This project is an investigation of visual illusions created through the interaction of light on different surfaces and structures. Illusion implies deception - an optical illusion, in a sense is misunderstood information that creates a 'false' visual reality. This project incorporates macro and non-macro photography to generate illusion through scale and shape. Through deliberate acts of deception the images play on the human desire for mystery. It is through the 'eye of the imagination' that the images reveal themselves. The photographic images are of dioramas created on the top of a light box, using everyday substances and materials such as glass, felt, coloured transparencies, detergents and liquids of varying consistencies. This project reveals the extraordinary in the ordinary. The outcome of this project is a photographic body of work, the product of my experimentation and research, in which the ambiguous content of the composition, compels the viewer to their own interpretation. Translating some of the resulting images into a three-dimensional light based installation of an illusory nature invites people to take on a participatory role, furthering their experience with the artwork. This project makes us aware of our role within the experiential process, ma king us appreciate and question its very nature.

The distribution of particles in the Eastern Pacific Ocean was investigated from 2 January to 14 February, l969, on the YALOC-69 cruise of Oregon State University. The size distributions were well fitted by the two-parameter Weibull distribution function, with a predominant number of them nearly exponential in distributional shape. Although particles smaller in diameter than 1i could not be measured, extrapolation of the Weibull distribution into the small particle range indicated the median particle diameter was smaller than 1μ. Measurements of light scattering were taken simultaneously with the particle size determinations. A linear relationship between the total particulate surface area and the volume scattering function, β(45°) was indicated, as well as between β(45°)/β(135°) and the mean particle diameter of distributions sharing a common shape parameter. Five different characteristic distributional shapes were found which typified all but a few of the distributions. No direct relationship was found between the distributional shapes and the water types encountered on the cruise. The first-order exponential shapes of the size distributions suggest that a detrital decay mechanism of the larger particles (i. e. phytoplankton) could be a dominant factor in determining the small particle end of oceanic particle distributions. / Graduation date: 1970

I addressed how light availability influences sexual and clonal offspring production, demographic performance and contribution to population dynamics by studying the Neotropical understory herb Calathea marantifolia across a light gradient in Costa Rica. To understand how demographic performance was influenced by light availability I conducted a transplant experiment in the field. Both seedlings and clonal offspring grew best when planted in high light areas, but seedlings showed a faster and more dramatic response. Survival of seedlings was greatest in high light sites but clonal offspring survival was greatest where light availability was low. To examine the demographic consequences of physiological integration between parent plants and their clonal offspring I combined an isotope tracing study with a severing experiment in natural populations. Very little water was transported between parent and offspring. Severing the connections between parent and offspring did not influence the demographic performance of parent plants, but clonal offspring were negatively affected, especially prior to rooting. I investigated the demographic cost of sexual reproduction by manipulating the sexual reproductive effort of plants in the field. Increasing the sexual reproductive effort of plants did not reduce their future demographic performance. However, subsequently produced clonal offspring displayed a small reduction in size due to their parent's increased reproduction. To understand the contribution of both reproductive modes for population growth rate I used field data collected in plots with high and low light. Data from the first census interval were used to develop a new size-structured integral projection model that includes both sexual and clonal recruitment. Population growth rate was faster in high light than in low light and a life table response experiment revealed that this difference was primarily due to improved survival and growth at large sizes and increased clonal reproduction in high light. By removing reproductive modes from the model, I found that sexual reproduction contributes more to population growth than clonal reproduction. When only sexual reproduction is included in the model population growth rate is fastest in high light environments. By contrast, when only clonal reproduction is included in the model population growth rate is fastest low light.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-143).

In this thesis we study light-matter coherence phenomena related to the interaction of a coherent laser field and the so-called Λ-system, a three-level quantum system (e.g., an atom). We observe electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), slow and stored light in hot rubidium vapor. For example, a 6 μs Gaussian pulse propagate at a velocity of ~1 km/s (to be compared with the normal velocity of 300 000 km/s). Dynamic changes of the control parameter allows us to slow down a pulse to a complete stop, store it for ~100 μs, and then release it. During the storage time, and also during the release process, some properties of the light pulse can be changed, e.g., frequency chirping of the pulse is obtained by means of Zeeman shifting the energy levels of the Λ-system. If, bichromatic continuous light fields are applied we observe overtone generation in the beating signal, and a narrow `dip' in overtone generation efficiency on two-photon resonance, narrower than the `coherent population trapping' transparency. The observed light-matter coherence phenomena are explained theoretically from first principles, using the Lindblad master equation, in conjunction with the Maxwell's equations. Furthermore, we analyze an optical delay-line based on EIT and show that there is in principle (besides decoherence) no fundamental limitation, but the usefulness today is scant. The combination of EIT and a photonic crystal cavity is inquired into, and we show that the quality value of a small resonator (area of 2.5λ×2.5λ with a missing central rod) can be enhanced by a factor of 500 due to the increased modal density close to two-photon resonance. Open system effects (decoherence effects) are thoroughly investigated using a coherence vector formalism, furthermore, a vector form of the Lindblad equation is derived. Specifically we find an open system channel that lead to slow light and gain. / QC 20100812

The present thesis deals with electromagnetic effectscreated by the motion or inhomogeneity of a dielectricmedium.In the first paper the quantum R\"ontgen effect isdiscussed. Here a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate -- oranother kind of quantum fluid -- is placed in a chargedcapacitor. The medium's rotation creates a magnetic field.Quantum media can only rotate in form of vortices, which leadsto a magnetic field corresponding to the field of a magneticmonopole. In the remaining part of the thesis the geometricalrepresentation of electromagnetic fields in moving andinhomogeneous media is discussed. It is shown that aninhomogeneously moving dielectric, e.g., a vortex, defines aspace-time metric and light rays follow null-geodesics definedby this metric. This means that light propagation in a movingmedium is analogous to light propagation in a gravitationalfield. The possibility of creating laboratory models ofastronomical objects, e.g., black holes is discussed. Theapplicability of the newly developed media with extremely lowgroup velocity for the actual creation of such an experiment isconsidered. Furthermore, a model for the case of the slowlymoving medium is discussed. Here the light propagation isanalogous to the motion of a charged particle propagatingthrough a magnetic field. The velocity of the flow correspondsto the vector potential. Consequently, light propagation in avortex corresponds to the Aharonov-Bohm effect. Finally, acomplete geometrical description of light in an inhomogeneousdielectric at rest is presented. It is shown that lighttrajectories are geodesics of a three-dimensional metricdefined by the medium. Here even the propagation of the fieldsis discussed in the language of differential geometry and it isshown that the field vectors are parallel transported along therays. These considerations can be generalized to thefour-dimensional case where the field-strength tensor isparallel transported along the ray. This emphasizes thefar-reaching analogy between light in moving media and light ingravitational fields.

As the number of vehicles increases rapidly, traffic congestion has become a serious problem in a city. Over the past years, a considerable number of studies have been made on traffic light setting. The traffic light setting problem is to investigate how to set the given traffic lights such that the total waiting time of vehicles on the roads is minimized. In this thesis, we use a graph model to represent the traffic network. On this model, some characteristics of the setting problem can be presented and analyzed. We first devise a branch and bound algorithm for obtaining the optimal solution of the traffic light setting problem. In addition, the genetic algorithm (GA), the particle swarm optimization (PSO) and the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm are also adopted to get the near optimal solution. Then, to extend this model, we add the assumption that each vehicle can change its direction. By comparing the results of various algorithms, we can study the impact of these algorithms on the traffic light setting problem. In our experiments, we also transform the map of Kaohsiung city into our graph model and test each algorithm on this graph.

We investigate quantum coherences between excited states induced on quantum systems upon excitation by partially coherent radiation sources. Attempts at rejuvenating coherences using noisy sources are also explored. This work is most relevant to studies of photo-excitation of light harvesting systems under natural conditions as well as to quantum optical experiments using partially coherent lasers. The transient coherent response of a model $V$ system upon irradiation by various models of incoherent light is explored and it was found that it was possible to induce transient excited state coherences upon excitation. These excited state coherences eventually become a small fraction of population and the system reaches a mixed state. Lastly, we critique an existing literature model of excitation by noisy laser and we show that the coherence observed in that scenario is artificial. We propose an alternative using a physical model of noisy excitation.

We investigate quantum coherences between excited states induced on quantum systems upon excitation by partially coherent radiation sources. Attempts at rejuvenating coherences using noisy sources are also explored. This work is most relevant to studies of photo-excitation of light harvesting systems under natural conditions as well as to quantum optical experiments using partially coherent lasers. The transient coherent response of a model $V$ system upon irradiation by various models of incoherent light is explored and it was found that it was possible to induce transient excited state coherences upon excitation. These excited state coherences eventually become a small fraction of population and the system reaches a mixed state. Lastly, we critique an existing literature model of excitation by noisy laser and we show that the coherence observed in that scenario is artificial. We propose an alternative using a physical model of noisy excitation.

The contemporary angel-symbol is deeply rooted in our cultural history, with connotations and implications leading to that inner transitional space where all creative activity takes place. This essay investigates the history of the depiction of angels, visions of angels both ancient and modern, and includes psychological aspects of symbols as such. A closer look at surrounding symbols of angels will hopefully result in a greater understanding of the role of the angel-symbol within the context of visual culture, seen in the light of our own symbolic universe.