Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Design And Fabrication Of A Trapped Ion Quantum Computing Testbed, Christopher A. Caron

Masters Theses

Here we present the design, assembly and successful ion trapping of a room-temperature ion trap system with a custom designed and fabricated surface electrode ion trap, which allows for rapid prototyping of novel trap designs such that new chips can be installed and reach UHV in under 2 days. The system has demonstrated success at trapping and maintaining both single ions and cold crystals of ions. We achieve this by fabricating our own custom surface Paul traps in the UMass Amherst cleanroom facilities, which are then argon ion milled, diced, mounted and wire bonded to an interposer which is placed …

Transitions Between Radial And Bipolar Liquid Crystal Drops In The Presence Of Novel Surfactants, Jake Shechter

Doctoral Dissertations

Liquid crystals (LCs) are a class of molecules that form a variety of configurations easily influenced by external interactions. Of particular interest are rod-like LC molecules confined to a spherical geometry, which have a competition between interfacial tension and elastic deformations. The configuration of the liquid crystal inside a droplet can be controlled using surfactants, influencing the boundary conditions, in an oil-in-water emulsion. I tested the effects of novel surfactants on the configuration of the LC droplets. These novel surfactant molecules, synthesized by collaborators, are oligomers with either a variable length hydrophobic domain or protein sensitive hydrophilic domain. I tested …

Geometry, Growth And Pattern Formation In Thin Elastic Structures, Salem Al-Mosleh

Doctoral Dissertations

Thin shells are abundant in nature and industry, from atomic to planetary scales. The mechanical behavior of a thin shell depends crucially on its geometry and embedding in 3 dimensions (3D). In fact, the behavior of extremely thin shells becomes scale independent and only depends on geometry. That is why the crumpling of graphene will have similarities to the crumpling of paper. In this thesis, we start by discussing the static behavior of thin shells, highlighting the role of asymptotic curves (curves with zero normal curvature) in determining the possible deformations and in controlling the folding patterns. In particular, we …

Geometry And Thermodynamics Of Filament Bundles, Isaac Bruss

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation I present a study of the geometry and energetics of bundles composed of flexible cohesive filaments. This is a general class of materials, both biological and artificial, existing across many length scales. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the interdependence between the 2D organization of filaments in a bundle’s cross section, and the 3D structure, with an emphasis on the twisting mode of deformation. First we present a model of filament contacts and interactions, which we employ in numerical simulations to study the connection between the ground state energies of constant-pitch bundles and their interior …

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Collaboration, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

The rules of collaboration, implicit and explicit, vary from one field to another in physics. This variation has not been studied much, although many general articles on collaboration exist.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Research Misconduct, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Sometimes physicists cross the line in blatant, highly publicized ways, but lines are also crossed in much quieter ways.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Data Management, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

From acquiring and documenting data, to storing it and analyzing it, there are numerous procedures we employ to maintain the integrity of the data.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Conflict Of Interest, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Conflicts can occur when we have competing interests arising from our role as scientists, our career objectives, our family interests, or our financial interests.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Publication/Authorship, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Publications are used to both carry on public discourse in science and to measure the quality of research.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Peer Review, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Peer review of journal submissions and grant applications plays an important role in what ideas and which individuals advance in physics.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Mentorship, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

The necessarily unequal relationship between faculty and their students and post-docs gives rise to a number of interesting issues.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Under-Represented Groups, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

The demographics of the physics profession in this country do not mirror the population at large in a number of ways that should cause us concern.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Rcr Education Strategies, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Here is where to look for ideas on how to approach ethics education in a classroom or seminar setting.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Physics And Society Issues, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

No abstract provided.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Physicists As Advisors To Society And Leaders, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

During the last century, physicists have provided advice to society at large on critical issues. These references explore both the history of this advice and ethical standards that apply to those giving advice.

Ethical Issues In Physics: Getting Started, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Over the years, through discussions with colleagues and observations of debates in various forums, I have identified several concerns some have over the usefulness of ethics education in physics. I have classified some of these concerns as myths in that when they are accepted as fact, they lead us in the wrong direction.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: National Security, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

World War II put physicists in the midst of a number of issues related to national security, raising questions such as, to what extent are physicists responsible for the use of their research?

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: General Topics, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

No abstract provided.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Climate Change, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Physicists can play an important role in advancing the public debate on climate change.

Annotated Bibliography Of Ethical Issues In Physics: Energy Issues, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Many physicists are directly or indirectly involved in issues related to society’s use of energy.

Research Vs. Teaching: An Ethical Dilemma For The Academic Physicist, Alvin M. Saperstein

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

The usual discussions of academic ethics and freedom revolve around the issues of what we may teach. Here, I'm concerned with how we teach and examine. Thus this paper is concerned with process rather than substance--perhaps an unusual concern for an academic but currently of interest to me, having recently served a year in the federal bureaucracy where process is dominant over substance.

A physician who knew of improved procedures to facilitate the health of a patient but chose to use older, proven less effective, means, purely for his/her own convenience, would clearly be guilty of medical malpractice--unethical behavior. I …

Ethics, Physics, And Public Policy, Tina Kaarsberg

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

This paper discusses the ethical aspects of physicists', and the physics community's involvement in public policy. The work of individual physicists is often quite distant from any societal impact and thus public policy is not normally considered an important ethical consideration for individual physicists. However, in light of the great societal impact of physics-based technologies, the physics profession, by definition, has a major impact on public policy. In addition, most physicists in the U.S. benefited considerably from public funding in their physics education, and many continue to depend upon federal and state funding. Thus, there is a strong ethical argument …

Should Physics Students Take A Course In Ethics? Physicists Respond, Bonnie Wylo, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Should physics students take a course in ethics? A National Science Foundation grant was written by the authors in an attempt (in part) to answer this question. One might first ask, why might physics students take a course in ethics? There are three reasons that might combine to persuade one of the necessity. First, the formal training can be quite practical and useful in the daily life of a physicist, as discussed below. Second, the National Science Teachers Association suggests an ethical component in the training of high school physics teachers (NSTA Standards for Science Teacher Preparation, available at www.nsta.org). …

Publication Practices In Physics, Marshall Thomsen

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Publication of research results in scholarly journals plays an important role in the scientific community. These publications provide both a means for dissemination of new results and a means for evaluating the quality of scientific work and the scientists who perform it. This paper will examine motivations for publishing, ethical issues in publication, some relevant ethical codes, and some corrective measures that have been taken to shore up areas of ethical concern. Finally, the impact of new communications technologies on the future of publication will be considered.

Ethical Issues In Physics: Ethical Harassment, Caroline L. Herzenberg

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

The concept of ethical harassment is identified and discussed. It is proposed that we search for societal mechanisms that may lead to some progress in the curtailment of ethical harassment. It is proposed that the right to act ethically should be regarded as a fundamental human and professional right.