Physics
The Physics Department of the University of Otago was the first Physics Department in New Zealand. The Chair in Natural Philosophy was established when the University opened in July 1871. Ever since, the Department has embraced innovative teaching methods, promoted a vigorous research ethos, and been committed both to Physics as a discipline and to its applications.
Our research ranges from the fundamental quantum processes that underlie our very existence, through the largest explosions in the solar system, Antarctic ice, supercomputers and robotics, to the development of the next generation of energy efficient homes.
Recent Deposits
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Techno-economic Analysis of Options to Achieve 100% Renewable Electricity for Samoa
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reliance of fossil fuels Samoa has developed a target of achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2025. Currently 60% of Samoa’s electricity comes from diesel generators and the details ... -
Modelling and Inference for Electromagnetic Flow Tomography
Electromagnetic flowmeters determine the bulk flow rate of an ohmic fluid in a pipe by measuring the voltage induced across the fluid by a transverse magnetic field. This thesis develops the theory of an electromagnetic ... -
Collective Effects in Ultra-Cold Dipolar Atom Systems
In this thesis we investigate theoretically two distinct systems of dipole-coupled atoms. In Part I we investigate light scattering from a system of N ultracold atoms, with laser induced electric dipole interactions. We ... -
Photosynthetic Excitation Energy Transfer
We investigate photosynthetic excitation energy transfer (EET) in the presence of realistic electron-phonon couplings and system Hamiltonians. The chlorophyll-based Fenna-Matthews-Olsen (FMO) complex represents the system ... -
Anomalous Dissipation in Bose Gases: Analytic Theory of Energy Damping
The stochastic projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation (SPGPE) is a finite-temperature theory of Bose-Einstein condensate dynamics, utilizing a classical-field approach to describing the dynamics of a low-energy coherent ... -
Snell’s Law and Necklace States for Vortex Dipoles in a Quantum Gas
A quantum vortex is an excitation of a superfluid that carries angular momentum, in which the superfluid is expelled from and circulates around a region known as the vortex core. A quantum vortex dipole consists of two ... -
Instrumentation and Calibration of the Transient Array Radio Telescope
The Transient Array Radio Telescope (TART) is a 24-element aperture synthesis array radio telescope. It is designed as a low-cost test bench for hardware, calibration, and imaging algorithm development, as well as a ... -
Feynman, vortices and resistance in atomtronic circuits
In a 1955 paper on liquid helium Richard Feynman suggested that a superfluid flowing at sufficient speed through a channel into an infinite reservoir would produce uniformly spaced vortex pairs from the corners of the ... -
Exploring the Applications of Subwavelength Nanostructures Fabricated by Solid Immersion Lloyd's Mirror Interference Lithography
Nanofabrication is a powerful tool in modern scientific and technological advancement and plays a key role in the production of consumer electronics, sensors and actuators, and nanophotonic applications. Developed originally ... -
Frequency Tuning of Whispering Gallery Mode Resonators with Planar Dielectric Substrates
In this work we investigate the proposed relationship between planar dielectric substrates of increasing refractive index, and their effect on the frequency of a resonant mode confined in a whispering gallery mode resonator. ... -
Optical Sensitivities of Three Flow-through Porous Plasmonic Sensors
The research studies presented in this thesis include analysing the sensitivity of three different plasmonic substrates with arrays of open-ended nanometric holes. The first plasmonic nanohole array based sensor consisted ... -
Reconstructing Free-Energy Landscapes For Cyclic Motor Proteins
Cyclic motor proteins are responsible for energy conversion processes inside the cell. Their dynamical behaviour can be described theoretically in terms of over-damped Brownian motion on a tilted periodic free-energy ... -
Direct Measurements of Collisional Dynamics in Ultracold Atom Triads
In this thesis, I present experimental methodology and results for direct measurements of ultracold few-atom collision dynamics, which allows quantum processes to be observed at the single event level. Three individual 85 ... -
Dipolar Bose-Einstein Condensate with a Vortex
We theoretically consider the properties of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate with a vortex. Our theory includes the influence of the leading order quantum fluctuation corrections which allows the condensate to stabilize ... -
A Temporal Approach to Characterizing Electrical Peak Demand: Assessment of GHG Emissions at the Supply Side and Identification of Dominant Household Factors at the Demand Side
When electricity demand is at its highest it is most costly to generate and transmit and is usually considered to produce the greatest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, so reducing peaks can have a double benefit. In most ... -
Measuring The Gravitational Field with an Atomic Ruler
This thesis presents the experimental and theoretical studies of the survival resonances in a dissipative atom-optics system, and their applications. We demonstrate this resonant phenomenon by using an alternative approach ... -
Characterising Frazil Ice Populations using Acoustic Techniques
There is a demand for quantitative frazil ice size observations in order to fully model an Ice Shelf Water (ISW) plume describing the outflow of supercooled melt water from underneath ice shelves. These outflows have ... -
Exact nonlinear dynamics of Spinor BECs applied to nematic quenches
In this thesis we study the nonlinear dynamics of spin-1 and spin-2 Bose-Einstein condensates, with particular application to antiferromagnetic systems exhibiting nematic (beyond magnetic) order. Firstly, we give a derivation ... -
An investigation into the meat processing waste biorefinery: design, integration and optimisation
In recognition of the possibility of utilising biomass waste streams as sustainable carbon resources and thus reduce society’s dependence on non-renewable carbon sources, the application of the biorefinery concept has been ... -
Relativistic Electron Microbursts: Properties and Possible Plasma Wave Drivers
Relativistic (>1 MeV) electron microbursts (<1 s duration) are particle precipitation events, thought to be significant contributors to radiation belt losses. Although these events are known to be intense, the exact ...