Other Physics Commons^™

Investigating The Proposed Affordances And Limitations Of The Substance Metaphor For Energy, Lisa Goodhew

Honors Projects

This study explores the instructional advantages and disadvantages of representing energy as a material substance; this is done in the context of a computer simulation that illustrates processes of energy transfer and transformation. These affordances and limitations have been proposed in science education literature as extensions of the substance metaphor itself, but there is little empirical evidence to support them. This study is intended to provide preliminary empirical evidence for these affordances and limitations. We examine data from eight interviews conducted with students from Seattle Pacific University’s introductory physics classes as they used the simulation. We explore the hypotheses that …

Exploring The Relationship Between A Fluid Container's Geometry And When It Will Balance On Edge, Ryan J. Moriarty

Physics

At some point while consuming a beverage, many people will idly try to balance its container on edge. The act itself is physically straightforward, merely involving the system's center of mass and achieving a static equilibrium between the opposing torques caused by gravity and the normal force between the container and the surface on which it balances. Further analysis of the act, however, illuminates the richness of the exercise.

These nuances are apparent even in simplified two-dimensional models because of the depth of the relationship between a container's geometry and achieving balance. The purpose of such analysis is threefold: first, …

Turbulence, Climate And Supercomputers, Georgios Matheou

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

Turbulence is often referred to as the last mystery of classical physics. Although turbulence is ubiquitous and prominent in our daily lives – from the mixing of milk in a cup of coffee to the perpetual motion of the atmosphere and the resulting weather variation – our understanding of this complex phenomenon is comparatively very limited (e.g., Davidson et al., 2011).

Shadows In Time: A Study Of Temporal Metaphysics Through Hard Science Fiction And Its Restrictions On The Past And Future, Lindsey E. Mitchell

Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research

Through a series of essays, this body of work explores the varying theories concerning the nature of time and how each theory affects the possibility and outcome of time travel. Following these essays, a collection of short stories focuses on what the author considers the most probable theories concerning time and expands on how they might affect a time traveler's decisions and fate.

Superfluidity In Neutron Stars, Samuel J. Witte

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Nucleon pairing is studied with specific considerations directed toward the possible influence on neutron star cooling. We present an in-depth analysis of BCS theory using realistic nuclear potentials and consider the impact short-range correlations can have on the gap. Gap calculations are incorporated into neutron star cooling simulations and the significance of the 3P2 −3F2 channel in various hadronic cooling models is closely examined. An analysis of the 1S0 gap in neutron matter suggests short-range correlations can drastically alter the magnitude, density range, and temperature dependence of the gap. While the newly constructed 1S0 gap does not significantly alter the …

Breaking Glass: Exploring The Relationship Between Kinetic Energy And Radial Fracturing In Plate Glass, Andrea Hulman

Scripps Senior Theses

When glass breaks from the impact of an object, it exhibits a distinctive shattering pattern comprised of two different regions. This pattern was investigated using experimental impacts and predicted using Young’s Modulus. Results were not as expected, and it is likely that there exists error in some measurements. Further investigation of this topic is recommended.

Short-Distance Structure Of Nuclei, D. W. Higinbotham, E. Piasetzky, L. Weinstein, S. A. Wood

Physics Faculty Publications

One of Jefferson Lab's original missions was to further our understanding of the short-distance structure of nuclei, in particular, to understand what happens when two or more nucleons within a nucleus have strongly overlapping wave-functions – a phenomena commonly referred to as short-range correlations. Herein, we review the results of the (e, e'), (e, e'p) and (e, e'pN) reactions that have been used at Jefferson Lab to probe this short-distance structure as well as provide an outlook for future experiments.

African-American College Student Attitudes Toward Physics And Their Effect On Achievement, Carl Timothy Drake

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting the attitudes that African-American college students have towards introductory college physics. The population targeted for this study consisted of African-American males and females enrolled in introductory college physics classes at an urban public historical black college or university (HBCU) located in the southeastern United States. Nine of the Fennema- Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales, modified for physics, were used to analyze the attitudes of the 135 participants enrolled in an introductory college physics class. The nine scales used to measure the students' attitudes were Attitude Toward Success in Physics Scale (AS), …

Erratum: Cross Sections For The 𝛾p -> K*⁰ Σ⁺ Reaction At E𝛾 = 1.7-3.0 Gev (Physical Review C. 75, 042201), M. Amarian, H. Bagdasaryan, S. Bültmann, G. E. Dodge, G. Gavalian, C. E. Hyde-Wright, A. Klein, S. E. Kuhn, F. Sabatié, L. B. Weinstein, Et. Al., The Clas Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Erratum: Η' Photoproduction On The Proton For Photon Energies From 1.527 To 2.227 Gev (Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, Pg 062001, 2006), H. Bagdasaryan, M. Bektasoglu, S. L. Careccia, K. V. Dharmawardane, G. E. Dodge, C. E. Hyde-Wright, A. Klein, S. E. Kuhn, L. M. Qin, F. Sabatié, L. B. Weinstein, Et Al., Clas Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Publisher's Note: Η Photoproduction On The Proton For Photon Energies From 0.75 To 1.95 Gev [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 222002 (2002)], M. Bektasoglu, K. V. Dharmawardane, G. E. Dodge, C. E. Hyde-Wright, A. Klein, S. E. Kuhn, R. A. Niyazov, S. Stepanyan, L. B. Weinstein, Et Al., Clas Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Placement Of Bright S88b Objects On A Hertzprung-Russel Diagram Using Visible Light Measurements, Geoffrey A. Bonvallet

Physics Senior Independent Study Theses

Thesis digitized from Physics Department I.S. Archive.

Oscillons: Resonant Configurations During Bubble Collapse, E J. Copeland, M Gleiser, H R. Müller

Dartmouth Scholarship

Oscillons are localized, non-singular, time-dependent, spherically-symmetric solutions of nonlinear scalar field theories which, although unstable, are extremely long-lived. We show that they naturally appear during the collapse of subcritical bubbles in models with symmetric and asymmetric double-well potentials. By a combination of analytical and numerical work we explain several of their properties, including the conditions for their existence, their longevity, and their final demise. We discuss several contexts in which we expect oscillons to be relevant. In particular, their nucleation during cosmological phase transitions may have wide-rangingconsequences.

Supersymmetry And The Tunneling Problem In An Asymmetric Double Well, Asim Gangopadhyaya, Prasanta K. Panigrahi, Uday P. Sukhatne

Physics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The techniques of supersymmetric quantum mechanics are applied to the calculation of the energy difference between the ground state and the first excited state of an asymmetric double well. This splitting, originating from the tunneling effect, is computed via a systematic, rapidly converging perturbation expansion. Perturbative calculations to any order can be easily carried out using a logarithmic perturbation theory. Our approach yield substantially better results than alternative widely used semiclassical analyses.

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.