Daniel Tomb '08 (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) spent his summer modeling compact helium (He) polarizers with a computer software package called Console, which can "simulate just about anything" using various equations that embody the laws of physics. Helium polarizers are compact apparatuses consisting of glass vessels filled with 3He gas (a very rare isotope of helium that has only one neutron instead of the usual two). An infrared laser is shone into the vessels, which polarizes the 3He atoms so that their spins (i.e. their ability to continuously rotate about a fixed point in the absence of external forces) are aligned in one direction. If a beam of neutrons (neutral subatomic particles) is passed through the helium polarizer, then it will also be polarized after it emerges from the polarizer. In addition to their importance to research, polarized neutron beams also have numerous industrial applications, such as their use in computer hard drives.
While polarized neutrons are certainly useful, there are some obstacles that stand in the way of their creation. The Earth's magnetic field is one such difficulty because it is able to "unpolarize" polarized neutrons. To solve this problem, a uniform magnetic field needs to be applied over the helium polarizer. Solenoids (loops of wire that produce a magnetic field when current is passed through them) offer one of the best ways to generate these uniform fields. Tomb uses Console to make myriad calculations that allow him to model a uniform field within the geometry of the solenoid on the computer. With these models, he is able to develop better ways of arranging the solenoid's coils to produce the desired magnetic field. Once the designs are completed, he and another student researcher, Jordan Barone '08, actually make the solenoids using the computer specifications.
Tomb is a physics and mathematics double major and has been participating in Hamilton's summer research program since he was a pre-freshman. He says that his current project will become his senior thesis. Since the Console computer software package has such a steep learning curve, Tomb used this summer to familiarize himself with the program so that he can jump right into his thesis this fall. Tomb's research advisors are Associate Professors of Physics Gordon Jones and Brian Collett.
-- by Nick Berry '09
While polarized neutrons are certainly useful, there are some obstacles that stand in the way of their creation. The Earth's magnetic field is one such difficulty because it is able to "unpolarize" polarized neutrons. To solve this problem, a uniform magnetic field needs to be applied over the helium polarizer. Solenoids (loops of wire that produce a magnetic field when current is passed through them) offer one of the best ways to generate these uniform fields. Tomb uses Console to make myriad calculations that allow him to model a uniform field within the geometry of the solenoid on the computer. With these models, he is able to develop better ways of arranging the solenoid's coils to produce the desired magnetic field. Once the designs are completed, he and another student researcher, Jordan Barone '08, actually make the solenoids using the computer specifications.
Tomb is a physics and mathematics double major and has been participating in Hamilton's summer research program since he was a pre-freshman. He says that his current project will become his senior thesis. Since the Console computer software package has such a steep learning curve, Tomb used this summer to familiarize himself with the program so that he can jump right into his thesis this fall. Tomb's research advisors are Associate Professors of Physics Gordon Jones and Brian Collett.
-- by Nick Berry '09
