A.01

Exploring Sunspot Emergence with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imaging

1:30-1:42pm

Vidya Venkatesan, CSU Northridge

Collaborators: Phil Scherrer (Stanford University), Rick Bogart (Stanford University), Aimee Norton (Stanford University)

The physics behind sunspot emergence is still not well understood. One of the goals of the Helioseismic Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) is to explore the science behind active region emergence. With HMI`s virtually continuous 45-sec data sampling, it has become possible for the first time to view the detailed evolution of active regions at high cadence and with reasonably high resolution. We have made a series of movies to visualize the initial phases of sunspot emergence. We found evidence of the classic picture of magnetic flux tubes developing into sunspots as their tops broke through the photosphere in some of the data sets. We also found that spots often appear well before their active regions are identified. With this and additional data, we hope to extract information leading to improvements in automated and unbiased detection of spot emergence and to help understand some of the conundrums of spot emergence, including their non-random longitudinal distribution which cannot be explained by visibility alone.

A.02

Inferring the binary black hole population redshift distribution

1:42-1:54pm

Denyz Melchor, CSU Fullerton

Collaborators: Rory Smith (Monash University), Colm Talbot (Monash University)

In the past years LIGO-VIRGO has detected five binary black hole mergers; in the universe, there are one hundred thousand binary black hole mergers a year which creates motivation to investigate populations of black holes. New searches are currently being designed to detect the signature of the gravitational wave background of all the distant binary black hole mergers. I will describe the process of how we apply statistical inference to describe the astrophysical parameters of this background. My focus will be in inferring the redshift distribution of the population of black holes which has implications in star formation and primordial black holes.

A.03

A Context-Free Algorithm for Identifying Molecules

1:54-2:06pm

Lia Yeh, University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Dave Patterson

We present a new algorithm for assigning rotational spectra of asymmetric tops. The algorithm can automatically assign experimental spectra under a broad range of conditions, including spectra comprised of multiple mixture components, in times of < 60 seconds. The algorithm exploits constraints placed by the conservation of energy to find sets of connected lines in the unassigned spectra. The highly constrained structure of these sets means that there are only a handful of plausible assignments for a given set, greatly reducing the number of potential assignments that must be evaluated. We successfully apply our algorithm to automatically assign 15 experimental spectra, including 5 previously unassigned species, without prior estimation of molecular rotational constants. We further apply the algorithm to a broad range of simulated spectra to determine the bounds under which it can succeed. The algorithm can separately assign each component of mixtures.

A.04

Analyzing Environmental Factors on Galaxy Evolution

2:06-2:18pm

Breanna Lucero, University of California, Riverside

Collaborators: Brian Siana

Our research group wants to determine how gravitational effects can influence the evolution and star formation rates of galaxies in our early universe. We have data for a large catalog of galaxies that have been gravitationally lensed by their respective foreground clusters. Part of this data set includes information about these galaxies’ observed locations and redshifts. We can organize these data by redshift value, and identify which galaxies are close enough to be interacting. We will then utilize a gravitational lens model to predict the real locations of these galaxies relative to those in close proximity – i.e. visualize the galaxies’ locations without the lensing effects. From here, we will determine a sphere of influence for each galaxy and conclude whether or not they are gravitationally bound. We anticipate that a number of these galaxies will be interacting. This conclusion will allow us to compare the properties of said galaxies with those that are non-interacting so that we may better understand their evolution processes. Additionally, we can analyze the chemical compositions of these galaxies by plotting wavelengths versus flux values.

A.05

Nuclear Physics with short-lived beams

2:18-2:30pm

Noraim Nunez, CSU Dominguez Hills

Collaborators: Dr. John Price, Dr. Kenneth Hicks (CLAS12 Collaboration)

In Nuclear physics, processes involving beams of short-lived particles are difficult to study. By using a well-understood process, such as the photo production of the short lived particle, we can resolve this problem. The major difficulty lies in determining the luminosity of our measurement. The traditional method of calculating a cross section requires knowledge of the numbers of both the beam and target particles. We cannot count our beam particles directly, but we can use previous cross section measurements to estimate our beam flux. Using relativistic kinematics, we can express the cross section in terms of our short lived particle’s energy and lab angle. The target length, typically used in these calculations, is only valid if the beam particle is traveling along the target axis. The effective number of target particles can be determined by comparing the kinematics of our short-lived beam with the geometrical properties of the target. By multiplying the numbers of beam and target particles thus obtained to get the luminosity, we can normalize the cross section. This talk will describe the development of this new technique and discuss several applications for which it is currently being employed.

B.01

A355, A Series of Mysterious Events

1:30-1:42pm

Tiffany Shumack, San Diego State University

Collaborators: Eric Sandquist

I am studying eclipsing binary stars and analyzing their data from the Kepler Telescope. I have been using Python coding to generate light curves of these stars, which has displayed very unusual, unexplained characteristics of the stars` motions.

B.02

Improving Muon Purity Using Machine Learning Techniques for Quarkonium Measurements in Au-Au Collisions at 200 GeV

1:42-1:54pm

Victoria Lloyd, Harvey Mudd College

Collaborators: Victoria Lloyd, Pengfei Wang, Rongrong Ma

Statistical quantum chromodynamics (QCD) suggests that strongly interacting matter at sufficient densities should turn from hadronic matter to quark-gluon plasma. By using a deconfining medium, quarks in the hot quark-gluon plasma bind into jpsi mesons. Therefore, increasing the number of jpsi counts while still repressing background can aid in studying quarkonium. This project is focused on using machine learning to improve muon purity for quarkonium measurements in 200 GeV Au+Au collisions from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) STAR experiment. This has been done by comparing the impact of training on multiple pt bins and on both single muons and muon pairs, using different MVA methods, optimizing cut efficiencies, and testing the impact of relevant variables. After analysis, we found that training using boosted decision trees on muon pairs yields a significant increase in the muon purity and provides a larger jpsi count for use in quarkonium analysis.

B.03

Using the Antarctic Rock Record to Better Understand Supercontinent Amalgamation 1.7 Billion Years Ago

1:54-2:06pm

Charusheela Garapaty, University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Elizabeth Erickson, John Cottle

Igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Transantarctic Mountains in Antarctica provide information about crust formation and supercontinent cycles over the past 3.1 billion years (Ga). Igneous rocks record crust formation and possible recycling of older crust. Metamorphic rocks record the tectonic history of the region. Antarctic geology enables analysis of how crust has evolved because it contains a continuous rock record of over 2.5 Ga. There are very few locations that can provide a continuous rock record that spans a large duration of Earth’s history. Studying igneous rock ages as well as metamorphic pressure and temperature conditions provides information about the East Antarctic Craton, which is mostly unexposed under the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. These craton rocks may provide insight into previous supercontinent formation of Rodinia, which can better our understanding of how crust formation has changed through time.<br>By combining these rock records, we can reveal how the original crust formed and how continental crust forms supercontinents. The mineral zircon is highly resistant to alteration such as metamorphism, and records when igneous rocks form before any deformation. When preexisting rocks undergo metamorphism, the pressure and temperature conditions can be recorded in minerals that are not resistant to deformation such as monazite. Both zircon and monazite can be analyzed and dated using a mass spectrometer. This information can help us understand the metamorphic and igneous history of the past supercontinents. Results will determine when and where plate tectonics occurred at the Antarctic continent, possibly revealing how early plate tectonics initiated.

B.04

Recreating the Landing of Philae

2:06-2:18pm

Emily Yue Liang, Occidental College

Collaborators: Chuck Oravec, Art Chmielewski, William De La Vega, George Schmiedeshoff

On November 2014, the Philae lander impacted the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as a part of the ESA’s Rosetta mission. The purpose of the mission was to gather data about the comet`s surface and composition. Although the lander ended up bouncing off the surface of the comet, eventually landing on its side in another area of the comet - thus not being able to fulfill the purpose of the mission - the ESA was able to retrieve accelerometer readings from their instrument, the SESAME-CASSE accelerometer. However, since the lander was unable to gather much more information about the layers of the surface, it is interesting that scientists were able to gather such conclusions about the comet’s layers. Over the process of my research, I aim to recreate the landing of Philae to determine whether it is possible to conclude that the comet has layers from accelerometer data. Through different types of drops to simulate Furthermore, through different types of drops, we were able to learn more about how different surface materials can affect the way the accelerometer records data and the way the foot of the model interacts with the different surfaces and layers

B.05

Optimizing PSF Subtraction Techniques for Exoplanet Imaging

2:18-2:30pm

Therese Cook, University of California, Los Angeles

Collaborators: Dr. Garreth Ruane, Dr. Dimitri Mawet

The Keck NIRC2 vortex coronagraph is a powerful instrument used to directly photograph extrasolar planets. Performing further processing on NIRC2 vortex images enables us to drastically improve contrast limits and detect fainter planets in small orbits. This project focuses on comparing the effectiveness of different post-processing methods that can be implemented in our data reduction pipeline, and measuring how the values of certain parameters relate to this. Some of these parameters include frame-to-frame rotation requirements, the number of pixels to mask off from the central region of an image, and whether to divide images into several circular annuli instead of using the full frame. Testing on the HR8799 system dataset has shown annular principal component analysis-based methods outperform classical methods, improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the outermost planet by a factor of 8.5 after fine-tuning the parameter values. Once found, such optimized parameter values can be implemented in the pipeline to improve our reduction results for existing and future observations.

C.01

The Impact of Doppler and Aberration Effects on Extragalactic Foreground Observations

1:30-1:42pm

Sydney Feldman, University of Southern California

Collaborators: Siavash Yasini, Elena Pierpaoli

Our measurement of the relic radiation from the big bang, known as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), from the vicinity of Earth has a kinematic contribution due to the peculiar motion of the Solar System. This kinematic component, which is the result of the relativistic Doppler and aberration effects, needs to be removed from the CMB measurements, before any further analysis on the data. We can calculate the kinetic contribution of our motion in the universe and use that to determine a rest frame calculation, effectively separating the motion induced dipole from any possible intrinsic dipole, as has been shown in Yasini & Pierpaoli 2017. The results from that study has prompted me to investigate the impact of relativistic Doppler and aberration effects on other observational data, as the Earth moves with respect to all extragalactic sources. The particular data that I analyzed was the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (tSZ) angular power spectrum, which measures the inverse Compton scattering of the CMB as it passes through high energy electron clouds between clustered galaxies. Using Yasini’s computational methods, I wrote a program in Python that estimated the change in the amplitude of the tSZ effect due to the motion of the Solar System. The resultant shifted data set showed a negligible effect - less than a 0.5% shift at all angular scales. I am now working towards creating a suitable model for extragalactic point source data, applying the relativistic Doppler effect, determining the magnitude of the resulting shift, and analyzing the implications. Assessing whether or not our motion has an effect on how we observe extragalactic foregrounds, as well as the magnitude of this effect will be extremely useful as an independent measure for the peculiar velocity of the Solar System with respect to the CMB rest frame as well as a source of error cosmological parameter estimation from small angular scales of the CMB.

C.02

Determining the ionizing source of Green Pea Galaxies

1:42-1:54pm

Haley Bowden, University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Dr. Crystal Martin

Astronomical observations over the last decade have revealed luminous galaxies known as Green Pea Galaxies for their green appearance and small-size. The observed emission-line spectrum from Green Pea Galaxies indicates the presence of high energy photons and therefore a very hot source of ionizing radiation within the galaxy. In an attempt to understand the physical properties of these galaxies I used the existing code Cloudy, which predicts spectra of the galaxy’s gas and dust by accounting for specific input parameters. By using Cloudy to determine the spectrum we would observe given model sources, I can compare to find which simulation best parallels the observations we have of these galaxies. Green Pea Galaxies were thought to be well described by an HII region model photoionzied by O stars, yet a population of O stars does not produce the amount of HeII ionization that we observe. One alternative source we are interested in continuing to investigate is an x-ray binary. X-ray binaries, rare astronomical phenomena that have been observed in nearby galaxies, are types of binary star systems in which the matter from one star, a red supergiant, falls onto the other, a neutron star or black hole. This infalling matter forms an accretion disk around the receiving star, releasing high energy photons. Hence, the presence of x-ray binaries in Green Pea Galaxies may explain their observed spectrums.

C.03

Characterizing Phosphorus-Bearing Molecules in the B1-a Protostar

1:54-2:06pm

Salma Walker, CSU Northridge

Collaborators: Jennifer Bergner, Karin Öberg, (Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

The element phosphorus is imperative to life on Earth and even more considered an important ingredient for the origins of life. However, little is known about the inheritance of phosphorus-bearing molecules during the early stages of star and planet formation. Low-mass protostars are analogs to the young sun and offer a window into the history of our solar system. We recently detected phosphorus-bearing molecules in the vicinity of one such protostar, B1-a, using the IRAM 30m telescope. We have quantified the amount of phosphorus nitride and phosphorus monoxide present in the gas phase and determined the temperatures these molecules are emitted. To derive further information on the emission origin of these phosphorus molecules, we have observed additional tracer molecules: SiO, C18O, 13CO, CH3OH, and H2CO. Comparisons of tracer molecules with phosphorus nitride and phosphorus monoxide will reveal whether the phosphorus emission comes from the cold outer envelope, warm inner envelope/hot corino, or shocked outflow, leading to an understanding of how phosphorus might be inherited in later evolutionary stages.

 C.04

Investigating the absence of surface energy in the Bernoulli Equation

2:06-2:18pm

Dina Ibrahimzade, Pasadena City College

Collaborators: John Watkins

Our work aims to show that under certain circumstances surface tension must be factored into the Bernoulli equation to accurately model the behavior of a fluid in motion. The Bernoulli equation is an expression of the conservation of energy principle applied to a fluid in motion. Therefore, we propose it must include the energy used in creating the surface of the fluid, or surface tension. To test this claim, we consider a vertical laminarly flowing fluid with a free surface. As a fluid falls in the manner described, it takes a recognizable shape. It is currently accepted that this shape can be determined using the Bernoulli equation by plotting the vertical distance from a fixed point as a function of the radius of the cylindrical stream. To test the accuracy of the accepted method, we compare the shape of a laminar vertical stream predicated with the Bernoulli equation to the actual shape of a real fluid flowing under the same conditions. We built a device that puts out a constant laminar stream when a fluid runs through it. As the device runs we photograph the stream to capture its shape. We then isolate the silhouette of the stream and compare it to the predicted shape generated by the Bernoulli equation and an altered equation which includes an additional term that accounts for surface tension. We have found that the altered equation better predicts the shape of the stream and therefore should be considered in relevant applications of fluid dynamics.

C.05

2:18-2:30pm

Madeline Monroy, California State University, East Bay

D.01

Exploring Sunspot Emergence with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imaging

Vidya Venkatesan, CSU Northridge

Collaborators: Phil Scherrer (Stanford University), Rick Bogart (Stanford University), Aimee Norton (Stanford University)

D.02

Faraday Optical Rotation

Heather Nylander, University of La Verne

Collaborators: Julie Innabi, Dr. Vanessa Preisler

D.03

Effective solvation free energy simulations with 3D-RISM

Lizet Casillas, CSU Northridge

Collaborators: Tyler Luchko

D.04

A355, A Series of Mysterious Events

Tiffany Shumack, San Diego State University

Collaborators: Eric Sandquist

D.05

Characterizing Phosphorus-Bearing Molecules in the B1-a Protostar

Salma Walker, CSU Northridge

Collaborators: Jennifer Bergner, Karin Öberg, (Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

D.06

A Context-Free Algorithm for Identifying Molecules

Lia Yeh. University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Dave Patterson

D.07

Variation in Interplate Coupling Between Downgoing and Overriding Plates: Implications for Great Earthquakes in Areas of Flat Slab Subduction from 3-D Geodynamic Models of Alaska

Angela Olsen, University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Margarete Jadamec

D.08

Analyzing Environmental Factors on Galaxy Evolution

Breanna Lucero, University of California, Riverside

Collaborators: Professor Brian Siana

D.09

Faraday Optical Rotation

Kaualani Maneafaiga, California Lutheran University

Collaborators: Heather Nylander and Vanessa Preisler (research supervisor)

D.10

Analysis and Modeling of Mitochondrial Fission and Fusion Processes in Cells From Healthy and Trisomy Patients

Johanna Paine, California Lutheran University

Collaborators: J. Paine¹, C. Perez², J. Busciglio³, G. Ullah²

1. California Lutheran University, 2. University of South Florida Computational Biophysics Group, 3. University of California, Irvine

D.11

Isotopic Carbon Ratios in M-Dwarfs

Becky Flores, CSU Northridge

Collaborators: Professor Ian Crossfield

D.12

Improving Muon Purity Using Machine Learning Techniques for Quarkonium Measurements in Au-Au Collisions at 200 GeV

Victoria Lloyd, Harvey Mudd College

Collaborators: Victoria Lloyd, Pengfei Wang, Rongrong Ma

D.13

Clarity: A Database of the Stars Observed by The Mazin Lab

Clarissa Do Ó, University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Ben Mazin, Isabel Lipartito, Edison Scholarship

D.14

Madeline Monroy, California State University, East Bay

D.15

Things That Go Bump in the Data: Analysis of Four-Lepton Decays in the CMS Open Dataset

Anna Barth, Harvey Mudd College

Collaborators: Anna Barth (self), Andres Cook, Brian Shuve (research supervisor)

D.16

Black Hole Jet Resolution: How does increasing resolution in black hole simulations affect our understanding of jet properties?

Fiona Chrystal, University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Christopher White, Professor Omer Blaes

D.17

Temperatures of The Galilean Satellites

Yiluo Li, University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Samantha K. Trumbo, Michael E. Brown

D.18

Organic Charge Transfer Crystal Preparation and Characterization

Hannah Fejzic, CSU San Bernardino

Collaborators: Edward Van Keuren

D.19

Leticia Damian, CSU San Marcos

D.20

Determining the ionizing source of Green Pea Galaxies

Haley Bowden, University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Dr. Crystal Martin

D.21

Thermal State of Advanced LIGO Test Masses: Implementation of a Real-Time Mirror Degradation Monitor

Guadalupe Quirarte, Harvey Mudd College

Collaborators: Carl Blair and Joseph Betzweizer

D.22

Analyzing the central conditions of post-starburst galaxy, host of tidal disruption event ASASSN-14li

Linnea Dahmen, Pomona College

Collaborators: K. Decker French

D.23

Silicon Detector Analysis for Muon Tomography

V. Glasser, Cuyamaca College

Collaborators: Ron Lipton (supervisor), Andrew Green, Mike Utes, Cristian Gingu, Paul Rubinov, and Bill Cooper

D.24

Comparisons between simulated liquid methane surface runoff and precipitation on Titan

Rebecca Lewis, University of California, Los Angeles

Collaborators: Jonathan L. Mitchell, Seulgi Moon, Matthew McKinney

D.25

Molecular spectroscopy of YbF and YbOH

EliseAnne Koskelo, Pomona College

Collaborators: Graceson Aufderheide, Research supervisor: Professor Richard Mawhorter, Pomona College

D.26

Optimizing PSF Subtraction Techniques for Exoplanet Imaging

Therese Cook, University of California, Los Angeles

Collaborators: Dr. Garreth Ruane, Dr. Dimitri Mawet

D.27

Using the Antarctic Rock Record to Better Understand Supercontinent Amalgamation 1.7 Billion Years Ago

Charusheela Garapaty, University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators: Elizabeth Erickson, John Cottle