Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Rockaway Project - Townes, Diara Jepris D. Townes

Capstones

The Rockaway Project is a story-driven website that provides information on the government response to Superstorm Sandy recovery on the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, New York. Dozens of climate resiliency projects have been delayed or remain unfinished, despite millions of dollars in funding and six years of promises. The website hosts audio, visual and digital content, gathered through interviews and data collection.

Link to capstone project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAq2BeR4bS0&t=1s

Lead And Arsenic Contamination In Urban Soils In New York City, Anna Paltseva

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examined total and bioaccessible soil lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) concentrations and their accumulation in commonly grown garden vegetables in New York City (NYC) metropolitan area. Direct oral ingestion of contaminated soil and consumption of plants that have accumulated Pb or As from underlying soil are known human exposure pathways in urban garden soils that often contain elevated levels of contaminants. The research had four components: (1) assessment of the variability of bioaccessible Pb in NYC urban soils; (2) field experiments to evaluate Pb stabilization and As mobilization by phosphate and alternative amendments; (3) development of a new …

The Role Of Fluids In Ore Remobilization At The Balmat Zinc Deposit, Ny, Peter D. Matt

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Shear zone-hosted orebodies at the Balmat, NY, zinc deposit were remobilized at the kilometer scale during amphibolite facies regional metamorphism ca. 1180 Ma. Despite there being little evidence for interaction of hydrous fluids and ores during deformation, such translocation distances are considered unlikely without the assistance of fluids. Two independent research methods, SEM-EDS micro-petrography and zinc isotope geochemical analysis, demonstrate that anatectic sulfide and silicate melts were generated during metamorphism. Micro-petrography of the Fowler ore body reveals low melting-temperature micro-inclusions of sulfosalt and sulfide assemblages which occur predominantly in Qtz-Py and Kfs-Py domains that cross-cut peak metamorphic assemblages. These results …

Do It Like A Syntactician: Using Binary Gramaticality Judgements To Train Sentence Encoders And Assess Their Sensitivity To Syntactic Structure, Pablo Gonzalez Martinez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The binary nature of grammaticality judgments and their use to access the structure of syntax are a staple of modern linguistics. However, computational models of natural language rarely make use of grammaticality in their training or application. Furthermore, developments in modern neural NLP have produced a myriad of methods that push the baselines in many complex tasks, but those methods are typically not evaluated from a linguistic perspective. In this dissertation I use grammaticality judgements with artificially generated ungrammatical sentences to assess the performance of several neural encoders and propose them as a suitable training target to make models learn …

Electrochemical Carbon Nanoprobes For Biological And Chemical System Studies, Keke Hu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The progress in the field of nanoelectrochemistry requires preparation and characterization of nanometer scale electrochemical probes. The focus of my Ph.D. research was on development of carbon nanopipette-based electrodes with versatile and controllable geometry and their applications to nanoscale studies of chemical and biological systems. Carbon nanopipette (CNP) electrodes offer important advantages, including high sensitivity and improved analytical selectivity. They can serve as nanoreactors for sampling ultra-small solution volumes and studies of individual nanoparticles. CNPs were prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of carbon into the pre-pulled quartz capillaries. By changing pulling parameters and CVD conditions, we fabricated several types …

Minimalistic Peptide-Based Supramolecular Systems Relevant To The Chemical Origin Of Life, Daniela Kroiss

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

All forms of life are based on biopolymers, which are made up of a selection of simple building blocks, such as amino acids, nucleotides, fatty acids and sugars. Their individual properties govern their interactions, giving rise to complex supramolecular structures with highly specialized functionality, including ligand recognition, catalysis and compartmentalization. In this thesis, we aim to answer the question whether short peptides could have acted as precursors of modern proteins during prebiotic evolution. Using a combination of experimental and computational techniques, we screened a large molecular search space for peptide sequences that are capable of forming supramolecular complexes with adenosine …

Physics And Mathematics Of Graded Quivers, Azeem Hasan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A graded quiver with superpotential is a quiver whose arrows are assigned degrees c ∈ {0, 1, · · · , m}, for some integer m ≥ 0, with relations generated by a superpotential of degree m − 1. For m = 0, 1, 2, 3 they often describe the open string sector of D-brane systems; in particular, they capture the physics of D(5 − 2m)-branes at local Calabi-Yau (CY) (m + 2)- fold singularities in type IIB string theory. We introduce m-dimers, which fully encode the m-graded quivers and their superpotentials, in the case in which the CY (m …

Sequential Discrimination Between Non-Orthogonal Quantum States, Dov L. Fields

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The problem of discriminating between non-orthogonal states is one that has generated a lot of interest. This basic formalism is useful in many areas of quantum information. It serves as a fundamental basis for many quantum key distribution schemes, it functions as an integral part of other quantum algorithms, and it is useful in experimental settings where orthogonal states are not always possible to generate. Additionally, the discrimination problem reveals important fundamental properties, and is intrinsically related to entanglement. In this thesis, the focus is on exploring the problem of sequentially discriminating between non-orthogonal states. In the simplest version these …

Abrupt Climate Transitions, Christine J. Ramadhin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Earth’s climate system displays a long history of nonlinear abrupt transitions which have resulted in significant ecosystem disruption and are recorded in the geologic data. Today significant anthropogenic changes are occurring in many Earth systems that seem to be pushing these toward critical thresholds. Thus, increasing the possibility of a transition to alternative states which can have unfavorable consequences. Therefore, it becomes compelling to forecast when and how these transitions will occur so that decision-makers can devise appropriate strategies to avoid or cope with the effects of a changeover to a new alternative state. However, due to the highly …

Exciton Polaritons In Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides, Jie Gu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Strong interaction between photons and excitons in semiconductors results in the formation of half-light half-matter quasiparticles termed exciton-polaritons. Owing to their hybrid character, they inherit the strong interparticle interaction from their excitonic (matter) component via Coulomb interaction while the photonic component lends the small mass (~10⁵ times lighter than free electrons) and long propagation distances. Additionally, exciton-polaritons also carry properties of the host material excitons such as spin and valley polarization and can be probed via the photons that leak out of the cavities since the photon carries all the information owing to conservation laws. Since the first demonstration …

Semi-Supervised Regression With Generative Adversarial Networks Using Minimal Labeled Data, Greg Olmschenk

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work studies the generalization of semi-supervised generative adversarial networks (GANs) to regression tasks. A novel feature layer contrasting optimization function, in conjunction with a feature matching optimization, allows the adversarial network to learn from unannotated data and thereby reduce the number of labels required to train a predictive network. An analysis of simulated training conditions is performed to explore the capabilities and limitations of the method. In concert with the semi-supervised regression GANs, an improved label topology and upsampling technique for multi-target regression tasks are shown to reduce data requirements. Improvements are demonstrated on a wide variety of vision …

Stability And Application Of The K-Core Dynamical Model To Biological Networks, Francesca Beatrice Arese Lucini

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The objective of the dissertation is to illustrate the importance of the k-core dynamical model, by first presenting the stability analysis of the nonlinear k-core model and compare its solution to the most widely used linear model. Second, I show a real world application of the k-core model to describe properties of neural networks, specifically, the transition from conscious to subliminal perception.

Oldowan Tool Behaviors Through Time On The Homa Peninsula, Kenya, Emma M. Finestone

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The adaptive significance of tool use to genus Homo is a central theme in human origins. However, what we know from the early Oldowan sites suggests that persistent technology may have begun as an opportunistic behavior with minimal investment, rather than a habitual and widespread adaptive revolution. This dissertation seeks to investigate investment in Oldowan tool production on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya, considering raw material selection, transport, and lithic production at two newly discovered Oldowan localities: Nyayanga (ca. 2.6 Ma) and Sare River (ca. 1.7 Ma).

The first section of this dissertation outlines a method that enables the comparison of …

Interplay Of Magnetism, Superconductivity, And Topological Phases Of Matter, Cody Youmans

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Multiband superconducting materials, such as iron pnictides and doped topological insulators, have shown to be particularly promising platforms for realizing unconventional electronic behavior of both fundamental and practical importance. Similarly, new innovations in the engineering of gapped topological phases, like semiconductor based Kitaev chains and topological insulator based heterostructures, have opened new directions for solid-state design. Central to much of the excitement generated by such multifaceted electronic systems is a rich interplay between various inherent structural ordering tendencies and topologically non-trivial properties.

In some classes of pnictides, spin density wave order coexists with superconductivity over a range of doping and …

An Evolutionary Perspective On Foraging Strategies And Group Dynamics In Bio-Social Inspired Cognitive Radio Networks, Anna Wisniewska

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Saturation of wireless channels is inevitable as the number of wireless devices grows exponentially in an environment of limited radio spectrum capacity. Cognitive radio technology has been proposed to relieve overcrowded spectrum resources by allowing licensed channels to be opportunistically accessed by unlicensed users (cognitive radio devices) during periods of time when the license holder (primary user) is absent from its channel. Uncoordinated competition over limited resources among cognitive radio devices poses complex co-existence challenges. We propose novel bio-social inspired behavioral models and map out plausible evolutionary trajectories of co-use strategies in the cognitive radio ecosystem. By drawing parallels between …

The Water/Energy Nexus: Climate, Consumption And Ecosystem Services, Hildegaard D. Link

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Water and energy are drivers of living systems. This work provides an assessment of the Water Energy Nexus in the United States, comparing the well-watered north-east and the arid west. Electric grid systems are most stressed on hot summer afternoons. Grid stress can lead to cascading failures of electricity, water and wastewater treatment systems. (Zimmerman, 2017) Water for power generation and/or water supply depend on ecosystem services. The ecosystem services and resource trade-offs embedded in provision of a watt of power and an ounce of potable water, however, have yet to be comprehensively enumerated nor have the cost relationships been …

Dynamics Of The Family Lambda Tan Z^2, Santanu Nandi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We prove some topological properties of the dynamical plane ($z$-plane) and a combinatorial structure of the parameter plane of a holomorphic family of meromorphic maps $\lambda \tan z^2$. In the dynamical plane, we prove that there is no Herman ring and the Julia set is a Cantor set for the map when the parameter is in the central capture component. Julia set is connected for the maps when the parameters are in other hyperbolic components. In the parameter plane, I prove that the capture components are simply connected and there are always four hyperbolic shell components attached to a virtual …

The Distribution, Fractionation, And Application Of The 210po/210pb System: Insights From Three Geotraces Transects, Yi Tang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The sinking flux of particles is an important pathway for the removal of carbon and other elements from the surface ocean via the biological pump. The ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb disequilibrium method can be used to study particle export at high spatial resolution over the time scale of months. The distribution of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb activity was measured during two GEOTRACES transects of the North Atlantic and one GEOTRACES transect of the eastern tropical South Pacific. This dissertation aimed to advance the knowledge and improve methods of the application of the ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb pair to quantify …

Hermitian Maass Lift For General Level, An Hoa Vu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For an imaginary quadratic field $K$ of discriminant $-D$, let $\chi = \chi_K$ be the associated quadratic character. We will show that the space of special hermitian Jacobi forms of level $N$ is isomorphic to the space of plus forms of level $DN$ and nebentypus $\chi$ (the hermitian analogue of Kohnen's plus space) for any integer $N$ prime to $D$. This generalizes the results of Krieg from $N = 1$ to arbitrary level. Combining this isomorphism with the recent work of Berger and Klosin and a modification of Ikeda's construction we prove the existence of a lift from the space …

Zeta Functions Of Classical Groups And Class Two Nilpotent Groups, Fikreab Solomon Admasu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis is concerned with zeta functions and generating series associated with two families of groups that are intimately connected with each other: classical groups and class two nilpotent groups. Indeed, the zeta functions of classical groups count some special subgroups in class two nilpotent groups.

In the first chapter, we provide new expressions for the zeta functions of symplectic groups and even orthogonal groups in terms of the cotype zeta function of the integer lattice. In his paper on universal $p$-adic zeta functions, J. Igusa computed explicit formulae for the zeta functions of classical algebraic groups. These zeta functions …

Inference Of Language Functional Network In Healthy, Cancerous And Bilingual Brains By Fmri And Network Modeling, Qiongge Li

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We study the underlying mechanism by which language processing occurs in the human brain using inference methods on functional magnetic resonance imaging data. The data analyzed stems from several cohorts of subjects; a monolingual group, a bilingual group, a healthy control group and one diseased case. We applied a complex statistical inference pipeline to determine the network structure of brain components involved with language. This healthy network reveals a fully connected triangular relationship between the pre-Supplementary Motor Area (pre-SMA), the Broca's Area (BA), and the ventral Pre-Motor Area (PreMA) in the left hemisphere. This "triangle'' shows consistently in all the …

Wind Flow Dynamics Over Complex Terrain, Eric Kutter

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Understanding the exchange of energy, moisture, and trace gases between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere over complex terrain is a fundamental goal in achieving a complete model of global or regional climate. Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon dioxide is often a crucial input into climate models, and is also used as a means of validating regional model outputs. Calculations obtained from eddy flux tower data provide some of the best quality sources of NEE values; however, the standard formulation of the eddy covariance method is incomplete in terrain that includes common features such as hills, forests, cities, or …

Modest Automorphisms Of Presburger Arithmetic, Simon Heller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It is interesting to consider whether a structure can be expanded by an automorphism so that one obtains a nice description of the expanded structure's first-order properties. In this dissertation, we study some such expansions of models of Presburger arithmetic. Building on some of the work of Harnik (1986) and Llewellyn-Jones (2001), in Chapter 2 we use a back-and-forth construction to obtain two automorphisms of sufficiently saturated models of Presburger arithmetic. These constructions are done first in the quotient of the Presburger structure by the integers (which is a divisible ordered abelian group with some added structure), and then lifted …

Coulomb Excitation And Transport Properties Of Monolayer Graphene And The Alpha-T3 Lattice, Dipendra Dahal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the past few years, I focused my attention in the study of 2D material's behavior, specifically graphene . We investigated several properties of graphene like transmission of particle through a potential barrier and demonstrated the effect of band gap to suppress the Klein tunneling at head on collision, we presented the results to get the criteria of negative refractive index and Klein tunneling through multiple barrier. Next, we have carried out the calculation of polarization function of graphene in the presence of magnetic field. The effect of integer Landau filling factor is shown and the portrayed results are presented …

Optical And Collective Properties Of Excitons In 2d Semiconductors, Matthew N. Brunetti

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We study the properties of excitons in 2D semiconductors (2DSC) by numerically solving the Schr\"{o}dinger equation for an interacting electron and hole in the effective mass approximation, then calculating optical properties such as the transition energies, oscillator strengths, and absorption coefficients. Our theoretical approach allows us to consider both direct excitons in monolayer (ML) 2DSC and spatially indirect excitons in heterostructures (HS) consisting of two 2DSC MLs separated by few-layer insulating hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). In particular, we study indirect excitons in TMDC HS, namely MoS₂, MoSe₂, WS₂, and WSe₂; …

Probing The Gelation Phenomena In Molecular And Seed-Based Gels, Malick Samateh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The interest in molecular gels has been gaining momentum as evident from being developed for a broad spectrum of applications. This impetus stems from several reasons that include: (i) molecular gels are highly stimuli responsive as they easily respond to thermodynamic changes, disintegrating into well-defined chemicals/building blocks because of the purely physical (in contrast to chemically cross-linked) nature of the interactions holding their 3D networks together; (ii) the sheer abundance of simple small molecules to choose starting materials from and the vast potential of tunability of the low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) make the LMWGs and the molecular gels highly …

On Different Parametrizations Of Feynman Integrals, Ray Daniel Sameshima

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this doctoral thesis, we discuss and apply advanced techniques for the calculations of scattering amplitudes which, on the one hand, allow us to compute cross sections and differential distributions at high precision and, on the other hand, give us deep mathematical insights on the mathematical structures of Feynman integrals.

We start by presenting phenomenological calculations relevant for the experimental analyses at the Large Hadron Collider. We use the resummation of soft gluon emission corrections to study the associated production of a top pair and a Z boson to next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, and compute the total cross section and differential …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Multifunctional Transition Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Through A Modified Sol-Gel Method With Application In Energy Storage, Julien Lombardi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Synthesis of transition metal oxide nanoparticles has been studied in great detail over the many years. The most studied transition metal oxide nanoparticles are perovskites of the ABO₃ stoichiometry (A and B = transition metal) and more recently double perovskite crystal structures of the AA’BO₆ or A₂BB’O₆ stoichiometry due to the many different properties arising from the many different combinations of elements possible. These materials have proven potentially useful in many fields, but due to properties such as ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism, the desire to integrate these materials into electronics is ever growing. Many synthesis …

Dna Recovery From Handwritten Documents Using A Novel Vacuum Technique, Patrick M. Mclaughlin

Student Theses

Investigations of many crimes such as robberies, kidnappings, and terrorism are often associated with the recovery of a paper document which has been written by the perpetrator. Paper can provide a variety of forensic evidence such as DNA, latent fingermarks, and indented writing. The focus of this study was the collection of probative DNA profiles from the text region of a handwritten note through a vacuum suction device without altering or destroying the document. Collection of DNA evidence was carried out in two separate groups. The first group involved 11 volunteers providing a handwritten note sample with unwashed hands. The …

An Exploration Of Protein And Dna Components In Fingerprint Residue, Ashley Borrego

Student Theses

The main focus of this project was to investigate the protein and DNA components in both sebaceous and eccrine fingerprints. This study investigated the relative content of DNA and proteins in eccrine fingerprints to sebaceous fingerprints. All volunteers were instructed to wash and dry their hands prior to depositing parallel thumbprints. Twenty volunteers were instructed to touch their face to produce sebaceous prints, and 5 volunteers were instructed to wear gloves over a heat source to produce sweaty or eccrine prints. Microscopy was used to score the cellular debris of the right fingerprint on a scale of 1-4 based on …