./2004/ 000755 000766 000024 00000000000 12205701654 012265 5 ustar 00munson staff 000000 000000 ./2004/abstracts_2004.html 000755 000766 000024 00000125207 10037776222 015624 0 ustar 00munson staff 000000 000000
A Near and Mid-Infrared Study of Young Stellar Cluster S140N
Michael Dunham, University of
Rochester
Advisor: Prof. Judith Pipher,
University of Rochester
We present the progress of an
on-going near-infrared and mid-infrared study of the young
stellar cluster S140N using data from both the STELIRCam
instrument on the 48 inch (1.2 m) telescope at Whipple Observatory
on Mt. Hopkins, Arizona and the Spitzer Space Telescope InfraRed
Array Camera (IRAC) instrument. By combining the near-infrared
JHK data with the longer wavelength Spitzer data we investigate both
the emission from the stellar photospheres and the emission from
their circumstellar disks/envelopes. A classification of young
stellar object type is pursued.
Characteristic Star Forming Scales
in Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies
Evan Flath, Skidmore College
Advisor: Prof. Mary Crone Odekon,
Skidmore College
We present the results of a survey
of the spatial distribution of resolved young stars in
Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies (BCDs). We use Hubble Space Telescope/Wide
Field Planetary Camera 2 images of three BCDs, and apply a
multi-resolution cluster finding algorithm to identify groups
based on a maximum distance between stars. We analyze the way
the groups evolve as we vary this distance. In particular, we look
at various measures of the size of groups in order to determine characteristic
star-forming scales.
Near-Infrared Imaging of Young Stellar Objects in rho Ophiuchus
Melissa McClure, University of
Rochester
Advisors: Prof. W. Forrest and
Benjamin Sargent, University of Rochester
Ground based photometry in the
near infrared (at 2.19 and 4.68 microns) taken with
NASA's IRTF of young stellar objects in the rho Ophiuchus molecular
cloud complex is being used to understand and augment spectra
taken with the Spitzer Space Telescope at higher wavelengths.
These combined data will reveal new information about stellar and
planetary formation in our galaxy. We will present an explanation
of the data reduction process, images, and resulting photometry.
Better Homes and Gardens on Mars - Terraforming the Red Planet as
Science (Fiction)
Aaron Morris, Union College
Advisor: Prof. Steven Sargent,
Union College
Terraforming is the process of
turning a planet's natural state into one capable of
supporting terrestrial life. This concept may seem like
it is straight from the realm of science fiction, but, in fact,
is firmly rooted in science. Scientists have posited various
principles and theories by which other planets could be made habitable
for terrestrial life. Of all the planets in our solar system,
Mars offers the best and relatively easiest opportunity to terraform.
Taking this lead from science, many works of science fiction present
a Mars that is terraformed and supporting terrestrial life.
This paper examines the integration of the scientific principles
and theories of terraforming into science fiction in terms of the planet
Mars. Kim Stanley Robinson's science fiction series the "Mars
Trilogy'' is used to trace this "fictional" approach to terraforming
back to the scientific papers and principles from which it is derived.
Terraforming may appear as science fiction, but is truly in the realm
of science, as well.
Protoplanet Disks and Eccentric
Orbits
Amanda LaPage, University of
Rochester
Advisor: Prof. Alice Quillen
and Peggy Varniere, University of Rochester
Using two-dimensional hydrodynamic
simulations, we have theorized the structure of protoplanetary
disks that contains a protoplanet with an eccentric orbit.
As this project continues, we hope to gain a better understanding
of the nature of the evolution of disks into protoplanets
Particle and Accelerator Physics
Multiplicity and Pseudo-Rapidity Distributions of 28Si
Induced Emulsion Collisions at 14.5A GeV
Patrick Blochle, Canisius College
Advisors: Prof. Michael J. Voytovich,
and Prof. G. Singh, Canisius College
A stack consisting of three dozens
of electron sensitive emulsion detectors was exposed to
a relativistic beam of 28Si at 14.5A GeV energy from
the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, New York.
By employing an along-the-track scanning technique, more than 1000
nuclear interactions were recorded. In the present investigation,
we have analyzed a minimum-bias sample of more than 800 nuclear
interactions for the measurements of multiplicity of black (Nb),
gray (Ng) and relativistic singly-charged shower (Ns)
particles. Very high magnification microscopes were employed
to measure the space angles of all emitted black, grey and relativistic
shower particles in three-dimensional space. Multiplicity distributions
of Nb, Ng, and Ns tracks will be
presented. Pseudo-rapidity distributions of relativistic singly-charged
shower particles, on the basis of several target sizes in emulsion
detector, will be computed and discussed.
Optimization of Storage Ring Optics
Elisa Pueschel, Binghamton University
Advisor: Prof. David Rubin, Cornell University
A goal of accelerator machine research
is to establish operating parameters that correspond
to high luminosity, small beam size, and long beam lifetime.
Computer simulations were used to determine promising machine tunes
for Cornell's Electron Storage Ring. Additionally, the mechanics
of the beam-beam interaction at the collision point were studied.
A 200 keV Electrostatic Accelerator
Peter Brady, Houghton College
Advisor: Prof. Mark Yuly, Houghton
College
The original 200 keV electrostatic
electron accelerator at Houghton College used a glass
acceleration tube with external copper equipotential rings
to provide the required uniform electric field along the length
of the tube. Unfortunately, in this design stray electrons
striking the walls of the tube caused charge to accumulate
on the inside wall, eventually deflecting the electron beam.
In order to solve this problem, a new design for the acceleration
tube is being tested, made up of 51 pairs of alternating aluminum
and plastic rings, with inside diameters 3.8 cm and 5.1 cm respectively.
The differing inner radii of the rings ensure that the electrons will
only strike the aluminum rings, and can therefore be removed as
part of the coronal current flowing down the exterior column.
Optical Systems
A Time Resolved Double Pump-Probe Experimental Technique to Characterize
Excited-State Parameters of Organic Dyes
Andrew Jensen, U.S. Military Academy,
West Point
Advisor: Captain Louis Florence,
U.S. Military Academy, West Point
Double pump-probe spectroscopy
can be used to characterize the nonlinear optical response
of reverse saturable absorbers whose properties make them
good candidates for use in eye and optical sensor protection
applications. To that end we have constructed a double pump-probe
spectroscopy experiment based on a design validated by Swatton
et al. [1]. In a double pump-probe experiment, two pulses
sequentially excite the sample so that photo-physical properties
of various quantum states involved in the optical absorption process
can be measured. The use of a mode-locked, pulsed laser allows resolution
in the picosecond regime. The double pump-probe apparatus was
used to characterize the excited-state parameters of 2,3-naphthalocyanine
bis(trihexylsiloxide) (SiNC). Specifically, we measured the differential
transmittivity of SiNC for the ultimate characterization of lifetimes
and cross sections for excited state transitions. With some
refinement, the experimental apparatus created in this experiment
may be used to test the nonlinear optical properties of a variety
of materials. (Stewart Swatton, Kevin Welford, and Richard Hollins.
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, Malver, Worchestershire WR14,
3PS, United Kingdom 1997).
Three-Dimensional Optical Confinement of Microscopic Objects
a.k.a. Optical Tweezers
Patrick Crawford, Colgate University
Advisor: Prof. Enrique Galvez, Colgate University
We have created a laser tweezer using an inverted microscope which
is able trap and manipulate objects. So far we have trapped 1-5 micron
sized latex spheres immersed in water and controlled them in three dimensions.
We are currently advancing our project to incorporate two acoustical optical
modulators. This will give us computer control of our optical system,
multiple traps, as well as the ability to rotate elongated objects.
An Inexpensive Method of Schlieren Imaging
Matthew M. Waters, Rochester Institute of Technology
Advisor: Prof. Robert Teese, Rochester Institute of Technology
Schlieren imaging is a form of photography that captures disturbances
in the paths of light. This technique of imaging can be used to capture
changes within a medium that are not visible to the human eye, such as
convection currents in air. Schlieren methods have been around for
more than one hundred years, and there are many useful applications.
The drawback of most schlieren photographic methods is setting up the complicated
lens and camera system properly and the expense of the high quality optical
equipment (lenses and/or mirrors). This paper will outline the principles
of schlieren optics, and then describe our technique that takes advantage
of the inactive areas between the pixels of a CCD chip to create a sensitive
schlieren optical system that does not use expensive optics and is easy
to set up.
Poster Session
Iceland is a Heat Island
Vikas Patel, State University of New York at Buffalo
Advisor: Prof. David H. Douglass,
University of Rochester
We have calculated temperature trend line over the time period
of 1979 to 1996 using various temperature data sources
including weather stations on Iceland. We studied one of
the “hot” spots, so-called N1 over Germany/Netherlands, in
detail. We found that there is another hot spot concentrated
over Iceland, which we were not able to see before because it was
overwhelmed by N1. Iceland is formed of lava from volcanoes on the
island. Some part of the plateau is under the sea. The center of
the spot is on the northeastern edge of Iceland and over the sea.
We studied the pressure trend line maps and we were not able to find
similar feature around Iceland as it is in temperature maps. So, clearly
the hot spot corresponds to some geothermal activity under the sea
that is heating the atmosphere around the island and not due to CO2
or sulfate or other factors. Thus, we obtained a thermal “finger
print” of Iceland, which means that Iceland is a heat island.
Dynamics of a Bouncing Elastic Dumbbell
Grayson Ross, Rochester Institute of Technology
Advisor: Prof. Scott Franklin, Rochester
Institute of Technology
Observing a completely elastic dumbbell
bouncing on a rigid surface reveals some surprising dynamics.
A simple computer program utilizing the Newton-Raphson root finding
method models this system. Energy is strictly conserved.
Knowing the dumbbell's velocity, angular velocity, and angle to the
horizontal right before a collision, we can apply conservation
of energy and a relation between linear and angular impulse from the
floor to find the new linear and angular velocity after the collision.
The Newton-Raphson method then finds the time of the next collision
and the process repeats. Although the motion of the dumbbell at
first appears chaotic (or, at best, quasi-periodic), for certain
initial conditions the motion becomes periodic.
Dynamics of an Elastic Bouncing
Dumbbell on a Periodically Oscillating Plate
Bill Orr, Rochester Institute of Technology
Advisor: Prof. Scott Franklin, Rochester
Institute of Technology
A bouncing ball on a periodically moving plate exhibits
a variety of dynamical behaviors, from periodic to chaotic motion.
Our work builds upon this by bouncing a rotating rod on a bouncing plate.
This system is simulated by the use of a simple computer program using the
Newton-Raphson root finding technique. Energy is
conserved at collision between the rod and the plate, so
it is possible to find the new rotational and horizontal velocities
at intersection. I will describe different behaviors observed
as the plate vibration frequency is increased and also the
dependence on aspect ratio (length/width of the dumbbell).
Jamming in a 2D Prolate Granular Material System
Jesus Benhumea, Rochester Institute of Technology
Advisor: Prof. Scott Franklin,
Rochester Institute of Technology
A two dimensional pile of long rods is one of the
simplest systems in which jamming can occur. In our experiment,
a test object is pushed through a 2D array of 2.5"x0.125"x0.125"
brass rods. We can vary the aspect ratio (length:width)
of the rods. We are investigating the packing fraction (fraction
of total area covered by particles) at which the system experiences
a transition from only a few rods moving to a large cluster
moving as a whole. We are attempting to measure the force needed
to move the pile and its dependence on initial packing fraction.
Through video analysis we quantify the disturbance induced by
the moving test object, measuring its spatial extent. We also
look at how particles that are disturbed become more aligned.
Preliminary results indicate the transition to a more jammed state occurs,
for particles with an aspect ratio of 20, at about 30%.
Quantum Mechanical Systems
Catherine Prueitt, University of Rochester
Advisor: Prof. Joseph Eberly, University
of Rochester
This talk will explain the Bell Inequality
Theorem and apply it to quantum mechanics through an analysis
of Clauser’s experimental version of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen
paradox. It will be shown that quantum mechanics predicts,
and experiments confirm, a direct violation of Bell’s Theorem in
reference to the polarization of correlated photons. This
violation seems to undermine locality.
Liberated Electrons from H-/H
Sources in Electric and Magnetic Fields: A Theoretical Study
of Order and Chaos in Quantum Systems
Andrew McUmber, Binghamton University
Advisors: Prof. J. B. Delos and Prof.
K. Mitchell, College of William and Mary
The behavior of a free electron in external,
uniform electric and magnetic fields is described using classical
mechanics. The behavior also depends on the local emission
source of the electron. For two such sources, hydride (H-) and
hydrogen (H), liberated electrons will behave differently,
producing orderly and chaotic results, respectively. Electrons from
H-emitters in the field arrangement produce an orderly 'corkscrew'
motion, whereas electrons from H emitters produce additional
chaotic effects due to the coulomb field. As of yet, only
the H- case has been studied extensively. As a prelude to
the dual-field arrangement, the path characteristics and matter
wave interference pattern of the particles in a uniform electric field
were examined. The equations of motion yield predictions for
the destinations of the freed particles. Computer-assisted
graphs are employed to visualize the expected outcomes.
April 17, 2004
Dear Participants:
Welcome to the twenty-third annual Rochester Symposium for Physics Students (RSPS). This series of symposia was instituted to provide an opportunity for undergraduates to present an account of their own personal research at a meeting whose format was chosen to closely resemble those of professional scientific societies.
At RSPS symposia, research projects have been presented in talks by undergraduates representing many regional institutions. Topics have included condensed matter physics, atomic physics and optics, computational physics, astronomy, high-energy physics, instrumentation and techniques, and environmental physics. The abstracts of all the participants' papers are published annually in a volume of the proceedings and distributed to the participants.
(see: http://spider.pas.rochester.edu/mainFrame/education/special/specialRSPS.html).
In addition, since 2000, the RSPS ABSTRACT proceedings are also published on-line at: http://server-mac.pas.rochester.edu/yigal/rsps/proceedings. Students who present these talks can list their RSPS presentation(s) on their resumes and show the above web page in their list of publications as an "On-line Published Abstract". We encourage students to follow up on their research with the aim of giving a presentation at a regular APS meeting (which now also has a special session on undergraduate research), and eventually follow up with a publication in a regular journal, or in the APS Journal of Undergraduate Research.
At Rochester, the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute of Optics are jointly running two National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) sites. I encourage you to apply to one of these summer programs. Examples of research projects, talks, publications and awards won by our REU participants can be found on our Web page: http://server-mac.pas.rochester.edu/yigal/reuproject//reuparticipants.html. For example: Stephen Thorndike, an REU undergraduate, working with Professor Alice Quillen in the summer of 2002, discovered a new planet. Their findings have been published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Examples of recent awards won by REU students at Rochester include: In 1999, the Apker Award, given by the APS for the best undergraduate research in the USA in Physics, was awarded to Govind S. Krishnaswami, who worked with Professor Sarada Rajeev in theoretical particle physics. In 2000, Matthew Barczys won the Astronomical Society of New York (ANSY) Undergraduate Student Prize for a distinguished research paper in Astronomy. In 2001, Albert Torr-Jong Wang, who worked in condensed matter physics with Professor Steve Teitel, was one of the three Apker Award Finalists.
Your audience will include both students and faculty members and will provide you with the opportunity to address a knowledgeable and appreciative assembly of fellow researchers. Scientific research is an extraordinary activity. To quote Albert Einstein, "The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible." I certainly hope that many of you will decide to pursue careers which involve you intimately in mankind's greatest intellectual adventure, to comprehend nature.
Arie Bodek, Chair
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University for Rochester
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Rochester
Rochester, New York 14627-0171
8:30-9:00
RSPS Registration, Bausch and Lomb Lobby,
Sign-up for Optional Laboratory Tours
Coffee in Room 208
9:00-9:10
Room 106: Welcome, Prof. Paul Tipton, Chair, RSPS XXIII
9:15-10:45
Room 109: ASNY/RSPS Joint Session
Session Chair: Prof. Alice Quillen,
University of Rochester
9:15
Stellar Formation and Spatial Distributions in S171
Kevin
Flaherty, Prof. Judith Pipher, and Robert Gutermuth, University of Rochester
9:30
A Near and Mid-Infrared Study of Young Stellar Cluster S140N
Michael Dunham, Prof. Judith Pipher, University of Rochester
9:45
Characteristic Star Forming Scales in Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies
Evan Flath, Prof. Mary Crone Odekon, Skidmore College
10:00
Near-Infrared Imaging of Young Stellar Objects in rho Ophiuchus
Melissa McClure, Prof. W. Forrest, and Ben Sargent, University
of Rochester
10:15
Better Homes and Gardens on Mars - Terraforming the Red Planet as Science
(Fiction)
Aaron Morris, Prof. Steven Sargent, Union College
10:30
Protoplanet Disks and Eccentric Orbits
Amanda LaPage,
Prof. Alice Quillen, and Peggy Varniere, University of Rochester
9:15-9:45
Room 106: Nuclear, Particle and Accelerator
9:15
Multiplicity and Pseudo-Rapidity
Distributions of 28Si Induced Emulsion Collisions a 14.5A GeV
Patrick Blochle, Prof. Michael J. Voytovich, and Prof.
G. Singh, Canisius College
9:30
Optimization of Storage Ring Optics
Elisa Pueschel, Binghamton University, Prof. David Rubin,
Cornell University
9:45
A 200 keV Electrostatic Accelerator
Peter Brady, Prof. Mark Yuly, Houghton College
10:00-10:45
Room 106: Optical Systems
Session Chair: Prof. Robert
Mancuso, SUNY at Brockport
10:00
A Time Resolved Double Pump-Probe
Experimental Technique to Characterize Excited-State Parameters of Organic
Dyes
Andrew Jensen, Captain Louis Florence, U.S. Army, U.S. Military Academy,
West Point
10:15
Three-Dimensional Optical
Confinement of Microscopic Object a.k.a Optical Tweezers
Patrick Crawford, Prof. Enrique
Galvez, Colgate University
10:30
An Inexpensive Method of Schlieren Imaging
Matthew Waters, Prof. Robert Teese,
Rochester Institute of Technology
10:45-11:15
Room 208: Poster Session and Break
Feasibility Study for Measuring
Three-Nucleon Force Effects in Neutron-Deuteron Breakup
Christopher Wells, Blake Winter, Peter Brady, and Prof.
Mark Yuly, Houghton College
11:15-12:15
Room 109: Complex Systems/Environmental Physics
11:15
Iceland is a Heat Island
Vikas Patel, SUNY at Buffalo, Prof.
David Douglass, University of Rochester
11:30
Dynamics of a Bouncing Elastic Dumbbell
Grayson Ross, Prof. Scott Franklin,
Rochester Institute of Technology
11:45
Dynamics of an Elastic Bouncing Dumbbell on a Periodically Oscillating
Plate
Bill Orr, Prof. Scott Franklin, Rochester
Institute of Technology
12:00
Jamming in a 2D Prolate Granular Material System
Jesus Benhumea, Prof. Scott Franklin,
Rochester Institute of Technology
11:15-12:15
Room 106: Applied Physics
11:15
Test of Ladder-Track Design for Inductrack Magnetic Levitation
David Starling, Becky Lindstrom, Prof.
Michael Grady, Prof. Peter Mattocks, SUNY at Fredonia
11:30
Optical Observation of Plasma Current Sheets
Andrew Collette, University of Rochester, Prof. Walter Gekelman, University
of California, Los Angeles
11:45
GMR Effects in Magnetic Thin Films
Fionnbarr O'Grady, Prof. J.Q. Wang, Binghamton University
12:00
Shear Viscosity Under Shock-Loading Conditions
Zhuohan Liang, University of Rochester,
Prof. Steven Valone,
MST-8, Los Alamos National Laboratory,
Los Alamos, NM
12:15-1:15
Lunnch - The Meliora, Salon D
1:30-2:30
Room 106: Condensed Matter and Biophysics
Session Chair: Prof. Beth Parks,
Colgate University
1:30
Incorporating Individual Carbon Nanotubes into a Broadband Antenna
to Measure their High Frequency Response
Anthony Annunziata,
Prof. Beth Parks, Colgate University
1:45
Temperature-Dependent Phase Behavior of a 2-Component Membrane Mixture
Matthew Schutzer, Prof. Jeffrey
Buboltz, Colgate University
2:00
Vortex-Breather Interactions in Superconducting Circuits
Christopher Ritacco,
Prof. Kenneth Segall, Colgate University
1:30-2:15
Room 109: Quantum Mechanical Systems
Session Chair: Prof. Joseph Eberly, University
of Rochester
1:30
Exponentially-Decaying Pertubation in Bound Quantum States
George Bruhn,
Prof. Joseph Eberly, University of Rochester
1:45
Quantum Mechanics Violates Bell Inequalities
Catherine Prueitt, Prof. Joseph Eberly, University
of Rochester
2:00
Liberated Electrons from H-/H Sources in Electric
and Magnetic Fields: A Theoretical Study of Order and Chaos
Andrew McUmber, Binghamton University,
Prof. J.B. Delos and
Prof. K. Mitchell, College of William
and Mary
2:15
Refreshments to Go, Room 208
Optional Tours (signup requested at arrival)
2:45
Cars should leave for Laboratory for Laser Energetics
or
2:45
Research Labs in Bausch and Lomb Building
XXIII
Rochester Symposium for Physics Students - SPS Zone 2 Regional Meeting and
Joint session with the
Astronomical Society of New York (ASNY)
SPEAKER INDEX
NAME
TIME
LOCATION
Annunziata, Anthony
1:30
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Benhumea, Jesus
12:00
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Blochle, Patrick
9:15
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Brady, Peter
9:45
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Bruhn, George
1:30
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Collette, Andrew
11:30
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Crawford, Patrick
10:15
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Dunham, Michael
9:30
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Flaherty, Kevin
9:15
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Flath, Evan
9:45
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Jensen, Andrew
10:00
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
LaPage, Amanda
10:30
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Liang, Zhuohan
12:00
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
McClure, Melissa
10:00
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
McUmber, Andrew
2:00
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Morris, Aaron
10:15
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
O'Grady, Fionnbarr
11:45
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Orr, Bill
11:45
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Patel, Vikas
11:15
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Prueitt, Catherine
1:45
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Pueschel, Elisa
9:30
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Ritacco, Christopher
2:00
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Ross, Grayson
11:30
Bausch and Lomb Hall 109
Schutzer, Matthew
1:45
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Starling, David
11:15
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Waters, Matthew
10:30
Bausch and Lomb Hall 106
Wells, Christopher and Winter, Blake
10:45
Bausch and Lomb Hall 208