An investigation of the effectiveness if the Case Method as compared with the Lecture-Textbook Method to stimulate critical thinking in the fifth grade social studies

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Numerical Models of Spin-Orbital Coupling in Neutron Star Binaries

We present a new numerical scheme for solving the initial value problem for quasiequilibrium binary neutron stars allowing for arbitrary spins. We construct sequences of circular-orbit binaries of varying separation, keeping the rest mass and circulation constant along each sequence. The spin angular frequency of the stars is shown to vary along the sequence, a result that can be derived analytically in the PPN limit. This spin effect, in addition to leaving an imprint on the gravitational waveform emitted during binary inspiral, is measurable in the electromagnetic signal if one of the stars is a pulsar visible from Earth.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to the Proceedings of the "X Marcel Grossmann Meeting on General Relativity" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 20-26 (2003

Critical Temperature for α\alpha-Particle Condensation within a Momentum Projected Mean Field Approach

Alpha-particle (quartet) condensation in homogeneous spin-isospin symmetric nuclear matter is investigated. The usual Thouless criterion for the critical temperature is extended to the quartet case. The in-medium four-body problem is strongly simplified by the use of a momentum projected mean field ansatz for the quartet. The self-consistent single particle wave functions are shown and discussed for various values of the density at the critical temperature

The Impact Of Cold Dark Matter Variants On The Halos Of The First Stars And Galaxies: Angular Momentum And Vortex Creation In BEC Dark Matter

If cold dark matter elementary particles form a Bose-Einstein condensate, their superfluidity may distinguish them from other forms of cold dark matter, including the creation of quantum vortices. We have shown that such vortices are favored in strongly-coupled condensates. Vortex creation causes central densities to drop, thus affecting the dynamics of the gaseous baryonic component and subsequently star formation.Astronom