Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Physics / Brett D. Esry / Strong-field ionization plays a central role in molecules interacting with an intense laser field since it is an essential step in high-order harmonic generation thus in attosecond pulse generation and serving as a probe for molecular dynamics through either the sensitivity of ionization to the internuclear separation or the laser-induced electron scattering. Strong-field molecular ionization has been studied both theoretically and experimentally, dominantly through the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and at equilibrium or small reaction distances. We have extended the theoretical studies of molecular ionization to a much broader extent. Specifically, due to the difficulty of treating ionization in Born-Oppenheimer representation especially for molecular dynamics involving strongly-correlated electron-nuclear motion, we have investigated an alternative time-independent--adiabatic hyperspherical--picture for a one-dimensional model of the hydrogen molecule. In the adiabatic hyperspherical representation, all the reaction channels--including ionization--for the hydrogen molecule have been identified in a single set of potential curves, showing the advantage of studying molecular dynamics involving multiple breakup channels coupled with each other. We have thus proposed a good candidate to study strongly-correlated molecular dynamics, such as autoionization and dissociative recombination. Moving to a time-dependent picture by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE), we have explored two extreme classes of strong-field ionization of hydrogen molecule ion: at large internuclear distances (R>30 a.u.) and for long-wavelength laser fields. Remarkably, we have found strong-field two-center effects in molecular ionization beyond the long-standing one-photon two-center interference as a manifestation of the double-slit interference. In particular, the total ionization probability at large internuclear distances shows strongly symmetry-dependent two-center dynamics in homonuclear diatomic molecules and two-center induced carrier-envelope phase effect in heteronuclear diatomic molecules. Such two-center effects are expected to generalize to other diatomic systems and could potentially be used to explain phenomena in multi-center strong-field physics. Moreover, we have theoretically confirmed, for the first time, the existence of low energy structure in molecular ionization in long-wavelength laser fields by solving the three-dimensional TDSE. Finally, we have performed a pump-probe study of the hydrogen molecular ion where a pump pulse first dissociates the molecule followed by a probe pulse which ionizes the dissociating wave packet, and surprisingly found a pronounced broad ionization peak at large R or large pump-probe delay (~150 fs). Numerically, we have developed and implemented new theoretical frameworks to more accurately and efficiently calculate quantum mechanical processes for small molecules--hydrogen molecule and its ion--which could readily be adapted to heavier diatomic systems.

No description available.

Strong gravitational lensing provides an independent measurement of the Hubble parameter (H-0). One remaining systematic is a bias from the additional mass due to a galaxy group at the lens redshift or along the sightline. We quantify this bias for more than 20 strong lenses that have well-sampled sightline mass distributions, focusing on the convergence kappa and shear gamma. In 23% of these fields, a lens group contributes >= 1% convergence bias; in 57%, there is a similarly significant line-of-sight group. For the nine time-delay lens systems, H-0 is overestimated by 11(-2)(+3)% on average when groups are ignored. In 67% of fields with total kappa >= 0.01, line-of-sight groups contribute greater than or similar to 2x more convergence than do lens groups, indicating that the lens group is not the only important mass. Lens environment affects the ratio of four (quad) to two (double) image systems; all seven quads have lens groups while only 3 of 10 doubles do, and the highest convergences due to lens groups are in quads. We calibrate the gamma-kappa relation: log(kappa(tot)) = (1.94 +/- 0.34)log(gamma(tot)) + (1.31 +/- 0.49) with an rms scatter of 0.34 dex. Although shear can be measured directly from lensed images, unlike convergence, it can be a poor predictor of convergence; for 19% of our fields, kappa is greater than or similar to 2 gamma. Thus, accurate cosmology using strong gravitational lenses requires precise measurement and correction for all significant structures in each lens field.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of Strong Black Woman attitudes on how African American women perceive and cope with stress. The study included 100 Black female faculty, staff, and students from five universities in the eastern region of the United States including a large, public, research university; a small, private, religious-affiliated university; and three public, historically Black universities. The following research questions guided the study: a) What are the respondents’ levels of Strong Black Woman attitudes, perceived stress, and culture-specific coping? b) How does perception of stress predict Strong Black Woman attitudes? c) How does perception of stress predict the use of culture-specific forms of coping? d) How do Strong Black Woman attitudes mediate the relationship between perception of stress and culture-specific coping? These questions were explored through quantitative research analysis using an Information Questionnaire to collect data regarding demographic background, the Strong Black Woman Cultural Construct Scale (Hamin, 2003), the Perceived Stress Scale – 10 item (Cohen, Kamarck, Mermelstein,1983; Cohen & Williamson,1988), and the Africultural Coping Systems Inventory (Utsey, Adams, and Bolden, 2000). Simple linear regression revealed that Strong Black Woman attitudes of Caretaking, and Affect Regulation, as well as the Cognitive-Emotional Debriefing form of culture-specific coping were associated with higher levels of stress. Finally, multiple regression analysis revealed that Strong Black Woman attitudes did not have a mediating effect on participants’ level of perceived stress and their coping behaviors used in response to stress. Implications of the findings suggest a need to develop an empirical, theoretical, and clinical understanding of the impact of Strong Black Woman attitudes on women’s wellness. / Ph. D.

In the presence of selection and mutation, the genealogy of a given sample configuration can be described by two classes of ancestral processes, namely the coalescent-in-a-random-background model of Kaplan et al. (1988) and the dual process with typed lines of Etheridge and Griffiths (2009). These two processes are based on the same forwards population genetics model. However, in the former model, selection is reflected in the ancestral frequencies in the population, while in the latter model, there are branching events that generate virtual ancestral lines. We simulate the dual processes with typed lines and derive the limits of the two ancestral processes under strong selection and under selection-mutation balance to address the question of to what extent the genealogy is distorted. The two ancestral processes generate the same limiting genealogy. In a two-allele population under strong selection, the disfavoured individuals in the sample are instantaneously converted to a random number of favoured individuals, and the limiting genealogy is governed by the usual Kingman’s coalescent. Under selection-mutation balance, all disfavoured individuals in the sample are instantaneously converted to the favoured type, and the limiting genealogy is determined by a time-changed Kingman’s coalescent. The proofs of these limiting processes are based on the convergence result of Mohle (1998, Lemma 1). The studies of selection-mutation balance are then extended to an additive selection model, where each individual is composed of L diallelic loci. In the corresponding dual process with typed lines, the evolution of the virtual lines on a faster timescale can be approximated by a deterministic process, while the evolution of the real lines is independent of the virtual lines. The structure in the limiting genealogy collapses to Kingman’s coalescent. We also let L tend to infinity, and obtain a full description of the limiting genealogy in the background selection model.

This qualitative study investigated how religion contributes to or strengthens strong African American marriages. This study was conducted within the family strengths framework. In order to develop an in-depth understanding of how religion contributed to their marriages, five couples who talked extensively about religion in their marriage were selected out of the total sample of 39 couples and were presented as case studies. Six themes emerged across all five case studies: couples consistently practiced their religion, religion was the foundation of the marriage, religion strengthened personal growth, couples had exemplars for a strong marriage, couples turned to religion during difficult times, and religion transcends race. These findings indicate that these couples practiced their religion in all aspects of their lives. The study provides an explanation of why a paradox may exist within the African American community in terms of religion and divorce. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study how important brand belonging can be for sport clubs. Method: The method for the empirical research is based on qualitative interviews. The data then gets compared and connected with relevant brand and marketing theories. Findings: The paper finds out the perks and disadvantages the researched clubs gain from the strong brand names they hold, and further discussion for development based on theory is being made. / Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att studera hur betydelsefull tillhörigheten till ett starkt klubbvarumärke kan vara för idrottsföreningar. Metod – Metoden för den empiriska undersökningen består av kvalitativa intervjuer. Datan blir sedan jämförd och sammankopplad med relevanta teorier inom varumärkesutveckling och marknadsföring. Bidrag – Uppsatsen utreder fördelar och nackdelar de studerade idrottsföreningarna upplever med de starka varumärkesnamn de besitter. Vidare diskussion förs också kring utveckling av varumärkesanvändandet utifrån utvalda teorier.

Depuis 2012, les pérovskites hybrides halogénées de type CH3NH3PbX3 (X = I, Br ou Cl) sont apparues comme très prometteuses non seulement dans le domaine du photovoltaïque mais aussi pour les dispositifs émetteurs de lumière comme les diodes électroluminescentes et les lasers. L'un des avantages cruciaux de ces matériaux semiconducteurs est leur méthode de déposition à basse température et en solution. Le réglage de la longueur d'onde d'émission des pérovskites dans tout le spectre visible par de simples substitutions chimiques dans la partie halogénée est un autre atout. En particulier, les pérovskites halogénées montrent une grande efficacité de luminescence dans le vert et pourraient répondre au problème du "green gap" dans les sources laser (le "green gap" fait référence à la baisse d'efficacité des diodes électroluminescente et diodes laser à semi-conducteurs émettant dans le vert).Le travail de doctorat mené ici a porté sur la réalisation d’un laser pompé optiquement à base de la pérovskite hybride CH3NH3PbBr3 émettant dans le vert. La structure réalisée consiste en une microcavité verticale à base d’une couche mince de 100 nanomètres de CH3NH3PbBr3 déposé par "spin-coating" (dépôt par enduction centrifuge), insérée entre un miroir diélectrique et un miroir métallique. Nous avons démontré, à température ambiante, le régime de couplage fort entre le mode photonique de la microcavité et l'exciton de la pérovskite. Ce régime de couplage fort conduit à la création de quasi-particules appelées les exciton-polaritons, qui sont une superposition cohérente d’états photonique et excitonique. En augmentant la puissance injectée optiquement, nous avons obtenu un effet laser dans cette microcavité. L’étude des propriétés d’émission de ce laser met en évidence que nous avons réalisé un laser aléatoire, émettant dans le vert, filtré directionnellement par la courbe de dispersion du polariton de basse énergie. Ce filtrage par la courbe de dispersion du polariton permet le contrôle de la directionnalité de l’émission laser sur une grande gamme d’angles : des angles aussi grands que 22° ont été obtenus expérimentalement. / Since 2012, the hybrid halide perovskites of CH3NH3PbX3 (X = I, Br or Cl) type have emerged as very promising not only in the field of photovoltaics but also for light-emitting devices such as light-emitting diodes and lasers. One of the crucial advantages of these semiconductor materials is their low temperature and solution deposition method. The tuning of the perovskites emission wavelength throughout the visible spectrum by simple chemistry substitutions in the halogenated part is another asset. In particular, the halide perovskites show a high luminescence efficiency in the green and could address the "green gap" problem in laser sources (the "green gap" refers to the drop in efficiency of light-emitting diodes and laser diodes emitting in the green).The thesis work carried out here is focused on the development of an optically pumped laser based on the hybrid halide perovskite CH3NH3PbBr3 emitting in the green. The structure consists of a vertical microcavity based on a 100-nanometre thin film of CH3NH3PbBr3 deposited by spin-coating, inserted between a dielectric mirror and a metal mirror. We have demonstrated, at room temperature, the strong coupling regime between the microcavity photonic mode and the exciton of the perovskite. This strong coupling regime leads to the creation of quasi-particles called exciton-polaritons, which are a coherent superposition of photonic and excitonic states. By increasing the optically injected power, we obtained a laser effect in this microcavity. The study of the emission properties of this laser shows that we have produced a random laser, emitting in the green, filtered directionally by the dispersion curve of the lower polariton. This filtering by the polariton dispersion curve allows the directionality of the laser emission to be controlled over a wide range of angles: angles as large as 22° were obtained experimentally.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Physics / Vinod Kumarappan / In general, molecules in the gas phase are free to rotate, and measurements made on such samples are averaged over a randomly oriented distribution of molecules. Any orientation dependent information is lost in such measurements. The goal of the work presented here is to a) mitigate or completely do away with orientational averaging, and b) make fully resolved orientation dependent measurements. In pursuance of similar goals, over the past 50 years chemists and physicists have developed techniques to align molecules, or to measure their orientation and tag other quantities of interest with the orientation. We focus on laser induced alignment of asymmetric top molecules. The first major contribution of our work is the development of an effective method to align all molecular axes under field-free conditions. The method employs a sequence of nonresonant, impulsive laser pulses with varied ellipticities. The efficacy of the method is first demonstrated by solution of the time dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation for iodobenzene, and then experimentally implemented to three dimensionally align 3,5 difluoroiodobenzene. Measurement from molecules aligned in this manner greatly reduces orientational averaging. The technique was developed via a thorough understanding and extensive computations of the dynamics of rotationally excited asymmetric top molecules. The second, and perhaps more important, contribution of our work is the development of a new measurement technique to extract the complete orientation dependence of a variety of molecular processes initiated by ultrashort laser pulses. The technique involves pump-probe measurements of the process of interest from a rotational wavepacket generated by impulsive excitation of asymmetric top molecules. We apply it to make the first measurement of the single ionization probability of an asymmetric top molecule in a strong field as a function of all relevant alignment angles. The measurement and associated calculations help identify the orbital from which the electron is ionized. We expect that this technique will be widely applicable to ultrafast-laser driven processes in molecules and provide unique insight into molecular physics and chemistry.

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