Seidman IPO Portfolio

Patrick Karabon — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 PDT

The Seidman IPO portfolio is a collaboration of diverse investment instruments used to teach future investment leaders how to invest in today's modern volatile markets. The portfolio incorporates hours of research in today's business world in order to make informed decisions about investing. The research is condensed into presentations which members make to improve the portfolio.

Conjectures and Results Involving Orderings, Posets, and Lattices

Kurt O'Hearn et al. — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:00:00 PDT

In discrete mathematics, there are partial orders on permutations relating how much they are disordered. One of these orders, the weak order, has some additional structure called a lattice. Our work presents conjectures and results from combining the weak order with other orders to form larger posets with the aim that these posets exhibit properties of a lattice. Our ideas include the use of alternative representations such as binary matrices.

Disbanding the Myths of Green Chemistry

Ross Harmon et al. — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:00:00 PDT

In today's time the term Green means several different things. Many negative connotations have been attached to this term. Learn what Green chemistry really is and how it works in today's world.

Bio-Succinic Acid

Hongjoon Yoon et al. — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:00:00 PDT

Succinic acid is one of the key platform molecules produced from biomass and transformed into a variety of useful chemicals. The production and usage of succinic acid as a replacement of maleic anhydride, main intermediate in petroleum based technologies, will be presented here. The versatility of the two carboxylic groups and its partial solubility in water make succinic acid a convenient starting materials for a variety of chemicals such as esters, amides, alcohols and biopolymers.

Foucault Pendulum and Light Ring

Amy Mohr — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 PDT

This experiment was composed of building a Foucault Pendulum that could fit inside a classroom. I constructed a pendulum that hung over a light ring. A phototransistor on the bottom of the bob registered the change in light intensity and started a timer when it passed over the light ring. The timer turned on an electromagnet, which attracted the metal bob to it. This caused the bob to accelerate. The acceleration counteracted the frictional forces that usually slow a pendulum. This system successfully made a perpetual motion pendulum that can demonstrate the rotation of the Earth.

Gravitational Collapse in Anti de Sitter Spacetime

Eric Van Oeveren — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 PDT

Since Oppenheimer and Snyder first studied the collapse of stars under their own weight in 1939, many other studies on gravitational collapse have been performed. In this project, we study the gravitational collapse of pressureless dust in AdS spacetime. This project compares and contrasts the redshift of null rays emitted from an infalling dust cloud in this Schwarzschild AdS spacetime to that of an ordinary Schwarzschild spacetime.

The Stirling Cycle Engine

Mark VanderVelde — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 PDT

A small beta configuration Stirling cycle engine of approximately 6 cubic inches of displacement was constructed. The engine was operated at atmospheric pressure. Heat was provided by an electric element with voltage and current measured in order to monitor the power input to the engine. Pressure and the temperature of various components were also logged to facilitate the calculation of performance and efficiency. The power output was measured by means of a deProny brake. Comparison between the calculated theoretical efficiency and the actual efficiency was made and possible causes for the discrepancy explored.

Studying Polymer Confinement Using Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy

Samuel Bowerman — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 PDT

Polymer surface interactions are studied within the polymer nanocomposite (PNC) system of silica nanoparticles immersed in an epoxy matrix composed of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) with a 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS) hardener using positronium annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). This method offers a unique perspective because positronium localizes within the pores of the material, allowing for a measurement sensitive to the polymer free volume and not to the nanoparticles immersed within. PALS measurements determine free volume over a range of temperatures, which are used to relate the glass transition temperature to the loading weight fraction of nanoparticles.

A Study of the Pulsar PSR J1907+0602

Robert Scott — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 PDT

The pulsar PSR J1907+0602 has been observed at a variety of wavelengths over the past few years. This pulsar is located near an extended TeV gamma-ray source (MGRO J1908+06) and may be connected to it in some way. This study has been an effort to determine certain properties of this pulsar using data gathered at different wavelengths and from multiple instruments. Radio wavelength data came from the Extended Very Large Array (EVLA) in New Mexico. X-ray data came from the XMM-Newton satellite. The radio data was examined to determine if the source was a point-like or extended radio source. The X-ray data were used to search for pulsed X-ray emission as well as to determine if the pulsar is an extended X-ray source. Combining outside research at gamma-ray wavelength with the radio and X-ray data allowed for a spectral model to be fit to the spectral energy distribution of the pulsar.

Development of Water Target for Radioisotope Production

Nathan Tripp — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 PDT

Ongoing studies of plant physiology at TUNL require a supply of nitrogen-13 for use as a radiotracer. Production of nitrogen-13 using a water target and a proton beam follows the nuclear reaction 16-O(p,a)13-N. Unfortunately the irradiation of oxygen-18 within a natural water target produces fluorine-18. The presence of this second radioisotope reduces the efficacy of nitrogen-13 as a radiotracer. Designing a natural water target for nitrogen-13 production at TUNL required the design of several systems. A heat exchanger thermally regulates the target water preventing the system from overheating and minimizing the effect of the cavitations occurring within the target. Alumina pellets within a scrubbing unit remove the fluorine-18 contamination from the irradiated water. The newly designed and constructed water target should meet the current and future needs of TUNL researchers in the production of nitrogen-13.