Oral History as Inquiry: Using Digital Oral History Collections to Teach School Desegregation

A body of literature in both history and history education indicates that when it comes to contemporary historical issues, oral history is one of the essential sources to investigate the past, particularly as a source for “history from below,” experiences of those who were undocumented or ill-recorded. Most of all, with new digital technologies, oral histories are more accessible than ever to those who are interested in using them in their research and teaching. This article uses the topic of school desegregation as a case study to highlight the value of oral histories as a historical methodology for studying the past and a pedagogical tool for teaching

Magnetic Domains in Magnetar Matter as an Engine for Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars

Magnetars have been suggested as the most promising site for the origin of observed soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs). In this work we investigate the possibility that SGRs and AXPs might be observational evidence for a magnetic phase separation in magnetars. We study magnetic domain formation as a new mechanism for SGRs and AXPs in which magnetar-matter separates into two phases containing different flux densities. We identify the parameter space in matter density and magnetic field strength at which there is an instability for magnetic domain formation. We conclude that such instabilities will likely occur in the deep outer crust for the magnetic Baym, Pethick, and Sutherland (BPS) model and in the inner crust and core for magnetars described in relativistic Hartree theory. Moreover, we estimate that the energy released by the onset of this instability is comparable with the energy emitted by SGRs.Comment: 4 figures, ApJ in pres

Nuclear Equation of State and Internal Structure of Magnetars

Recently, neutron stars with very strong surface magnetic fields have been suggested as the site for the origin of observed soft gamma repeaters (SGRs). We investigate the influence of a strong magnetic field on the properties and internal structure of such strongly magnetized neutron stars (magnetars). The presence of a sufficiently strong magnetic field changes the ratio of protons to neutrons as well as the neutron appearance density. We also study the pion production and pion condensation in a strong magnetic field. We discuss the pion condensation in the interior of magnetars as a possible source of SGRs.Comment: 5 pages with 3 figures, To appear in the Proceedings of the 5th Huntsville Gamma Ray Burst Symposium, Huntsville, Alabama, USA, Oct. 18-22, 199

Ultra-Strong Optomechanics Incorporating the Dynamical Casimir Effect

We propose a superconducting circuit comprising a dc-SQUID with mechanically compliant arm embedded in a coplanar microwave cavity that realizes an optomechanical system with a degenerate or non-degenerate parametric interaction generated via the dynamical Casimir effect. For experimentally feasible parameters, this setup is capable of reaching the single-photon, ultra-strong coupling regime, while simultaneously possessing a parametric coupling strength approaching the renormalized cavity frequency. This opens up the possibility of observing the interplay between these two fundamental nonlinearities at the single-photon level.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl

Review of Conformally Flat Approximation for Binary Neutron Star Initial Conditions

The spatially conformally flat approximation (CFA) is a viable method to deduce initial conditions for the subsequent evolution of binary neutron stars employing the full Einstein equations. Here we review the status of the original formulation of the CFA for the general relativistic hydrodynamic initial conditions of binary neutron stars. We illustrate the stability of the conformally flat condition on the hydrodynamics by numerically evolving ~100 quasi-circular orbits. We illustrate the use of this approximation for orbiting neutron stars in the quasi-circular orbit approximation to demonstrate the equation of state dependence of these initial conditions and how they might affect the emergent gravitational wave frequency as the stars approach the innermost stable circular orbit.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, revised as per referee recommendation