The trajectory of an Anisotropic Particle Near a Light-Transmitting Optical Nanofiber

Name: Carlos Owusu-Ansah
Majors: Physics, Mathematics
Advisors: Dr. Cody Leary, Dr. Robert Kelvey
Hi, I am Carlos. I love to do research. When I am not working on research or studying, I like to explore the world. Recently, I started taking long bike rides in my neighborhood. I got lost a few days ago, and since I had left my phone at home, I had to ask for directions from friendly neighbors. My IS project was about the interaction between visible light and small particles. We model an experiment where red light is transmitted through a thin optical fiber. As it travels through the optical fiber, it leaks out and affects the motion of a nearby tiny particle. We derive equations that describe the behavior of the particle and use those equations to predict the behavior of a kyanite particle when it is close to the optical fiber. We find that the light causes the kyanite particle to follow a helical trajectory along the surface of the optical fiber. As the kyanite particle moves along the fiber, it also vibrates.We hope that experiments can be designed to probe our results in the lab, but we are not certain of this because the vibrations we are predicting are very small.