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Articles 61 - 90 of 294

Full-Text Articles in Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

Synthesis, Structural And Thermal Studies Of Dl-Alanine Potassium Di- Chromate Single Crystals, Sundararaj Lincy Mary Ponmani, Soundararajan Gnanakkan Pushpalatha Gracelin, Somasundaram Selvakumar, Subbaiah Chelladurai Vella Durai Mar 2024

Synthesis, Structural And Thermal Studies Of Dl-Alanine Potassium Di- Chromate Single Crystals, Sundararaj Lincy Mary Ponmani, Soundararajan Gnanakkan Pushpalatha Gracelin, Somasundaram Selvakumar, Subbaiah Chelladurai Vella Durai

Makara Journal of Science

Amino acids and their complexes are organic or semiorganic materials that have attracted considerable attention because they can be easily used in optical storage devices. DL-alanine is one of the rare amino acids that crystallizes in anoncentrosymmetric group. This article demonstrates how DL-alanine potassium dichromate (DAPC) single crystals have shown sufficient growth. DAPC crystals were analyzed by single crystal X-ray diffraction and powder X-ray diffraction. Using thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) and differential scanning calorimetry, this work also examined the melting point, thermal stability, decomposition point, and other thermal parameters of the DAPC crystals. Results show that the decomposition point …


Questioning Reality: The Progressive Development Of Modern Physics, Joshua Lancman Jan 2024

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 …


Probing The Ising Model’S Thermodynamics Through Restricted Boltzmann Machines, Xiaobei (Emma) Zhang Jan 2024

Probing The Ising Model’S Thermodynamics Through Restricted Boltzmann Machines, Xiaobei (Emma) Zhang

HMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the connection between physics and machine learning by using Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBMs) to study the thermodynamic properties of the Ising model. The Ising model is a simple but realistic model that captures the magnetic behavior of a system, where spins occupy a lattice of sites and different spin configurations correspond to different energies. The model exhibits phase transitions between ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases as a function of temperature. RBMs are two-layered neural networks that can learn probability distributions over binary spins. The study generates 2D Ising model data at different temperatures using Monte Carlo simulations, including …


Orbital And Spin Angular Momentum Light Generation, Interactions, Special Photons, And Applications In Liquids, Solids, Vapors And Biological Tissue Media, Sandra Mamani Reyes Jan 2024

Orbital And Spin Angular Momentum Light Generation, Interactions, Special Photons, And Applications In Liquids, Solids, Vapors And Biological Tissue Media, Sandra Mamani Reyes

Dissertations and Theses

Photons possess many characteristics such as wavelength, coherence, speed, polarization and wavefront. The aim of this thesis is the study of two salient properties of light exploring light carrying polarization and space degree of freedom of the wavefront. The wavefront of light is complex with different states of polarization. Special light beams are generated and characterized for interaction with liquids, solids, vapors, and bio- materials to understand fundamental processes such as Transmission, Raman scattering, and Optical Kerr Effect in steady state and temporal domains.

It has been more than hundred years since it is known that light can carry other …


Interpreting Neural Operators: How Nonlinear Waves Propagate In Non-Reciprocal Solids, Jonathan Colen, Alexis Poncet, Denis Bartolo, Vincenzo Vitelli Jan 2024

Interpreting Neural Operators: How Nonlinear Waves Propagate In Non-Reciprocal Solids, Jonathan Colen, Alexis Poncet, Denis Bartolo, Vincenzo Vitelli

Data Science Faculty Publications

We present a data-driven pipeline for model building that combines interpretable machine learning, hydrodynamic theories, and microscopic models. The goal is to uncover the underlying processes governing nonlinear dynamics experiments. We exemplify our method with data from microfluidic experiments where crystals of streaming droplets support the propagation of nonlinear waves absent in passive crystals. By combining physics-inspired neural networks, known as neural operators, with symbolic regression tools, we generate the solution, as well as the mathematical form, of a nonlinear dynamical system that accurately models the experimental data. Finally, we interpret this continuum model from fundamental physics principles. Informed by …


Progress In Physics: Twentieth Year Of Publication, Florentin Smarandache, Andreas Ries, Pierre Millette, Ebenezer Chifu Jan 2024

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.


Hydrodynamics Of Drops And Particles Driven By Marangoni And Diffusiophoretic Forces, Subramaniam Chembai Ganesh Jan 2024

Hydrodynamics Of Drops And Particles Driven By Marangoni And Diffusiophoretic Forces, Subramaniam Chembai Ganesh

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates the hydrodynamics of particles and drops driven by forces generated by an asymmetrical physical and chemical surrounding environment. In the first part, a novel colloidal motor design driven by surface tension forces is proposed, utilizing an active Janus particle encapsulated in an immiscible liquid drop to form a compound drop/particle. Marangoni forces induced by asymmetric solute adsorption at the liquid-liquid interface of the drop propels the compound system. The propulsion speeds of the motor are analyzed for various relative sizes and configurations of the Janus particle and the encapsulating drop and the effects of varying the transport …


Leveraging Redundancy As A Link Between Spreading Dynamics On And Of Networks, Felipe Xavier Costa Jan 2024

Leveraging Redundancy As A Link Between Spreading Dynamics On And Of Networks, Felipe Xavier Costa

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

A constant quest in network science has been in the development of methods to identify the most relevant components in a dynamical system solely via the interaction structure amongst its subsystems. This information allows the development of control and intervention strategies in biochemical signaling and epidemic spreading. We highlight the relevant components in heterogeneous dynamical system by their patterns of redundancy, which can connect how dynamics affect network topology and which pathways are necessary to spreading phenomena on networks. In order to measure the redundancies in a large class of empirical systems, we develop the backbone of directed networks methodology, …


Dependence Of Energy Transfer On Curvature Similarity In Collisions Involving Curved Shock Fronts, Justin Cassell Jan 2024

Dependence Of Energy Transfer On Curvature Similarity In Collisions Involving Curved Shock Fronts, Justin Cassell

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In high-speed collisions of projectiles, pressure exerted by a resulting shock wave is so high that even solids begin to flow and hydrodynamics becomes relevant. Jetting results from hydrodynamic instability driving the evolution of an interface following shock loading. Our emphasis in this dissertation is mitigation of instabilities via several shocks and, specifically, the transfer of energy from a shock wave to another object. To that end, in 2022 and 2023 while on-site, we adapted Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to explore the effects of shock front geometry on the transfer of energy during shock collisions via numerous computer simulations. …


Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia Dec 2023

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …


Combined Risk Based Inspection And Fault Tree Analysis For Repetitive 3-Phase Line Piping Leakage At West Java Offshore Topside Facility, Dona Yuliati, Akhmad Herman Yuwono, D. Rizal Asral, Donanta Dhaneswara Dec 2023

Combined Risk Based Inspection And Fault Tree Analysis For Repetitive 3-Phase Line Piping Leakage At West Java Offshore Topside Facility, Dona Yuliati, Akhmad Herman Yuwono, D. Rizal Asral, Donanta Dhaneswara

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

Hydrocarbon releases might result in serious consequences in various aspects. In addition to the contribution to environmental pollution, repetitive leakages need high repair costs. This study aim is to minimize potential repetitive leakage for other typical 3-phase piping systems. We conducted the risk assessment by adopting Risk Based Inspection (RBI) API 581 to identify risk level, calculating piping lifetime, recommended inspection plan and mitigations. The most relevant root causes can be obtained through quantitative Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). Observation and investigation was taken from eight 3-phase piping systems that experienced repetitive leakages. It has been found that the risk level …


Nitrogen Gas Quenching Pressure Effect On Bs S155 Alloy Steel In Vacuum Furnace, Agus Mulyadi Hasanudin, Eddy Sumarno Siradj Dec 2023

Nitrogen Gas Quenching Pressure Effect On Bs S155 Alloy Steel In Vacuum Furnace, Agus Mulyadi Hasanudin, Eddy Sumarno Siradj

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

The production of metal and alloy products requires the use of heat treatment, when during the heat treatment process, quenching is a crucial step. The quenching medium can be anything from water, a salt bath, oil, air and gas. In a vacuum furnace, pressurized gas, most frequently nitrogen (N2) gas, serves as one of the quenching mediums. One of the drawbacks of the quenching process is the distortion and dimensional change of the parts. This paper aims to investigate the influence of nitrogen gas quenching pressure on the distortion and dimensional change of aerospace actuator gear planet parts …


Aspects Of Stochastic Geometric Mechanics In Molecular Biophysics, David Frost Dec 2023

Aspects Of Stochastic Geometric Mechanics In Molecular Biophysics, David Frost

All Dissertations

In confocal single-molecule FRET experiments, the joint distribution of FRET efficiency and donor lifetime distribution can reveal underlying molecular conformational dynamics via deviation from their theoretical Forster relationship. This shift is referred to as a dynamic shift. In this study, we investigate the influence of the free energy landscape in protein conformational dynamics on the dynamic shift by simulation of the associated continuum reaction coordinate Langevin dynamics, yielding a deeper understanding of the dynamic and structural information in the joint FRET efficiency and donor lifetime distribution. We develop novel Langevin models for the dye linker dynamics, including rotational dynamics, based …


Langevin Dynamic Models For Smfret Dynamic Shift, David Frost, Keisha Cook Dr, Hugo Sanabria Dr Nov 2023

Langevin Dynamic Models For Smfret Dynamic Shift, David Frost, Keisha Cook Dr, Hugo Sanabria Dr

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.


A Model For The Multi-Virus Contact Process, Xu Huang Oct 2023

A Model For The Multi-Virus Contact Process, Xu Huang

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal

We study one specific version of the contact process on a graph. Here, we allow multiple infections carried by the nodes and include a probability of removing nodes in a graph. The removal probability is purely determined by the number of infections the node carries at the moment when it gets another infection. In this paper, we show that on any finite graph, any positive value of infection rate $\lambda$ will result in the death of the process almost surely. In the case of $d$-regular infinite trees, We also give a lower bound on the infection rate in order for …


Quantifying Temperature-, Pressure-, And Nuclear Quantum Effects On Hydrophobic And Hydrophilic Water-Mediated Interactions, Justin T. Engstler Sep 2023

Quantifying Temperature-, Pressure-, And Nuclear Quantum Effects On Hydrophobic And Hydrophilic Water-Mediated Interactions, Justin T. Engstler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Water-mediated interactions (WMIs) are responsible for diverse processes in aqueous solutions, including protein folding and nanoparticle aggregation. WMI may be affected by changes in temperature and pressure, and hence, they can alter chemical/physical processes that occur in aqueous environments. Traditionally, attention has been focused on hydrophobic interactions while, in comparison, the role of hydrophilic and hybrid (hydrophobic–hydrophilic) interactions have been mostly overlooked. Here, we study the role of T and P on the WMI between nanoscale (i) hydrophobic–hydrophobic, (ii) hydrophilic–hydrophilic, and (iii) hydrophilic–hydrophobic pairs of (hydroxylated/non-hydroxylated) graphene-based surfaces. We find that hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and hybrid interactions are all sensitive to …


Bacterial Motion And Spread In Porous Environments, Yasser Almoteri Aug 2023

Bacterial Motion And Spread In Porous Environments, Yasser Almoteri

Dissertations

Micro-swimmers are ubiquitous in nature from soil and water to mammalian bodies and even many technological processes. Common known examples are microbes such as bacteria, micro-algae and micro-plankton, cells such as spermatozoa and organisms such as nematodes. These swimmers live and have evolved in multiplex environments and complex flows in the presence of other swimmers and types, inert particles and fibers, interfaces and non-trivial confinements and more. Understanding the locomotion and interactions of these individual micro-swimmers in such impure viscous fluids is crucial to understanding the emergent dynamics of such complex systems, and to further enabling us to control and …


Experimental And Computational Aerodynamic Studies Of Axially-Oriented Low-Fineness-Ratio Cylinders, Forrest Miller Aug 2023

Experimental And Computational Aerodynamic Studies Of Axially-Oriented Low-Fineness-Ratio Cylinders, Forrest Miller

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

For the successful completion of atmospheric entry, descent, and landing (EDL) missions, a body geometry must be selected which provides favorable dynamic aerodynamic properties. The types of experimental facilities capable of collecting information on these properties are limited; however, their numbers are growing thanks to the continued work by the aerodynamics community. NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) is conducting dynamic aerodynamic testing using a subsonic magnetic suspension and balance system (MSBS), with the end goal of implementing a supersonic MSBS facility at NASA Glenn Research Center. MSBSs are also currently used at the Institute of Fluid Science (IFS) at Tohoku …


Topics On Asymmetric Classification, Subhrasish Chakraborty May 2023

Topics On Asymmetric Classification, Subhrasish Chakraborty

Dissertations

Asymmetric classification refers to a situation where the cost of misclassifying one class is significantly higher than the cost of misclassifying the other class. This problem is common in many real-world scenarios, such as medical diagnosis or fraud detection. In this dissertation two of the common types of asymmetric classification problems have been dealt with — imbalanced classification and ordinal classification. An example of imbalanced classification is to detect fraudulent credit card transactions where the distribution of the normal and fraud transactions are extremely skewed. On the other hand, ordinal classification, also known as ordinal regression, is widely used in …


Tardys Quantifiers: Extracting Temporal And Reversible Dynamical Symmetries, Nhat Vu Minh Nguyen, Arjendu K. Pattanayak, Andres Aragoneses May 2023

Tardys Quantifiers: Extracting Temporal And Reversible Dynamical Symmetries, Nhat Vu Minh Nguyen, Arjendu K. Pattanayak, Andres Aragoneses

2023 Symposium

One of the great challenges in complex and chaotic dynamics is to reveal the details of its underlying determinism. This can be manifest in the form of temporal correlations or structured patterns in the dynamics of a measurable variable. These temporal dynamical structures are sometimes a consequence of hidden global symmetries. Here we identify the temporal (approximate) symmetries of a semiconductor laser with external optical feedback, based on which we define the Temporal And Reversible DYnamical Symmetry (TARDYS) quantifiers to evaluate the relevance of specific temporal correlations in a time series. We show that these symmetries are also present in …


Effective Non-Hermiticity And Topology In Markovian Quadratic Bosonic Dynamics, Vincent Paul Flynn May 2023

Effective Non-Hermiticity And Topology In Markovian Quadratic Bosonic Dynamics, Vincent Paul Flynn

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in re-imagining many-body quantum phenomena beyond equilibrium. One such effort has extended the symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase classification of non-interacting fermions to driven and dissipative settings, uncovering novel topological phenomena that are not known to exist in equilibrium which may have wide-ranging applications in quantum science. Similar physics in non-interacting bosonic systems has remained elusive. Even at equilibrium, an "effective non-Hermiticity" intrinsic to bosonic Hamiltonians poses theoretical challenges. While this non-Hermiticity has been acknowledged, its implications have not been explored in-depth. Beyond this dynamical peculiarity, major roadblocks have arisen in the search …


The Future Is Now In Twisted Coil Polymer Actuators (Tcpa), Ryan Ronquillo May 2023

The Future Is Now In Twisted Coil Polymer Actuators (Tcpa), Ryan Ronquillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aimed to fabricate and test twisted coiled polymer actuators (TCPA) to understand the mechanical and thermal aspects of this artificial muscle fiber. The purpose of this thesis was to find a linear relationship using the LVDT sensor, fabricating TCPA fibers, and interpreting the data. The project tested whether nylon/polymer could be used as a better artificial muscle fiber.

This research accomplished three goals: (1) designing and fabricating a system capable of creating supercoiled muscle fibers consistently, (2) calibrating the Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) and Core, and (3) analyzing/interpreting the data of the Twisted Coiled Polymer Actuators (TCPA) …


Simulating Mass Extinctions In An Agent-Based Evolutionary Model, Emily Vastola, Will Hayes, Joe Milliano, Tyler Hanke, Ian Heye, Dawn M. King, Sonya Bahar Apr 2023

Simulating Mass Extinctions In An Agent-Based Evolutionary Model, Emily Vastola, Will Hayes, Joe Milliano, Tyler Hanke, Ian Heye, Dawn M. King, Sonya Bahar

Undergraduate Research Symposium

In an agent-based model of evolutionary dynamics which has been shown to undergo a nonequilibrium phase transition from extinction to survival, we apply coalescent theory to investigate the responses of population lineages to simulated mass extinctions. In the model, organisms reproduce via assortative mating on a neutral fitness landscape; parameters including the mutability (distance offspring may be distributed away from their parents in the fitness landscape) and the death parameter (percentage of organisms randomly removed during each generation) control the phase transition. Lineage structure can be characterized using the time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA). We examine how this …


Analysis And Methodology Of Helical And Flexible Homopolymer Monte Carlo Simulations, Nathan Roberts Apr 2023

Analysis And Methodology Of Helical And Flexible Homopolymer Monte Carlo Simulations, Nathan Roberts

Honors College Theses

The purpose of my work is to analyze the results of Monte Carlo simulations of various types of polymers: a helical homopolymer and a flexible homopolymer. Specific applications of Monte Carlo polymer simulations and parallel tempering replica exchanges are presented. Using temporal analysis, I aim to measure the efficiency of each type of simulation as it relates to equilibration time. For the helical homopolymer model, equilibration time is expanded upon to analyze the rate of structure generation and relevant hyper-phase diagram. Stable states for helical homopolymers will use data generated from parallel tempering replica exchange Monte Carlo simulations created by …


One-Dimensional And Two-Dimensional Simulations Of Helical Homopolymers: A Comparative Analysis Of Energy Stabilization And Efficiency​, Nathan Roberts, Matthew Hooks Apr 2023

One-Dimensional And Two-Dimensional Simulations Of Helical Homopolymers: A Comparative Analysis Of Energy Stabilization And Efficiency​, Nathan Roberts, Matthew Hooks

Scholars Week

The purpose of our work is to analyze the results of a two-dimensional parallel tempering Monte Carlo simulation of a coarse-grained helical homopolymer. The two-dimensional simulation allows Hamiltonian exchanges across both temperature and torsion values, while the one-dimensional simulation exclusively exchanges across temperature values. The genesis of each simulation is defined by a randomly configured polymer; as time progresses, randomly generated movements of monomers decrease the structure’s energy until equilibrium is reached. Equilibrium is determined by finding the absolute minimum of the data series, computing the mean of all remaining data, and finding the intersection between the rolling average and …


Magnetic Interactions In Open-Shell Conjugated Polymers, Michael Steelman Jan 2023

Magnetic Interactions In Open-Shell Conjugated Polymers, Michael Steelman

Dissertations

Most materials are closed shell in which every electron participates in a bond, resulting in unremarkable magnetometry signatures and functionalities. While rare, modern technologies rely on magnetic materials in which unpaired electrons are localized to inorganic atomic centers. In recent decades, a collection of organic open-shell π-conjugated molecules have shown magnetic ordering, albeit at exceedingly low temperatures; a result of weak noncovalent intermolecular interactions limiting long range electronic exchange. Thus, practically applicable sp orbital magnetism that persists at or above room temperature remains a grand challenge for chemistry and physics. Despite the wide variety of chemical structures afforded by organic …


Long-Range And Chaotic Active Mixing Of Swimming Microbes In A Vortex Chain Flow, Nghia Le Jan 2023

Long-Range And Chaotic Active Mixing Of Swimming Microbes In A Vortex Chain Flow, Nghia Le

Honors Theses

We present experiments studying the motion and active mixing of swimming mi- crobes in laminar, vortex-dominated fluid flows. We are testing a theory that predicts the existence of swimming invariant manifolds (SwIMs) - invisible, one-way barriers blocking the paths of self-propelled tracers in the flow in one direction. We also pro- pose that the SwIMs together can form chute structures in three-dimensional phase space that facilitate cross-vortex transport of the microbes. We also observe evidence of how these structures promote long-range transport at different non-dimensional velocities (microbe’s velocity relative to flow velocity). Long-range transport is quan- tified by measuring the …


A High-Precision Electron Emission Model: Computational Methods For Nanoscale Structures, Alister J. Tencate Jan 2023

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 …


Mechanisms Of Emulsion Destabilization: An Investigation Of Surfactant, Stabilizer, And Detergent Based Formulations Using Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy, Jordan N. Nowaczyk Jan 2023

Mechanisms Of Emulsion Destabilization: An Investigation Of Surfactant, Stabilizer, And Detergent Based Formulations Using Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy, Jordan N. Nowaczyk

Theses and Dissertations

Conventional approaches for studying emulsions, such as microscopy and macroscopic phase tracking, present challenges when it comes to establishing detailed mechanistic descriptions of the impact of emulsifier and stabilizer additives. Additionally, while a combination of sizing methods and macroscopic phase tracking can provide insights into droplet size changes and concentration, the use of multiple measurements can be cumbersome and error-prone. It is the focus of this work, to present a new method for studying water in oil (W/O) emulsions that involves using diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS) to examine the impact of three different surface stabilizing additives at varying concentrations. By …


Large Cloud Droplets And The Initiation Of Ice By Pressure Fluctuations: Molecular Simulations And Airborne In-Situ Observations, Elise Rosky Jan 2023

Large Cloud Droplets And The Initiation Of Ice By Pressure Fluctuations: Molecular Simulations And Airborne In-Situ Observations, Elise Rosky

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

From the molecular dynamics of water molecules to the global processes that control atmospheric circulation: describing the evolution of atmospheric clouds necessitates physics that spans vast spatial scales. In this work, steps are taken towards connecting the molecular physics of ice-nucleation to the growth and subsequent freezing of cloud droplets in convective cumulus clouds. Motivated by experimental evidence of ice nucleation triggered by agitation and distortion of a water droplet surface, the first study in this dissertation uses molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate that negative Laplace pressure from a curved water surface leads to heterogeneous ice nucleation at higher temperatures. …