Justin Morgan with Richard Schnee (2nd semester of project)Numerical Calculation of a Comparison Between Various WIMP Search ExperimentsOne WIMP dark matter search, the DAMA experiment, has claimed detection of WIMPs, in possible conflict with other searches that have detected no signal. Comparisons made so far between this experiment and...
Academic Year
Adam Morley with Sue Hinze (sociology), Glenn Starkman & Cyrus Taylor (2nd semester of project)A Study of Gender in Undergraduate Physics Majors and Minors at Case Western Reserve UniversityWe will analyze the enrollment of women in undergraduate physics at Case Western Reserve University, specifically why the percentage of women...
Sarah Mullet with Cyrus TaylorAdvanced Hydrofoils in the Boating MarketHydrofoils, in the most basic sense, are to boats what wings are to planes. By acting as ‘wings’ for a boat, hydrofoils create lift, raising the boat above the surface of the water, thus minimizing drag. This in turn can...
David Nielsen with Dan Akerib and Kathy KashCharacterization and Quality Control of TES used in Dark Matter detectionA relatively new class of cryogenic particle detectors involves cooling substrates to sub-100mK temperatures and recording the energy deposited in scattering events by the subsequent warming of a superconducting film patterned onto...
Marisa Quattrone with Robert J. Maciunas, MD, (Univ. Hosp.)Nonrigid Registration Algorithm for Warping Intraoperative MR Scans to Preoperative MR Scan for Optimal Surgical NavigationSelected neurosurgical patients will have markers filled with Vitamin E placed on their heads to appear on an MRI scan of their brains. The BrainLab Navigation...
Peter Ritchie with Rolfe Petschek & Maureen McEnery (School of Medicine)Protein Co-Localization Using Gold Colloid Coupled AntibodiesImmuno-fluorescence microscopy employs fluorochromes bound to antibodies to localize proteins. These are certain fluorescent dyes bound to specific locations on antibodies to enable immunofluorescence. Such dyes will be coupled to antibodies that bind...
Mike Rousos with Richard SchneeSimulation of Neutron Background for One Ton Dark Matter DetectorsOne of the difficult sources of background particles in WIMP dark matter searches is due to high-energy neutrons produced by cosmic-ray muons interacting in the material near the detector apparatus. A one-ton, segmented detector may be...
Micah Waldstein with David Farrell, John Tripp and Bob BrownImaging the Density of the Human BodyBy taking advantage of the phenomenon of high-Tc superconductivity, the physics department’s superconductivity group has recently miniaturized the equipment used for performing in-vivo magnetic susceptometry. As a result, multi-detector susceptometer arrays are now practical....
Matt Wilbanks (with Lawrence Krauss)Computation and Consciousness in an Expanding UniverseRecent evidence indicates that the universe is undergoing an accelerated expansion; this project is designed to pursue and discuss the consequences of the ever-expanding universe model for life in the very distant future. Of particular interest will be the...
Mark Winkler with Ken SingerSurface Mediated Photorefraction in Liquid CrystalsLiquid crystals are known to have interesting photorefractive properties. One way to induce a large photorefractive effect is to layer a liquid crystal and a photoconductor. Light-induced modulation of surface charge on the photoconducting layer lowers the surface energy of...