Article on the History Engine Project, an online archive consisting of thousands of narratives written and contributed by undergraduates.

The interaction between carbon and hydrogen atoms on a Ru(0001) surface was studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), Density Functional Theory (DFT) and STM image calculations. Formation of CH species by reaction between adsorbed H and C was observed to occur readily at 100 K. When the coverage of H increased new complexes of the form CH+nH (n = 1, 2 and 3) were observed. These complexes, never observed before, might be precursors for further hydrogenation reactions. DFT analysis reveals that a considerable energy barrier exists for the CH+H {yields} CH{sub 2} reaction.

In a search for B {yields} c{bar c}{gamma} K decays with the BABAR detector, where c{bar c} includes J/{psi} and {psi}(2S), and K includes K{sup {+-}}, K{sub S}{sup 0} and K*(892), they find evidence for X(3872) {yields} J/{psi}{gamma} and X(3872) {yields} {psi}(2S){gamma} with 3.6{sigma} and 3.5{sigma} significance, respectively. They measure the product of branching fractions {Beta}(B{sup {+-}} {yields} X (3872)K{sup {+-}}) {center_dot} {Beta}(X(3872) {yields} J/{psi}{gamma}) = (2.8 {+-} 0.8(stat.) {+-} 0.2(syst.)) x 10{sup -6} and {Beta}(B{sup {+-}} {yields} X(3872)K{sup {+-}}) {center_dot} {Beta}(X(3872) {yields} {psi}(2S){gamma}) = (9.9 {+-} 2.9(stat.) {+-} 0.6(syst.)) x 10{sup -6}.

The authors present a study of the charmless semileptonic B-meson decays B{sup +} {yields} {omega}{ell}{sup +}{nu} and B{sup +} {yields} {eta}{ell}{sup +}{nu}. The analysis is based on 383 million B{bar B} pairs recorded at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector. The {omega} mesons are reconstructed in the channel {omega} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} and the {eta} mesons in the channels {eta} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} and {eta} {yields} {gamma}{gamma}. They measure the branching fractions {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {omega}{ell}{sup +}{nu}) = (1.14 {+-} 0.16{sub stat} {+-} 0.08{sub syst}) x 10{sup -4} and {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {eta}{ell}{sup +}{nu}) = (0.31 {+-} 0.06{sub stat} {+-} 0.08{sub syst}) x 10{sup -4}.

The authors present the first observation of the bottomonium ground state {eta}{sub b}(1S) in the photon energy spectrum using a sample of (109 {+-} 1) million of {Upsilon}(3S) events recorded at the {Upsilon}(3S) energy with the BaBar detector at the PEP-II B factory at SLAC. A peak at E{sub {gamma}} = 921.2{sub -2.8}{sup +2.1}(stat) {+-} 2.4(syst) MeV observed with a significance of 10 standard deviations in the photon energy spectrum is interpreted as being due to the radiative transition {Upsilon}(3S) {yields} {gamma} {eta}{sub b}(1S). This photon energy corresponds to an {eta}{sub b}(1S) mass of 9388.9{sub -2.3}{sup +3.1}(stat) {+-} 2.7(syst) MeV/c{sup 2}. The hyperfine {Upsilon}(1S)-{eta}{sub b}(1S) mass splitting is 71.4{sub -3.1}{sup +2.3}(stat) {+-} 2.7(syst) MeV/c{sup 2}. The branching fraction for this radiative {Upsilon}(3S) decay is obtained as (4.8 {+-} 0.5(stat) {+-} 1.2(syst)) x 10{sup -4}.

We present an extensive experimental characterization of the e{sup {+-}} phase space at the interaction point of the SLAC PEP-II B-Factory, that combines a detailed mapping of luminous-region observables using the BABAR detector, with stored-beam measurements by accelerator techniques.

A combination of cyclic polarization tests, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) measurements indicate a film is formed when aluminum is polarized above 4.5V in 1:1 EC+DMC with 1M LiBOB. The quantity of film that is formed increases with increasing applied potential. Results of EQCM tests suggest the film is AlBO{sub 3}. The film is very protective against corrosion and inhibits pitting corrosion of aluminum in normally corrosive 1M LiTFSI.

We present the discovery of a new quadruply lensed quasar. The lens system, SDSS J1330+1810 at z{sub s} = 1.393, was identified as a lens candidate from the spectroscopic sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Optical and near-infrared images clearly show four quasar images with a maximum image separation of 1.76 inch, as well as a bright lensing galaxy. We measure a redshift of the lensing galaxy of z{sub 1} = 0.373 from absorption features in the spectrum. We find a foreground group of galaxies at z = 0.31 centred {approx} 120 inch southwest of the lens system. Simple mass models fit the data quite well, including the flux ratios between images, although the lens galaxy appears to be {approx} 1 mag brighter than expected by the Faber-Jackson relation. Our mass modeling suggests that shear from nearby structure is affecting the lens potential.

Nanometer sized diamond has been found in meteorites, proto-planetary nebulae and interstellar dusts, as well as in residues of detonation and in diamond films. Remarkably, the size distribution of diamond nanoparticles appears to be peaked around 2-5 nm, and to be largely independent of preparation conditions. Using ab-initio calculations, we have shown that in this size range nanodiamond has a fullerene-like surface and, unlike silicon and germanium, exhibit very weak quantum confinement effects. We called these carbon nanoparticles bucky-diamonds: their atomic structure, predicted by simulations, is consistent with many experimental findings. In addition, we carried out calculations of the stability of nanodiamond which provided a unifying explanation of its size distribution in extra-terrestrial samples, and in ultra-crystalline diamond films. Here we present a summary of our theoretical results and we briefly outline work in progress on doping of nanodiamond with nitrogen.

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The Muon g-2 collaboration has measured the anomalous magnetic g value, a = (g-2)/2, of the positive muon with an unprecedented uncertainty of O.7parts per million. The result a{sub {mu}{sup +}}(expt) = 11 659 204(7)(5) x 10{sup -10}, based on data collected in the year 2000 at Brookhaven National Laboratory, is in good agreement with the preceding data on a{sub {mu}{sup +}} and a{sub {mu}{sup -}}. The measurement tests standard model theory, which at the level of the current experimental uncertainty involves quantum electrodynamics, quantum chromodynamics, and electroweak interaction in a significant way.

Polarimeters using the proton carbon elastic scattering process in Coulomb Nuclear Interference (CNI) region were installed in two RHIC rings. Polarization measurements were successfully carried out with the high energy polarized proton beams for the first polarized pp collision run. The physics principles, performance, and polarization measurements are presented.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a stadium-sized facility containing a 192-beam, 1.8-Megajoule, 500-Terawatt, ultraviolet laser system together with a 10-meter diameter target chamber with room for nearly 100 experimental diagnostics. NIF will be the world's largest and most energetic laser experimental system, providing a scientific center to study inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and matter at extreme energy densities and pressures. NIF's energetic laser beams will compress fusion targets to conditions required for thermonuclear burn, liberating more energy than required to initiate the fusion reactions. Other NIF experiments will study physical processes at temperatures approaching 108 K and 1011 bar, conditions that exist naturally only in the interior of stars, planets and in nuclear weapons. NIF has successfully activated, commissioned, and utilized the first four beams of the laser system to conduct over 300 shots between November 2002 and August 2004. NIF laser scientists have established that the laser meets nearly all performance requirements on a per beam basis for energy, uniformity, timing, and pulse shape. Using these four beams, ICF and high-energy-density physics researchers have conducted a number of experimental campaigns resulting in high quality data that could not be reached on any …

The relativistic Stem-Gerlach interaction is here considered as a tool for obtaining the spin state separation of an unpolarized (anti)proton beam circulating in a ring. Drawbacks, such as spin precessions within the TE rf cavity, spurious kicks due to the transverse electric field and, worst of all, filamentation in the longitudinal phase plane are analyzed. Possible remedies are proposed and their feasibility is discussed.

Experiments and calculations were conducted with a 0.13 mm fine wire thermocouple within a naturally-aspirated Gill radiation shield to assess and improve the accuracy of air temperature measurements without the use of mechanical aspiration, wind speed or radiation measurements. It was found that this thermocouple measured the air temperature with root-mean-square errors of 0.35 K within the Gill shield without correction. A linear temperature correction was evaluated based on the difference between the interior plate and thermocouple temperatures. This correction was found to be relatively insensitive to shield design and yielded an error of 0.16 K for combined day and night observations. The correction was reliable in the daytime when the wind speed usually exceeds 1 m s{sup -1} but occasionally performed poorly at night during very light winds. Inspection of the standard deviation in the thermocouple wire temperature identified these periods but did not unambiguously locate the most serious events. However, estimates of sensor accuracy during these periods is complicated by the much larger sampling volume of the mechanically-aspirated sensor compared with the naturally-aspirated sensor and the presence of significant near surface temperature gradients. The root-mean-square errors therefore are upper limits to the aspiration error since they include intrinsic …

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Mass transfer rates were measured in a large scale system, which consisted of an 8.4 meter tall by 0.76 meter diameter column containing one of three fluids: water with an anti-foam agent, water without an anti-foam agent, and AZ101 simulant, which simulated a non-Newtonian nuclear waste. The testing contributed to the evaluation of large scale mass transfer of hydrogen in nuclear waste tanks. Due to its radioactivity, the waste was chemically simulated, and due to flammability concerns oxygen was used in lieu of hydrogen. Different liquids were used to better understand the mass transfer processes, where each of the fluids was saturated with oxygen, and the oxygen was then removed from solution as air bubbled up, or sparged, through the solution from the bottom of the column. Air sparging was supplied by a single tube which was co-axial to the column, the decrease in oxygen concentration was recorded, and oxygen measurements were then used to determine the mass transfer coefficients to describe the rate of oxygen transfer from solution. Superficial, average, sparging velocities of 2, 5, and 10 mm/second were applied to each of the liquids at three different column fill levels, and mass transfer coefficient test results are presented …

Magnesium/silicon carbide (Mg/SiC) multilayers have been fabricated with normal incidence reflectivity in the vicinity of 40% to 50% for wavelengths in the 25 to 50 nm wavelength range. However many applications, for example solar telescopes and ultrafast studies using high harmonic generation sources, desire larger bandwidths than provided by high reflectivity Mg/SiC multilayers. We investigate introducing a third material, Scandium, to create a tri-material Mg/Sc/SiC multilayer allowing an increase the bandwidth while maintaining high reflectivity.

In 1974, a small innocuous document was submitted to the American Nuclear Society's Criticality Safety Division for publication that would have lasting impacts on this nuclear field The author was Duane Clayton, manager of the Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Critical Mass Lab, the world's preeminent reactor critical experimenter with plutonium solutions. The document was entitled, 'Anomalies of Criticality'. 'Anomalies...' was a compilation of more than thirty separate and distinct examples of departures from what might be commonly expected in the field of nuclear criticality. Mr. Clayton's publication was the derivative of more than ten thousand experiments and countless analytical studies conducted world-wide on every conceivable reactor system imaginable: from fissile bearing solutions to solids, blocks to arrays of fuel rods, low-enriched uranium oxide systems to pure plutonium and highly enriched uranium systems. After publication, the document was commonly used within the nuclear fuel cycle and reactor community to train potential criticality/reactor analysts, experimenters and fuel handlers on important things for consideration when designing systems with critically 'safe' parameters in mind The purpose of this paper is to re-introduce 'Anomalies of Criticality' to the current Criticality Safety community and to add new 'anomalies' to the existing compendium. By so doing, …

In recent years, the search to develop large-area solar cells at low cost has led to research on photovoltaic (PV) systems based on nanocomposites containing conjugated polymers. These composite films can be synthesized and processed at lower costs and with greater versatility than the solid state inorganic semiconductors that comprise today's solar cells. However, the best nanocomposite solar cells are based on a complex architecture, consisting of a fine blend of interpenetrating and percolating donor and acceptor materials. Cell performance is strongly dependent on blend morphology, and solution-based fabrication techniques often result in uncontrolled and irreproducible blends, whose composite morphologies are difficult to characterize accurately. Here we incorporate 3-dimensional hyper-branched colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals in solution-processed hybrid organic-inorganic solar cells, yielding reproducible and controlled nanoscale morphology.

A comprehensive study of iron oxide nanocrystal growth through non-hydrolitic, surfactant-mediated thermal reaction of iron pentacarbonyl and an oxidizer has been conducted, which includes size control, anisotropic shape evolution, and crystallographic phase transition of monodisperse iron oxide colloidal nanocrystals. The reaction was monitored by in situ UV-Vis spectroscopy taking advantage of the color change accompanying the iron oxide colloid formation allowing measurement of the induction time for nucleation. Features of the synthesis such as the size control and reproducibility are related to the occurrence of the observed delayed nucleation process. As a separate source of iron and oxygen is adopted, phase control could also be achieved by sequential injections of oxidizer.

A brief review of recent advances in neutron scattering studies of low-dimensional quantum magnets is followed by a particular example. The separation of single-particle and continuum states in the weakly-coupled S = l/2 chains system BaCu{sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7} is described in some detail.

The muon ionization cooling experiment (MICE) consists of a target, a beam line, a pion decay channel, the MICE cooling channel. Superconducting magnets are used in the pion decay channel and the MICE cooling channel. This report describes the MICE cooling channel magnets and the progress in the design and fabrication of these magnets. The MICE cooling channel consists of three types of superconducting solenoids; the spectrometer solenoids, the coupling solenoids and the focusing solenoids. The three types of magnets are being fabricated in he United States, China, and the United Kingdom respectively. The spectrometer magnets are used to analyze the muon beam before and after muon cooling. The coupling magnets couple the focusing sections and keep the muon beam contained within the iris of the RF cavities that re used to recover the muon momentum lost during ionization cooling. The focusing magnets focus the muon beam in the center of a liquid hydrogen absorber. The first of the cooling channel magnets will be operational in MICE in the spring of 2010.

Activation of the EphA2 receptor tyrosine kinase by ephrin-A1 ligands presented on apposed cell surfaces plays important roles in development and exhibits poorly understood functional alterations in cancer. We reconstituted this intermembrane signaling geometry between live EphA2-expressing human breast cancer cells and supported membranes displaying laterally mobile ephrin-A1. Receptor-ligand binding, clustering, and subsequent lateral transport within this junction were observed. EphA2 transport can be blocked by physical barriers nanofabricated onto the underlying substrate. This physical reorganization of EphA2 alters the cellular response to ephrin-A1, as observed by changes in cytoskeleton morphology and recruitment of a disintegrin and metalloprotease 10. Quantitative analysis of receptor-ligand spatial organization across a library of 26 mammary epithelial cell lines reveals characteristic differences that strongly correlate with invasion potential. These observations reveal a mechanism for spatio-mechanical regulation of EphA2 signaling pathways.