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- All Subjects: engineering
- Creators: Computer Science and Engineering Program
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Status: Published
This thesis attempts to explain Everettian quantum mechanics from the ground up, such that those with little to no experience in quantum physics can understand it. First, we introduce the history of quantum theory, and some concepts that make up the framework of quantum physics. Through these concepts, we reveal why interpretations are necessary to map the quantum world onto our classical world. We then introduce the Copenhagen interpretation, and how many-worlds differs from it. From there, we dive into the concepts of entanglement and decoherence, explaining how worlds branch in an Everettian universe, and how an Everettian universe can appear as our classical observed world. From there, we attempt to answer common questions about many-worlds and discuss whether there are philosophical ramifications to believing such a theory. Finally, we look at whether the many-worlds interpretation can be proven, and why one might choose to believe it.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of entanglement and the particular problems it poses for some physicists. In addition to looking at the history of entanglement and non-locality, this paper will use the Bell Test as a means for demonstrating how entanglement works, which measures the behavior of electrons whose combined internal angular momentum is zero. This paper will go over Dr. Bell's famous inequality, which shows why the process of entanglement cannot be explained by traditional means of local processes. Entanglement will be viewed initially through the Copenhagen Interpretation, but this paper will also look at two particular models of quantum mechanics, de-Broglie Bohm theory and Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation, and observe how they explain the behavior of spin and entangled particles compared to the Copenhagen Interpretation.
The objective of this thesis is to conduct a case study into the Bell X-2, an early supersonic research aircraft utilizing a modern perspective and computational tools. The Bell X-2 was the second in a series of supersonic research aircraft created by Bell Aviation Corporation, designed to help engineers to explore this new region of flight. The goal of the X-2 was to gather data on high Mach Number and high-altitude flight as well as aerodynamic heating. The X-2 had poor lateral stability resulting in it being unstable at high Mach Numbers and moderate angles of attack. The program was full of new and unforeseen technical challenges resulting in many delays and tragedies. The program ended when stability problems resulted in a fatal crash destroying the aircraft and killing the test pilot. This case study addresses the historical background of the program, human influence, the stability problems encountered and conducting a stability analysis of the aircraft. To conduct the stability analysis, the potential flow solver, VORLAX, was used to gather aerodynamic coefficient data of the X-2 and determine if these stability problems could be determined from the data obtained. By comparing the results from VORLAX to a wind tunnel study, I determined that the poor lateral directional stability and control coupling issues were foreseeable in the initial design.