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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Photophysical And Photochemical Processes In Small Molecules And Materials For Solar Energy Conversion, Ethan Lambert May 2023

Photophysical And Photochemical Processes In Small Molecules And Materials For Solar Energy Conversion, Ethan Lambert

Honors Theses

The work covered in this thesis all falls under the theme of photophysical processes after light and matter interact. Those of primary interest are Raman scattering induced vibrations and excited state dynamics probed by transient absorption spectroscopy. Small molecules are studied with Raman spectroscopy and computational chemistry. These studies unearth the shifts in vibrational frequency as a function of charge transfer or receipt and how a quantitative assay of natural orbital populations and delocalization can offer both the nature and magnitude of this charge transfer. Further, a method is presented that builds upon previous work within the academic family tree; …


A Study Of Data/Monte Carlo Agreement In Charmed Baryon Decays At Belle Ii, Kaitlyn Thurmond May 2023

A Study Of Data/Monte Carlo Agreement In Charmed Baryon Decays At Belle Ii, Kaitlyn Thurmond

Honors Theses

The Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB electron-positron accelerator facility in Tsukuba, Japan has a primary goal of searching for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Extremely precise measurements of particle decays will be compared with Standard Model predictions in order to expose the presence of new particles and interactions. These measurements are prepared using simulated samples to avoid potential biases when studying the data. The Belle II collaboration produces two types of simulated samples for this purpose. One is produced with consistent calibration payloads and another with payloads calibrated as a function of data taking. This …


An Analysis Of Detection Asymmetry Using Baryon Decays In Belle Ii, Matthew Mestayer May 2023

An Analysis Of Detection Asymmetry Using Baryon Decays In Belle Ii, Matthew Mestayer

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the detection asymmetry of the Belle II detector using decays of two common baryons, Λ0 → ��π- and Σ+ → ��π0. A Monte Carlo simulation of both decays was used to determine the validity of signal isolation criteria. These criteria were then applied to the Belle II data, allowing for a comparison of the detection asymmetry in the data relative to the simulation. The results show a moderate detection asymmetry when using the Λ0 → ��π- decay, particularly for forward-going baryons. For the Σ+ …


A Performance Analysis Of The Belle Ii Detector, John Stacy May 2022

A Performance Analysis Of The Belle Ii Detector, John Stacy

Honors Theses

The Belle II experiment has recently (2018) started data taking at the SuperKEKB electron-positron collider in Tsukuba, Japan. Detector performance studies are necessary to understand early data and prepare for more complex analyses. This study of the proton detection efficiency of the Belle II detector compares real and simulated data to find discrepancies with the intention to provide useful information for detector and calibration experts to better gauge detector performance. It also attempts to improve the characterization of proton identification efficiency at low momenta, which performs poorly under the current fitting model. This helps analysts exploring final states that include …


Lifetime Measurement Of The Xi_C^+ Using Belle Ii Monte Carlo, Paul Gebeline May 2022

Lifetime Measurement Of The Xi_C^+ Using Belle Ii Monte Carlo, Paul Gebeline

Honors Theses

This analysis uses simulated data from the Belle II experiment to measure the lifetime of the Xi_c^+ baryon. Three different decay modes are investigated to explore the feasibility and accuracy of such measurements at Belle II. The Xi_c^+ lifetime is measured using one of these modes after reducing backgrounds from sources other than the decay of interest. The final result is 464 +/- 15 fs, which is consistent with the expected result of 442 fs within uncertainty. This result shows that Belle II can make competitive measurements of particle properties and decays.


Monte Carlo Study Of Lepton Flavor Universality Violation In B Decays With Belle Ii Simulation, Sakul Mahat May 2022

Monte Carlo Study Of Lepton Flavor Universality Violation In B Decays With Belle Ii Simulation, Sakul Mahat

Honors Theses

Belle II, the first super B-Factory experiment, is designed to make precise measurements of weak interaction parameters and search for New Physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. The Standard Model of particle physics is a theory that classifies all known elementary particles and describes three of the four known fundamental forces in the universe. Physics beyond the Standard Model that addresses the theoretical developments needed to explain the deficiencies in the Standard Model is often referred to as New Physics. One of the assumptions of the Standard Model is that the couplings of particles that mediate the weak …


A Theoretical Study Of Synchronous Proton Transfer In (Hf)N, (H2O) N, And (Hcl) N Where N = 3, 4, 5, Johnny Yang May 2021

A Theoretical Study Of Synchronous Proton Transfer In (Hf)N, (H2O) N, And (Hcl) N Where N = 3, 4, 5, Johnny Yang

Honors Theses

For (HF)n, (H2O)n, and (HCl)n (n = 3 − 5), we have rigorously characterized the structures for the minima and transition states for synchronous proton transfer (SPT) with the CCSD(T) method and aug-cc-pVTZ basis set. The electronic barrier heights (∆E) associated with these transition states have also been computed with the explicitly correlated CCSD(T)-F12 method and the aug-cc-pVQZ-F12 basis set (abbreviated aQZ-F12). (HCl)n (n = 3 − 5) SPT transition states have not been previously identified to the best of our knowledge, and they have been found …


Characterization Of Mechanical Responses Of Helical Antenna For Satellite Communications, Scott Chumley May 2021

Characterization Of Mechanical Responses Of Helical Antenna For Satellite Communications, Scott Chumley

Honors Theses

The purpose of this work was to identify and analyze the vibrational modes of a helical structure to model the vibrational characteristics of an L-band helical antenna for satellite communications. This project focused on the vibrational modes between 1 and 50 Hz. Using COMSOL Multiphysics finite element modeling of helices were performed to predict mode shapes and frequencies to compare with both continuous wave (CW) and impulsive measurements. In the initial phase of the experimental work, five helical samples were constructed and evaluated. In the second phase of the study, one sample was chosen for more detailed quantitative measurements. In …


Curved Spacetime In The Causal Set Approach To Quantum Gravity, Ayush Dhital May 2021

Curved Spacetime In The Causal Set Approach To Quantum Gravity, Ayush Dhital

Honors Theses

Causal Set theory is an approach to quantum gravity. In this approach, the spacetime continuum is assumed to be discrete rather than continuous. The discrete points in a causal set can be seen as a continuum spacetime if they can be embedded in a manifold such that the causal structure is preserved. In this regard, a manifold can be constructed by embedding a causal set preserving causal information between the neighboring points. In this thesis, some of the fundamental properties of causal sets are discussed and the curvature and dimension information of Minkowski, de Sitter, and Anti-de Sitter spaces is …


Exploring Manifoldlike Causal Sets And Their Dimensions, Santosh Bhandari Apr 2021

Exploring Manifoldlike Causal Sets And Their Dimensions, Santosh Bhandari

Honors Theses

Causal Set Theory is an approach to quantum gravity that tries to replace the continuum spacetime structure of general relativity with the spacetime that has the property of discreteness and causality. From the standpoint of causal set theory, our spacetime is made up of discrete points that are causally related to one another. A causal set is said to be manifoldlike if it can be faithfully embedded in a Lorentzian manifold. In this thesis, some of the fundamental properties of causal sets are discussed. The first chapter is devoted to the historical background of quantum gravity with a discussion of …


Heel Down And Toe-Off Time Measured With Ultrasonic Doppler System And Force Plate Sensor, Sabin Timsina May 2020

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 …


Comparison Of The Vibrational Modes Of Thiolated Gold Nanoparticles Undergoing Core-Conversions Via Raman Spectroscopy, William Gregory Cannella Jr. May 2020

Comparison Of The Vibrational Modes Of Thiolated Gold Nanoparticles Undergoing Core-Conversions Via Raman Spectroscopy, William Gregory Cannella Jr.

Honors Theses

In this project, the vibrational characteristics/vibrational modes are explored via Raman Spectroscopy for thiolated-gold nanoparticles. This class of compounds is also known as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). They remain of great interest in research areas such as catalysis, gold dependent nanoelectronics, drug delivery, and sensing, due to their unique size-dependent optical, chiroptical, and electronic properties. Vibrational spectroscopy of thiolated gold nanoparticles are oftentimes considered nontrivial as the compounds strongly absorb light in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, are generally considered weak scatterers, and give off large amounts of fluorescence. This combined with their black appearance, susceptibility to localized heating, …


Investigatin Actin-Myosin Mechanics To Model Heart Disease Using Fluorescence Microscopy And Optical Trapping, Justin Edward Reynolds May 2020

Investigatin Actin-Myosin Mechanics To Model Heart Disease Using Fluorescence Microscopy And Optical Trapping, Justin Edward Reynolds

Honors Theses

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a hereditary disease in which the myocardium becomes hypertrophied, making it more difficult for the heart to pump blood. HCM is commonly caused by a mutation in the β-cardiac myosin II heavy chain. Myosin is a motor protein that facilitates muscle contraction by converting chemical energy from ATP hydrolysis into mechanical work and concomitantly moving along actin filaments. Optical tweezers have been used previously to analyze single myosin biophysical properties; however, myosin does not work as a single unit within the heart. Multiple myosin interacts to displace actin filaments and do not have the same properties …


Encoding A 1-D Heisenberg Spin 1/2 Chain In A Simulated Annealing Algorithm For Machine Learning, Daniel Pompa May 2019

Encoding A 1-D Heisenberg Spin 1/2 Chain In A Simulated Annealing Algorithm For Machine Learning, Daniel Pompa

Honors Theses

The application areas of machine learning techniques are becoming broader and increasingly ubiquitous in the natural sciences and engineering. One such field of interest within the physics community is the training and implementation of neural networks to aid in quantum many-body computations. Conversely, research exploring the possible computational benefits of using quantum many-body dynamics in the area of artificial intelligence and machine learning has also recently started to gain traction. The marriage of these fields comes naturally with the complementary nature of their mathematical frameworks. The objective of this study was to explore the possibility of encoding a quantum spin …


Measurements Of The Primary Bjerknes Force In A Cavitating Ultrasonic Field, Mason Smith Jan 2019

Measurements Of The Primary Bjerknes Force In A Cavitating Ultrasonic Field, Mason Smith

Honors Theses

Cavitation is the result when there are rapid changes in pressure in a liquid. These vapor-filled cavities can occur when ultrasound propagates through water at sufficient power. The volumes of these cavities can pulsate and can even couple with the radiation pressure from the ultrasound. The result is a translational force on the bubbles. This translational force on the bubble is called the primary Bjerknes force. The secondary Bjerknes force is the result of two pulsating cavities, but this force is ignored since the buoyant force and the primary Bjerknes force are the dominant forces. Immediately before a bubble begins …


Measurement Of The Verdet Constant For A Previously Uncharacterized Fused Quartz Glass, Samyukta Krishnamurthy Jan 2017

Measurement Of The Verdet Constant For A Previously Uncharacterized Fused Quartz Glass, Samyukta Krishnamurthy

Honors Theses

The objective of this experiment is to measure and analyze the Verdet constant for Corning 7980, a fused quartz glass with no previously published Verdet constant data. This quartz glass is being used at the Belle II experiment at Tsukuba, Japan. The Verdet constant is measured using the Faraday effect — a magneto-optical phenomenon that describes the rotation of the plane of polarization of light within a medium in the presence of an external magnetic field. This experiment quantifies the rotation of the plane of polarization with respect to the wavelength and the magnetic field. Data collected through this experiment …


Multidimensional Motion Capture Using Doppler Ultrasound, Forrest Nolan Gamble Jan 2016

Multidimensional Motion Capture Using Doppler Ultrasound, Forrest Nolan Gamble

Honors Theses

Ultrasonic waves are used to measure the velocity of a target object by measuring the Doppler shift of the reflected waves. In this work, ultrasonic Doppler Sonar (UDS) was used to measure the velocity of objects, including a pendulum and a battery on a turntable. The investigation focused on developing a method to measure motion in two and three dimensions, for applications in gait analysis and sports motion capture. By using multiple ultrasonic transducers and novel data processing techniques, the UDS captured motion in two and three dimensions. In order to test the accuracy of the velocity and position measurements, …


A Study On The Characterization And Implementation Of Tools For Advanced Ligo, Hunter Gabbard Jan 2016

A Study On The Characterization And Implementation Of Tools For Advanced Ligo, Hunter Gabbard

Honors Theses

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) is aimed at directly detecting gravitational waves, small perturbations or ripples in the fabric of space-time. Because of their extreme sensitivity, the LIGO detectors are affected by many sources of non-astrophysical noise. In the first part of this thesis we test a pipeline designed for the identification of short-duration noise transients, called Omicron. We first inject simulated noise waveforms in engineering run data from the LIGO detector in Livingston, Louisiana and then determine Omicron efficiency by attempting to recover these injections. In the second part of this thesis, we present a novel method …


Blue Cheese Cosmology: Lensing By Cosmic Strings, Jared Wofford Jan 2016

Blue Cheese Cosmology: Lensing By Cosmic Strings, Jared Wofford

Honors Theses

The light bending effects around cosmic strings in universes with varying rates of expansion are investigated. A relationship between the angular deflection and the expansion rate is found. This is made possible by the Blue Cheese model, which is a generalization to a cylindrical realm of the Swiss Cheese model


Calculating Liquefaction Potential Of Northern Mississippi Using Shear Wave Data, Peshani Herath Jan 2016

Calculating Liquefaction Potential Of Northern Mississippi Using Shear Wave Data, Peshani Herath

Honors Theses

The potential for liquefaction can be determined using the Liquefaction Potential Index (LPI). The LPI takes into account the thickness of the liquefiable layers and the factors of safety with respect to depth. This study creates a hybrid method for determining the LPI for different locations in Northern Mississippi. It calculates an average CSR for the region using existing borehole information. The CRR is then calculated using shear wave velocity profile data from a MASW survey. The LPI obtained from this process is compared to LPI values calculated using CPT data and borehole shear wave data. Surface shear wave velocity …


Noise Reduction In The Manufacturing Environment: A Study On Small Jet Geometry Alterations, Shawn Wesley Skinner Jan 2016

Noise Reduction In The Manufacturing Environment: A Study On Small Jet Geometry Alterations, Shawn Wesley Skinner

Honors Theses

Noise pollution is an identified issue in manufacturing environments. While machines, motion, production, etc. are a large factor in this noise pollution, other sources exist. Often copper tubing is connected to pressurized containers as a make-shift jet stream for reorienting elements on the assembly line. These makeshift jets when working in conjunction create noise pollution. By manipulating the exit of these small jets, it is hypothesized that the noise level can be decreased. Using the National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA) at the University of Mississippi, three geometry alterations—deburring the end, creating a converging-diverging nozzle, and flattening the end—were tested …


Visualization Techniques Of Shear Wave Propagation In Wormlike Micellar Fluid, Connor M. Tierney Jan 2015

Visualization Techniques Of Shear Wave Propagation In Wormlike Micellar Fluid, Connor M. Tierney

Honors Theses

In an aqueous solution amphiphilic molecules can self-aggregate and form a wormlike micellar fluid. These non-Newtonian fluids have been studied in the context of diagnostic medical imaging due to the fact that the fluids have viscoelastic properties and can act as a nonperishable model for human tissue. They also display flow-birefringence, which is a property that allows for the analysis of shear wave propagation through the fluid. However, one issue encountered at lower micelle concentrations is the inability to see the emergent birefringence pattern that results from shear wave propagation. In this study Experiment 1 was an analysis of shear …


Comparison Of The Spatial Distributions Of Cavitation Damage With The Measured Diffraction Patterns For A High-Power Ultrasonic Transducer, Davis Lane Rogers Jan 2015

Comparison Of The Spatial Distributions Of Cavitation Damage With The Measured Diffraction Patterns For A High-Power Ultrasonic Transducer, Davis Lane Rogers

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of a model of the propagation of ultrasonic fields produced by an ultrasonic transducer, a device that uses a piezoelectric crystal to produce high-intensity ultrasonic waves. The transducer operates immersed in a water bath where it generates waves of sufficient intensity to produce non-linear phenomena that include acoustic streaming and cavitation. This study used a planar transducer to visualize the damaging effects of high-intensity ultrasonic waves targeted on acrylic plates. Seven plates were targeted and positioned from 8.5 to 11.5 cm from the transducer. The spatial distribution and degree of …


Wind Energy Harvesting Utilizing Biaxially Oriented Piezoelectric Polyvinylidenefluoride Film, Matthew Kennedy Jan 2015

Wind Energy Harvesting Utilizing Biaxially Oriented Piezoelectric Polyvinylidenefluoride Film, Matthew Kennedy

Honors Theses

With the growing concern over fossil fuels as a finite source of fuel and as a hazard to the environment, society has developed a growing interest in the use of renewable energy. Advancements in solar, nuclear, geothermal, wind, and vibrational energy harvesting, to name a few, have made the concept of using renewables as a main source of energy more feasible. The research and experimentation conducted for this thesis focused on analyzing the practicality of the future implementation of Biaxially Oriented Piezoelectric Polyvinylidenefluoride in the wind energy harvesting industry. The experiment consisted of data collection and analysis of power output …


Investigation Into The Initial Electric Field Change Of Lightning Flashes, Ryan Chapman Jan 2015

Investigation Into The Initial Electric Field Change Of Lightning Flashes, Ryan Chapman

Honors Theses

Previously, an initial electric field change (IEC) was found occurring before initial breakdown (IB) pulses by sensors within the reversal distance of 36 lightning flashes [Marshall et al. 2014]. The E-change for a CG flashes was positive within reversal distance, and the E-change for an IC flashes was negative. With this data in mind, an IEC is best defined as occurring from zero slope to gradual increase in E-change at the beginning of a lightning flash, and it ends with the first IB pulse. The purpose of this thesis is to extend said findings to further understand the characteristics of …


Initial Breakdown Pulses In Lightning Flashes, Emily Morgan Smith Jan 2015

Initial Breakdown Pulses In Lightning Flashes, Emily Morgan Smith

Honors Theses

Initial Breakdown (IB) pulses in lightning flashes have been observed since 1937. Using two sensor arrays to determine the location and amplitude of IB pulses, this study examines the largest IB pulse in 55 flashes with 23 pulses from intracloud (IC) flashes and 32 pulses from cloud-to-ground (CG) flashes. The two goals of this project were (1) to compare the range-normalized amplitude of the largest IB pulse to its altitude, duration, and timing within each flash, and (2) to characterize the shapes of the IB pulses. Since all lightning flashes seem to begin with IB pulses, this study is aimed …


Electron Cloud Studies With Transverse Beam Islands, Neetish Pradhan Jan 2015

Electron Cloud Studies With Transverse Beam Islands, Neetish Pradhan

Honors Theses

Electron cloud generation has been a rising problem in high energy beam chambers such as the LHC. In order to mitigate this problem, we looked for the best beam configuration to scrub the chambers and reduce its secondary electron yield. Using simulations, a five-island beam and a three-island beam were compared against a normal single beam. The five-island beam was found to work best.


An Assessment Of The Angular Spectrum Method For The Propagation Of Ultrasound, Taylor Miller Jan 2015

An Assessment Of The Angular Spectrum Method For The Propagation Of Ultrasound, Taylor Miller

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to investigate the limitations of the angular spectrum method when it is applied to the propagation of acoustic waves in the ultrasonic frequency waves. In this experiment, broadband acoustic waves at ultrasonic frequencies were propagated through a water bath. Ten planar scans perpendicular to the direction of the wave propagation were taken at 10 different distances from the transducer. These scans recorded the pressure field data at each plane. The angular spectrum method was applied to this data, and used to predict the pressure field data at the other planes. Comparison between this predicted …


Shear Waves In Highly Concentrated Viscoelastic Wormlike Micellar Fluid, Rachel B. Crim Jan 2014

Shear Waves In Highly Concentrated Viscoelastic Wormlike Micellar Fluid, Rachel B. Crim

Honors Theses

Wormlike micellar fluids form by the self-aggregation of surfactant molecules in aqueous solution. These non-Newtonian fluids have been well studied and are used in the oil industry, hydraulics, and medical research. However, little is known regarding the structure of the three-dimensional networks in which the worms become entangled and possibly branched, especially at high concentrations. What is known is that this composition results in two distinctive fluid characteristics: viscoelasticity and strain-birefringence. The latter is exploited in this work in order to study the shear wave speed and attenuation in 500/300mM CTAB/NaSal fluid. Three different experiments were conducted using either a …


Detector Characterization Analysis Of The Initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo) Using Principal Component Analysis (Pca), Daniel Duddleston Jan 2014

Detector Characterization Analysis Of The Initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo) Using Principal Component Analysis (Pca), Daniel Duddleston

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate transient noise events in data from the initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and to test detector characterization software developed by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). Detector characterization is the process of identifying and removing noise that corrupts the data stream of the LIGO detectors. This is vital to improving the sensitivity of the LIGO interferometer and increasing the probability of detecting gravitational waves of astrophysical origin. The data analyzed in this thesis were collected in 2010 during the S6 (Enhanced LIGO) science run. Two software tools, PCAT and Omega Scans, were …