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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Topology Of The O(3) Non-Linear Sigma Model Under The Gradient Flow, Stuart Thomas, Christopher Monahan
Topology Of The O(3) Non-Linear Sigma Model Under The Gradient Flow, Stuart Thomas, Christopher Monahan
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Quantum field theory is an extraordinarily successful framework that describes phenomena in particle physics and condensed matter. The O(3) non-linear sigma model (NLSM) is a specific theory used in both of these fields, describing ferromagnets and acting as a prototype for the strong nuclear force. It features topologically stable configurations known as instantons which cannot continuously evolve to the ground state. The topological susceptibility is a parameter that describes this stability and is predicted to vanish in physical theories, however numerical simulations find that the topological susceptibility diverges in the continuum limit. This issue has motivated the application of the …
Light-Matter Interactions In Quasi-Two-Dimensional Geometries, David James Lahneman
Light-Matter Interactions In Quasi-Two-Dimensional Geometries, David James Lahneman
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
Emergent phenomena that occur at length scales smaller than approximately half the wavelength of light cannot be resolved by conventional optical techniques due to the Abbe diffraction limit. Scattering-type scanning near-field infrared microscopy (S-SNIM) can circumvent this diffraction limit allowing infrared spectroscopy at nano-scale dimensions independent of the wavelength. Additionally, there is enhanced surface sensitivity resulting from this nanoconfinement of infrared light. S-SNIM is uniquely suitable to study a diverse range of material properties inaccessible by far-field optics in the infrared such as the optical properties of ultrathin films as well as hybrid light matter surface waves called polaritons. Initially, …