Session G1: Astrophysics and Gravity

Cosmological Simulations of Galaxy Formation

How did the Milky Way form? Was its disk assembled in a unique event or over several billion of years? Is the Milky Way surrounded by a swarm of invisible galactic satellites mainly composed of dark matter? Why the oldest stars reside and the center of the most massive galaxies? The advent of massively parallel supercomputers and large surveys by the Hubble Space Telescope and the other Great Observatories have recently allowed major breakthroughs in our understanding of how galaxies form and provide some first, tantalizing answers to these outstanding questions. I will review some of the most recent results in this exciting field.   

Observational Cosmology from the Local Group of Galaxies

In recent years there has been tremendous advance in our understanding of the galaxy formation process. Detailed observations of individual galaxies are key to the successful development of these theories, by providing a test-bed against which models are compared. The Local Group of galaxies, consisting of the Milky Way, Andromeda and some 35 or so dwarf systems, are the closest galaxies to us. They provide us with the opportunity to study the detailed structure and evolution of a range of `typical' galaxies through the analysis of their resolved stellar components. In the same way as fossils preserved in rocks tell us about the Earth's history, so too can fossils preserved in the motions and chemical signatures of stars tell us about the formation and evolutionary history of these galaxies. In this talk I will review some of the most recent observational studies of these objects and present some new results which show how the Local Group is providing unique insight into the fundamental problem of galaxy formation.   

Emission Line Observations of Ionized Gas in Isolated, Compact High-Velocity Interstellar Clouds

The interstellar medium is just as important as stars when considering how galaxies such as our own evolve. A better understanding of the interstellar medium, including a subset of clouds at anomalously high velocities (known as high-velocity clouds or HVCs), promises to shed some light on this process. It may be that the high-velocity interstellar material associated with the 21-cm radiation of neutral hydrogen is evidence that the Milky Way is not fully mature, but rather in an ongoing formative process. Although some high-velocity clouds have been shown to be located within the galactic sphere, propositions have been made that some compact and isolated HVCs may actually be massive intergalactic clouds. I used the Wisconsin H$\alpha $ Mapper (WH$\alpha $M), a telescope specifically designed to detect the faint emissions of ionized gas in the diffuse interstellar medium, to measure the levels of ionized hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, and doubly ionized oxygen in a sample of compact, isolated clouds. This information can be used to approximate the cloud's distance from the Milky Way's galactic plane. The majority of the sampled HVCs exhibited weak, yet detectable hydrogen emission, which is bright enough to indicate that those clouds are not intergalactic. However, three of the clouds yielded non-detections, providing tight upper limits on the metagalactic ionizing flux.   

WMAP: A Radiological Analysis II.

WMAP images have an exceedingly low signal to noise (just in excess of 1). Final images are made from 12 section images, which in turn are processed using separate linear combinations of data. ILC coefficients do not remain constant from year to year. In contrast to standard practices in medicine, difference images are presented at substantially reduced resolution. ILC images are not presented for year 2 and 3. Rather, year-1 data is signal averaged in the 3 year data set. Proper tests of reproducibility require viewing separate yearly ILC images. Fluctuations arise from the inability to properly remove the galactic foreground and in the significant yearly variations in the foreground itself. Variations in the map outside the galactic plane are significant, preventing any cosmological analysis due to yearly changes. This occurs despite the masking more than 300 image locations. Any ``signal'' observed by WMAP is simply the result of foreground effects not only from our galaxy, but indeed yearly variations from every galaxy in the universe. Contrary to published analysis, the argument suggests there are no findings in these images other than those related to image processing, yearly galactic variability and point sources.   

Using di quark scalar fields for a cosmological constant permitting gravitons escaping from early universe branes

We construct a model showing how a di quark condensate leads to a cosmological constant in line with known physical observations instead of the huge value obtained via Quantum Chromodynamics We apply Abbots criteria of a bound for the cosmological constant without his enormous tunneling time value which effectively caused his model to be abandoned as unworkable in the mid 1980s. We use a phase transition bridge from a tilted washboard potential to the chaotic inflationary model pioneered by Guth which is congruent with the slow roll criteria. This permits a physically intuitive criteria for initiation of graviton production from a domain wall formed after a transition to a chaotic inflationary potential. We believe our construction answers why gravitons would be so hard to find in typical post inflationary cosmological conditions while pointing to their de facto existence in de Sitter metric cosmology. In addition, our criterion for graviton production is in tandem with the creation of cold dark matter, indirectly observed in present day cosmology.   

The Derivation of the Elastic-Constants of the Space Medium and the Speed of Light in the Universe

Space is modeled as an elastic medium for spherical, scalar, quantum-waves. The constants of elasticity and inertia of this medium are found from the scalar compression length of space and the rest-energy of the electron `particle' using astronomical measurements of the Hubble Universe. This electron structure is the superposition of converging and diverging solutions of the scalar wave equation. These two constants of space are then used in the conventional way to derive the speed of the scalar quantum waves in this medium. The Speed is found to be = 2.2 x 10$^{8}$ meters/second, close to the measured speed of light, c, within the errors of measuring the Hubble Universe. It is concluded: 1) that the origin of c, like the origin of all natural laws, is a property of the quantum Wave Structure of matter (WSM). And 2) that, the rest-energy, or frequency, of the wave-centered ``particles'' that we observe are dependent on the potential energy of compression in the fabric of the quantum space of the Universe.   

Can magnetic waves in the auroral region transform into acoustic waves?

Aurorae are caused by geomagnetic storms created by magnetic storms from the Sun (Akasofu, 1991). ~These storms drive magnetic waves in the magnetosphere (Cornilleau-Wehrlin, 2000).~ Infrasonic waves have been observed to emanate from aurorae (Wilson and Olson, 2005).~ This suggests that magnetic waves in Earth's upper atmosphere may drive infrasound in Earth's lower atmosphere. Similar processes have been demonstrated in reverse in the Sun's atmosphere (Johnson, et al., 2002; Bogdan, et al., 2000, 2002, 2003).~ Using techniques from solar magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), we have shown that atmospheric pressure and magnetic pressure are comparable (plasma beta = 1) at 120 km, well within the auroral region, above Fairbanks, AK (Maxwell and Zita, 2005).~ This is an important condition for MHD wave transformations to occur (Bogdan, et al., 2003).~ We have also proposed mechanisms for the creation of infrasonic waves from electromagnetic waves (Maxwell and Zita, 2005).~ Now, we investigate evidence and data from satellite and ground-based instruments to test our hypotheses.   

Solar Magnetism and Effects on Earth

Will the next solar maximum cause the biggest magnetic storms in our lifetime? What is at the heart of the Sun's magnetic dynamics? What effects can this have on Earth? Dikpati's solar dynamo model (2004) shows how flows and magnetic fields interact with each other nonlinearly in the Sun's convection zone, and predicts details of the Sun's magnetic dynamics (Zita et al. 2005). Our current ``solar minimum'' is the calm before the storm. Around 2011, sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections will increase in number and intensity, as the Sun reverses its magnetic field. We will discuss why the Sun's magnetic field reverses each decade, and how these reversals affect space weather and life on Earth. Finally, we will address the model's recent prediction that the coming peak in solar magnetic activity could cause the most intense magnetic storms on Earth since 1958 (Dikpati et al. 2006).   

Discovering the Dilaton particle with the Cosmic Compass experiment

The cosmic compass experiment measures the one-way group velocity of light. It also measures a Morse function critical point that is modeled as a bulk dilaton caustic in Anti de Sitter (AdS) spacetime under the strong Maldacena conjecture. And it also measures the renormalization length exponent showing that dilaton gravity is strong at the Planck scale but decouples at low temperature proving the 't Hooft-Susskind holographic hypothesis. The discovered strong Maldacena duality is the similarity between the Nyquist sample spacing in bulk general relativity with its IR cutoff and the Planck length in brane Shannon Statistical Topological Quantum Field Theory (SSTQFT) with its UV cutoff. The discovered bulk dilaton caustic supports a microscopic wormhole on the brane that conveniently causes the cosmic compass experiment to produce sidereal data.   

Session G2: Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics

Quantum Hydrodynamics in Bose-Einstein Condensates

Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) provide us with unique means to study intriguing nonlinear behaviors in a quantum system. For example, when a BEC is set into rotation, vortices can form and arrange themselves in lattices. The observed vortex lattices provide evidence for the existence of a macroscopic wavefunction governing the dynamics. In the group of Eric Cornell at JILA, University of Colorado, we have recently extended our studies of quantum hydrodynamics by creating shock waves in rotating and non-rotating condensates. In these experiments quantum shock waves have been observed directly. Quantum shock waves differ from classical shocks because the Gross-Pitaevskii equation that describes the BEC dynamics admits no dissipation. Instead, quantum shock waves are governed by dispersive effects leading to new dynamical features. In this talk, I will highlight some of our recent experiments in the field of nonlinear BEC dynamics. In addition, I will report on the progress of a new BEC machine that is currently being constructed in my laboratory at WSU, Pullman.   

Implementing Hardy's Test of Local Realism

We have performed a test of local realism using entangled photons produced by spontaneous parametric downconversion. This experimental test is based on an idea originally proposed by Hardy for a test of local realism without inequalities [1], although our experiment actually measures an inequality (as any experiment must). We find a more-than-70 standard deviation violation of the predictions of local realism. The experimental effort required for this test is essentially the same as that required for a test of a Bell inequality. However, this test is based on concepts that are easier to understand and more compelling than those behind the original Bell inequality. Furthermore, we have implemented this experiment in an undergraduate teaching laboratory. \newline \newline [1] L. Hardy, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{71}, 1665 (1993).   

Paired Photons with Controllable Waveforms

The major theme of this talk is the incorporation of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) with nonlinear optics in atoms to achieve efficient processes at low-light levels, particularly the generation and manipulation of correlated photon pairs. Entangled photons are an ideal tool for quantum information processing; they are now routinely used in experiments on quantum measurement, quantum teleportation, and quantum information processing. Principle limitations of existing sources of paired photons are two-fold. First, the wide bandwidth of paired photons encumbers resonant interactions with atoms, which is the most promising avenue for photon storage and quantum repeaters as well as for entanglement of atomic ensembles. Second, conventional paired photons' coherence length is prohibitively short for long-distance quantum communication. An experiment requiring the transmission of a simultaneous pair of photons over many kilometers necessitates a length difference of the transmitting fibers {\it less than} the coherence length of the spontaneous parametric source ($\sim 30~\mu$m for traditional paired photons created in a BBO crystal). Electromagnetically induced transparency in cold atomic ensembles enables the creation of paired photons which decisively overcome these limitations. This talk will describe experiments and theory showing the generation of counterpropagating paired photons with waveforms that are controllable by using EIT to vary the optical group velocity. Typical waveform lengths are tens of nanoseconds.   

An Overview of HP's Research Towards Optical Quantum Information Processing

Quantum Information Science is an emerging discipline with the potential to revolutionize computation and communication, but with an extremely high barrier to realizing practical results. After describing a framework for performing optical quantum information processing [1], we will outline a set of key scientific and engineering challenges which must be met before a quantum information technology industry can materialize. As a first step toward developing scalable systems, we will describe experiments showing coherent population trapping in nitrogen- vacancy centers in diamond under optical excitation at zero magnetic field. [2] In addition, we will describe experiments demonstrating fabrication of massive photonic crystals using nanoimprint lithography, and the construction of an all-fiber self-calibrating random number generator based on polarization-entangled photons that generates high-quality cryptographic random numbers and is immune to back-door attacks. \newline \newline [1] W.\ J.\ Munro, et al., J. Opt. B: Quant.\ Semiclass.\ Opt.\ \textbf{7}, S135--S140 (2005). \newline [2] C.\ Santori et. al., arXiv:cond-mat/0602573 (2006).   

Large Cross-Phase Modulation between Slow Co-propagating Weak Pulses in $^{87}$Rb

Cross-phase modulation (XPM) is a nonlinear optical effect in which the index of refraction $n$ of one laser field depends on the intensity $I_2$ of a second laser field, $n = n_0 + \chi_{\mbox{{\tiny XPM}}} I_2$. Generating a large XPM coefficient $\chi_{\mbox{{\tiny XPM}}}$ for weak laser fields is tremendously important, e.g.~for optical quantum information processing and for all-optical switches in classical communication. Several proposals based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) have been brought forward, but so far large XPM remains an experimental challenge. One problem is to achieve equal slow group velocities (double EIT) for two signal light pulses to maximize their interaction time. \\ We present an optical pumping scheme that combines the best features of previous proposals and adds some new techniques, thereby optimizing $\chi_{\mbox{{\tiny XPM}}}$. A feasible procedure to prepare the atomic initial state is proposed such that double EIT with a single atomic species can be achieved, and a specific implementation of the scheme for $^{87}$Rb is presented that only uses a single pump laser and a homogeneous magnetic field of moderate (150 G) strength. The efficiency of the scheme is studied using different theoretical methods, including third-order perturbation theory in the weak signal fields for an atomic five-level model, and a numerical simulation of the master equation that includes the full hyperfine level structure for the spectroscopic D1 line of $^{87}$Rb. Furthermore, we study the nonlinear evolution of the two weak signal pulses and present a new upper bound on the maximal XPM phase shift achievable for two Gaussian single-photon pulses.   

Session G3: Condensed Matter II

A view of metals through the terahertz window

As electrons move through a metal, interaction with their environment tends to slow them down, causing the Drude peak in the optical conductivity to become narrower. The resulting peak width is typically in the terahertz frequency range that sits between microwaves the far infrared, too fast for conventional electronics and too slow for conventional infrared spectroscopy. With femtosecond laser techniques, however, coherent, broadband terahertz radiation can now be generated and detected with exquisite sensitivity, providing a new window onto electronic interactions in metals. I will discuss the application of this technique to a variety of metallic systems, including elemental lead, the nearly magnetic oxide metal CaRuO$_3$, and CrV alloys that span the quantum phase transition from spin-density wave to paramagnetic metal.\footnote{M. A. Gilmore, S. Kamal, D. M. Broun, and J. S. Dodge, {\em Appl. Phys. Lett.} {\bf 88}, 141910 (2006).}   

Image-based Nanocrystallography in Two and Three Dimensions with Database Support

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and atomic resolution scanning TEM (STEM), when combined with tools for image-based nanocrystallography possess the capacity to derive the crystallographic phase and shape of nanocrystals. This paper introduces two such tools: lattice fringe fingerprinting in two dimensions (2D) for the identification of unknown nanocrystal phases and tilt protocol applications in three dimensions (3D) for the determination of the shape of nanocrystals. Both the Nano-Crystallography Database (NCD, http://nanocrystallography.research.pdx.edu) and the Crystallography Open Database (COD, http://crystallography.net) are discussed because the whole fingerprinting concept is only viable if there are comprehensive databases to support the identification of an unknown nanocrystal phase.   

Nanocrystal Phase Identification by Lattice Fringe Fingerprinting from High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope Images

Lattice fringe fingerprinting is a novel and powerful method of identifying and characterizing nanocrystalline structures or materials based on images from direct space high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). We examine Fourier transformed HRTEM images of nanocrystals in certain orientations (i.e. lattice fringes and cross fringes) in order to obtain a lattice fringe fingerprint plot. Such plots are used to identify a crystalline nanoparticle by comparing the experimental data with data that are derived from a comprehensive database. A lattice fringe fingerprint plot is similar to a classical X-ray powder diffractogram, but an important advantage is that the intersection angles of lattice fringes give us additional information. When transmission electron microscope image acquisition and data interpretation are automated and connected to a comprehensive database (such as our Nano-Crystallography Database, http://nanocrystallography.research.pdx.edu/), fringe fingerprinting will be able to compete with powder X-ray diffraction in identifying unknown nanocrystals on a routine basis.   

Emergence and Phase Transitions

Phase transitions are well defined in physics through concepts such as spontaneous symmetry breaking, order parameter, entropy, and critical exponents. But emergence --- also exhibiting whole-part relations (such as top-down influence), unpredictability, and insensitivity to microscopic detail --- is a loosely-defined concept being used in many disciplines, particularly in psychology, biology, philosophy, as well as in physics[1,2]. I will review the concepts of emergence as used in the various fields and consider the extent to which the methods of phase transitions can clarify the usefulness of the concept of emergence both within the discipline of physics and beyond.\\ \\ 1. Robert B. Laughlin, {\em A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down} (New York: Basic Books, 2005). \\ 2. George F.R. Ellis, ``Physics and the Real World'', {\em Physics Today}, vol.~58, no.~7 (July 2005) pp.~49-54.   

Modified Taylor-Couette Flow in Multiply-Waisted Hourglass Geometries Simulations based upon Reaction-Diffusion Models

The Reaction-Diffusion model \footnote{H. Riecke and H.-G. Paap, Europhys. Lett. \textbf{14}, 1235 (1991).} predicted a period doubling cascade to chaos in a situation analagous Taylor- Couette flow with hourglass geometry. This cascade to chaos was discovered in the actual fluid flow experiments\footnote{Richard J. Wiener \textit{et al}, Phys. Rev. E \textbf{55}, 5489 (1997).}. We model Taylor-Couette flow in a cylindrical geometry with multiple waists of super-critical flow connected by regions of barely super-critical flow by corresponding Reaction-Diffusion models. We compare our results to the findings of an ongoing experimental program.   

Energy from Ocean Waves, River Currents, and Wind

The earth we live in is surrounded by fluids, which are in perpetual motion. There is air in the atmosphere, water in lakes, oceans and rivers. The air and water around us form our natural environment. Much of the fluid medium is in constant motion. The kinetic energy of this moving fluid is astronomical in magnitude. Over the years, I considered methods of converting a fraction of the vast reserve of this kinetic energy into electro-mechanical energy. I conceived a few schemes of such conversion. The fluids whose kinetic energy can be converted into electro-mechanical energy are: ocean waters, river current and atmospheric air. In a book to be published in 2006, I have described different techniques of energy conversion. In the APS meeting, I plan to discuss some of these techniques.   

Open Access Internet Resources for Nano-Materials Physics Education

Because a great deal of nano-material science and engineering relies on crystalline materials, materials physicists have to provide their own specific contributions to the National Nanotechnology Initiative. Here we briefly review two freely accessible internet-based crystallographic databases, the Nano-Crystallography Database (http://nanocrystallography.research.pdx.edu) and the Crystallography Open Database (http://crystallography.net). Information on over 34,000 full structure determinations are stored in these two databases in the Crystallographic Information File format. The availability of such crystallographic data on the internet in a standardized format allows for all kinds of web-based crystallographic calculations and visualizations. Two examples of which that are dealt with in this paper are: interactive crystal structure visualizations in three dimensions and calculations of lattice-fringe fingerprints for the identification of unknown nanocrystals from their atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy images.   

Session G4: Education

New insights into student understanding of electric circuits

New insights into student understanding of electric circuits have emerged from an ongoing investigation by the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington. The investigation is part of a larger effort to develop and refine research-based instructional materials on electric circuits for several different student populations.\footnote{{\it Physics by Inquiry}, L.C. McDermott and the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington, Wiley (1996).}$^{,}$\footnote{{\it Tutorials in Introductory Physics}, L.C. McDermott, P.S. Shaffer and the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington, Prentice Hall (2002).} The insights gained from this research have strong implications for instruction in a variety of contexts, including introductory physics courses and special physics courses for preservice and inservice teachers.   

Identifying student difficulties with basic scientific reasoning skills: An example from control of variables

Current national and local standards for the science learning of K-12 students emphasize both basic concepts (such as density) and fundamental reasoning skills (such as proportional reasoning, the interpretation of graphs, and the use of control of variables).~~At Western Washington University (WWU) and the University of Washington (UW), an effort is underway to examine the ability of university students to apply these same concepts and skills.~Populations include students in liberal arts physics courses, introductory calculus-based physics courses, and special courses for the preparation of teachers. ~One focus of the research has been on the idea of control of variables. This topic~is studied by students at all levels, from the primary grades, in which the notion of a ``fair test,'' is sometimes used, to university courses.~ This talk will discuss research tasks in which students are expected to infer from experimental data whether a particular variable influences ($i.e.,$ affects) or by itself determines ($i.e.,$ predicts) a given result.~ Student responses will be presented to identify specific difficulties.   

Do You Know if You Know?

Two typical introductory Physical Science classes were asked to give answers to five questions about motion. An additional question was associated with each of these five questions to ascertain how confident each student was in their answer. The student's metacognitive ability to determine correctly what they know or do not know was evaluated. The student's inability to self-assess understanding was as common as the converse. When the data was analyzed by gender, attempting to identify differences between males and females in terms of this metacognitive skill, no statistically significant difference was found. Additionally, we identified widespread alternate conceptions when large numbers of students were very confident in the same incorrect answer. These findings confirm previous studies regarding misconceptions in this area.[1] \newline [1] A. Arons, Teaching Introductory Physics, Wiley (1997) p.37   

Physics Teaching in Times of Change

Powerful political forces have been at play in building a mandate to change the schools. The latest, on-going manifestation is in the No Child Left Behind Act, but the mandate for change was being formulated in the early 1980s in the A Nation at Risk report. As physicists we may feel somewhat removed from such goings on, but our children attend school and their teachers come through our classrooms. Physics education research offers extensive, carefully collected data on the consequences of standard physics teaching. The data challenges conventional beliefs about physics learning. It is said that times of crisis represent both opportunity and danger. Because the mandates to change are up to the individual states, each of us in our own state has the opportunity to shift the focus in physics/science teaching toward something better. We also face the danger that existing physics/science teaching will be even more deeply entrenched than it already is.   

Helping students relate work and changes in energy

The first law of thermodynamics states that doing work on an otherwise isolated system will cause its energy to change. Student performance in introductory mechanics on pretest and post-test questions suggests that traditional instruction is insufficient to develop a functional understanding of this principle. At the University of Washington, the Physics Education Group has been developing research-based materials\footnote{{\it Tutorials in Introductory Physics,} L.C. McDermott, P.S. Shaffer and the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington, Prentice Hall (2002).} on these topics. We will discuss common student difficulties in applying the relationship between work and energy, and implications these have for instruction on energy conservation.   

Research as a guide for developing curricula on waves and physical optics

The Physics Education Group at the University of Washington has been developing and modifying research-based instructional materials on waves and physical optics for {\it Tutorials in Introductory Physics}\footnote{{\it Tutorials in Introductory Physics}, L.C. McDermott, P.S. Shaffer and the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington, Prentice Hall (2002).}. Student performance on many types of post-test questions is very good. In order to assess the effectiveness of the current tutorials, several new research questions have been administered in the calculus-based introductory course at the University of Washington. The results suggest that students need additional help with certain concepts in order to be able to apply what they have learned in tutorials in different contexts.   

Comparing Constituent Fluxes of Students into and out of Physics Majors

More students leave physics for non-physics majors than visa versa. We surveyed a number of students to pin point their initial reasons to major in physics and their reasons for then leaving physics as a major. Our survey was patterned after Elaine Seymour's research in her book ``Talking about Leaving'' (1) which addresses the issue of attrition in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering majors. We have found some interesting results by comparing the answers of those students who left physics as a major, those who left a different major for physics, and those who have stayed in physics. (1) E. Seymour, N. Hewitt, ``Talking About Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences,'' Westview Press (2000)   

Threatened Because of Gender?

A good deal of research has been done on the issue of stereotype threat. [1, 2] This research proposes that if a person identifies with a group of people that is negatively stereotyped for performance, then they will not perform as well as someone from the same group of people who is not made aware of the negative stereotype. The research we conducted investigates the legitimacy of stereotype threat based on gender in the area of science in the BYU-Idaho student population. Our results have significance in the current national debate about the lack of women pursuing careers in scientific disciplines. \newline \newline [1] Quinn, Diane M.; Spencer, Steven J.. (2001). The Interference of Stereotype Threat With Women's Generation of Mathematical Problem-Solving Strategies. Journal of Social Issues. 57(1):55-71. \newline [2] Schmader, Tony, {\&} Johns, Michael. (2003). Converging Evidence That Stereotype Threat Reduces Working Memory Capacity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 85(3):440-452.   

Examining student understanding of basic topics in quantum mechanics in different populations

As part of an ongoing research and curriculum development effort, the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington is examining student understanding of introductory quantum mechanics. The investigation includes data from four different classes at two large research universities. Specific research questions will be used to illustrate some common problems students have in applying and interpreting basic quantum mechanical principles.   

Examples from research on the learning and teaching of quantum mechanics

For the past several years, the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington has been engaged in an investigation of the learning and teaching of quantum mechanics. This study has been conducted primarily in the junior-level undergraduate quantum mechanics class at the University of Washington. It has focused on student understanding of many topics including, but not limited to: probability, stationary states, time-dependence, angular momentum, identical particles, and perturbation theory. Results from some selected research questions will be presented.   

A Tale of Two Frames: a relativistic gedankenexperiment

A simple thought-experiment involving the analysis in only two inertial frames will be used to derive all the standard results of the special theory of relativity. Our method identifies the roles of the zeroeth, the first, and the second postulates and requires only the use of simple geometry and algebra. The approach can also be used to underscore the simplicity associated with the use of the light cone variables. The derived results include the phenomena of time dilation, length contraction, Doppler shift, the invariance of the spacetime interval, and the Lorentz transformation formula.   

Session G5: Particle Physics

The International Linear Collider

The proposed electron-positron International Linear Collider is aimed at exploration of the new physics of the Terascale. A global effort is underway to design and plan the collider, and the detectors. With a unique capability for precision measurements, the ILC will advance discoveries of the LHC, and enable discoveries beyond. The physics goals and the latest progress world-wide will be reviewed.   

An Introduction to the LHC Olympics

The LHC Olympics is a series of workshop aimed at encouraging theorists and experimentalists to prepare for the soon-to-be-online Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. One aspect of the LHC Olympics program consists of the study of simulated data sets which represent various possible new physics signals as they would be seen in LHC detectors. Through this exercise, LHC Olympians learn the phenomenology of possible new physics models and gain experience in analyzing LHC data. Additionally, the LHC Olympics encourages discussion between theorists and experimentalists, and through this collaboration new techniques could be developed. The University of Washington LHC Olympics group consists of several first-year graduate and senior undergraduate students, in both theoretical and experimental particle physics. Presented here is an introduction to how such an LHC Olympics study is done. Various basic analysis tools and techniques are discussed.   

LHC Olympics: Advanced Analysis Techniques

The LHC Olympics is a series of workshop aimed at encouraging theorists and experimentalists to prepare for the soon-to-be-online Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. One aspect of the LHC Olympics program consists of the study of simulated data sets which represent various possible new physics signals as they would be seen in LHC detectors. Through this exercise, LHC Olympians learn the phenomenology of possible new physics models and gain experience in analyzing LHC data. Additionally, the LHC Olympics encourages discussion between theorists and experimentalists, and through this collaboration new techniques could be developed. The University of Washington LHC Olympics group consists of several first-year graduate and senior undergraduate students, in both theoretical and experimental particle physics. Presented here is a discussion of some of the more advanced techniques used and the recent results of one such LHC Olympics study.   

Discovering a Hidden Valley; Unusual Signals at Hadron Colliders

We consider models in which a new confining gauge group is added to the standard model of particle physics. Many new neutral particles with low masses, long lifetimes, and observable decays at hadron colliders (the Tevatron and the LHC) often arise in these models, giving exotic signals. Production multiplicities of the new particles are often large; final states with heavy flavor quarks are common; displaced vertices and/or missing energy are possible. For illustration we consider the physics of a specific model. After accounting for LEP constraints, we find production cross-sections at the LHC are typically in the 1-100 fb range, though they can be much larger, in which case they may be observable at the Tevatron. We note that there is a possibility of discovering the Higgs boson through its rare decays to the new particles.   

The Evergreen State College Cyclotron Project

We have designed a multipurpose cyclotron device, which may be used in a range of experiments. We are building our device in stages. Our first stage is a FT-ICR spectrometer, which uses an array of induction coils to monitor orbits in the chamber. Applying Fourier transform to the signal from this array will yield the cyclotron frequencies of all species orbiting in the chamber. From these frequencies, and their corresponding amplitudes, we can determine the charge to mass ratio, and relative abundance of species in our sample. This type of spectroscopy can distinguish between species of extremely similar mass. We will use the radio isotopic dating ladder, which requires higher and higher accuracies, beginning with carbon 14 dating, as a yardstick of our Success. During stage two we will install an exit port for an accelerated particle beam. We have designed a new beam extraction method that may better suit our particular application than the standard methods. At this stage we will use the signal coming from the induction array to determine the frequency at which we switch the potential across the gap. This allows us to synchronize the accelerating voltage and the particles orbit in such a way that we can effectively accelerate particles even when moving at relativistic speeds.   

Asymmetry in Muon Psuedo-Rapidity and the Search for Single Top Quarks at the Tevatron

Single top quark production is an infrequent electroweak process whose study can verify and potentially extend the Standard Model. Extracting the single-top signal from the W-boson-plus-jets background requires a better understanding of both signal and background. In proton anti-proton collisions, lepton decay products tend to move in a direction along the beamline correlated with their charge, causing an asymmetry in the lepton pseudo-rapidity. The asymmetry can give insight to the nucleon parton densities which affect typical background and signal events. We analyzed the asymmetry in pseudo-rapidity of muons produced by W-boson decay in Monte Carlo simulations of signal and background events, and in 320 pb-1 data recorded by the D0 RunII experiment. Bin-by-bin counting, skewness, and kurtosis calculations showed that the predicted asymmetry is present in the Monte Carlos and data, and different for the processes considered. However, the statistical errors are significant. This analysis is expected to be useful at the end of RunII, when datasets of 4 fb-1 are collected.