I will show an elementary derivation of the bound orbits of an inverse-square force law. The approach uses the Hamilton equations of motion, which are just two coupled first-order differential equations for the time rate of change of the radial coordinate and of the radial momentum. By decoupling these equations, we simply have to integrate a first-order differential equation of a complex...
During the past two years, The Organization for Physics at Two-Year Colleges (OPTYCs) has ramped up multiple programs for professional development. While these are aimed at two-year college faculty, we have had participation from high school teachers, professors from four-year institutions, and graduate students. In this presentation, we will highlight some of our programs and share what we...
When I started as a research leader at a UMD gen-ed UG program in 2018, I realized that I could effectively utilize my experimental high energy physicist upbringing in my role. This was not only because of the research projects I implemented in the course, but also of the baseline knowledge, competencies, hard and soft skills acquired through apprenticeship, experiential learning, project and...
Introduction: How can a Physics and Chemistry student easily visualize the resultant charge of a Neutron or Proton? By using a simple educational model that includes Down and Up quarks. Computing the resultant charge requires knowledge of only simple fractions.
Methodology/Theoretical Framework: Color-coded spheres are used to represent Down Quarks, Up Quarks, and Gluons. Desktop...
North Carolina Central University received a grant to give underrepresented students ( women, people of color, LGBTQ+, and TYC) along with TYC faculty opportunities to do research at Triangle University Nuclear Laboratories along with TUNL REU students and TUNL faculty. I will be talking about my experience as a TYC faculty getting back into research and the opportunities of my TYC students...
2025 has been designated as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ). I have developed a set of simple outreach activities that involve applications of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and spectrum analysis using simple diffraction grating viewers. Students and outreach audiences often marvel at the rich details that emerge from ‘normal’ sources of light: the wavelengths...
In my previous talk I outlined the role of quantization considerations in the emission spectra of ionized elements and in the colors emitted by Light Emitting Diodes. I have created an inexpensive set of demonstrations that can be given to students and outreach audiences of almost all ages so that they can directly experience these surprising phenomena. I cut small squares of linear...
Driven by advancements in electronics and manufacturing, microsatellites have become increasingly capable and popular in recent years, driving down the cost to access space. However, propulsion systems have not evolved in tandem with these microsatellites, leading to many being launched without the necessary propulsion for orbital maintenance, interplanetary travel, and other critical...
We study Quasistars, which consist of a stellar to intermediate mass black hole embedded inside a massive star-like envelope. The accretion rate onto the black hole matches the Eddington rate for the entire Quasistar, easily placing it in the hyper-Eddington accretion region. The quick growth of the black hole leads to the outwards transport of angular momentum and energy, causing the envelope...
Articular cartilage (AC) is an important connective tissue located at the ends of bones in joints. AC’s unique mechanical and physical properties enable it to cushion and facilitate smooth movement. However, its limited regenerative abilities often lead to osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease affecting over 32.5 million adults in the United States. Cartilage tissue engineering aims to...
Superconductors, while displaying phenomenal physical properties, are impractical for many applications due to their low operational temperatures. A developing solution to this problem is the usage of dopants, which may improve several qualities found in a superconducting material, such as its critical temperature and microstructural morphology, greatly improving their practicality. For the...
The transit method is used to detect exoplanets and their properties by analyzing the intensity and duration of a dip in a host star’s brightness. By determining the dip in brightness of stars in regions of space through the analysis of FITS files, areas with exoplanets detectable through the transit method can be identified. Using Python packages such as MatPlotLib, DAOStarFinder, and...
Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) remain elusive, in comparison to their supermassive or stellar-mass counterparts, but are essential for understanding galaxy – black hole co-evolution. The small size and distance to IMBHs make dynamic detections difficult, so active galactic nuclei (AGN) signatures provide an easier way to locate IMBHs in dwarf galaxies. Dwarf galaxies also contain other...
Thermoelectric materials, capable of harnessing waste heat in industrial applications, use a temperature difference to create a voltage difference. The most efficient thermoelectric materials are rigid inorganics, but hybrid organic-inorganic materials are flexible and more applicable to moving heated surfaces. To quantify a material’s thermoelectric power factor, we develop an apparatus to...
Mars is notable for its frequent and intense dust storms. These storms can be found at nearly every location on the planet, though they vary in frequency and intensity. Dust storms on Mars are seasonal, with most storms occurring during northern fall and winter, from L_s~135 to L_s~360. During this season, increased heating associated with perihelion causes intense westerly jets to form around...
Electromagnetic metamaterials can interact and change light’s properties. We fabricated a microwave metamaterial that has electronic ring resonators which impact the incoming microwaves’s electromagnetic fields. Metamaterials are used in a variety of applications, in invisibility cloaks, perfect absorbers, solar cells, super lens, and more. We used a microwave 2.8cm wavelength Sargent Welch...
We used the 0.4318 m ground-based telescope at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Dr. Cristina V. Torres Memorial Astronomical Observatory (CTMO) located in Resaca de la Palma State Park in Brownsville, Texas. The CTMO telescope is an f/6.8 CDK17 astrograph manufactured by PlaneWave. We used an FLI ProLine CCD with no filter. On the night of 2024 June 16, CTMO pursued a short...
