Physics
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/52
The Physics department is committed to education and research in physics, the study of the fundamental universal laws that govern the behavior of matter and energy, and the exploration of the consequences and applications of those laws. Our department is widely known for its excellent teaching and student mentoring. Our department plays an important role in the university’s Core Curriculum. We have strong academic programs with several options for undergraduate physics majors, leading to the B.S. degree, as well as graduate curricula leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Our research groups span a variety of fields within physics. Our principal concentrations are in Astrophysics, Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology, Condensed Matter Physics, Lasers and Optics, Physics Education, Solar Physics, and the Space Science and Engineering Lab.
Browse
397 results
Search Results
Item Discovery of a split stellar stream in the periphery of the Small Magellanic Cloud(Oxford University Press, 2024-07) Nidever, David L.I report the discovery of a stellar stream (Sutlej) using Gaia DR3 (third data release) proper motions and XP metallicities located ∼15◦ north of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The stream is composed of two parallel linear components (‘branches’) approximately ∼8◦ × 0.6◦ in size and separated by 2.5◦. The stars have a mean proper motion of (μRA , μDec. ) = (+0.08 mas yr−1 , −1.41 mas yr−1 ), which is quite similar to the proper motion of stars on the western side of the SMC. The colour–magnitude diagram of the stream stars has a clear red giant branch, horizontal branch, and main-sequence turn-off that are well matched by a PARSEC isochrone of 10 Gyr, [Fe/H] = −1.8 at 32 kpc, and a total stellar mass of ∼33 000 M . The stream is spread out over an area of 9.6 deg2 and has a surface brightness of 32.5 mag arcsec−2 . The metallicity of the stream stars from Gaia XP spectra extends over −2.5≤ [M/H] ≤−1.0 with a median of [M/H] = −1.8. The tangential velocity of the stream stars is 214 km s−1 compared to the values of 448 km s−1 for the Large Magellanic Cloud and 428 km s−1 for the SMC. While the radial velocity of the stream is not yet known, a comparison of the space velocities using a range of assumed radial velocities shows that the stream is unlikely to be associated with the Magellanic Clouds. The tangential velocity vector is misaligned with the stream by nearly 90◦, which might indicate an important gravitational influence from the nearby Magellanic Clouds.Item Unveiling the purely young star formation history of the SMC’s northeastern shell from colour–magnitude diagram fitting(Oxford University Press, 2024-07) Sakowska, J.D.; Noël, Noëlia E. D.; Ruiz-Lara, T.; Gallart, Carme; Massana, Pol; Nidever, David L.; Cassisi, Santi; Correa-Amaro, Patricio; Choi, Yumi; Besla, Gurtina; Erkal, Denis; Martínez‐Delgado, David; Monelli, M.; Olsen, Knut; Stringfellow, Guy S.We obtain a quantitative star formation history (SFH) of a shell-like structure (‘shell’) located in the northeastern part of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We use the Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History to derive colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs), reaching below the oldest main-sequence turnoff, from which we compute the SFHs with CMD-fitting techniques. We present, for the first time, a novel technique that uses red clump (RC) stars from the CMDs to assess and account for the SMC’s line-of-sight depth effect present during the SFH derivation. We find that accounting for this effect recovers a more accurate SFH. We quantify an 7 kpc line-of-sight depth present in the CMDs, in good agreement with depth estimates from RC stars in the northeastern SMC. By isolating the stellar content of the northeastern shell and incorporating the line-of-sight depth into our calculations, we obtain an unprecedentedly detailed SFH. We find that the northeastern shell is primarily composed of stars younger than 500 Myr, with significant star formation enhancements around 250 and 450 Myr. These young stars are the main contributors to the shell’s structure. We show synchronicity between the northeastern shell’s SFH with the Large Magellanic Cloud’s (LMC) northern arm, which we attribute to the interaction history of the SMC with the LMC and the Milky Way (MW) over the past 500 Myr. Our results highlight the complex interplay of ram pressure stripping and the influence of the MW’s circumgalactic medium in shaping the SMC’s northeastern shell.Item Internal magnetic field structures observed by PSP/WISPR in a filament-related coronal mass ejection(EDP Sciences, 2024-05) Cappello, G. M.; Temmer, M.; Vourlidas, A.; Braga, C.; Liewer, P. C.; Qiu, J.; Stenborg, G.; Kouloumvakos, A.; Veronig, A. M.; Bothner, V.Context. We investigated the coronal mass ejection (CME) related to an eruptive filament over the southwestern solar limb on December 8, 2022, at around 8 UT. We tracked localized density enhancements reflecting the magnetic structures using white-light data taken with the Wide-field Instrument for Solar PRobe (WISPR) aboard the Parker Solar Probe (PSP). Aims. We aim to investigate the 3D location, morphology and evolution of the internal magnetic fine structures of CMEs. Specifically, we focused on the physical origin of the features in the WISPR images, how the white-light structures evolve over time, and their relationship with the source region, filament, and the flux rope. Methods. The fast tangential motion of the PSP spacecraft during its perihelion permits a single event to be viewed from multiple angles in short times relative to the event’s evolution. Hence, three dimensional information of selected CME features can be derived from this single spacecraft using triangulation techniques. Results. We grouped small-scale structures with roughly similar speeds, longitude, and latitude into three distinct morphological groups. We found twisted magnetic field patterns close to the eastern leg of the CME that may be related to “horns” outlining the edges of the flux-rope cavity. We identified aligned thread-like bundles close to the western leg, and they may be related to confined density enhancements evolving during the filament eruption. High density blob-like features (magnetic islands) are widely spread in longitude (∼40°) close to the flanks and the rear part of the CME. We also note that the large-scale outer envelope of the CME, seen clearly from 1 AU, was not well observed by PSP. Conclusions. We demonstrate that CME flux ropes, apart from the blobs, may comprise different morphological groups with a cluster behavior; the blobs instead span a wide range of longitudes. This finding may hint at either the three-dimensionality of the post-CME current sheet (CS) or the influence of the ambient corona in the evolutionary behavior of the CS. Importantly, we show that the global appearance of the CME can be very different in WISPR (0.11–0.16 AU) and the instruments near 1 AU because of the shorter line-of-sight integration of WISPR.Item Enhanced Sensitivity in Photovoltaic 2D MoS2/Te Heterojunction VOC Sensors(Wiley, 2024-07) Reza Mohammadzadeh, Mohammad; Hasani, Amirhossein; Hussain, Tanveer; Ghanbari, Hamidreza; Fawzy, Mirette; Abnavi, Amin; Ahmadi, Ribwar; Kabir, Fahmid; De Silba, Thushani; Rajapakse, R. K. N. D.; Adachi, Michael M.Volatile organic compound (VOC) sensors have a broad range of applications including healthcare monitoring, product quality control, and air quality management. However, many such applications are demanding, requiring sensors with high sensitivity and selectivity. 2D materials are extensively used in many VOC sensing devices due to their large surface-to-volume ratio and fascinating electronic properties. These properties, along with their exceptional flexibility, low power consumption, room-temperature operation, chemical functionalization potential, and defect engineering capabilities, make 2D materials ideal for high-performance VOC sensing. Here, a 2D MoS2/Te heterojunction is reported that significantly improves the VOC detection compared to MoS2 and Te sensors on their own. Density functional theory (DFT) analysis shows that the MoS2/Te heterojunction significantly enhances the adsorption energy and therefore sensing sensitivity of the sensor. The sensor response, which denotes the percentage change in the sensor's conductance upon VOC exposure, is further enhanced under photo-illumination and zero-bias conditions to values up to ≈7000% when exposed to butanone. The MoS2/Te heterojunction is therefore a promising device architecture for portable and wearable sensing applications.Item Dynamical tides during the inspiral of rapidly spinning neutron stars: Solutions beyond mode resonance(American Physical Society, 2024-07) Yu, Hang; Arras, Phil; Weinberg, Nevin N.We investigate the dynamical tide in a gravitational wave (GW)-driven coalescing binary involving at least one neutron star (NS). The deformed NS is assumed to spin rapidly, with its spin axis antialigned with the orbit. Such an NS may exist if the binary forms dynamically in a dense environment, and it can lead to a particularly strong tide because the NS f-mode can be resonantly excited during the inspiral. We present a new analytical solution for the f-mode resonance by decomposing the tide into a resummed equilibrium component varying at the tidal forcing frequency and a dynamical component varying at the f-mode eigenfrequency that is excited only around mode resonance. This solution simplifies numerical implementations by avoiding the subtraction of two diverging terms as was done in previous analyses. It also extends the solution’s validity to frequencies beyond mode resonance. When the dynamical tide back reacts on the orbit, we demonstrate that the commonly adopted effective Love number is insufficient because it does not capture the tidal torque on the orbit that dominates the back reaction during mode resonance. An additional dressing factor originating from the imaginary part of the Love number is therefore introduced to model the torque. The dissipative interaction between the NS and the orbital mass multipoles is computed including the dynamical tide and shown to be subdominant compared to the conservative energy transfer from the orbit to the NS modes. Our study shows that orbital phase shifts caused by the 𝑙=3 and 𝑙=2 f-modes can reach 0.5 and 10 radians at their respective resonances if the NS has a spin rate of 850 Hz and direction antialigned with the orbit. Because of the large impact of the 𝑙=2 dynamical tide, a linearized analytical description becomes insufficient, calling for future developments to incorporate higher-order corrections. After mode excitation, the orbit cannot remain quasicircular, and the eccentricity excited by the 𝑙=2 dynamical tide can approach nearly 𝑒≃0.1, leading to nonmonotonic frequency evolution which breaks the stationary phase approximation commonly adopted by frequency domain phenomenological waveform constructions. Lastly, we demonstrate that the GW radiation from the resonantly excited f-mode alone can be detected with a signal-to-noise ratio exceeding unity at a distance of 50 Mpc with the next-generation GW detectors.Item Corrosion Resistance of Atomically Thin Graphene Coatings on Single Crystal Copper(MDPI AG, 2024-05) Mahmudul Hasan, Md; Devadig, Ramesh; Sigdel, Pawan; Lipatov, Alexey; Avci, Recep; Jasthi, Bharat K.; Gadhamshetty, VenkataramanaDesigning minimally invasive, defect-free coatings based on conformal graphene layers to shield metals from both abiotic and biotic forms of corrosion is a persistent challenge. Single-layer graphene (SLG) grown on polycrystalline copper (PC-Cu) surfaces often have inherent defects, particularly at Cu grain boundaries, which weaken their barrier properties and worsen corrosion through grain-dependent mechanisms. Here, we report that an SLG grown via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on Cu (111) single crystal serves as a high-performance coating to lower corrosion by nearly 4–6 times (lower than bare Cu (111)) in abiotic (sulfuric acid) and microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) environments. For example, the charge transfer resistance for SLG/Cu (111) (3.95 kΩ cm2) was 2.5-fold higher than for bare Cu (111) (1.71 kΩ cm2). Tafel analysis corroborated a reduced corrosion current (42 ± 3 µA cm−2) for SLG/Cu (111) compared to bare Cu (111) (115 ± 7 µA cm−2). These findings are consistent with the results based on biofilm measurements. The SLG/Cu (111) reduced biofilm formation by 3-fold compared to bare Cu (111), increasing corrosion resistance, and effectively mitigating pitting corrosion. The average depths of the pits (3.4 ± 0.6 µm) for SLG/Cu (111) were notably shallower than those of bare Cu (111) (6.5 ± 1.2 µm). Surface analysis of the corrosion products corroborated these findings, with copper sulfide identified as a major component across both surfaces. The absence of grain boundaries in Cu (111) resulted in high-quality SLG manifesting higher barrier properties compared to SLG on PC-Cu. Our findings show promise for using the presented strategy for developing durable graphene coatings against diverse forms of corrosion.Item Tracing field lines that are reconnecting, or expanding, or both(Frontiers Media SA, 2024-07) Qiu, JiongThe explosive release of energy in the solar atmosphere is driven magnetically, but the mechanisms that trigger the onset of the eruption remain controversial. In the case of flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), ideal or non-ideal instabilities usually occur in the corona, but it is difficult to obtain direct observations and diagnostics there. To overcome this difficulty, we analyze observational signatures in the upper chromosphere or transition region, particularly brightening and dimming at the base of coronal magnetic structures. In this paper, we examine the time evolution of spatially resolved light curves in two eruptive flares and identify a variety of tempo-spatial sequences of brightening and dimming, such as dimming followed by brightening and dimming preceded by brightening. These brightening–dimming sequences are indicative of the configuration of energy release in the form of plasma heating or bulk motion. We demonstrate the potential of using these analyses to diagnose the properties of magnetic reconnection and plasma expansion in the corona during the early stages of the eruption.Item An Outflow-driven Water Maser Associated with Positive Black Hole Feedback in the Dwarf Galaxy Henize 2–10(American Astronomical Society, 2024-07) Gim, Hansung B.; Reines, Amy E.; Momjian, Emmanuel; Darling, JeremyHenize 2–10 is a dwarf galaxy experiencing positive black hole (BH) feedback from a radio-detected low-luminosity active galactic nucleus. Previous Green Bank Telescope (GBT) observations detected a H2O "kilomaser" in Henize 2–10, but the low angular resolution (33'') left the location and origin of the maser ambiguous. We present new Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array observations of the H2O maser line at 22.23508 GHz in Henize 2–10 with ∼2'' resolution. These observations reveal two maser sources distinct in position and velocity. The first maser source is spatially coincident with the known BH outflow and the region of triggered star formation ∼70 pc to the east. Combined with the broad width of the maser (W50 ∼ 66 km s−1), this confirms our hypothesis that part of the maser detected with the GBT is produced by the impact of the BH outflow shocking the dense molecular gas along the flow and at the interface of the eastern star-forming region. The second maser source lies to the southeast, far from the central BH, and has a narrow width (W50 ∼ 8 km s−1), suggesting a star formation–related origin. This work has revealed the nature of the H2O kilomaser in Henize 2–10 and illustrates the first known connection between outflow-driven H2O masers and positive BH feedback.Item Tracing field lines that are reconnecting, or expanding, or both(Frontiers Media SA, 2024-07) Qiu, JiongThe explosive release of energy in the solar atmosphere is driven magnetically, but the mechanisms that trigger the onset of the eruption remain controversial. In the case of flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), ideal or non-ideal instabilities usually occur in the corona, but it is difficult to obtain direct observations and diagnostics there. To overcome this difficulty, we analyze observational signatures in the upper chromosphere or transition region, particularly brightening and dimming at the base of coronal magnetic structures. In this paper, we examine the time evolution of spatially resolved light curves in two eruptive flares and identify a variety of tempo-spatial sequences of brightening and dimming, such as dimming followed by brightening and dimming preceded by brightening. These brightening–dimming sequences are indicative of the configuration of energy release in the form of plasma heating or bulk motion. We demonstrate the potential of using these analyses to diagnose the properties of magnetic reconnection and plasma expansion in the corona during the early stages of the eruption.Item A dependable distance estimator to black hole low-mass X-ray binaries(Oxford University Press, 2024-03) Abdulghani, Y.; Lohfink, A. M.; Chauhan, J.Black Hole Low Mass X-ray Binaries (BH-LMXBs) are excellent observational laboratories for studying many open questions in accretion physics. However, determining the physical properties of BH-LMXBs necessitates knowing their distances. With the increased discovery rate of BH-LMXBs, many canonical methods cannot produce accurate distance estimates at the desired pace. In this study, we develop a versatile statistical framework to obtain robust distance estimates soon after discovery. Our framework builds on previous methods where the soft spectral state and the soft-to-hard spectral state transitions, typically present in an outbursting BH-LMXB, are used to place constraints on mass and distance. We further develop the traditional framework by incorporating general relativistic corrections, accounting for spectral/physical parameter uncertainties, and employing assumptions grounded in current theoretical and observational knowledge. We tested our framework by analyzing a sample of 50 BH-LMXB sources using X-ray spectral data from the Swift/XRT, MAXI/GSC, and RXTE/PCA missions. By modeling their spectra, we applied our framework to 26 sources from the 50. Comparison of our estimated distances to previous distance estimates indicates that our findings are dependable and in agreement with the accurate estimates obtained through parallax and H i absorption methods. Investigating the accuracy of our constraints, we have found that estimates obtained using both the soft and transition spectral information have a median uncertainty (1σ) of 20%, while estimates obtained using only the soft spectral state spectrum have a median uncertainty (1σ) of around 50%. Furthermore, we have found no instrument-specific biases.