Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy Graduate Theses
Recent Submissions
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Development of Low-Energy Calibration Techniques for SuperCDMS using LEDs Operated at Cryogenic Temperatures
The desire to unveil the mystery of dark matter which, according to compelling astrophysical and cosmological evidence, constitutes about 85% of the matter in the Universe, drives physicists to continuously develop their ... -
Pulse fitting for event localization in high purity germanium point contact detectors
P-type Point Contact (PPC) detectors are used in rare-event searches, such as neutrinoless double-beta decay and dark matter searches, due to their low radioactive backgrounds and low energy thresholds. The Majorana ... -
Laying Foundations for a Nanophotonics Research Centre and an Emergency Communications Network
An interdisciplinary collaboration at Queen's is aiming to advance the frontiers of nanophotonics through shared equipment that will be introduced to the new Nanophotonics Research Centre (NanoRC), enabling picometer- and ... -
Search For Invisible Nucleon Decay in SNO+ With Improved Sensitivity
The water phase of the SNO+ (Sudbury Neutrino Observatory) experiment has completed after the collection of ~305 days of total livetime worth of data, divided into two main sets. The effective concentration of U-238 and ... -
Temperature Dependent Emission of Acrylic Relative to Tetrapheynl Butadiene (TPB)
After decades of astronomical observation and study, the majority of mass in the universe is known to be composed of dark matter, an unknown substance which is strictly non-luminous unlike the more familiar baryonic matter. ... -
Molecular-level study of N-heterocyclic carbenes: Binding modes and self-assembly on Au(111)
Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of organic molecules are extensively used to functionalize surfaces for a wide range of applications from medicine to nanophotonics. However, creating a SAM that is sufficiently stable has ... -
Solar KK axion search with NEWS-G
In theories with extra dimensions, the standard QCD axion has excited states with higher mass. These Kaluza-Klein (KK) axions would have a signi cantly shorter decay time and, when produced by the Sun, would remain ... -
Anisotropic Fluid Solutions to Einstein's Equations in Spherical Symmetry
The main objective of this thesis is to develop and investigate a class of spherically symmetric solutions to Einstein's field equations for anisotropic matter distributions. This work is partially motivated by a recent ... -
Neutron Measurements and Reactor Antineutrino Search with the SNO+ Detector in the Water Phase
The SNO+ experiment is a large-scale liquid scintillator neutrino experiment with a wide range of physics objectives. SNO+ has adopted a staged approach where the detector was first filled with ultra-pure water before ... -
Quantum Trajectory Theory of Open Cavity-QED Systems with a Time Delayed Coherent Optical Feedback
The emergence of integrated (or solid state) photonic systems, including quantum dots, waveguides, and cavities, has provided a base to harness quantum optic phenomena for use in current and future quantum technologies. ... -
Enhancing the Capabilities of the CANDU Gap Probe
Fuel channels in CANDU (CANadian Deuterium Uranium) nuclear reactors consist of two non-concentric tubes; an inner pressure tube (PT) and a larger diameter calandria tube (CT), within which the PT is contained. The gas ... -
Optimization of spherical proportional counter backgrounds and response for low mass dark matter search
The NEWS-G collaboration uses Spherical Proportional Counters to search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMP). The first detector developed for this goal is a 60 cm diameter sphere installed at the Laboratoire ... -
Computational study of rovibrational spectrum of CO-CO 2
The Lanczos algorithm was used to determine J=0 and J=1 ro-vibrational energy levels for CO-CO2 . The fundamental transition energies have good agreement with previous experiments for both the C-bound and O-bound isomers. ... -
End-to-End Quality Assurance of Complex Radiation Therapy Treatments
Radiation treatments have become increasingly complex, making quality assurance (QA) of radiation therapy deliveries of vital importance. In order to measure complex dose deliveries, it is crucial to have the proper ... -
Electron Recoils In the PICO Direct Dark Matter Detection Experiment
The PICO-40L bubble chamber for direct dark matter detection is finishing the commissioning phase at SNOLAB. The detector will operate for 1 live year before being replaced by the next-generation detector, PICO-500. The ... -
Testing Photometric and Kinematic Algorithms to predict Next-Generation Telescope Survey Statistics
Reconciling the velocity function of dark matter halos in collisionless simulations with those derived observationally requires understanding how galaxies are embedded in their dark matter halos. Widefield neutral atomic ... -
Nature or Nurture? Collisionless Evolution of Galactic Disc-Halo Systems
In this thesis, we develop and apply a novel algorithm to understand the evolution of stellar discs in ΛCDM cosmological haloes. Three main scientific areas are addressed: the effects of evolving stellar discs on their ... -
Phase Space Structure of Disequilibrium in the Milky Way
Following Gaia Data Release 2, observations of spiral structure in the vertical phase space of the Milky Way have been made. In this thesis we set out to explain these structures, using a combination of analytic modeling, ... -
The PICO Dark Matter Search: Reflections and Projections
Dark matter remains one of the most intriguing mysteries of modern physics, and has sparked numerous experimental efforts to uncover its particle nature. Direct detection experiments using low threshold detectors in clean, ... -
On an Emerging Paradigm of Tepid Stars: Assessing the Magnetic Desert and the Magnetic Origin of Surprisingly Common Star Spots
The past decade has seen several significant shifts in the field of stellar magnetism, particularly on the observational front. A new generation of dramatically more efficient, high-resolution spectropolarimetric instruments ...
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