Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Automating Software Development For Mobile Computing Platforms, Kevin Patrick Moran

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have become ubiquitous in today's computing landscape. These devices have ushered in entirely new populations of users, and mobile operating systems are now outpacing more traditional "desktop" systems in terms of market share. The applications that run on these mobile devices (often referred to as "apps") have become a primary means of computing for millions of users and, as such, have garnered immense developer interest. These apps allow for unique, personal software experiences through touch-based UIs and a complex assortment of sensors. However, designing and implementing high quality mobile apps can be a …

Development Of A One Pot [4+2]/R[4+2] 2-Pyridone Synthesis And The Fluorescence Of 2-Pyridone Azafluorenones, Nicholas Angello

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

We report the concise synthesis of several tricyclic 2-pyridones via a one pot sequence involving an aldol condensation, alkene isomerization, intramolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition, and selective retro-Diels-Alder cycloreversion. The starting materials are synthesized in one step from cheap and commercially available precursors. The intermediate [2.2.2]diazabicycloalkene cycloadducts can be isolated. The retro-Diels-Alder occurs at easily accessible temperatures due to base acceleration. Simple derivatization of the tricyclic products afforded azafluorenones with unprecedented fluorescent activity due to the pyridone motif.

Developing Efficient High-Order Transport Schemes For Cross-Scale Coupled Estuary-Ocean Modeling, Fei Ye

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Geophysical fluid dynamics (GFD) models have progressed greatly in simulating the world’s oceans and estuaries in the past three decades, thanks to the development of novel numerical algorithms and the advent of massively parallel high-performance computing platforms. Study of inter-related processes on multi-scales (e.g., between large-scale (remote) processes and small-scale (local) processes) has always been an important theme for GFD modeling. For this purpose, models based on unstructured-grid (UG) have shown great potential because of their superior abilities in enabling multi-resolution and in fitting geometry and boundary. Despite UG models’ successful applications on coastal systems, significant obstacles still exist that …

The Development And Proliferation Of Summer Algal Blooms In The Oligo/Poly-Haline Portion Of The Chesapeake Bay - Observational And Numerical Modeling Studies, Zhengui Wang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Algal blooms occur annually in many parts of the Chesapeake Bay. The causes of algal blooms are complex and can be different in different regions. In this study, we will conduct data analysis for the observed data and adopt various methods to investigate algal bloom phenomenon in three separate regions in the oligo/poly-haline portion of the Bay. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction of the algal bloom research in the Chesapeake Bay. In Chapter 2, an observational analysis and a numerical study on the algal blooms in Back River were conducted. A hypothesis was made that high pH can trigger …

Charge Dynamics In The Metallic And Superconducting States Of The Electron-Doped 122-Type Iron Arsenides, Zhen Xing

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Understanding charge dynamics and the origin of superconductivity in iron-based materials is one of the most important topics in condensed matter physics. Among different structures of iron-based materials, 122-type iron arsenides are of considerable interest due to their diverse phase diagrams, relatively high superconducting transition temperatures, and the availability of high quality single crystals. In this dissertation, we study temperature and frequency dependence of charge dynamics of the electron-doped 122-type iron arsenides in the metallic and superconducting states using broadband infrared spectroscopy at cryogenic temperatures. We have investigated the charge dynamics and the nature of many-body interactions in metallic La- …

Enhancing Usability, Security, And Performance In Mobile Computing, Shanhe Yi

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

We have witnessed the prevalence of smart devices in every aspect of human life. However, the ever-growing smart devices present significant challenges in terms of usability, security, and performance. First, we need to design new interfaces to improve the device usability which has been neglected during the rapid shift from hand-held mobile devices to wearables. Second, we need to protect smart devices with abundant private data against unauthorized users. Last, new applications with compute-intensive tasks demand the integration of emerging mobile backend infrastructure. This dissertation focuses on addressing these challenges. First, we present GlassGesture, a system that improves the usability …

Assessing The Impact Of Land Use And Climate Change On Streamflow And Nutrient Delivery To The New River Estuary, Nc, Shanna Williamson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Freshwater inflow influences numerous physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of estuaries. The influx of freshwater to an estuary typically serves as an important source of allochthonous material from which primary producers derive their energy and transfer this energy to higher trophic levels. Any changes to freshwater flow subsequently impacts nutrient delivery and indirectly impacts organisms across multiple trophic levels. Anthropogenic changes to coastal land use and climate both act to threaten the integrity of estuarine systems by influencing freshwater inflow and dissolved nutrient input. Watershed loading models such as the Regional Nutrient Management (ReNuMa) model offer the ability to estimate …

Characterizing The Biological Impacts And Human Dimensions Of The U.S. East Coast Recreational Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fishery, William Morris Goldsmith

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) are targeted by recreational anglers along the east coast of the United States, and the fishery is thought to be of considerable economic value. However, limited knowledge of the preferences and values of fishery participants impedes the ability of managers to maximize fishery benefits and predict harvest patterns, while an incomplete understanding of post-release mortality hinders efforts to estimate total mortality resulting from the fishery. This dissertation used a multidisciplinary approach that relied heavily on cooperative research with the recreational fishing community to examine these questions. A stated choice survey of private anglers permitted to …

Impacts Of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition And Coastal Nitrogen Fluxes On Chesapeake Bay Hypoxia, Fei Da

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Although rivers are the primary source of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) inputs to the Chesapeake Bay, direct atmospheric DIN deposition and DIN fluxes from the continental shelf can also significantly impact Chesapeake Bay hypoxia. The relative role of these additional sources of DIN has not previously been thoroughly quantified. In this study, the three-dimensional Estuarine-Carbon-Biogeochemistry model embedded in the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ChesROMS-ECB) is used to examine the relative impact of these three DIN sources. Model simulations highlight that DIN inputs from the atmosphere have roughly the same impact on hypoxia as the same gram for gram change in …

Improving Stock Assessments And Management Advice For Bluefin Tunas And Other Highly Migratory Species, Lisa Elma Ailloud

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

For years bluefin tuna has been the poster child for overfishing and poor management. However, recent improvements in data collection, catch monitoring and international cooperation are providing an opportunity to reverse the perception of a fishery that is doomed to collapse. Stock assessments are conducted routinely to monitor the abundance and productivity of exploited fish stocks so managers can determine how many fish can be sustainably harvested each year. Should a stock be declared overfished or under-going overfishing, the science behind stock assessments also equip managers with the knowledge necessary to make decisions about what short-term and long-term management measures …

Assisting Software Developers With License Compliance, Christopher Vendome

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Open source licensing determines how open source systems are reused, distributed, and modified from a legal perspective. While it facilitates rapid development, it can present difficulty for developers in understanding due to the legal language of these licenses. Because of misunderstandings, systems can incorporate licensed code in a way that violates the terms of the license. Such incompatibilities between licensing can result in the inability to reuse a particular library without either relicensing the system or redesigning the architecture of the system. Prior efforts have predominantly focused on license identification or understanding the underlying phenomena without reasoning about compatibility in …

First Measurements Of The Parity-Violating And Beam-Normal Single-Spin Asymmetries In Elastic Electron-Aluminum Scattering, Kurtis David Bartlett

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The Qweak collaboration has made the first measurements of the elastic parity-violating and beam-normal single-spin asymmetries from the 27Al nucleus. Both are the result of ancillary measurements conducted during the Qweak experiment at Jefferson Lab. The goal of the experimental was to determine the proton's weak charge, Qp W, via a measurement of the elastic parity-violating electron-proton scattering asymmetry. During the experiment, ancillary measurements were made with different beam configurations on a separate aluminum alloy target, in an effort to directly measure the aluminum background coming from the experiment's liquid hydrogen target cell.

This dissertation discusses three primary results: the …

Lattice Qcd For Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay: Short Range Operator Contributions, Henry Jose Monge Camacho

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The Standard Model (SM), the fundamental theory of particle physics, very success- fully describes the world around us, and with a only a few tantalizing exceptions, all the experiments we have performed to understand the fundamental laws of nature. However, the SM accounts for only 4-5% of the matter and energy in the universe, with approxi- mately 25% composed of dark matter (DM) and the remaining 70% composed of the more mysterious dark energy. Further, the SM content of the universe is composed of an excess of matter over anti-matter of about 1 part per billion. Despite being a small …

Assessment Of The High-Resolution Sediment Gravity Flow Record In Prince William Sound, Alaska, Elisabeth Rose Clyne

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

South-Central Alaska is one of the most seismically active and climatologically sensitive places in the world. Within this region, Prince William Sound (PWS) receives abundant sediment from multiple sources, potentially housing a high-resolution environmental record spanning the past 4,000 years. Inputs to PWS are derived from local rivers and glaciers, and may include earthquake- and glacial-outburst-triggered sediment gravity flows. Therefore, this is an ideal location to investigate the long-term record of seismic, glacial, and riverine activity. This study examines the elemental, grain size, and stable isotope signatures in PWS to identify gravity flow deposits and the potential paleoseismic and paleoclimate …

Superconducting Thin Films For The Enhancement Of Superconducting Radio Frequency Accelerator Cavities, Matthew Burton

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Bulk niobium (Nb) superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities are currently the preferred method for acceleration of charged particles at accelerating facilities around the world. However, bulk Nb cavities have poor thermal conductance, impose material and design restrictions on other components of a particle accelerator, have low reproducibility and are approaching the fundamental material-dependent accelerating field limit of approximately 50MV/m. Since the SRF phenomena occurs at surfaces within a shallow depth of ~1 µm, a proposed solution to this problem has been to utilize thin film technology to deposit superconducting thin films on the interior of cavities to engineer the active …

Exploiting Power For Smartphone Security And Privacy, Qing Yang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Power consumption has become a key issue for smartphone security and privacy protection. In this dissertation, we propose to exploit power for smartphone security, as well as to optimize energy consumption for smartphone privacy. First, we show that public USB charging stations pose a significant privacy risk to smartphone users. We present a side-channel attack that allows a charging station to identify which webpages are loaded while the smartphone is charging. to evaluate this side-channel, we collected power traces of Alexa top 50 websites on multiple smartphones under several conditions, including: varied battery charging level, browser cache enabled/disabled, taps/no taps …

Modeling The Gross-Pitaevskii Equation Using The Quantum Lattice Gas Method, Armen M. Oganesov

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

We present an improved Quantum Lattice Gas (QLG) algorithm as a mesoscopic unitary perturbative representation of the mean field Gross Pitaevskii (GP) equation for Bose–Einstein Condensates (BECs). The method employs an interleaved sequence of unitary collide and stream operators. QLG is applicable to many different scalar potentials in the weak interaction regime and has been used to model the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV), Burgers and GP equations. It can be implemented on both quantum and classical computers and is extremely scalable. We present results for 1D soliton solutions with positive and negative internal interactions, as well as vector solitons with inelastic …

Computational Methods Of Lattice Boltzmann Mhd, Christopher Robert Flint

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Lattice Boltzmann (LB) Methods are a somewhat novel approach to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. These methods simulate Navier-Stokes and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations on the mesoscopic (quasi-kinetic) scale by solving for a statistical distribution of particles rather than attempting to solve the nonlinear macroscopic equations directly. These LB methods allow for a highly parallelizable code since one replaces the difficult nonlinear convective derivatives of MHD by simple linear advection on a lattice. New developments in LB have significantly extended the numerical stability limits of its applicability. These developments include multiple relaxation times (MRT) in the collision operators, maximizing entropy to …

Automatically Documenting Software Artifacts, Boyang Li

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Software artifacts, such as database schema and unit test cases, constantly change during evolution and maintenance of software systems. Co-evolution of code and DB schemas in Database-Centric Applications (DCAs) often leads to two types of challenging scenarios for developers, where (i) changes to the DB schema need to be incorporated in the source code, and (ii) maintenance of a DCAs code requires understanding of how the features are implemented by relying on DB operations and corresponding schema constraints. On the other hand, the number of unit test cases often grows as new functionality is introduced into the system, and maintaining …

Enhancing Usability And Security Through Alternative Authentication Methods, Nicolas Jorge Van Balen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

With the expanding popularity of various Internet services, online users have be- come more vulnerable to malicious attacks as more of their private information is accessible on the Internet. The primary defense protecting private information is user authentication, which currently relies on less than ideal methods such as text passwords and PIN numbers. Alternative methods such as graphical passwords and behavioral biometrics have been proposed, but with too many limitations to replace current methods. However, with enhancements to overcome these limitations and harden existing methods, alternative authentications may become viable for future use. This dissertation aims to enhance the viability …

Disconnected Diagrams In Lattice Qcd, Arjun Singh Gambhir

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In this work, we present state-of-the-art numerical methods and their applications for computing a particular class of observables using lattice quantum chromodynamics (Lattice QCD), a discretized version of the fundamental theory of quarks and gluons. These observables require calculating so called "disconnected diagrams" and are important for understanding many aspects of hadron structure, such as the strange content of the proton. We begin by introducing the reader to the key concepts of Lattice QCD and rigorously define the meaning of disconnected diagrams through an example of the Wick contractions of the nucleon. Subsequently, the calculation of observables requiring disconnected diagrams …

Quantum And Classical Manifestation Of Hamiltonian Monodromy, Chen Chen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Integrable Hamiltonian systems are said to display nontrivial monodromy if fundamental action-angle loops defined on phase-space tori change their topological structure when the system is carried around a circuit. It was shown in earlier work that this topological change can be seen in families of trajectories of noninteracting particles; however, that work required use of a very abstract flow in phase space. In this dissertation, we show that the same topological change can occur as a result of application of ordinary forces. We also show how this dynamical phenomenon could be observed experimentally in cold atom systems. Almost everything that …

Data-Driven Radiometric Photo-Linearization, Han Li

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In computer vision and computer graphics, a photograph is often considered a photometric representation of a scene. However, for most camera models, the relation between recorded pixel value and the amount of light received on the sensor is not linear. This non-linear relationship is modeled by the camera response function which maps the scene radiance to the image brightness. This non-linear transformation is unknown, and it can only be recovered via a rigorous radiometric calibration process. Classic radiometric calibration methods typically estimate a camera response function from an exposure stack (i.e., an image sequence captured with different exposures from the …

Deep Learning Software Repositories, Martin White

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Bridging the abstraction gap between artifacts and concepts is the essence of software engineering (SE) research problems. SE researchers regularly use machine learning to bridge this gap, but there are three fundamental issues with traditional applications of machine learning in SE research. Traditional applications are too reliant on labeled data. They are too reliant on human intuition, and they are not capable of learning expressive yet efficient internal representations. Ultimately, SE research needs approaches that can automatically learn representations of massive, heterogeneous, datasets in situ, apply the learned features to a particular task and possibly transfer knowledge from task to …

Measurement Of The Elastic Ep Cross Section At Q2 = 0.66, 1.10, 1.51 And 1.65 Gev2, Yang Wang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The nucleon form factors have been investigated by physicists for decades because of its fundamental importance. The world data of the proton magnetic form factor GMp shows that the measurements have been focused on Q2 lower than 5 GeV2 and it has large uncertainties at higher GeV2. Experiment E12-07-108 aims to improve the accuracy of the e − p elastic cross section to better than 2% over a Q2 range of 7 − 14 GeV2. From 2015 to 2016, the e − p elastic cross section was measured over a wide range of Q2 from 0.66 − 12.56 GeV2 at …

A Global Normal Form For Two-Dimensional Mode Conversion, David Gregory Johnston

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Mode conversion is a phenomenon that is of interest as a method for heating in fusion reactors. A magnetosonic wave with dispersion relation DMS propagates toward the interior of the plasma, where it excites an ion-hybrid wave with dispersion relation DIH and thereby transfers energy to the plasma. We wish to study this process using ray-based methods. The 2 2 dispersion matrix D, which is, in general, a function of the phase space variables (x; y; kx; ky), must be put into normal form, in which the diagonals of D, identied as the uncoupled dispersion relations, DMS and DIH, Poisson-commute …

Infrared Spectroscopy And Nano-Imaging Of La0.67sr0.33mno3 Films, Peng Xu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Charge transport properties of manganites can be significantly modified by temperature, chemical doping, strain, and interfacial boundaries. In this dissertation, we report studies on broadband far-field infrared spectroscopy and near-field infrared imaging of single crystalline thin films of Sr doped manganite LaMnO3 at 0.33 doping level. at this Sr-doping level, the manganite films undergo a phase transition between a ferromagnetic metallic phase at low temperatures to a paramagnetic, insulating phase at higher temperatures. The films were grown on different substrates with different thicknesses by pulsed laser deposition method. The temperature dependent far-field infrared data on 85 nm thick La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) …

Plasmonic Approaches And Photoemission: Ag-Based Photocathodes, Zhaozhu Li

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Photocathodes play an important role in present large accelerator facilities by providing polarized or un-polarized electron beams. Current state-of-art high polarization photocathodes consist of strained super-lattice GaAs based photocathodes, e.g. GaAs/GaAsP has a quantum efficiency ~1% and polarization ~90% at near-infrared wavelength for the incident light. Despite the advantages offered by metallic photocathodes regarding longer life time, fast response time and low requirements of ultra-high vacuum environment, they have not been put to use due to their low quantum efficiency, even though one can envision several approaches to achieve spin-polarization from them. A possible solution is to apply the Fano …

Optical Control Of Multi-Photon Coherent Interactions In Rubidium Atoms, Gleb Vladimirovich Romanov

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In the last few decades, coherent light-atom interactions have opened unprecedented possibilities for the coherent control of atomic and optical quantum systems, paved the way for the practical realization of quantum information technologies, and allowed for the creation of novel quantum-enhanced sensors. This dissertation investigates the interaction of multiple near-resonant optical fields with hot rubidium atoms under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. The main goal of the presented research is to address some fundamental challenges in using such systems for practical applications. The EIT effect relies on the strong coupling of an optical probe field and a collective long-lived …

An Investigation Of Power Saving And Privacy Protection On Smartphones, Dachuan Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

With the advancements in mobile technology, smartphones have become ubiquitous in people's daily lives and have greatly facilitated users in many aspects. For a smartphone user, power saving and privacy protection are two important issues that matter and draw serious attentions from research communities. In this dissertation, we present our studies on some specific issues of power saving and privacy protection on a smartphone. Although IEEE 802.11 standards provide Power Save Mode (PSM) to help mobile devices conserve energy, PSM fails to bring expected benefits in many real scenarios. We define an energy conserving model to describe the general PSM …