Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2018 Joint Fall Meeting of the Texas Sections of APS, AAPT and Zone 13 of the SPS
Volume 63, Number 18
Friday–Saturday, October 19–20, 2018; University of Houston, Houston, Texas
Session K03: SPS - Undergraduate (or High School) Research I |
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Chair: Toni D. Sauncy, Texas Lutheran University Room: Science and Engineering Classroom (SEC) 103 |
Saturday, October 20, 2018 10:00AM - 10:12AM |
K03.00001: Effects of Magnetic Fields on Growth and Development of Medicago truncatula. Asia M Eter, Samina Masood The growth of Medicago truncatula was studied under the influence of weak electromagnetic fields over a period of ten weeks. Several plants were grown in uniform and oscillating electromagnetic fields through the use of a generated current through stacked coils while several other plants were grown in random magnetic fields through the use of bar magnets. The remaining plants were treated as a control group with no magnetic field influence. A comparative analysis is being taken with regards to biomass, length, leaf surface area, and microscopic leaf and stem images using an Atomic Force Microscope. A clear difference of growth rate and some change in color was noticed. We are analyzing the way these changes take place. |
Saturday, October 20, 2018 10:12AM - 10:24AM |
K03.00002: Constraining Cosmological Parameters Using a New Combination of Strong Lensing and Other Cosmological Datasets Alec W Byrd, Jacob Moldenhauer Since Edwin Hubble discovered evidence for cosmological expansion in 1929, cosmologists have studied the mechanisms behind expansion. More recently, evidence strongly suggests that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. New spectroscopic information on many strong lens systems offers another method to constrain cosmological parameters for models that are consistent with cosmological acceleration. We use a unique conglomeration of several strong lensing surveys totaling 136 grade A strong lensing systems along with the new Pantheon type Ia supernovae sample, baryon acoustic oscillations, Cosmic chronometers, and CMB (TT, and low l) to make excellent determinations of Ωm, w, wa, and H0. We find the data consistent with a flat ΛCDM universe. The values are in good agreement with the standard model where w = -1 and wa = 0, however they do not rule out the possibility of a non-constant dark energy model. |
Saturday, October 20, 2018 10:24AM - 10:36AM |
K03.00003: Lattice Boltzmann simulations of nuclear pasta in neutron stars Alexander Noble Westbrooks, William G Newton We present preliminary results from a lattice Boltzmann simulation of Nuclear Matter. The lattice Boltzmann technique has been used to successfully simulate single or multi-fluid systems, and is particularly well suited to simulating complex fluids. In this talk, we will show how we are adapting a lattice Boltzmann simulation of a Van-der-Waal’s fluid to model exotic phases of nuclear matter (“nuclear pasta”) that are predicted to occur in the deep layers of a neutron star crust. The aim is to predict certain mechanical properties such as the shear modulus of the crust that impact potentially observable phenomena such as star quakes and gravitational waves from crustal mountains. |
Saturday, October 20, 2018 10:36AM - 10:48AM |
K03.00004: Period and gravitational wave analysis of the AM CVn candidate J103317.2+072118 Daniel J Orth, Richard Peter Olenick AM CVn stars are semi-detached cataclysmic variable binaries with white dwarf accretors and orbital period below 70 minutes. Because of their short orbital periods, these stars are considered prime candidates for producing strong gravitational waves. J103317.2+072118, a candidate for this class, was observed in 2017 as a target of the Kepler K2 mission's fourteenth campaign. The data from this observation were used in this work to model the system’s parameters by analyzing the photometry for periodic variations and extrapolating from the results. Using Lomb-Scargle periodogram analysis, the orbital period was determined to be 69.9 minutes, with a white dwarf rotational frequency of 14.17 cycles/day. By comparing the determined orbital period to those of known AM CVns, the mass ratio of J103317 was estimated as q = 0.01. With an estimated mass of 0.6 Msun for the accreting primary, the calculated orbital radius is 0.55 Rsun and the calculated gravitational wave amplitude that would be observed from Earth is 8.9*10-22/r, where r is the distance from Earth in parsecs. Thus, the system’s gravitational radiation is too weak to be detected by LIGO, but it may be detectable by LISA. Further observations on J103317 will allow us to improve our predictions of how AM CVn systems evolve. |
Saturday, October 20, 2018 10:48AM - 11:00AM |
K03.00005: Analysis of Lithium Fluoride γ-ray Production Cross Sections John Lowrie, Anthony Ramirez, Sally Fisher Hicks, Beemnet Alemayeh, Jeff Vanhoy The 7Li and 19F nuclei were studied at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory using neutron inelastic scattering. The research focused on the detection of γ-rays produced when the excited nucleus, formed from the inelastic collision, returned to a lower energy state. The deduced γ-ray production cross sections were then used to determine neutron inelastic scattering cross sections. The Van de Graaff accelerator at UKAL was used to produce a pulsed beam of protons, which then produced neutrons in one of two secondary reactions: 2H(p,n)3He or 2H(d,n)3He. γ-ray excitation functions were measured following the (n,n´γ) reaction for incident neutron energies from 0.8 MeV to 4.5 MeV with the germanium detector fixed at 125˚. The excitation functions were normalized absolutely by analogous measurements on nat-Ti using well-known neutron cross sections. The importance of these measurements results from (a) the 19F neutron inelastic cross sections are used in modeling fuel processing and fuel recycling in fusion reactor systems and (b) the 7Li cross sections are used in the cooling system for light water reactors. |
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