Other Physics Commons^™

Rockin’ Rover On The Rainbow Road, Michael Kolta, Lawrence Burgee, Ying Yuan

Transformations

This paper presents a progressive series of age-appropriate lesson plans for grades K-12 that all use the same interdisciplinary activity to educate students about Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) simultaneously. Technology from Texas Instruments (TI) was employed including a TI Nspire graphing calculator that can run Python programs, a TI Innovator Hub, and a TI Rover. The TI Rover is a small, robotic car that has sensors and is controlled by the calculator via the Hub hardware interface. A Python program was developed that uses the color sensor in the Rover to detect the color on colored paper …

On Links Between A Theorem Of Schoenberg, Rohlin Decompositions Of Measures, The Bochner-Minlos Theorem And The Fock Space, Daniel Alpay, Paula Cerejeiras, Palle Jorgensen, Uwe Kaehler

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The main goal of this paper is to gain new results in stochastics by drawing on, and combining, different areas that are normally not considered to be related. Thus, in this paper we extend the previous class of Gaussian-like functions ML which will allow for future generalized stochastic processes in infinite dimensional analysis. We show that an approach similar to the one by the classical Bochner-Minlos theorem for the white-noise case can be achieved by using Gaussian-like functions belonging to a large family -the ML_r classes (0 < r ≤∞). We show how Schoenberg’s theorem for positive definite functions on a Hilbert space allows to go beyond the classical setting of Bochner-Milnos theorem. Furthermore, we show that the application of the Rohlin’s disintegration theorem allows for a decomposition of the associated probability measures , see Theorems 3.2 and 4.3. We end this paper with several important examples of functions in these classes ML_r and provide some interesting counterexamples, e.g. Theorem 7.4, to get a …

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 …

Representation Theory And Its Applications In Physics, Max Varverakis

Master's Theses

Representation theory, which encodes the elements of a group as linear operators on a vector space, has far-reaching implications in physics. Fundamental results in quantum physics emerge directly from the representations describing physical symmetries. We first examine the connections between specific representations and the principles of quantum mechanics. Then, we shift our focus to the braid group, which describes the algebraic structure of braids. We apply representations of the braid group to physical systems in order to investigate quasiparticles known as anyons. Finally, we obtain governing equations of anyonic systems to highlight the differences between braiding statistics and conventional Bose-Einstein/Fermi-Dirac …

Spacetime Geometry Of Acoustics And Electromagnetism, Lucas Burns, Tatsuya Daniel, Stephon Alexander, Justin Dressel

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Both acoustics and electromagnetism represent measurable fields in terms of dynamical potential fields. Electromagnetic force-fields form a spacetime bivector that is represented by a dynamical energy–momentum 4-vector potential field. Acoustic pressure and velocity fields form an energy–momentum density 4-vector field that is represented by a dynamical action scalar potential field. Surprisingly, standard field theory analyses of spin angular momentum based on these traditional potential representations contradict recent experiments, which motivates a careful reassessment of both theories. We analyze extensions of both theories that use the full geometric structure of spacetime to respect essential symmetries enforced by vacuum wave propagation. The …

Snow Spheres And Ice Cubes: Solutions For Fermi Questions, February 2024, John Adam

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cats, Dogs, And Roll Waves: Solutions For Fermi Questions, April 2024, John Adam

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

On a hot afternoon in western North Carolina, the heavens opened and (to mix metaphors) it started raining “cats and dogs.” The rain was torrential, and soon a river of water was flowing downhill into the parking lot. In rivers and dam spillways, these are known as flood waves. The picture shows a particular type of flood waves known s roll waves—shock-like patterns separated by smooth profiles. In a steady-state situation, the drag forces on the water in the channel are balanced by the down-slope gravitational force. The dimensionless friction coefficient is C, the stream depth is h, v is …

Snow Spheres And Ice Cubes, John Adam

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

This article, titled "Snow spheres and ice cubes," discusses the melting of snowballs and ice cubes. It explains that in standard calculus textbooks, it is shown that a snowball melting at a rate proportional to its surface area will have its radius decrease at a constant rate, assuming it remains spherical as it melts. The article then poses several questions related to this concept, including the proportion of a smaller snow sphere that remains when half of a larger one has melted, the value of p for which the smaller sphere first melts, and the volume reduction factor for cubes …

Measuring The Lengths Of Sperm Whales Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico By Wavelet Analysis Of Their Usual Clicks, George Drouant

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Acoustic recordings of underwater sounds produced by marine mammals present an attractive alternative to costly and logistically complex ship based visual surveys for collecting population data for various species.

The first reported use of underwater acoustic recordings in the long-term monitoring of sperm whale populations was by Ackleh et al. (Ackleh et al., 2012). The paper describes counting sperm whale clicks at different locations to track population changes over time.

Analysis of sperm whale clicks offers additional insight into sperm whale populations. The echo location clicks (usual clicks) of sperm whales can be used to give an estimate of …

Superoscillations And Fock Spaces, Daniel Alpay, Fabrizio Colombo, Kamal Diki, Irene Sabadini, Daniele C. Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper we use techniques in Fock spaces theory and compute how the Segal-Bargmann transform acts on special wave functions obtained by multiplying superoscillating sequences with normalized Hermite functions. It turns out that these special wave functions can be constructed also by computing the approximating sequence of the normalized Hermite functions. First, we start by treating the case when a superoscillating sequence is multiplied by the Gaussian function. Then, we extend these calculations to the case of normalized Hermite functions leading to interesting relations with Weyl operators. In particular, we show that the Segal-Bargmann transform maps superoscillating sequences onto …

Not Your Typical Tower Of Sauron, John Adam

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

The picture is of the tapering Chester Shot Tower, located in Chester, England. It was built in 1799 for the manufacture of lead shot for use in the Napoleonic Wars. Molten lead was poured through a sieve at the top of the tower, with the tiny droplets forming perfect spheres during the fall; these were then cooled in a vat of water at the base. This process was less labor intensive than an earlier method using molds. It is the oldest of the three remaining shot towers in the UK.

Question 1: Using the parked van at the base, estimate …

Oscillating Icebergs, John Adam

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Rock Paintings: Solutions For Fermi Questions, September 2022, John Adam

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Once Upon A Party - An Anecdotal Investigation, Vijay Fafat

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Mathematicians and Physicists attending let-your-hair-down parties behave exactly like their own theories. They live by their theorems, they jive by their theorems. Life imitates their craft, and we must simply observe the deep truths hiding in their party-going behavior...

Acoustic Versus Electromagnetic Field Theory: Scalar, Vector, Spinor Representations And The Emergence Of Acoustic Spin, Lucas Burns, Konstantin Y. Bliokh, Franco Nori, Justin Dressel

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We construct a novel Lagrangian representation of acoustic field theory that describes the local vector properties of longitudinal (curl-free) acoustic fields. In particular, this approach accounts for the recently-discovered nonzero spin angular momentum density in inhomogeneous sound fields in fluids or gases. The traditional acoustic Lagrangian representation with a scalar potential is unable to describe such vector properties of acoustic fields adequately, which are however observable via local radiation forces and torques on small probe particles. By introducing a displacement vector potential analogous to the electromagnetic vector potential, we derive the appropriate canonical momentum and spin densities as conserved Noether …

A Note On The Fine Structure Constant, Bilal Khan, Irshadullah Khan

School of Computing: Technical Reports

We derive the numerical value of the fine structure constant in purely number-theoretic terms, under the assumption that in a system of charges between two parallel conducting plates, the Casimir energy and the mutual Coulomb interaction energy agree.

A Note On The Fine Structure Constant, Bilal Khan, Irshadullah Khan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We derive the numerical value of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ in purely number-theoretic terms, under the assumption that in a system of charges between two parallel conducting plates, the Casimir energy and the mutual Coulomb interaction energy agree.

A Note On The Fine Structure Constant, Bilal Khan, Irshadullah Khan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We derive the numerical value of the fine structure constant in purely number-theoretic terms, under the assumption that in a system of charges between two parallel conducting plates, the Casimir energy and the mutual Coulomb interaction energy agree.

A Panorama On Superoscillations, Fabrizio Colombo, Irene Sabadini, Daniele Carlo Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose of this note is to give an overview on superoscillating sequences and some of their properties. We discuss their persistence in time under Schrödinger equation, we propose various classes of superoscillating functions and we also briefly mention how they can be used to approximate some generalized functions.

Semiclassically Modeling Hydrogen At Rydberg States Immersed In Electromagnetic Fields, Jaron Williams

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

Originally, closed-orbit theory was developed in order to analyze oscillations in the near ionization threshold (Rydberg) densities of states for atoms in strong external electric and magnetic fields. Oscillations in the density of states were ascribed to classical orbits that began and ended near the atom. In essence, observed outgoing waves following the classical path return and interfere with original outgoing waves, giving rise to oscillations. Elastic scattering from one closed orbit to another gives additional oscillations in the cross-section. This study examines how quantum theory can be properly used in combination with classical orbit theory in order to study …

Predicted Deepwater Bathymetry From Satellite Altimetry: Non-Fourier Transform Alternatives, Maxsimo Salazar

Dissertations

Robert Parker (1972) demonstrated the effectiveness of Fourier Transforms (FT) to compute gravitational potential anomalies caused by uneven, non-uniform layers of material. This important calculation relates the gravitational potential anomaly to sea-floor topography. As outlined by Sandwell and Smith (1997), a six-step procedure, utilizing the FT, then demonstrated how satellite altimetry measurements of marine geoid height are inverted into seafloor topography. However, FTs are not local in space and produce Gibb’s phenomenon around discontinuities. Seafloor features exhibit spatial locality and features such as seamounts and ridges often have sharp inclines. Initial tests compared the windowed-FT to wavelets in reconstruction of …

Generalized Fock Spaces And The Stirling Numbers, Daniel Alpay, Motke Porat

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The Bargmann-Fock-Segal space plays an important role in mathematical physics and has been extended into a number of directions. In the present paper, we imbed this space into a Gelfand triple. The spaces forming the Fréchet part (i.e., the space of test functions) of the triple are characterized both in a geometric way and in terms of the adjoint of multiplication by the complex variable, using the Stirling numbers of the second kind. The dual of the space of test functions has a topological algebra structure, of the kind introduced and studied by the first named author and Salomon.

Simulating The Electrical Properties Of Random Carbon Nanotube Networks Using A Simple Model Based On Percolation Theory, Roberto Abril Valenzuela

Physics

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been subject to extensive research towards their possible applications in the world of nanoelectronics. The interest in carbon nanotubes originates from their unique variety of properties useful in nanoelectronic devices. One key feature of carbon nanotubes is that the chiral angle at which they are rolled determines whether the tube is metallic or semiconducting. Of main interest to this project are devices containing a thin film of randomly arranged carbon nanotubes, known as carbon nanotube networks. The presence of semiconducting tubes in a CNT network can lead to a switching effect when the film is electro-statically …

Evolution Of Superoscillations For Schrödinger Equation In A Uniform Magnetic Field, Fabrizio Colombo, Jonathan Gantner, Daniele C. Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Aharonov-Berry superoscillations are band-limited functions that oscillate faster than their fastest Fourier component. Superoscillations appear in several fields of science and technology, such as Aharonov’s weak measurement in quantum mechanics, in optics, and in signal processing. An important issue is the study of the evolution of superoscillations using the Schrödinger equation when the initial datum is a weak value. Some superoscillatory functions are not square integrable, but they are real analytic functions that can be extended to entire holomorphic functions. This fact leads to the study of the continuity of a class of convolution operators acting on suitable spaces of …

On A Class Of Quaternionic Positive Definite Functions And Their Derivatives, Daniel Alpay, Fabrizio Colombo, Irene Sabadini

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper, we start the study of stochastic processes over the skew field of quaternions. We discuss the relation between positive definite functions and the covariance of centered Gaussian processes and the construction of stochastic processes and their derivatives. The use of perfect spaces and strong algebras and the notion of Fock space are crucial in this framework.

Generalized Finite-Difference Time-Domain Schemes For Solving Nonlinear Schrödinger Equations, Frederick Ira Moxley Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

The nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) is one of the most widely applicable equations in physical science, and characterizes nonlinear dispersive waves, optics, water waves, and the dynamics of molecules. The NLSE satisfies many mathematical conservation laws. Moreover, due to the nonlinearity, the NLSE often requires a numerical solution, which also satisfies the conservation laws. Some of the more popular numerical methods for solving the NLSE include the finite difference, finite element, and spectral methods such as the pseudospectral, split-step with Fourier transform, and integrating factor coupled with a Fourier transform. With regard to the finite difference and finite element methods, …

Some Contributions Of Pure Math To Science, Herbert B.E. Case

Student and Lippitt Prize Essays

An examination of the connection between math and science through discoveries in the subjects of astronomy, mechanics, physics and chemistry.