Browsing Department of Physics and Astronomy by Title
Now showing items 1-20 of 215
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Analysis and simulations to obtain the weak magnetism term in ²²Na beta decay
(University of the Western Cape, 2016)The study of ²²Na beta decay offers an opportunity to test the Standard Model of Particle Physics via measurements of the β−γ angular correlation. A previous measurement of this correlation yielded a non-zero value, ... -
Anomaly Detection With Machine Learning In Astronomical Images
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)Observations that push the boundaries have historically fuelled scientific breakthroughs, and these observations frequently involve phenomena that were previously unseen and unidentified. Data sets have increased in size ... -
Antimicrobial discovery from South African marine algae
(University of the Western Cape, 2018)Antimicrobials are chemical compounds that destroy or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The majority of these antimicrobials are actually natural products or natural product derived with key examples being the pioneer ... -
Application of anomaly detection techniques to astrophysical transients
(University of Western Cape, 2021)We are fast moving into an era where data will be the primary driving factor for discovering new unknown astronomical objects and also improving our understanding of the current rare astronomical objects. Wide field ... -
Application of vertically aligned arrays of metal-oxide nanowires in heterojunction photovoltaics
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)The commercial need to improve the performance of low-cost organic solar cells has led to the idea for this research. The study discusses the synthesis of one dimensional TiO2 and ZnO nanowire arrays synthesised using a ... -
Calibration of a NaI (Tl) detector for low level counting of naturally occurring radionuclides in soil
(University of the Western Cape, 2011)The Physics Department at the University of the Western Cape and the Environmental Physics group at iThemba labs have been conducting radiometric studies on both land and water. In this study a 7.5 cm X 7.5 cm NaI (Tl) ... -
Carbon, magnesium implantation and proton irradiation on pulsed laser deposited thermochromic thin film of VO2
(University of Western Cape, 2020)When the spacecrafts orbit in space, it is subjected to significant thermal cycling variation. Thermal regulation of the spacecraft temperature is required to ensure a good operation of the small crafts such as CubeSats ... -
Characterisation of natural radioactivity in Karoo Basin groundwater prior to shale gas exploration
(University of the Western Cape, 2017)The prospect of unconventional shale-gas development in the Karoo Basin (South Africa) has created the need to obtain baseline data on natural radioactivity in Karoo groundwaters. The Karoo Basin groundwater radiological ... -
Characterisation of the first 1/2+ excited state in 9B and isospin symmetry breaking studies in A = 9 nuclei
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)The 9Be - 9B isospin doublet carries fundamental significance for both nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics studies. The first excited 1/2+ state in 9Be is already well established. However, its isobaric analogue ... -
Charge transfer efficiency and optical properties of P3HT/PCBM spin coated thin films
(UWC, 2009)The efficiency of organic photovoltaics is influenced by the structure of the polymer, the morphology of the film, the interfaces between the layers, the choice of electron acceptor material and the ratio between the ... -
Clustering studies of radio-selected galaxies
(University of the Western Cape, 2011)We investigate the clustering of HI-selected galaxies in the ALFALFA survey and compare results with those obtained for HIPASS. Measurements of the angular correlation function and the inferred 3D-clustering are compared ... -
Comparison of neutron fluence spectra measured with NE213 proton recoil spectrometer and NE230 deuteron recoil spectrometer
(University of the Western Cape, 2014)A (5 cm × 5 cm) cylindrical NE213 liquid organic scintillator and a (2.5 cm × 2.5 cm)cylindrical NE230 liquid organic scintillator were used as spectrometers. A series of measurements was made with both the NE213 and NE230 ... -
Computational modelling of a hot-wire chemical vapour deposition reactor chamber
(University of Western Cape, 2020)In this thesis, I explore the subjects of fluid dynamics and the Hot-Wire Chemical Vapour Deposition (HWCVD) process. HWCVD, in its simplicity, is one of the more powerful and elegant deposition techniques available in ... -
Construction and analysis of exponential time differencing methods for the robust simulation of ecological models
(University of Western Cape, 2021)In this thesis, we consider some interesting mathematical models arising in ecology. Our focus is on the exploration of robust numerical solvers which are applicable to models arising in mathematical ecology. To begin ... -
Cosmology with HI intensity mapping: effect of higher order corrections
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)One of the main challenges of cosmology is to unveil the nature of dark energy and dark matter. They can be constrained with baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) and redshift space distortions, amongst others. Both have ... -
Cosmology with next generation radio telescopes
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)The next generation of radio telescopes will revolutionize cosmology by providing large three-dimensional surveys of the universe. This work presents forecasts using the technique 21cm intensity mapping (IM) combined ... -
Coupling of single neutron configurations to collective core excitations in 162Yb using 163Yb
(University of the Western Cape, 2017)In odd-nuclei the single nucleon can couple to collective excitations of its even-even core nucleus . These collective excitations lie within the pairing gap and are therefore the lowest energy excitations of the core. Our ... -
The curious case of offset bars : markers for a baby galaxy disk or signposts of an interaction with dark matter sub halos?
(University of the Western Cape, 2016)We have used the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S⁴G) as a representative sample of the local universe (total of 2352 galaxies in S⁴G) to make a catalog of offset disk barred galaxies. Using the combined ... -
Deposition and structural properties of silicon carbide thin films for solar cell applications.
(University of the Western Cape, 2014)The growth of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) thin films deposited by Hot- Wire Chemical Vapour Deposition (HWCVD) for solar cell applications has been studied. The films were characterized for structural ... -
Deposition of silicon nanostructures by thermal chemical vapour deposition
(University of the Western Cape, 2015)In this thesis we report on the deposition of silicon nanostructures using a 3-zone thermal chemical vapour deposition process at atmospheric pressure. Nickel and gold thin films, deposited by DC sputtering on crystalline ...
