. This generalization provides an avenue for comparing the numbers of circuits, bases, rank-k flats, and hyperplanes of a matroid containing an element given two distinct, yet related, elements.

Chapter 3 addresses …

Exploring The Well-Being Of Students: Mental Health Symptoms And Help-Seeking In Students With And Without Disabilities, Delaney M. Havrylkoff

LSU Master's Theses

Students with learning-related disabilities (LRDs) are a growing population in schools worthy of more holistic attention. This vulnerable population often receives support for their academic needs, while their mental health needs tend to get overlooked or untreated. Students with LRDs often face more negative experiences (e.g., lower academic performance, bullying, and peer victimization) in school compared to their peers without disabilities. As a result, they may experience higher levels of mental health issues. The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health status and service utilization of students with LRDs in schools compared to their peers without disabilities. …

Theory, Experiments, And Image Recovery Algorithms For X-Ray Interferometry, Hunter C. Meyer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Purpose: X-ray grating interferometry is a form of X-ray phase contrast imaging capable of simultaneously measuring attenuation, differential-phase, and dark-field images arising from X-ray absorption, refraction, and small-angle scattering, respectively. These additional contrast mechanisms have potential clinical and industrial applications, particularly for lung tissue characterization and disease identification. As grating interferometers approach clinical viability, key challenges include reducing X-ray dose, mitigating mechanical instability, and correcting spectral artifacts resulting from beam hardening.

Methods: The modulated phase grating interferometer (MPGI) is a potential solution for reducing X-ray dose by eliminating the analyzer grating used in alternative interferometer designs, including the Talbot-Lau interferometer …

Theta Series And Their Applications, Koustav Mondal

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Theta series encode the number of representations of integers by quadratic forms in their Fourier coefficients and connect classical counting problems to the theory of modular forms and elliptic curves. On the other hand, theta series connect with hypergeometric series via Ramanujan’s theory of elliptic functions to alternative bases. This dissertation explores these connections and applies theta series to solve problems involving representations of integers  and  special values of $L$-functions. We analyze the theta series associated to the quadratic form $Q(\Vec{x})=x_1^2+x_2^2+x_3^2+x_4^2$ with congruence conditions on $x_i$ modulo $2,3,4$ and $6$. By interpreting theta series as modular forms, we can express …

The Living Archive: Photography, Social Media, And The New Frontier Of Activism, Lundyn C. Herring

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis seeks to analyze the discursive field and technology of photography and its multi-faceted role in the oppression of colonized people under Western imperialism. Among the main collection highlights of many established state-run archival institutions are photographic records consisting of surveillance images, mugshots, and other visual media as representations of the political hegemony that is exerted over governed peoples. From the mid-19th century to 2026, much has shifted in the realm of photography with the introduction of smartphones, accessible technology, and social media platforms during the beginning of the twenty-first century. As states and powerholders apply the technology of …

Effect Of Light Elements On The Melting Behavior Of Liquid Iron Alloys Under Earth’S Inner Core Boundary Conditions, Olaniyi Anisere

LSU Master's Theses

The temperature at Earth’s inner core boundary (ICB) is set by the melting temperature of the iron-rich outer core at core pressures, yet this remains uncertain because melting depends strongly on composition and pressure. Light elements are required to explain the core’s density deficit, but the identity, abundance, and combined influence of these elements on melting under ICB conditions are still debated. This thesis quantifies how candidate light elements modify the melting behavior of iron alloys at ICB-relevant pressures and uses these composition-dependent melting relations to constrain ICB temperature.

Melting relations were determined using molecular dynamics simulations in VASP accelerated …

Curriculum For A Two Semester Calculus Course Specializing In Life Science And Data Science, Patrick Mcclain

LSU Master's Theses

Traditionally, introductory calculus has been designed for engineering and physics students, often leaving students majoring in data science or life sciences with a curriculum that lacks professional relevance and is overly reliant on problems that focus on computational fluency. This thesis proposes a two-semester sequence, called MATH 153X and MATH 154X, specifically tailored for the Louisiana State University (LSU) Dual Enrollment program and university-level data science and life sciences majors. By integrating modern computational tools—such as symbolic calculators and artificial intelligence (AI) tools—the proposed curriculum shifts the pedagogical focus from procedural symbolic manipulation toward conceptual literacy.

Through a series …

Making The Right Decisions For Adaptive Radiotherapy, Chloe C.F. Ditusa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Purpose: Daily anatomical changes can invalidate the geometric, dosimetric, and biological assumptions of reference radiotherapy plans, yet quantitative evidence describing fraction-level deviations across disease sites remains limited. This work developed and evaluated a metric-based framework for daily dose assessment to characterize temporal treatment behavior and inform adaptive decision-making in Head and Neck (H&N) radiotherapy and Prostate stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Methods: A web-based Dashboard was created to compute geometric, dosimetric, and radiobiological metrics from daily dose recalculations. Calculations were first verified against a commercial treatment-planning analysis platform. Daily dose on anatomy-of-the-day was reconstructed using CBCT-based pseudo-CTs for H&N and daily …

Secondary English Teachers’ Perceptions And Experiences With The Ela Guidebooks Curriculum: A Phenomenological Study, Bodie Dufrene

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As standards-based curriculum reforms expand across the United States, school districts have increasingly adopted scripted curricular materials to promote coherence across classroom practice and strengthen alignment to standardized assessments. Within Louisiana, efforts to align English instruction to the Common Core State Standards manifested in the creation of the ELA Guidebooks curriculum by the Louisiana Department of Education. Guidebooks provides teachers with sequenced units of instruction organized around a central novel, explicit directions, pacing guidance, and cumulative writing tasks aligned to central unit questions. This qualitative study explored how secondary (i.e., grades 6-12) English teachers perceived and described their experiences implementing …

Distributed Graph Computation In C++ Using Hpx, Panagiotis Syskakis

LSU Master's Theses

Graph analytics are central to applications, ranging from scientific computing to social-network analysis. Many large graph workloads exceed the memory capacity and performance capabilities of a single machine. Existing distributed graph systems often force a trade-off between programmability and performance: high-level platforms can incur substantial runtime overheads, while lower-level distributed libraries frequently expose complex or fragile programming models. This thesis investigates whether modern C++ can support generic distributed graph algorithms that remain both expressive and efficient. We present a prototype distributed graph library in C++ built on the HPX runtime system and guided by the abstractions of the NWGraph library. …

An Analysis And Performer's Guide Of Boulder Canyon, Hoover Dam By Clark Hubbard, Tyler Hawk

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Clark Hubbard is currently the Assistant Director of the Vanderbilt Marching and Athletic Bands. He is active as an American percussionist, composer, artist, and educator. His compositions have been performed throughout the United States and overseas, including solo, chamber, percussion, and electronic compositions. This document aims to analyze Boulder Canyon, Hoover Dam, discussing how the fixed media influences musical decisions. This document is also a performer’s guide for the piece.

Percussion with fixed media has been composed for since the early to middle 1900s. Inspiration from the techniques and early pieces of fixed media composition can be found in …

Marine Vehicle Dynamics Using Koopman Operator Theory With Hybrid Observables, Mikhalib A L Green

LSU Master's Theses

Accurate modeling of marine vehicle dynamics remains challenging due to strong nonlinear hydrodynamic effects, environmental disturbances, and sensitivity to configuration changes, particularly for small-scale platforms. Classical physics-based models require extensive parameter identification and often exhibit degraded performance outside narrow operating regimes, while purely data-driven approaches may lack structure or impose high computational cost. This thesis presents a data-driven Koopman operator framework with hybrid observables for modeling the dynamics of unmanned marine vehicles. The proposed approach combines structured monomial observables with a learned neural network embedding to construct a lifted state representation in which the nonlinear vehicle dynamics are approximated by …

Large-Scale File Fragment Classification Via Multi-View Learning, Samuel Hildebrand

LSU Master's Theses

File reassembly is one of the most fundamental tasks in digital forensics, enabling recovery of data from potentially damaged storage media even when file system metadata is unavailable. This thesis reviews more than two decades of work in the realm of file carving, with a particular focus on fragmented file carving, which remains a focus of research, and file fragment classification, a principal component of fragmented file carving. This thesis serves a literature review of both file carving and fragmented file carving, surveys the massive amounts of data needed for the task of fragment classification and the datasets that serve …

Recovery And Validation Of Fragmented Rar Files Through The Scalpel3 Application, Thomas L. Landaiche Iii

LSU Master's Theses

A core component of filesystems includes an address table or other means of tracking metadata on where a given file resides within a disk image. This is crucial for regular operation of a computer, or disk analysis in digital forensics. When filesystem information is missing or corrupted, locating saved files on a disk becomes challenging. Whether the disk was accidentally wiped or intentionally tampered with, data still present on the disk, even while untracked, can possibly be recovered beyond what the filesystem registers. File carving in digital forensics is important for these scenarios when data recovery is necessary but address …

From Network Packets To Physical Consequences: Network-Level Spoofing And Loss Of Visibility In Industrial Control Systems, Lillian B. Beck

LSU Master's Theses

Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are the foundation of critical infrastructure as they provide resources like clean water, electricity, and natural gas to support our everyday functions. Given their essential role in modern society, the failure or compromise of ICS systems can lead to significant negative consequences and public safety impacts. Understanding how these systems can be targeted and exploited by malicious actors is necessary to improve their security and resilience.

This research examines how an attacker could manipulate a real-world ICS network by targeting a fully functional Natural Gas (NG) Compressor Station Platform that emulates real operations. This research led …

Identification Of Thruster Faults In Underwater Vehicles By Using Custom Encodings In Spiking Neural Networks, Donovan Gegg

LSU Master's Theses

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are untethered robotic platforms used for tasks such as seafloor mapping, infrastructure inspection, and environmental monitoring. Recent technological advances have produced smaller, more affordable platforms, broadening access to research teams and small companies alike. This miniaturization comes at the cost of them handling drawbacks associated with a more compact machine such as reduced battery capacity as well as limited processing and sensing capabilities. These constraints make small-sized marine vehicle’s reliability critical as they can cause malfunctions, making the loss of a vehicle more likely. Actuator faults are particularly consequential as unintended and unstable control in an …

Forbidden Induced Restrictions And Unavoidable Minors In Matroids, Matthew P. Mizell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Targets are matroids that arise from a nested sequence of flats in a projective geometry. This class of matroids was introduced by Nelson and Nomoto, who found the forbidden induced restrictions for binary targets. In this dissertation, their result is generalized to targets arising from projective geometries over $GF(q)$. In addition, targets arising from nested sequences of affine flats are introduced and the forbidden induced restrictions for these affine targets are determined.

In 1963, Halin and Jung proved that every simple graph with minimum degree at least four has $K_5$ or $K_{2,2,2}$ as a minor. Mills and Turner proved an …

Quantifying And Integrating Community Hardship Into Two-Stage Stochastic Grid Reliability Optimization With Battery Storage, Fredrica Arthur

LSU Master's Theses

Traditional reliability planning for conventional distribution systems is largely utility-oriented, with a focus on collective system performance metrics like Expected Energy Not Supplied (EENS), where implicitly all unserved energy is considered of equal weight in terms of post-outage economic hardship. Yet, it is well understood that extended outage durations cause an uneven level of hardship to socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. This thesis proposes a community-informed reliability planning framework where the hardship caused by outages is explicitly considered in the battery energy storage system (BESS) location and sizing problem. First, a hardship-weighted Energy Not Supplied (WENS) measure is proposed, where income, education, …

Biogeochemical Controls On Phosphorus Transport And Legacy Storage Across A Coastal Watershed, Lee Potter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Excess phosphorus (P) loading is a key driver of eutrophication and harmful algal blooms (HABs) in aquatic systems worldwide. This relationship is of increasing concern in coastal Louisiana, where climate variability, altered hydrology, and land-use change converge, resulting in increased hydrologic and nutrient loading into coastal systems. This dissertation examines controls on P cycling in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin through a multi-scale framework linking estuarine processes, watershed loading, climate and weather patterns, and sediment dynamics. The dissertation begins with an overview of the study region, P dynamics, and changes in hydrology and nutrient loading patterns. Chapter 2 presents a spatial …

Multimodal Thermal And Mechanical Characterization Of Cryopreservation Effects In Biological Cells, Subhrajyoti Sourav Kumar Kundu

LSU Master's Theses

Cryopreservation is critical for long-term storage of cells, tissues, organs, and reproductive cells in medicine, biotechnology, and conservation. However, its success is limited by ice formation and cryoinjury, prompting extensive research into analytical tools for understanding and improving cryopreservation outcomes. We outline the principles of each technique and how they are used to detect key thermal and physical events such as ice nucleation, vitrification, devitrification, and cryoinjury. DSC enables quantitative thermal characterization including critical cooling/warming rates (ranging from 1-200°C/min for various systems) and glass transition temperatures. Cryomicroscopy provides direct real time visualization of ice crystal dynamics, distinguishing intracellular versus extracellular …

Minimal Supersolution Of Bsdes Driven By Continuous Martingales In A General Filtration, Badr Elmansouri, Mohamed El Otmani

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

In this paper, we study minimal supersolutions of backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) driven by a continuous local martingale in a general filtration. We establish existence, uniqueness, and stability results under various mild conditions on the terminal value and the generator. Additionally, we explore the connection between the concept of non-linear expectation and minimal supersolutions, emphasizing the specific properties that are relevant to our framework. We also prove a general monotonic limit theorem and apply this result to determine the smallest constrained supersolution of a BSDE with a possibly non-convex constraint.

Dynamical Analysis Of A Stochastic $Sei_{U}I_{R}Rs$ Epidemic Model With Vaccination And Log-Normal Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process, Qun Liu

Faculty Publications

In this study, we develop and investigate a stochastic $SEI_{u}I_{r}RS$ (Susceptible-Exposed-Undetected infected-Detected infected-Recovered-Susceptible) epidemic model with vaccination of newborns and the disease transmission rate driven by a log-normal Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. By establishing a series of Lyapunov functions, we derive sufficient conditions for persistence in the mean of the disease in the long term under the condition $\mathcal{R}_{0}>1$ and these criteria are applied to guarantee the existence of an invariant probability measure of the stochastic system. Subsequently, we also derive sufficient conditions for eradication of the disease when the parameters $\mathcal{R}_{0}< 1$ and $\mathcal{R}_{0}^{E}< 1$. Finally, two numerical examples are given to confirm the theoretical results. This work can help us implement interventions to regulate the disease dynamics.

Arbitrage-Free Pricing With Diffusion-Dependent Jumps, Hamza A. Virk, Yihren Wu, Majnu John

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

Standard jump-diffusion models assume independence between jumps and diffusion components. We develop a multi-type jump-diffusion model where jump occurrence and magnitude depend on contemporaneous diffusion movements. Unlike previous one-sided models that create arbitrage opportunities, our framework includes upward and downward jumps triggered by both large upward and large downward diffusion increments. We derive the explicit no-arbitrage condition linking the physical drift to model pa- rameters and market risk premia by constructing an Equivalent Martingale Measure using Girsanov’s theorem and a normalized Esscher transform. This condition provides a rigorous foundation for arbitrage-free pricing in models with diffusion-dependent jumps.

Improving Stem Assessments: Strategies For Increasing The Accessibility And Adoption Of Two-Stage Exams, Kristina Callaghan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over three decades of research have shown that students taught using active learning strategies achieve better learning outcomes compared to those taught using traditional methods. Two-stage exams, which pair a traditional exam with a group component, are an increasingly popular method for incorporating active learning within the assessment component of a course. Previous studies have shown this assessment strategy provides a variety of benefits for students, including increased engagement and collaboration, immediate feedback, and potentially increased content retention. However, the unique circumstances of each instructor can pose a non-trivial barrier to the implementation of two-stage exams. In this thesis, we …

Applications For The Quasi-Atomic Orbital And Constrained Density Functional Theory Methods On Catalytic Reactions, Alvaro David Loaiza Orduz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Selective activation of C–O, C–H, and C–C bonds underpins biomass upgrading, alkane functionalization, and CO₂ conversion. Despite their importance, the electronic factors governing catalytic performance remain incompletely understood, and many industrial processes still rely on empirical trends or material-specific observations. This dissertation addresses this gap by applying density functional theory (DFT), thermodynamic decomposition, and electronic-structure analysis to identify unifying principles of reactivity across transition-metal phosphides, vanadate oxides, copper-based electrocatalysts, and mixed IrO₂–RuO₂ layers. This work examines how charge transfer, orbital localization, and ligand-induced perturbations control reaction pathways in diverse catalytic systems. C–O bond scission in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (MTHF) and methanol was …

Measurement Of 18f(Alpha,P)21ne With The Array For Nuclear Astrophysics And Structure With Exotic Nuclei (Anasen), Keilah S. Davis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Certain (α,p) reactions on proton-rich nuclei are among the most important nuclear reactions occurring during Type I X-ray bursts, as well as being impactful in stellar explosions during the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase and on accreting white dwarfs (WD). However, large uncertainties remain for reaction rates on some radioactive nuclei due to the lack of direct measurements. The Array for Nuclear Astrophysics and Structure with Exotic Nuclei (ANASEN) is a gas target and charged-particle detector designed for direct measurements of (α,p) reactions. ANASEN was redesigned with two hexagonal barrels of 100-µm-thick silicon strip surrounding the beam axis over a …

Metacommunity Coupled Epidemiological And Biophysical Modeling Of An Emergent Coral Disease, Benjamin Holmes Farmer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Emerging infectious diseases pose imminent risk to the marine realm and coral reefs in particular. Since its emergence in 2014, stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has dramatically reduced living coral cover in Florida and charted a similar course in the Caribbean. SCTLD is by far the most severe coral disease in history and has driven highly susceptible species to local extinction, yet the mechanisms driving the regional epizootic are not well understood. Here, we developed reef-scale parameterizations of disease spread using model sites in the lower Florida Keys, developed extensive metacommunity habitat maps for the US Caribbean, and then …

Lsu General Catalog 2026-2027, Louisiana State University And Agricultural And Mechanical College

LSU General Catalog

The LSU General Catalog describes all undergraduate and graduate departments and programs with degree requirements and courses offered for each one. The LSU General Catalog includes information on registration and financial aid as well as academic services offered to all students

What Kids Have To Say About Math: Results From Focus Groups With Middle Schoolers, H. Colleen Sinclair, Kyle Wilson, Avery Ellis, Norma Martinez

Reports

Middle school mathematics achievement remains a critical concern in Louisiana. Despite notable recent gains in recovery and signs of resilience, students continue to perform below national averages (ranking 38th in the country). To better understand the factors that support or hinder student success, this report presents findings from six student focus groups conducted in spring 2025 with 39 middle school students at two urban schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The goal was to elevate students’ voices regarding their motivation, anxiety, classroom experiences, and ideas for improving math instruction. Overall, students expressed generally positive feelings toward math, and notably, a strong …

Supplemental Bibliographic Details. From 2001 Mars Odyssey To Earth’S Climate Crisis: Integrating Gamma Spectroscopy, Martian Soil Simulants, And Plant Genomes For Agroecology, Anchored In Sri Lanka’S Mars-Context Serpentinites, Suniti Karunatillake, Maheshi Dassanayake, Carlos Gary Bicas

Planetary Science Lab

Bibliographic details follow to supplement hyperlinked citations in the multinational GANGOTRI-supporting project conceived by Karunatillake, Dassanayake, and Gary-Bicas