Elementary Particles and Fields and String Theory Commons^™

Experimental Methods For Cryogenic Rare Event Detection: Cuore And Cupid, Alessandro Libenson

Physics

This senior project was written with the primary purpose of serving as a introductory guide for undergraduate students learning about the experimental methods used in the CUORE and CUPID Collaborations. In particular, this project is geared towards getting students in Dr. Gutierrez's research group at Cal Poly up to speed on what CUORE and CUPID actually do. I wrote this as an undergraduate aiming to help future undergraduates. For Cal Poly students, I would suggest the following prerequisites before reading this paper: Electronics and Instrumentation, Quantum Laboratory 1, and the equivalent of the coding/analysis class. It is also important to …

Search For Slow-Moving Magnetic Monopoles With An Improved High-Energy Event Removal Algorithm, Reeshi N. Gihosal

Honors Theses

Fermilab’s NOvA (NuMI Off-axis 𝑣𝑒 Appearance) experiment focuses on understanding the behavior of neutrinos and how they affect the cosmos. A sub-focus of the NOvA experiment is the search for magnetic monopoles. These elusive particles have not yet been observed in nature, leaving their behavior to be mysterious. The Far Detector, located in Ash River, MN, is integral in the search for these particles. This project is on simulated magnetic monopoles with speeds thousandths the speed of light, with focus on the role of slicing algorithms in event reconstruction using the NOvA experiment’s reconstruction algorithm. Using sample data, analysis occurred …

Energy Scaling And Frequency Ratios Of Particles And Constants, Alison Christina Menzmer, Donald Chakeres, Vola Andrianarijaona

Campus Research Month

We are exploring quantum aspects of various physical quantities (including Bohr radius, Rydberg constant, Planck time, and Hubble constant) and mass energies of elementary particles (including electron, neutron, and quarks). We express all physical units in an energy equivalence in Hertz, normalized to 1 Hz. Furthermore, the logarithms of these normalized energies are scaled by the logarithm of a chosen particle, which allows the generation of an Arrhenius plot exhibiting numerical structures. Our results presented in this poster show that the proton is a good candidate for an Arrhenius plot with partial fractions (1 + 1/n) and (1 - 1/n).

Machine Learning In Fundamental Physics: From Early Universe Signatures To Qcd Evolution, Brandon Stevenson

Physics Theses and Dissertations

In both cosmology and small-x quantum chromodynamics, the relevant theoretical predictions are well-defined but expensive to evaluate repeatedly over broad parameter spaces or large ensembles of simulated data. The central question of this thesis is when machine learning can accelerate those calculations without weakening the reliability of the final physics conclusions. The thesis develops and tests this idea in three settings. First, it studies the Derivative Approximation for Likelihoods (DALI) as a means of diagnosing when Fisher-matrix forecasts cease to be trustworthy in cosmological parameter inference. Second, it investigates graph-based spherical neural networks for estimating primordial non-Gaussianity directly from simulated …

Geometric Algebra For Field Theory In Curved Spacetime, Kevin Rhine

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Physics seeks to understand the universe by uncovering the fundamental laws that govern matter, energy, space, and time. At its heart lies the challenge of unification: finding a mathematical framework that consistently describes these interactions across all scales, from the subatomic to the cosmological.

This thesis explores geometric algebra, a mathematical language that unifies algebra and geometry, as a tool for advancing this understanding. By extending this framework to curved spacetimes, where gravity influences the structure of space and time, we investigate its ability to describe physical phenomena such as electromagnetism and general relativity. A notable contribution includes the geometric …

Beam-Based Target Alignment For Mu2e, Helenka Casler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Mu2e Experiment is a precision experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, searching for charged lepton flavor violation (CLFV) in the conversion of a muon to an electron in the presence of an atomic nucleus. In order to achieve the expected single-event sensitivity of 3 × 10^-17 , Mu2e will require an intense muon beam, generated via pion decay. These pions are the product of a proton beam striking a radiatively-cooled tungsten target. In order to maximize pion production and prevent target failure, the beam will have to be aligned with the target center to within 0.5 mm. The …

The Fluid Margin Between Physical Causal Closure And Non-Physical Causal Closure, Extended To The Neutrosophic Causal Closure Principle, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

We plead for a fluid margin, or mixed/indeterminate buffer zone, between Physical and Non-Physical Causal Closures, and for a Neutrosophic Causal Closure Principle claiming that the chances of all physical effects are determined by their prior partially physical and partially non-physical causes.

Classification Of Pixel Tracks To Improve Track Reconstruction From Proton-Proton Collisions, Kebur Fantahun, Jobin Joseph, Halle Purdom, Nibhrat Lohia

SMU Data Science Review

In this paper, machine learning techniques are used to reconstruct particle collision pathways. CERN (Conseil européen pour la recherche nucléaire) uses a massive underground particle collider, called the Large Hadron Collider or LHC, to produce particle collisions at extremely high speeds. There are several layers of detectors in the collider that track the pathways of particles as they collide. The data produced from collisions contains an extraneous amount of background noise, i.e., decays from known particle collisions produce fake signal. Particularly, in the first layer of the detector, the pixel tracker, there is an overwhelming amount of background noise that …

Isolated Objects And Their Evolution: A Derivation Of The Propagator’S Path Integral For Spinless Elementary Particles, Domenico Napoletani, Daniele Carlo Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We formalize the notion of isolated objects (units), and we build a consistent theory to describe their evolution and interaction. We further introduce a notion of indistinguishability of distinct spacetime paths of a unit, for which the evolution of the state variables of the unit is the same, and a generalization of the equivalence principle based on indistinguishability. Under a time reversal condition on the whole set of indistinguishable paths of a unit, we show that the quantization of motion of spinless elementary particles in a general potential field can be derived in this framework, in the limiting …

Searching For Anomalous Extensive Air Showers Using The Pierre Auger Observatory Fluorescence Detector, Andrew Puyleart

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Anomalous extensive air showers have yet to be detected by cosmic ray observatories. Fluorescence detectors provide a way to view the air showers created by cosmic rays with primary energies reaching up to hundreds of EeV . The resulting air showers produced by these highly energetic collisions can contain features that deviate from average air showers. Detection of these anomalous events may provide information into unknown regions of particle physics, and place constraints on cross-sectional interaction lengths of protons. In this dissertation, I propose measurements of extensive air shower profiles that are used in a machine learning pipeline to distinguish …

Curved Spacetime In The Causal Set Approach To Quantum Gravity, Ayush Dhital

Honors Theses

Causal Set theory is an approach to quantum gravity. In this approach, the spacetime continuum is assumed to be discrete rather than continuous. The discrete points in a causal set can be seen as a continuum spacetime if they can be embedded in a manifold such that the causal structure is preserved. In this regard, a manifold can be constructed by embedding a causal set preserving causal information between the neighboring points. In this thesis, some of the fundamental properties of causal sets are discussed and the curvature and dimension information of Minkowski, de Sitter, and Anti-de Sitter spaces is …

Exploring Manifoldlike Causal Sets And Their Dimensions, Santosh Bhandari

Honors Theses

Causal Set Theory is an approach to quantum gravity that tries to replace the continuum spacetime structure of general relativity with the spacetime that has the property of discreteness and causality. From the standpoint of causal set theory, our spacetime is made up of discrete points that are causally related to one another. A causal set is said to be manifoldlike if it can be faithfully embedded in a Lorentzian manifold. In this thesis, some of the fundamental properties of causal sets are discussed. The first chapter is devoted to the historical background of quantum gravity with a discussion of …

Magnetic Forces In The Absence Of A Classical Magnetic Field, Ismael L. Paiva, Yakir Aharonov, Jeff Tollaksen, Mordecai Waegell

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

It is shown that, in some cases, the effect of discrete distributions of flux lines in quantum mechanics can be associated with the effect of continuous distributions of magnetic fields with special symmetries. In particular, flux lines with an arbitrary value of magnetic flux can be used to create energetic barriers, which can be used to confine quantum systems in specially designed configurations. This generalizes a previous work where such energy barriers arose from flux lines with half-integer fluxons. Furthermore, it is shown how the Landau levels can be obtained from a two-dimensional grid of flux lines. These results suggest …

Effective Field Theory And Machine Learning Approaches To Controlling Nonperturbative Uncertainties In Flavor Physics, Ayesh Gunawardana

Wayne State University Dissertations

The radiative decay $\bar{B}\to X_s\gamma$ and semileptonic heavy meson decay $D\to \pi l \nu$ are important flavor physics probes of new physics. However, these decays are plagued with nonperturbative uncertainties that are needed to be controlled to obtain a theoretically clean description. In this dissertation, we provide effective field theory and machine learning approaches to controlling these uncertainties.\par

In $\bar B\to X_s\gamma$, the largest uncertainty on the total rate and the CP asymmetry arises from resolved photon contributions. These appear first at order $1/m_b$ and are related to operators other than $Q_{7\gamma}$ in the effective weak Hamiltonian. One of the …

University Physics I: Classical Mechanics, Julio Gea-Banacloche

Open Educational Resources

This is a textbook for the first semester of University Physics for scientists and engineers. It covers classical mechanics, and a brief introduction to thermodynamics. The presentation and approach are similar to Mazur’s “The Principles and Practice of Physics,” in that conservation laws are introduced before forces, and one-dimensional systems thoroughly covered before moving to two dimensions. Although the course is “calculus based,” the book has been written with the understanding that many students may be taking calculus simultaneously as a corequisite, so the use of calculus is relatively sparse.

This revised version (Fall 2019) takes into account a number …

Searching For Clean Observables In $B -> D* /Tau- \Bar{\Nu}_{\Tau}$ Decays, Michael D. Williams Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, the clean angular observables in the $\bar{B} \to D^{*+} \ell^- \bar{\nu}_{\ell}$ angular distribution is studied. Similar angular observables are widely studied in $B \to K^* \mu^+ \mu^-$ decays. We believed that these angular observables may have different sensitivities to different new physics structures.

Completely Top–Down Hierarchical Structure In Quantum Mechanics, Yakir Aharonov, Eliahu Cohen, Jeff Tollaksen

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Can a large system be fully characterized using its subsystems via inductive reasoning? Is it possible to completely reduce the behavior of a complex system to the behavior of its simplest “atoms”? In this paper we answer these questions in the negative for a specific class of systems and measurements. After a general introduction of the topic, we present the main idea with a simple two-particle example, where strong correlations arise between two apparently empty boxes. This leads to surprising effects within atomic and electromagnetic systems. A general construction based on preand postselected ensembles is then suggested, wherein the Nbody …

On Maxwell-Dirac Isomorphism, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Applications Of Effective Field Theories To New Physics, Derek Edward Hazard

Wayne State University Dissertations

We apply an effective field theory approach and argue that lepton flavor violating (LFV) decays M → l1l2 of meson states M with different quantum numbers could be used to put constraints on the Wilson coefficients of effective operators describing LFV interactions at low energy scales. We note that the restricted kinematics of the two-body decay of quarkonium or a heavy quark meson allows us to select operators with particular quantum numbers, significantly reducing the reliance on the single operator dominance assumption that is prevalent in constraining parameters of the effective LFV Lagrangian. We shall also argue that studies of …

Warp Drive Spacetimes, Nicholas A.S. Driver

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of faster than light travel in general relativity is examined, starting with a review of the Alcubierre metric. This spacetime, although incredible in its implications, has certain unavoidable problems which are discussed in detail. It is demonstrated that in order to describe faster than light travel without any ambiguities, a coordinate independent description is much more convenient. An alternative method of describing superluminal travel is then proposed, which has similarities to the Krasnikov tube.

Geodesic Structure In Schwarzschild Geometry With Extensions In Higher Dimensional Spacetimes, Ian M. Newsome

Theses and Dissertations

From Birkoff's theorem, the geometry in four spacetime dimensions outside a spherically symmetric and static, gravitating source must be given by the Schwarzschild metric. This metric therefore satisfies the Einstein vacuum equations. If the mass which gives rise to the Schwarzschild spacetime geometry is concentrated within a radius of r=2M, a black hole will form. Non-accelerating particles (freely falling) traveling through this geometry will do so along parametrized curves called geodesics, which are curved space generalizations of straight paths. These geodesics can be found by solving the geodesic equation. In this thesis, the geodesic structure in the Schwarzschild geometry …

Ultracold Quantum Scattering In The Presence Of Synthetic Spin-Orbit Coupling, Su-Ju Wang

Open Access Dissertations

Two-body scattering constitutes one of the most fundamental processes in various physical systems ranging from ultracold dilute quantum gases to energetic quark- gluon plasmas. In this dissertation, we study the low-energy atomic collision physics in the presence of synthetic gauge fields, which are generated by atom-light interaction. One category of synthetic gauge fields is the artificial spin-orbit coupling. We discuss three different aspects in scattering theory: ultracold collision, scattering resonance, and bound state formation from a few-body perspective when the atomic spin states are coupled with their center-of-mass motion. The understanding of the spin-orbit effects on the modification of the …

Phenomenology Of A Toy Model Inspired By The Spontaneous Reduction Of The Spectral Dimension In Quantum Gravity, Patrick A. Greene

Honors Theses and Capstones

Attempts to formulate a quantum theory of gravity have generated many sophisticated models. Though fundamentally different, they necessarily exhibit behaviors resembling experimental observations and standard theoretical expectations. Often, their similarities go no further. However many models unexpectedly predict a change in the spectral dimension of spacetime at very small scales (See [1] and references therein for examples). In particular, some of the models predict the spectral dimension changes from 4 to 2. This paper investigates the phenomenological consequences of a toy model that use Planck-scale 2D hypersurfaces, specifically triangles, embedded in 4D Minkowski spacetime. We randomly generated sequences of triangles …

Physics: Rethinking The Foundations, Kevin H. Knuth

Physics Faculty Scholarship

Physics is traditionally conceived of as a set of laws that universally governs the behavior of physical systems. These laws, however they are decreed, are believed to govern the behavior of not only everything in the universe, but the form of the universe itself. However, this traditional concept of physics as a universal governance is at odds with our modern theories of quantum mechanics and relativity, which place the observer and information in a central role. In this talk, I aim to rethink the foundations and attempt to build physics from the bottom up based on a very simple foundational …

Studies Of Angular Correlations Of Jets With The Atlas Detector, Rajivalochan Subramaniam

Doctoral Dissertations

The strong force is one of the four fundamental forces and its strength is given by the coupling constant αs. The theory that describes the strong interaction is Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and it explains the interactions between quarks and gluons. The strong coupling constant is the only free parameter in the QCD Lagrangian if the quark masses are fixed. Determinations of αs provide direct tests of perturbative QCD calculations. The collimated sprays of particles originating from the quark and gluon interactions are called jets. The ratio of jet cross sections are sensitive to α s and are …

Beam-Induced Radiation Heating On The Superconducting Undulator At The Advanced Photon Source, Laura Elizabeth Boon

Open Access Dissertations

In January 2013 the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a 7 GeV synchrotron X-ray source, commissioned a Superconducting Undulator (SCU). The superconducting magnet is thermally isolated from the beam vacuum chamber, which absorbs the beam-induced heating. Previous beam induced heat load studies at other laboratories had not included a robust calculation of radiation heating from the upstream dipole magnet. The mitigation of the radiation heating mechanism, and production of photoelectrons to seed an electron cloud was studied for this thesis. ^ An analytical model was developed to predict the radiation heat load on the SCU chamber. This model was benchmarked with …

Yang-Mills Theories As Deformations Of Massive Integrable Models, Axel Cortes Cubero

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Yang Mills theory in 2+1 dimensions can be expressed as an array of coupled (1+1)-dimensional principal chiral sigma models. The SU(N) principal chiral sigma model in 1+1 dimensions is integrable, asymptotically free and has massive excitations. We calculate all the form factors and two- point correlation functions of the Noether current and energy-momentum tensor, in

't Hooft's large-N limit (some form factors can be found even at finite N). We use these new form factors to calculate physical quantities in (2+1)-dimensional Yang-Mills theory, generalizing previous SU(2) by P. Orland to SU(N). The anisotropic gauge theory is related to standard isotropic …

Gauge/ Gravity Correspondence, Bulk Locality And Quantum Black Holes, Debajyoti Sarkar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The aim of this dissertation is threefold. We begin by the study of two parallel ideal cosmic strings in the presence of non-minimal scalar fields and spin- 1 gauge fields. We show that the contributions of the non-minimal term on the interaction energy between the strings are similar to that of the gauge field for a particular value of non-minimal coupling parameter. In this context we clarify some of the issues that arise when comparing the renormalization of black hole entropy and entanglement entropy using the replica trick.

In the second part of the dissertation we study the process of …

Measurement Of [Special Characters Omitted] (Pp[Special Characters Omitted]Tt) In The[Special Characters Omitted]+ Jets Channel Using 4.7 Fb-1 Of Data From The Atlas Experiment Of The Large Hadron Collider, Anirvan Sircar

Doctoral Dissertations

The top quark is the heaviest of the known elementary particles in the Standard Model. Top quark decay can result into various final states; therefore, careful study of its production rate and other properties is very important for particle physics. With the shutdown of the Tevatron, The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the only facility currently capable of studying top quark properties. The data obtained by proton-proton collisions in the LHC is recorded by two general purpose detectors, ATLAS and CMS. The results in the dissertation are from the ATLAS detector. A new measurement is reported of &sgr;(pp [special …

Information-Based Physics: An Intelligent Embedded Agent's Guide To The Universe, Kevin H. Knuth

Physics Faculty Scholarship

In this talk, I propose an approach to understanding the foundations of physics by considering the optimal inferences an intelligent agent can make about the universe in which he or she is embedded. Information acts to constrain an agent’s beliefs. However, at a fundamental level, any information is obtained from interactions where something influences something else. Given this, the laws of physics must be constrained by both the nature of such influences and the rules by which we can make inferences based on information about these influences. I will review the recent progress we have made in this direction. This …