1. science
2. physics

th
50
Annual!
Canadian
Undergraduate
Physics
Conference!
Conference Program
&
Book of Abstracts!
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
TABLE OF CONTENTS &KDLUPDQ·V Address
Schedule of Events
4XHHQ·V&DPSXV0DS
Four Points by Sheraton Floor Plan
Plenary Lectures
Lab Tours
Tours of Kingston
Graduate Studies & Career Fair
CUPC 2015 Bidding & Vote
Student Talks: Schedule
Student Talks: List by Name
Student Talks: Abstracts
Astrophysics
Biological/Soft Condensed Matter Physics
Engineering/Applied Physics
Medical Physics
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Quantum Condensed Matter
Student Posters
Organizing Committee
Sponsors
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4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ǯ Dear CUPC Delegates and Guests,
My name is Seth Todd and I have the privilege of being your Chair for the 2014 Canadian
8QGHUJUDGXDWH3K\VLFV&RQIHUHQFH&83&·Vth anniversary.
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with discovering how the universe works. From
being bewildered as to why my fishing spear became bent underwater in rural Ontario, to pouring over
internet articles on light and optics, to tormenting my older brother and parents with theories and
questions, my thirst for knowledge had no bounds. Naturally, my curiosity led me to pursue a degree
in physics. But I soon came to learn that although lectures and tutorials are necessary, the secrets of
the universe are only truly unveiled when we can witness its beauty first-hand, either in the laboratory
or in our daily lives. Better yet, those discoveries become even more meaningful when shared with
our peers, laughing and learning, through failure and success. Thus, when I was informed of a
conference at which undergraduates like myself could share their discoveries and experiences in
physics, I immediately became interested.
As ,TXLFNO\OHDUQHGKRZHYHU&83&LVPRUHWKDQMXVWDJDWKHULQJRI&DQDGD·VPRVWWDOHQWHG\RXQJ
intellects. It is an opportunity to meet lifelong friends and colleagues, to be inspired by some of this
FRXQWU\·VPRVWSUHVWLJLRXVSK\VLFLVWVDQGWRVFRXWRXt your next journey in physics. There is so much
that CUPC has to offer and it seemed the more I learned about CUPC, the more I knew I had to be a
part of it.
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VWXGHQWVWREULQJ&83&EDFNWR4XHHQ·VIRUWKHILUVWWLPHLQ\HDUV&83&LVDFHOHEUDWLRQRISDVW
VXFFHVVEXW DOVR D EULGJH WR IXWXUHHQGHDYRXUV 7KXV ZKHQ4XHHQ·VZDV IRUWXQDWHHQRXJK WR be
awarded the honour of hosting CUPC, it was our goal to better inform students of prospective paths in
physics. That is why, for the first time in 2014, CUPC is excited to introduce its new Career and
Graduate Panels, in which undergraduates will be able to quiz our expert panelists about the life of a
scientific professional or academic.
These 14 months have been quite the journey and I am excited to see our hard work come to fruition.
I would like to thank my incredible organizing committee, for whom I have the utmost respect and
admiration. In addition, I would like to thank our generous sponsors, the Four Points hotel, our
DPD]LQJVSHDNHUVDQGSDQHOLVWVDVZHOODV4XHHQ·V'HSDUWPHQWRI3K\VLFVZKRKDYHVXSSRUWHGXV
tirelessly throughout this entire journey.
Most importantly, I would like to thank you. You are what makes all of our preparation and hard work
worth the effort. I am confident you will find this 50 th celebration of CUPC a truly memorable
experience.
:HOFRPHWR.LQJVWRQZHOFRPHWR4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\DQGZHOFRPHWR&83&
Sincerely yours,
Seth Todd
Chair, CUPC
2
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014
Time Event
Location
5:30pm
Partial Solar Eclipse Viewing
Murney Tower
6:00pm ² 8:00 pm
Main Registration, Reception,
Foyer & Ballroom
8:00pm ² 8:15pm
Opening Remarks
Ballroom
8:15pm ² 9:30pm
Dr. Art McDonald Plenary Lecture
Ballroom
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014
Time Event
Location
8:00am ² 8:45am
Breakfast
Ballroom C
8:45am ² 10:30am
Poster Session
Foyer
10:30am ² 1:00pm
Student Talks
Ballrooms A&B, Rooms 306&307
1:00pm ² 1:45pm
Lunch
Ballroom C
1:45pm
Load Buses
Outside Hotel
2:00pm ² 3:45pm
Tours of Kingston
See page 11 for details
4:00pm
Unload Buses and Walk to Boat Docks
Outside Hotel
4:30pm ² 6:30pm
Dr. Ted Hsu Plenary Lecture
Thousand Islands Cruise
6:30pm
Free Time
8:00pm
Load Buses for Fort Fright
Outside Hotel
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014
Time Event
Location
8:00am ² 9:00am
Breakfast
Ballroom C
9:00am ² 10:00am
Student Talks
Ballrooms A&B, Rooms 306&307
10:15am ² 2:15pm
Lab Tours & Lunch
4XHHQ·V&DPSXVOffsite
2:15pm ² 3:15pm
Career Panel
Stirling Hall Auditorium D
3:30pm ² 5:45pm
Student Talks
Stirling Hall Auditoriums A, B, C, D
6:00pm ² 7:15pm
Prof. Stephen Morris Plenary Lecture
Stirling Hall Auditorium D
7:15pm
Free Time
9:30pm ² 2:00am
Pub Crawl
Downtown Kingston
3
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014
Time Event
Location
8:00am ² 9:00am
Breakfast
Ballroom
9:00am ² 10:00am
Graduate Studies Panel
Ballroom
10:00am ² 1:00pm
Graduate Studies & Career Fair
Gibraltar Room & Foyer
12:00pm ² 1:00pm
Lunch (not provided)
1:00pm ² 3:45pm
Student Talks
Ballrooms A&B, Rooms 306&307
3:45pm ² 4:15pm
CUPC 2015 Bidding & Vote
Ballroom C
5:15pm ² 5:45pm
Reception
Foyer
5:45pm ² 7:00pm
Prof. René Doyon Plenary Lecture
Ballroom
7:00pm ² 9:00pm
Semi-Formal Banquet Dinner & Awards
Ballroom
ǯ Kingston General Hospital
Ban Righ Dining Hall
4
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON FLOORPLAN SECOND FLOOR
THIRD FLOOR
5
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PLENARY LECTURES DR. ART MCDONALD 4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\, Celebrating an Extraordinary Career
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014
Biography
Arthur McDonald is a native of Sydney, Nova Scotia. He graduated
from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1964 with a B.Sc.
(Hon. Physics) and 1965 with a M.Sc. (Physics). He continued his
studies at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, graduating
in 1969 with a Ph. D. in Nuclear Physics. From 1969 until 1981 he
worked at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories of Atomic Energy of Canada, performing fundamental
nuclear and particle physics experiments with accelerators and reactors. In 1981 he accepted a
Professorship in the Physics Department at Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. and continued his
research program there as Co-Principal Investigator of the Princeton Cyclotron. In 1989 he moved to
Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario as Professor of Physics and Director of the Sudbury Neutrino
2EVHUYDWRU\ 612 ,Q KH ZDV DZDUGHG D 8QLYHUVLW\ 5HVHDUFK &KDLU DW4XHHQ·V 8QLYHUVLty, in
2006 became the Gordon and Patricia Gray Chair in Particle Astrophysics and in 2013, Professor
Emeritus. He was Director of the SNO Institute from 1991 to 2003 and 2006 to 2009 and Associate
Director of the SNOLAB Institute 2009-2013.
Abstract
A Deeper Understanding of the Universe from 2 km Underground By creating an ultra-clean underground location with a highly reduced radioactive background,
otherwise impossible measurements can be performed to study fundamental physics, astrophysics
and cosmology with neutrinos from the Sun, Dark Matter particles left over from the Big Bang and rare
IRUPVRIUDGLRDFWLYLW\612/$%LVDQLQWHUQDWLRQDOXQGHUJURXQGIDFLOLW\LQ9DOH·V&UHLJKWRQPLQHQHDU
Sudbury, Ontario that provides ultra-clean conditions in a laboratory 2 km deep to shield out
radioactivity from cosmic ray particles. The laboratory builds on the success of the Sudbury Neutrino
Observatory (SNO) experiment that showed clearly that neutrinos from the sun change their flavor,
implying a finite mass for neutrinos and providing a very accurate confirmation of current solar models.
Present and future experiments at SNOLAB will detect neutrinos further study of the properties the
sun, the earth, supernovae and the neutrinos themselves. Other experiments will provide some of the
greatest sensitivity internationally for the detection of Dark Matter particles, thought to make up more
than 5 times the mass of ordinary matter in our Universe. The talk will provide information about the
experimental program at SNOLAB and its implications for a broader understanding of our Universe.
6
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PLENARY LECTURES DR. TED HSU Canadian physicist and Liberal MP Critic for Science & Technology
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014
Biography
In June 2012, Ted became chair of the Ontario Liberal caucus, a
committee composed of all Liberal MPs and Senators. In November
2013, Ted was the proud winner of a Maclean's Parliamentarian of
the Year Award. He was voted by parliamentarians from all parties as
the MP who "Best Represents Constituents +VX JUDGXDWHG IURP 4XHHQ·V 8QLYHUVLW\ LQ (B.Sc. Hons. Physics). He obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University in 1989. Prior to
entering politics, he worked as a researcher with 25 published papers in physics;; as an equities trader
and financial manager in Paris and Philadelphia for Banque Nationale de Paris;; and as an executive
director in the Tokyo office of Morgan Stanley.
Abstract
From Physicist to Politician My talk will be about some of the things I learned along the way during my varied career in physics
research, finance, not-for-profit management and finally politics. I will talk about some of the
differences between working as a physicist and working as a politician, and I will also give some advice
about how physicists can have more influence in the political realm.
7
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PLENARY LECTURES PROF. STEPHEN MORRIS University of Toronto, Experimental Nonlinear Physics
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014
Biography
Stephen Morris is the J. Tuzo Wilson Professor of Geophysics at the
University of Toronto. His research involves experiments on emergent
patterns in fluids, granular media, ice formations and fracture. He is
also interested in natural patterns, and in the history of physics. He
has appeared intermittently on the Discovery Channel. He has sometimes passed off his scientific
images as art.
Abstract
Why is the Universe Not Boring? Pattern Formation in Nature The universe is not a rigid clockwork, but neither is it formless and random. Instead, it is filled with
highly organized, evolved structures that have somehow emerged from the simple rules of physics.
Many natural systems spontaneously self-organize into surprisingly ordered structures, even though
they are driven far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Regular spatial patterns emerge, for example, as
ripples on windblown sand, convection cells in heated fluids and columnar fracture patterns in basalt
flows. These phenomena exist in spite of the universal tendency towards disorder. How is this
possible? In this talk, I will explore the physics of lab-scale nonlinear patterns, and attempt a live
demonstration.
8
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PLENARY LECTURES PROF. RENÉ DOYON Université de Montréal, James Webb Space Telescope
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2014
Biography
René Doyon is a professor at the Physics Department of the Université
de Montréal and Director of the Mont-Mégantic Observatory. His
research activities focus on the search and study of exoplanets,
young stars and the development of infrared astronomical
instrumentation. He and his students led the development of novel
imaging techniques that contributed, in 2008, to the first images of a multiple planetary system
outside the Solar system. He is principal investigator of the Canadian-built instrument onboard the
James Webb Space Telescope, co-investigator of the Gemini Planet Imager and co-PI of SPIRou, an
instrument optimized for the detection of Earth-like planets.
Abstract
The Quest for Life beyond the Solar System It is now well established that planetary systems are very common in the solar neighborhood. We live
in exciting times where humanity is on the verge of reaching the technological maturity for detecting
life outside the Solar system. This presentation will highlight the main discoveries that have marked
the last 20 years of exoplanet research and present an overview of on-going and future projects aiming
the detection and characterization of habitable worlds.
9
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
LAB TOURS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014
Time 10:45AM ² 11:25AM
11:35AM ² 12:15PM
12:30PM ² 1:10PM
1:20PM ²2:00PM
Group 1
FCRC
CC
LUNCH
S/C
Group 2 S/C
LUNCH
CC
FCRC
Group 3
CC
FCRC
S/C
LUNCH
FCRC ² The Fuel Cell Research Centre, located at Innovation Park labs. Delegates will be bussed to
this location.
CC ² The Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario, located at Kingston General Hospital.
LUNCH ² Buffet style lunch in Ban Righ dining hall.
S/C ² 4XHHQ·V3K\VLFVDQG3K\VLFDO&KHPLVWU\/DEVLQ6WLUOLQJ+DOODQG&KHUQRII+DOO*URXSVZLOOVSOLW
into smaller subgroups for this portion of the tours, please be sure to stay with your group leader.
10
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
TOURS OF KINGSTON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014
Military Communications and Electronics Museum
Kingston has a longstanding history of military tradition. Located on
the Kingston Canadian Forces Base, the Communications and
Electronics Museum follows the history of military communications
and electronics technology from the beginning of the 20th century
through to the present, focusing on "the troops, the times, and the
technology."
Canada's Penitentiary Museum
Located on the lovely Portsmouth Olympic Harbour and right next to
the infamous Kingston Penitentiary, a former maximum security
prison that once housed some of Canada's most notorious
criminals, the award winning Penitentiary Museum offers an inside
look at the history of Canada's correctional facilities.
Bellevue House Kingston was the first capital city of Canada and the home of Canada's
first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. His home, Bellevue House,
is located at 35 Centre Street which is now a national historic site of
Canada. The house has been restored and is now kept much as it
would have been when Sir John A. Macdonald lived there. Fort Fright Built in the 1830's to defend the naval
dockyard, the entrance of the Rideau Canal,
and the town of Kingston, Fort Henry now serves
as a museum and world heritage site. Every
October, the Fort is transformed into a dungeon
filled with zombies, monsters, and horrors
abound. Join us for a terrifyingly fun evening
exploring Fort Fright. Are you brave enough to
enter the Fort?
11
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
GRADUATE STUDIES & CAREER FAIR SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2014
10:00AM ² 1:00PM, GIBRALTAR ROOM & FOYER
The Graduate Studies & Career fair will be held at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel on Sunday,
October 26th from 10AM until 1PM. The following institutions will be present during the Graduate
Studies & Career Fair:
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Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP)
Carleton University
Canadian Institute of Nuclear Physics
(CINP)
Dalhousie University
The Guelph-Waterloo Physics Institute
The Institute for Quantum Computing
McGill University
McMaster University
McMaster University Dept. of Medical
Physics & Applied Radiation Sciences
Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Perimeter Institute
4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
The Royal Military College of Canada
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Ryerson University Department of
Biomedical Physics
Simon Fraser University
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Trent University
University of Alberta
University of Ontario Institute of
Technology
Université Laval
University of Manitoba
University of Ottawa
University of Saskatchewan
University of Toronto
University of Victoria
Western University
York University
CUPC 2015 BIDDING & VOTE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2014
4:15PM ² 4:45PM, BALLROOM C
The Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference is a student-run, non-profit conference hosted by a
different university each year. To host next year's conference at your institution, please prepare a 5
minute presentation to be given on Sunday at 4:15pm. When all presentations have been given, a vote
will be held to determine the host university of CUPC 2015! Even if you are not presenting a bid, please
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12
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
STUDENT TALKS: SCHEDULE CATEGORY GUIDE
Astrophysics
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Engineering/Applied Physics
Medical Physics
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Quantum Condensed Matter
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014
Time Ballroom A
Ballroom B
10:30
Seth Todd (Queen's)
Guillaume St-Onge
(Laval)
Alyssa Sethi (Toronto)
10:45
Shane Holden (Memorial)
Patrick Dowling (Queen's)
Austin Hubbell
(Concordia)
11:00
Yamn Chalich (Ottawa)
James Godfrey (Trent)
François Michaud (Laval)
11:15
Adrian Solyom
(McMaster)
Maura Dewey (Victoria)
11:30
Kyle Mills (UOIT)
Drew Shepherd (Queen's)
Sean Takahashi
(Queen's)
Chapin Korosec
(McMaster)
Hong Yi Shi Yang
(Dalhousie)
Meghan Beattie
(Queen's)
Katelyn Dixon
(McMaster)
Daniel Abarbanel
(Dalhousie)
Shanny Pelchat-Voyer
(Laval)
11:45
12:00
12:15
12:30
12:45
Room 306 Room 307 Kelly Foran (Mount
Allison)
Marie-Joel BergeronSavard (Laval)
Siwook Kim (Ryerson)
Haya Shebab (McMaster)
Ethan Avila (Acadia)
Pascal Bourgault (LavalCRIUSMQ)
Jacy Conrad (Dalhousie)
Reid Hayes (Waterloo)
Daniel Perez (Ottawa)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014
Time Ballroom A
Ballroom B
Room 306 Room 307 9:00
Anna Millington
(McMaster)
Ben Pearce (British
Columbia)
Annabelle RichardLaferrière (Montréal)
Marie Annie Saucier
(Laval)
Luiza Freitas Goulart
(Toronto)
9:30
Klaudia Golos (WaterlooIQC)
Frédéric Girard
(Montréal)
Meg Morris (Mount
Allison)
Hannah Stegen (Mount
Allison)
Jasper Grond (McMaster)
Johnny Farah (Dalhousie)
9:45
Eric Dilcher (Dalhousie)
Emil Noordeh (York)
Allison Kolly (Winnipeg)
Erica Dao (McMaster)
9:15
Steven Large (Guelph)
13
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
STUDENT TALKS: SCHEDULE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014
Time Stirling D
Stirling C
Stirling B Stirling A 3:30
Jennifer Mauel (Queen's)
Chelsea Dunning (British
Columbia)
Jennifer Tang (McMaster)
3:45
Martina Ojeda (McGill)
Lucas St-Jean (Montréal)
Ryan Baker (Mount
Allison)
Aaron Goldberg
(McMaster)
Joe McLaughlin (York)
Maxime Trepanier (Laval)
Dylan Linthorne (Saint
Mary's)
Stephaney Daley
(Queen's)
Alexander Robinson
(Laurentian)
Jannicke Pearkes (British
Columbia)
Jessica Strickland
(Memorial)
Félix Proulx-Giraldeau
(Montréal)
Alex Woodfinden
(McMaster)
4:00
Amber Maharaj (UOIT)
4:15
Simon Meynell
(Dalhousie)
4:30
Eric Turner (McMaster)
4:45
Étienne LangtangeHurtubise (Montréal)
5:00
Elizabeth Selinger (UOIT)
5:15
Marc Cormier (Dalhousie)
5:30
Maude Lizaire (Montréal)
John Adams (New
Brunswick)
Marie-Eve Boulanger
(Laval)
Alexandra Kasper
(McMaster)
David DeVries (Waterloo)
Collin Tiessen (Windsor)
Eamonn Corrigan (Trent)
Rui Xu (McMaster)
Marie-Eve Desrochers
(Montréal)
Timothy Miller
(Dalhousie)
Louis-Philippe Pleau
(Laval)
Miles Couchman
(McMaster)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2014
Time Ballroom A
Ballroom B
Room 306 Room 307 Eric Logan (Mount
Allison)
Lina Rotermund
(Dalhousie)
Sébastien Lord
(Moncton)
Nathan Murtha (Saint
Mary's)
Gabriel Chernitsky
(Winnipeg)
Claire Preston
(McMaster)
Fraser Evans (McMaster)
Cory Falconer (UOIT)
1:30
Miguel Young (Western)
Elyse Barre (Carleton)
1:45
Stefanie Beale (Acadia)
Shayne Gryba (Regina)
2:00
Carmen Lee (Dalhousie)
Vincent Crépeault (Laval)
2:15
Sepehr Ebadi (Toronto)
Kevin Lacaille
(Dalhousie)
Peter Gysbers
(McMaster)
Nathan Winsor
(Memorial)
Reuben Gazer
(McMaster)
2:30
Shira Jackson (York)
Hurmiz Shamana
(McMaster)
Spencer Farrell
(Dalhousie)
Alina Jade Barnett
(McMaster)
Maxime Tremblay (LavalCRIUSMQ)
Will Musgrave
(Dalhousie)
2:45
Sarah Hyatt (Dalhousie)
3:00
Hubert Lin (Toronto)
Charles Murphy (Laval)
3:15
Rodwell Bent (Ottawa)
Laura Teigrob (Regina)
3:30
Kacie Conrad (Dalhousie)
Alan Morningstar
(McMaster)
1:00
1:15
Matthew Stukel
(Carleton)
Jeremy Crowe (Mount
Allison)
Ben Davis-Pucell
(McMaster)
14
Daniel Pasut (UOIT)
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
STUDENT TALKS: LIST BY NAME Name Institution
Category
Day & Time Location Daniel Abarbanel
Dalhousie University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 11:45AM
BALLROOM B
John Adams
University of New
Brunswick
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Saturday ² 3:45PM
STIRLING A
Ethan Avila
Acadia University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 12:15PM
BALLROOM B
Ryan Baker
Mount Allison University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 4:00PM
STIRLING C
Alina Jade Barnett
McMaster University
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Sunday ² 2:00PM
ROOM 307
Elise Barre
Carleton University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 1:30PM
BALLROOM B
Stefanie Beale
Acadia University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 1:45PM
BALLROOM A
Meghan Beattie
4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 12:30PM
BALLROOM A
Rodwell Bent
University of Ottawa
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 3:15PM
BALLROOM A
Marie-Joel BergeronSavard
Université Laval
Medical Physics
Friday ² 11:30AM
ROOM 307
Marie-Eve Boulanger
Université Laval
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Sunday ² 4:00PM
ROOM 307
Pascal Bourgault
Université Laval
Medical Physics
Friday ² 12:15PM
ROOM 307
Yamn Chalich
University of Ottawa
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 11:00AM
BALLROOM A
Gabriel Chernitsky
University of Winnipeg
Astrophysics
Sunday ² 1:00PM
ROOM 306
Kacie Conrad
Dalhousie University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 3:30PM
BALLROOM A
Jacy Conrad
Dalhousie University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 12:30PM
BALLROOM B
Marc Cormier
Dalhousie University
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 5:15PM
STIRLING D
Eamonn Corrigan
Trent University
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 5:00PM
STIRLING B
Miles Couchman
McMaster University
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Saturday ² 5:30PM
STIRLING A
Vincent Crépault
Université Laval
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 2:00PM
BALLROOM B
Jeremy Crowe
Mount Allison University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 2:30PM
BALLROOM B
Stephaney Daley
4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 4:45PM
STIRLING C
Erica Dao
McMaster University
Medical Physics
Saturday ² 3:45PM
STIRLING A
Ben Davis-Purcell
McMaster University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 2:45PM
BALLROOM B
Marie-Eve
Desrochers
Université de Montréal
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 5:15PM
STIRLING B
David DeVries
University of Waterloo
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Saturday ² 4:30PM
STIRLING A
Maura Dewey
University of Victoria
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 11:15PM
BALLROOM B
Eric Dilcher
Dalhousie University
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 9:45AM
BALLROOM A
Katelyn Dixon
McMaster University
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 12:45PM
BALLROOM A
Patrick Dowling
4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 10:45AM
BALLROOM B
Chelsea Dunning
University of British
Columbia
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 3:30PM
STIRLING B
Sepehr Ebadi
University of Toronto
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 2:15PM
BALLROOM A
Fraser Evans
McMaster University
Astrophysics
Sunday ² 1:15PM
ROOM 306
15
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
STUDENT TALKS: LIST BY NAME Name Institution
Category
Day & Time Location Cory Falconer
University of Ontario
Institute of Technology
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Sunday ² 1:15PM
ROOM 307
Johnny Farah
Dalhousie University
Medical Physics
Saturday ² 9:30AM
ROOM 306
Spencer Farrell
Dalhousie University
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Sunday ² 1:45PM
ROOM 307
Kelly Foran
Mount Allison University
Medical Physics
Friday ² 11:15AM
ROOM 307
Luiza Freitas Goulart
University of Toronto
Medical Physics
Saturday ² 9:15AM
ROOM 307
Reuben Gazer
McMaster University
Astrophysics
Sunday ² 2:15PM
ROOM 306
Frédéric Girard
Université de Montréal
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 9:00AM
BALLROOM B
James Godfrey
Trent University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 11:00AM
BALLROOM B
Aaron Goldberg
McMaster University
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 4:00PM
STIRLING B
Klaudia Golos
University of Waterloo
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 9:30AM
BALLROOM A
Jasper Grond
McMaster University
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 9:30AM
ROOM 306
Shayne Gryba
University of Regina
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 1:45PM
BALLROOM B
Peter Gysbers
McMaster University
Astrophysics
Sunday ² 1:45PM
ROOM 306
Reid Hayes
University of Waterloo
Medical Physics
Friday ² 12:30PM
ROOM 307
Shane Holden
Memorial University of
Newfoundland
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 10:45AM
BALLROOM A
Austin Hubbell
Concordia University
Medical Physics
Friday ² 10:45AM
ROOM 307
Sarah Hyatt
Dalhousie University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 2:45PM
BALLROOM A
Shira Jackson
York University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 2:30PM
BALLROOM A
Alexandra Kasper
McMaster University
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Saturday ² 4:15PM
STIRLING A
Siwook Kim
Ryerson University
Medical Physics
Friday ² 11:45AM
ROOM 307
Allison Kolly
University of Winnipeg
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 9:45AM
ROOM 306
Chapin Korosec
McMaster University
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 12:00PM
BALLROOM A
Kevin Lacaille
Dalhousie University
Astrophysics
Sunday ² 1:30PM
ROOM 306
Étienne LantagneHurtubise
Université de Montréal
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 4:45PM
STIRLING D
Steven Large
University of Guelph
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 9:15AM
BALLROOM A
Carmen Lee
Dalhousie University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 2:00PM
BALLROOM A
Hubert Lin
University of Toronto
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 3:00PM
BALLROOM A
Dylan Linthorne
6DLQW0DU\·V8QLYHUVLW\
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 4:30PM
STIRLING C
Maude Lizaire
Université de Montréal
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 5:30PM
STIRLING D
Eric Logan
Mount Allison University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 1:00PM
BALLROOM A
Sébastien Lord
Université de Moncton
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 1:00PM
BALLROOM B
Amber Maharaj
University of Ontario
Institute of Technology
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 4:00PM
STIRLING D
16
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
STUDENT TALKS: LIST BY NAME Name Institution
Category
Day & Time Location Jennifer Mauel
4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 3:30PM
STIRLING C
Joe McLaughlin
York University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 4:15PM
STIRLING C
Simon Meynell
Dalhousie University
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 4:15PM
STIRLING D
François Michaud
Université Laval
Medical Physics
Friday ² 11:00AM
ROOM 307
Timothy Miller
Dalhousie University
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 5:30PM
STIRLING B
Anna Millington
McMaster University
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 9:00AM
BALLROOM A
Kyle Mills
University of Ontario
Institute of Technology
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 11:30AM
BALLROOM A
Alan Morningstar
McMaster University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 3:30PM
BALLROOM B
Meg Morris
Mount Allison University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 9:15AM
BALLROOM B
Charles Murphy
Université Laval
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 3:00PM
BALLROOM B
Nathan Murtha
6DLQW0DU\·V8QLYHUVLW\
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 1:15PM
BALLROOM B
Will Musgrave
Dalhousie University
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Sunday ² 2:30PM
ROOM 307
Emil Noordeh
York University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 9:45PM
BALLROOM B
Martina Ojeda
McGill University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 3:45PM
STIRLING C
University of Ontario
Institute of Technology
University of British
Columbia
University of British
Columbia
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Sunday ² 2:45PM
ROOM 307
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 9:00AM
ROOM 306
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ²5:15PM
STIRLING C
Université Laval
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 12:00PM
BALLROOM B
Daniel Perez
University of Ottawa
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 12:45PM
BALLROOM B
Louis-Philippe Pleau
Université Laval
Saturday ² 5:15PM
STIRLING A
Claire Preston
McMaster University
Sunday ² 1:00PM
ROOM 307
Daniel Pasut
Ben Pearce
Jannicke Pearkes
Shanny PelchatVoyer
Félix ProulxGiraldeau
Annabelle RichardLaferrière
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Université de Montréal
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 4:30PM
STIRLING B
Université de Montréal
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 9:15AM
ROOM 306
Alexander Robinson
Laurentian University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 5:00PM
STIRLING C
Lina Rotermund
Dalhousie University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 1:15PM
BALLROOM A
Marie Annie Saucier
Université Laval
Medical Physics
Saturday ² 9:00AM
ROOM 307
Elizabeth Selinger
University of Ontario
Institute of Technology
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 5:00PM
STIRLING D
Alyssa Sethi
University of Toronto
Medical Physics
Friday ² 10:30AM
ROOM 307
Hurmiz Shamana
McMaster University
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Sunday ² 1:30PM
ROOM 307
Haya Shehab
McMaster University
Medical Physics
Friday ² 12:00PM
ROOM 307
Drew Shepherd
4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 11:30AM
BALLROOM B
17
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
STUDENT TALKS: LIST BY NAME Name Institution
Category
Day & Time Location Hong Yi Shi Yang
Dalhousie University
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 12:15PM
BALLROOM A
Adrian Solyom
McMaster University
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 11:15AM
BALLROOM A
Lucas St-Jean
Université de Montréal
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 3:45PM
STIRLING B
Guillaume St-Onge
Université Laval
Engineering/Applied Physics
Friday ² 10:30AM
BALLROOM B
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 9:30AM
BALLROOM B
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Saturday ² 5:30PM
STIRLING C
Hannah Stegen
Jessica Strickland
Mount Allison
University
Memorial University of
Newfoundland
Matthew Stukel
Carleton University
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 2:15PM
BALLROOM B
Sean Takahashi
4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 11:45AM
BALLROOM A
Jennifer Tang
McMaster University
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Saturday ² 3:30PM
STIRLING A
Laura Teigrob
University of Regina
Particle/Nuclear Physics
Sunday ² 3:30PM
BALLROOM B
Collin Tiessen
University of Windsor
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Saturday ² 4:45PM
STIRLING A
Seth Todd
4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
Quantum Condensed Matter
Friday ² 10:30AM
BALLROOM A
Maxime Tremblay
Université Laval
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Sunday ² 2:15PM
ROOM 307
Maxime Trepanier
Université Laval
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 4:15PM
STIRLING B
Eric Turner
McMaster University
Quantum Condensed Matter
Saturday ² 4:30PM
STIRLING D
Nathan Winsor
Memorial University of
Newfoundland
Astrophysics
Sunday ² 2:00PM
ROOM 306
Alex Woodfinden
McMaster University
Astrophysics
Saturday ² 4:45PM
STIRLING B
Rui Xu
McMaster University
Biological/Soft Condensed
Matter Physics
Saturday ² 5:00PM
STIRLING A
Miguel Young
Western University
Engineering/Applied Physics
Sunday ² 1:30PM
BALLROOM A
18
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
STUDENT TALKS: ABSTRACTS ASTROPHYSICS
Ben Pearce (University of British Columbia): Saturday ² 9:00AM, Room 306
Simulating the Synthesis of Amino Acids in Meteorite Parent Bodies The class of meteorite called carbonaceous chondrites is known for having high water and organic material
contents, including amino acids. We model both the total amino acid abundance pattern as well as the relative
frequencies of amino acids within the CM2 and CR2 chondrite subclasses using computational models. We use
thermodynamic theory of Gibbs free energies to calculate the output of amino acids in a meteoritic parent body
assuming chemical equilibrium and some initial concentration of organic material. We find excellent agreement
between observed total abundances of amino acids in CR2 meteorites and the theoretical yield from our
simulation, but a higher-than-expected theoretical yield in comparison to observed total abundances in CM2
meteorites. To further understand this discrepancy we allow overall planetesimal water content to vary in our
simulation and observe how it affects total amino acid abundances. The proceeding observation leads to the
major conclusion of this paper: overall water content in the model planetesimal is discovered to be the greatest
factor in varying amino acid synthesis and is suggested as the main cause of variance in amino acid abundances
throughout the carbonaceous chondrite subclasses. A new picture for amino acid synthesis in planetesimals
forms from this conclusion: either the carbonaceous chondrite subclasses originate from completely separate
planetesimals, each with their own range of total water content, or the water content within a planetesimal is
differentiated and the subclasses originate from different locations within an individual planetesimal. In addition
to total abundances, we match relative frequencies to observed frequencies for each amino acid to well within
an order of magnitude among both CM2 and CR2 meteorites.
Annabelle Richard-Laferrière (Université de Montréal): Saturday ² 9:15AM, Room 306
The Pre-­‐Merger State of LS 4948 Massive stars, with initial masses greater than ~8 solar masses, are often (>70%) found in binary systems.
Recent results show that about 75% of these stars will interact with a companion, with about 25% merging into
one star. The Canadian microsatellite MOST observed about 50,000 stars, with several hundred massive stars
included. A preliminary examination of the MOST data on massive stars revealed an extremely close binary
system, with a period of about one day. We obtained the first spectroscopy of this system which showed that the
stars rotate extremely fast. Further spectroscopy shows how the spectrum changes as a function of orbital phase.
These results are being compared to the light curves collected with MOST, the All Sky Automated Survey, and
the STEREO satellites to determine how fast the system is spiraling in towards a merger, as well as determining
the masses of each component star.
19
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ASTROPHYSICS
Jasper Grond (McMaster University): Saturday ² 9:30AM, Room 306
Photon Accounting: Modeling Radiative in Astrophysical Simulations Radiation is an important process in astrophysics. It effects the chemical and thermodynamic properties of gas,
imparts momentum to gas and ultimately helps to drive large scale evolution of gaseous regions. Radiation is
difficult to model in astrophysical simulations. Unlike a phenomena like gravity, radiation depends on what is
between the source and the point of interest. Radiation is scattered by atoms on its way to the point of interest.
The amount of scattering depends on the optical thickness of the medium it is traveling through which can vary
greatly on cosmological scales. We have developed a tree-based algorithm and implemented it in the Smoothed
Particle Hydrodynamic code, Gasoline. Using this, we can simulate radiative transfer in fully cosmological
simulations, a previously impossible task. Preliminary simulations of analytically verifiable problems have been
run, which have produced promising results. Also presented, is how the method has been integrated with a
powerful stellar evolution code, Starburst99 (Leitherer et al.), allowing the code to work on a vast range of
wavelengths, and star types.
Allison Kolly (University of Winnipeg): Saturday ² 9:45AM, Room 306
Are black holes inevitable in Anti-­‐de Sitter space time? When matter is left to collapse upon itself under the force of gravity, there are two possible outcomes: a black
hole forms or the matter eventually disperses out to infinity. If the energy density of empty space is negative, the
resulting (so-called AdS) space-time has the strange property that matter can reach infinity, bounce back and recollapse in finite time. This opens up the possibility of black hole formation after the first, second, or even
hundredth bounce, causing AdS space-time to be unstable. The goal of our research is to see how this behaviour
is modified by the presence of small scale quantum corrections to Einstein's equations.
Chelsea Dunning (University of British Columbia): Saturday ² 3:30PM, Stirling B
A Student's Guide to Characterising a Belle-­‐II Detector Prototype The Belle detector, based at KEK in Japan, aims to observe and measure rare particles and decays. Due to a
luminosity increase in the beamline, Belle needs to upgrade detector components to accommodate this
increase;; thus the birth of the proposed Belle-II. The Belle-II upgrade is a worldwide collaboration, and the
Canadian group is working on the development of the electromagnetic calorimeter. This calorimeter is used to
detect photons which are products of particle decays, and it is composed of over 8000 CsI crystals used to
conduct light signals into attached detectors. A prototype set-up of one of these detectors has been built and
characterised corresponding to the photon energies of radioactive sources used for calibration. Students will
learn how to reproduce this set-up and explain the relationship between the signal peak height and the energy
of the photon responsible for the signal. The various factors which need to be considered when building a
prototype set-up will also be described. Results for the prototype characterisation using Na-22 and Cs-137 will
be presented.
20
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ASTROPHYSICS
Lucas St-Jean (Université de Montréal): Saturday ² 3:45PM, Stirling B
Eta Carinae, a massive star and its variability Eta Carinae is the nearest example of a very massive star, with a mass near 100 solar masses. It has a long,
5.5-year elliptical orbit with a less-massive companion star. Each star has a strong stellar wind, and these winds
collide with each other - producing high energy X-rays and accelerating the primary star's wind to higher velocities.
The system passed through its closest approach in 2014, and we collected more than 100 high-resolution
spectra to understand the variability caused by this periastron event. During the course of these observations,
we observed a narrow absorption component in the Na D2 line strengthen by more than factor of three. This
particular component has a kinematic signature implying formation in the ejecta of an explosion that occured in
the 1890s. Two interpretations are being pursued to explain the long-term and orbital variability we have
measured for this line: a changing mass-loss rate of the primary star, and a clearing of dust that had formed
near the star.
Aaron Goldberg (McMaster University): Saturday ² 4:00PM, Stirling B
Where Astrophysics and Cosmochemistry Collide: Using Protoplanetary Disk Dynamics to Investigate Chondrule Formation Primitive, undifferentiated meteorites (chondrites) are among the oldest remnants of our early Solar System, and
thus provide integral clues about the physical and chemical processes that occurred before the planets were
formed. Despite two centuries of study, the formation of the silicate spheroids ubiquitous to chondrites
(chondrules) remains one of the most elusive early Solar System events for which to account. We take the novel
approach of using astrophysical models to investigate chondrule and dust transport in the protoplanetary disk,
in order to obtain spatiotemporal constraints on the chondrule formation events (CFEs). Initially, we assume a
single CFE, for which we are able to analytically predict chondrule behaviour. We then investigate the evolution
of a disk with continuous CFEs. For the former, we find that chondrule and dust populations remain coherent for
sufficient time to successfully produce chondrites in agreement with observations. We then show that successful
chondrite production with continuous CFEs requires a relatively young disk, accreting onto its central star at a
rate greater than 10-9 M~/year. I will present both the analytical and numerical results of our models, which
demonstrate the power of this exciting new perspective for studying Solar System formation.
Maxime Trepanier (Université Laval): Saturday ² 4:15PM, Stirling B
On Vacuum Decay Among the wide variety of cataclysmic processes predicted by the theory, vacuum decay (VD) stands out as being
not only surprising but also rather intriguing. To get some insight, imagine a wall of high energy density
propagating at the speed of light through the universe and devastating everything it encounters. VD arises in
semiclassical theory because metastable ground states in the scalar potential are rendered unstable by
quantum tunneling, and the instanton (i.e., the transition) interpolating two minima can be computed, yielding
an estimate of the probability for the transition to occur. This talk will briefly explain the ideas behind the theory
of vacuum decay and show the effects of gravitational and thermodynamical fluctuations on the decay
probability.
21
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ASTROPHYSICS
Félix Proulx-Giraldeau (Université de Montréal): Saturday ² 4:30PM, Stirling B
Polarimetric variability modelling in massive stars Massive stars are amongst the brightest objects in the universe, yet rarely observed directly because their
surface is hidden by their highly dense and opaque wind. Their wind is a complex hydrodynamic outflow propelled
by the star's strong luminosity that often presents periodic or quasi-periodic variability. One potential hypothesis
for that variability is the existence of co-rotating interaction regions (CIRs), which are regions of higher or lower
density rotating around the spinning star. These types of structures are found in the wind of many stars,
especially those of massive stars or even around the Sun itself. A way to test this hypothesis is to ask whether
the simulated behaviour of these CIRs based on the rotation of these structures around their stars match the
empirical data. In my study I compared simulated results with polarimetric observations from WR6, a Wolf-Rayet
star, a type of massive star showing a particularly strong wind outflow with a quasi-periodic variability. My results
provide support for the hypothesis but I will highlight some minor differences between model predictions and
observations.
Alex Woodfinden (McMaster University): Saturday ² 4:45PM, Stirling B
Simulating Star Formation in Galaxies Most stars in the universe currently form in disk galaxies. Gas within galactic disks can contract to form cold,
dense molecular clouds that are the sites of star formation. Several factors influence this process, including
gravity, hydrodynamics, gas heating and cooling, feedback from other stars, the total gas mass and the galactic
environment. Varying the last three factors, in particular, can lead to vastly different star formation rates in
different galaxies. For example, a starburst galaxy can form stars at a rate 250-500x faster than the Milky Way.
This talk illustrates the use of simulations to understand how stars form in galaxies. We describe a set of new
simulations of localized galactic regions exploring the role of turbulence and ultraviolet heating by stars on the
creation of cold gas clouds where new stars can and whether gravity is essential to this process.
Eamonn Corrigan (Trent University): Saturday ² 5:00PM, Stirling B
Correlated Star Formation in Galaxy Interactions In recent years it has been well established, through observational and simulation evidence, that close galaxy
pairs in general have higher star formation rates (SFR) than the galaxies in isolation. The objective of this
research is to probe more deeply into how these enhancements occur, specifically looking at correlated SFR
enhancements within a galaxy pair. We explored whether enhancements in interacting galaxies are triggered at
the same time and to the same degree or if the enhancements are unrelated. Using spectral data from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey of approximately 18 000 galactic pairs, it was found that there is not a statistically significant
level of correlated enhancement within the majority of galactic pairs.
Marie-Eve Desrochers (Université de Montréal): Saturday ² 5:15PM, Stirling B
Exoplanet Atmosphere characterization by transit with James Webb The transit method is used to discover extra-solar planets by detecting periodic variations in the luminosity of a
star which happens when the planet crosses in front of the stellar disc. During the transit, the planet's
atmosphere filters a fraction of the light. Traces of this process can be observed in the star's spectrum. By
comparing the spectrum of the star without the planet contribution it should be possible to extract the
composition of the planet atmosphere. Since this technique is applicable to NIRISS (Nir-InfraRed Imager and
Slitless Spectrograph) that will be installed on the James-Webb telescope, it is vital that we understand the
benefits and limitations associated with this method. For this reason, I have analyzed all known transiting
planets, determining the expected signal to noise from NIRISS. I then created a database which includes more
than 300 planetary systems for which this technique can be used.
22
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ASTROPHYSICS
Timothy Miller (Dalhousie University): Saturday ² 5:30PM, Stirling B
The Bias in Sub-­‐millimetre Galaxy Population Submillimetre-luminous galaxies (SMGs) are some of the most extreme events in the observed universe with
star formation rates upwards of 500 solar masses per year. SMGs are thought to trace some of the densest
regions of the universe because they have such a high star formation rate. Despite many studies making this
assumption, little work had been done to investigate their bias. Bias is a measure of how the density of luminous
matter traces the underlying dark matter. Dark matter is a hypothesized type of matter that reconciles the
differences between observed mass, and mass inferred from the motion of stars and galaxies. The Hayward,
Behroozi et al. cosmological simulation is analyzed to investigate the bias of SMGs. A starburst mode was added
to create a more realistic representation of SMGs. It was found that many of the highest mass regions did not
contain any SMGs. This suggests that SMGs do not always trace the largest structures.
Gabriel Chernitsky (University of Winnipeg): Sunday ² 1:00PM, Room 306
Quintuplet Dark Matter: Five Particles for the Price of One Many astrophysical mysteries surround us. A 3.55 keV X-ray signal has been detected in various galaxy clusters.
A 511 keV gamma ray signal, produced by positrons, has been detected in the centre of the Milky Way over 40
years ago. The source of these positrons and X-rays remains unknown. Dark matter, a group of particles that do
not emit EM radiation and interact mainly though gravity, are a possible candidate for being the source of these
signals. We explore a mathematical model where dark matter particles have five energy states. The signals are
produced when the particles decay to lower energy states.
Fraser Evans (McMaster University): Sunday ² 1:15PM, Room 306
Environmental Effects on Galaxy Evolution in the Local Universe: Red Misfits in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey In the local universe, the colour and star formation rate distributions of galaxies have been shown to be strongly
bimodal. Galaxies may be separated into two broad classifications;; blue galaxies with active ongoing star
formation and red galaxies with limited star formation. These properties have also been seen to depend strongly
on local environment. Blue star-forming galaxies dominate in regions of low galaxy density while the high-density
environment is dominated by red quiescent galaxies, with any transition between these two population occurring
on very short timescales. While most galaxies in the local universe may be classified as members of one of these
two groups, there exists a small but significant third population: galaxies classified as both red in colour and
active in star formation rate. These 'red misfits' may be an important phase in the transition from blue active
galaxies to red quiescent galaxies in the high-density environment. It is therefore crucial to understand whether
they are physically distinct from the active-blue and passive-red populations or if they are simply a subset of the
two populations affected by various observational biases. Using galaxy group catalogs identified in the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we identify and study these red misfits. Through an analysis of their mass
distribution, dust content, morphologies, active galactic nuclei abundance and their local environment, we
conclude these red misfits likely represent a distinct population and an important phase in the quenching of
star-forming galaxies in high-density environments in the local universe.
23
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ASTROPHYSICS
Kevin Lacaille (Dalhousie University): Sunday ² 1:30PM, Room 306
‡•‘Ž˜‹‰–Š‡‹˜‡”•‡ǯ•„”‹‰Š–‡•–•—„-­‐millimetre galaxies at high-­‐redshift In order to understand the origins of our Universe we must explore its distant past. This has motivated detailed
analysis of distant galaxy populations and their formation and evolution. A significant portion of these highredshift (high-] JDOD[LHV· OLJKW LV GHWHFWHG DW VXE-millimetre wavelengths - these galaxies are known as submillimetre galaxies (SMGs). While short-lived, the brightest high-z SMGs represent the rarest and most
extraordinary star-forming events in the Universe, generating thousands of solar masses per year. However, at
all other wavelengths dust obscurations block their energetic starbursts, making them look like less luminous
galaxies, and therefore are missed in surveys. In order to precisely locate and resolve these galaxy populations
with confidence we use a high angular resolution interferometer, the Submillimeter Array (SMA), to follow-up on
previously observed fields within the 870um continuum. This allows us to firstly see if previously surveyed
sources resolve into multiple less luminous components, and secondly to precisely identify their component(s)
with multi-ZDYHOHQJWKGDWDWRIXUWKHUVWXG\WKHLUUHGVKLIWVDQGDVWURSK\VLFDOSURSHUWLHV3URYLGHG60$·VSUHFLVH
positional information we may obtain a true understanding of the characteristics of bright SMG populations to
test models of galactic evolution and formation - shedding light on the origins of our Universe.
Peter Gysbers (McMaster University): Sunday ² 1:45PM, Room 306
Morphologies and Radial Trends of Galaxies in Groups Galaxies in the Universe are found in different environments, ranging from isolated to intermediate density
systems called groups to rich systems called galaxy clusters. Groups consist of a few to a few tens of galaxies
bound by gravity, an example of which is "The Local Group" which consists of the Milky Way, Andromeda and
many smaller galaxies. Group environments play an important role in galaxy evolution because galaxies within a
group interact frequently through mergers as well as more subtle interactions like harassment, which result in a
diversity of galaxy morphologies from bulge-dominated ellipticals to disky spirals. Recently decompositions of
galaxy luminosity profiles have allowed separate measurement of bulge mass and disk mass. Various studies
have shown clear correlations between observed galaxy properties such as galaxy stellar mass, star formation
rate and bulge-to-total mass ratio (B/T). We investigate the properties of galaxies in a sample of groups from the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey, focusing on how the properties of galaxies in groups depend on where within the group
they are found. We find that galaxies further from the group center are more likely to have a high star formation
rate but radial trends are much less clear with B/T.
Nathan Winsor (Memorial University of Newfoundland): Sunday ² 2:00PM, Room 306
Mystery of the Yellow Giants at the Centre of our Galaxy The formation rate of stars at the Galactic Centre is of high importance since it tells us about how similar galactic
nuclei formed. However, the formation rate is not well-understood, as we only have knowledge of relatively recent
(4-6 Myr ago) and distant past (> 1 Gyr) formation events - little observational data exists for in between these
two time periods (100 ² 300 Myr ago). We have observed stars at the Galactic Center having unexpected spectral
line strengths, suggesting they may fall into a class of stars known as yellow giants. This class of stars is an
evolutionary stage between the main sequence and red giant stages of a star's life. Thus, proving that these
stars are Yellow Giants will provide data for the star formation rate during this intermediate time period. To
determine the identity of these stars, we used Python to fit synthetic spectra from a grid of cool stars to the
observed spectra, giving a measure of stellar parameters such as effective surface temperature and metallicity.
These stellar parameters can then be used to plot each star on evolutionary tracks to determine the stage of
their evolution. This method of spectral model fitting Galactic Centre stars is an improvement, because although
previous studies have been completed to determine effective surface temperature, metallicity and other stellar
parameters for stars at the Galactic Centre, most of these studies use methods such as equivalent widths and
spectral type versus effective surface temperature relationships.
24
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ASTROPHYSICS
Reuben Gazer (McMaster University): Sunday ² 2:15PM, Room 306
The Mystery of Multiple Populations: Testing the AGB Ejection Hypothesis Globular clusters are dense, spherical clusters of stars found in the haloes of galaxies. Historically, all stars in a
given GC were thought to be of a common age, indicating they formed at the same time. However, it is now
known that the opposite is true ² almost every GC observed to date contains multiple, chemically-distinct
SRSXODWLRQVRIVWDUVWKDWPD\KDYHIRUPHGDWVHSDUDWHWLPHVLQWKHSDVW7KH´PXOWLSOHSRSXODWLRQµSKHQRPHQRQ
is common to almost every globular cluster, an observation that has recently been used to define globular
clusters. Why these distinct populations exist and how they formed is currently unknown. In this work, we test
some implications of the leading hypothesis by using simulations to model the interaction of stars and gas in
star clusters. Our models will provide constraints on the likelihood that the second generation can form from the
gas ejected by the first generation of stars in the cluster.
BIOLOGICAL / SOFT CONDENSED MATTE R PHYSICS
Jennifer Tang (McMaster University): Saturday ² 3:30PM, Stirling A
The Formation of Alzheimer's Plaques in Synthetic Membranes 2QHRIWKHKDOOPDUNVRI$O]KHLPHU·VGLVHDVHLVWKHIRUPDWLRQRIQHXURWR[LFVHQLOHSODTXHVSULPDULO\FRQVLVWLQJ
of amyloid-beta peptides. Despite their importance for the pathogenesis of the disease, little is known about the
properties of these plaques and about the process by which they form. I developed a model system to study the
IRUPDWLRQDQGSURSHUWLHVRI$O]KHLPHU·VSODTXHVH[-vivo. I prepared synthetic anionic lipid membranes with brainlike composition and included different amounts of amyloid-beta(25-35), which comprises the transmembrane
segment of the 42 amino acid long peptide. The systems were prepared as multi-lamellar membranes supported
on silicon chips. We investigated size, density and molecular properties of these plaques using microscopy,
atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. While at concentrations of 3mol%, the peptides were dispersed in
the membranes, at 10 mol% and 20mol%, peptide aggregates were observed. Plaques with typical sizes of 12
to 13 micrometers were observed under the microscope. With increasing peptide concentration, the density of
small plaques increased, however, their size stayed approximately constant. The aggregates were found to form
inside the membranes and to coexist with the membrane structure. We used X-ray diffraction to determine the
molecular structure of the membranes and detect the peptide signals to determine the amount of peptides in
alpha-helical and beta-sheet structures. The preparatLRQRIV\QWKHWLF$O]KHLPHU·VWLVVXHLVDPLOHVWRQHIRUWKHH[vivo testing of anti-$O]KHLPHU·VGUXJVEHIRUHWKH\JRLQWRFOLQLFDOVWXGLHV%\SUHSDULQJPHPEUDQHVRIGLIIHUHQW
composition, such as saturated and unsaturated lipids, cholesterol and different length of amyloid-beta peptides,
quantitative information about plaque formation will be obtained.
John Adams (University of New Brunswick): Saturday ² 3:45PM, Stirling A
An Analysis of Steady Gradient NMR Diffusiometry Techniques This presentation will report on experiments performed at the UNB MRI Centre which tested the accuracy and
precision of self-diffusion coefficients measured with two different pulse sequences on a shaped permanent
magnet. Once the accuracy of these two methods were tested, the self-diffusion coefficients of two different
crude oil samples were evaluated in an attempt to differentiate between the samples.
25
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
BIOLOGICAL / SOFT CONDENSED MATTE R PHYSICS
Marie-Eve Boulanger (Université Laval): Sunday ² 4:00PM, Room 307
Development of an epidural optic fiber for the optogenetic study of spinal sensory processing Pain is a subjective unpleasant sensory and emotional experience caused by noxious and/or potentially
damaging stimuli. Pain may become maladaptive if it is expressed under inappropriate conditions or at excessive
intensities for extended durations. Currently emerging concepts of maladaptive pain suggest that basic neuronal
mechanisms of memory formation are relevant for the development of pathological forms of pain. The synaptic
mechanism of long term potentiation (LTP) is considered to be one of the important process of memory
formation. The purpose of this project was to find if there exist a relation between LTP and pathological pain by
activating the mechanical pain fibers (C-fibers) in the spinal cord. With optogenetic, a new branch of
biotechnology which allows us to use light to control nerve cell function, it is possible to activate the sensory
pathway and to induce LTP in vitro. However, the use of optogenetic to directly manipulate spinal sensory
processing in freely behaving animals has been much more difficult to study. So, we have developed a chronic
epidural fiber implant that enables the delivery of light to the dorsal part of the spinal cord to activate the Cfibers in freely behaving animals. We found that with this innovating technique, it is possible to create
sensitization in freely behaving mice which gives us a great model for further studies of pain processing.
Alexandra Kasper (McMaster University): Saturday ² 4:15PM, Stirling A
Tethered Microswimmers: Characterizing the Swimming Dynamics of a Worm The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a model organism in biology and has become a species of interest for
the study of undulatory and collective motion. Using micropipettes, this millimeter-sized worm can be held by the
tail and its swimming motion characterized through the use of image analysis. By calibrating the micropipettes,
the deflection can be used to measure the forces exerted by this low Reynolds number swimmer. In this work,
we investigate the swimming dynamics of a single worm in a variety of environments. Furthermore, the
interactions between two neighbouring nematodes is investigated to probe for collective motion.
David DeVries (University of Waterloo): Saturday ² 4:30PM, Stirling A
Imaging of Amyloid-­‐Beta Deposits in the Human Retina Using Polarimetry The presence of amyloid-EHWD$ơ) deposits in the brain is thought to be linked to the development of Alzheimer
Disease (AD) in humans. It has also been found that the $ơ deposits are present in both the brain and retinas of
AD patients. A novel diagnostic method would therefore be to image $ơ deposits in the retina non-invasively and
in vivo to determine the likelihood of AD. High contrast images of the $ơ deposits are then needed to make this
method feasible. One way to hopefully produce these high contrast images would be through polarimetry. In
polarimetry, the Mueller matrix describes the interaction of a sample with all incoming states of polarized light.
7KH0XHOOHUPDWUL[LVFDOFXODWHGIURPLPDJHVHDFKWDNHQZLWKGLIIHULQJVHWWLQJVRIWKHLPDJLQJOLJKWEHDP·V
incident polarization state and the polarization state sampled by the imager. From the Mueller matrix, various
properties can be calculated, which when calculated for each pixel in an image (spatially resolved), could yield a
high contrast image. The study done used retinas removed from deceased AD patients and age matched subjects
without AD, and consisted of imaging the retinas using a transmission microscope outfitted with a polarimeter.
Polarimetry images were taken of regions on the retinas, boWKQHJDWLYHDQGSRVLWLYHIRU$ơ deposits. This data
was used to determine the spatially resolved Mueller matrix for each region. High contrast false colour images
were produced based upon polarization properties calculated from the spatially resolved Mueller matrices. These
properties included degree of polarization, diattentuation, polarizance, and retardance. Retardance was found
to give the greatest differentiation of deposits from the surrounding retina (paired t-test p-value < 0.001) and
the highest contrast images.
26
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
BIOLOGICAL / SOFT CONDENSED MATTE R PHYSICS
Collin Tiessen (University of Windsor): Saturday ² 4:45PM, Stirling A
Dissociative Excitation of Biomolecules by Electron Impact A crossed electron-gas beam system coupled to a VUV spectrometer has been used to investigate the
dissociation of thymine (C5H6N2O2) and pyrimidine (C4H4N2) into excited atomic fragments in the electronimpact energy range from threshold to 375 eV. For each target, the biomolecule is vaporized and formed into a
beam where it is intersected by a magnetically collimated electron beam, typical current 50 µA. The main
features in the spectrum are the H Lyman series lines. The probability of extracting excited C or N atoms from
the ring is shown to be very small. In addition to spectral data, excitation probability curves as a function of
electron energy will be presented for the main emission features as well as a comparison between data for both
biomolecules. Possible dissociation channels and excitation mechanisms in the parent molecule will be
discussed. The authors thank NSERC (Canada) for financial support.
Rui Xu (McMaster University): Saturday ² 5:00PM, Stirling A
The Theory of Self-­‐Assembled Bilayers The application of theoretical and computational techniques to the study of biological membranes has proven
essential for understanding their fundamental properties. One of such powerful theoretical techniques, originally
applied to the study of polymers, is Self-Consistent Field Theory (SCFT). In this study, we use SCFT to investigate
physical properties of bilayer membranes. Specifically, we model lipids as block copolymers, and examine the
structure and property of the self-assembled bilayer membranes of these amphiphilic molecules in flat and
curved geometries. Our study focuses on the effects of charge distribution, number and length of hydrophobic
tails and lipid composition, on mechanical properties, such as bending moduli, line and surface tension, of the
membrane. Determining the effects of these properties will guide future research in membrane biophysics.
Louis-Philippe Pleau (Université Laval): Saturday ² 5:15PM, Stirling A
Probing myelin organization and morphology with label-­‐free microscopy The study of degenerative cognitive diseases such as multiple sclerosis requires the monitoring of the structural
integrity of myelin sheaths in the central nervous system of live animals. In this regard, the label-free and
chemically specific Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy has risen as the tool of choice for
optical imaging. However, especially in the brain tissue, the minuscule difference in thickness over time of myelin
sheaths can be very hard to observe and quantify. But what if we could monitor the evolution of such structures
on a molecular level? In this talk, we present a polarization resolved CARS microscopy technique to monitor the
structural integrity of myelin sheaths. This approach, based on a tuneable excitation polarization state
complemented by a polarized read-out, allows retrieving complete information on the molecular organization in
samples that can be strongly heterogeneous. We further implement polarimetric analysis to automated
segmentation method, and demonstrate its effectiveness with images of human corpus callosum.
Miles Couchman (McMaster University): Saturday ² 5:30PM, Stirling A
Dynamics in Thin Films With Unconstrained Boundaries In order to minimize surface energy, any bumps or dips in the surface of a thin liquid film will eventually level
into a flat surface due to surface tension. Previous work has fully characterized how this levelling occurs for thin
polymer films supported on a substrate. In that scenario, the boundary conditions imposed by the substrate
LQGXFH D YHORFLW\ JUDGLHQW LQ WKH ILOP·V IORZ PD[LPDO IORZ RFFXUV DW WKH IUHH DLUOLTXLG LQWHUIDFH ZKLOH IORZ
vanishes at the liquid/substrate boundary. Here, we present fluid flow in a novel system: a free-standing
membrane, like a thin soap film. In this case, with no substrate constraining the flow, the previous gradient in
WKHIOXLGYHORFLW\YDQLVKHVDQGDVLJQLILFDQWO\GLIIHUHQWIORZSDWWHUQNQRZQDV´SOXJIORZµUHVXOWV$WRPLFIRUFH
microscopy is used to image the surface profiles of the floating film to probe flow in this system on the nanoscale.
27
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
BIOLOGICAL / SOFT CONDENSED MATTE R PHYSICS
Claire Preston (McMaster University): Sunday ² 1:00PM, Room 307
From dew drops on a spider's web to microscopic polymer droplets on conical fibers In dry environments, an idea that is growing in popularity to combat water shortages is water harvesting through
condensing vapour onto fibrous structures. This idea is inspired in part by the collection of dew drops on a
spider·VZHE,IDILEUHLVFRQLFDOLQVWHDGRIF\OLQGULFDOLQVKDSHWKHJUDGLHQWLQFXUYDWXUHFDQGULYHDGURSOHWWR
move along the fibre. Part of the reason this works is that a droplet surrounding a conical shaft will experience
a Laplace pressure gradient. In our experiments, microscopic polymer droplets are observed to move up conical
glass fibres. We present in this talk a new way of creating and analyzing this type of droplet-fibre system.
Cory Falconer (University of Ontario Institute of Technology): Sunday ² 1:15PM, Room 307
Translocation of a polymer through a nanopore with a central cavity Exemplified by the passage of biopolymers such as DNA and proteins across cell membranes, the translocation
of polymers through a nanopore is common in biological systems. In addition to these biological instances, a
better understanding of the translocation process could lead to advancements in nanopore based
nanotechnology applications such as DNA sequencing and polymer sizing. Consequently, there have been many
analytic, computational, and experimental studies of polymer translocation. The majority of this research has
considered a nanopore with a single radius. The goal of this research is to investigate translocation through a
nanopore that contains a central cavity that has a larger diameter than the pore openings on either side of the
membrane. Using a field to drive the polymer through the pore, simulations are performed for a range of polymer
lengths thus exploring the effect that the cavity has on the translocation dynamics as a function of polymer size.
Comparison to the results obtained for a pore of a single radius indicates the possible advantages of using cavitycontaining nanopores for DNA sizing applications.
Hurmiz Shamana (McMaster University): Sunday ² 1:30PM, Room 307
The Self-­‐Assembly of Pentablock Terpolymers Block copolymers have been a thoroughly studied topic for many decades, and have great potential for use in
numerous nanotechnologies. These macromolecules are composed of chemically distinct sub-chains or blocks,
which are linked together by covalent bonds. The different blocks tend to phase separate but the chain
connectivity prevents a macroscopic phase separation. As a result of this competition, block copolymers selfassemble into a variety of different complex structures. The self-assembly of block copolymers can be studied
using a powerful theoretical framework known as the self-consistent field theory. Using self-consistent field
theory, we study phases and phase transitions of pentablock terpolymers (block copolymers consisting of five
blocks and three distinct species of polymer). We focus on model systems in which the distinct blocks can selfassemble into spheres that pack into structures resembling those of crystalline solids. In particular, we
investigate the formation and stable region of the self-assembled novel crystalline structure resembling that of
graphite and the possibility of separating graphite-like structures into individual graphene-like layers.
28
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
BIOLOGICAL / SOFT CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
Spencer Farrell (Dalhousie University): Sunday ² 1:45PM, Room 307
Single file diffusion into tubes: photobleaching and photoactivation phenotypes during tracer invasion of microtubules and flagella We study the single file diffusion (SFD) of particles in a confined tubular geometry, related to the diffusion of
luminal particles in microtubules and flagella. We consider an empty semi-infinite channel, where particles are
inserted in one end and allowed to diffuse along the channel, restricted only by neighbouring particles. Exact
expressions for the probability density of each particle's position are obtained using kth order statistics.
Approximate solutions for the position and an effective diffusivity of each particle are then obtained and
compared to stochastic simulations. The effective diffusivities are scaled by a reference value for each particle,
collapsing onto a single curve, showing the same behaviour for each particle but scaled in time. While the density
evolution of the particles is unchanged with SFD, the tracer diffusion for a tagged particle is different. The
particles display initial sub-diffusive behaviour as they enter the system and increase to super-diffusive with time,
while the behaviour of the system as a whole remains simply diffusive. Experimental photobleaching and
photoactivation techniques which track tagged particles should observe the super and sub diffusive effects in
single file geometries, however the enzymatic activity should not depend on single file effects.
Alina Jade Barnett (McMaster University): Sunday ² 2:00PM, Room 307
Experiments on the Formation of Icicle Ripples Icicles are grown under controlled laboratory conditions with source water solutions which differ in chemical
composition. The solutions are primarily water with varying concentrations of cupric sulfate, glycerol, dextrose,
and polyethylene glycol of various chain lengths. We observe changes in the presence and amplitude of ripples
which grow on the surface of the icicle. In this talk, I will present the growth methods, observations and
preliminary analysis of this project.
Maxime Tremblay (Université Laval): Sunday ² 2:15PM, Room 307
How are your neurons talking? Understanding how the brain works is one of the main goals of modern science and can lead to a lot of
applications in medicine, computer science and in many other fields. The comprehension of the organization
and information processing of neural networks is therefore of great importance. To ease the task, we can
compare neural networks to social networks. Indeed, the information transmission between neurons is
comparable to cellphone conversations. Reconstructing connections from neural activity is the same as finding
out whom is texting whom by only knowing the time at which they sent their messages without any additional
information. This task is really difficult if everyone is randomly sending messages, but becomes much easier
when the conversations are organized. This is also true for neural network where structures are more easily
identified in functional networks. We chose to get structural information from neural activity by using in vitro
recordings of neural networks. We thus need efficient algorithms to infer connections from activity. A few
methods have already been used for that purpose, but neither of them can ensure great results. For that reason,
we used numerical simulation of such networks to verify the validity of those algorithms. In this talk, I will
introduce the basic of neural networks, simulation and inference methods. Then, I will compare all existing
methods and demonstrate how they can be improved by inducing more functionality in simulated networks.
29
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
BIOLOGICAL / SOFT CONDENSED MATTE R PHYSICS
Daniel Pasut (University of Ontario Institute of Technology): Sunday ² 2:45PM, Room 307
Polymer electrophoresis through a medium with viscous inclusions Electrophoresis is widely used to sort DNA and polymers by size and is thus a much studied process. The majority
of previous work has focused on using an electric field to drive polymers through a system containing obstacles
that disturb its path. The goal of this research project is to investigate the outcome if these 'obstacles' are no
longer solid, and the polymer can travel through them. Using ESPResSo, a molecular dynamics package used for
many-particle simulation, as well as Visual Molecular Dynamics to display simulations in real time, we are able
to simulate electrophoresis. Thus far, we have found that changing these obstacles to viscous inclusions results
in lower mobility (velocity per unit force) of the polymers traveling through the system. This work opens the
possibility of a new form of electrophoresis that could be useful in the sorting of DNA and polymers.
ENGINEERING / APPLIED PHYSICS
Guillaume St-Onge (Université Laval): Friday ² 10:30AM, Ballroom B
Modeling ultra-­‐sharp needles of light using vector diffraction theory Percolation theory predicts a singularity at the critical coverage following a power law. By now observing the peak
of magnetic susceptibility, the critical exponent for the power law can be measured and compared to literature.
This talk will discuss the experimental techniques used to measure this peak, as well as the preliminary findings
using this method.
3DWULFN'RZOLQJ4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\)ULGDy ² 10:45AM, Ballroom B
Applications of High Speed Data Acquisition in Atomic Physics Experiments High speed PCIe digitizers capable of continuous streaming have become readily available in recent years. By
streaming data via PCIe, a modern CPU can process this data in real time without the need for a hardware or
field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation. This talk will examine two such applications of a high
speed data acquisition system. In the first application, we describe the expected impact of rapid averaging on
improving the signal to noise ratio in a coherent transient experiment that measures atomic lifetimes. In the
second application, we describe precise frequency measurements to characterize laser stability using the Allan
Variance. Both applications were implemented using a 1GS/s, 8 bit digitizer. The high speed averaging
application will be used for a photon echo experiment operating at a repetition rate of 1MHz. For a 1 second
measuring interval, the SNR ratio can be improved by a factor of 1000 compared to single acquisition. Provided
the input signal is sufficiently dithered the effective resolution of the averaged signal can be as high as 17 bits.
The frequency measurement application uses an interpolating reciprocal counting method to achieve a time
interval resolution of 40 ps (rms value). By taking continuous uniform frequency measurements the Allan
Variance can be computed to measure the frequency stability of a radio frequency (RF) oscillator. The
measurement protocol was tested using commonly available RF clock sources so that it can be applied to
measure the Allan variance of the beat note between two lasers. Such a measurement is a standard method of
characterizing laser line width and frequency stability.
30
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ENGINEERING / APPLIED PHYSICS
James Godfrey (Trent University): Friday ² 11:00AM, Ballroom B
Fabry-­‐Perot Interference and Rotating Waveplates Waveplates are a common polarization optic used to impart a phase shift between the two orthogonally polarized
components of incident light. They are often used to obtain circularly-polarized light from incident linearlypolarized light, or vice-versa, and fixed in place in a given apparatus;; seldom are they actively rotated as part of
an experiment. They are manufactured with highly-parallel sides, as to prevent beam-splitting caused by
refraction at each interface. Another optical device, the Fabry-Perot etalon, also has highly-parallel sides. At each
interface some amount of light is reflected, and depending on the thickness of the etalon (chunk of material),
the light continuously reflected inside the etalon may interfere with itself constructively or destructively, or
somewhere intermediate between these. We treat a[n uncoated] waveplate of high birefringence as a FabryPerot etalon, and consider the transmission of linearly-polarized light incident normal to the waveplate's surface.
Our results show that a waveplate behaving as a low-finesse (low reflectance) Fabry-Perot cavity rotated through
DQ DQJOH RI Ư has a transmission profile that is a sinusoid of peULRG Ư. The amplitude of this periodic
transmission profile is shown to be a highly-sensitive to the thickness of the waveplate and the wavelength of
the incident polarized light, varying from near zero amplitudes, to changes of approximately 25% of the average
transmission value.
Maura Dewey (University of Victoria): Friday ² 11:15AM, Ballroom B
Validation of ACE-­‐FTS Ozone Measurements for 2004-­‐2009 The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) is a satellite based mission on the Canadian satellite SCISAT for
the remote sensing of chemical and dynamical atmospheric processes. ACE measures temperature, pressure,
volume mixing ratios for several dozen molecules, and atmospheric extinction profiles of aerosols and thin clouds
over the latitudes 85°N to 85°S. The Canadian Arctic ACE Validation Campaigns are carried out at the Polar
Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) during the polar spring in Eureka, and serve to both
directly measure the conditions of the atmosphere over Eureka, and to validate measurements made on board
ACE. This project provides comparisons of ozone concentration measurements from instruments deployed
during the campaigns with ACE ozone measurements for 2004 to 2009. ACE validations were done for this
project using measurements from Ozonesondes (balloon-based in situ measurements of ozone concentration,
launched daily in Eureka), PARIS-IR (a portable infrared Fourier transform spectrometer operating at 750-4400
cm-1), and BRUKER IFS 125HR (a high resolution Fourier transform spectrometer permanently installed at
PEARL, operating at 500-8500 cm-1). An improved retrieval and comparison methodology was developed for
vertical profile comparisons between ACE and the Ozonesondes, and a full software package was developed for
all comparisons.
31
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ENGINEERING / APPLIED PHYSICS
'UHZ6KHSKHUG4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\)ULGD\² 11:30AM, Ballroom B
Modelling the fuel performance of CANDU nuclear fuel rods using Multiphysics Object-­‐Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) Performing experiments with irradiated nuclear fuel is expensive, time-consuming and can have potentially
dangerous consequences due to the high temperatures and radioactivity of the fuel. Therefore, being able to
accurately model the physical properties of nuclear fuel under irradiation is vital to our understanding of the
complex conditions that occur inside a nuclear reactor. As the current industry standard models are outdated
there is a need to leverage modern-day computing power to create a new model for CANDU fuel performance. A
feasibility study was conducted to determine whether MOOSE is a suitable platform on which to build a new
CANDU fuel performance model. A full two-dimensional fuel rod and a section of a three-dimensional model were
modelled for this study. The early stages of this model have shown an ability to accurately predict the
temperatures, burnup, stresses, strains, contact pressure and thermal expansion of the two-dimensional fuel
rod. The three-dimensional fuel rod has had more mixed results as it encounters difficulties while trying to model
the thermal expansion of the fuel rod. Nevertheless, MOOSE has shown to be a powerful nuclear fuel modeling
tool and the model will continue to be enhanced over the coming months.
Daniel Abarbanel (Dalhousie University): Friday ² 11:45AM, Ballroom B
New Spherical "Core-­‐Shell" Particles for Advanced Lithium-­‐ion Batteries Lithium-ion batteries power our computers, phones and electric vehicles but there is a desire to improve the
operating time and driving range. Positive electrode materials with improved energy density exist, however, they
are not stable enough for use in as electric vehicles which require thousands of cycles and at least ten years of
operational life. A way to overcome this obstacle is to make core-shell materials in which a core with one
composition is enclosed in a thin protective shell of another composition in order to develop a long lasting
material with enhanced energy density. In this talk, I will describe how core-shell materials were made,
characterized and optimized for battery applications.
Shanny Pelchat-Voyer (Université Laval): Friday ² 12:00PM, Ballroom B
SITELLE, the development of a new imaging spectrometer SITELLE is a Fourier transform imaging spectrometer that will soon be installed at the CFHT, the Canada-FranceHawaii telescope. It is an optical instrument that combines imaging and spectrographic capabilities to obtain
spatially resolved spectra. It will be the largest instrument ever deployed at the CFHT and it is based on a laser
PHWURORJ\FRQWUROORRSVLPLODUWRZKDWH[LVWVLQWRGD\·VDGDSWLYHRSWLFV\VWHPV7KDQNVWRWKHFROODERUDWLRQRI
Laval University, ABB Bomem and the CFHT, astrophysicists will have access to a unique instrument that can
obtain spatially resolved spectra of extended objects (11 minutes of arc) and spectral bands in the visible
spectrum with a high resolution. Because of its non-dispersive spectroscopic approach, SITELLE allows us to use
every pixel for the imagery. Its FOV limitation is therefore similar to that of a simple camera. This new instrument
is based on SpIOMM, a prototype installed at Mont-Mégantic which has provided interesting results. SITELLE will
be the first to bring this prolific technology to a world renowned observatory.
32
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ENGINEERING / APPLIED PHYSICS
Ethan Avila (Acadia University): Friday ² 12:15PM, Ballroom B
Visualizing charge density waves in TaS3 crystals using the Scanning Electron Microscope TaS3 is a quasi-one-dimensional crystal that can form charge density wave (CDW) states dependent on the
temperature. These crystals were grown by a solid state reaction process and were analyzed using a scanning
electron microscope in the electron beam induced current (EBIC) imaging mode. The electron beam causes a
localized temperature increase in the crystal and interaction with the CDW leads to image contrast in the EBIC
signal. An introduction to EBIC and the use of this technique in studying CDW crystals will be the focus of this
presentation. It was concluded that the EBIC imaging mode is useful for studying CDW effects in a crystal and
further studies are required to quantify the image contrast.
Jacy Conrad (Dalhousie University): Friday ² 12:30PM, Ballroom B
Freeze-­‐Cast Thin Films for Use in Dye-­‐Sensitized Solar Cells The potential use of freeze-casting to make titanium dioxide thin films with an ideal morphology for use in dyesensitized solar cells is being investigated. In dye-sensitized solar cells, sunlight is harvested by dye molecules
adsorbed onto the surface of a semiconductor, usually titanium dioxide. The cell efficiency could be improved by
having structures with enhanced electron donor and acceptor interface surface area. Freeze-casting is an
environmentally friendly process that can be used to produce nanostructured ceramics. The technique consists
of the solidification of a dispersion of ceramic particles in a solvent, followed by sublimation of the frozen solvent
and sintering of the ceramic. The pores of the resulting ceramic are replicas of the fugitive solvent crystals,
leading to the possibility of controlling the porosity by various chemical additives. Using this technique to make
highly porous thin films of titanium dioxide can potentially lead to improved efficiency of dye-sensitized solar
cells. Titanium dioxide films with high porosity have been made via freeze-casting and characterized by surface
profilometry and scanning electron microscopy. Preliminary dye-sensitized cells have been assembled and
tested using these films as anodes.
Daniel Perez (University of Ottawa): Friday ² 12:45PM, Ballroom B
X-­‐Ray Measurements of Avalanches and Hysteresis in a Shape Memory Alloy Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are metals that have the ability to revert back to their original shape. Once a SMA
is strained, heating can return it to its previous configuration. This is facilitated by a solid-solid phase transition
in which atomic stacking layers are shifted. X-ray crystallography has been used extensively to characterize the
different crystalline phases of SMAs, however the dynamical processes that drive this their transformation are
still poorly understood. We have used X-Ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS) to make in situ
measurements of the transformation process of CuAlNi while it's subjected to temperature changes. Our
experiments have revealed that transformation is not smooth and continuous, but instead occurs in discrete
steps called microstructural avalanches, which are the root of hysteresis effects in these materials.
33
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ENGINEERING / APPLIED PHYSICS
Eric Logan (Mount Allison University): Sunday ² 1:00PM, Ballroom A
Properties of Electroless Copper Films at Various Stages in Plating Electroless copper plating is a key process in the production of printed circuit boards (PCBs), used to obtain a
conducting layer over an otherwise non-conducting substrate. Three studies were conducted concerning
different stages of the plating process. The first investigated concentration of co-deposited nickel in the film as
a function of film thickness. Using Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), a
chemical gradient was found that went from 6% nickel near the substrate to 1% at the surface of the film. The
second study examined the surface morphology of copper deposits from the beginning of plating to the formation
of a complete film. Through Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images along with diffuse reflectivity
measurements, the growth of copper films from isolated nano particles to the formation of a complete layer was
demonstrated. The last study sought to determine the origin of spacial variation of copper on substrates in the
first 5 seconds of plating and in turn attempted to minimize the effect. This was done by determining at what
process step this variation originated. The method developed to uncover the origin of uneven plating was
ineffective due to low reproducibility.
Lina Rotermund (Dalhousie University): Sunday ² 1:15PM, Ballroom A
–—†›‘ˆ‡Ž‡…–”‘Ž›–‡ƒ††‹–‹˜‡•Dzƒ‰‹……Š‡‹…ƒŽ•dz‹‹-­‐ion cells (OHFWURO\WHDGGLWLYHVVHHPLQJO\´PDJLFDOFKHPLFDOVµRU´SL[LHGXVWµDUHXVHGLQOLWKLXPLRQEDWWHULHVLQVPDOO
amounts (about 1%) to extend their lifetime. The earliest (since 1997), most famous and widely-used additive,
vinylene carbonate (VC), increases the lifetime by a factor of about WKUHH$´QHZNLGRQWKHEORFNµ3URS-1-ene1,3-sultone (PES), is similarly wonderful. However, there is still huge debate about how VC and PES work. More
detailed knowledge of how additives function will help researchers discover even better ones. Studies of the fate
of VC and PES in Li-ion cells using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry are presented here: How much VC
or PES remains in the cells as they are used? Is it important that any remains? What gases are formed from
these additives when they react in the cell? These and other questions will be answered and discussed.
Miguel Young (Western University): Sunday ² 1:30PM, Ballroom A
UWO -­‐ UofS Partnership Project: Organic Solar Cell Fabrication and Characterization The resurfacing of the environmental protection debate, underscored by both human and natural disasters in
previous years, has turned our attention once again the question of clean, safe, renewable energy. Looking up
to the sky, we may find our answer as the sunlight incident on the earth has the potential to meet most of our
daily energetic needs. Solar energy is a promising field of ongoing research, in particular the area of transparent
conductors essential to energy harvesting and display technologies. Graphene, being an ideal material for a
transparent conductor, has recently gained popularity as an alternative to the standard indum tin oxide (ITO).
This talk will provide an overview of my summer project, a collaboration between the University of Western
Ontario and the University of Saskatchewan, exploring the implementation of graphene as a contact in inverted
flexible organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. A discussion will take place regarding the methods and results of my
research, including an analysis of the short-term cell life, the effects of light-soaking in inverted-structured cells,
and a comparison of champion cell architectures.
34
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ENGINEERING / APPLIED PHYSICS
Stefanie Beale (Acadia University): Sunday ² 1:45PM, Ballroom A
TEM study of CDW in AxNb3Se4 (A=In,Tl) Charge density waves are a coupled distortion of the crystal lattice and conduction electron density that occurs
in low-dimensional compounds. The Nb3Se4 crystal system has a quasi-1-dimensional nature consisting of
chains of Nb atoms surrounded by Se atoms in an external framework. The framework contains large tunnels,
parallel to the chains, into which Tl or In atoms can be intercalated. We have observed, for the first time, that a
CDW can be induced in the Nb3Se4 system by the intercalation of Tl. The effects of varying the intercalate
concentration on the properties of the CDW were investigated using transmission electron microscopy.
Carmen Lee (Dalhousie University): Sunday ² 2:00PM, Ballroom A
Analyzing Tropospheric CO over North America and Urban Centers using MOPITT data Tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) originates from natural and anthropogenic sources. CO is an important
indicator for pollutant transportation in the troposphere due to its long lifespan as well as its simple and distinct
chemical formula. Measurements Of Pollutants In The Troposphere (MOPITT) is a nadir-sounding instrument
aboard the Terra satellite;; it measures CO. Terra was launched in 1999 and has been operating for the last
fourteen years. The CO data was retrieved from MOPITT and temporal and spatial plots were made to visualize
various North American regions and other major urban sites. In these plots, the production and transport of CO
around the globe and clearly be seen, showing that pollution is truly a global problem. With a dataset as large as
023,77·VFKDQJLQJFRQFHQWUDWLRQVFDQEHREVHUYHGRYHUVHDVRQV\HDUVDQGGHFDGHV,QWKLVSUHVHQWDWLRQZH
will show some of the results from the analysis of this dataset.
Sepehr Ebadi (University of Toronto): Sunday ² 2:15PM, Ballroom A
Quantum Information with Trapped Ions: Noise in Surface Ion Traps Quantum computers can result in exponential speed-up in certain computational tasks over classical computers.
They use two-state systems (qubits), like the internal energy levels of atoms, to process quantum information.
Trapped ions provide a great implementation of qubits due to their long coherence times, ease of initialization
and characterization, and scalability. Ions can be trapped using radio frequency fields only hundreds of microns
above trapping electrodes on a metallic surface. This can however cause the ions to get affected by the electrical
noise from the surface of the trap, which results in high heating rates and decoherence. Despite extensive
theoretical and experimental studies, the exact mechanism(s) by which the electrical noise is produced is not
completely known. Our experiment, a part of the SQIP (Scalable Quantum Information Processing) collaboration
aims at studying the surface noise in ion traps. One theory suggests that oscillating electrical dipole moments of
adsorbed atoms are responsible for this process. Our studies using Auger Electron Spectroscopy have shown an
abundance of adsorbed atoms on the surface that might contribute to the noise. Furthermore, Argon ion cleaning
of the sample which removes the adsorbed atoms has shown a significant reduction in the heating rates. Further
measurements have been planned to characterize the molecular nature of the surface contaminants by grazing
angle Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Additionally, direct excitation of the noise sources, by direct
absorption or Raman processes, might be possible and can reveal a great deal about the sources of noise. The
results of this experiment can give rise to new fabrication and cleaning techniques of surface ion traps and can
pave the way for quantum information processing with ion traps.
35
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ENGINEERING / APPLIED PHYSICS
Shira Jackson (York University): Sunday ² 2:30PM, Ballroom A
Free-­‐space Optical Tweezers We have developed an undergraduate laboratory experiment in which students trap liquid droplets in mid-air
using free-space optical tweezers. The experiment relies on a vertically aligned laser beam operating at 532 nm
that is focused to a diameter of 15 microns. We find that ink droplets vaporized from the end of a permanent
marker by the focused laser beam can be trapped easily and reliably for several minutes. A CCD camera is used
to image the scattered light from trapped droplets at a right angle to the laser beam. A LabView interface was
used to track and analyze the motion of the trapped bead. We describe the dependence of the bead position on
laser intensity and measurements of the spring constant of the optical dipole force trap. This experiment has
been incorporated into our upper level laser spectroscopy laboratory course and it replaces a commonly used
and more cumbersome setup in which polystyrene beads are trapped in solution.
Sarah Hyatt (Dalhousie University): Sunday ² 2:45PM, Ballroom A
Measuring and reducing parasitic heat flow in lithium-­‐ion batteries to improve their lifetime We use lithium-ion batteries every day in our cell phones and computers. However, their lifetime and cycle life
need to be increased. Unwanted parasitic reactions between the charged electrodes and electrolyte occur within
batteries and limit their lifetime. Reducing or eliminating these reactions will improve battery lifetime. Isothermal
microcalorimetry is used to accurately measure the heat flow produced by the parasitic reactions. I will show
how special chemical additives to the electrolyte reduce the rate of parasitic reactions and also increase cell
lifetime.
Hubert Lin (University of Toronto): Sunday ² 3:00PM, Ballroom A
Quantum Key Distribution Gap Problem In quantum key distribution (QKD), the goal is to distribute two identical bit strings (secret keys) to
two cooperating parties Alice and Bob. A well-known protocol which can be used to achieve this is the
six-state protocol. The creation of a secure secret key depends on the quantum bit error rate (QBER) in the
communication between Alice and Bob. It has been proven that a secret key can be created up to a QBER of
27.6% when using classical post-processing with two-way communication. Furthermore, it has been proven that
it is not possible to generate a secret key for a QBER greater than 33.3%. The focus of the research project is to
learn about what can be said regarding the ability to create secret keys when the QBER is between 27.6% and
33.3%. The six-state protocol can be equivalently formulated into an entanglement-based protocol in which Alice
and Bob share a bipartite quantum state after distribution. A necessary condition for secret key extraction is that
Alice and Bob's quantum state must not have a symmetric extension. We focused on studying states that can be
described by a single parameter P, corresponding directly to the QBER, to see if classes of operations
(corresponding to two-way post-processing procedures) on the state can create an effective state for which no
symmetric extension exists. If symmetric extendability is broken at a value of P corresponding to a QBER between
27.6% and 33.3%, it may be possible to prove a key can be generated for that QBER. All results so far have been
negative, which very tentatively suggests that it may not be possible to close the QBER gap from the bottom.
36
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
ENGINEERING / APPLIED PHYSICS
Rodwell Bent (University of Ottawa): Sunday ² 3:15PM, Ballroom A
Experimental realisation of quantum tomography of photonic qudits via symmetric informationally complete positive operator-­‐valued measures Quantum state tomography is an essential ingredient in numerous applications of quantum information and
quantum computation. It has been theoretically shown that a set of symmetric informationally complete positive
operator-valued measures (SIC-POVMs) provides optimal quantum state tomography in any finite dimension.
Here, we implement quantum state tomography using SIC-POVMs for both pure and mixed photonic qudit states
in Hilbert space of orbital angular momentum (OAM) -- optical OAM is associated with helical phase-front of an
optical beam that provides an unbounded Hilbert space. Photonic qudit states in OAM Hilbert space are
generated and analyzed by means of a liquid crystal device named Spatial Light Modulator (SLM), which is used
to tailor a conventional Gaussian optical beam into a desired form. In order to perform optimal quantum state
tomography using SIC-POVMs, we invent novel techniques to encode and decode OAM states of light using a
single SLM. Our technique mathematically provides an exact solution to encode both amplitude and phase of an
optical beam into a phase-only SLM. Accurate encoding and decoding photonic qudit states in combination with
optimal quantum state tomography are essential tools for many important quantum protocols such as Quantum
Key Distribution (QKD), quantum walk (QW) and Quantum Communications. Thus, our technique would find
immediate applications in quantum information and computation.
Kacie Conrad (Dalhousie University): Sunday ² 3:30PM, Ballroom A
Lights, Camera, Refraction! Using Optical Methods to Measure Diffusivity in a Saline Solution Saline diffusion is a driving force in many oceanic systems. A method for calculating the rate of diffusion of
aqueous cupric sulphate and aTXHRXVVRGLXPFKORULGHZDVGHWHUPLQHG$QDSSOLFDWLRQRI6QHOO·VODZZDVXVHG
to track the diffusion of a salt solution layered underneath deionized water in a plexiglass cell. A laser beam was
projected through the cell and the deflection of the beam was used to calculate the concentration. Since cupric
sulphate produces a coloured solution, the results were confirmed by a second method which measured colour
intensity to find the concentration through the Beer-Lambert Law. The diffusion constant for aqueous sodium
chloride at a concentration of 1.51 ± 0.02 mol/L and temperature 293 K was found to be D = (1.21 ± 0.02) ×
îFPVZKLFKLVFRPSDUDEOHWROLWHUDWXUHYDOXHVRIîïîFPV7KHGLIIXVLRQFRQVWDQWIRU
CuSO4 at a concentration of 0.37 ± 0.02 mol/L was found through the refractive method to be D = (3.96 ± 0.04)
ïîFPVZKLFKFRUUHVSRQGHGWRWKHGLIIXVLYLW\FRQVWDQWIRXQGLQWKURXJKWKHFRORXULQWHQVLW\PHWKRG
37
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
MEDICAL PHYSICS
Alyssa Sethi (University of Toronto): Friday ² 10:30AM, Room 307
Investigation of fluorophore to membrane distance dependency in Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy-­‐Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Determination of protein-protein interactions contributes to deeper understanding of molecular pathways such
as apoptosis, one of the Hallmarks of cancer. One of the most sensitive and reliable methods to detect an
interaction is Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). In live cells, where protein concentrations are unknown,
it is challenging to measure FRET by conventional methods. Cutting edge technology is now being developed to
use Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) to measure FRET (FLIM-FRET), as lifetime is concentration
independent. Cells can be directed to express two proteins of interest, each with an attached fluorophore (donor
or acceptor). If the two proteins interact, they will bring together the donor and acceptor fluorophores for FRET
to occur. In live cells this is quantified by observing a decrease in fluorescent lifetime of the donor in the presence
of acceptor. FRET efficiency is plotted against the acceptor:donor intensity ratio and binding is indicated by a
characteristic curve. No binding results in a positively-sloped straight line, due to increase in nonspecific random
collisions between donor and acceptor with increasing acceptor:donor ratio. The use of appropriate controls is
imperative in every FLIM-FRET experiment. It is expected that two proteins localized to the same membrane and
confined in 2D space will have an increased chance of non-specific random collisions. The sensitivity of FLIMFRET should allow differentiation between colocalization and real binding at the membrane. Unexpectedly, a
binding curve was observed with our mitochondrial control, Venus-ActA, making it difficult to confidently identify
interactions at the mitochondrial outer membrane. Here we demonstrate that this effect is dependent on the
distance between the acceptor fluorophore and the membrane. Our work will direct the development of better
controls for future FLIM-FRET experiments that involve interactions at membranes.
Austin Hubbell (Concordia University): Friday ² 10:45AM, Room 307
Transcranial Ultrasound Imaging Using Shear-­‐Mode Conversion The distortion and attenuation of transcranial ultrasound signals are significant problems in ultrasound imaging
of the brain. Shear-mode transmission through the skull is one of the more recent options and has been shown
to reduce distortion of the ultrasound beam. This study examined the effects of transcranial shear-mode
transmission on the images of a PTFE tube filled with contrast agent. A 32-element linear phased array
transducer was used to image the tube through an ex vivo human skull section. Where the signal occurred in
time as well as measurements of focal pressure versus incident angle to skull were used to quantify the
transmission of the shear waves through the skull. A clear time-shifted signal was detected at an incident angle
greater than the critical angle for longitudinal waves, clearly indicating shear-mode transmission.
38
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
MEDICAL PHYSICS
François Michaud (Université Laval): Friday ² 11:00AM, Room 307
A Monte Carlo Microdosimetric Model for Assessment of Radiotherapeutic Potential of Radioactive Gold-­‐Palladium Nanoparticles Gold nanoparticles are being investigated as efficient radiosensitizers in radiotherapeutic cancer procedures
(oncology). In particular, one current treatment of prostate cancer consists in implanting dozens of millimetersized metal "seeds" containing the radioisotope palladium. This procedure is called "low-dose rate" permanent
implant brachytherapy. The addition of gold nanoparticles ² or radioactive gold-palladium (core-shell)
nanoparticles ² LQWKHLPSODQWV·VXUURXQGLQJVFRXOGLPSURYHWKHHIILFLHQF\RIWKHtreatment. This project aimed
at evaluating the dose distribution around gold-palladium nanoparticles using two different Monte Carlo
simulation models that were designed using the Geant4 toolkit. First, a single nanoparticle was modeled to
assess the importance of the radiosensitization effect and revealed clinically significant dose enhancements of
over 1.4 within a 2µm radius from the nanoparticle and of 40 within a few nanometers from the nanoparticle.
Then, a cell was considered, surrounded by a nanoparticle suspension at usual nanoparticle concentrations.
With this configuration, a 13.6 Gy average dose was found within the cell. These results suggest that goldpalladium nanoparticles constitute a promising radiotherapeutic tool to distribute a therapeutic dose at the
cellular microenvironment. Experimental studies are being performed to demonstrate and quantify the impact
of gold-palladium nanoparticles to prostate cancer cells.
Kelly Foran (Mount Allison University): Friday ² 11:15AM, Room 307
Detection and Quantification of Trace Elements in Rice and Rice Products using X-­‐ray Fluorescence Recently, concern about the effect of low-level arsenic (As) exposure over an extended time period has prompted
the evaluation of arsenic concentration in foods, especially rice. We set out to use x-ray fluorescence (XRF) to
examine the presence and the concentration of arsenic and other trace elements in rice and rice products. A
portable XRF analyzer was used to test samples of brown, jasmine, basmati, instant, and microwave rice as well
as mixed rice, rice krispies, rice crackers, and brown rice flour. Data from the XRF was used to find amplitude
values, in counts, for K, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and As. Available calibration standards, providing a relationship
between sample mass and counts/ppm, were used in converting amplitude values to concentration values for
Mn, Zn, and As. Significant concentrations of Mn and Zn were found in most products, and these values were
compared to literature. The merit of K, Fe, Ni, and Cu detections was explored by examining observed and
expected changes in these elements between different types of rice. The detection limit of the portable XRF
system was sufficiently low to detect As in some, but not all, of the rice and rice products.
39
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
MEDICAL PHYSICS
Marie-Joel Bergeron-Savard (Université Laval): Friday ² 11:30AM, Room 307
Comparison of imaging modalities-­‐ MRI, CT-­‐Scan, 3D ultrasound, fusion CT-­‐Scan and 3D ultrasound-­‐ to identify organs for treatment planning of cervix cancer During treatment planning of cervix cancer, images of computed tomography scan (CT) are used, but important
inter-observer variations as well as over-estimation of organs volumes compare to magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) are known. To improve the images used in planning, a collaboration with Elekta Co. was established to
integrate a 3D abdominal ultrasound probe, the 3DClarity AutoScan (3DUS), with a specialized software. The
new system acquires ultrasound images and superimposes them with CT images. During the last six months,
eight patients with cervix cancer participated during their treatment in brachytherapy. Two radio-oncologists and
one radiologist delimitated four volumes: cervix, High-Risk Clinical Target Volume, rectum and sigmoid and uterus
for four modalities: MRI, CT-Scan, 3DUS and CT-3DUS fusion. Numerical volume analysis has been executed as
well as Dice coefficient for every modality. CT and fusion were comparable with Dice coefficient of 0,79 and of
0,76 respectively. MRI had the best results and ultrasound had the least compatibility inter-physicians. The
learning curve is high and we are still at the beginning of the study.
Siwook Kim (Ryerson University): Friday ² 11:45AM, Room 307
Cerebral near infrared spectroscopy in cardiac arrest: a pilot animal study The cardiac arrest is known to be extremely fatal, unless the appropriate treatment is given in extremely limited
time, which calls for the need of modality which is able to secure the real-time condition of the patient to decide
the optimal clinical protocols given, before the cerebral oxygen perfusion is compromised, bringing undesired
death. We used the hyperspectral near-infrared spectroscopy system (NIRS), to measure three parameters of
cerebral oxygen metabolism - oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin, and cytochrome C oxidase (the enzyme
responsible for the ATP synthesis on the cerebral cortex). In order to simulate the cardiac arrest of human, a live
pig model underwent the artificial "heart-attack" and NIRS measurement was taken place, both invasively on the
brain and non-invasively on the skull. After the series of the data collection, collection, we found that both and
non-invasive measurements showed the same trends in cerebral metabolite. The conclusion was made that the
NIRS method can be translated to human non-invasive clinical trials on cardiac arrest patients
40
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
MEDICAL PHYSICS
Haya Shebab (McMaster University): Friday ² 12:00PM, Room 307
Feasibility of measuring arsenic and selenium in human skin using in vivo X-­‐Ray Fluorescence (XRF) -­‐ a comparison of methods In recent years, systems for the in vivo measurement of arsenic (As) in skin by K-shell X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)
have been developed, including one which was applied in a pilot study of human subjects. Improved tube-based
approaches suggest the method can be further exploited for in vivo studies. Recently, it has been suggested that
selenium (Se) deficiency is correlated with arsenic toxicity. A non-invasive measurement of both elements could
therefore be of potential interesW$¶SRUWDEOH·;5)V\VWHPIRU$VPHDVXUHPHQWKDVEHHQUHSRUWHGWRVKRZQHDUO\
equivalent results, in 2 min., to a 30 minute polychromatic tube-based bench top method. The main aim of this
current study was to evaluate and compare the performance of an upgraded portable XRF system and an
advanced version of the bench top XRF system for both Se and As. This evaluation was performed in terms of
DUVHQLFDQGVHOHQLXP.ƠGHWHFWLRQOLPLWVIRUD:JROGDQRGH2O\PSXV,QQRY;'HOWDSRUWDEOHDQDO\]HUN9S
in polyester resin skin-mimicking phantoms. Unlike the polychromatic source used earlier, the bench top tubebased technique involves monochromatic excitation (25W silver anode, manufactured by X-Ray Optics, XOS) and
a higher throughput detector type. Use of a single exciting energy allows for a lower in vivo dose delivered and
superior signal-noise ratio. The Minimum Detection Limits (MDLs) for As and Se in the portable XRF system for a
1 min measurement were found to be 0.59±0.01ppm and 0.75±0.001 ppm respectively. The MDLs for As and
Se using the bench top system were found to be 0.35±0.006 ppm and 0.67±0.002 ppm respectively. In terms
of a figure of merit (FOM), the bench top system was found to be superior for As and the two systems were
equivalent, within error, for Se. We shall discuss the performance and possible improvements of each system,
their ease of use and potential for field application.
Pascal Bourgault (Université Laval): Friday ² 12:15PM, Room 307
Study of chemically-­‐induced synaptic potentiation by calcium imaging Synaptic plasticity is what makes neurons change under the influence of various stimulations. The goal of this
project is to discover if the neuron's age plays a significant role in its reaction to simple chemical stimuli. The
analysis is done by the observation of changes in the Ca2+ ions concentration in the post-synaptic zone of rat
neurons. In order to detect the calcium-driven events, we used a new automated visual-recognition algorithm
based on the Hough transform. We compared the amplitude, frequency and decay time of each event.
Reid Hayes (University of Waterloo): Friday ² 12:30PM, Room 307
Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy to Measure Binding Forces Between Amyloid-­‐beta Peptides: Effect of Cu and Zn Amyloid-ơ $ơ KDV WKH SURSHQVity to aggregate into cytotoxic homo-oligomers that damage neuronal cell
membranes. According to the amyloid cascade hypothesis, amyloid-ơ DJJUHJDWLRQ LV DQ HVVHQWLDO VWHS LQ WKH
SDWKRJHQHVLVRI$O]KHLPHU·V disease (AD). Previous studies have shown that increasing aqueous zinc or copper
concentration increases amyloid-ơDJJUHJDWLRQ:HXVHGG\QDPLFVLQJOHPROHFXOHIRUFHVSHFWURVFRS\WRVWXG\
binding of individual amyloid peptide molecules in order to address the mechanism of the initial step of amyloid
aggregation. We present statistical analysis of force plots and discuss kinetic and thermodynamic effects of zinc
DQGFRSSHURQ$ơKRPRGLPHUL]DWLRQ
41
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
MEDICAL PHYSICS
Marie Annie Saucier (Université Laval): Saturday ² 9:00AM, Room 307
Simulation of a Monte Carlo Projector on Geant4: Projection Acquisition in Tomodensitometry Tomodensitometry, also known under the acronym of CT-scan, is essential to diagnose. This technology uses Xrays that may have negative effects on health. A scattering correction can be used to improve image quality
without increasing radiation. A projector was already developed on GPUMCD (GPU-based Monte Carlo dose)
which is very fast but is not validated. The objective was to develop a Monte Carlo Projector on Geant4 (GEometry
ANd Tracking) to validate the GPUMCD projector. Geant4 is a validated platform for the simulation of particles.
A projector corrects scattering by subtracting scattering energy of the projections. Both projectors were used to
simulate projection acquisition on a head and on an abdomen. Three elements were analyzed on these
projections: geometry, scatter-to-primary ratio (SPR) and scattering profile. Scattering profile and SPR were
similar with both projectors. However a few differences were notable in the geometry. Preliminary results of both
projectors are promising.
Luiza Freitas Goulart (University of Toronto): Saturday ² 9:15AM, Room 307
Scope for application of equipartition method in studying biological objects with optical tweezers in undergraduate physics laboratory Silica beads, baby oil drops in water, onion vesicles, aloe vesicles and DNA molecules were chosen as optically
trapped objects using a 980-nm laser with power of 330 mW and maximum current of 350 mA. To make the
trap stiffness measurements available for majority of undergraduate laboratories, the capabilities of the
equipartition method were tested. The sizes of objects varied from 0.8 micrometers to 4 micrometers. The
speeds of vesicles in live tissues varied in the range of 5 ² 8.5 mm/s. The trap stiffness of the vesicles was
measure with the uncertainty of 1.7% for aloe vera vesicles and 0.8% for onion vesicles. Comparison with other
studies was made. Optical trapping of the DNA molecules in the undergraduate laboratory is possible but has a
serious disadvantage associated with the sample long preparation period and short life time. The microscope
images and videos of biological samples with trapped vesicles will be presented in the report.
Johnny Farah (Dalhousie University): Saturday ² 9:30AM, Room 307
Self-­‐Assembly of Intermediate Filament Proteins that form Flexible Nano fibres Peptides and their derivative are able to self-assemble into a wide range of different structures from virus-like
particles to micrometer long filaments. The most prevalent secondary structure (backbone) motifs are collagen
triple-helix, beta-sheet, and the alpha-helix. Alpha-helical coiled coil polypeptide chains have brought a lot of
interest due to the fact that this backbone structure is predominant among naturally occurring fibrous proteins
such as the intermediate filament (IF) protein family. These peptides can be engineered to self-assemble into 812 nm wide flexible filaments. Through this study, an assembly mechanism is looked for in order to produce
alpha-helical coiled-coil protein nano fibres that allows them to mimic intermediate filament proteins. Different
methods of analyzation are taken to observe the nano fibre characteristics, such as;; TEM, AFM, Fluorescence
and CD spectroscopy.
42
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
MEDICAL PHYSICS
Erica Dao (McMaster University): Saturday ² 9:45AM, Room 307
Concentrations and Distributions of Elements in Biological Tissues using µSRXRF: A Comparative Study on the Effect of Sample Preparation Techniques Routine tissue sample preparation using chemical fixatives is known to preserve the morphology of the tissue
being studied. A competitive method, cryofixation followed by freeze drying, involves no chemical agents and
maintains the biological function of the tissue. The possible effects of both sample preparation techniques in
terms of the distribution of trace and bio-metals (Ca, Cu and Zn, and Fe specifically) in human skin tissue samples
was investigated. Micro synchrotron radiation X-UD\ IOXRUHVFHQFH ƫ65;5) ZDV XVHG WR PDS WUDFH HOHPHQWDO
distribution in epidermal and dermal layers of skin in human samples from various locations of the body that
have been prepared using both techniques. For Ca, Cu and Zn, there were statistically significant differences in
the levels of trace metals in the epidermis and dermis using the freeze drying technique.
PARTICLE / NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Frédéric Girard (Université de Montréal): Saturday ² 9:00AM, Ballroom B
The PICO Dark Matter detection experiment: Neutron calibration at the Université de Montréal Standard mass distribution models of the observable Universe don't seem to reflect reality on the galactic scale
and beyond. The most probable explanation is the presence of unobserved Dark Matter throughout the Universe.
Possible candidates for Dark Matter are Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMPs). The PICO collaboration
uses, as a detection technique, superheated liquid operated in the bubble chamber mode. The PICO experiment
aims to directly detect Dark Matter particles using a series of increasingly larger detectors at SNOLAB in Sudbury,
Ontario. To detect an unknown particle, the detectors' response must be well understood. Since neutrons are
neutral and heavy, their interactions with the detector resemble that of a WIMP. Therefore, the Montreal PICO
team uses mono energetic neutrons from the in-house Tandem accelerator facility to characterize the response
of PICO detectors. This talk will present an overview of calibration efforts with the PICO 0.1 bubble chamber and
future plans.
Meg Morris (Mount Allison University): Saturday ² 9:15AM, Ballroom B
Active Helium Target: Neutron Scalar Polarizability Extraction via Compton Scattering The A2 collaboration at the Institute for Nuclear Physics in Mainz, Germany, is experimentally determining the
polarizabilities of nucleons in the grand pursuit of better understanding the strong interaction between quarks
and gluons. Precise measurement of the neutron scalar polarizabilities has been a long-standing challenge due
to the lack of a free-neutron target. Lead by the University of Glasgow and the Mount Allison University groups of
the A2 collaboration, preparations have begun to test a recent theoretical model with a high-pressure, active
helium target with the hope of determining these elusive quantities with small statistical, systematic, and modeldependent errors. Apparatus testing, including the evaluation of new photomultiplier tubes and a study of the
effect of nitrogen concentrations on detector response, and background-event simulations have been carried
out with the full experiment projected to run in 2015. Once determined, these values can be applied to help
understand quantum chromodynamics in the non-perturbative region.
43
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PARTICLE / NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Hannah Stegen (Mount Allison University): Saturday ² 9:30AM, Ballroom B
Hadron Polarizabilities Data Analysis The A2 Collaboration at the Institute for Nuclear Physics in Mainz, Germany, is working towards solving the
polarizabilities of hadrons through Compton scattering experiments. This will be useful in determining basic
characteristics of these fundamental particles such as the radius of a proton. With the help of a photon beam
and several detectors that can determine particle type, energy and distribution angle, the asymmetry observable
of the scattering angles can be indirectly used to extract the values of hadron polarizabilities through
mathematical analysis. The A2 Collaboration has recently updated the data analysis process by implementing a
new software package know as Generation of Analysis Trees (GoAT). GoAT can analyze both real and simulated
data by making specific cuts, as well as organize data into files. In addition to running faster, more efficiently
and accurately, a general physics class was written in the summer of 2014 to preform online analysis feedback.
A Graphical User Interface was created to display this class in a manageable and user friendly form and output
detailed multi-dimensional histograms. By giving real-time feedback the A2 collaboration will now be able to
distinguish experimental problems immediately and work towards solving the mysteries of Quantum
Chromodynamics in a more efficient manner.
Emil Noordeh (York University): Saturday ² 9:45AM, Ballroom B
The Search for Magnetic Monopoles at ATLAS The search for magnetic monopoles using the ATLAS detector at CERN is presented. The search is motivated
and the experimental setup is detailed. A walkthrough of going from raw data to cross-section limits on monopole
production is included. An extension of the search to scalar magnetic monopoles is discussed and a new
methodology for obtaining the reconstruction efficiencies of these scalar monopoles is developed. Finally,
preliminary results from the application of this methodology to the ATLAS dataset are showcased.
Jennifer Mauel (Queen's University): Saturday ² 3:30PM, Stirling C
Perylene as a Secondary Wavelength-­‐shifter in SNO+ SNO+ is a kilo-tonne scale liquid scintillator experiment based on the original SNO (Sudbury Neutrino
Observatory) detector, known for successfully resolving the Solar Neutrino Problem in 2001. SNO+ will
investigate various properties of the neutrino;; in particular the search for neutrinoless double beta decay, which
will directly show whether or not the neutrino is its own anti-particle (Marjorana or Dirac particle). The experiment
will make use of the ideal low-background conditions found 2km underground at the ultra-clean SNOLAB facility
in Sudbury's Creighton Nickel Mine. The SNO+ detector consists of a 12m diameter acrylic sphere surrounded
by extremely sensitive light detectors called photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The acrylic vessel (AV) will be filled
with a linear alkyl-benzene (LAB)-based cocktail, which emits light via scintillation when charged particles pass
through it. The cocktail will be loaded with a small percentage of Tellurium, an isotope which is capable of
undergoing neutrinoless double beta decay. In order to maximize the experiment's sensitivity to such a rare form
of decay, it is important that SNO+ is able to optimize the optical properties of the scintillator cocktail. One of the
ways to ensure maximum light output from particle interactions is by making use of wavelength shifters, which
can absorb the light emitted by LAB and re-emit it in a more optimal (usually lower) energy range. SNO+ will make
use of two wavelength-shifters during the double beta phase. The first wavelength-shifter, PPO will absorb the
light emitted by LAB and re-emit it at longer wavelengths. Unfortunately PPO emits light at a range of wavelengths
where the decay isotope Tellurium seems to absorb light. Thus, in order to maximize sensitivity SNO+ requires a
secondary wavelength shifter called perylene. The fluorescence emission and absorption spectra of perylene
were studied in detail using fluorescence spectroscopy methods.
44
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PARTICLE / NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Martina Ojeda (McGill University): Saturday ² 3:45PM, Stirling C
Rubidium Hyperfine Structure and Laser Locking Laser Spectroscopy experiments performed at TRIUMF require stable lasers and accurate wavemeters to
measure the energies of hyperfine transition lines of various isotopes, which are quantities used to infer the
isotopes' properties (such as shape and size). The reference currently used cannot guarantee a stable laser for
experiments;; additionally, the wavemeter in use has not been fully characterized. The purpose of this work was
therefore two-fold. The first aim was to calibrate the wavemeter using natural rubidium's transition lines as a
frequency reference. Theoretical predictions were compared to wavemeter readings. Second, we aimed to
determine a reference for the laser used in experiments by locking the frequency of a diode laser to a transition
line of rubidium. This step required a setup to be built, in which laser light would shine through rubidium
indicating its transition energies. Once a transition was found, a feedback system using a lock-in amplifier would
correct for the laser's drift via an error signal triggered by a deviation from the center of the transition peak. Our
results show that the wavemeter's accuracy is in the range of 40-60MHz - an acceptable magnitude for
experimental purposes given that this offset is constant. However, the diode laser continuously dithered by
approximately 12MHz, making it impossible to provide a lock to a transition peak. Since the feedback for the
laser has been successfully put in place, we will use light from a much more stable Ti:Sapphire laser in order to
create a future rubidium reference.
Ryan Baker (Mount Allison University): Saturday ² 4:00PM, Stirling C
Investigating the Crystal Ball Detector Energy Calibrations The Crystal Ball Detector is one of the main detectors used by the A2 Collaboration at the MAMI electron
accelerator in Mainz, Germany. This detector is used in the A2 Group's scattering experiments to detect the
resultant particles from each scattering event. In a data run in 2012 a problem with the Crystal Ball was
discovered where large sections of the detector would stop recording data for short periods of time. These
problem sections were not used for data analysis, but were included in the calibration process. The impact of
these holes in the data on the calibrations was investigated, and it was found that they must be filtered out due
to the error these holes introduce to the calibrations.
Joe McLaughlin (York University): Saturday ² 4:15PM, Stirling C
A Study of Sonoluminescence Sonoluminescence (SL) is the conversion of sound energy into light. This phenomenon, which has been explained
by a multitude of theories over the years and still heavily debated today, was discovered in 1934 at the University
of Cologne during Sonar experiments. The basic concepts for replicating SL in the laboratory have changed very
little over the years although various parameters have been measured and investigated;; both of which will be
discussed in this presentation. In addition to an overview of the processes which result in the tiny glowing bubble
in a flask of water, I will briefly go over some of the aforementioned theories used to explain the nature and
mechanism of the light produced by SL. The rationale for these theories will be discussed, as well as
observational consistencies and irregularities. The experiment we have been conducting for almost an
accumulated year will be examined and explained in detail. I will elaborate on what exactly it is we are looking
for in each of our tests, our measured data, and what that communicates as far as the theories mentioned are
concerned. To conclude the presentation, I'll discuss how our data, as well as several other results published
recently, pave the way for future studies of Sonoluminescence.
45
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PARTICLE / NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Dylan Linthorne (Saint Mary's University): Saturday ² 4:30PM, Stirling C
In-­‐situ Polarization Monitoring of the Mainz Frozen Spin Target The A2 Collaboration at the Mainz Microtron (Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany) are probing the
SURSHUWLHV RI WKH SURWRQ WKURXJK PHDVXUHPHQWV RI ERWK SRODUL]HG &RPSWRQ VFDWWHULQJ SƢ Ƣ S DQG PHVRQ
photoproduction reactions from the proton. A primary goal of these experiments is to extract the scalar and
vector/spin polarizabilities of the proton. To get these higher order vector polarizabilities, a doubly polarized
system is used for fixed target collisions - that is: a polarized high energy photon (gamma ray) beam, and a
SRODUL]HGSURWRQWDUJHW,QDH[SHULPHQWDOUXQWKH$&ROODERUDWLRQXVHGD´IUR]HQVSLQWDUJHWµ)67 ²
polarized butanol ² as a polarized proton source. When utilizing the FST, it is important to monitor the Degree of
Polarization (DoP) to help understand the time-dependent depolarization processes and provide checks for any
unexpected polarization losses. This presentation reports on a new method of doing within-run in-situ monitoring
of the target polarization directly using the pion photoproGXFWLRQUHDFWLRQSƢƯRS7KHDQDO\VLVIRFXVHGRQ
WKHƒ]FURVV-section asymmetry to extract the target DoP observable, P T. Multiple constraining cuts were made
on the data when extracting these asymmetries to ensure proper reaction identification, including missing mass
reconstruction and carbon background subtraction (CBS). The results showed a time-dependent decrease in P T
in rough agreement with expectations, for two cases of differing initial target polarizations;; this result was seen
both pre and post CBS, thus potentially allowing a simpler analysis to achieve the DoP monitoring.
6WHSKDQH\'DOH\4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\6DWXUGD\² 4:45PM, Stirling C
Searching for Dark Matter: Background Discrimination in the PICO Detector The PICO experiment uses superheated bubble chambers located at SNOLAB for direct detection of Weakly
Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), one of the candidate particles for dark matter. Bubbles form in the
detector when a particle interacts with a nucleus of the target fluid, and the recoiling deposits enough energy to
nucleate a bubble in the superheated fluid. Much of the data analysis for PICO focuses on determining what type
of particle caused a bubble to form. The differentiation is made by analyzing signals from pressure sensors,
piezoelectric acoustic sensors, and stereoscopic cameras. This talk will present an overview of the sensors and
analysis which are used to discriminate between WIMP interactions and background events in the PICO 2L
detector, with a focus on the role of image analysis and the potential sensitivity of the detector if good
discrimination can be realized.
Alexander Robinson (Laurentian University): Saturday ² 5:00PM, Stirling C
Simulation of Polonium Ions in Electrostatic Counters A library of objects and functions were written in Cython for the simulation of electrostatic counters of arbitrary
size and shape, from the fields they produce to the drifting of decaying ions in various carrier gasses within them.
Simulations of polonium-216 ions, using published mobilities, and recoils similar to published recoil estimates,
produce collection efficiencies comparable to data measured and published by Andersen et al.. Polonium-218
ions behave similarly to the data at low carrier gas pressures and high field strengths, but at higher pressures
and low field strengths are much more (relatively) efficient than in the data, suggesting that neutralization of
ions played a significant role in measurements with longer average collection times.
Jannicke Pearkes (University of British Columbia): Saturday ² 5:15PM, Stirling C
EMMA -­‐ A New Recoil Mass Spectrometer at ISAC EMMA is a recoil mass spectrometer that will be used to separate the recoils of nuclear reactions from the beam
at ISAC II. In particular it will be used to investigate processes involving fusion-evaporation and transfer reactions.
This talk will cover the commissioning of EMMA, the dynamics of the spectrometer, and the physics it will
investigate.
46
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PARTICLE / NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Jessica Strickland (Memorial University of Newfoundland): Saturday ² 5:30PM, Stirling C
Optimization Studies for the ATLAS H ĺ WW Boosted Decision Tree Analysis 7KHDLPRIWKLVSURMHFWZDVWRIROORZWKH$7/$6+ȹ::%'7DQDO\VLVDQGWU\WRRSWLPL]HWUDLQLQJYDULDEOHVSUHselection cuts, aQG WUDLQLQJ SDUDPHWHUV 0DFKLQH OHDUQLQJ ZDV GRQH ZLWK 0RQWH &DUOR VDPSOHV IRU WKH + ȹ
::îȹH—ƬHƬ—FKDQQHO$PXOWLYDULDWHDQDO\VLVZDVH[HFXWHGE\ZD\RIERRVWHGGHFLVLRQWUHHLQDWWHPSWWR
LPSURYHWKHRULJLQDO$7/$6+ȹ::%'7DQDO\VLV7KHJRDORIWKH machine is to separate the Higgs signal from
the continuous WW background only. Once an optimal set-up was found and used for training, the weights
produced from the BDT output were used categorize an unknown data set. Finally, regional cuts were made to
the final BDT output to observe the performance of the training, and it appeared to perform well.
Sébastien Lord (Université de Moncton): Sunday ² 1:00PM, Ballroom B
Is There New Physics in Beauty Decay? In 2013, the LHCb collaboration released a very surprising series of results concerning the B to K* mu+ mudecay. This analysis of 1 fb^-1 worth of data had significant and systematic disagreements with the standard
model (SM) predictions for the observables of this decay. Some, in the literature, started referring to this set of
data as the B to K* anomaly. A more recent analysis of 3 fb^-1 worth of data released in 2014 by the LHCb did
not soften the tension between the experiment and the theory. Over the course of the summer, we have looked
at one of these observables, the Isopin Asymmetry, using the Anti de-Sitter / Quantum Chromodynamic
(AdS/QCD) correspondence to describe the state of the resulting K* meson. This model offers a few advantages
over the typical sum rule (SR) methods used in the literature such as avoiding the end-point divergence in the
distribution amplitudes of the K* meson. We have previously used this correspondence to correctly predict the
branching ratio of the B to rho lepton neutrino decay. Using this model, we worked to see if the disagreement
between the experiment and the theory could be pin pointed to the model used to describe the K* meson (i.e.:
the non-pertubative inputs). What we found is that our model correctly predicted the Isospin Asymmetry in the
particular case of zero momentum transfer but failed, in a very similar way to all other predictions in the literature,
in the cases of non-zero momentum transfer. This weak sensitivity of the result to the non-perturbative inputs
hints to the possibility of new physics contributions that have yet to be identified.
47
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PARTICLE / NUCLEAR PHYSICS
1DWKDQ0XUWKD6DLQW0DU\·V8QLYHUVLW\6XQGD\² 1:15PM, Ballroom B
Investigating Performance of a Scintillation Radiation Detector Design for use at Jefferson Lab Experiments are run in Hall A, one of four experimental halls at Jefferson Lab (JLab), to determine the internal
structure of the proton by impinging high energy electrons onto a hydrogen target. Recent upgrades at JLab have
increased the maximum electron beam energy from 6 GeV to 12 GeV, allowing physicists to probe deeper into
proton structure. Upgrades to the equipment are being made in Hall A in order to best exploit this new electron
beam energy capability;; part of these upgrades includes the construction of a scintillating coordinate detector
(CDet) to be used in the scattered electron detection arm of the Super Bigbite Spectrometer (SBS). The CDet will
EHFRPSRVHGRIWZRODUJHSODQHVwčPRIVFLQWLOODWLQJEDUVH[WUXGHGDW)HUPLODEZLWKHDFKSODQH
formed from side-by-side vertical stacks of scintillators 5mm tall, 51cm wide, and 4cm thick (1176 bars per
plane). Each bar will contain a longitudinal, centrally-inserted, wavelength shifting (WLS) fiber that absorbs
scintillation light produced in the bar and re-emits the light down the length of the WLS fiber and to the face of
a multi-anode photomultiplier tube (PMT) to generate the detection signal. The scintillating bars were initially
planned to be covered with a reflective TiO2 coating to enhance the containment of the scintillation light;;
however, the extrusion process was not sufficiently uniform to meet the thickness accuracy required for
construction of the CDet, and therefore the design plan changed to instead machine the bars to a controlled,
uniform thickness after extrusion. The machining process removes the TiO2 coating, and instead the bars are
planned to be wrapped with aluminized Mylar after machining. The experiments reported in this presentation
aim to determine whether the machining/wrapping process of the bars will allow similar performance to that of
the originally extruded bars coated with TiO2.
Elyse Barre (Carleton University): Sunday ² 1:30PM, Ballroom B
Modeling and Simulating Ultra-­‐Cold Neutrons (UCNs) This talk will give an overview of a project to which I contributed last year and focus on some of the key aspects
with which I was involved. Ultra-Cold Neutrons (UCNs) are incredibly useful for understanding the underlying
physics of our world. The UCN group at TRIUMF is building a facility to create and collect UCNs. The flagship
project will be the nEDM (neutron Electric Dipole Moment) experiment which will either measure the electric
GLSROHPRPHQWRIWKHQHXWURQRUVLJQLILFDQWO\ORZHUWKHXSSHUOLPLWRQWKHQHXWURQ·VHOHFWULFGLSROH7RJet more
precise measurements, a very high concentration of UCNs is needed. Part of ensuring that a high concentration
of neutrons is obtained is optimizing the magnetic fields and materials of the piping used to store and guide the
neutrons. This optimization was done in a Monte Carlo code called PENTrack. In my presentation, I will highlight
some of the measured results from the simulations done using PENTrack.
Shayne Gryba (University of Regina): Sunday ² 1:45PM, Ballroom B
Simulating the Behavior of a Barrel Calorimeter in Jefferson Lab's GlueX Experiment Calibration of the segmented, cylindrical Barrel Calorimeter (BCAL) used in Jefferson Lab's GlueX experiment
relies upon data from cosmic rays. Analyzing the distribution of cosmic event rates as a function of module
number, an unexpectedly large discrepancy was found between the most and least active regions. This behaviour
was not predicted based on the geometry of the BCAL and its scintillating trigger panels, so an investigative
Monte Carlo simulation was developed to compare the data to prediction. Results of the simulation indicate that
one side of the detector appears to be functioning properly, but the other half is showing substantially fewer
events than predicted. The exact nature of this issue is currently under investigation. This presentation will
provide an overview of the BCAL as well as a detailed description of the development and analysis of the
simulation.
48
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PARTICLE / NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Vincent Crépeault (Université Laval): Sunday ² 2:00PM, Ballroom B
Conformal Field Theory in dimension higher than 2 CFT have known some success in the description of critical phenomena and in string theory. More recently, it
has been an active area of research with the AdS/CFT correspondence. But most of its success come from 2D
CFT where any analytic mapping is conformal and the group become infinite-dimensional. In dimension higher
than 2, many things are still left to discover. We'll explore the constraint of the conformal symmetry on the
correlation functions and the decomposition of the four points function in conformal partial waves (also called
conformal blocks). Those conformal partial waves have closed form in term of hypergeometric functions in even
dimension, but difficulties arise in odd dimension.
Matthew Stukel (Carleton University): Sunday ² 2:15PM, Ballroom B
Terrestrial Muon Spectrum and Flux Measurement at Low Energies Recent studies have shown that low energy muons can cause single event upsets in electronic devices such as
SRAM memories. The particular muons of interest are below 10 MeV (with a range in silicon of a few mm). These
muons are of interest because the upsets will occur when the muon deposits most of its energy. There are older
measurements of the rate of low energy muons at surface level but these measurement did not positively identify
the particles as muons and differ by up to an order of magnitude. This presentation will discuss the theory,
design, analysis and results of a detector capable of identifying low energy stopping muons and their decay
products. The detector will be used to measure the energy and rate of the stopping muons. The rate will be
determined under different conditions such as shielding, altitude and proximity to external sources.
Jeremy Crowe (Mount Allison University): Sunday ² 2:30PM, Ballroom B
The Proton Efficiency of the CB and TAPS Detectors At JGU in Mainz, Germany the A2 collaboration makes use of accelerated electrons from the MAMI (Mainzer
microtron) to conduct high precision nuclear experiments with real photons. In order to observe the outcomes of
these experiments, the group makes use of the CB (Crystal Ball) and TAPS (Two Armed Photo Spectrometer)
detectors. In experiments to determine the proton spin polarizabilities (a fundamental structure constant, like
mass or charge) the particles of primary concern are the photon and the proton. While the CB and TAPS are very
effective at accurately detecting photons, the matter of proton detection is a difficult one. In order to accurately
calculate cross sections, it must be known how often a proton will be missed for a certain incident energy and
recoil angle. Progress has been made to determine the proton efficiency for 2008 and 2012 data runs, but there
is more work to be done.
49
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PARTICLE / NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Ben Davis-Pucell (McMaster University): Sunday ² 2:45PM, Ballroom B
The 12 GeV Upgrade of Jefferson Lab: Commissioning of the Heavy Gas Cerenkov Detector for the SHMS Jefferson Lab is a US Department of Energy National Laboratory that performs cutting-edge medium-energy
nuclear physics research, examining the inner nature and composition of protons and neutrons. The Heavy Gas
Cerenkov detector (HGC) is one of the detector packages that will be used as a part of the Super High Momentum
Spectrometer (SHMS) for the Jefferson Lab Hall C 12 GeV upgrade, which increases the energy of the electron
accelerator beam from 6 GeV to 12 GeV. The HGC will be used to discriminate between particle types, primarily
charged pions and kaons. For this discrimination, the detector must be well understood, with low background
levels and a known minimum ionizing particle energy range to create Cerenkov light. To commission the detector,
a horizontal cosmic ray trigger setup was used to test one of the Cerenkov PMTs in the HGC to ensure that it was
creating Cerenkov light for the correct particle type, to measure background levels and to isolate the energy
region for minimum ionizing particles. It was found that background levels are still relatively high, but can be
reduced with software cuts that isolate particles similar to those that will be detected in full experimental runs.
More statistics are still needed, as the rate of horizontally- travelling (parallel to the surface of the earth) cosmic
rays is incredibly low, but the minimum ionizing particle energy region can be seen in the HGC PMT that was
studied and it is confirmed that Cerenkov light is being created and detected.
Charles Murphy (Université Laval): Sunday ² 3:00PM, Ballroom B
Antimatter Production in Intense Laser Field With the advent of high-intensity laser systems, the observation of yet non-observed QED (Quantum
Electrodynamics) processes is becoming more realistic. Indeed, the community is looking forward to the
experimental observation of the creation of pairs of particles, one of the most outstanding QED predictions. The
PDLQJRDORIWKLVSURMHFWZDVWRQXPHULFDOO\VLPXODWHWKHSDLUSURGXFWLRQRFFXUULQJE\6FKZLQJHU·VPHFKDQLVP
in intense laser fields in order to understand the settings required for the experimental observation. Considering
the Dirac equation in the approximation of an adiabatically varying electromagnetic field, the number of pairs
can be obtained in terms of the specifications of a radially polarized Gaussian beam tightly focused by a parabolic
mirror. In a parametric study, we have understood that the average number of pairs produced only depends on
certain characteristics: the average power of the incident laser beam and the angular aperture in the parabolic
mirror. Finally, we have shown that the experimental conditions to observe at least one pair are extreme and the
FRPELQDWLRQRIRWKHUPHFKDQLVPVZLWK6FKZLQJHU·VVKRXOGEHFRQVLGHUHG
Laura Teigrob (University of Regina): Sunday ² 3:15PM, Ballroom B
Variation of Mean Energy Deposition from Cosmic Rays for the GlueX BCAL Because of the inherent geometry of the GlueX Barrel Calorimeter (BCAL), mean energy deposition from cosmic
rays varies with position about the BCAL. This is well understood to be due to the size, shape and position of the
readout channels which are associated with particular summed groups of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) on
either end of the detector. By graphical analysis of these energies compared to the modules which make up the
BCAL, we can confirm that we see the expected patterns of energy distribution, and can identify preliminary
calibration problems such as mis-cabling issues. My presentation will include a description of how we come to
expect certain mean energy patterns in the BCAL, as well as physical cosmic data and a Monte Carlo simulation,
which both largely confirm these expectations.
50
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
PARTICLE / NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Alan Morningstar (McMaster University): Sunday ² 3:30PM, Ballroom B
Leptogenesis: Fun with Kinetic Equations How could matter and antimatter have been produced at different rates in the early universe? A brief introduction
to the premise of the neutrino Minimal Standard Model (nMSM) will be given. The resulting stiff (highly oscillatory)
kinetic equations describing the evolution of asymmetry in the early universe are presented as well as a quick
workaround for obtaining close approximate solutions quickly. The origin of the highly oscillatory behaviour in
this system will be discussed from a physical and mathematical perspective.
QU ANTUM CONDENSED MA TTER
6HWK7RGG4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\)ULGD\² 10:30AM, Ballroom A
Spectroscopy of Quantum Dot Emitters in a Photon Cage We investigated the coupling between a non-optimal, three-dimensional, hollow, silicon-based micro-resonator
and laser-stimulated PbS quantum dot (QD) emitters in the near-infrared range using far-field spectroscopy.
These photon cage micro-resonators could be used to efficiently trap particles and their hollow core could host
a low-index fluidic channel providing a sensor with strong overlap between the EM-fields and the analyte.
Surprisingly, QD emission intensity seemed to be reduced in the presence of a photon cage, however the
reduction was inconsistent across different cages. A large peak was observed at ~1150nm and was determined
to correspond to transverse-optical phonons from the Silicon wafer and nanopillars. Finally, the QDs seemed to
be very sensitive to the environment which resulted in significant blueshift over the course of the study.
Shane Holden (Memorial University of Newfoundland): Friday ² 10:45AM, Ballroom A
Dipole interactions in frustrated antiferromagnets Systems on the kagome lattice have generated interest because of phenomena caused by geometrical
frustration. Monte Carlo simulations are used to study long-range Heisenberg dipole interactions on the twodimensional kagome lattice. Zero-temperature effective field simulations are used to study the spin structure
and degeneracy of the ground state. Effective field simulations indicate that the ground state is a three-sublattice
system with one sublattice forming collinear ferromagnetic chains resulting in six-fold degeneracy. Cooling
temperature simulations explore the spin structure of the system by calculating ferromagnetic and sublattice
magnetization order parameters. The order parameters indicate a phase transition between disordered and
ordered spin structures, while defects present in the order parameters seem to indicate a reordering of the
system into the plane of the system at temperatures below the transition temperature.
51
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
QU ANTUM CONDENSED MA TTER
Yamn Chalich (University of Ottawa): Friday ² 11:00AM, Ballroom A
Shining Light on Quantum States The wavefunction is central to quantum mechanics as it contains all possible information about a particle or
system at a given time. It is, however, notoriously difficult to determine experimentally. For instance, it is
commonly thought that it cannot be observed directly. Indeed, from an observation on a single particle, it is
impossible to determine its wavefunction. Instead, one must perform a diverse spectrum of measurements on
an ensemble of identically prepared particles to determine their wavefunction, a procedure known as quantum
state tomography. In 2011, we demonstrated that the wavefunction can indeed be observed directly using the
ensemble, in the sense that the wavefunction appears on our measurement apparatus. At the heart of our
method is the concept of weak measurement. Weak measurements can be performed by sufficiently reducing
the coupling between the measuring device and the system being measured so that entanglement created
between the two does not cause the wavefunction to collapse. In this talk, we describe an extension of this idea
to the case where one has a mixture of particles with different wavefunctions. In this situation, the quantum
state is described by a density matrix;; a statistical sum of the different wavefunctions. Our experiment is
designed to observe each element of the density matrix representing the polarization quantum state of a photon.
In addition to shedding light on density matrices, which are fundamental objects in quantum mechanics, it also
provides a new tool to characterize quantum systems such as cold atom clouds, quantum computers, and ion
traps. We present our experimental progress and current results.
Adrian Solyom (McMaster University): Friday ² 11:15AM, Ballroom A
Observing the percolation of ultra thin films via magnetic transition Ultra thin films are materials grown by slowly depositing atoms onto a substrate. Individual atoms act as island
nucleation sites, which take on a distribution of sizes as they grow. At first, the islands are isolated and separated
by some distance, but as the coverage increases they grow until they get close enough to connect and form a
long range network. This change occurs over a small range of coverage, and is referred to as a percolation
transition. Magnetism is result of long range order, as it is due to spin-spin interactions between neighbouring
atoms extending over a network. As such, a magnetic transition is a good indicator of percolation within a film.
Specifically, the magnetic susceptibility measures the magnetic response from the material when a small field
is applied to it, effectively lowering the energy barrier to long range order. Percolation theory predicts a singularity
at the critical coverage following a power law. By now observing the peak of magnetic susceptibility, the critical
exponent for the power law can be measured and compared to literature. This talk will discuss the experimental
techniques used to measure this peak, as well as the preliminary findings using this method.
Kyle Mills (University of Ontario Institute of Technology): Friday ² 11:30AM, Ballroom A
Designing lightweight boron-­‐nitride aluminum composites: a density functional theory approach Boron-nitride is a low density ceramic with a high melting point and high electrical resistivity. Boron nitride exists
both as a hexagonal lattice and as rolled tubes, structurally similar to that of graphite and carbon nanotubes. At
temperatures below 1273K, liquid aluminum does not readily wet the surface of boron-nitride. In order to create
boron-nitride-aluminum composites, wetting must occur. The effect of doping the boron-nitride sheet with other
elements was investigated using a computational approach: density functional theory. Doping materials such as
carbon, silicon, and aluminum were all considered (at both boron and nitrogen sites). Results from these
experiments were compared to the undoped boron-nitride-aluminum system in order to observe the correlation
between wetting and the type and position of the dopant atoms. Boron-nitride-aluminum composites would be
much lighter than purely aluminum structures of similar strength, suggesting a good alternative in aviation for
lightweight airplane frames.
52
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
QU ANTUM CONDENSED MA TTER
6HDQ7DNDKDVKL4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\)ULGD\² 11:45AM, Ballroom A
Velocity Map Imaging of Condensed Phase Matter The photochemical reactions in earth's polar regions as well as in the interstellar medium are consequences of
ultraviolet radiation reacting with water ice materials and the components trapped inside. Up until recently, the
microscopic reactions have not been studied in depth. One technique that has been utilised to study these
reactions is Velocity Map Imaging (VMI). Originally developed to study molecular beams, our lab group has built
a VMI machine which allows us to study the photodisscociation of ices. In our experiments, we have been looking
at Nitrogen Dioxide in an Argon matrix. The NO2-Ar mixture is condensed onto a sapphire rod to form an ice
sample. This ice sample is irradiated using a tunable, UV laser system. The UV radiation causes a dissociation of
particles from the ice sample which are state-selectively ionized using a separate tunable laser system. The ions
are then accelerated down a tube by ring electrodes which form an ion optics setup. We can record the kinetic
energy and angular distribution using a micro-channel plate (MCP). Due to the presence of the sapphire rod, the
symmetry associated with traditional VMI is broken. We have attempted to correct this with a modified ion optics
design, but ultimately may have to redesign the setup due to lack of comprehensible data.
Chapin Korosec (McMaster University): Friday ² 12:00PM, Ballroom A
Growth and Characterization of Strontium Rhodate The perovskite PrAlO3 has been a long time topical interest due to its unique set of structural phase transitions.
Substitution of non-magnetic lanthanum for magnetic praseodymium results in decreasing the structural
transition temperatures. At 80% lanthanum this results in the removal of an intermediate orthorhombic phase,
and the compound transitions from rhombohedral to monoclinic. Theory expects this transition to be first order,
however, our recent work suggests no evidence of latent heat. In this work I present single crystals of
Pr0.2La0.8AlO3 and PrAlO3 grown by the Optical Floating Zone and discuss some of the magnetic properties of
the compounds.
Hong Yi Shi Yang (Dalhousie University): Friday ² 12:15PM, Ballroom A
Simultaneous optical control of exciton qubits confined to two semiconductor quantum dots via femtosecond pulse shaping Optimal quantum control is a process by which one can achieve a target final quantum state of a quantum
system through iterative adjustments to the control Hamiltonian. This can be achieved using femtosecond pulse
shaping, by which the phase and/or amplitude of the pulse may be controlled. In addition to the optimization of
general physical processes such as chemical reactions products and nonlinear optical signals, this approach has
recently been applied to optimizing parallel single qubit gates in multiple semiconductor quantum dots. In this
work, we apply numerical pulse optimization techniques to explore multi-qubit manipulation as a function of the
electronic structure parameters of the quantum dots. We show that numerically optimized pulses operating on
exciton qubits produces high fidelity quantum gates for a range of dipole moments, transition frequencies, and
arbitrary initial and final states. This work enhances the potential for scalability by reducing the laser resources
required to control multiple qubits.
53
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
QU ANTUM CONDENSED MA TTER
0HJKDQ%HDWWLH4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\)ULGD\² 12:30PM, Ballroom A
Photophysics of Carbon Nanotubes: Exploring one-­‐dimensional confinement A high demand for new and improved optoelectronic devices has led to a huge effort in the study of novel
semiconductor materials. Due to their unique structure and effective one-dimensionality, semiconducting carbon
nanotubes have very interesting optical properties and are a good candidate for optoelectronic applications. In
this research, the light absorption and photoluminescence of isolated single-walled carbon nanotube clusters is
studied using near-infrared laser irradiation. At high irradiation intensities, we observe saturation in the
photoluminescence. By simultaneously measuring the photoluminescence and absorption of an isolated
nanotube, we see that photoluminescence saturation is not accompanied by any observable nonlinearity in the
absorption. From this we conclude that other processes within the nanotube must be responsible for this
saturation phenomenon.
Katelyn Dixon (McMaster University): Friday ² 12:45PM, Ballroom A
Sensors made from nanocomposites Strontium rhodate (Sr2RhO4) is a new highly correlated electron material, meaning the behaviour of its electrons
do not obey the free electron model. It is also a sister compound to strontium ruthenate (Sr2RuO4), a thoroughly
studied unconventional superconductor. The purpose of this project was to better understand the properties of
strontium rhodate, specifically to discover if it behaves as a Landau-Fermi liquid. To do this a strontium rhodate
crystal was grown using the optical floating zone method and characterized through x-ray powder diffraction,
single crystal x-ray analysis, susceptibility measurements, D.C. resistivity measurements and optical
spectroscopy. Though powder diffraction and single crystal analysis indicated that the sample was of good
quality, sensitive susceptibility measurements suggested slight impurities in the crystal. To further clarify the
properties of the material and to provide samples for further research the growth of a second crystal was initiated
and is currently underway. Analysis of the optical spectroscopy and D.C. resistivity data is ongoing and will be
used to investigate the Landau-Fermi nature of this material.
Anna Millington (McMaster University): Saturday ² 9:00AM, Ballroom A
Synthesis and structural analysis of NiNb2O6 Members of the niobate family (ANb2O6, A=Ni, Co, Fe, Mn) are commonly known to crystallize in the columbite
structure with zig-zag chains of the metallic ion, giving rise to a quasi-one-dimensional magnetic system. In our
attempts to synthesize NiNb2O6 in its columbite structure, we discovered a previously unreported crystalline
structure with a completely different magnetic environment. This talk will present the synthesis method, results
of our structural refinement, and preliminary measurements of this structure's physical properties.
Steven Large (University of Guelph): Saturday ² 9:15AM, Ballroom A
Perfect quantum state transfer of hard-­‐core bosons The ability to accurately transfer quantum information through networks is an important primitive in distributed
quantum systems. While perfect quantum state transfer (PST) can be effected by a single particle undergoing
continuous-time quantum walks on a variety of graphs, it is not known if PST persists for many particles in the
presence of interactions. We show that if single-particle PST occurs on one-dimensional weighted paths, then
systems of hard-core bosons undergoing quantum walks on these paths also undergo PST. The analysis extends
the Tonks-Girardeau ansatz to weighted graphs using techniques in algebraic graph theory. The results further
indicate that PST is unlikely for any finite on-site interactions in one-dimensional systems, and that hard-core
bosons do not generically undergo PST on graphs for which single-particle PST is possible.
54
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
QU ANTUM CONDENSED MA TTER
Klaudia Golos (University of Waterloo): Saturday ² 9:30AM, Ballroom A
A bright source of photon pairs using PPKTP Photon pair sources have widespread application in quantum information science and quantum optics. For
example, they can be used to herald the existence of single photons for quantum cryptography. Generating highbrightness photon pair sources is a challenge which can bene fit from advances in laser and nonlinear optical
technologies. In the present work, we describe a source of photon pairs based on the highly nonlinear
periodically-poled potassium titanyl phosphate (PPKTP) which can produce correlated photons with wavelengths
of 776 nm and 842 nm. This source will find many applications, such as advancing cascaded down- conversion
sources of photon triplets.
Eric Dilcher (Dalhousie University): Saturday ² 9:45AM, Ballroom A
Phonon-­‐mediated Dephasing in Adiabatic Rapid Passage in Single Quantum Dots In the field of quantum information processing, fast quantum gates are important because operations on
quantum bits must be performed within their respective decoherence times. Faster qubit operations also benefit
several other applications, such as decoherence control via dynamical decoupling, entanglement operations to
generate cluster states, and probabilistic gates. Here we demonstrate optical state inversion of the p-shell
exciton in an InGaAs quantum dot via adiabatic rapid passage using chirped ultrafast optical pulses. This extends
previous work done on the s-shell exciton by utilizing shorter optical pulses (2 ps), which provide up to a 7 fold
improvement on operation speed. The efficiency of quantum state inversion of the exciton was observed to be
dependent on the sign of the applied chirp. Such a chirp sign dependence has been predicted theoretically, in
which the sign of the chirp dictates whether the system traverses the lower or upper adiabatic branch. For
positively chirped pulses, the system traverses the lower adiabatic branch, for which the dephasing that can
occur via phonon absorption is suppressed at 10 K. For negatively chirped pulses, the system traverses the
upper adiabatic branch, for which dephasing can occur via phonon emission, resulting in a reduced inversion
efficiency. The observed sign dependence indicates a dominance of phonon-mediated dephasing in excitons
confined to quantum dots.
Amber Maharaj (University of Ontario Institute of Technology): Saturday ² 4:00PM, Stirling D
Understanding the Self Assembly of Porphyrin Polymers Using a Density Functional Tight Binding Approach Molecular self-assembly enables the production of macroscopic materials with nanoscale design features.
Currently, there is no generally applicable model which predicts the emergent behaviour of self-assembly. Here
we study the self-assembly of porphyrin derivatives using a combination of Density Functional Tight Binding
(DFTB) and constrained molecular dynamics simulations to map atomistic properties onto an effective, coarse
grainHG PRGHO 3UHYLRXVO\ VXFK ¶SDWFK\ GLVN· PRGHOV KDYH VKRZQ WKDW DVVHPEO\ RI WKHVH SRO\PHU QHWZRUNV
GHSHQGVPDLQO\RQWKHJHRPHWU\DQGVWUHQJWKRIWKH¶EXLOGLQJEORFN·LQWHUDFWLRQV%LQGLQJHQHUJLHVDQGULJLGLW\
were investigated for nanorings of 5, 10, 12, and 24 porphyrin units. Side chains were added to the nanorings
to examine whether the binding energy and rigidity could be altered. Self-assembly of porphyrin polymers are of
particular interest for their use in organic solar cells.
55
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
QU ANTUM CONDENSED M ATTER
Simon Meynell (Dalhousie University): Saturday ² 4:15PM, Stirling D
Probing the chiral magnetic structure of MnSi using Hall Effect measurements and transmission electron microscopy MnSi is an interesting magnetic material because of the fact that it is able support magnetic solitons known as
skyrmions. The magnetic structure of epitaxial MnSi, however, has been surrounded by controversy in recent
years. Hall effect measurements and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images have been used as
evidence for the presence of skyrmions in regions where magnetometric measurements and theoretical
calculations suggest none should exist. I will present an explanation for these controversial Hall Effect
measurements and unusual TEM images that is consistent with both magnetometry and theory, conclusively
resolving some of the big questions about this exciting magnetic system.
Eric Turner (McMaster University): Saturday ² 4:30PM, Stirling D
Vortices in the Diffraction Pattern of an Atomic Beam Diffraction has been a key instrument in understanding properties of waves, light and quantum mechanics ever
VLQFH<RXQJ·VIXQGDPHQWDOWZR-slit experiment. It is one of the most powerful tools in understanding the waveparticle duality. A simple result of diffraction experiments, with 2 or more slits, is interference based on the
superposition of waves. When the superposition sums to zero we find the wave function is equal to zero at that
point and if the solution is zero then the phase is indeterminate. In 1974 Nye and Berry came out with a paper,
´'LVORFDWLRQVLQ:DYH7UDLQVµUHJDUGLQJWRSRORJ\RIZDYHVLQFOXGLQJYRUWLFHVDQGVLQJXODULWLHV7KH\UHIHUWRD
singularity as a dislocation. Where a vortex is a dislocation morphology known as the pure screw dislocation.
Vortices come up in many different physical systems and describe various phenomena in optics, acoustics,
K\GURG\QDPLFVDQGTXDQWXPPHFKDQLFV$SDSHURQWKHYRUWLFHVLQTXDQWXPPHFKDQLFVE\2·'HOOGHVFULEHVWKH
properties of a diffracted beam of atoms by a standing wave of light. The research works through solving the
evolution of the wave function and its behavior as they pass through the standing wave and diffract. To describe
WKH EHKDYLRU LQYROYHV VROYLQJ 6FKU|GLQJHU·V HTXDWLRQ ZKLFK ZLOO EH LQ WKH IRUP RI WKH Raman-Nath equation
0DWKLHX·V (TXDWLRQ 7KLV SDSHU KRSHV WR H[SORUH WKH WRSRORJ\ RI WKH ZDYH IXQFWLRQV RI GLIIUDFWHG DWRPV
specifically identifying vortices. The atoms will be diffracted through a standing wave of light imparting a potential
on the beam of atoms. The beam of atoms obey the Schrödinger equation, while after the beam passes through
the potential, the behavior of the beam takes the form of the Raman-Nath (RN) equation, a more specific form
of the Schrödinger equation. The RN equation will yield the behavior of the amplitudes and phase of the wave
function, describing how it evolves over some distance. By analyzing the topology given by the RN equations we
hope to find vortices.
Étienne Lantagne-Hurtubise (Université de Montréal): Saturday ² 4:45PM, Stirling D
Ab initio modeling of topological insulator materials Topological insulators are a newly discovered class of materials which exhibit fascinating properties arising from
the non-trivial topology of their electronic band structure, including the appearance of spin-polarised conducting
surface states in an otherwise insulating material. Those states are protected by the symmetry of the system,
which makes them resistant to defects or local perturbations, and thus opening the possibility of applications in
spintronic and quantum computing. In this talk, I will briefly present the basics of topological insulators, and then
describe how we can get new insight into their properties by modeling their electronic structure using realistic
first-principles techniques such as Density Functional Theory (DFT).
56
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
QU ANTUM CONDENSED MA TTER
Elizabeth Selinger (University of Ontario Institute of Technology): Saturday ² 5:00PM, Stirling D
Generating metal-­‐to-­‐metal charge transfer (MMCT) unit configurations for artificial photosynthesis Oxo-bridged metal-to-metal units (such as TiOMn and ZrOCo) have shown promise for use as chromophores for
artificial photosynthesis. Light induced charge-transfer reactions can be used to drive chemistry such as water
splitting or CO_2 reduction. A key challenge in this effort is to identify the optimal pair of transition metals which
balance absorption efficiency and excited state lifetimes. Using first principles molecular dynamics (DFT and
DFTB), I have developed a protocol to generate experimentally relevant configurations of these units. I will
describe the computational unit building process and preliminary ab initio electronic structure calculations on
the units.
Marc Cormier (Dalhousie University): Saturday ² 5:15PM, Stirling D
Towards the Polymerization of Nitrogen-­‐Rich Liquids Under high pressures and temperatures, it is known that crystalline molecular nitrogen transforms to an
extended, polymeric, covalent solid. Recovering polymeric nitrogen to ambient conditions in a metastable state
is of great interest as it would constitute a novel energetic material. A similar transition to a polymeric phase has
also been predicted in the liquid. Furthermore, recent theoretical studies have shown that small amounts of
impurities can significantly influence the polymerization transition pressure in both the liquid and solid. Effects
of impurities on the transition to a polymeric liquid phase of nitrogen are studied from first principles using
computational techniques. Since azides, specifically, have successfully served as precursors to polymeric
nitrogen, characterization of the structural and electronic properties of liquid azides would provide insight into
the finite temperature polymerization behaviour of nitrogen. Motivation and methods for liquid analysis, as well
as preliminary calculations, are discussed in the context of implementation towards crystalline predictions.
Maude Lizaire (Université de Montréal): Saturday ² 5:30PM, Stirling D
Evolution of Fermi surface in Sr3Ru2O7 The material Sr3Ru2O7 is known to possess a unique nematic phase which can only be revealed once an applied
magnetic field is perfectly aligned with the crystal structure. It was believed that the origin of this nematic phase
was the result of a spin texture of the Fermi surface, which could explain the sensitive response to the magnetic
field orientation. Very recently, a neutron scattering study revealed that this nematic phase was the signature of
a magnetic order called spin density waves. This new study has revived the debate around the true origin of this
phase. Thermoelectricity is known to be extremely sensitive to any change of the Fermi surface. In fact, it is
considered as an ideal method to probe any phase transitions such as Superconductivity and Magnetism. In this
talk, I will be presenting thermoelectric measurements across the anomalous phase in order to study the impact
of this SDW phase on the Fermi surface of Sr3Ru2O7. After a thorough introduction of the experimental and
theoretical aspects of this technique, I will show the design and conception of the probe we built for this
experiment and I will expose the main challenges and constraints to complete such measurements. I will then
finish by explaining why Sr3Ru2O7 is a material that is worth further investigation and how this technique is ideal
for it.
57
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
STUDENT POSTERS Aliya Nur Babul (University of Toronto)
Developing new NMR experiments using Glycerol and Fluorine Containing Substances Category: Biological/Soft Condensed Matter Physics Spin Echo, a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance technique, was applied to examine the relationship between
transverse relaxation time of glycerol and concentration. This technique was also applied to determine the
gyromagnetic ratio of Polytetrafluoroethylene and Hexafluorobenzene. The samples were examined using a
simple NMR machine and a new software was developed to analyze the results. An inverse relationship between
concentration of glycerol and transverse relaxation time was found, and the gyromagnetic ratio of
Polytetrafluoroethylene and Hexafluorobenzene were 39.5 ± 1 Mhz/T and 40.7 ± 1 Mhz/T respectively. These
exciting results provided key information in developing new and engaging experiments for undergraduate physics
labs. Using novel substances, such as Hexaflourbenzene which is rarely used in undergraduate research labs,
allows students to gain a better understanding of the mechanics used in NMR.
Christian Barna (University of Waterloo)
Fine Point Mechanisms for Long Distance Free Space Quantum Key Distribution Category: Engineering/Applied Physics Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is the study of perfectly secure encryption protocols based in the laws of
quantum mechanics. Free space QKD requires shooting a laser into a tiny hole. If the two participants are a large
distance apart, very small movements of the laser will result in large changes to the beam's position at the
receiving end. In addition, atmospheric turbulence will result in small perturbations to the position of the beam.
In order to combat this, mechanisms which give very fine control over the angular position of the laser while
preserving polarization are studied and their practicality assessed.
Taylor Bell (University of Saskatchewan) & Cissy Suen (McMaster University)
A Uniform, modern atlas and tools for Globular Cluster Variable Stars Category: Astrophysics Seventy years ago, Baade [Baade 1944] discovered that there are two classes of Cepheid variable stars (a
famous type of star whose brightness fluctuates in a way such that the distance to the star can be determined).
We have begun a project to establish the frequency of binarity among Type II Cepheids in globular clusters of the
Milky Way. An immediate challenge we encountered was identifying variables from earlier published work. The
inhomogeneity of source positions and identification material led us to conclude that a set of modern, largeformat CCD images needed to be taken to confirm identifications of variables and to establish coordinates and
magnitudes on a standard system. New images were obtained using the 61cm Optical Craftsman telescope (Mt.
John, New Zealand), the 61cm Table Mountain Observatory (New Mexico, USA), and the 50cm, wide-field Sonoita
Research Observatory telescope (New Mexico, USA). Using IRAF, DAOPHOT/ALLSTAR/ALLFRAME photometry and
astrometry.net astrometry, we derived locations of variables and compared our results with literature, such as
the Samus [Samus et al. 2009] catalogue and the Clements [Clements 2013] tables. We created scalable vector
graphics of colour-magnitude diagrams and finder charts for each cluster using the dynamic Javascript library,
D3 [Bostock, 2013]. This work will be compiled into an online public catalogue to be released as the work on a
cluster is completed. Here, we present a platform in which users will have the ability to selectively label and
cross-identify our results with available literature.
58
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
Matthew Buraczynski (University of Guelph)
Microscopic simulations of neutron-­‐rich matter Category: Particle/Nuclear Physics Neutron stars are the very dense stellar remnants of supernova explosions. Their structure depends on the
relationship between energy and density (equation of state) of matter making up the star. The crust of a neutron
star is composed of degenerate neutrons around a lattice of neutron-rich nuclei. We investigate the effect on the
equation of state of neutron matter of adding an external periodic potential. Complications include the need to
study large systems and the strong interactions' dependence on the spin states of the nucleons. These problems
are solved through the combination of qualitative insights with large-scale simulations. We perform quantum
Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations, which are both non-perturbative and accurate, to find the ground-state energy
of this many-body system at various densities. These results are relevant to constraining nuclear energy-density
functionals and can thus impact our understanding of neutron-star structure and neutron-rich nuclei.
Sanmeet Chahal (University of Ottawa)
Kinetics of Nanopore Fabrication by Controlled Dielectric Breakdown in Solution Category: Biological/Soft Condensed Matter Physics Nanopores have shown promise in becoming the next generation of DNA sequencing technology, since the
discovery that high energy beams of particles could be used to drill holes in thin dielectric membranes. This
technique known as TEM drilling had several drawbacks such as difficulty producing reliable sub 2 nm solidstate nanopores and the need of sophisticated equipment. Nanopore fabrication using controlled dielectric
breakdown (CDB) offers an elegant alternative by producing tunable nanopores using simple electronics and
thus offers the chance for wider access to nanopores. Although dielectric breakdown has been extensively
studied in dry devices, the kinetics of dielectric breakdown in solution remain unexplored. This project studied
the kinetics of nanopore fabrication by CDB to demonstrate that the mechanism for nanopore fabrication is
dielectric breakdown instead of chemical etching.
Ben Davis-Purcell (McMaster University)
Tiny Wires and Huge Electric Fields: Electrohydrodynamic Instabilities in Polymer Films Category: Biological/Soft Condensed Matter Physics A potential difference can be established across a conductor and a polymer film coated onto a Silicon wafer,
thereby creating a capacitor. When the capacitor separation distance is small (~100 nm), a large electric field is
generated and the polymer is free to flow, causing an instability to form in the polymer film. The
Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) Instability results in nanoscale peaks and valleys with a characteristic wavelength
that becomes amplified along the polymer film. Here, we use thin conducting wires to obtain a confined 1D EHD
instability and explore the pattern formation that results.
59
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
5\DQ(OOLRW4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
”‡’ƒ”ƒ–‹‘•ˆ‘”–Š‡‘›ƒŽ‹Ž‹–ƒ”›‘ŽŽ‡‰‡‘ˆƒƒ†ƒǯ•ƒ”–‹…‹’ƒ–‹‘‹–Š‡—…Ž‡ƒ”‘”‡•‹…•
–‡”ƒ–‹‘ƒŽ‡…Š‹…ƒŽ‘”‹‰
”‘—’ǯ•͠–Š‘ŽŽƒ„‘”ƒ–‹˜‡ƒ–‡”‹ƒŽ•š‡”…‹•‡ Category: Particle/Nuclear Physics A low enriched uranium SLOWPOKE-2 reactor is modeled using MCNP6 as a neutron interrogation source in
support of the identification and characterization of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) at the Royal Military College
of Canada (RMCC). Small amounts of fissile uranium and plutonium are sent into a SLOWPOKE-2 irradiation site
EHIRUH WKHLU WUDQVSRUW WR 50&&·V GHOD\HG QHXWURQ DQG JDPPD FRXQWLQJ '1*& V\VWHP 7KH FRXQWLQJ
arrangement of the DNGC consists of an array of six 3He and a high purity germanium detector. These detectors
record the delayed neutron and photon emissions as a function of count time, to verify MCNP6 simulations of
delayed particle emissions, and to detect and quantify trace amounts of fissile content. MCNP analyses were
done in preparation for an upcoming nuclear forensics exercise in the fall of 2014 and will be discussed in the
poster. MCNP6 simulations of the DNGC system focused on the identification of characteristic gamma lines from
prominent fission products. The relative intensities of these gamma lines are dependent on the SNM content in
WKHVDPSOH*DPPDOLQHSDLUVXVHIXOIRU610LGHQWLILFDWLRQLQ50&&·V'1*&V\VWHPDUHSUHVHQWHG
Meagan Ginn (University of Ottawa)
ǯ•—‡•––‘„•‡”˜‡‡—–”‹‘Ž‡••‘—„Ž‡‡–ƒ‡…ƒ› ȋ͜ɒɅɅȌ Category: Particle/Nuclear Physics 612/$%·V TXHVW WR REVHUYH 1HXWULQROHVV 'RXEOH %HWD 'HFD\ Ƭơơ DQG UHYROXWLRQL]H WKH VWXG\ RI SDUWLFOH
physics. Unlike Double Beta Decay (upon which the decaying nucleus emits 2 electrons and 2 antineutrinos
simultaneously) which occur in a select few nuclei, the theoretical process of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay
FDQRQO\RFFXULIWKHWZRHPLWWHGQHXWULQRVHIIHFWLYHO\´FDQFHOµHDFKRWKHURXWZLWKWKHHOHFWURQVUHWDLQLQJDOORI
the energy of the decay. The purpRVHRIWKH´1H[W(QULFKHG;HQRQ2EVHUYDWRU\µQ(;2H[SHULPHQWDW612/$%
LQ6XGEXU\21LVWRREVHUYHWKLVFDQFHOODWLRQ DQGPDNHGHWDLOHGPHDVXUHPHQWVRIWKHQHXWULQR·VSURSHUWLHV
using large amounts of Xenon 136. The confirmation of such decay would signify that neutrinos are in-fact their
RZQDQWLSDUWLFOHNQRZQDV0DMRUDQDSDUWLFOHVDQGHVVHQWLDO´NLFN-VWDUWµVHYHUDOWKHRULHVDVWRKRZQHXWULQRV
acquire their mass, as well as progress the theory leptogenisis;; why the universe is heavily dominated by ordinary
matter rather than a more symmetric mix of ordinary and antimatter.
Alan Godfrey (Trent University)
Permutational Simulation for Test Consistency Analysis in Physics Education Category: Engineering/Applied Physics Test consistency analysis was pioneered in a time lacking computational power and, as a result, was founded in
a simplified way which we have found to be problematic. Because of approximations made for the sake of
efficiency, we have found the original method (the one that is still commonplace when reporting test
effectiveness) to suffer when reporting tests with fewer questions;; this is a pertinent issue to physics education
in particular, where examinations typically consist of fewer, but more involved, questions. The common method
becomes problematic when reporting the effectiveness of shorter tests in literature, as the current guidelines
stand. Part of our work is on providing an alternate, modernized guideline that does not involve approximation.
We also found that the current method of analysis is not equipped to effectively measure the effectiveness of
tests broken up into testlets (a group or series of related questions). The effectiveness is overstated compared
the guideline used for single questions, and the current guideline provides no adequate explanation for results
we have seen in permutative simulation. The findings are initially counter-intuitive, but explained by a number of
complementary simulations.
60
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
Kiron Gonidis (Ryerson University)
The development of a next-­‐generation solar simulator using LED technology Category: Engineering/Applied Physics The sun is an attractive power source, providing clean and renewable energy in almost limitless abundance. Over
the last decade, expansion of industrial applications such as solar cells, solar thermal systems, photocatalysts
and plant growth and have fueled the need for further research into solar power. Solar simulators are light
sources that match the spectral irradiance and terrestrial intensity of the sun and they are an integral part of
research into photovoltaics and other solar applications. Ultra High Efficiency (UHE) Solar Simulators generally
use tungsten filaments or xenon (Xe) arc lamps as light sources, both of which have limitations. For example,
lamp sources provide only DPDUJLQDODSSUR[LPDWLRQRIWKHVXQ·VVSHFWUDOLUUDGLDQFHDQGWKH\DUHOLPLWHGWRD
fixed spectrum. In addition, Xe arc lamps suffer low power efficiency and short lifetimes.
Andrew Harrison (University of Winnipeg)
Magnetic Field Mapping for the nEDM experiment at TRIUMF Category: Engineering/Applied Physics The TRIUMF neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) experiment is the first experiment that will use the new
spallation driven superfluid helium UCN source at TRIUMF. This experiment aims to constrain the nEDM to the
10-27 level, an order magnitude better than the current best measurement, and is sensitive to physics beyond
the standard model of particle physics. One of the leading sources of error in the TRIUMF nEDM experiment
arises from unstable external magnetic fields. To address this issue, several active and passive magnetic
shielding prototype systems have been designed and built. To accurately and efficiently characterize these
prototypes/(designs) a robotic magnetic field mapper system has been fabricated at the University of Winnipeg.
Using a custom designed LabView interface, the magnetic field mapper can produce maps of 3D structures as
large as 1mx1mx1m. The presentation will discuss the construction and programing of the robotic field mapper
system and show preliminary results compared to an OPERA finite element simulations.
Jonathan Horrocks (University of Prince Edward Island)
Optical Properties of Thermally Heated Porcine Muscle from Ex-­‐Vivo Radiance Measurements Category: Medical Physics The application of thermal heating to muscle or other biological tissue samples, whether in vivo or ex vivo, can
yield complex and varying results depending on the measure, temperature, or timescale used. One option to
determine the interstitial tissue damage and other effects caused by thermal heating is the measurement of
certain optical properties. Characterizing the changes in these optical properties, as well as a proper
understanding of the changes that thermal heating has on the tissue at a cellular level, can be useful in medical
or research applications, such as certain cancer diagnostic and treatments methods. For this project, porcine
muscle is used as a phantom mimicking human prostate tissue. Optical absorption and scattering properties
were extracted from measurements using an earlier developed model and then compared with the
corresponding properties in native tissue. Significant increases in scattering as well as other notable changes
indicate the potential for detecting the presence of coagulated tissues using radiance measurement techniques.
61
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
Dylan Kisliuk (University of Guelph)
Determination and Investigation of 0+ States in 162Er Category: Particle/Nuclear Physics Investigations of nuclear structure have been an ongoing part of subatomic physics research for decades.
Currently, one particular problem in understanding well-deformed nuclei is the nature of excited 0+ states in
them. The analysis presented in this work is motivated by this problem. This work investigates the excited 0+
states populated in the 162Er nucleus by the (p,t) reaction, their relative cross sections compared to the ground
state, and their implications.
/HR.RSSHO4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
A low-­‐cost setup for fluorescence lifetime measurement Category: Biological/Soft Condensed Matter Physics The lifetime of the excited state of fluorescent molecules can yield information about their environment and
properties, and is measured in many biophysics experiments. These lifetimes are on the order of nanoseconds,
and the instrumentation to measure them could traditionally cost tens of thousands of dollars. By using
accessible hobby-grade electronics wherever possible, we assemble a time-correlated single photon counting
(TCSPC) setup allowing lifetime measurement at costs closer to a single kilobuck. We test the setup by measuring
the lifetime of rhodamine 6G, a common fluorescent dye.
Keegan Marr (University of Prince Edward Island)
Verification of the Operational Characteristics and Performance of a Muon Telescope Category: Particle/Nuclear Physics A muon telescope has been assembled by placing two scintillation detectors face-to-face and has been operated
in time-coincidence mode. The angular resolution can be adjusted by varying the distance between the detectors.
This presentation will discuss three aspects of testing the muon telescope, which are: 1) Observations of cosmic
ray muons with the telescope to compare to known data, 2) Monte Carlo simulation of the telescope to model
the previous data, and 3) Preliminary muon tomography. The final goal is to have a highly versatile teaching tool
which can do a variety of radiation based experiments with muons.
62
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
Emma McKay (University of Waterloo)
T-­‐Design Tests of Random State Generation via Quantum Chaos Category: Mathematical/Theoretical Physics Quantum studies of classically chaotic systems reveal common (though not universal) properties of dynamical
states and their Hamiltonians. Eigenvalues of such Hamiltonians correspond to Wigner distributions of certain
classes of random matrices depending on the symmetries of the system. More recently the dynamical, as
opposed to the static, randomness of these systems have been studied in the distribution of squared Schmidt
eigenvalues of dynamical states of bipartite chaotic systems such as coupled kicked tops (Kubotani, Adachi,
Toda 2013). These pertain to the fixed trace ensemble of random matrices. We discuss the relationship of this
result to uniform random states drawn from the Haar measure and explore whether we can represent the
distribution with a t-design, thereby bypassing the necessity for an arbitrarily large number of random states.
Mithunan Modchalingam (Ryerson University)
Simulation of Influenza for Gamma Model parameter determination, with and without release rate Category: Medical Physics The influenza virus affects millions of people a year and by better understanding its life cycle, novel and more
effective methods of treatment can be introduced. By joining a carefully selected set of experimental influenza
infection assays and a mathematical model based on ordinary differential equations (ODEs), it is possible to
identify all the key parameters characterizing influenza virus replication. In conventional models, the release of
virions (virus particles) is assumed to be based solely on the production rate. In other words once the virions are
produced they are assumed to be instantaneously released into the culture medium at a constant rate. Since
viral budding is known to be a very inefficient process, the present work considered an ODE model in which the
release rate is included explicitly to simulate an exponential release of the virions. The release rate was found
to have a dramatic effect on the measurables and highly skewed the parameter values. This has significant
implications as the release rate is often neglected while parameter values are being determined. By neglecting
the release rate not only will the obtained parameter value be skewed, but the fitness of a viral strain may also
be miscalculated.
Nikhil 6HWK4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
Interannual Variability Category: Geophysics Recent observational studies (Clain et al., 2009;; Thomson et al., 2014) have found a positive trend in ozone
(O3) over the South Africa and Reunion Island. We use the GEOS-Chem model and meteorological reanalyses to
study this trend over the South Indian Ocean between 1980 and 2006, during the austral winter season (JJA).
We relate this trend to the variability in the meteorology over the South Indian Ocean. In particular, we believe
that the trend is, in part, due to increase transport of O3 from the stratosphere, linked to changes in the South
African High.
63
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
Kathleen Songin (University of Guelph)
New user-­‐friendly scripts for the investigation of the colon using the compuGUT Category: Biological/Soft Condensed Matter Physics With the development of a new simulation model, the compuGUT, we are able to track quantities of interest
(fibers, sugars, SCFAs and microbes) in the large intestine during digestion. The model at present is in beta
testing, being used to confirm the model computes results as expected for known 'Test Scenarios'. For this
reason, the model itself is highly inaccessible to researchers without significant experience with large C source
code. To overcome these computational inconveniences, we've been able to create R scripts that are more useraccessible than the underlying compuGUT model, allowing us to use the compuGUT as a simulation platform for
experimentation. An example simulation study is investigating the effect of dietary fiber on the microbial
composition along the colon. The results provided percentage concentration amounts over a fixed amount of
days, of different microbes that compose the gut microflora. The compuGUT continues to be re-worked and
tested, thus all simulation results must be considered preliminary at this stage. However, with our useraccessible scripts that are able to call the compuGUT model in an intuitive and convenient manner, we expect
to aid the compuGUT evolution from a numerical integration program to a user-friendly research and learning
tool;; an in silico platform to study the basics of colon fermentation. In future prospects, development of a GUI
will bridge that final gap between source code and accessible research tool.
Gabriella Tesfay (Ryerson University)
Preliminary Assessment of a Rhodium Target-­‐Based Handheld X-­‐Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer for the In Vivo Quantification of Bone Strontium Category: Medical Physics Strontium has a dichotomous role in human bone health. High levels of bone strontium have been linked to
reduced bone mineral density and skeletal abnormalities as generally presented as rickets in children and
osteomalacia in adults. Low doses of strontium, administered as strontium containing drugs and/or supplements
(i.e. strontium ranelate and strontium citrate) have been shown to reduce bone resorption and increased bone
formation, thus, acting as a proposed treatment for osteoporosis. High bone strontium levels, either natural or
induced from strontium administration, also influence DEXA-determined bone mineral density, often producing
a positive bias in the determination. A rapid, safe and accurate method to measure and monitor bone strontium
levels in human bone is therefore desirable. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF)-based methods have been
proposed for this purpose. The current system used for XRF-based bone strontium analysis consists of a125I
brachytherapy seeds as a source with photon detection being achieved using a Si (Li) detection system in
approximate 180° back-scatter geometry. While this system has been successfully applied to human
measurements, handheld x-ray fluorescence spectrometer (HHXRF) has been proposed for in vivo bone metal
measurements as it offers improved portability. This study assessed a commercially available handheld XRF
spectrometer for possible bone strontium measurements. The system consisted of a rhodium-target X-ray tube
operating at 40 kV and 60 µA and a silicon drift detector (SDD) for photon detection (Tracer III-SD;; Bruker-AXS,
0DGLVRQ :, 86$ 7KUHH GLIIHUHQW PXOWLOD\HU ILOWHUV ZHUH DVVHVVHG DV WR RSWLPL]H WKH V\VWHP·V PLQLPXP
detectable limit (MDL). These filters consisted of a 1 mil Ti filter, a 12 mil Al + 1 mil Ti filter and a 12 mil Al + 1
mil Ti + 1 mil Cu filter. Two types of bone mimicking phantoms were used in this study, plaster of Paris (poP) and
a novel hydroxyapatite (HAp) phantom material.
64
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
Andy Tran (McMaster University)
Calibration and Growth of Ultrathin Iron Films on a W(110) surface Category: Quantum Condensed Matter In bulk metals, the properties of internal atoms greatly overpower the properties of surface atoms. In order to
examine those interesting surface effects - including their thermal, optic, and quantum properties - an ultrathin
film of the metal (1-10 atoms thick) is produced. The only atoms that are even present are ones that display
those surface properties, thus allowing surface effects to become more apparent. The growth, measurement,
and calibration procedures related to ultrathin films of Fe grown on a tungsten plate will be discussed.
Joseph Turko (University of Guelph)
DESCANT and GEANT4 -­‐ Neutron Detection at TRIUMF Category: Particle/Nuclear Physics The new DESCANT (DEuterated SCintillator for Neutron Tagging) array at TRIUMF uses liquid organic scintillators
in high-precision neutron spectroscopy experiments. Gamma rays and neutrons released in nuclear reactions
undergo pulse-shape discrimination, where the type of radiation can be identified using the light emission of the
scintillator. The GEANT4 C++ simulation toolkit developed at CERN, was used to model the passage of neutrons
through the two detectors and examine various aspects of elastic scattering;; the processes used for neutron
detection. Two different scintillating materials are compared: BC501A and BC537, where the essential
component is the aromatic benzene ring. BC537 is deuterated (with 1H hydrogen being substituted with 2H
hydrogen isotopes;; deuterium). Due to the isotropic nature of neutron-proton (n,p) elastic scattering off of
BC501A in the center-of-mass frame, neutron-deuteron (n,d) scattering from BC537 helps resolve incident
neutron energies.
&DVVDQGUD7\VRQ4XHHQ·V8QLYHUVLW\
A Two-­‐photon Compatible Acoustic Receiver for Ultrasound Monitoring during Blood Brain Barrier Opening Category: Medical Physics Two-photon microscopy offers the necessary temporal and spatial resolution to microscopically monitor real-time
transient biophysical mechanisms of blood brain barrier (BBB) opening. Concurrent use of Focused Ultrasound
(FUS) mediated BBB opening and two-photon microscopy imaging have revealed particular biophysical
mechanisms of BBB disruption and the effects of opening on brain cells. The BBB is a specialized structure
comprised of endothelial and support cells. Due to the protective nature of the BBB, pharmaceutical treatments
of brain disorders are extremely difficult. However, FUS combined with microbubbles, which provide strong
ultrasound scattering and enhancement, can be used to facilitate BBB opening. Inducing stable cavitation at a
focused depth allows volumetric BBB opening specificity. Acoustic monitoring using an in-house made receiver
during BBB disruption could elucidate physical mechanisms of FUS-mediated BBB opening. However, the need
for an optically transparent imaging window and a shallow focal depth, mandated by the two-photon microscopy
apparatus, restricts the geometry and material of the receiver. In this study, a custom built ultrasound transducer
is combined with a piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) receiver in a geometry that allows simultaneous
two-photon microscopy imaging and acoustic monitoring.
65
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
Travis Valdez (University of Windsor)
Model potential for a heliumlike atom near the critical charge Category: Mathematical/Theoretical Physics The critical nuclear charge Zc of a quantum mechanical system is the minimum charge required to keep all
electrons in a bound state. For a heliumlike system of infinite nuclear mass, Zc has been found by Drake
et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2014) to be 0.911 028 224 077 255 73(8). The outer electron of the three-body
system at this critical charge, although not in a bound state, remains localized near the nucleus due to the
charge screening by the inner electron, and the dipole attraction caused by the inner core. The present
work investigates the qualitative accuracy of the model potential put forth by Drake, and determines whether
a resonance state occurs for values of Z at and below the critical nuclear charge. Examining this behaviour
will strengthen our knowledge of the quantum-mechanical three-body problem and its stability under
increasingly unfavourable circumstances. In addition, the observation of a resonance state in a heliumlike
atom was not previously thought to occur.
Daniel Varon (McGill University)
Star Forming Galaxies in the Merging RCS 2319+00 Supercluster Category: Astrophysics We present a study of star formation in the merging RCS 2319+00 supercluster at z ~ 0.9. We identify 38
luminous infrared galaxies producing a total of ~1.1x104 solar masses per year in the broad supercluster redshift
range 0.858.
Michael Walters (McMaster University)
Modern Applications of Computational Methods in Nuclear Physics & The NNDC Category: Particle/Nuclear Physics Using CERN's powerful software toolkit Geant4, a nuclear reaction was simulated involving a beam of He3 ions
impinging on a 20Ne target to study the astrophysically important Ex = 2.646 MeV excited state of 20Na. Our
reaction, 20Ne(3He,3H)20Na, was chosen due to LWVVLPLODULW\WRWKH1HSƢ)20Na reaction, which is expected
to play a major role in the breakout of the hot CNO cycle to the rp-process, which can process CNO nuclei to
heavier elements. The 2.646 MeV state in 20Na dominates this reaction as it corresponds to the lowest
resonance in the 19Ne + p system. For experimental purposes, calculations were performed with Geant4, Catkin,
DQG/,6(WRGHWHUPLQHƢ-ray emission angles, and whether 20Na ions would be ejected from the target. Some
of my work was also in contribution to the National Nuclear Center (NNDC), one of the most cited and
comprehensive databases for nuclide information.
66
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
Kristi Webb (University of Victoria)
Thermal conductivity of sodium metasilicate loaded epoxies for the sLHC ATLAS pixel detector upgrade Category: Engineering/Applied Physics ATLAS at the CERN LHC is a large general-purpose particle detector. The innermost subdetector is the pixel
detector, which operates in an intensely high radiation and high interaction environment. The pixel detector is
exposed to ~2 kW of heat input, however, the pixels and onboard electronics must be kept at a stable - 20
degrees Celsius operating temperature to avoid damage and large temperature-dependent calibration
variations. The amount of support material and refrigerant in the pixel detector must be minimized in order to
avoid excessive scattering of the charged particle tracks. The bottleneck in heat transfer within the pixel detector
is the adhesive used to mount the pixels and electronics onto the carbon fibre support frame. A possible
candidate for such filler is a sodium metasilicate solution known as waterglass. It is readily soluble in water,
producing an alkaline solution called waterglass. Waterglass is commonly used as an adhesive, and is also nonflammable, fairly insensitive to large doses of radiation, does not dramatically differ in volume as it cures, and is
soluble in water which facilitates repair after its application. Moreover, its thermal conductivity is 14.22 +- 0.45
W/mK, which is much greater than that of epoxy (0.35 W/mK). Through the technique of Joule Heating
thermometry it was determined that epoxy-sodium metasilicate composites, and epoxy-waterglass composites
mixed via a surfactant were less thermally conductive than epoxy alone. Moreover, it is suspected that the
adhesion strength has also been decreased substantially. Further effort is required to produce a reasonably
homogeneous composite of epoxy and waterglass -- perhaps with a more complex mixing process than adopted
in this experiment -- before a conclusion can be made in regards to its potential application in the sLHC ATLAS
experiment.
Tash Zielinski (University of Guelph)
Accretion Disk Neutrino Spectra Category: Astrophysics The physics of several stellar phenomena, such as supernovae explosions, synthesis of heavy elements and
gamma ray bursts, is an active field of research. One of the main aspects needed to reach a full understanding
of these phenomena resides in the behaviour of neutrinos under the extreme conditions of temperature and
density of these environments. It is speculated that an accretion disk (AD) formed of material resulting from
compact object mergers would emit substantial neutrino spectra in an appropriate energy range, which could be
registered by current detectors on earth. Due to this it is of interest to examine the neutrino behavior of an AD.
Particularly interesting is the fact that at densities as high as 10^12 g/cm^3 neutrino are trapped in ADs. We
study several scattering processes applied in this AD context, and determine cross sectional averages using the
fermionic nature of neutrinos. We calculate the decoupling height above the equatorial plane, and produce a 3D
image of the AD neutrino surface. We also explore the influence that the spinning of the black hole has on such
surfaces.
67
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE SETH TODD CHAIR
I am currently in my fourth year at Queen's University in the physics
specialization program. My research over the past two summers has been in
lasers and nanophotonics. In addition to CUPC, I am involved in Queen's
Model United Nations and Queen's Space Engineering Team. I am an avid
golfer, scuba diver and traveler.
JOE BUSH VICE CHAIR
CAP STUDENT AFFILIATE
I am a fourth year physics major and I am very interested in Astrophysics and
Physics Education. My favorite classes range from Processes in Astrophysics
to Quantum Mechanics of Atoms, Nuclei and Particles. In my free time I am
an avid video gamer and reader. This year's CUPC promises to be great and
I am looking forward to the wide variety of talks and posters that are going
to be shown off.
HILLARY FLINN TREASURER
I am in my fourth year of a physics degree. I'm very excited for the 50th
annual CUPC, and the opportunity to interact with physicists and undergrad
students from across the country! My interests include cosmology,
astrophotography, reading, writing, and music. I hope to explore the wide
range of career and research options available to physics students at this
year's conference.
68
October 23-26, 2014
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE DREW SHEPHERD ACCOMODATIONS & LOGISTICS COORDINATOR
I am the accommodations coordinator for this year's CUPC which means
over the past year I have organized the transportation, meals, sleeping
arrangements and lecture rooms at the hotel and at Queen's. I am currently
in my fourth year at Queen's studying Engineering Physics with a Mechanical
Engineering specialization. This past summer I had the pleasure of working
at the Royal Military College of Canada (also in Kingston) doing nuclear
reactor fuel performance modeling. I hope to continue doing research in
physics/engineering next year either in industry or in graduate school. I look
forward to hearing about other students' research at the conference and to
see what opportunities are available upon graduation.
MEGHAN BEATTIE GRADUATE STUDIES & CAREER FAIR COORDINATOR
WEBSITE COORDINATOR & CONTENT EDITOR
,·PDIRXUWK\HDUSK\VLFVVSHFLDOL]DWLRQVWXGHQWDQG,·PORRNLQJIRUZDUGWR
meeting physicists and student delegates hailing from all over Canada at
&83&,·YHVSHQWWKHODVWWZRVXPPHUVZRUNLQJLQODVHURSWLFVODEVDW
4XHHQ·V WKH ILUVW ORRNLQJ DW WKH SKRWRSK\VLFV RI LFHV DQG WKH VHFRQG
studying the optical properties of single walled carbon nanotubes. I plan to
continue on in physics and complete an MSc and PhD. When not doing
physics, I can often be found riding and jumping horses or, come winter
break, skiing the Rockies.
SEAN TAKAHASHI STUDENT TALKS COORDINATOR
I am in my fourth year of a Physics Specialization degree. Previously, I have
worked as a summer student in a physical chemistry lab looking at
photodissociation of ices. I'm interested in physics because I want to know
how the universe works and someday hope to take it over. In my spare time
I enjoy doing stuff and specificity. A relatively fun fact about me is that I have
a fraternal twin brother.
69
October 23-26, 2014
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE ALEX GRINDAL LAB TOUR COORDINATOR
,·PDIRXUWK\HDUDVWURSK\VLFVVWXGHQWDQGP\LQWHUHVWVLQSK\VLFVLQFOXGH
nuclear/particle physics, cosmology, and applied biophysics. I have spent my
last two summers working on applications of lasers in industry and medicine.
I am the past president of the Physics Department Student Council and love
to play hockey. After I complete my undergraduate studies I plan on attending
graduate or medical school.
DAVE MACFARQUHAR SOCIAL EVENTS COORDINATOR
I am a fourth-year astro-turned-engineering physics student. My interests lie
in the biological applications of physics, and the ability to use physical
phenomena to solve medical problems. When I'm found working on physics,
I can often be talked out of it by inviting me to play baseball, check out local
concerts, or go camping. This year I'm looking forward to being surrounded
by some of the brightest and most interesting students the country has to
offer (before, and particularly after, the pub crawl).
SCOTT MACDONALD CRUISE & TOURISM COORDINATOR
I am a 4th year student in the astrophysics specialization at Queen's. This
past summer I worked with Professor Judith Irwin on the CHANG-ES project,
which is a radio astronomy survey using the VLA. In my spare time I am the
captain of the Queen's Rowing Team so it was only fitting that I be the
conference's director of boat and tourism operations. Rest assured, I will
not be the captain of the vessel for the conference. My interests include
astronomy and optics and I am looking forward to meeting the delegates
and speakers of CUPC 2014.
70
October 23-26, 2014
4XHHQ·VUniversity
CUPC 2014
October 23-26, 2014
SPONSORS A huge thank you to our generous sponsors who have made this conference possible!
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