Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Far West Section Fall 2021 Meeting
Volume 66, Number 12
Friday–Saturday, October 29–30, 2021; Virtual
Session F01: AMO/Nuclear Physics -1 |
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Chair: Alla Safronova, University of Nevada, Reno |
Friday, October 29, 2021 2:00PM - 2:12PM |
F01.00001: Dynamical Structure Factors in Cold Atoms with Random Phase Approximation Patrick Kelly, Ettore Vitali Cold atomic gases provide an excellent test ground, for both experimentalists and theorists, to study the exotic and sometimes counterintuitive behavior of quantum many-body problems. Of particular interest is the appearance of collective excitations in these systems, such as the famous Goldstone mode and the elusive Higgs mode. It is important to assess the robustness of theoretical and computational techniques to study these excitations. We build on the unprecedented opportunity provided by the fact that, in some cases, exact numerical predictions can be obtained through quantum Monte Carlo. We use such predictions to assess the accuracy of the random phase approximation, which is widely considered to be a method of choice for the study of the collective excitations in a cold atomic Fermi gas modeled with a Fermi-Hubbard Hamiltonian. We found good agreement between the two methodologies for the dynamic properties and in particular for the position of the Goldstone mode. We also explored the possibility of using a renormalized, effective potential in place of the physical potential. We determined that using a renormalized potential is likely too simplistic a method for improving the accuracy of the random phase approximation and that a more sophisticated approach is needed. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 29, 2021 2:12PM - 2:24PM |
F01.00002: Low-Cost Quadrature Optical Interferometer Tanner Melody, Krishna Patel, Christoper Smallwood Optical interferometry is a powerful scientific tool that has widespread applications in both spectroscopy and precision measurement. In spite of these advantages, building an interferometer can be an expensive endeavor, with the smallest setups costing around \$5000 and up. Here we summarize efforts focusing on the creation of a low-cost quadrature Mach-Zehnder interferometer that incorporates a store-bought laser pointer, home-build photodetectors, 3D-printed optical mounts, and a CircuitPython microcontroller for analog to digital data acquisition. All components of our interferometer can fit into a 12”x6” space and can be constructed on a budget of less than \$200. Upshots of the project include the potential of making precision interferometry accessible and affordable for labs, students, and enthusiasts alike. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 29, 2021 2:24PM - 2:36PM |
F01.00003: Mean Field Corrections in the Hadron Resonance Gas Nicholas Cassar, Thomas Klaehn, Grant Roberts We investigate the thermodynamic properties of hot and dense nuclear matter by modeling it as an ensemble of ideal particles, the hadron resonance gas (HRG). The relativistic energy per particle is dependent on mass, and in medium we have nucleons of varying mass. Additionally, corrections are added to the ideal case for particle size and interactions. We go over results using the Walecka model for nucleons in medium to show these corrections. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 29, 2021 2:36PM - 2:48PM |
F01.00004: Measurement of the total neutron cross section on argon in the energy range 30-70 keV Tyler Erjavec The use of liquid argon as a detection and shielding medium for neutrino and dark matter experiments has made the precise knowledge of the cross section for neutron interactions on argon an important design and operational parameter. Nevertheless, there has been a lingering discrepancy between the total cross-section in the 30-70 keV region given in the Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) and the single measurement done in the 1990's by an experiment optimized for higher energy. This discrepancy is significant in that the former predicts a large negative resonance in the region while the measurement did not report such a feature, giving rise to significant uncertainty in the penetration depth of neutrons through liquid argon. This paper presents results from the Argon Resonant Transport Interaction Experiment (ARTIE) at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), the first dedicated experiment optimized for this energy region. The ARTIE measurement of the total cross-section as a function of energy confirms the existence of a negative resonance in this region, but not quite as deep as the ENDF prediction. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 29, 2021 2:48PM - 3:00PM |
F01.00005: Squeaky Clean: Filtering Contaminants from Water Based Liquid Scintillator Jesse Mendez, Robert Svoboda, Leon Pickard, Deangelo Wooley Water Based Liquid Scintillator (WbLS) is a new development in liquid scintillator detection technology. WbLS uses a chemical surfactant to form micelles around liquid scintillator in aqueous solution. WbLS is more environmentally friendly and cost effective making gadolinium doped WbLS based detectors good candidates for neutrino projects . WbLS based detectors are very sensitive to contamination. Contaminants decrease the light yield and degrade the neutrino detecting capability. Chemicals and ions from construction materials can leech into the WbLS. In addition radioactive isotopes from radon, uranium, and thorium can be present in the environment of the detector. WbLS must be separated from water before removing ions from solution. A two stage filter system will be used to accomplish this. Stage one separates the micelles from solution passing on the remaining free surfactant an gadolinium in solution. Stage two removes any remaining organics and passes on just gadolinium ions in solution with water for further processing. We found that a 600-800 Da nanofilter was successful in separating micelles from organics in solution. Our testing found the filter allowed between 93\%-98\% of the Gadolinium through making it viable choice for a first stage filter. [Preview Abstract] |
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