Prof. David Berman Project Abstracts
BSc Project Abstracts
Cellular automata
The construction and exploration of cellular automata of different types. In particular the student will examine self reflexive cellular automata and examine their state space and thermodynamic properties.
(Prerequisite: strong computer programming skills)
Optimising quinine extraction from Cinchona bark for the production of natural tonic water.
Most commercially available tonic waters use industrially synthesized quinine. This project will produce natural tonic water through extracting quinine from Cinchona bark. The variables in the extraction process include bark concentration, grind size and temperature, all these should be optimised. The final quinine concentration will be determined by constructing a simple spectral analyser to measure the quinine florescence and implementing the Beer-Lambert law. The effects of bark impurities will also be examined.
If you would like to do this project please note that you want to do Prof. Berman’s experimental project in the ‘other information’ box on the project choice form.
MSci Review Project Abstracts
Topology in Physics
This will review some basics of topology and how these ideas are realised in physics. This project covers the Dirac monopole, the Berry's phase and the Aharonov Bohm effect.
(Prerequisites: Strong mathematical ability)
Quantum Paradoxes
The student will review a list of quantum paradoxes that driven our understanding of quantum theory. The resolution of the paradoxes often emerge through either better theoretical understanding or simple empirical observations that confirm quantum mechanics' non-intuitive nature. The relevant ideas include: Bell's inequalities, CHL theorems, the idea of weak measurements, the Aharonov-Bohm effect and the commutative nature of modular observables.
MSci Research/Investigative Project Abstracts
Generalised geometry in string and M-theory
The project will review how one may generalise geometry so as to describe how strings see spacetime. This is a heavily mathematically based project and only suitable for the most mathematically able student. The topics covered include: the generalised metric, determining the local symmetries, global aspects such as fibre bundle and grebe structures and the construction of duality invariant actions.
Corrections to Black Hole Thermodynamics
The student will first understand the derivation of Hawking radiation using the world line tunneling procedure and the WKB approximation. By moving beyond the leading order in the WKB approximation the student will calculate corrections to the Hawking radiation emitted by black holes. (Excellent results in STG and quantum mechanics are essential).
Optimising quinine extraction from Cinchona bark for the production of natural tonic water
Most commercially available tonic waters use industrially synthesized quinine. This project will produce natural tonic water through extracting quinine from Cinchona bark. The variables in the extraction process include bark concentration, grind size and temperature, all these should be optimised. The final quinine concentration will be determined by constructing a simple spectral analyser to measure the quinine florescence and implementing the Beer-Lambert law. The effects of bark impurities will also be examined.
If you would like to do this project please note that you want to do Prof. Berman’s experimental project in the ‘other information’ box on the project choice form.
