Physics Commons^™

Analytical Heat Transfer Modeling Of The Microwave Heating Process: A Focus On Carbon Black, Craig Offutt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Electronic waste (e-waste) has become a significant environmental issue due to the rapid advancement of technology, increasing demand for electronic devices, and shorter lifespan of electronics. One critical step in processing the e-waste involves ball milling as a means of preparing the recycling e-waste for the recovery of critical materials. Ball milling is a technique that involves the mechanical crushing and grinding of electronic waste to reduce its size and improve its reactivity during recovery. Our focused recovery technique is based on a microwave recovery technique of these critical materials from e-waste. The size and distribution of the e-waste with …

Energy Conversion In Plasmas Out Of Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium: A Kinetic Theory Perspective, Mahmud Hasan Barbhuiya

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The study of energy conversion in collisionless plasmas that are not in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) is at the leading edge of plasma physics research. Plasma constituents in such systems can exhibit highly structured phase space densities that deviate significantly from that of a Maxwellian. A standard approach has emerged in recent years for investigating energy conversion between bulk flow and thermal energy in collisionless plasmas using the non-LTE generalization of the first law of thermodynamics. The primary focus is placed on pressure-strain interaction (PS) term, with a particular emphasis on its non-LTE piece called Pi − D. Recent studies …

Discovering And Understanding High Performance Materials Using Density Functional Theory: Quantum Mechanical Simulations And The Consequences Of Symmetry, Olivia M. Pavlic

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There are two primary ways that atomic level modeling data is used: materials prediction and understanding materials properties. This dissertation work encom- passes two studies, each of which explore one application. Both studies rely on the highly successful density functional theory (DFT) formalism but differ in that two different implementations of DFT are used on two different high performance materials. The first study on bulk magnesium (Mg) metal alloys explores materials prediction and relies on VASP, a commercially maintained plane-wave DFT code which has been used extensively to successfully study a wide range of materials. [1] The approach used in …

Examining The Relations Among Academic And Non-Cognitive Factors And Student Achievement, Dona Sachini Hasanjalie Hewagallage

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Since the 1980s, Physics Education Research (PER) has explored the factors influencing students' success in college. This manuscript reports three different studies to understand the impact of different factors on students' college physics achievement. The first study explored several academic (high school physics preparation, high school preparation, math readiness, and ACT or SAT verbal and mathematics scores) and non-cognitive (self-efficacy, personality, belonging, grade expectation, and demographic) factors using correlation and linear regression analysis to understand their relation to students' physics conceptual understanding measured by the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE). High school preparation was found to be the most …

Strong Homotopy Lie Algebras And Hypergraphs, Samuel J. Bevins, Marco Aldi

Undergraduate Research Posters

We study hypergraphs by attaching a nilpotent strong homotopy Lie algebra. We especially focus on hypergraph theoretic information that is encoded in the cohomology of the resulting strong homotopy Lie algebra.

Using Machine Learning To Predict Student Outcomes, Saba Fatima

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Predicting students’ performance to identify which students are at risk of receiving aD/Fail/Withdraw (DFW) grade and ensuring their timely graduation is not just desirable but also necessary in most educational entities. In the US, not only is the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) major becoming less popular among students, the graduation rate of STEM students is steadily declining. The lack of STEM graduates in the US is a serious problem that will place this country at a disadvantage as a competitor in international technological advancement. In order to secure its status as a technological leader internationally, the US institutions …

Coulomb Blockade-Mediated Field Emission Sources Using Ultra-Nanocrystalline Diamond, Jevin Jensen

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Coulomb Blockade effects in field emission provide interesting means of achieving brighter electron sources for numerous applications, ranging from vacuum electronics to the next generation of electron beam technology. Microelectronics cleanroom methods are presented in this thesis for production of field emission sources moderated by the Coulomb Blockade. The use of common processes is an essential step toward widespread experimentation with Coulomb Blockade-mediated field emission apparatuses. The main feature to be explored is the use of nano-diamond films for their potential applicability for this desired outcome. Ultra-Nanocrystalline Diamond is used in two different ways to achieve this, both as a …

Design And Cold Test Of A Metamaterial Accelerating Structure For Two-Beam Acceleration, Dillon Christopher Merenich

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Structure-based wakefield acceleration (SWFA) is an advanced accelerator concept that can achieve higher accelerating gradients than conventional accelerators. Advanced structures are required for SWFA, with metamaterial (MTM) structures as a promising candidate. MTMs are periodic sub-wavelength structures engineered to exhibit exotic electromagnetic properties, such as simultaneously negative permittivity and permeability. Because of their unique electromagnetic properties, MTMs are particularly interesting to SWFA. Previous studies at the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator have demonstrated efficient wakefield power extraction using MTM structures. This thesis presents the design, fabrication, and cold test of an X-band MTM accelerating structure for two-beam acceleration. An MTM structure was …

Examining The Feasibility Of Identifying Tau Neutrino Charged Current Events In The Dune Far Detector, Sarah Choate

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Neutrinos began as theoretical, massless particles, and since their first detection they have continued to be the subject of various experiments. One such experiment is DUNE, which is a long baseline neutrino experiment with the goal of studying neutrino properties, such as neutrino oscillation parameters. In this work, two projects were completed, one dealing with the hardware of DUNE and the other dealing with neutrino simulations. For the hardware project, we designed a quality control method for testing adaptor boards which make up part of the Far Detector circuit boards. This method was completed and prototyped, however was not implemented …

Using Machine Learning To Search For Vector Boson Scattering At The Cms Detector During Run 2, Mark Mekosh

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This work reports on the use of different machine learning (ML) techniques in the search for vector boson scattering (VBS) events in the semileptonic $WV$ channel. VBS is an important process for studying electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB), the Higgs mechanism, as well as for probing beyond the standard model physics. Boosted decision trees as well as deep neural networks were trained on Monte Carlo simulation samples and applied to 137 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data taken from 2016 to 2018 by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with a center of mass energy $\sqrt{s} …

Diffuse Scattering And 3d-∆Pdf Analyses: Order-Disorder Phase Transitions In (Sr1−Xcax)3rh4sn13 And Nano2, Puspa Upreti

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Classification of structural phase transitions as being of the displacive or order-disorder types is usually done based on spectroscopic measurements performed above the transition. Transitions of the displacive type typically occur when soft phonon modes condense upon approaching the phase transition, whereas those of the order-disorder type are characterized by structures in which the atoms are located randomly above the phase transition at T* at the minima of a multiwell potential. In the ordered state, i.e., when T

We have performed single crystal x-ray scattering experiments and three-dimensional pair distribution functions (3D-∆PDF) analyses to understand the nature of phase transitions …

Mechanical Behavior Of Metallic Core-Shell Nanoparticles Under Compressive Loading, Phillip Tomich

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Core/shell metallic nanoparticles have been shown to be a promising material type for additive manufacturing in the aerospace and automotive fields. Within additive manufacturing they will be used to accurately make an array of nanoparticles within the grains of metal matrix composites. This in turn will help to strengthen the material while remaining ductility and light weight. In this study, copper/aluminum core/shell nanoparticles are compressed under [100], [110], [111], and [112] directions to showcase their anisotropic material properties. Models of their individual counterparts were also investigated. There are no previous works showing the deformation mechanisms of copper/aluminum core/shell nanoparticles. Molecular …

Thermal Analysis Of Thermal Shield For Pip-Ii Ssr1 Cryomodule, Victor Aguado Rodriguez

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Fermilab's PIP-II project plans to enhance the onsite accelerator into the world's most intense neutrino beam, bringing Fermilab into the next generation of particle accelerators. The five different types of cryomodules are vital parts of the PIP-II project and each requires numerous engineering analyses to prove operation. For example, the thermal shield of the Single Spoke Resonator-1 (SSR1) cryomodule required a thermal analysis to ensure the design was operating as intended before fabrication commenced. The thermal shield is cooled by the supercritical helium inside of the extrusion and must remain between 45 and 80 Kelvin. The main purpose of the …

A High-Precision Electron Emission Model: Computational Methods For Nanoscale Structures, Alister J. Tencate

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The high-intensity, high-brightness and precision frontiers for charged particle beams are an increasingly important focus for study. Electron microscopy has demonstrated high quality beams from a single nanotip emitter, and cathodes of structured nanoscale arrays show promise as ultracold electron sources. Optimization of the cathode design for precision applications necessitates a detailed treatment of the interplay between the structure geometry, quantum mechanical emission mechanism, and electromagnetic interactions between the emitted electrons and the boundary interface. This dissertation details the numerical tools developed to simulate these processes efficiently with enough fidelity to be accurate even in the ultracold regime.

Conventional simulation …

Emission Spectroscopy Of Ingaas Quantum Dots Via High-Resolution Fabry-Perot Interferometer, Raju Bhai Kc

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Single photons emitted from self-assembled quantum dots have been widely studied to use as a promising qubit for quantum information processing. Therefore, it is critical to fully understand the emission spectra from the quantum dot's excitation if we want to use a single photon as a quantum bit. It is almost impossible to produce rotationally symmetric quantum dots due to various growth conditions and restrictions. So the real quantum dots do not have a perfectly symmetric structure. A broken rotational symmetry causes an asymmetric exchange interaction between electron and hole, leading to a fine structure splitting between two excited states. …

Drift Orbit Bifurcation Effects On Earth’S Radiation Belt Electrons, Jinbei Huang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Energetic charged particles trapped in the Earth’s radiation belt form a hazardous space environment for artificial electronic systems and astronauts. The study of Earth's radiation belt is becoming increasingly important with the development of communication technology, which plays a significant role in modern society. Earth’s radiation belt is highly dynamic, and the electron flux can drop by several orders of magnitude within a few hours which is called radiation belt dropout. The fast dropout of energetic electrons in the radiation belt, despite its significance, has not been thoroughly studied. One of the most compelling outstanding questions in Earth's radiation belt …

Methods For Analyzing Physics Student Retention And Physics Curricula, John Darrell Hansen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Retention of students in college has been a concern of academic institutions for many years. In the last two decades, the focus on student retention in STEM fields has intensified. The current graduation rate of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields is well below that required to fill the projected need of STEM professionals. The work presented in this dissertation investigates the problem of student retention in physics programs. Four studies were performed. The first identifies the relationships between student retention and pre-college and early-college academic factors at an eastern U.S. university using logistic regression and Bayesian …

Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering Using A Positron Beam In Hall C, V. Berdnikov, A. Camsonne, M. Carmignotto, R. Ent, J. Grames, D. Higinbotham, C. Keppel, M. Mccaughan, P. Paremuzyan, B. Sawatzky, A. Somov, B. Wojtsekhowski, S. Wood, C. Zorn, R. Dupré, M. Ehrhart, M. Guidal, S. Habet, A. Hobart, D. Marchand, C. Muñoz Camacho, S. Niccolai, E. Voutier, M. Mazouz, T. Horn, G. Kalicy, M. Muhoza, I. Pegg, R. Trotta, A. Asaturyan, A. Mkrtchyan, H. Mkrtchyan, V. Tadevosyan, H. Voskanyan, S. Zhamkochyan, M. Amaryan, C. Hyde, M. Kerver, J. Murphy, J. Roche, P. Markowitz, A. Afanasev, W. J. Briscoe, I. Strakovsky, M. Boer, T. Forest, J.R.M. Annand, D. J. Hamilton, B. Mckinnon, D. Day, M. A. I. Fernando, D. Keller, R. Rondon, J. Zhang, K. Brinkmann, S. Diehl, R. Novotny, P. Gueye, V. Bellini, D. Dutta, E. Kinney, P. Nadel-Turonski, G. Niculescu, S. Sirca, I. Albayrak, M. Defurne, Z. Huang, Z. Ye

Physics Faculty Publications

We propose to use the High Momentum Spectrometer of Hall C combined with Neutral Particle Spectrometer (NPS) to perform high precision measurement of the deeply virtual compton scattering (DVCS) cross section using a beam of positrons. The combination of measurements with oppositely charged incident beams is the only unambiguous way to disentange the contribution of the DVCS² term in the photon electroproduction cross section from its interference with the Bethe-Heitler amplitude. This provies a stronger way to constrain the Generalized Parton Distributions of the nucleon. A range of kinematics accessible with an 11 GeV beam off an unpolarized proton target …

The Standard Model Precision Parameters At 200 Gev, Zamiul Alam

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The Standard Model can be defined quantitatively by running parameters in a mass-independent renormalization scheme at a fixed reference scale. We provide a set of simple interpolation formulas that give the fundamental Lagrangian parameters in the MS-bar scheme at a renormalization scale of 200 GeV, safely above the top-quark mass and suitable for matching to candidate new physics models at very high mass scales using renormalization group equations. These interpolation formulas take as inputs the on-shell experimental quantities and use the best available calculations in the pure MS-bar scheme. They also serve as an accounting of the parametric uncertainties for …

Systematic Study Of Projection Biases In Weak Lensing Analysis, Prudhvi Raj Varma Chintalapati

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The nature of Dark Energy is possibly one of the most fundamental questions in Physicstoday. Comprising 70% of the energy density of the Universe, and being responsible for the accelerated expansion of the Universe, this mysterious form of energy with negative pressure is challenging our current understanding of the fundamental laws of nature. Cosmological parameters like total relative matter Density Ωm, the normalization of power spectrum σ8 and their combination S8 = σ8 (Ωm/0.3)**0.5 are used to quantify our understanding of the evolution of the large-scale structure in the Universe and shed light on the accelerated expansion, caused by the …

Alignment And Range Verification In Proton Therapy Using Proton Radiography And Proton Ct, Joseph Piet

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Protons are used in radiation therapy to lower doses to healthy tissues by utilizing their Bragg peak. Protons can be used both in imaging and treatment. One of the uses of protons in imaging we tested is its use to align patients using a single beam's eye proton radiograph (pRad). By using a beam's eye pRad, and comparing the water equivalent thickness (WET) to proton digitally reconstructed radiographs (pDRRs), we show that we can measure the best alignment on six axes, three translational and three rotational. This is done by defining a cost function, chi squared, which quantifies the misalignment …

Simulations Of Electro-Optically Sampled Arbitrarily Shaped Electron Bunches For Wakefield Acceleratiors, Spencer Joseph Kelham

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The measurement and recording of terahertz (THz) electric fields is of specialinterest to particle-accelerator science, as the electric fields of temporally short rela- tivistic electron bunches have frequency components that extend into the THz range. A single-shot, non-destructive measurement of such fields can be made using THz time-domain spectroscopy and electro-optic sampling. At the Argonne Wakefield Ac- celerator, arbitrary electron-bunch shapes are being explored to enhance the efficiency of advanced wakefield-accelerator schemes. In this report, we develop a framework for numerically modeling an implementation of electro-optical sampling – dubbed phase-diversity electro-optic sampling [1] – and apply the model to understand …

Gluon Transverse-Momentum-Dependent Distributions From Large-Momentum Effective Theory, Ruilin Zhu, Yao Ji, Jian-Hui Zhang, Shuai Zhao

Physics Faculty Publications

We demonstrate that gluon transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDPDFs) can be extracted from lattice calculations of appropriate Euclidean correlations in large-momentum effective theory (LaMET). Based on perturbative calculations of gluon unpolarized and helicity TMDPDFs, we present a matching formula connecting them and their LaMET counterparts, where the latter are renormalized in a scheme facilitating lattice calculations and converted to the MS ¯ scheme. The hard matching kernel is given up to one-loop level. We also show that the perturbative result is independent of the prescription used for the pinch-pole singularity in the relevant correlations. Our results offer a guidance for …

Observation Of Large Missing-Momentum (E, E' P) Cross-Section Scaling And The Onset Of Correlated-Pair Dominance In Nuclei, I. Korover, A. W. Denniston, A. Kiral, A. Schmidt, A. Lovato, N. Rocco, A. Nikolakopoulos, L. B. Weinstein, E. Piasetzky, O. Hen, M. J. Amaryan, Giovanni Angelini, H. Atac, N. A. Baltzell, L. Barion, M. Battaglieri, I. Bedlinskiy, Fatiha Benmokhtar, A. Bianconi, Z. W. Zhao, Et Al., Clas Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

We report the measurement of 𝒙_B scaling in (e,e′p) cross-section ratios off nuclei relative to deuterium at large missing momentum of 350 ≤ _Pmiss ≤ 600 MeV/c. The observed scaling extends over a kinematic range of 0.7 ≤ 𝒙_B ≤ 1.8, which is significantly wider than 1.4 ≤ 𝒙_B ≤ 1.8 previously observed for inclusive (e,e′) cross-section ratios. The 𝒙_B-integrated cross-section ratios become constant (i.e., scale) beginning at p_miss ≈ kF, the nuclear Fermi momentum. Comparing with theoretical calculations we find good agreement with generalized contact formalism calculations for high missing …

Measurement Of Spin-Density Matrix Elements In P(770) Production With A Linearly Polarized Photon Beam At E𝛾 = 8.2-8.8 Gev, S. Adhikari, F. Afzal, C. S. Akondi, M. Albrecht, M. Amaryan, V. Arroyave, A. Asaturyan, A. Austregesilo, Z. Baldwin, F. Barbosa, J. Barlow, E. Barriga, R. Barsotti, T. D. Beattie, V. V. Berdnikov, T. Black, W. Boeglin, W. J. Briscoe, T. Britton, B. Zihlmann, Et Al., Gluex Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

The GlueX experiment at Jefferson Lab studies photoproduction of mesons using linearly polarized 8.5 GeV photons impinging on a hydrogen target which is contained within a detector with near-complete coverage for charged and neutral particles. We present measurements of spin-density matrix elements for the photoproduction of the vector meson ρ(770). The statistical precision achieved exceeds that of previous experiments for polarized photoproduction in this energy range by orders of magnitude. We confirm a high degree of s-channel helicity conservation at small squared four-momentum transfer t and are able to extract the t dependence of natural- and unnatural-parity exchange contributions to …

Concept Connectivity: An Educational And Research Framework For Scientific Learning In Optics, Photonics, And Electronic Education, Benjamin Dingel, John Gabriel C. Rivera, Francesca De Guzman Palabrica, Clint Dominic Bennett

Physics Faculty Publications

We present a novel framework referred to as Concept Connectivity that aids in educating and engaging students by presenting the topic of the Special Theory of Relativity (STR) in a coherent and unified manner. It uses different analogue implementations of the STR coming from seemingly distinct fields of study such as (i) Optics, (ii) Photonics, and (iii) Electronics to connect not only to the concepts of the STR but to the various concepts from these different fields. In these analogue implementations, the fundamental characteristics of the different STR phenomena can be mimicked in many different ways. Concept Connectivity has two …

Smartphone-Based Approach To Demonstrating Relativistic Aberration Of Light Using Electronic Circuit Analogues For Undergraduates In The Philippines, Samuel Martirez, June Capin, Shayne Venancio, Perine Bianzon, John Gabriel Rivera, Benjamin Dingel, Clint Dominic Bennett

Physics Faculty Publications

Previously, we demonstrated an electronic circuit analogue of one of Special Relativity's (SR) phenomena called the Relativistic Aberration of Light (RAL) (European Journal of Physics, 42, 015605, 2021), which describes the change in the angle an observer sees a light source relative to their direction of motion at relativistic speeds. It used typical bulky laboratory equipment such as (i) function generators, (ii) oscilloscopes, and (iii) power supplies together with our all-pass filter (APF)-based electronic circuit analogue to perform experiments. In this paper, we present a novel smartphone-based experimental set-up performing the same experiment, but we replace the bulky and expensive …

Quantum Mechanics And Dynamical Models For Finite Unlabeled Simple Graphs, Nathan M. Lewis

Master's Theses

This thesis constructs quantum mechanical theories of finite simple graphs for both labeled and unlabeled graphs.These theories may provide a description for discrete spacetime in a quantum gravity theory. Finite simple graphs and their properties are introduced. The first and second quantization of the standard quantum mechanics of particle systems are reviewed. A quantum mechanical theory of graphs similar to first quantization of standard quantum mechanics is developed via a correspondence of graph edges to particles in particle systems. An algorithm for constructing quantum states of graphs which is independent of graph vertex labeling is developed. It builds antisymmetric graphstates …

Bosons In Anti De Sitter Spacetime, Thi Khanh Linh Pham

Master's Theses

I am extremely grateful to Dr. Kassahun Betre for his support and guidance throughout my thesis journey. His wisdom, knowledge, and encouragement have been invaluable to me. His willingness to take me on making this project and the collaborative friendship is the highlight of my master’s program. Many thanks to Dr. Curtis Asplund and Dr. Ehsan Khatami for participating on my committee and with regard to their valuable feedback on my thesis draft, ensuring the completion of this work. Finally, I am grateful to my family for their unwavering love and all the support and absolute patience over the years …

Diffusion Of Carbon Nanoparticles Intercalated Into Layered Materials, Madelyn Johnson

Honors Program Theses

Using electron beam radiation, as found in a scanning electron microscope, it is possible to induce the local intercalation of carbon nanoparticles into two dimensional layered materials. This technique can be used to form insulating and optically active nanostructures in samples ranging from graphite to BSSCO. In this study, the evolution of these features with time is explored to determine the stability of such nanoparticles in layered materials.

Over the course of days and weeks, the nanostructures created this way broaden and change height. In general, it appears that material buried deep within the layers diffuses upwards to increase the …