Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2015
Volume 60, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, April 11–14, 2015; Baltimore, Maryland
Session B5: Undergraduate Research - SPS I |
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Sponsoring Units: APS SPS Chair: Crystal Bailey, American Physical Society Room: Key 1 |
Saturday, April 11, 2015 10:45AM - 10:57AM |
B5.00001: CMB Polarization Detector Operating Parameter Optimization Kirsten Randle, David Chuss, Karwan Rostem, Ed Wollack Examining the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) provides the only known way to probe the physics of inflation in the early universe. Gravitational waves produced during inflation are posited to produce a telltale pattern of polarization on the CMB and if measured would provide both tangible evidence for inflation along with a measurement of inflation's energy scale. Leading the effort to detect and measure this phenomenon, Goddard Space Flight Center has been developing high-efficiency detectors. In order to optimize signal-to-noise ratios, sources like the atmosphere and the instrumentation must be considered. In this work we examine operating parameters of these detectors such as optical power loading and photon noise. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 11, 2015 10:57AM - 11:09AM |
B5.00002: Cosmic Ray Induced Bit-Flipping Experiment Edward Callaghan, Matthew Parsons CRIBFLEX is a novel approach to mid-altitude observational particle physics intended to correlate the phenomena of semiconductor bit-flipping with cosmic ray activity. Here a weather balloon carries a Geiger counter and DRAM memory to various altitudes; the data collected will contribute to the development of memory device protection. We present current progress toward initial flight and data acquisition. This work is supported by the Society of Physics Students with funding from a Chapter Research Award. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 11, 2015 11:09AM - 11:21AM |
B5.00003: Classical-physics applications for Finsler $b$ space Josh Foster, Ralf Lehnert The Standard-Model Extension (SME) is a general effective field theory for Lorentz and CPT violation incorporating both the Standard Model and General Relativity. The SME provides a framework for experimental searches for Lorentz-violating effects and for the investigation of new physics. The classical propagation of certain Lorentz-violating fermions is known to be governed by geodesics of a four-dimensional pseudo-Finsler $b$ space parametrized by a prescribed background covector field. This talk discusses some aspects of the relation between Finsler geometries and the SME, emphasizing the identification of systems in classical physics that are governed by the three-dimensional version of Finsler $b$ space and the construction of geodesics for some sample background covectors. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 11, 2015 11:21AM - 11:33AM |
B5.00004: Optimizing the Constrained Conformal Bootstrap Vijay Narayan, Jason Parisi Conformal field theories (CFT) are a class of quantum field theories that are invariant under conformal transformations, a natural extension of scale invariance. They are widely studied because of their potential to describe critical systems such as the 3D Ising model, strongly-coupled interactions in extensions to the Standard Model, and quantum gravity via the AdS/CFT correspondence. In the conformal bootstrap program, much of the progress made in constraining CFTs uses crossing symmetry and unitarity to numerically evaluate upper bounds on operator scaling dimensions. A recent proposal suggests that approximate solutions to local CFT data (operator dimensions, spins, and Operator Product Expansion coefficients) could instead be obtained by truncating an infinite sum rule of conformal blocks and taking derivatives to form a set of linear equations and unknowns. We present an in-depth study of this direct solutions method through its application to CFTs of known solutions (4D free scalar theory, 2D Ising model). [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 11, 2015 11:33AM - 11:45AM |
B5.00005: Theoretical Study of Low Energy Scattering from Metal Nuclei. Bernadette Gomez, Ajit Hira, Joe Duran, Danelle Jaramillo We continue our interest in the interactions between different nuclear species with a computational study of the scattering of the low-energy nuclei of H through F atoms $\left( {Z\le 9} \right)$ from Silver, Palladium and other metals. Recent work has shown that neutron scattering can be used to record holographic images of materials. We have developed a FORTRAN computer program to compute stopping cross sections and scattering angles in Ag and other metals for the small nuclear projectiles, using Monte Carlo calculation. This code allows for different angles of incidence. Next, simulations were done in the energy interval from 50 to 210 keV. The computational results thus obtained are compared with relevant experimental data. The data are further analyzed to identify periodic trends in terms of the atomic number of the projectile. Such studies have potential applications in nuclear physics and in nuclear medicine. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 11, 2015 11:45AM - 11:57AM |
B5.00006: A Study to Enhance the Sensitivity for the Discovery of the Higgs Boson Coupling to Dimuons in Association with a Vector Boson Brendan Regnery, Darin Acosta, Justin Hugon We present our optimized selection criteria for the predicted Higgs coupling to dimuons with associated production of a vector boson. On July 4th 2012, the discovery of the Higgs boson was announced by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations in data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Researchers must search for the rare decay modes of the Higgs, as predicted in the Standard Model of Particle Physics, to confirm its predicted couplings to mass. We are contributing to that process by developing a dedicated search strategy for the Higgs decay to dimuons, with associated production of a W or Z vector boson detected in the dijet final state. In order to optimize the search for this channel, we improved upon the published CMS search for the Higgs decay to dimuons by adding additional discrimination criteria: invariant mass of the dijet decay of the W or Z vector boson, dimuon transverse momentum, the angle between the dimuon and dijet systems in the transverse plane, and missing transverse momentum. We optimized these criteria on 7, 8, and 13 TeV CMS simulated data to improve the sensitivity for discovery of this decay channel and will report on the result. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 11, 2015 11:57AM - 12:09PM |
B5.00007: Simulation Studies of the DCAL Performance for the ALICE Experiment at the LHC Ryan Goode, Niya Taylor, Austin Harton, Edmundo Garcia-Solis The European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) is a global laboratory that studies proton and heavy ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is one of the four large experiments of the LHC. ALICE is dedicated to the study of the transition of matter to Quark Gluon Plasma in heavy ion collisions. The main upgrade activity on ALICE during LHC's Long Shutdown 1 was the installation of the Dijet Calorimeter (DCAL) [1], an extension of the existing Electromagnetic Calorimeter system (EMCAL) that adds 67 degrees of azimuthal acceptance opposite to the existing 107 degrees of the EMCAL's acceptance. In this presentation, we describe the DCAL and we show some results of the performace simulation study that will help for commissioning this detector during the next run period of the LHC. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants PHY-1305280 and PHY-1407051.\\[4pt] [1] CERN-LHCC-2010-011; ALICE-TDR-14-add-1 [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 11, 2015 12:09PM - 12:21PM |
B5.00008: Strangeness Production in the ALICE Experiment at the LHC Harold Johnson, Kiara Fenner, Austin Harton, Edmundo Garcia-Solis, Ron Soltz The study of strange particle production is an important tool in understanding the properties of a hot and dense medium, the quark-gluon plasma, created in heavy-ion collisions at ultra-relativistic energies. This quark-gluon plasma (QGP) is believed to have been present just after the big bang. The standard model of physics contains six types of quarks. Strange quarks are not among the valence quarks found in protons and neutrons. Strange quark production is sensitive to the extremely high temperatures of the QGP. CERN's Large Hadron Collider accelerates particles to nearly the speed of light before colliding them to create this QGP state. In the results of high-energy particle collisions, hadrons are formed out of quarks and gluons when cooling from extremely high temperatures. Jets are a highly collimated cone of particles coming from the hadronization of a single quark or gluon. Understanding jet interactions may give us clues about the QGP. Using FastJet (a popular jet finder algorithm), we extracted strangeness, or strange particle characteristics of jets contained within proton-proton collisions during our research at CERN. We have identified jets with and without strange particles in proton-proton collisions and we will present a comparison of p$_{\mathrm{T}}$ spectra in both cases. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants PHY-1305280 and PHY-1407051. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 11, 2015 12:21PM - 12:33PM |
B5.00009: Third Elementary Dipole Moment: Toroidal Vincent Cordrey, Amanuel Eshete, Walerian Majewski In this paper we study the generally unknown characteristics of toroids, magnets without magnetic poles. Toroids have never seemed interesting enough to be studied for their physical features in labs due to the fact that they have no magnetic fields on the outside, but rather a very strong magnetic field trapped inside. Toroidal solenoids or magnets (rings magnetized circumferentially) interact with the external magnetic field only through its curl, which can be created either by an electric current, or by a time-dependent electric flux. We confirmed a theoretical prediction, that a toroid would not interact with the curl-less magnetic field of a current-carrying wire running outside of the torus's hole. We used our toroids as magnetic curlmeters, measuring the torque on the toroid, when the current-carrying wire runs through the toroid. From this torque we found the toroidal dipole moment. We are experimenting on detecting the escape of the inner magnetic field of the toroid outside of it, when magnetic toroid rotates or when electric toroid is driven by AC voltage. We also will discuss toroidal (or anapole) moments of fundamental particles, nuclei and atoms, and toroids' applications in metamaterials. [Preview Abstract] |
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