This thesis focuses on the role of upcoming neutrino oscillation experiments for the search for beyond-the-Standard-Model physics in the neutrino sector. Specically, I focus on the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and Hyper-Kamiokande neutrino experiment, and the experimental sensitivity to non-standard neutrino interactions, sterile neutrinos, incorrect signals of CP-violation, differences between...
Stars, planets and massive black holes are ubiquitous in binary and multiple configurations. In stellar systems the binary components interact through various type of mass loss and mass transfer. Mass transfer interactions in eccentric systems are inprinciple phase-dependent and can occur in different ways. We formulate the understanding of mass...
The overall goal of my thesis is to enhance our quantitative understanding of the biophysical properties of DNA a long polynucleotide chain, present in every living cell, that embodies the genetic information. The existence of DNA has been known to us for over a century, however, our understanding of its...
The recent development of quantum biology results in various breakthroughs in exploring the role of quantum physics in biological systems, as well as in observing and controlling light-matter interactions in biological materials on a fundamental quantum level. We seek to combine the concept of quantum biology with quantum optics to...
Type IIb supernovae (SNe) are important candidates to understand mechanisms that drive the stripping of stripped-envelope (SE) supernova (SN) progenitors. ', 'While binary interactions and their high incidence are generally cited to favor them as Type IIb SN progenitors, this idea has not been tested using models covering a broad...
A vast portion of the Universe is predicted to consist of an as-of-yet undetected, non-luminous form of matter, known as dark matter. Evidence of its existence has been corroborated by various astrophysical observations at many cosmological scales, and its relative abundance has been determined. However, knowledge of its nature and...
Dark matter represents one of the most sought after discoveries in physics, and leading theories predict that extremely low-background detectors could be sensitive to nuclear recoils from dark matter interactions. The PICO collaboration uses bubble chambers to look for the energy deposition from such an interaction. However, unknown backgrounds have...
The most promising probe into compact binary formation and evolution will be the populations resolved by both gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) observatories. As with any observation, theoretical models must be characterized to gain a fuller understanding of the underlying physics governing the observed population. Investigation of these models...
Of the thousands of planetary candidates discovered by the Kepler mission, roughly a third are in known multiple transiting-planet systems. High-multiplicity Kepler systems (referred to as Kepler Multis) are often tightly packed and may be on the verge of instability. Many systems of this type could have experienced past instabilities,...
Ions dissolved in solution are known to interact in remarkable ways with charged Langmuir monolayers. The organic monolayer can be used as a molecular template for ordered nucleation of inorganic crystals (biomineralization) and functional nanoparticles. However, the clear majority of experiments demonstrating these behaviors have been performed with divalent ions....
Polarized emission from aligned interstellar dust is both a crucial tool for studies of magnetism in the interstellar medium (ISM) and a troublesome contaminant in studies of the polarized cosmic microwave background. In each case, an understanding of the significance of the dust polarization signal requires well-calibrated models that accurately...
In this thesis I develop and apply techniques to the masses and eccentricities of tran-siting exoplanets from their transit timing variations. These techniques include both analytic and numerical means for measuring planet masses and orbits and assessing the robustness of the inferred properties. I apply these techniques to a sample...
The advent of computers brought a profound change in the way the practical problems in the physics of materials are addressed. Within the last decade, a rapidly evolving area of research is oriented towards interfacing the existing numerical tools in an optimized way, by explicitly taking advantage of the specifics...
In this thesis we investigate the orbital evolution of planets in binaries.Unlike our own Solar System, at least one out of five planetary systems known to date is associated with additional stellar companions. Despite their large distances from the planetary systems, these stellar companions play an important role in significantly...
Microarrays are powerful tools in gene expression assessment, protein profiling, and protein function screening, as well as cell and tissue analysis. With thousands of small array spots assembled in an ordered array, these small devices makes it possible to screen for multiple targets in a fast, parallel, high-throughput manner. The...
With the interference of several coherent beams, a periodical potential is produced for the particles trapped inside. The theoretical calculations show that the optical force applied on the particle in such optical lattice is in sinusoidal form. The force amplitudes vary greatly depending on the ratio of the particle size...
The mechanisms governing selective CaCO3 crystal nucleation in living organisms remain unclear. For example, nacreous layers from the inner surfaces of shells are built as brick-and-mortar complexes of plate-like aragonite single crystals and organic layers. Unstable [001] surfaces of calcite columns in prismatic layers are also stabilized by organic molecules....
We present initial results from Hertz/VPM, the first submillimeter polarimeter employing the dual Variable-delay Polarization Modulator (dual-VPM). This device differs from previously used polarization modulators in that it operates in translation rather than mechanical rotation. We discuss the basic theory behind this device, and its potential advantages over the commonly...
Breakout reactions from the CNO cycles leading into the rp-process in explosive stellar hydrogen burning environments have been studied using the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS). Earlier work is reported and summarized with an introduction to the beam, target and detector development in the nuclear astrophysics group at Argonne...
One of the central features of the now half-century old theory of the microscopic origins of superconductivity in elemental materials is the correlations between pairs of electrons with opposite spin and momentum. The constituent electrons of these Cooper pairs have the unusual property that their mean spatial separation is much...