Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Characterization Of Fiber Bragg Grating Based, Geometry-Dependent, Magnetostrictive Composite Sensors, Edward Lynch

Theses and Dissertations

Optical sensors based on geometry dependent magnetostrictive composite, having potential applications in current sensing and magnetic field sensing are modeled and evaluated experimentally with an emphasis on their thermal immunity from thermal disturbances. Two sensor geometries composed of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) embedded in a shaped Terfenol-D/epoxy composite material, which were previously prototyped and tested for magnetic field response, were investigated. When sensing magnetic fields or currents, the primary function of the magnetostrictive composite geometry is to modulate the magnetic flux such that a magnetostrictive strain gradient is induced on the embedded FBG. Simulations and thermal experiments reveal the …

Macromolecular Structure Determination At X-Ray Free Electron Lasers From Single-Particle Imaging To Time-Resolved X-Ray Crystallography, Ishwor Poudyal

Theses and Dissertations

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) open the possibility of obtaining diffraction information from a single biological macromolecule. This is because XFELs can generate extremely intense X-ray pulses which are so short that diffraction data can be collected before the sample is destroyed. By collecting a sufficient number of single-particle diffraction patterns from many tilts of a molecule relative to the X-ray beam, the three-dimensional electron density can be reconstructed ab-initio. The resolution and therefore the information content of the data will ultimately depend largely on the number of patterns collected at the experiment. We estimate the number of diffraction patterns required …

Effects Of Intercalation And Deintercalation In Layered Materials: From Topological Insulators To Battery Cathodes, Uma Garg

Theses and Dissertations

Topological insulators are quantum materials which have insulating bulk and conducting surface. The surface states in these materials is protected by time reversal symmetry and spin-orbit coupling. The fascinating quantum properties of these materials could lead to high speed electronics and quantum computing. To explore the transport properties of these systems, I synthesized single crystals of SnTe and Sb2Se3 which are potential topological insulators. SnTe is a topological crystalline insulator in which topological surface states are protected by time reversal symmetry and crystal symmetry, in particular mirror symmetry. My Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation study on the (001) surface of SnTe …

Lattice And Charge Order In Layered Bi-Based Topological Insulators, Yanan Li

Theses and Dissertations

Bi2X3 (X=Se/Te) is a topological insulator, as well as a layered dichalcogenide. The topological properties of Bi2Se3 have gained a lot of interest over the past decade. However, as a layered chalcogenide, much of its uniqueness has not been fully discovered, e.g. hosting Charge Density Wave as reported in most other chalcogenides. With intercalation of Nb, Cu and Sr, Bi2Se3 becomes an unconventional superconductor. Together with its topological properties, A-Bi2X3 (A=Nb, Cu and Sr) have been proposed to be potential Topological superconductors. However, the mechanism of the unconventional SC in these compounds is still under discussion.

For my PhD research, …

Developing A Uhf/Vhf Phased-Array Satellite Ground Station, Brent K. Cole

Theses and Dissertations

Earth-satellite communications and tracking of spacecraft are accomplished using ground stations. Traditionally, this has been achieved by using a large parabolic antenna or pair of antennas that point at a source of interest and mechanically steer the antenna(s) as the source moves throughout the sky. Phased arrays, which have often been used in radio astronomy, can provide multiple benefits when used as a ground station including fast scanning speeds across the sky, tracking and communication of multiple sources simultaneously, and significant improvements to overall gain, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and data bandwidth. This thesis presents a preliminary analysis of a 20-element …

Spectroscopic Diagnostics For Supersonic Air Microwave Discharges, James E. Caplinger

Theses and Dissertations

Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) is an increasingly relevant technique in plasma diagnostics due to its inherent non-invasive nature and simple application relative to other popular techniques. In this work, common OES techniques are combined with novel methods, developed here, in an effort to provide comprehensive OES techniques for stationary and supersonic air microwave discharges. To this end, a detailed collisional-radiative model for strong atomic oxygen lines has been developed and used to identify the importance of often overlooked mechanisms including cascade emission and metastable excitation. Using these results, a combined argon actinometry technique was developed which makes use of the …

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.

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 …

Low-Information Radiation Imaging Using Rotating Scatter Mask Systems And Neural Network Algorithms, Robert J. Olesen

Theses and Dissertations

While recent studies have demonstrated the directional capabilities of the single-detector rotating scatter mask (RSM) system for discrete, dual-particle environments, there has been little progress towards adapting it as a true imaging device. In this research, two algorithms were developed and tested using an RSM mask design previously optimized for directional detection and simulated 137Cs signals from a variety of source distributions. The first, maximum-likelihood expectation-maximization (ML-EM), was shown to generate noisy images, with relatively low accuracy (145% average relative error) and signal-to-noise ratio (0.27) for most source distributions simulated. The second, a novel regenerative neural network (ReGeNN), performed exceptionally …

Snow-Albedo Feedback In Northern Alaska: How Vegetation Influences Snowmelt, Lucas C. Reckhaus

Theses and Dissertations

This paper investigates how the snow-albedo feedback mechanism of the arctic is changing in response to rising climate temperatures. Specifically, the interplay of vegetation and snowmelt, and how these two variables can be correlated. This has the potential to refine climate modelling of the spring transition season. Research was conducted at the ecoregion scale in northern Alaska from 2000 to 2020. Each ecoregion is defined by distinct topographic and ecological conditions, allowing for meaningful contrast between the patterns of spring albedo transition across surface conditions and vegetation types. The five most northerly ecoregions of Alaska are chosen as they encompass …

Qwasi: The Quantum Walk Simulator, Warren V. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

As quantum computing continues to evolve, the ability to design and analyze novel quantum algorithms becomes a necessary focus for research. In many instances, the virtues of quantum algorithms only become evident when compared to their classical counterparts, so a study of the former often begins with a consideration of the latter. This is very much the case with quantum walk algorithms, as the success of random walks and their many, varied applications have inspired much interest in quantum correlates. Unfortunately, finding purely algebraic solutions for quantum walks is an elusive endeavor. At best, and when solvable, they require simple …

Electron Emission And Transport Properties Database For Spacecraft Charging Models, Phil Lundgreen

Theses and Dissertations

Modeling the rate and likelihood of spacecraft charging during spacecraft mission is critical to determine mission length, proposed spacec­raft attitude, and spacecraft design. The focus of this work is the creation and utilization of a database of secondary electron yield (SEY) measurements for a host of materials to increase accuracy in spacecraft modeling. Traditional methods of SEY data selection for input into spacecraft charging codes typically include the use of compiled materials databases incorporated in charging codes or selecting values from a specific scientific study. The SEY database allows users to select data inputs based upon the details associated with …

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Under Extreme Conditions, Anand Prashant Dwivedi

Theses and Dissertations

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a prime characterization tool used to understand the structures and interactions in organic molecules, crystals, as well as non-crystalline materials. However, until now, the combination of NMR with high-pressure instrumentation such as Diamond Anvil Cells (DAC) was deemed unfeasible due to the high spatial and electrical costs of standard NMR electromagnets or the regular refill of cryogenic liquids for superconducting magnets. Standard NMR techniques also raises technical difficulties when combining high-pressure instrumentation with high-temperature techniques such as laser heating. In the first part of this thesis, we present the development of a low-cost and space-saving …

Methods For Multi-Source Resolution In Pulsar Timing Array Based Gravitational Wave Detection, Yiqian Qian

Theses and Dissertations

With next-generation radio telescopes, namely the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope(FAST) and Square Kilometer Array(SKA), scheduled to come online during this decade, hundreds of well-timed millisecond pulsars (MSPs) will be added to the Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) being used currently for Gravitational Wave (GW) searches. This will greatly increase the distances to which GW sources in the very low frequency band can be detected. Among these sources will be super massive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) formed out of gigantic black holes weighing in at million to billion times the mass of our Sun. Although the large number of MSPs will improve …

Searching For Low Frequency Fast Radio Bursts With Vlite, Suryarao Bethapudi

Theses and Dissertations

The VLITE (VLA Low Band Ionosphere and Transient Experiment; http://vlite.nrao.edu) program performs commensal observations using 16 antennas of the Very Large Array radio telescope from 320-384 MHz. The VLITE-Fast program searches for short time-scale (<100ms) transients, such as Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), in real time and triggers recording of baseband voltages for offline imaging. Searches are made possible by a 12 node cluster, each housing GPUs for digital signal processing. A real-time Message Passing Interface (MPI)-based co-adder incoherently sums the data streams from all the antennas to boost the signal-to-noise. To undo the dispersion effects of signal propagation through the ionized interstellar medium, the co-added stream is de-dispersed and matched-filtered to search for transients. This operation is completely performed on GPUs by the software package Heimdall . A selection logic is applied to the candidates and interesting candidates with their corresponding data are processed and packaged in a binary file along with a diagnostic plot. Furthermore, a Machine Learning classification is applied on the reduced data product and, based on its decision, baseband voltages are recorded. Reduced data products collected over 126 days of on-sky operation form the VLITE-Fast Pathfinder Survey (VFPS). This pipeline has triggered on single pulses from 7 known radio pulsars. Lastly, the pipeline capabilities are tested against pure random noise and simulated injected signals.

Searching For Pulsars Using The Long Wavelength Array Telescope, Keeisi A. Caballero Valdez

Theses and Dissertations

Radio pulsars are fascinating celestial objects known to display both periodic and transient behavior. Pulsars are characterized by narrow electromagnetic radiation beams which restrict the number of pulsars visible from Earth due to the necessary alignment of the radiation beam across an observer’s line of sight. Pulsars are useful tools for a broad range of applications and provide important information about the process of stellar evolution, tests for relativistic theories of gravity and the search for low-frequency gravitational waves. Over 2,500 pulsars have been observed since their initial discovery in 1967 but the search for these objects is continuously warranted. …

Methods For Cancellation Of Apparent Cerenkov Radiation Arising From Sme Models And Separability Of Schrödinger’S Equation Using Exotic Potentials In Parabolic Coordinates, Richard Henry Decosta

Theses and Dissertations

In an attempt to merge the two prominent areas of physics: The Standard Model and General Relativity, there have been many theories for the underlying physics that may lead to Lorentz- and CPT-symmetry violations. At the present moment, technology allows numerous types of Planck-sensitive tests of these symmetries in a range of physical systems.

We address a curiosity in isotropic CPT- and Lorentz-violating electrodynamics where there is a kinematic allowance for Cerenkov radiation of a charged particle in a vacuum moving with uniform motion. This however, should not be the case as it is known that constant motion in a …

Cosmic Metal Evolution During The First ∼1 Billion Years After The Big Bang Using Damped/Sub-Damped Lyman-Alpha Absorbers, Suraj Poudel

Theses and Dissertations

Metal abundance measurements throughout the cosmic ages track the history of galaxy formation and evolution. Measuring abundances during the first ∼1 billion years is especially important, as they are influenced by the nucleosynthetic signatures from the early stars. Evolution of metallicity of Damped/sub-Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers (DLAs/sub-DLAs) detected in the spectra of quasars is a powerful tracer of the cosmic star formation history. A sudden drop in DLA metallicity at z>4.7 was reported in some recent studies. However, these studies were primarily based on refractory elements such as Fe and Si. We present ten new abundance measurements of the elements …

Neutrino Induced Coherent-Pion: Precision Measurement In Nomad And Uses In Oscillation Experiments, Bing Guo

Theses and Dissertations

In the era of high precision oscillation measurements, lead by DUNE and Hyper-K, the Near Detector (ND) faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Among the various neutrino events in ND, Coherent meson production plays a special role. It is a non-negligible background to the oscillation signal. However the cross-section models for neutrino induced Coherent meson currently being used are old and imprecise. On the other hand, Coherent meson has a simple experimental signature with minimal nuclear effect making it unique among neutrino-nucleon interactions. Furthermore, the cross section for Coherent meson is the same in neutrino and antineutrino modes. It, thus, potentially …

Searching For Optical Counterparts To Gravitational Waves, Richard Camuccio

Theses and Dissertations

The era of multi-messenger astronomy has begun. The coordinated activities of multiple, distinct observatories play a critical role in both responding to astrophysical transients and building a more comprehensive interpretation otherwise inaccessible to individual observations. The Transient Robotic Observatory of the South (TOROS) Collaboration has a global network of instruments capable of responding to several transient targets of opportunity. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how optical observatories with small fields of view (degree) can follow up and observe astrophysical transients. TOROS facilities responded to three unique gravitational wave events during the second and third observational campaigns of …

Topography Estimation Using Particle Swarm Optimization, Yelbir Kazhykarim

Theses and Dissertations

The Earth’s Vertical Gravity Gradient (VGG) can be used to map seafloor topography but presents a challenging inverse problem. A promising approach is forward modeling, in which one searches over a set of candidate topographies and selects the one whose predicted VGG best fits the observed one. The main bottleneck here is solving the associated high-dimensional and non-linear optimization problem. Yang et al (2018) demonstrated a method in which the topography is parametrized by heights of mass elements on a rectangular grid and the ≈ 104 dimensional optimization problem is tackled with simulated annealing (SA). We propose a computationally much …

Exploring Mechanical Properties And Configurational Energetics Of Toxbox Using Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Shams Mehdi

Theses and Dissertations

All-atom Molecular Dynamics Simulations (MDS) have been performed to obtain 5 ns trajectory of the solvated, neutralized, and equilibrated toxbox system in NPT ensemble at 300 K. This trajectory data has been used to calculate the configurational entropy of toxbox by employing a quantum mechanical approach. The method is based on evaluating determinant of the covariance matrix, built from generalized coordinates of all atoms for each frame. The upper limit to the configurational entropy of toxbox has been calculated to be 30,030 J/mol-K. A preliminary investigation has been conducted to study the effects of sequence-dependent DNA conformation (DNA Crookedness) on …

Magnesium Diboride Embedded Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Yarns, Ujjal Lamichhane

Theses and Dissertations

The discovery of superconductivity in a simple hexagonal binary compound of MgB2 at a relatively high critical temperature ~39 K renewed the interest in the field of superconductivity. Twisted laminar superconducting composite structures based on coiled multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) yarns were crafted by integrating magnesium and boron homogeneous mixture into the carbon nanotube sheets. After the ignition of the Mg/B/MWCNT system, under the controlled argon environment and uniform heating rate, the high exothermic reaction between magnesium (Mg) and boron (B) with stoichiometric ratio produced the MgB2/MWCNT superconducting composite yarns. The XRD analysis confirmed that the heated sample consists of …

Multi Wall Carbon Nanotube (Mwcnt) Laminar Composite Structures Reinforced With Titanium Carbide (Tic), Rakibul Alam Shohan

Theses and Dissertations

Laminated composites have been widely used in weight critical structures, such as aircraft, spacecraft, bullet-proof vests, radiation protection suits, spacesuits etc., owing to their high stiffness, strength, and thermal stability. Multi Wall Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT) laminar composite have attracted a good attention for these laminar composites due to its outstanding physical and mechanical properties as well as extraordinary electrical, optical, and thermal properties. Laminar composite structures based on twisted MWCNT yarn were crafted by integrating titanium and graphene mixture at (80:20) wt. %, respectively into multi wall carbon nanotube sheets. Titanium and Graphene mixture addition has been used to improve …

Effects Of Incubation Temperature On Nanomechanical Properties Of Β-Lactoglobulin Amyloid Fibers, Santosh Khatri

Theses and Dissertations

Amyloid fibrils constitute a class of highly ordered nanomaterials formed by aggregates of the protein. Although The irreversible fibril formation of various proteins is related to the disorders like Alzheimer’s diseases, Creutzfeldt-Jacob and many more, amyloid fibrils have also been noticed in many physiologically beneficial roles such as in adhesive and hormone storage. Here, we compare the stiffness and structural properties of the amyloid fibers examined by the statistical approaches of single molecule atomic force microscopy images of heat-denatured β-lactoglobulin fibrils at different incubation time period (24, 48, and 72 hours). We demonstrate the gradual decrease in stiffness of the …

What Can Scattered Light Tell You About Your Favorite Magnetic Material?: A Magneto Optical Investigation Of The Magnetic Properties Of Aligned Janus Fiber Agglomerates.Influence Of Dynamic Multiaxial Transverse Loading On Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene Single Fiber Failure, Cory John Dolbashian

Theses and Dissertations

Here we seek to take a traditional Magneto Optic Kerr Effect (MOKE) experimental design, useful for local magnetization measurements, and apply it to measuring aligned multiferroic Janus nano fiber agglomerates. In order to achieve this we modify the traditional MOKE geometry by measuring our Kerr rotation from collimated scattered light, rather than the conventional specular reflection. Using various techniques to improve signal to noise ratio (SNR), we extend the application of this scattered MOKE geometry to build families of First Order Reversal Curves (FORC). Using an alternative analysis technique, FORC curves are processed and become a FORC diagram, which is …

Probing The Interstellar Medium Of Galaxies Using Gravitationally Lensed Sight Lines And The Relevant Atomic Physics, Frances Cashman

Theses and Dissertations

Absorption spectroscopy of gravitationally lensed quasars (GLQs) enables study of spatial variations in the interstellar and/or circumgalactic medium (ISM, CGM) of foreground galaxies. In this work I present observations of 4 GLQs, each with two images separated by 0.8-3.000, that show strong absorbers at redshifts 0.4 abs< 1.3 in their spectra, including some at the lens redshift. The H I Lyman lines were measured in five absorbers using HST-STIS, and metal lines with either the MagE spectrograph or the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. These data, combined with the literature, show no strong correlation between absolute values of differences in NH I, NFe II, or [Fe/H] and sight line separations at absorber redshifts. The measured abundance gradients show a tentative anti-correlation with abundances at galaxy centers.

A study of the lens galaxy foreground to the doubly lensed quasar SBS 0909+532 reveals a large difference in H I and metal column densities between sight lines. Using archival HST-STIS and Keck HIRES spectra, log N _{H I} 18.18 cm−2 and log N _{H I} = 20.38±0.02 cm⁻²were measured, resulting …

One-Dimensional Multi-Frame Blind Deconvolution Using Astronomical Data For Spatially Separable Objects, Marc R. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Blind deconvolution is used to complete missions to detect adversary assets in space and to defend the nation's assets. A new algorithm was developed to perform blind deconvolution for objects that are spatially separable using multiple frames of data. This new one-dimensional approach uses the expectation-maximization algorithm to blindly deconvolve spatially separable objects. This object separation reduces the size of the object matrix from an NxN matrix to two singular vectors of length N. With limited knowledge of the object and point spread function the one-dimensional algorithm successfully deconvolved the objects in both simulated and laboratory data.

Comparison Of The Accuracy Of Rayleigh-Rice Polarization Factors To Improve Microfacet Brdf Models, Rachel L. Wolfgang

Theses and Dissertations

Microfacet BRDF models assume that a surface has many small microfacets making up the roughness of the surface. Despite their computational simplicity in applications in remote sensing and scene generation, microfacet models lack the physical accuracy of wave optics models. In a previous work, Butler proposed to replace the Fresnel reflectance term of microfacet models with the Rayleigh-Rice polarization factor, Q, to create a more accurate model. This work examines the novel model that combines microfacet and wave optics terms for its accuracy in the pp and ss polarized cases individually. The model is fitted to the polarized data in …

Conduction Mapping For Quality Control Of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing, Chance M. Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

A process was developed to identify potential defects in previous layers of Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) 3D printed metal parts using a mid-IR thermal camera to track infrared 3.8-4 m band emission over time as the part cooled to ambient temperature. Efforts focused on identifying anomalies in thermal conduction. To simplify the approach and reduce the need for significant computation, no attempts were made to calibrate measured intensity, extract surface temperature, apply machine learning, or compare measured cool-down behavior to computer model predictions. Raw intensity cool-down curves were fit to a simplified functional form designed to …