A mechanical oscillator has been constructed for which the restoring force is closely proportional to the cube of the displacement. The simple air track system allows the properties of this nonlinear oscillator to be experimentally confirmed. In particular, the period-amplitude product TA is observed to be constant and the amplitude of the third harmonic component in the oscillation matches that predicted. The apparatus allows students to expand their studies of linear oscillators into nonlinear phenomena, a topic of considerable interest.
The theme of the work is a study of isobaric analogue reson ances in heavy nuclei of the rare-earth region. After an introductory chapter describing the physical concepts associated with the analogue resonance phenomenon, the thesis is divided into two parts: part A which describes cross-section measurements of analogue resonances in elastic and inelastic proton scattering and part B which covers beam optics calculations which were performed in preparation for the use of the ANU polarised ion source for further analogue resonance studies. Unfortunately, experimental difficulties with the source have prevented any polarisation measurements through analogue resonances being carried out.
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