Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Boundary Control Of Parabolic Pde Using Adaptive Dynamic Programming, Behzad Talaei

Doctoral Dissertations

"In this dissertation, novel adaptive/approximate dynamic programming (ADP) based state and output feedback control methods are presented for distributed parameter systems (DPS) which are expressed as uncertain parabolic partial differential equations (PDEs) in one and two dimensional domains. In the first step, the output feedback control design using an early lumping method is introduced after model reduction. Subsequently controllers were developed in four stages; Unlike current approaches in the literature, state and output feedback approaches were designed without utilizing model reduction for uncertain linear, coupled nonlinear and two-dimensional parabolic PDEs, respectively. In all of these techniques, the infinite horizon cost …

Models Of Leader Elections And Their Applications, Stephen Curtis Jackson

Doctoral Dissertations

"New research about cyber-physical systems is rapidly changing the way we think about critical infrastructures such as the power grid. Changing requirements for the generation, storage, and availability of power are all driving the development of the smart-grid. Many smart-grid projects disperse power generation across a wide area and control devices with a distributed system. However, in a distributed system, the state of processes is hard to determine due to isolation of memory. By using information flow security models, we reason about a process's beliefs of the system state in a distributed system. Information flow analysis aided in the creation …

Methodology Investigations For Shear Wave Splitting Analysis, Fansheng Kong

Doctoral Dissertations

"Over the past several decades, shear wave splitting analyses have been increasingly utilized to delineate mantle structure and probe mantle dynamics. However, the reported splitting parameters (fast polarization orientations and splitting times) are frequently inconsistent among different studies, partially due to the different techniques used to estimate the splitting parameters. Here the study conduct research on methodology investigations for shear wave splitting analysis, which are composed of two sub-topics, i.e., a systematic comparison of the transverse minimization (TM) and the splitting intensity (SI) techniques and applicability of the multiple-event stacking technique (MES). Numerical experiments are conducted using both synthetic and …

Pointwise And Uniform Convergence Of Fourier Series On Su(2), Donald Forrest Myers

Doctoral Dissertations

"Let f be a Lipschitz function on the special unitary group SU (2). We prove that the Fourier partial sums of f converge to f uniformly on SU (2), thereby extending theorems of Caccioppoli, Mayer, and a special case of Ragozin. Pointwise convergence theorems for the Fourier series of functions on SU (2), due to Liu and Qian, were obtained by Clifford algebra techniques. We obtain similar versions of these theorems using simpler proof techniques: classical harmonic analysis and group theory"--Abstract, page iii.

Seismic Anisotropy And Mantle Dynamics Beneath The Central And Western United States, Bin Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Various tectonic features and the recent availability of high-quality broadband seismic data from the USArray and other seismic stations in the central and western United States (CWUS) provide a distinct opportunity to test different anisotropy-forming mechanisms. For the first part of the study, a total of 4138 pairs of well-defined shear wave splitting (SWS) parameters observed at 445 stations on the northern Great Plains show systematic spatial variations of anisotropic characteristics. Azimuthally invariant fast orientations subparallel to the absolute plate motion (APM) direction are observed at most of the stations on the Superior Craton and the southern Yavapai province, indicating …

Dft Investigations Of Hydrogen Storage Materials, Gang Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Hydrogen serves as a promising new energy source having no pollution and abundant on earth. However the most difficult problem of applying hydrogen is to store it effectively and safely, which is smartly resolved by attempting to keep hydrogen in some metal hydrides to reach a high hydrogen density in a safe way. There are several promising metal hydrides, the thermodynamic and chemical properties of which are to be investigated in this dissertation.

Sodium alanate (NaAlH₄) is one of the promising metal hydrides with high hydrogen storage capacity around 7.4 wt. % and relatively low decomposition temperature of …

Unconventional Phase Transitions In Random Systems, Hatem Nuri Barghathi

Doctoral Dissertations

"In this thesis we study the effects of different types of disorder and quasiperiodic modulations on quantum, classical and nonequilibrium phase transitions. After a brief introduction, we examine the effect of topological disorder on phase transitions and explain a host of violations of the Harris and Imry-Ma criteria that predict the fate of disordered phase transitions. We identify a class of random and quasiperiodic lattices in which a topological constraint introduces strong anticorrelations leading to modifications of the Harris and Imry-Ma criteria for such lattices. We investigate whether or not the Imry-Ma criterion, that predicts that random field disorder destroys …

Spectroscopic And Spectro-Astrometric Analysis Of T Tauri Stars, Logan Ryan Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

"To understand our own solar origins, we must investigate the composition of the protoplanetary disk from which the solar system formed. To infer this, we study analogs to the early solar system called T Tauri stars. These objects are low-mass, pre-main sequence stars surrounded by circumstellar disks of material from which planets are believed to form. We present high-resolution, near-infrared spectroscopic data for the T Tauri stars DR Tau and AA Tau using NIRSPEC at the Keck II telescope. For DR Tau, a spectro-astrometric analysis was performed, obtaining sub-seeing spatial information on water emission. Alongside a disk model, we constrained …

Polyacrylamide And Its Derivatives For Oil Recovery, Zun Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

"Polyacrylamide is an umbrella term used to describe the homo-polymer of acrylamide and the copolymer of acrylamide with a small amount of other monomers. Owing to their superior property on increasing viscosity and gelling ability in the presence of crosslinkers, polyacrylamides has become the primarily selection for polymer flooding and gel treatment agent in enhanced oil recovery. Recent developments, performance, applications and limitations of polyacrylamides and its derivatives, including copolymers and hydrogels for enhancing oil recovery are reviewed.

A water-free suspension system was developed to synthesize PAMs and PAMs-microgel. Products are dry particle powder and ready to disperse in water. …

Palynological Studies Of Holocene Lake Sediments In The Missouri Ozarks, Robert D. Haselwander

Doctoral Dissertations

"Five small lakes in southeast Missouri (Frisco, Pine Forest, and Bray Area lakes [Phelps County], and Cypress and Blue ponds [Bollinger County]) were cored for paleolimnological studies. Cores were evaluated for their sedimentology, palynology, and geochemistry. In two of these lakes (Bray Area and Pine Forest lakes) the planktonic algae were also studied in the water column, along with ecological parameters. Algae in the sediments were compared to algae in the water to understand the resistance of different species to decay, and a suggested methodology for this work is described. Reconstructions of the past environments around each lake were created …

Properties Of Amorphous Transparent Conducting And Semiconducting Oxides From First Principles, Rabi Khanal

Doctoral Dissertations

"Amorphous transparent conducting and semiconducting oxides possess properties superior or comparable to their crystalline counterparts. The structure-property relationship in amorphous oxides is not nearly as well understood as in the case of the crystalline transparent conducting oxides. We have employedab initio molecular dynamics and a liquid quench approach to simulate amorphous oxide structures and performed density functional-based calculations to study the electronic properties of several amorphous conducting and semiconducting oxides with various cation compositions.

The effect of amorphization in oxides was investigated by taking indium oxide as a progenitor of the system. From the thorough study it was confirmed …

Mechanisms For Improving Information Quality In Smartphone Crowdsensing Systems, Francesco Restuccia

Doctoral Dissertations

"Given its potential for a large variety of real-life applications, smartphone crowdsensing has recently gained tremendous attention from the research community. Smartphone crowdsensing is a paradigm that allows ordinary citizens to participate in large-scale sensing surveys by using user-friendly applications installed in their smartphones. In this way, fine-grained sensing information is obtained from smartphone users without employing fixed and expensive infrastructure, and with negligible maintenance costs.

Existing smartphone sensing systems depend completely on the participants' willingness to submit up-to-date and accurate information regarding the events being monitored. Therefore, it becomes paramount to scalably and effectively determine, enforce, and optimize the …

Functional Nanoporous Polyamide Aerogels, Malik Adnan Saeed

Doctoral Dissertations

"Aerogels are low-density materials consisting of 3D assemblies of nanoparticles with high open porosities and surface areas. Inspired by the extraordinary mechanical strength of polymer crosslinked aerogels, our recent attention is focused on inexpensive multifunctional isocyanates reacting with a variety of aromatic, organometallic and inorganic monomers. Three such systems discussed here are:

(A) Polymeric aerogels synthesized via a room temperature reaction of an aromatic triisocyanate with pyromellitic acid. Using solid-state CPMAS ¹³C and ¹⁵N NMR, it was found that the skeletal framework was a statistical co-polymer of polyamide, polyurea and polyimide. Stepwise pyrolytic decomposition followed by reactive etching …

New Polyanion-Based Cathode Materials For Alkali-Ion Batteries, Hooman Yaghoobnejad Asl

Doctoral Dissertations

"A number of new materials have been discovered through exploratory synthesis with the aim to be studied as the positive electrode (cathode) in Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. The focus has been set on the ease of synthesis, cost and availability of active ingredients in the battery, and decent cycle-life performance through a combination of iron and several polyanionic ligands. An emphasis has been placed also on phosphite (HPO₃^2-) as a polyanionic ligand, mainly due to the fact that it has not been studied seriously before as a polyanion for cathode materials. The concept of mixed polyanions, for …

Identifying Shallow Subsurface Stratigraphy And Voids Using Dispersive Characteristics Of Electromagnetic And Surface Waves, Payman Hajiani

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation presents the results of three manuscripts on spectral analysis of electromagnetic and seismic surface waves to detect subsurface stratigraphy and voids. In the first manuscript, a new technique was developed by utilizing spectral analysis of surface waves to detect subsurface openings. This technique applied the concept of group delay to evaluate the effects of subsurface voids on the phase shift domain. Seismic data sets were acquired at different sites where the shape, size, and depth of the void varied. In all surveys, the time delay technique precisely identified the locations of the subsurface openings. The second manuscript presents …

The Role Of Pre-Existing Basement Fabrics In The Initiation Of Continental Rifting: The Okavango Rift Zone, Botswana, Angelica Alvarez Naranjo

Doctoral Dissertations

"Integrated geophysical, remote sensing, and field investigations of the Okavango Rift Zone (ORZ), Botswana indicate that a feedback between optimum-oriented basement structures and fluid flow influence the nucleation and growth of continental rifts in their incipient stages. The ORZ, the youngest rift of the East African Rift System, occurs within a Proterozoic inter-cratonic suture zone - the NE-trending Precambrian Damara/Ghanzi-Chobe orogenic belts. The Pleistocene to Holocene ORZ forms a ~450 km long and ~100 km wide half-graben bounded by NE-trending normal faults. Basement units within the Damara/Ghanzi-Chobe orogenic belts exhibit a well-developed NE-trending linear fabric (045-065) defined by parallel limbs …

Single Particle-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry Technology Development For Metallic Nanoparticle Characterization In Complex Matrices, Yongbo Dan

Doctoral Dissertations

"As the rapid growing of nanotechnology, the release of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) into the environment is inevitable. After entering the real environment, ENPs tend to react with different components of the ecosystem (e.g. water, soil, air, plants) and make their characterization difficult. Analyzing ENPs in these complex matrices still remains as a grand challenge. ENPs characterization is normally the first step of risk assessment. Current analytical techniques have shown some limitations in revealing the unique characteristics of ENPs in complex matrices and reliable analytical techniques are in urgent need. Single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS) is an emerging …

Rapidity Factorization And Evolution Of Gluon Tmds, Ian Balitsky

Physics Faculty Publications

I discuss how the rapidity evolution of gluon transverse momentum dependent distribution changes from nonlinear evolution at small x « 1 to linear evolution at moderate x ∼ 1.

From Qcd To Physical Resonances, Daniel R. Bolton, Raúl A. Briceño, David J. Wilson

Physics Faculty Publications

In this talk, we present the first chiral extrapolation of a resonant scattering amplitude obtained from lattice QCD. Finite-volume spectra, determined by the Hadron Spectrum Collaboration at m_π = 236 MeV [1], for the isotriplet ππ channel are analyzed using the Lüscher method to determine the infinite-volume scattering amplitude. Unitarized Chiral Perturbation Theory is then used to extrapolate the scattering amplitude to the physical light quark masses. The viability of this procedure is demonstrated by its agreement with the experimentally determined scattering phase shift up to center-of-mass energies of 1.2 GeV. Finally, we analytically continue the amplitude to …

Relativistic, Model-Independent, Multichannel 2 → 2 Transition Amplitudes In A Finite Volume, Raúl A. Briceño, Maxwell T. Hansen

Physics Faculty Publications

We derive formalism for determining 2+𝓙 → 2 infinite-volume transition amplitudes from finite-volume matrix elements. Specifically, we present a relativistic, model-independent relation between finite-volume matrix elements of external currents and the physically observable infinite-volume matrix elements involving two-particle asymptotic states. The result presented holds for states composed of two scalar bosons. These can be identical or nonidentical and, in the latter case, can be either degenerate or nondegenerate. We further accommodate any number of strongly coupled two-scalar channels. This formalism will, for example, allow future lattice QCD calculations of the ρ-meson form factor, in which the unstable nature of …

𝜋𝜋 → 𝜋𝛾* Amplitude And The Resonant 𝜌 → 𝜋𝛾* Transition From Lattice Qcd, Raúl A. Briceño, Jozef J. Dudek, Robert G. Edwards, Christian J. Shultz, Christopher E. Thomas, David J. Wilson

Physics Faculty Publications

We present a determination of the P-wave 𝜋𝜋 → 𝜋𝛾⋆ transition amplitude from lattice quantum chromodynamics. Matrix elements of the vector current in a finite volume are extracted from three-point correlation functions, and from these we determine the infinite-volume amplitude using a generalization of the Lellouch-Lüscher formalism. We determine the amplitude for a range of discrete values of the 𝜋𝜋 energy and virtuality of the photon and observe the expected dynamical enhancement due to the ρ resonance. Describing the energy dependence of the amplitude, we are able to analytically continue into the complex energy plane and from the residue …

Lhc Crab Cavity Coupler Test Boxes, J. A. Mitchell, R. Apsimon, G. Burt, R. Calaga, A. Macpherson, E. Montesinos, S.D. Silva, A.R.J. Tutte, B.P. Xiao

Physics Faculty Publications

The LHC double quarter wave (DQW) crab cavities have two different types of Higher Order Mode (HOM) couplers in addition to a fundamental power coupler (FPC). The FPC requires conditioning, so to achieve this we have designed a radio-frequency (RF) quarter wave resonator to provide high transmission between two opposing FPCs. For the HOM couplers we must ensure that the stop-band filter is positioned at the cavity frequency and that peak transmission occurs at the same frequencies as the strongest HOMs. We have designed two test boxes which preserve the cavity spectral response in order to test the couplers.

Anisotropic Thermodynamic And Transport Properties Of Single-Crystalline Cakfe4As4, W. R. Meier, T. Kong, U. S. Kaluarachchi, V. Taufour, N. H. Jo, G. Drachuck, A. E. Böhmer, S. M. Saunders, A. Sapkota, A. Kreyssig, M. A. Tanatar, R. Prozorov, A. I. Goldman, Fedor F. Balakirev, Alex Gurevich, S. L. Bud'ko, P. C. Canfield

Physics Faculty Publications

Single-crystalline, single-phase CaKFe₄As₄ has been grown out of a high-temperature, quaternary melt. Temperature-dependent measurements of x-ray diffraction, anisotropic electrical resistivity, elastoresistivity, thermoelectric power, Hall effect, magnetization, and specific heat, combined with field-dependent measurements of electrical resistivity and field and pressure-dependent measurements of magnetization indicate that CaKFe₄As₄ is an ordered, stoichiometric, Fe-based superconductor with a superconducting critical temperature, T_c = 35.0 ± 0.2 K. Other than superconductivity, there is no indication of any other phase transition for 1.8K ≤ T ≤ 300 K. All of these thermodynamic and transport data reveal striking similarities to …

Rapidity Evolution Of Gluon Tmd From Low To Moderate X, Ian Balitsky

Physics Faculty Publications

I discuss how the rapidity evolution of gluon transverse momentum dependent distribution changes from nonlinear evolution at small x ≪ 1 to linear evolution at moderate x ~ 1.

Heavy Quark Production At An Electron-Ion Collider, E. Chudakov, D. Higinbotham, C. Hyde, S. Furletov, Yu Furletova, D. Nguyen, M. Stratmann, M. Strickman, C. Weiss

Physics Faculty Publications

An Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) with center-of-mass energies √seN ∼ 20-100 GeV and luminosity L ∼ 10³⁴ cm^-² s^-¹ would offer new opportunities to study heavy quark production in high-energy electron or photon scattering on protons and nuclei. We report about an R&D project exploring the feasibility of direct measurements of nuclear gluon densities at x >∼ 0.1 (gluonic EMC effect, antishadowing) using open charm production at EIC. We describe the charm production rates and angle-momentum distributions at large x and discuss methods of charm reconstruction using next-generation detector capabilities (π/K identification, vertex reconstruction). The results could be …

Probing Nuclear Gluons With Heavy Flavors At An Electron-Ion Collider, E. Chudakov, D. Higinbotham, C. Hyde, S. Furletov, Y. Furletova, D. Nguyen, M. Stratmann, M. Strikman, C. Weiss, R. Yoshida

Physics Faculty Publications

We explore the feasibility of direct measurements of nuclear gluon densities using heavy-quark production (open charm, beauty) at a future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). We focus on the regions x> 0.3 (EMC effect) and x ~ 0.05-0.1 (antishadowing), where the nuclear modifications of the gluon density offer insight into non-nucleonic degrees of freedom and the QCD structure of nucleon-nucleon interactions. We describe the charm production rates and momentum distributions in nuclear deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) at Large XB, and comment on the possible methods for charm reconstruction using next-generation detectors at the EIC (π/K identification, tracking, vertex detection).

Relating Transverse-Momentum-Dependent And Collinear Factorization Theorems In A Generalized Formalism, J. Collins, L. Gamberg, A. Prokudin, T. C. Rogers, N. Sato, B. Wang

Physics Faculty Publications

We construct an improved implementation for combining transverse-momentum-dependent (TMD) factorization and collinear factorization. TMD factorization is suitable for low transverse momentum physics, while collinear factorization is suitable for high transverse momenta and for a cross section integrated over transverse momentum. The result is a modified version of the standard 𝑊 + 𝑌 prescription traditionally used in the Collins-Soper-Sterman (CSS) formalism and related approaches. We further argue that questions regarding the shape and 𝑄 dependence of the cross sections at lower 𝑄 are largely governed by the matching to the 𝑌 term.

Studies Of Light Nuclei In Χeft: A Status Report, R. Schiavilla

Physics Faculty Publications

A status report on χEFT studies of few-nucleon electroweak structure and dynamics is provided, including electromagnetic form factors of few nucleon systems, the pp weak fusion and muon weak captures on deuteron and ³He, an a number of parity-violating processes induced by hadronic weak interactions

Electroexcitation Of The Δ+ (1232) At Low Momentum Transfer, A. Blomberg, D. Anez, N. Sparveris, A. J. Sarty, M. Paolone, S. Gilad, D. Higinbotham, Z. Ahmed, H. Albataineh, K. Allada

Physics Faculty Publications

We report on new p(e, e' p)π°. measurements at the Δ⁺(1232) resonance at the low momentum transfer region, where the mesonic cloud dynamics is predicted to be dominant and rapidly changing, offering a test bed for chiral effective field theory calculations. The new data explore the Q² dependence of the resonant quadrupole amplitudes and for the first time indicate that the Electric and the Coulomb quadrupole amplitudes converge as Q² -> 0. The measurements of the Coulomb quadrupole amplitude have been extended to the lowest momentum transfer ever reached, and suggest that more than half of …

Electron-Ion Collider: The Next Qcd Frontier, A. Accardi, J. L. Albacete, M. Anselmino, N. Armesto, E. C. Aschenauer, A. Bacchetta, D. Boer, W. K. Brooks, T. Burton, N.-B. Chang, C. E. Hyde

Physics Faculty Publications

This White Paper presents the science case of an Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), focused on the structure and interactions of gluon-dominated matter, with the intent to articulate it to the broader nuclear science community. It was commissioned by the managements of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) with the objective of presenting a summary of scientific opportunities and goals of the EIC as a follow-up to the 2007 NSAC Long Range plan. This document is a culmination of a community-wide effort in nuclear science following a series of workshops on EIC physics over the past decades …