Serpentinization, a geological process that occurs in many settings on Earth, generally involves the reaction of olivine, a mineral component of ultramafic, basaltic rocks, with water. The products of serpentinization reactions, including serpentine, carbonates, talc, and saponite, are mineralogical signatures which indicate geochemical environments and processes that are hospitable to microbial life. On Earth, these processes have been shown to sustain dense microbial communities. The identification of serpentine in particular uniquely indicates that serpentinization reactions have occurred. Therefore, the identification of the mineral serpentine on Mars has significant astrobiological implications. Previous studies have identified serpentine in three geologic settings on Mars using near-infrared spectral data collected by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Minerals are identified by their unique absorptions at specific wavelengths through the examination of CRISM surface reflectance data across 438 wavelengths from 1.0-3.9 microns. Unfortunately, spectral datasets like CRISM contain large volumes of data and each spectrum usually covers an area that contains several unique compositions, or spectral endmembers. Here, we have adapted and applied factor analysis techniques to CRISM data to confirm the previous detections of serpentine and search for new identifications in regions containing olivine-rich basalts. Our methods, factor analysis and target transformation, are more sensitive to subtle, characteristic absorptions as in the spectrum of serpentine than traditional analysis techniques and are a set of methodologies that allow for rapid and automated analysis of large spectral datasets. These methods can be used globally to both identify the number of individual components and test for the presence of and isolate individual endmembers from mixed spectral data. Ultimately, by applying this technique to the global CRISM dataset, we will have a more detailed understanding of aqueous processes like serpentinization on Mars.

The Carbon IV emission line in quasar spectra is well-known to show systematic shifting toward smaller wavelengths often attributed winds flowing off the accretion discs along the line of sight. We investigate variability in the shift of the C IV line in two ways, using spectra observed multiple times: through correlation of the shift with changes in the intensity of the rest of the quasar, as well as through the effects of this variability on host supermassive black hole mass estimates. Our results show weak to no correlation between changes in the shift with quasar light flux between observations, potentially indicating near-constant outflow speeds. We additionally investigate biases in existing SMBH mass estimates by comparing our multiple-observation estimated masses with masses derived from single observations. Our results indicate that the previously observed correlation between C IV shift and SMBH mass can be empirically corrected thanks to the lack of variability in C IV shifts, leading to less biased SMBH masses. This will help pave the way for much more accurate methods of calculating masses for extremely distant black holes, and helps constrain physical structure models of active galaxies.

In order to increase the accuracy of particle detectors, new sensors and digital acquisition systems must be developed. With the power of reconfigurable digital logic, an acquisition system has been created using a simple and fast architecture in order to test T3MAPS, a prototype sensor for the ATLAS detector. The firmware design of the system is modular to allow for iterative improvements over time and future changes to the sensor. Currently the systems first iteration is being tested using oscilloscopes, and then the system will be connected to T3MAPS for more advanced function tests. In the future the firmware will be ported to multiple platforms with additional functions to allow time over threshold test to be conducted on T3MAPS. T3MAPS is new sensor designed to detect high-energy particles generated by particle accelerators. The ATLAS detector is one of many particle detectors at the Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator run by CERN. The firmware for this system is written in a hardware description language, Verilog. This language is used to describe digital designs as a programming language, enabling reconfigurable digital circuits. This offers a vast level of flexibility. As nobody has tried to implement an acquisition system for T3MAPS, great care must be taken to insure that the signal to the sensor is correct and electrically clean. This is verified using a logic analyzer and an oscilloscope to insure the signal meets the specifications required. After signal verification, testing will be conducted on T3MAPS itself using the verified design. Tests will progress from simple configuration of the sensor to full pixel by pixel scans of the chip. Results from these tests will be analyzed to compare the speed and accuracy of this system vs. the existing manual methods.

 By developing an efficient and generalized framework, data from test beam experiments can be analyzed in an effort to improve silicon detector technologies for use in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Before a prototype sensor can be used in the LHC, a test beam is run to collect performance data. Charged particles emitted from a beam are recorded as they pass through the sensor. This data is analyzed to measure how efficient the sensor is at detecting these particles. By modifying a generalized framework for specific applications, analysis can be used for different types of sensors. Current efforts are focused on measuring the edge efficiency of slim edge 3D silicon sensors. Once this work is completed, the framework will be adapted for use on new sensors requiring their own specific analysis.

In order to process large amounts of physical events and filter the interesting events worth investigating, a good detector must have a sophisticated Data Acquisition (DAQ) system. In an effort to improve and study its tasks in much detail, an identical DAQ system for the ATLAS Pixel Detector has been established in the lab environment. This flexible environment allows us to conduct various experiments for the current and future development of the Pixel DAQ System. Currently, the necessary hardware and software have been set up. Then the system will be connected to the Pixel Readout Driver, which is part of the current generation of the Pixel DAQ System to test its data acquisition performance. In the future, the system will test DAQ performance of the IBLROD, which is the new generation of the Pixel DAQ System. Also, a new data path firmware that is currently under development will be implemented in the system to evaluate its data processing performance.

Current research seeks to be able to produce detailed data through simulation for comparisons of the material budgets of individual layers, sub-layers, and components of different inner detector geometries for implementation in future ATLAS upgrades at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). ATLAS, A Toroidal LHC Apparatus, is a particle detection experiment located at the LHC in Geneva, Switzerland. The inner tracker, a constituent ATLAS system, records the presence of particles at discrete points in space and time allowing for the reconstruction of the particles' trajectories; material budget is a measure of the energy loss of particles as they pass through the tracker. Upgrades and replacements of the current inner tracker will allow the detector to continue to function at optimal efficiency and collect more data at higher energies in the future. Present work involves simulating the performance of different geometries in order to reduce the overall material budget, thereby increasing low momentum resolution. Software is used to model the passage of non-interacting particles through the detector, recording the angle of their trajectories and the amount of matter through which each particle passes. These quantities can then be plotted against each other and compared for different geometries. Data for a forthcoming addition to the innermost section of the inner tracker and a proposed future replacement of the entire innermost layer have been produced at this time. Confirmation of a reduction in material budget for future upgrades is expected. This project will allow optimal specifications to be determined for the reduction of material budgets for future changes to the inner tracker.

The goal of this study is to search for a pseudo scalar Higgs boson. The recently discovered Higgs boson is only the simplest way to explain the generation of particle masses. It is possible to make a simple extension to the Standard Model by adding a second complex Higgs doublet which gives a rise to five Higgs bosons. A Monte Carlo simulation for the production of the A Higgs and its decay to two leptons and two b quarks was created. The simulation is used to fine tune an algorithm for distinguishing between the signal from this decay and background signals generated from other decay channels.It uses MadGraph, Pythia and Delphes for the different stages of simulation. The simulation data is compared against data available from ATLAS simulations. The study has shown how changes in parameters of the search algorithm lead to increase of the level of both signal and background. The expected results include better filtering of the signal from the background by analysis of the jet structure and increased sensitivity for higher masses of the A Higgs when using boosted jets in the analysis. The results of the study provide possiblities for creating a more complete model of the fundamentals of the physical world and practical ideas about how to analyze the data from the Large Hadron Colider in CERN.