Z3 Topological Order in the Quantum Dimer-Pentamer Model , Owen Myers, Chris Herdman, Physical Review B, (2017).

One Step Forward for Reducing False Positive and False Negative Compound Identifications from Mass Spectrometry Metabolomics Data: New Algorithms for Constructing Extracted Ion Chromatograms and Detecting Chromatographic Peaks , Owen Myers, Susan Sumner, Shuzhao Li, Stephen Barnes, Xiuxia Du, Analytical Chemistry, (2017).

Detailed Investigation and Comparison of the XCMS and MZmine 2 Chromatogram Construction and Chromatographic Peak Detection Methods for Preprocessing Mass Spectrometry Metabolomics Data , Owen Myers, Susan Sumner, Shuzhao Li, Stephen Barnes, Xiuxia Du, Analytical Chemistry, (2017).

Long-Range Interacting Pendula: A Simple Model for Understanding Complex Dynamics of Charged Particles in An Electric Curtain Device , Owen Myers, Adrian Del Maestro, Junru Wu, Jeffrey S. Marshall, Journal of Applied Physics, (2017).

Computational studies of multiple-particle nonlinear dynamics in a spatio-temporally periodic potential , Owen D. Myers, Junru Wu, Jeffrey S. Marshall, and Christopher M. Danforth, J. Appl. Phys. 115, 244908 (2014).

Nonlinear dynamics of particles excited by an electric curtain, Owen D. Myers, Junru Wu and Jeffrey S. Marshall, J. Appl. Phys. 114, 154907 (2013).

I have recently concluded some work on the quantum dimer pentamer model (QDPM) on a square lattice. A pentamer being an object where four dimers touch a vertex. The QDPM is a generalization of the quantum dimer model (QDM), a popular model for studying quantum liquid phases. I used a Monte Carlo method (C++) to investigate the ground state properties of the QDPM, finding it is in a liquid state at a specific point in the parameter space. The study of this model began because it's local symmetry is a Z3 symmetry. The QDM has a local U(1) symmetry and U(1) topological order. T The inclusion of pentamers brings the local U(1) symmetry of the QDM to Z3 and the question is if the QDPM has Z3 topological order. In our PRB paper we show results that support this hypothesis which is particularly interesting because the local degrees of freedom are binary (Ising). Currently, I'm studying the geometric properties of the Z3 string-net model and soon I will also be investigating the topological entanglement entropy of the QDPM which will decisively show if the model exhibits Z3 topological order.

At UNCC my primary project was to reduce the number of false positives in the analysis of liquid chromotography (LC) or gas chromotography (GC) - mass spectrometry (MS) metabolomics data. The detection of false positive and false negative chromatographic peaks are a serious problem in the current analysis methods and we have explicitly shown that these false positive peaks can propagate all the way to compound identification. With the goal of developing a fully automated analysis pipeline I worked on new ways of detecting features in LC or GC-MS data. Compared to two of the most popular software packages (XCMS and MZmine 2) I have successfully been able to reduced, by a significant amount, the false positive detection rate with our algorithms. Some of this work has been incorporated into the MZmine 2 software package (Java) and is a part of their most recent release, version 2.24. here.

My previous graduate work was also primarily computational but of a slightly different nature. I studied the equilibrium and non-equilibrium behaviors of a classical mean field spin model that, under the appropriate coordinate transformation, can approximately describe the angles of long-range interacting pendula. I also investigated the dynamical properties a system of charged particles in a parametrically driven one-dimensional potential. This required applying dynamical systems analysis techniques, such as the calculation of limit cycle's stability multipliers, to a system with many degrees of freedom.