Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons^™

Thermal Reaction Wave Simulation Using Micro And Macro Scale Interaction Model, Andrei A. Markov, Igor A. Filimonov, Karen S. Martirosyan

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The thermal wave, propagating in a cylindrical tube, is numerically simulated. The technique is developed in order to provide the scale capturing as well as the stable algorithm for numerical simulation of the combustion wave. Based on the model kinetics scheme, the fields of temperature, mass fractions, and particle radius are presented for the various values of similarity parameters of the problem. The highly accurate method enables to control scales interaction and justifies various flow structures. The phase composition, structure, and morphology of the condensed product as well as the rate of the oxidation and phase transition are predicted using …

Propagation Of Quantized Fields In Negative-Index Media, Martin K. Ligare, J. Mod

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Magnetometry With Mesospheric Sodium, James M. Higbie, Simon M. Rocheste, Brian Patton, Ronald Holzlöhner, Domenico Bonaccini Calia, Dmitry Budker

Faculty Journal Articles

Mental reversal of imagined melodies:

A Keck Lgs Ao Search For Brown Dwarf And Planetary Mass Companions To Upper Scorpius Brown Dwarfs, B. Biller, Katelyn N. Allers, Michael Liu, Laird Close, Trent Dupuy

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Fine-Scale Structures In Saturn's Rings Waves, Wakes And Ghosts, Kevin Baille

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Cassini mission provided wonderful tools to explore Saturn, its satellites and its rings system. The UVIS instrument allowed stellar occultation observations of structures in the rings with the best resolution available (around 10 meters depending on geometry and navigation), bringing our understanding of the physics of the rings to the next level. In particular, we have been able to observe, dissect, model and test the interactions between the satellites and the rings. We first looked at kilometer-wide structures generated by resonances with satellites orbiting outside the main rings. The observation of structures in the C ring and their association …

Superluminal Neutrinos At Opera Confront Pion Decay Kinematics, Ramanath Cowsick, Shmuel Nussinov, Utpal Sarkar

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Violation of Lorentz invariance (VLI) has been suggested as an explanation of the superluminal velocities of muon neutrinos reported by OPERA. In this Letter, we show that the amount of VLI required to explain this result poses severe difficulties with the kinematics of the pion decay, extending its lifetime and reducing the momentum carried away by the neutrinos. We show that the OPERA experiment limits alpha = (upsilon(v) - c)/c < 4 x 10(-6). We then take recourse to cosmic-ray data on the spectrum of muons and neutrinos generated in Earth's atmosphere to provide a stronger bound on VLI: (upsilon - c)/c < 10(-12).

The Behavior Of Nanothermite Reaction Based On Bi2o3/Al, L. Wang, D. Luss, Karen S. Martirosyan

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We studied the impact of aluminum particle size and the thickness of surrounding alumina layer on the dynamic pressure discharge of nanothermite reactions in the Bi2O3/Al system. A pressure discharge from 9 to 13 MPa was generated using as-synthesized Bi2O3 nano-particles produced by combustion synthesis and Al nanoparticles with size from 3 μm to 100 nm. The maximum reaction temperature was measured to be ∼2700 °C. The estimated activation energy of the reaction was 45 kJ/mol. A very large (several orders of magnitude) difference existed between the rate of the pressure pulse release by nanothermite reactions and by thermite …

Directional Limits On Persistent Gravitational Waves Using Ligo S5 Science Data, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, Matthew Benacquista, Teviet Creighton, R. Grosso, J. Li, Soma Mukherjee, Soumya Mohanty, Malik Rakhmanov, Volker Quetschke, Robert Stone, Joseph D. Romano, B. Vaishnav

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The gravitational-wave (GW) sky may include nearby pointlike sources as well as stochastic backgrounds. We perform two directional searches for persistent GWs using data from the LIGO S5 science run: one optimized for pointlike sources and one for arbitrary extended sources. Finding no evidence to support the detection of GWs, we present 90% confidence level (C.L.) upper-limit maps of GW strain power with typical values between 2−20×10−50  strain2 Hz−1 and 5−35×10−49  strain2 Hz−1 sr−1 for pointlike and extended sources, respectively. The latter result is the first of its kind. We also set 90% C.L. limits on the narrow-band root-mean-square GW …

Magnetization Precession And Domainwall Structure In Cobalt-Ruthenium-Cobalt Trilayers, Zhen Li, Ralph Skomski, Sy-Hwang Liou, Steven Michalski, Mircea Chipara, Roger D. Kirby

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The magnetization dynamics of Co(5 nm)/Ru/Co(5 nm) trilayers with Ru thicknesses from 0.3–0.6 nm is experimentally and theoretically investigated. The coupling between the Co layers is antiferromagnetic (AFM) and yields a stable AFM domain structure with frozen domain walls. Comparing high-resolution magnetic force microscopy (MFM) and pump-probe measurements, we analyze the behavior of the films for different field-strength regimes. For moderate magnetic fields, pump-probe measurements provide dynamic characterization of the coupled precessional modes in the GHz range. The dynamics at small fields is realized by the pinning of AFM domain walls at inhomogeneities. The MFM images yield a domain-wall width …

Teaching Introductory Undergraduate Physics Using Commercial Video Games, Soumya Mohanty, Sergio Cantu

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Commercial video games are increasingly using sophisticated physics simulations to create a more immersive experience for players. This also makes them a powerful tool for engaging students in learning physics. We provide some examples to show how commercial off-the-shelf games can be used to teach specific topics in introductory undergraduate physics. The examples are selected from a course taught predominantly through the medium of commercial video games.

Precise Measurements Of Beam Spin Asymmetries In Semi-Inclusive Π0 Production, M. Aghasyan, H. Avakian, P. Rossi, E. De Sanctis, D. Hasch, M. Mirazita, D. Adikaram, M. J. Amaryan, M. Anghinolfi, H. Baghdasaryan, R. P. Bennett, S. Bültmann, G. E. Dodge, C. E. Hyde, A. Klein, S. E. Kuhn, M. Mayer, H. Seraydaryan, L. B. Weinstein

Physics Faculty Publications

We present studies of single-spin asymmetries for neutral pion electroproduction in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of 5.776 GeV polarized electrons from an unpolarized hydrogen target, using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. A substantial sin phi(h) amplitude has been measured in the distribution of the cross section asymmetry as a function of the azimuthal angle φh of the produced neutral pion. The dependence of this amplitude on Bjorken x and on the pion transverse momentum is extracted with significantly higher precision than previous data and is compared to model calculations. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V.

Photon Impact Factor In The Next-To-Leading Order, Ian Balitsky, Giovanni A. Chirilli

Physics Faculty Publications

An analytic coordinate-space expression for the next-to-leading order photon impact factor for small-x deep inelastic scattering is calculated using the operator expansion in Wilson lines.

Two-Body Photodisintegration Of 3he Between 7 And 16 Mev, W. Tornow, H. J. Karwowski, J. H. Kelley, R. Raut, G. Rusev, S. C. Stave, A. P. Tonchev, A. Deltuva, A. C. Fonseca, L. E. Marcucci, R. Schiavilla

Physics Faculty Publications

A comprehensive data set is reported for the two-body photodisintegration cross section of ³He using mono-energetic photon beams at eleven energies between 7.0 and 16.0 MeV. A ³He + Xe high-pressure gas scintillator served as target and detector. Although our data are in much better agreement with our state-of-the-art theoretical calculations than the majority of the previous data, these calculations underpredict the new data by about 10%. This disagreement suggests an incomplete understanding of the dynamics of the three-nucleon system and its response to electromagnetic probes.

Evolution Of The Differential Transverse Momentum Correlation Function With Centrality In Au + Au Collisions At √Snn = 200 Gev, G. Agakishiev, M. M. Aggarwal, Z. Ahammed, A. V. Alakhverdyants, I. Alekseev, J. Alford, B. D. Anderson, C. D. Anson, D. Arhipkin, G. S. Averichev, S. Bültmann, D. Plyku

Physics Faculty Publications

We present first measurements of the evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function, C, with collision centrality in Au + Au interactions at √^sNN = 200 GeV. This observable exhibits a strong dependence on collision centrality that is qualitatively similar to that of number correlations previously reported. We use the observed longitudinal broadening of the near-side peak of C with increasing centrality to estimate the ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density, η / s , of the matter formed in central Au + Au interactions. We obtain an upper limit estimate of η / s …

The Fossil Record Of Two-Phase Galaxy Assembly: Kinematics And Metallicities In The Nearest S0 Galaxy, J, A, Arnold, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. P. Brodie, L. Chomiuk, L. R. Spitler, J. Strader, A. J. Benson, D. A. Forbes

Faculty Publications

We present a global analysis of kinematics and metallicity in the nearest S0 galaxy, NGC 3115, along with implications for its assembly history. The data include high-quality wide-field imaging from Suprime-Cam on the Subaru telescope, and multi-slit spectra of the field stars and globular clusters (GCs) obtained using Keck-DEIMOS/LRIS and Magellan-IMACS. Within two effective radii, the bulge (as traced by the stars and metal-rich GCs) is flattened and rotates rapidly (v/σ gsim 1.5). At larger radii, the rotation declines dramatically to v/σ ~ 0.7, but remains well aligned with the inner regions. The radial decrease in characteristic metallicity of both …

Star Clusters In M31: Old Clusters With Bar Kinematics, H. Morrison, N. Caldwell, R. P. Schiavon, E. Athanassoula, Aaron J. Romanowsky, P. Harding

Faculty Publications

We analyze our accurate kinematical data for the old clusters in the inner regions of M31. These velocities are based on high signal-to-noise Hectospec data. The data are well suited for analysis of M31's inner regions because we took particular care to correct for contamination by unresolved field stars from the disk and bulge in the fibers. The metal-poor clusters show kinematics that are compatible with a pressure-supported spheroid. The kinematics of metal-rich clusters, however, argue for a disk population. In particular the innermost region (inside 2 kpc) shows the kinematics of the x 2 family of bar periodic orbits, …

Evidence For Two Phases Of Galaxy Formation From Radial Trends In The Globular Cluster System Of Ngc 1407, D. A. Forbes, L. R. Spitler, J. Strader, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. P. Brodie, C. Foster

Faculty Publications

Here we present the colours of individual globular clusters (GCs) around the massive elliptical galaxy NGC 1407 out to a projected galactocentric radius of 140 kpc or 17 galaxy effective radii (Re). Such data are a proxy for the halo metallicity. We find steep, and similar, metallicity gradients of ∼−0.4 dex dex−1 for both the blue (metal poor) and red (metal rich) GC subpopulations within 5–8.5 Re (40–70 kpc). At larger radii the mean GC colours (metallicity) are constant. A similar behaviour is seen in a wide-field study of M87's GC system, and in our own Galaxy. We interpret these …

The Dark Halo Of He Hydra I Galaxy Cluster: Core, Cusp, Cosmological? Dynamics Of Ngc 3311 And Its Globular Cluster System, T. Richtler, R. Salinas, I. Misgeld, M. Hilker, G.K. T. Hau, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Y. Schuberth, M. Spolaor

Faculty Publications

Context. Some galaxy clusters exhibit shallow or even cored dark matter density profiles in their central regions rather than the predicted steep or cuspy profiles, conflicting with the standard understanding of dark matter. NGC 3311 is the central cD galaxy of the Hydra I cluster (Abell 1060). Aims. We use globular clusters around NGC 3311, combined with kinematical data of the galaxy itself, to investigate the dark matter distribution in the central region of Hydra I. Methods. Radial velocities of 118 bright globular clusters, based on VLT/VIMOS mask spectroscopy, are used to calculate velocity dispersions which are well defined out …

Physical Conditions In A Galactic Star Forming Region W22, Akshaya Rane

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This document describes study of an active star forming region in our galaxy (the Milky Way) known as W22. Physical conditions in these regions can help us in understanding star formation processes in the universe and hence the structure and evolution of the universe. Zeeman effect measurements in 18 cm OH absorption line were carried out in order to estimate the line of sight magnetic field strength in the molecular cloud associated with this star forming region. Other physical parameters such as hydrogen column density, optical depth, critical magnetic field were also determined from these measurements. The region was mapped …

Problems In Classical Potential Theory With Applications To Mathematical Physics, Erik Lundberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we are interested in some problems regarding harmonic functions. The topics are divided into three chapters.

Chapter 2 concerns singularities developed by solutions of the Cauchy problem for a holomorphic elliptic equation, especially Laplace's equation. The principal motivation is to locate the singularities of the Schwarz potential. The results have direct applications to Laplacian growth (or the Hele-Shaw problem).

Chapter 3 concerns the Dirichlet problem when the boundary is an algebraic set and the data is a polynomial or a real-analytic function. We pursue some questions related to the Khavinson-Shapiro conjecture. A main topic of interest is …