Abstract for 2008 Honors Colloquium
Kevin Sapp
Physics
"Derivation and Phenomenological Impact of an Operator-Based Noncommutativity Parameter"
Noncommutativity has recently reappeared in string theory after 40 years languishing as a concept developed during the early 20th century. The current problems of noncommutativity are to find a way to apply it without losing a number of observable properties of spacetime. Previous attempts have focused on a matrix of commuting numbers, I will formulate an operator-based parameter; this will preserve standard Lorentz transformations. Additionally, I will study the phenomenological impact of the parameter on well-known processes to determine the allowable size range of the parameter, a factor which will effectively indicate the potential "spacing" of a quantized spacetime.
