The large population of 2r>100m near earth objects (NEOs) presents a certain hazard to life on earth. It has been proposed that a nuclear device may be used to alter the course of such objects, thereby averting a catastrophic collision with the earth. The asteroid interdiction problem includes a number...
The LIGO interferometers have reached their designed sensitivity level which is greater than any other interferometer ever built. At this point, it is important to have a proper understanding of small perturbations that might still exist (until now these issues did not come to the forefront because other more critical...
Our research was focused mainly on the field of plasma physics and the creation of plasmas in a laboratory environment. We first began our project with the goal to develop a tabletop Tokamak, a doughnut shaped device that magnetically confines plasmas at pressures greater than one atmosphere. After researching this...
Knowledge concerning trade wind cumulus, one of the most dominant cloud types
on the planet, has become increasingly important when considering global issues such as climate change due to their potential influence on the Earth’s energy budget. In this project, using data from the Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean...
Consider a simple Markov process on [0,T]. The occupation times were extensively studied in the case of T increasing to infinity. Here we develop a method of computing the distribution for occupation times when T is small via integral equations and integral transforms.
The aim of this Physics Education Research project was to implement a modified version
of Calibrated Peer Review and measure the impacts in junior-level students' scientific
writing. The project developed and implemented a set of guiding questions, instructor
written examples, and a rubric which were implemented in a multi-staged process,...
Future satellite missions like NASA’s upcoming Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission are targeting reconnection diffusion regions at the Earth’s magnetopause. These diffusion regions are small compared to the total surface area of the magnetopause. Furthermore, the location of the diffusion region depends on external parameters such as the current state of...
Optical tweezers are capable of trapping micron sized particles through the transfer of
the momentum of light. These capabilities are expanded through the use of computer
controlled holograms for beam shaping. This hologram creation is facilitated through the use of
a spatial light modulator, which is a liquid crystal device...
Improvements on the charge control measurements of the torsion pendulum, electron gun, and autocollimator system were conducted at the University of Washington in preparation for the fabrication of the final prototype of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) gravitational wave detector for NASA. One main cause of transient forces on...
This project calculates the melting temperature as a function of pressure for a system defined by the Lennard-Jones 12-6 potential using molecular dynamic simulations. In a single atomistic simulation, the initial conditions are manipulated such that both a liquid and solid phase exist when thermal equilibrium is reached. Phase coexistence...
The neutron capture cross sections of ¹⁰⁶Cd, ¹⁰⁸Cd, ¹¹⁰Cd, ¹¹²Cd, ¹¹⁴Cd and ¹¹⁶Cd were determined in the present project. Four different OSU TRIGA reactor facilities were used to produce redundancy in the results and to measure the thermal cross section and resonance integral separately. When the present values were compared...
An apparatus and method for calibrating planar laser induced fluorescence using a two-dye, two-color method was developed. A laser sheet was expanded from a 473 nm laser to excite dye solutions into higher energy states then fluoresced through spontaneous emission. The two fluorescent dyes selected for research and development were...
This project developed techniques and methods to measure single molecule conductance. Break gap junctions, used to measure electrical properties of single molecules, were explored. A Hewlett Packard mechanical nano-press was determined to be insufficient for creating a stable gap in which to conduct experiments. To avoid electromigration and bond annihilation...
We examine a discrete-time quantum walk with two-step memory for a particle on a one-
dimensional infinite space. The walk is defined with a four-state memory space analogous to the
two-state coin space commonly used in discrete time quantum walks, and a method is presented
for calculating the time evolution...
Intensity beam profiles of a 633 nm laser off a super-polished glass surface were captured using surface polarization reflection. Profile capture can be difficult due to the relative intensities of molecular reflection versus macro reflection. Surface polarization reflection uses parallel polarized light incident at Brewster’s angle to extinguish macro reflection....
This thesis presents a measurement of the resonance integral and thermal cross section – which together represent the total neutron absorption cross section – of the naturally occurring isotopes of platinum that emit gamma radiation upon neutron absorption. The measurements were made via neutron activation analysis. Platinum samples were bombarded...
High resolution images of a dim companion in a binary star system can be obtained using a Digital Micromirror Array (DMA) as an optical mask. Imaging can be problematic because the intense light from the main star can saturate the detector and leave the companion unnoticed. Placement of the DMA...
A spectral fitting routine was developed to analyze X-ray emissions in neutron capture decay
processes that produce ¹⁹⁷Hg and ¹⁹⁷Pt. Through correcting for X-ray emissions, the
77.3 keV γ gamma ray intensities were analyzed. The thermal cross sections for the production of
¹⁹⁷Hg and ¹⁹⁷Pt were found to be 2088...
Using research on student motivation as well as Project-Based Learning as a theoretical framework, this thesis outlines the creation process for a set of curricula. These curricula were designed to address topics of markedly low student motivation in the first term of an introductory physics with calculus course (PH 211)...
Internal force, or sting, balances are used in wind tunnel testing to measure the total force and moment imposed on an aerodynamic structure. A sting balance operates through strain gauges converting strain from externally applied loads to voltage signals. An accurate measuring device is of paramount importance in wind tunnel...