Optical and evaporative cooling of cesium atoms in the gravito-optical surface trap

We report on cooling of an atomic cesium gas closely above an evanescent-wave atom mirror. At high densitities, optical cooling based on inelastic reflections is found to be limited by a density-dependent excess temperature and trap loss due to ultracold collisions involving repulsive molecular states. Nevertheless, very good starting conditions for subsequent evaporative cooling are obtained. Our first evaporation experiments show a temperature reduction from 10muK down to 300nK along with a gain in phase-space density of almost two orders of magnitude.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Journal of Modern Optics, special issue "Fundamentals of Quantum Optics V", edited by F. Ehlotzk

Unifications of Pythagorean Triple Schema

Euclid’s Method of finding Pythagorean triples is a commonly accepted and applied technique. This study focuses on a myriad of other methods behind finding such Pythagorean triples. Specifically, we discover whether or not other ways of finding triples are special cases of Euclid’s Method

Why zombies love me: Shifting mathematical mindsets

An elementary teacher shares how a year of mindset lessons and messages impacted students’ mathematics experiences

Stories to be Told: A Literature Review of Therapeutic Performance Theatre and Historic Trauma in Ireland

As research regarding the effects of trauma has expanded, particularly the effects of intergenerational trauma and historic trauma, there has been growing examples as to how drama therapy can be used to help individuals and groups address and start healing from the effects of such traumas (Volkas, 2009; Sajnani, 2009). A component of drama therapy is autobiographical performance theatre, and is defined as a form of therapeutic theatre that specifically draws on an individual’s story to create an original performance piece. This paper will examine the use of autobiographical performance theatre and how it can be a helpful intervention to address historic trauma in Southern Ireland. The aforementioned interventions demonstrated that autobiographical performance has potential to be an effective intervention regarding addressing historic trauma through the act of having the client having autonomy over how the story is presented and told. This paper closes with examining how autobiographical performance can be an effective intervention regarding historic trauma related to the Potato Famine and the Magdalene Laundries

UPeTD: It's the start of your publishing career

The role of electronic theses to jumpstart scholarly communication is discussed in the context of a first world university in a developing country. In the developing world the context within which new initiatives are taken is of the utmost importance: resources are constantly in short supply which implies that projects cannot be launched merely because they are interesting, because the enabling technology is available or because the rest of the world is doing it. It should make a very definite contribution to the most prominent strategic goals in order to have a chance to succeed. The University of Pretoria is one of a few truly first world universities in South Africa, competing with the rest of the world amidst the constraints of a developing country at the other end of the globe. It strives to be known for international competitiveness, local relevance and a commitment to continuous innovation. Its graduates, branded as the Innovation Generation, must exemplify a new generation of well-rounded, future leaders and the spirit of creative energy. The paper will discuss the University of Pretoria's electronic theses project (UPeTD) in the following contexts: 1. Renewed focus on research. Over the last five years emphasis was placed on learning in order to help create top class human resources for a fast growing economy. Now the time has come to pump resources into research. Publications and patents should increase. New researchers have to be trained and research leadership needs to be cultivated. Quality post-graduate work forms the basis of this drive. 2. An e-scholarship initiative, of which UPeTD forms the first leg, will support these research goals by creating a climate and environment conducive to world class research and the latest developments in scholarly communication. 3. African initiative is necessary to bring our continent on board the electronic theses movement. UP plans to play an active role in the UNESCO initiative for Africa. Clearly for us this is much more than a change in format. It plays a vital role in jumpstarting the careers of our young researchers