Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Mid-Atlantic Section 2022 Meeting
Volume 67, Number 20
Friday–Sunday, December 2–4, 2022; University Park, PA, Pennsylvania State University
Session D01: Physics Education |
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Chair: Qi Lu, Delaware State University Room: Pennsylvania State University Osmond 103 |
Saturday, December 3, 2022 11:00AM - 11:35AM |
D01.00001: Pivoting the undergraduate quantum mechanics class to support training in quantum sensing Invited Speaker: James K Freericks While many universities and colleges are thinking of updating their curriculum to better support training in quantum information science to prepare students for the second quantum revolution, the efforts in providing a foundation for work in quantum sensing seems to be far less than those to help prepare students for quantum computing or quantum communication. There is a challenge with making such a course accessible to a wide range of students (hence with a reduced set of math prerequisites), while also providing thorough discussions of quantum experiments from the second quantum revolution (manipulating, controlling, and measuring single quanta). At Georgetown University (and in collaboration with edX), we have developed a modernized quantum mechanics class for undergraduates (science majors and engineers) that achieves this goal. We employ a representation-independent formalism that reduces the mathematical load (and prerequisites) for the students and allows us to cover far more applications to experiment than are commonly done in conventional courses. This new course focuses on the conceptual ideas of superposition, entanglement, and complementarity before moving into formalism development and applications. More than two dozen advanced experiments are discussed including advanced sensing experiments (such as interaction-free experiments and the laser interferometry gravitational wave observatory). The class is offered both as a flipped class and as a fully on-line class. Lectures and advanced visualizations are available on youtube and github, respectively. I will describe both the content of the course and the challenges one must overcome to produce deep learning amongst the students. |
Saturday, December 3, 2022 11:35AM - 12:10PM |
D01.00002: Examining and supporting student reasoning about air resistance using dual-process theories Invited Speaker: Beth A Lindsey An emerging body of research has shown that, even after research-based instruction, students who demonstrate correct conceptual understanding and reasoning on one task often fail to use the same knowledge and skills on related tasks. Observed inconsistencies can be accounted for by dual-process theories of reasoning (DPToR), which assert that human cognition relies on two thinking processes. The first, the heuristic process, is fast, intuitive, and automatic, while the second, the analytic process, is slow, effortful, and deliberate. In this talk, I will provide an overview of DPToR and discuss implications for student reasoning in physics. I will then describe how we have leveraged DPToR to develop an instructional intervention designed to improve student reasoning about the terminal speed behavior of falling objects. I will describe the results of a controlled experiment in which we tested the effectiveness of the DPToR-based intervention against a control condition in which students engaged in additional scaffolded practice. |
Saturday, December 3, 2022 12:10PM - 12:22PM |
D01.00003: Characterization of Polarization-Maintaining Fibers Reveals Heat and Mechanical Stress affect the Polarization of Output Light Parker L Hewitt, Edward B Flagg
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Saturday, December 3, 2022 12:22PM - 12:34PM |
D01.00004: Reentrant Delocalization Transitions in One-Dimensional Photonic Quasicrystals Sachin Vaidya, Christina Jörg, Kyle Linn, Megan Goh, Mikael C Rechtsman The one-dimensional Aubry-Andre model describes tight binding systems with a quasiperiodic modulation of on-site potentials. The model predicts a localization of eigenstates that is generic for waves after reaching a threshold modulation strength, which has been previously studied in acoustic and photonic systems. We fabricate a one-dimensional photonic quasicrystal at varying modulation strengths using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), where alternating layers of Si and SiO2 are deposited at thicknesses similar to the Aubry-Andre model. The sample is then characterized by a super continuum laser, and we observe a strong suppression of the transmission of light, correlated with a sharp localization of electromagnetic eigenstates, at a threshold modulation strength. We also observe a novel second "reentrant" transition upon further increasing modulation strength where transmission of light becomes unsuppressed and the eigenstates enter a delocalized phase; We explain these effects qualitatively through a dimerized tight binding system with long-range couplings. |
Saturday, December 3, 2022 12:34PM - 12:46PM |
D01.00005: Agent-based Model to Explore the Stability of Social Insect Symbiosis Jason Wong Symbiosis is prevalent throughout biology, including between social insects. One such instance is the Sceptobius lativentris rove beetle evolving to coexist stably with Liometopum occidentale using acquired cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) mimicry, with no known instances of a beetle leaving its colony and assimilating into nearby ant colonies. With that in mind, how do beetles and ants interact to maintain this stable coexistence? To better understand this, we employed an agent based model of beetle ant interactions to explore how their dynamics limit the beetle to within its host colony. We found that various negative feedback loops exist. For example, an extremely low host ant population allows colony crossings to occur, but leaves beetles vulnerable to neighbor hostility, making crossings less likely overall. Furthermore, crossings can occur with extremely close neighboring colonies, but the increased fighting also makes the arrangement unstable and unlikely. The conflicting effects of several parameters create a stable beetle-ant system and allow for long term symbiotic evolution. We believe that these results are a crucial clue in understanding insect evolution and the dynamics of insect populations in general. |
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