Physics Commons^™

Questioning Reality: The Progressive Development Of Modern Physics, Joshua Lancman

STEM for Success Showcase

Humanity has a tendency to divide time. The past is distinct from the present which is entirely separate from the future. In supposedly 20-20 vision history is neatly divided into different sections, distinct eras with sharp lines between them. What is present and in the future is always modern. What is past is something else with another name.

Yet time is not divided so neatly. We know this living through it: years and decades blend into one another in a non-uniform progression. To divide human history into separate eras is a necessary simplification, as it helps to ascribe order onto …

Examining Factors Related To Access To Rigorous High School Physics For Black Males: Evidence From The High School Longitudinal Study Of 2009, Jennifer Dacosta

CGU Theses & Dissertations

In the landscape of American education, Black male students face significant barriers in accessing advanced science courses, a challenge that underscores broader issues of equity and inclusion. This study investigated the factors influencing Black male high school students’ access to earn physics credits, focusing on the interplay between school offerings, academic prerequisites, counselor support, personal efficacy in science, and socioeconomic status. Through a detailed analysis of data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, the research adopted a quantitative approach to examine how these variables collectively impact the educational trajectory of these students through multiple regression models which produced …

Student Performance In Modern Physics In An Active, Partially-Flipped Classroom, Scott Yarbrough

Physics Dissertations - Archive

The effectiveness of the flipped classroom and hybrid-flipped (partially flipped, partially lecture-based) method of instruction has been extensively studied for high school and introductory undergraduate physics courses, and it has been shown to increase student understanding and performance. However, few studies have been done for upper-level undergraduate courses, and even fewer have been done for virtual courses. In Spring 2021 and Fall 2023, a fully virtual, hybrid-flipped Modern Physics course was taught, primarily to a class of primarily juniors and seniors, with some sophomores. All were STEM majors. The same course, with a similar enrolment and demographic of students, was …

Diffusion Model Approach To Simulating Electron-Proton Scattering Events, Peter Devlin, Jian-Wei Qiu, Felix Ringer, Nobuo Sato

Physics Faculty Publications

Generative artificial intelligence is a fast-growing area of research offering various avenues for exploration in high-energy nuclear physics. In this work, we explore the use of generative models for simulating electron-proton collisions relevant to experiments like the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility and the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). These experiments play a critical role in advancing our understanding of nucleons and nuclei in terms of quark and gluon degrees of freedom. The use of generative models for simulating collider events faces several challenges such as the sparsity of the data, the presence of global or eventwide constraints, and steeply falling …

Conformal Bk Equation At Qcd Wilson-Fisher Point, I. Balitsky, G. A. Chirilli

Physics Faculty Publications

High-energy scattering in pQCD in the Regge limit is described by the evolution of Wilson lines governed by the BK equation [1, 2]. In the leading order, the BK equation is conformally invariant and the eigenfunctions of the linearized BFKL equation are powers. It is a common belief that at d ≠ 4 the BFKL equation is useless since unlike d = 4 case it cannot be solved by usual methods. However, we demonstrate that at critical Wilson-Fisher point of QCD the relevant part of NLO BK restores the conformal invariance so the solutions are again powers. As a check …

F₀(1370) And F₀(980) Controversies From Dispersive Data Analyses, Jose R. Pelaez, A. Rodas, J. Ruiz De Elvira

Physics Faculty Publications

We report on our recent works on dispersive analyses of ππ → ππ and ππ → K ¯ K scattering data and their use to address two controversial aspects of the f₀(1370) and f₀(980) scalar mesons. First, we show with model-independent techniques that the f₀(1370) pole does indeed appear in meson–meson scattering data, although there is tension between its values in the ππ and K ¯ K channels. Second, we explain the proper interpretation of the f₀(980) pole residue, which would otherwise lead to branching ratios larger than one. We have also provided simple ππ → ππ data parameterizations that …

Beyond Cryptic Equations: Reimagining Concepts In Physics Through Metaheuristics And Fantasy Stories Using Neutrosophic Venn Diagram, Victor Christianto, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Physics, the grand narrative of the universe, bas long been viewed as realm of cold, hard equations. But what if we looked beyond the formulas and considered a more imaginative origin for some of its concepts? This article explores the intriguing possibility that physics, and even cosmology, might share a surprising kinship with metaheuristics and fantastical fiction.

Ermakov Equations Can Be Derived From Zel’Dovich Pancake, And They Are Cold And Nonlocal Through Using Neutrosophic Venn Diagram, Victor Christianto, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

As we argue in a previous article, the labyrinthine worlds of Jorge Luis Borges are more than captivating narratives; they are portals to a deeper understanding of existence. By weaving elements of science-fiction fantasy with philosophical and ethical inquiries, Borges's short stories bridge the seemingly disparate realms of physics and the humanities, offering fertile ground for contemporary physics research. The present-day universe consists of galaxies, galaxy clusters, one-dimensional filaments and two-dimensional sheets or pancakes, all of which combine to form the cosmic web. The so called ”Zeldovich pancakes”, are very difficult to observe, because their overdensity is only slightly greater …

An Exploration Of Misconceptions In Introductory Physics, Christopher Mattthew Wheatley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The study of student misconceptions about physics concepts has long been an important area of inquiry in physics education research (PER). The research discussed in this dissertation builds upon the developments in PER by exploring the prevalence of consistently held undergraduate student misconceptions in introductory calculus-based physics. This thesis explores the nature of student misconceptions, mistakes, and naive answering patterns in both introductory undergraduate Newtonian mechanics and electromagnetism by applying a network analytic technique called module analysis to student responses to different concept inventories from institutions of various levels of incoming physics preparation. Each study applying these methods also demonstrates …

Charge Lifetime Improvement Of The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility Photogun With A Biased Anode, J. T. Yoskowitz, G. A. Krafft, G. Palacios-Serrano, S.A.K. Wijethunga, J. Grames, J. Hansknecht, C. Hernandez-Garcia, M. Poelker, M. L. Stutzman, R. Suleiman, C. A. Valerio-Lizarraga, S. B. Van Der Geer

Physics Faculty Publications

GaAs photocathodes in dc high-voltage photoguns are highly susceptible to ion back-bombardment, which reduces the photocathode quantum efficiency and limits the useful operating lifetime for producing polarized electron beams. This paper demonstrates that applying a small positive bias to the photogun anode can significantly suppress ion back-bombardment and increase charge lifetime. This technique was studied extensively using the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility photogun, where highly polarized electron beams created using a strained-superlattice GaAs/GaAsP photocathode were used and charge lifetimes improved by almost a factor of 2. A new simulation code ionator was developed to model ion production and tracking …

Progress In Physics: Twentieth Year Of Publication, Florentin Smarandache, Andreas Ries, Pierre Millette, Ebenezer Chifu

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

The journal Progress in Physics was created in January 2005 on behalf of many influential scientists with whom we were in correspondence. The main reason was that publications in other journals were allowed only if the submitter was affiliated with a scientific institution or research organization. Given this situation, many working scientists finding themselves partially employed or unemployed, such as in between research grants, find themselves unable to publish their research results. Even e-print archives such as Cornell’s arXiv required scientific affiliation and still follow this policy.

Direct Measurement Of Microwave Loss In Nb Films For Superconducting Qubits, B. Abdisatarov, D. Bafia, A. Murthy, G. Eremeev, H. E. Elsayed-Ali, J. Lee, A. Netepenko, C. P. A. Carlos, S. Leith, G. J. Rosaz, A. Romanenko, A. Grassellino

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Niobium films are a key component in modern two-dimensional superconducting qubits, yet their contribution to the total qubit decay rate is not fully understood. The presence of different layers of materials and interfaces makes it difficult to identify the dominant loss channels in present two-dimensional qubit designs. In this paper, we present the study that directly correlates measurements of RF losses in such films to material parameters by investigating a high-power impulse magnetron sputtered (HiPIMS) film atop a three-dimensional niobium superconducting radio frequency (SRF) resonator. By using a 3D SRF structure, we are able to isolate the niobium film loss …

Field, Frequency, And Temperature Dependencies Of The Surface Resistance Of Nitrogen Diffused Niobium Superconducting Radio Frequency Cavities, P. Dhakal, B. D. Khanal, A. Gurevich, G. Ciovati

Physics Faculty Publications

We investigate the rf performance of several single-cell superconducting radio-frequency cavities subjected to low temperature heat treatment in nitrogen environment. The cavities were treated at temperature 120–165 °C for an extended period of time (24–48 h) either in high vacuum or in a low partial pressure of ultrapure nitrogen. The improvement in 𝑄0 with a 𝑄 rise was observed when nitrogen gas was injected at ∼300 °C during the cavity cooldown from 800 °C and held at 165 °C, without any degradation in accelerating gradient over the baseline performance. The treatment was applied to several elliptical cavities with frequency ranging …

Quantum Logic Control And Precision Measurements Of Molecular Ions In A Ring Trap: An Approach For Testing Fundamental Symmetries, Yan Zhou, Joshua O. Island, Matt Grau

Physics Faculty Publications

This paper presents an experimental platform designed to facilitate quantum logic control of polar molecular ions in a segmented ring ion trap, paving the way for precision measurements. This approach focuses on achieving near-unity state preparation and detection, as well as long spin-precession coherence. A distinctive aspect lies in separating state preparation and detection conducted in a static frame from parity-selective spin precession in a rotating frame. Moreover, the method is designed to support spatially and temporally coincident measurements on multiple ions prepared in states with different sensitivity to the new physics of interest. This provides powerful techniques to probe …

Point Cloud Diffusion Models For The Electron-Ion Collider, Jack Y. Araz, Vinicius Mikuni, Felix Ringer, Nobuo Sato, Fernando Torales Acosta, Richard Whitehill

Physics Faculty Publications

At high-energy collider experiments, generative models can be used for a wide range of tasks, including fast detector simulations, unfolding, searches of physics beyond the Standard Model, and inference tasks. In particular, it has been demonstrated that score-based diffusion models can generate high-fidelity and accurate samples of jets or collider events. This work expands on previous generative models in three distinct ways. First, our model is trained to generate entire collider events, including all particle species with complete kinematic information. We quantify how well the model learns event-wide constraints such as the conservation of momentum and discrete quantum numbers. We …

New Spin Structure Constraints On Hyperfine Splitting And Proton Zemach Radius, David Ruth, Karl Slifer, Jian-Ping Chen, Carl E. Carlson, Franziska Hagelstein, Vladimir Pasculutsa, Alexandre Deur, Sebastian Kuhn, Marco Ripani, Xiaochao Zheng, Ryan Zielinski, Chao Gu

Physics Faculty Publications

The 1S hyperfine splitting in hydrogen is measured to an impressive ppt precision and will soon be measured to ppm precision in muonic hydrogen. The latter measurement will rely on theoretical predictions, which are limited by knowledge of the proton polarizability effect Δ_pol. Data-driven evaluations of Δ_pol have long been in significant tension with baryon chiral perturbation theory. Here we present improved results for Δ_pol driven by new spin structure data, reducing the long-standing tension between theory and experiment and halving the dominating uncertainty in hyperfine splitting calculations.

Towards Unpolarized Gpds From Pseudo-Distributions, Hervé Dutrieux, Robert G. Edwards, Colin Egerer, Joseph Karpie, Christopher Monahan, Kostas Orginos, Anatoly Radyushkin, David Richards, Eloy Romero, Savvas Zafeiropoulos

Physics Faculty Publications

We present an exploration of the unpolarized isovector proton generalized parton distributions (GPDs) H^u−d(x, ξ, t) and E^u−d(x, ξ, t) in the pseudo-distribution formalism using distillation. Taking advantage of the large kinematic coverage made possible by this approach, we present results on the moments of GPDs up to the order x³ — including their skewness dependence — at a pion mass m_π = 358 MeV and a lattice spacing a = 0.094 fm.

Event Generators For High-Energy Physics Experiments, J. M. Campbell, M. Diefenthaler, T. J. Hobbs, S. Höche, J. Isaacson, F. Kling, S. Mrenna, J. Reuter, S. Alioli, J. R. Andersen, C. Andreaopoulos, A. M. Ankowski, E.C. Aschenauer, A. Ashkenazi, M. D. Baker, J. L. Barrow, M. Van Beekveld, G. Beswick, S. Bhattacharya, K. Zapp, Et Al.

Physics Faculty Publications

We provide an overview of the status of Monte-Carlo event generators for high-energy particle physics. Guided by the experimental needs and requirements, we highlight areas of active development, and opportunities for future improvements. Particular emphasis is given to physics models and algorithms that are employed across a variety of experiments. These common themes in event generator development lead to a more comprehensive understanding of physics at the highest energies and intensities, and allow models to be tested against a wealth of data that have been accumulated over the past decades. A cohesive approach to event generator development will allow these …

Analytic Solutions Of The Dglap Evolution And Theoretical Uncertainties, A. Simonelli

Physics Faculty Publications

The energy dependence for the singlet sector of Parton Distributions Functions (PDFs) is described by an entangled pair of ordinary linear differential equations. Although there are no exact analytic solutions, it is possible to provide approximated results depending on the assumptions and the methodology adopted. These results differ in their sub-leading, neglected terms and ultimately they are associated with different treatments of the theoretical uncertainties. In this work, a novel analytic approach in Mellin space is presented and a new methodology for obtaining closed and exponentiated analytic solutions is devised. Different results for the DGLAP evolution at Next-Leading-Order are compared, …

Artificial Intelligence For The Electron Ion Collider (Ai4eic), C. Allaire, R. Ammendola, E.-C. Aschenauer, M. Balandat, M. Battaglieri, J. Bernauer, M. Bondì, N. Branson, T. Britton, A. Butter, I. Chahrour, P. Chatagnon, E. Cisbani, E. W. Cline, S. Dash, C. Dean, W. Deconinck, A. Deshpande, M. Diefenthaler, R. Ent, C. Fanelli, M. Finger, M. Finger Jr., E. Fol, S. Furletov, Y. Gao, J. Giroux, N. C. Gunawardhana Waduge, O. Hassan, P. L. Hegde, R. J. Hernandez-Pinto, A. Hiller Blin, T. Horn, J. Huang, A. Jalotra, D. Jayakodige, B. Joo, M. Junaid, N. Kalantarians, P. Karande, B. Kriesten, R. Kunnawalkam Elayavalli, Y. Li, M. Lin, F. Liu, S. Liuti, G. Matousek, M. Mceneaney, D. Mcspadden, T. Menzo, T. Miceli, V. Mikuni, R. Montgomery, B. Nachman, R. R. Nair, J. Niestroy, S. A. Ochoa Oregon, J. Oleniacz, J. D. Osborn, C. Paudel, C. Pecar, C. Peng, G. N. Perdue, W. Phelps, M. L. Purschke, H. Rajendran, K. Rajput, Y. Ren, D. F. Renteria-Estrada, D. Richford, B. J. Roy, D. Roy, A. Saini, N. Sato, T. Satogata, G. Sborlini, M. Schram, D. Shih, J. Singh, R. Singh, A. Siodmok, J. Stevens, P. Stone, L. Suarez, K. Suresh, A. -N. Tawfik, F. Torales Acosta, N. Tran, R. Trotta, F. J. Twagirayezu, R. Tyson, S. Volkova, A. Vossen, E. Walter, D. Whiteson, M. Williams, S. Wu, N. Zachariou, P. Zurita

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a state-of-the-art facility for studying the strong force, is expected to begin commissioning its first experiments in 2028. This is an opportune time for artificial intelligence (AI) to be included from the start at this facility and in all phases that lead up to the experiments. The second annual workshop organized by the AI4EIC working group, which recently took place, centered on exploring all current and prospective application areas of AI for the EIC. This workshop is not only beneficial for the EIC, but also provides valuable insights for the newly established ePIC collaboration at EIC. …

The Weighty Words Of Lord Rayleigh, John Adam

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] Lord Rayleigh, a.k.a. John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842–1919), was, in my opinion, a quintessential mathematical and experimental physicist and, indeed, a classical applied mathematician of the highest order for his era. Among the many honors he received, the most prestigious was the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies.” He was one of the very few members of so-called British “higher nobility” who won fame as an outstanding scientist.

Creative Physics Syllabus For Online Class, Kalani Hettiarachchilage

Open Educational Resources

Creative Physics syllabus for all information and guidelines will be a big help for students to know about the class structure, expectations, submission, personalized class materials, class ethics, and requirements in one place. This detailed syllabus will be a very effective way of expressing the information to the class. Creating a detailed syllabus and engaging activity of in the learning management system such as syllabus review activity will help students to navigate through important items on the syllabus.

Thermocatalytic Plasma-Assisted Dry Reforming Of Methane Over Ni/Al2o3 Catalyst, Tyler Wong

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Plasma catalysis is an advantageous approach that combines the effects of plasma with the enhancements of a catalyst. By utilizing a nickel catalyst in the plasma discharge zone of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), it can give an enhancement to the electrical field, boost microdischarges, and increase conversion and selectivity rates of CH₄ and CO₂ in the dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction.

Industrial application of nickel catalysts in DBD Plasma DRM process are limited by poor stability, which is caused by the sintering of active metal particles and coke deposition on the catalyst surface. In this work, …

An Introduction To The Veritas Observatory, Alexander Bittle, Ian Kuhl, Jingze (Justin) Zhou, Avery Archer

Annual Student Research Poster Session

Located at the base of Mount Hopkins, Arizona, at an elevation of approximately 4200 feet, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) is a ground-based gamma ray observatory containing four Cherenkov telescopes designed to detect very high energy gamma rays with energies ranging from 100GeV to 10TeV using the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique. In April 2007, VERITAS began successful operations with all four telescopes. As of today, over 15 years of data has been taken by the VERITAS array, stored in an archive of data, and used for a wide variety of research, publications, PhD theses, and conventions …

Analysis Of The Crab Nebula And Pulsar, Alexander Bittle, Ian Kuhl, Jingze (Justin) Zhou, Avery Archer

Annual Student Research Poster Session

Although the Crab Nebula is well understood, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) still regularly observes the Crab's highest energy emissions. These emissions are used to calibrate the telescopes, further, document the system, and investigate the validity of physical models. Our research this summer is geared to analyze data from 2018-2022 to add to an ongoing research project investigating the long term variability of the Crab Nebula’s emission.

Supporting Neurodivergent Talent: Adhd, Autism, And Dyslexia In Physics And Space Sciences, Niescja E. Turner, Heather Haynes Smith

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts must include disability and neurodivergence. While there is a long history of famous scientists being identified or speculatively indicated to be neurodivergent, identification on an individual basis has been limited until fairly recently. Definitions have changed and broadened, and people are being identified or are identifying themselves as neurodivergent and are learning about their paths and their brains in a way that was unavailable to people two decades ago. In the contemporary physics or space science classroom or workplace, we have both a responsibility to include and support our neurodivergent learners and scientists, as …

Relation Between Solitary Wave Occurrence And Solar Wind Parameters During The Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability, Tyler Workman

Physics Theses - Archive

The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) is an important mechanism whereby the solar wind transports energy and momentum into the magnetosphere. One unresolved topic is the role of kinetic phenomena and turbulence in mediating this energy transport. Previous studies hypothesized that the prevalence of electrostatic solitary waves, an artifact of kinetic turbulence, decreased along the flanks as the instability grew. These previous studies had been conducted using 3 KHI events. For this study, we test the hypothesis and further investigate how these solitary waves affect the local plasma with an expanded list of 15 KHI events. A combination of solar wind data …

Search For Higgs Boson Pair Production In The Multiple Lepton Final State Using Proton-Proton Collision Data At √S =13 Tev From The Atlas Detector, Santosh Parajuli

Physics Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, a search is presented for the production of Higgs boson pairs in final states containing three light leptons (e/mu). The analysis utilizes data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider from proton-proton (pp) collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb-1. The investigation aims to identify any significant deviations from the expected background levels defined by the Standard Model. The Higgs boson, as the cornerstone of the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism, plays a crucial role in our understanding of particle physics. Studying the production of Higgs …

Study Of Radiation Effects In Gan-Based Devices, Han Gao

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Radiation tolerance of wide-bandgap Gallium Nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT) has been studied, including X-ray-induced TID effects, heavy-ion-induced single event effects, and neutron-induced single event effects. Threshold voltage shift is observed in X-ray irradiation experiments, which recovers over time, indicating no permanent damage formed inside the device. Heavy-ion radiation effects in GaN HEMTs have been studied as a function of bias voltage, ion LET, radiation flux, and total fluence. A statistically significant amount of heavy-ion-induced gate dielectric degradation was observed, which consisted of hard breakdown and soft breakdown. Specific critical injection level experiments were designed and carried out to explore …

A Study Of Data/Monte Carlo Agreement In Charmed Baryon Decays At Belle Ii, Kaitlyn Thurmond

Honors Theses

The Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB electron-positron accelerator facility in Tsukuba, Japan has a primary goal of searching for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Extremely precise measurements of particle decays will be compared with Standard Model predictions in order to expose the presence of new particles and interactions. These measurements are prepared using simulated samples to avoid potential biases when studying the data. The Belle II collaboration produces two types of simulated samples for this purpose. One is produced with consistent calibration payloads and another with payloads calibrated as a function of data taking. This …