Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2017 Annual Meeting of the Far West Section
Friday–Saturday, November 3–4, 2017; Merced, California
Session E1: Poster Session I |
Hide Abstracts |
Chair: Patricia Sparks, Harvey Mudd College Room: COB2 Outside |
|
E1.00001: Using LLNL's EBIT-I and two Crystal Spectrometers to Search for the Solution to the Iron Emission Problem with Mo XXXIII Tessie Lumabao, Peter Beiersdorfer, Greg Brown, Natalie Hell, Tom Lockard, David Vogel The purpose of this study was to determine the polarization of lines 3C and 3D for Mo XXXIII to further resolve the Fe XVII emission problem. For Ne-like Fe XVII, the 3d to 2p resonance, 3C, and intercombination, 3D, lines are strong and can be used as a diagnostic tool for determining the temperature and resonant scattering of stellar coronae. However, astrophysical and laboratory measurements, as well as calculations for the intensities of lines 3C and 3D do not agree. One factor that could affect laboratory measurements is polarization. Since polarization does not depend on atomic number, Ne-like Mo XXXIII is an excellent surrogate. To find the polarization values, we used LLNL's EBIT-I electron beam ion trap to create, trap, and excite Mo XXXIII. Subsequent x-ray emission was dispersed using two mutually perpendicular, spherically bent Ge crystal spectrometers and detected using CCDs. From our findings, the measured polarization values and theoretical polarization values agree within systematic error bars, but are not equal. Therefore, the intensity ratio of EBIT's measurements in the Fe XVII emission problem may increase by as much as 5{\%}. This work was performed under the auspices of the Department of Energy by LLNL under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00002: Lack of Radio-Emission in Quasars with Extremely High Velocity Outflows Carla Quintero, Sean Haas, Paola Rodriguez Hidalgo, Abdul Khatri, Patrick Hall We investigated whether there is a connection between radio emission and UV/Optical absorption in quasars. We used the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 9 (SDSS DR9), which is a public database that includes spectroscopic information of 87,822 quasars. From that, we are working with a subsample of 6,760 quasar spectra looking for outflows at extremely high velocities: outflowing at speeds larger than 10{\%} the speed of light. We selected the brightest quasars and the ones at the right distance from Earth to be able to study the potential presence of these outflows. Our team has developed a python code in order to do this search systematically and has found 45 cases of quasars where the spectra presents extremely high velocity outflows. We will present that we have found a lack of connection between the presence of these extremely high velocity outflows and the quasars showing radio emission radio-loud. Out of the 45 cases, we only find 3 with potential radio loudness. We will discuss how we determine whether the quasars are radio loud and the implications of this lack of radio emission. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00003: Search for Correlations Between Gamma-Ray Flux Variability and Optical Spectral Features in Blazars Nicolas Vazquez, Caitlin Johnson, Oliviet Hervet, David Williams Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are galaxies with a very luminous inner part, powered by a black hole of 10\textasciicircum 6 -10\textasciicircum 9 solar masses. Matter accretes toward the center of the black hole and a fraction is shot out at speeds close to the speed of light. When the galaxy is oriented in such a way that this jet points directly towards Earth, it is known as a blazar. Blazar jets are where gamma rays and other forms of high energy radiation are emitted. This project presents an investigation into the variability of blazar activity using gamma-ray observations from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and optical observations from the Shane 3m telescope at Lick Observatory taken of five TeV detects blazars. Results of a subset of these five sources involved in the full study will be displayed. Monthly optical spectra were taken and the resulting line intensities for each source were compared to contemporaneous gamma-ray observations. We looked for correlations between flux variability and optical line variability. Any correlation between gamma-ray flux and optical spectral features would provide great insight into understanding flux variability mechanisms and the relationship between thermal and non-thermal emission mechanisms in AGN. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00004: The Effects of Superfluidity on the Oscillation Modes of Compact Stars. Raphael Monroy, Prashanth Jaikumar Theoretical models suggest that the nucleons in a neutron star can form a superfluid, given that the neutron star temperature (at $10^6$ Kelvin) is below the critical temperature (at $10^9$ Kelvin) for pair formation via the strong nuclear force. While the superfluid is not directly observable, it affects the oscillation modes of the star. We use a numerical model taking into account the superfluidity and general relativity, and identify imprints of the superfluid state. Though the modes cannot be observed with current technology, increasing the sensitivity of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) could allow us to compare calculated modes with observations to determine a realistic model of the interior of neutron stars. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00005: Tracking Buoyant Magnetic Loops in a 3D Stellar Dynamo Simulation Jose Luis Baranda, Austin Pollard, Jared Sweatman, Nicholas Nelson The magnetic activity observed in Sun-like stars can strongly impact the potential habitability of Earth-like planets, just as our Sun's magnetic activity impacts the Earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere. Our project seeks to model the generation of stellar magnetism through convective dynamo action and how magnetic fields can bundle together into loops and rise from the deep interior to the surface of the star as sunspots. The rise of magnetic loops has been modeled using the thin flux tube (TFT) approximation and, more recently, using full 3D magnetohydrodynamics simulations. Our project involved developing analysis tools to track and quantify the physical processes involved in magnetic loop rise in a 3D MHD simulation in order to conduct detailed comparisons with TFT models. Preliminary results have suggested that TFT models have underestimated the strength of coupling between rising magnetic structures and surrounding convective flows, suggesting that further refinement may be required to better resolve the results between the two models. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00006: A Northern Census for Bow Shocks via the PALFA Survey Diego Tapia Silva, Jim Cordes, Shami Chatterjee We explore regions around newly discovered pulsars in search of peculiar features within the 3 arcminute beam size of the Pulsar Arecibo L-Band Feed Array survey (PALFA). We analyze astrophotography images of 15 newly discovered pulsars from 2013 -- 2017. We note interesting characteristics associated with surrounding regions with discovered pulsars. We analyze different wavelength (from IR to X-Ray) images but place an emphasis on optical image analysis, and look for bow shocks within the images which can lead to identifying pulsars and reducing the beam size uncertainty. In total, we analyze 15 distinct beam centered regions and found 4 potential pulsar candidates within the 3 arcminute survey. We note two potential bow shocks in PSR J1932$+$17 in the H-Alpha image. All other pulsar regions, seen with J1930$+$24, display only a single potential bow shock. Future follow ups are to be made in order to deeply investigate whether our bow shock regions are actually a direct result of pulsars. We conclude our study by creating a website that contains our processed images, and keep an image collection of the regions of the sky that were analyzed in different wavelengths. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00007: Optimizing the HH-\textgreater bbtautau analysis to measure the strength of the tri-linear Higgs self-coupling~ Mark Samuel Abbott Analysis of HH-\textgreater bbtautau provides one of the strongest sensitivities for measurement of the Higgs self-coupling.~~Di-Higgs production has two~contributing diagrams which interfere destructively, one involving a top-quark loop and one involving the Higgs self-coupling.~~The studies presented here use a Boosted Decision Tree to optimize the HH-\textgreater bbtautau analysis for di-Higgs events produced via the Higgs self-coupling.~~ [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00008: Hybrid-PIC modeling of high energy x-ray generation by laser-accelerated fast electrons Tyler Daykin, Hiroshi Sawada, Bruno Bauer, Farhat Beg High energy x-rays, produced by laser-accelerated fast electrons, are a bright flash source that has been applied in high energy density physics experiments such as Compton and K-alpha radiography of an ICF core. Of particular interest to probe a cylindrically compressed 1 mm diameter solid Al rod, x-ray energies in the range of 20-30 keV are required. A 2-D hybrid particle-in-cell (PIC) code, LSP, was used to model the generation of high energy bremsstrahlung and characteristic K-alpha x-rays by injecting fast electrons. As a first step, the fast electron transport and x-ray generation in the code were benchmarked against a Monte Carlo calculation. This was done by injecting a mono-energetic 1 MeV beam of electrons into a 100 um thick Cu foil, and comparing the angularly resolved bremsstrahlung spectra that each code outputs. The benchmarked LSP code was applied to simulating fast electron propagation with self-consistent fields and bremsstrahlung generation in various shapes of metal targets. These targets include copper wire, and foils, with various diameters and thicknesses in order to study the refluxing of fast electrons. The results of the simulations will be presented at the conference. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00009: Integration of the Fast TracKer (FTK) Trigger for CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Juan Solorio In preparing for the start of stage 2 and 3, and the increase in luminosity for the ATLAS experiment at CERN, a quick and efficient integration of the Fast TracKer Trigger system and all its boards is necessary. Due to the FTK being composed of various boards that operate in parallel and act as individual engines performing an indicated task, there are numerous calls for problem shooting the different boards. As my summer project, I created a python module that performs this task allowing for any one of the team members of the different boards to access all the Status Calls and other convenient output calls. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00010: TrackJet Number Identification in HHbbtautau Boosted Channel Valentina Lee This note summarizes studies of improvement of Monte Carlo simulation in the research of HH$\to $bb¯$\tau \tau $¯ by identifying the number of b track jets which are pointing to the fat jets associating with different assuming Graviton's mass from s$\surd =$13TeV pp collisions collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. This result is also applied on improving the agreement between data and Monte Carlo simulation. In addition, different preselections are applied on our current simulation to find the better agreement with data. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00011: Abstract Withdrawn
|
|
E1.00012: Performance and Operation of the Diamond Beam Monitor at the ATLAS Experiment Alexander Stafford The Diamond Beam Monitor (DBM) is a luminosity telescope implemented as a part of the ATLAS experiment at CERN whose purpose is to measure the total number of proton-proton interactions that take place in the collision region. The performance of the DBM was evaluated via data taken from the telescopes to investigate the correlation between the measured low voltage current and the number of hits per event on each telescope. In addition, the connectivity and communication from the power supplies and readout systems to the telescopes were verified. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00013: Speed of Cosmic Ray Muon Using Silicon Photomultipliers Jefferson Quiambao Recently, the silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) has attracted considerable attention as a possible replacement for conventional photomultiplier detectors (PMT). To realize the practicality of SiPM detectors, we developed a 4-fold coincidence experiment to estimate the speed of the cosmic ray muons. Cosmic rays are highly energetic atomic nuclei mainly originating outside the Solar System. ~After striking the Earth's atmosphere, cosmic rays are broken into different particles, one of which is the muon. Our experimental apparatus consists of a coincidence setup, a digitizer, and two pairs of cosmic ray detectors involving SiPMs and PMTs. ~The distance between the two pairs of detectors were periodically altered to determine the arrival time difference between them to accumulate timing histograms with 3000 coincidence events. Detailed data analysis was conducted using the CERN software package Physics Analysis Workstation (PAW) in a Linux-based environment. Utilizing the data for the distance and time difference, we were able to determine the speed of the cosmic ray muons. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00014: Tests of Gravity Below Fifty Microns N. Hernandez, Z.D. Comden, N.K. Dunkley, H. Isachsen, J.S. Johnson, G.D. Martinez, A.E. Sanchez, C.D. Hoyle Gravity is one of the few fundamental forces that is still not very well understood. The Standard Model of quantum mechanics describes interactions between the fundamental strong, weak and electromagnetic forces while Einstein's theory of General Relativity (GR) describes the fundamental force of gravity. There is yet to be a theory that unifies inconsistencies between GR and quantum mechanics. Scenarios of String Theory predicting more than three spatial dimensions also predict physical effects of gravity at sub-millimeter levels that would alter the gravitational inverse-square law. The Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP), a central feature of GR, states that all objects are accelerated at the same rate in a gravitational field independent of their composition. A violation of the WEP at any length would be evidence that current models of gravity are incorrect. At the Humboldt State University Gravitational Research Laboratory, an experiment is being developed to observe gravitational interactions below the 50-micron distance scale. The experiment measures the twist of a parallel-plate torsion pendulum as an attractor mass is oscillated within 50 microns of the pendulum, providing time varying gravitational torque on the pendulum. The size and distance dependence of the torque amplitude provide means to determine deviations from accepted models of gravity on untested distance scales. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00015: Simulating Black Hole-Neutron Star Mergers Denyz Melchor, Jennifer Sanchez Gravitational waves are ripples in space and time predicted by Einstein’s theory of relativity; in 2015, Advanced LIGO observed these waves passing through Earth for the first time. Looking forward, we hope to observe black hole-neutron star mergers as they are the most exciting sources of gravitational waves since they are “multi-messengers,” emitting both electromagnetic and gravitational waves. Highly accurate mathematical descriptions of these waves are crucial for helping experiments to detect as many gravitational waves from merging black holes and neutron stars as possible, and to help determine whether observed gravitational waves are from merging black holes or from a black hole-neutron star merger. Using the Spectral Einstein Code, we are modeling black hole-neutron star mergers for different binaries, computing the emitted gravitational waves, the properties of the black hole before, during, and after the merger, and the behavior of the neutron-star matter as it is torn apart, forming a disk around the black hole. So far, we have focused on low-mass mergers with non-spinning black holes, a case where tidal effects on the emitted gravitational waves are especially strong. In the future, we will extend this work to rapidly spinning merging black holes. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00016: Discovered ``Angel Particle'', which is Both Matter and Antimatter, as a New Experimental Proof of Unmatter Florentin Smarandache, Dmitri Rabounski ``Angel particle'' bearing properties of both particles and anti-particles, which was recently discovered by the Stanford team of experimental physicists, is usually associated with Majorana fermions (predicted in 1937 by Ettore Majorana). In this message we point out that particles bearing properties of both matter and anti-matter were as well predicted without any connexion with particle physics, but on the basis of pure mathematics, namely --- neutrosophic logic which is a generalization of fuzzy and intuitionistic fuzzy logics in mathematics.p.). [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00017: Instant displacements of particles Dmitri Rabounski, Florentin Smarandache, Larissa Borissova Instant displacements of particles are naturally permitted in the space-time of the General Theory of Relativity. Teleportation of substantial particles and photons realizes itself in different space-time regions. However, it would be a mistake to think that teleportation requires acceleration of a substantial particle to super-light speeds (the tachyon region), while a photon needs to be accelerated to infinite speed. If gravitational potential is essential and the space rotates at a speed close to light velocity, substantial particles may be teleported. Photons can reach the teleportation condition easier, because they move at light velocity. From the viewpoint of a regular observer, as soon as the teleportation condition is realized in the neighborhood around a moving particle, such a particle ``disappears'' although it continues its motion at a sub-light coordinate velocity u$^{\mathrm{i}}$(or at the velocity of light) in another space-time region invisible for us. Then, having its velocity reduced, or if something else disrupts the teleportation condition (reduction of gravitational potential or the space rotation speed), it ``appears'' at the same observable moment at another point of our observable space at that distance and in that direction of its u$^{\mathrm{i}}$. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00018: Breaking Into the Nuclear and Nucleosynthesis Codes Eugene B. Pamfiloff In 1964, astrophysicists John N. Bahcall showed that there was no evidence in support of the stellar model regarding the fusion of plasma protons into helium nuclei and provided a plan to measure the neutrino emission from the sun for that proof of concept. For every four protons that would fuse into helium, two e-neutrinos should be emitted. But sadly the tests failed, as only 25{\%} of the predicted flux was discerned. Subsequent attempts to modify the stellar and particle models to account for the missing neutrinos left inconclusive results. To find that supportive evidence, a study of the reverse of fusion comprising 2753 unstable isotopes was undertaken. This provided an archive of new information. That data disclosed both confirmations of many contemporary theories and assumptions for which no factual basis existed, as well as contradictions of several models and other universally accepted conclusions. These confirmations and contradictions are expressed in three formats under the above title. They include a power-point presentation, a paper that briefly describes some notable results, and the sum of the findings are detailed in a recent book. One of the primary topics of this work is in reference to the methods by which positively charged particles assemble into multi-particle nuclei, specifically those containing the highest quantity of nucleons. Although it is subject to peer review, nevertheless several persistent problems in stellar and nuclear physics have been unraveled by this research. For additional information, contact the author. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00019: Production of the ALICE Inner Tracking System Berenice Garcia The ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN was designed to study the collisions of heavy ions and investigate the properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). To exploit the large increase in data expected after the LHC long shutdown, the replacement of the current ALICE Inner Tracking System (ITS) is planned. The ITS upgrade will consist of seven layers of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS), a new technology that greatly reduces the material budget near the interaction region. The seven layers of the ITS are split into inner (3 layers) and outer (4 layers) barrels for a total of 12.5 billion pixels. With the use of a Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is responsible for producing the two middle layers, which sit at a radius of 194 mm and 243 mm and are approximately one meter in length. In this talk I will focus on the steps that are being taken to build and test the detectors at LBNL and the next steps to move forward for production and installation. [Preview Abstract] |
|
E1.00020: A Study of Photon-Hadron Correlations in Heavy Ion Collisions Fernando Iniguez In this poster I will present a study of the ``prompt photon'' hard process that occurs in heavy ion collisions at high energy. This process can be used to study the properties of quark-gluon plasma (QGP). The prompt photon process is simulated by a Monte Carlo event generator of proton---proton collisions. From the simulated events we determine a distribution for various physical parameters between the resulting photon and hadrons, which can be compared to experimental data. It is these parameters that give hints at how the QGP interacts with matter. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700