The cuprate superconductor HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+\delta}$ (Hg1201) has one of the simplest physical structures of the cuprates making it an ideal candidate for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. Here we discuss our NMR experiments aimed at studying the mixed state of two under-doped single crystal Hg1201 samples at high magnetic fields.
Flexible sheet metal forming processes possess significant potential in today’s industrial goods market with the advent of the next generation manufacturing paradigm, which put stresses on products customization and cost efficiency. However, due to the unique tooling configurations and forming mechanisms adopted in different flexible sheet metal forming processes, there...
Soft materials such as colloids and polymers often exhibit a variety of mesoscopic structures that are governed merely by weak physical interactions. Due to these intermediate structures, they can be easily taken out of thermal equilibrium by introducing external stimuli such as a shear flow and electromagnetic fields. This thesis...
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most prevalent primary central nervous system tumor, characterized by resistance to therapeutic intervention, inevitable recurrence, and ultimately patient death. The dismal prognosis is due in part to underlying molecular factors that promote an intratumoral cellular state heterogeneity and protect tumor cells from cell death pathways....
This dissertation considers a rich and diverse material record pertaining to the dynamic between art and the relic treasury in the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire from c. 1100 into the sixteenth century. Across this broad period and region—and even well beyond—real and imagined collections of relics...
In this dissertation, we aim to develop algorithms that achieve optimality with provable complexity guarantees under various settings in reinforcement learning (RL). Specifically, in Markov decision processes (MDPs), we study single-agent and multi-agent online RL, respectively, and offline RL under the presence of unobserved confounders. Single-agent online RL. We design...
Increasingly high global energy consumption demands effective approaches to high energy efficiency and, at the same time, paths to reduced release of carbon dioxide, a primary greenhouse gas behind global climate change. Friction reduction is a vital aspect towards making energy systems more efficient and one of the most crucial...
Chapter 1. Caste, Bureaucracy, and the Limits to Political Affirmative Action. The aim of political affirmative action policies is to ensure that disadvantaged groups are represented in their governments and, in turn, that laws preferred by this group are more likely to be instituted. Often, however, they have not been...
While Li-ion batteries are currently the preferred energy storage technology, multivalent alternatives such as Mg should be considered. Magnesium metal has a high volumetric capacity and has been shown to cycle with no dendrite formation. However, the highly charged Mg2+ ion cannot easily diffuse into the oxide cathodes favored in...
A unifying concept across many fields, ranging from chemistry to architecture, is the bottom-up construction of sophisticated structures from simple building blocks. Materials with long-range order allow for consistent, predictable performance throughout the resulting structure. My research focuses on building highly ordered porous materials from atomic level building blocks based...