Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Measurement Of The Masses And Widths Of The Σc (2455)+ And Σc (2520)+ Baryons, J. Yelton, I. Adachi, J. K. Ahn, H. Aihara, S. Al Said, D. M. Asner, H. Atmacan, V. Aulchenko, T. Aushev, R. Ayad, V. Babu, S. Bahinipati, P. Behera, K. Belous, J. Bennett, M. Bessner, V. Bhardwaj, B. Bhuyan, T. Bilka

Faculty and Student Publications

Using 980 fb-1 of data collected with the Belle detector operating at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider, we report the measurements of the masses, and the first measurements of the instrinsic widths, of the ςc(2455)+ and ςc(2520)+ charmed baryons. We find M(ςc(2455)+)-M(Λc+)=166.17±0.05-0.07+0.16 MeV/c2, Γ(ςc(2455)+)=2.3±0.3±0.3 MeV/c2, M(ςc(2520)+)-M(Λc+)=230.9±0.5-0.1+0.5 MeV/c2, and Γ(ςc(2520)+)=17.2-2.1-0.7+2.3+3.1 MeV/c2, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. These measurements can be used to test models of the underlying quark structure of the ςc states.

Late Miocene Onset Of Tasman Leakage And Southern Hemisphere Supergyre Ushers In Near-Modern Circulation, Beth A. Christensen, David De Vleeschouwer, Jorijntje Henderiks, Jeroen Groeneveld, Gerald Auer, Anna Joy Drury, Boris Theofanis Karatsolis, Jing Lyu, Christian Betzler, Gregor P. Eberli, Dick Kroon

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

This study provides a Miocene-to-recent history of Tasman Leakage (TL), driving surfaceto-intermediate waters from the Pacific into the Indian Ocean. TL, in addition to Indonesian ThroughFlow (ITF), constitutes an important part of the Southern Hemisphere Supergyre. Here, we employ deep-sea benthic δ13C timeseries from the southwestern Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans to identify the history of Tasman Leakage. The δ13C results combined with sedimentary evidence show that an inter-ocean connection south of Australia existed from 7 Ma onward. A southward shift in Westerlies combined with a northward movement of Australia created the oceanic corridor necessary for Tasman Leakage (between Australia …

Spontaneous Fluctuations In A Magnetic Fe/Gd Skyrmion Lattice, M. H. Seaberg, B. Holladay, S. A. Montoya, X. Y. Zheng, J. C.T. Lee, A. H. Reid, J. D. Koralek, L. Shen, V. Esposito, G. Coslovich, P. Walter, S. Zohar, V. Thampy, M. F. Lin, P. Hart, K. Nakahara, R. Streubel, S. D. Kevan, P. Fischer, W. Colocho, A. Lutman, F. J. Decker, E. E. Fullerton, M. Dunne, S. Roy, S. K. Sinha, J. J. Turner

Robert Streubel Papers

Magnetic skyrmions are topological spin textures that exhibit classical or quantum quasiparticle behavior. A substantial amount of research has occurred in this field, both because of their unique electromagnetic properties and potential application for future nonvolatile memory storage applications, as well as fundamental questions on their topology and unique magnetic phases. Here, we investigate the fluctuation properties of a magnetic Fe/Gd skyrmion lattice, using short-pulsed x rays. We first measure spontaneous fluctuations of the skyrmion lattice phase and find an inherent, collective mode showing an underdamped oscillation with a relaxation of a couple of nanoseconds. Further observations track the response …

Measurement Of Branching Fractions And Search For Cp Violation In D 0 → Π + Π − Η, D 0 → K + K − Η, And D 0 → Φη At Belle, L. K. Li, A. J. Schwartz, K. Kinoshita, I. Adachi, H. Aihara, S. Al Said, D. M. Asner, H. Atmacan, V. Aulchenko, T. Aushev, R. Ayad, V. Babu, S. Bahinipati, P. Behera, J. Bennett, M. Bessner, T. Bilka, J. Biswal, A. Bobrov

Faculty and Student Publications

We measure the branching fractions and CP asymmetries for the singly Cabibbo-suppressed decays D0 → π+π−η, D0 → K+K−η, and D0 → ϕη, using 980 fb−1 of data from the Belle experiment at the KEKB e+e− collider. We obtainB(D0→π+π−η)=[1.22±0.02(stat)±0.02(syst)±0.03(Bref)]×10−3,B(D0→K+K−η)=[1.80−0.06+0.07(stat)±0.04(syst)±0.05(Bref)]×10−4,B(D0→ϕη)=[1.84±0.09(stat)±0.06(syst)±0.05(Bref)]×10−4, where the third uncertainty (Bref) is from the uncertainty in the branching fraction of the reference mode D0 → K−π+η. The color-suppressed decay D0 → ϕη is observed for the first time, with very high significance. The results for the CP asymmetries areACP(D0π+π−η)=[0.9±1.2(stat)±0.5(syst)]%,ACP(D0→K+K−η)=[−1.4±3.3(stat)±1.1(syst)]%,ACP(D0→ϕη)=[−1.9±4.4(stat)±0.6(syst)]%. The results for D0 → π+π−η are a significant improvement over previous results. The branching fraction and ACP …

2021-2022 Impact Series - Environmental Awareness Teaching Guide & Resources, Sabine Dantus

Impact Series Study Guides

Environmental Awareness Impact Series Teaching Guide & Resources: Teaching guide to help engage in important conversations with students.

Bioplastics In The Consumer Market, Elena Strom

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

The global production and mismanagement of plastic has led to plastics deposited and scatted across marine environments. Conventional plastic, which most Americans encounter every day, is produced from fossil fuels and lacks the ability to fully break down upon disposal, breaking down into microplastics that can remain in the natural environment for hundreds of years. Moving away from petroleum-based plastics could lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and decrease plastic particles in the ocean. Based on existing literature, there are three biopolymers that could serve as replacements to conventional plastics in the marketplace. These biopolymers are seen as …

Axionlike Particles Resolve The B →Πk And G-2 Anomalies, Bhubanjyoti Bhattacharya, Alakabha Datta, Danny Marfatia, Soumitra Nandi, John Waite

Faculty and Student Publications

We offer a new solution to an old puzzle in the penguin-dominated B→πK decays. The puzzle is the inconsistency among the measurements of the branching ratios and CP asymmetries of the four B→πK decays: B+→π+K0, B+→π0K+, Bd0→π-K+, Bd0→π0K0. We solve the B→πK puzzle by considering the effect of an axionlike particle (ALP) that mixes with the π0 and has mass close to the π0 mass. We show that the ALP can also explain the anomalies in the electron and muon anomalous magnetic moments.

Nnetfix: An Artificial Neural Network-Based Denoising Engine For Gravitational-Wave Signals, Kentaro Mogushi, Ryan Quitzow-James, Marco Cavaglià, Sumeet Kulkarni, Fergus Hayes

Faculty and Student Publications

Instrumental and environmental transient noise bursts in gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, or glitches, may impair astrophysical observations by adversely affecting the sky localization and the parameter estimation of GW signals. Denoising of detector data is especially relevant during low-latency operations because electromagnetic follow-up of candidate detections requires accurate, rapid sky localization and inference of astrophysical sources. NNETFIX is a machine learning, artificial neural network-based algorithm designed to estimate the data containing a transient GW signal with an overlapping glitch as though the glitch was absent. The sky localization calculated from the denoised data may be significantly more accurate than the sky …

Freedom Of Will, Physics, And Human Intelligence: An Idea, Miroslav Svitek, Vladik Kreinovich, Nguyen Hoang Phuong

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Among the main fundamental challenges related to physics and human intelligence are: How can we reconcile the free will with the deterministic character of physical equations? What is the physical meaning of extra spatial dimensions needed to make quantum physics consistent? and Why are we often smarter than brain-simulating neural networks? In this paper, we show that while each of these challenges is difficult to resolve on its own, it may be possible to resolve all three of them if we consider them together. The proposed possible solution is that human reasoning uses the extra spatial dimensions. This may sound …

What Is A Reasonable Way To Make Predictions?, Leonardo Orea Amador, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Predictions are usually based on what is called laws of nature: many times, we observe the same relation between the states at different moments of time, and we conclude that the same relation will occur in the future. The more times the relation repeats, the more confident we are that the same phenomenon will be re-peated again. This is how Newton's laws and other laws came into being. This is what is called inductive reasoning. However, there are other reasonable approaches. For example, assume that a person speeds and is not caught. This may be repeated two times, three times …

A Mélange Of Subduction Ages: Constraints On The Timescale Of Shear Zone Development And Underplating At The Subduction Interface, Catalina Schist (Ca, Usa), K. M. Harvey, S. Walker, P. G. Starr, S. C. Penniston-Dorland, M. J. Kohn, E. F. Baxter

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The presence of mélange at the subduction interface influences numerous geochemical and geophysical processes. However, the relationship between the timescales of mélange development, deformation, and resultant mass transport is poorly understood. Here, we use Sm-Nd garnet geochronology to elucidate the timing of peak metamorphism for five garnet amphibolite tectonic blocks from the amphibolite-facies mélange zone of the Catalina Schist (Santa Catalina Island, CA). Ages range from 108 to 116 Ma and do not appear to correlate with the peak metamorphic temperature recorded by each block (between 640 and 740°C). The lack of correlation between age and peak temperature favors the …

Coupled Inversion Of Hydraulic And Self-Potential Data From Transient Outflow Experiments To Estimate Soil Petrophysical Properties, Jing Xie, Yian Cui, Qifei Niu

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Hydraulicproperties of soils could play an important role in affecting the partitioning of precipitation in the critical zone. In addition to traditional approaches, in the last two decades, many geophysical methods have been used to aid the hydrologic characterization and measurement of geological materials. In particular, the self-potential (SP) method shows great potential in these hydrogeophysical applications. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether the addition of SP data can improve the estimation of hydraulic properties of soils in an outflow experiment. A stochastic, coupled hydrogeophysical inversion was developed, in which the governing equations were solved using the …

Otoliths Of South-Western Australian Fish: A Photographic Catalogue, Chris Dowling, Kim Smith, Elaine Lek, Joshua Brown

Fisheries Research Reports

Due to the species-specific nature of otoliths and given they are often the only part of the fish preserved when fish die, otolith catalogues can be used in numerous applications, such as diet studies in fish eating animals, including pinnipeds, fish and sea birds; archaeological purposes such as reconstructing indigenous people’s diets from otoliths found in middens or evolutionary history of fish species by comparing fossilized otoliths. Given the unique mixture of subtropical and temperate fish, including many endemic species that occur off the southwest corner of WA having a catalogue for this area is extremely important for people working …

Toi-674b: An Oasis In The Desert Of Exo-Neptunes Transiting A Nearby M Dwarf, F. Murgas, N. Astudillo-Defru, X. Bonfils, I. Crossfield, J. M. Almenara, J. Livingston, K. G. Stassun, J. Korth, J. Orell-Miquel, G. Morello, J. D. Eastman, J. J. Lissauer, S. R. Kane, F. Y. Morales, M. W. Werner, V. Gorjian, B. Benneke, D. Dragomir, E. C. Matthews, S. B. Howell, D. Ciardi, E. Gonzales, R. Matson, C. Beichman, J. Schlieder, K. A. Collins, K. I. Collins, Eric L.N. Jensen, P. Evans, F. J. Pozuelos, M. Gillon, E. Jehin, K. Barkaoui, E. Artigau, F. Bouchy, D. Charbonneau, X. Delfosse, R. F. Díaz, R. Doyon, P. Figueira, T. Forveille, C. Lovis, C. Melo, G. Gaisné, F. Pepe, N. C. Santos, D. Ségransan, S. Udry, R. F. Goeke, A. M. Levine, E. V. Quintana, N. M. Guerrero, I. Mireles, D. A. Caldwell, P. Tenenbaum, C. E. Brasseur, G. Ricker, R. Vanderspek, D. W. Latham, S. Seager, J. Winn, J. M. Jenkins

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

Context. The NASA mission TESS is currently doing an all-sky survey from space to detect transiting planets around bright stars. As part of the validation process, the most promising planet candidates need to be confirmed and characterized using follow-up observations. Aims. In this article, our aim is to confirm the planetary nature of the transiting planet candidate TOI-674b using spectroscopic and photometric observations. Methods. We use TESS, Spitzer, ground-based light curves, and HARPS spectrograph radial velocity measurements to establish the physical properties of the transiting exoplanet candidate TOI-674b. We perform a joint fit of the light …

Systematic And Collaborative Approach To Problem Solving Using X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Neal Fairley, Vincent Fernandez, Mireille Richard-Plouet, Catherine Guillot-Deudon, John Walton, Emily Smith, Delphine Flahaut, Mark Greiner, Mark Biesinger, Sven Tougaard, David Morgan, Jonas Baltrusaitis

Chemistry Publications

The methodology presented within this work is a result of years of interactions between many junior and senior X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) users operating within the CasaXPS spectral processing and interpretation program framework. In particular, discussions arising from a series of workshops have been a significant source for developing the overall XPS data processing concept and are the motivation for creating this work. These workshops organized by the Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN), Nantes gather both experienced and novice users of XPS for a week of discourse in conceptual experiment design and the resulting data processing. However, the framework …

International Comparative Studies On The Software Testing Profession, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Pradeep Waychal, Jingdong Jia, Daniel Varona, Yadira Lizama

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

This work attempts to fill a gap by exploring the human dimension in particular, by trying to understand the motivation of software professionals for taking up and sustaining their careers as software testers. Towards that goal, four surveys were conducted in four countries—India, Canada, Cuba, and China—to try to understand how professional software engineers perceive and value work-related factors that could influence their motivation to start or move into software testing careers. From our sample of 220 software professionals, we observed that very few were keen to take up testing careers. Some aspects of software testing, such as the potential …

Reinforcement Learning Algorithms: An Overview And Classification, Fadi Almahamid, Katarina Grolinger

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

The desire to make applications and machines more intelligent and the aspiration to enable their operation without human interaction have been driving innovations in neural networks, deep learning, and other machine learning techniques. Although reinforcement learning has been primarily used in video games, recent advancements and the development of diverse and powerful reinforcement algorithms have enabled the reinforcement learning community to move from playing video games to solving complex real-life problems in autonomous systems such as self-driving cars, delivery drones, and automated robotics. Understanding the environment of an application and the algorithms’ limitations plays a vital role in selecting the …

Bioaccessibility And Reactivity Of Alloy Powders Used In Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing, Yolanda S. Hedberg

Chemistry Publications

Exposure to metal particles via the inhalation route unavoidably takes place at occupational settings during additive manufacturing of metals and alloys. This calls for investigations on possible adverse health effects. This study focuses on virgin and reused powders of three iron- and nickel-based alloy powders (316L, IN718, 18Ni300) widely used in additive manufacturing, and dust powder of 18Ni300 generated during laser melting. Investigations were performed from a physico-chemical and toxicological perspective assessing their bioaccessibility in artificial lysosomal fluid (ALF, simulating lung exposure to respirable particles), corrosion behavior, surface morphology and composition, microstructure, hydrodynamic size distribution in ALF, and in-vitro toxicity …

The X-Rays Wind Connection In Pg 2112+059, C. Saez, W. N. Brandt, F. E. Bauer, G. Chartas, T. Misawa, F. Hamann, Sarah C. Gallagher

Physics and Astronomy Publications

We study the connection between the X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) properties of the broad absorption line (BAL) wind in the highly X-ray variable quasar PG 2112+059 by comparing Chandra-ACIS data with contemporaneous UV HST/STIS spectra in three different epochs. We observe a correlation whereby an increase in the equivalent widths (EWs) of the BALs is accompanied by a redder UV spectrum. The growth in the BAL EWs is also accompanied by a significant dimming in soft X-ray emission (≳2, keV), consistent with increased absorption. Variations in the hard X-ray emission (≳2, keV) are only accompanied by minor spectral variations of …

Plague Exposure In Mammalian Wildlife Across The Western United States, Sarah N. Bevins, Jeffrey C. Chandler, Nicole Barrett, Brandon S. Schmit, Gerald W. Wiscomb, Susan A. Shriner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Plague is caused by a bacterial pathogen (Yersinia pestis) that can infect a wide range of mammal species, but its presence in wildlife is often underappreciated. Using a large-scale data set (n = 44,857) that details the extent of Y. pestis exposure in wildlife, we document exposure in 18 wildlife species, including coyotes (Canis latrans), bobcats (Lynx rufus), and black bears (Ursus americanus). Evidence of plague activity is widespread, with seropositive animals detected in every western state in the contiguous United States. Pathogen monitoring systems in wildlife that are both large scale …

Tech & Toys To Teach Linear Algebra, Kelly W. Remijan

Publications & Research

6th - 12 Grade Math teachers will Discover activities involving tech and/or toys:

1. CNC Machines- graphing points & line segments
2. Desmos/GeoGebra & flags- graphing linear equations/inequalities w/ domain/range
3. CBR & movement- graphing/analyzing lines
4. Push toys- systems of equations
5. Water growing toys- growth rate
6. Ziplines, Balloons, Barbie, & Lego People - slope & linear equations

Rabbit Control: Rhdv1 K5, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

The national release of the Korean strain of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus, RHDV1 K5, took place during the first week of March 2017. It was the first time in 20 years a new rabbit biocontrol agent had been released into Australia, and was part of a 20-year national biocontrol plan for rabbits. More than 600 release sites were selected, including 110 sites in Western Australia (WA).

RHDV1 K5 is a naturally occurring Korean variant of the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV). Its release was expected to boost management and help slow the increase in rabbit numbers. RHDV1 K5 does not …

Citation Patterns In Chemistry Dissertations At A Mid-Sized University: An Internal Citation Analysis And External Comparison, Lisa M. Rose-Wiles

Library Publications

This study analyzes the references cited in 34 chemistry dissertations and compares the results with an earlier study of citations in American Chemical Society journals. The dissertations cite more references and older references and a greater diversity of sources. They have the same tendency to heavily cite journal articles from a small core of traditional journals. This study underscores the value of comparing internal citation analyses with external citation analyses, and of analyzing the number of citing authors as well as the number of citations. Interlibrary loan and internal usage statistics were also used to inform collection development and library …

How The Pavement's Lifetime Depends On The Stress Level: An Explanation Of The Empirical Formula, Edgar Daniel Rodriguez Velasquez, Vladik Kreinovich, Olga Kosheleva, Hoang Phuong Nguyen

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

We show that natural invariance ideas explain the empirical dependence on the pavement's lifetime on the stress level.

Why Rectified Linear Activation Functions? Why Max-Pooling? A Possible Explanation, Julio C. Urenda, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

At present, the most successful machine learning technique is deep learning, that uses rectified linear activation function (ReLU) s(x) = max(x,0) as a non-linear data processing unit. While this selection was guided by general ideas (which were often imprecise), the selection itself was still largely empirical. This leads to a natural question: are these selections indeed the best or are there even better selections? A possible way to answer this question would be to provide a theoretical explanation of why these selections are -- in some reasonable sense -- the best. This paper provides a possible theoretical explanation for this …

Why Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (Ndvi)?, Francisco Zapata, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich, Nguyen Hoang Phuong

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Plants play a very important role in ecological systems -- they transform CO2 into oxygen. It is therefore very important to be able to estimate the overall amount of live green vegetation in a given area. The most efficient way to provide such a global analysis is to use remote sensing, i.e., multi-spectral photos taken from satellites, drones, planes, etc. At present, one of the most efficient ways to detect, based on remote sensing data, how much live green vegetation an area contains is to compute the value of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). In this paper, we provide …

Shall We Be Foxes Or Hedgehogs: What Is The Best Balance For Research?, Miroslav Svitek, Olga Kosheleva, Shahnaz Shahbazova, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Some researchers have few main ideas that they apply to many different problems -- they are called hedgehogs. Other researchers have many ideas but apply them to fewer problems -- they are called foxes. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. What is the best balance between these two approaches? In this paper, we provide general recommendations about this balance. Specifically, we conclude that the optimal productivity is when the time spent on generating new ideas is equal to the time spent on understanding new applications. So, if for a researcher, understanding a new problem is much easier than generating …

As Complexity Rises, Meaningful Statements Lose Precision -- But Why?, Miroslav Svitek, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

One of the motivations for Zadeh's development of fuzzy logic -- and one of the explanations for the success of fuzzy techniques -- is the empirical observation that as complexity rises, meaningful statements lose precision. In this paper, we provide a possible explanation for this empirical phenomenon.

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, September 2021, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 2, Issue 9.

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 Awards and Recognition
Page 3 Student Clubs in Natural Science
Page 4 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 5 Hobo Day Festivities
Page 6 Open PRAIRIE Data; Grants Awarded in CNS
Page 7 One Day for State Recap

Completing Partial Transversals Of Cayley Tables Of Abelian Groups, Jaromy Kuhl, Donald Mcginn, Michael W. Schroeder

Mathematics Faculty Research

In 2003 Grüttmüller proved that if n ⩾ 3 is odd, then a partial transversal of the Cayley table of ℤₙ with length 2 is completable to a transversal. Additionally, he conjectured that a partial transversal of the Cayley table of ℤₙ with length k is completable to a transversal if and only if n is odd and either n ∈ {k, k + 1} or n ⩾ 3k - 1. Cavenagh, Hämäläinen, and Nelson (in 2009) showed the conjecture is true when k = 3 and n is prime. In this paper, we prove Grüttmüller's conjecture for k = …