Treasures @ UT Dallas

Welcome to Treasures @ UT Dallas Institutional Repository, established in 2010. Treasures is a resource for our community to showcase, organize, share, and preserve research and scholarship in an Open Access repository.

 

Recent Submissions

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Controllability, Reachability, and Inference for Complex Dynamic Systems
(December 2022) Hadizadeh Kafash, Sahand 1989-; Ruths, Justin; Varner, Victor; Spong, Mark W.; Waseem Abbas; Zare, Armin; Koeln, Justin
The focus of this dissertation is on developing a data-driven framework to infer interconnections in networks of dynamic agents, development of theoretical foundations for the controllability of bilinear systems, and reachability analysis of linear time invariant systems. Inspired by some existing methodologies on discovering the governing dynamics using time- series data, here we introduce two new data manipulation techniques that can be applied to infer interconnections when the agents are of the second-order dynamics and have hidden states, the states not available for direct measurements. In the next step, the controllability of single-input bilinear systems is investigated. It will be shown that some of the conditions required for the controllability of such systems can be relaxed at the expense of losing control over regions with zero Lebesgue measures in the state space. We then show how these relaxations can open path to achieve conditions on the near controllability of multi-input bilinear systems. Lastly, the reachability problem is studied for discrete-time linear systems where we propose new techniques for verifying the inclusion and exclusion of given sets with applications to the security of cyber-physical systems.
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Paths to Non-ergodic Quantum Dynamics: From Cavity QED to Strong Zero Modes
(December 2022) Rahmanian Koshkaki, Saeed; Pereira, Luis Felipe; Kolodrubetz, Michael; Lv, Bing; Vandenberghe, William; Zhang, Fan; Zhang, Chuanwei
Recent advances in cold atoms experiments and the development of superconducting circuits have revolutionized the way we can examine, observe and implement new physical phenomena. In such systems, we can realize new classes of quantum systems which exhibit non-equilibrium quantum phenomena. These systems have attracted mcuh attention in the past two decades as they possess new physics absent in equilibrium. Beside interesting rich physics to learn more about quantum systems, understanding non-equilibrium systems are crucial in developing future technologies such as quantum computation and communication. Given that many open questions needed to be answered in the study of non-equilibrium quantum systems, in this dissertation we will present our theoretical and numerical attempts in providing answers to some of these questions. One of the key features of the non-equilibrium system is how the dynamical properties of quantum systems cane be characterized in different conditions. Here we will present our result on two different mechanism a system can avoid ergodicity. Many-body localization (MBL) is an extension of Anderson localization to interacting systems, where adding strong enough disorder (breaking translational symmetry by adding random potential such as impurity in crystals) can impede the conductivity (system becomes insulator) in the quantum system. Most of the known MBL systems are short- range interacting particles, but in this dissertation, we will discuss MBL in the presence of coupling of the matter to cavity/circuit QED mode where the combined system becomes long-range interacting. We will study the two cases of weak coupling and strong coupling regimes and will derive the effective Hamiltonian using the high-frequency expansion for each case of coupling strength. We predict that the cavity QED has new localization behaviors such as an inversion of the mobility edge where the high-energy states are localized and low-energy states are delocalized. Also in the strong coupling limit, we observed that using the idea from coherent destruction of coupling the system can show signs of localization for photon number as low as n ∼ 2. The rest of this dissertation is devoted to understanding how a clean system (no disorder) can possess symmetry-breaking edge modes indefinitely, or for a long enough but finite time. The case with infinite lifetime edge mode is called strong mode (SM) and the case with finite lifetime edge mode is known as almost strong mode (ASM). Our system of interest is a clock Z3 model which is an extension of the Ising Z2 models. In the clock model (Baxter and modified Baxter) we found that the chirality of the interaction is essential in deriving the exact edge mode in the Hermitian model but removing the hermiticity (controlled by a parameter β), the effect of chirality on the stability of the edge mode becomes less important. We attempt to use different numerical and approximation techniques such as Krylov Hamiltonian and dynamical signature to characterize the edge mode in a Z3 model.
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Synthesis and Bioactivity Evaluation of KDM4 Inhibitors in Prostate Cancer Cells
(December 2022) Smith, Tristan; Ahn, Jung Mo; Penev, Kaloyan; Smaldone, Ronald A.; D'Arcy, Sheena; Stefan, Mihaela C.
The need for alternative therapeutic targets has grown due to the stagnating progress of treatment for metastatic prostate cancer with activity independent of the androgen receptor. Inhibition of histone lysine demethylases belonging to the KDM4 subfamily are of significant interest due to their aberrant expression and role in castration-resistant prostate cancer. This dissertation presents the design, synthesis, and biochemical evaluation for a library of 8-hydroxyquinoline-based derivatives of B3, a KDM4 inhibitor that has previously demonstrated therapeutic potential. Motivated by the search for improved efficacy for KDM4 inhibition in prostate cancer, the first investigation highlights the structure-activity relationship discovered from modifying the phenylpropyl moiety of B3. Screening a comprehensive list of different chemical groups revealed several with improved inhibitor activity and stability. Continuing our search for improved efficacy, the second investigation explored augmentation of the benzamide moiety of B3 that led to the identification of a new lead inhibitor using 4-(3-methoxypropyl)morpholine. This modification to B3 led to the desired cytotoxicity to tumor viability during in vitro MTT assays and in vivo murine studies.
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An Asian American Cookbook: the 汤圆(Tang Yuan) Chocolate Chip Cookie
(December 2023) Banditrat, Emily 05/30/1996-; Farrar, Eric; Johnson, Casey; Terry, Dean
The 汤圆(Tang Yuan) Chocolate Chip Cookie is a three-dimensional diorama that captures and guides viewers through the process of combining two drastically different ethnic desserts into one final product. Through a video presentation of the diorama, this project is designed so that each part of the 3D environment contains hints and clues about the baker's identity. It aims to introduce readers to embark on a treasure hunt to piece together the story of this new cookie and how it came into existence. By employing dynamic composition with baking ingredients, the implied motion directs the reader's gaze towards key elements of the baking environment. The scene's composition and prop placement begin with the camera opening to the center of the room and progressing to display the cooking process from left to right. A slow pan captures the viewer's attention, allowing them to explore the baker's story elements scattered throughout the kitchen.
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Home-based Lower Limb Immersive Serious Game for Phantom Pain Management
(December 2023) Chung, Yu-Yen 1987-; Prabhakaran, Balakrishnan; Rotea, Mario A.; Kim, Jin Ryong; Xiang, Yu; Guo, Xiaohu
With recent advances in mixed reality technology, Head Mounted Devices (HMDs) have become a preferred option for immersive gaming at home. Immersive games using HMD have been applied for serious purposes, such as improving motivation for performing rehabilitation activities at home. Mr.MAPP is a virtual mirror therapy system designed for amputees with phantom limb pain. In this work, we first investigate the Mr.MAPP system through a clinical patient study and further improve the system design based on the uncovered insight. In addition, to allow users to experience mixed reality in the first-person perspective using their realistic body reconstruction, we prototype a system to aggregate the body’s texture in realtime. Through simulation using the reconstruction system, we created an optimal camera setup guideline for amputees’ in-home setup. Lastly, a Home-based Lower Limb Immersive Exergame System (HILLES) is developed to address challenges such as system setup, safety, and game engagement for in-home usage. A stomping game using the system is developed for an exploratory user study to evaluate the system and the proposed enhancements. The discovered insight could be helpful for future lower limb exergame design.