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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Computer Vision for Measuring Boxes: a comparison of Model-based Bayesian Inference and Convolutional Neural Networks
This thesis compares two approaches for measuring the dimensions of boxes using computer vision (CV). The first approach is model-based Bayesian Inference (MBI), which uses a geometric cuboid model as well a camera-conveyor ... -
Stabilizing laser diodes with an optical feedback from a whispering gallery mode resonator
Stabilization of optical sources are becoming more important in high precision measurements. Whispering gallery mode resonators are an ideal candidate for a cavity to stabilize laser diodes. Imperfections in the resonator ... -
Micropatterned Aluminium Surfaces for Anti-icing and Anti-frosting Applications
Developing anti-icing and anti-frosting technology is vital for many different energy generation and consumption systems such as wind turbines, aircraft and heat exchangers, where ice and frost formation is a barrier for ... -
Nematic spin vortices in spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates
Spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates present a wealth of physics, owing to the spin and superfluid order they possess. In this work, we consider spin-1 condensates with antiferromagnetic interactions, which favor the formation ... -
A Comparative Study of Electricity Demand Forecasting Models for Residential Hot Water at the Individual Household Level
Understanding short term future electricity demand is necessary for maintaining a robust and efficient electricity grid. Research on electricity demand forecasting has traditionally ranged in scale from country-wide ... -
Intrinsic contributions to the anomalous Hall conductivity in multiband chiral superconductors
The anomalous Hall conductivity is a material property that can quantify time-reversal symmetry breaking in bulk materials. It is closely related to the polar Kerr effect, which is used as an experimental probe of such ... -
Theory of Microwave to Optical Photon Upconversion Using Erbium Doped Crystals
The subject of this thesis is coherent conversion from microwave photons to optical photons. This has applications for quantum computing, and would allow interfacing between superconducting qubits and optical fibres. ... -
Polarization Gradient Cooling in a Far Off-Resonant Dipole Trap
We present here a novel framework within which the implementation of sub-Doppler cooling, in prevalent form manifest as polarisation gradient cooling, on atomic systems subsistent in both a free-space regime and one in the ... -
Investigation of Fully Concentrated Rare-Earth Crytals for Microwave Upconversion
Superconducting qubits are currently one of the leading qubit designs, showing great success in some of the world's most powerful quantum computers. Superconducting qubits, however, communicate at microwave frequencies, ... -
Superconductivity in strongly spin-orbit coupled systems
Superconductivity is a low-temperature quantum state of matter, marked by the vanishing of electrical resistance and the expulsion of magnetic flux fields. A thorough microscopic understand of superconductivity was gained ... -
Observational Evidence for the Modulation of Antarctic Springtime Ozone Depletion by Energetic Particle Precipitation
Energetic particles of solar origin raining on the atmosphere is known as energetic particle precipitation (EPP) and causes NOx (NO + NO2) increases in the polar atmosphere. When this occurs during the Southern polar winter, ... -
Analysis of modulation in a wireless telephone transmitter.
It is proposed to deal with some points relating to modulation in a simple Valve Transmitter. Only the most common methods will be considered. The work can be divided into two parts. The first dealing with the effects ... -
Ice shelf – ocean boundary interaction
Thermodynamic ablation of ice in contact with the ocean remains poorly understood. Consequently the main topic of this thesis is the interplay between the ice shelf-ocean boundary and the mechanisms driving ice shelf ... -
Deterministic Preparation of Individual Rubidium-85 Dimers via Photoassociation
In this thesis, we present experimental methods and results for direct measurements of the photoassociation of two individual ultra-cold rubidium-85 atoms, each prepared in the |F = 2,m_F = −2⟩ ground state. From there two ... -
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 ... -
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 ...