Transmission electron microscopy is used to acquire electron energy-loss spectra from phase-specific regions of Pu and U metal, PuO{sub 2} and UO{sub 2}, and aged, self-irradiated Pu metal. The N{sub 4,5} (4d {yields} 5f) spectra are analyzed using the spin-orbit sum rule. Our results show that the technique is sensitive enough to detect changes in the branching ratio of the white-line peaks between the metal and dioxide of both U and Pu. There is a small change in the branching ratio between different Pu metals, and the data trends as would be expected for varying f electron localization, i.e., {alpha}-Pu, {delta}-Pu, aged {delta}-Pu. Moreover, our results suggest that the metal-oxide bonds in UO{sub 2} and PuO{sub 2} are strongly covalent in nature and do not exhibit an integer valence change as would be expected from purely ionic bonding.

Previous LLNL investigators developed a bullet and projectile tracking system over a decade ago. Renewed interest in the technology has spawned research that culminated in a live-fire experiment, called Fight Sight, in September 2005. The experiment was more complex than previous LLNL bullet tracking experiments in that it included multiple shooters with simultaneous fire, new sensor-shooter geometries, large amounts of optical clutter, and greatly increased sensor-shooter distances. This presentation describes the data association and tracking algorithms for the Fight Sight experiment. Image processing applied to the imagery yields a sequence of bullet features which are input to a data association routine. The data association routine matches features with existing tracks, or initializes new tracks as needed. A Kalman filter is used to smooth and extrapolate existing tracks. The Kalman filter is also used to back-track bullets to their point of origin, thereby revealing the location of the shooter. It also provides an error ellipse for each shooter, quantifying the uncertainty of shooter location. In addition to describing the data association and tracking algorithms, several examples from the Fight Sight experiment are also presented.

Heat and mass are injected into the shallow crust when mantle fluids are able to flow through the ductile lower crust. Minimum 3He/4He ratios in surface fluids from the northern Basin and Range province, western North America increase systematically from low, crustal values in the east to high, mantle values in the west, a regional trend that correlates with the rates of active crustal deformation. The highest ratios occur where the extension and shear strain rates are greatest. The correspondence of helium isotope ratios and active trans-tensional deformation indicates a deformation enhanced permeability and that mantle fluids can penetrate the ductile lithosphere in regions even where there is no significant magmatism. Superimposed on the regional trend are local, high-{sup 3}He/{sup 4}He anomalies signifying hidden magmatic activity and/or deep fluid production with locally enhanced permeability, identifying zones with high resource potential, particularly for geothermal energy development.

Current-induced domain-wall dynamics is investigated via high-resolution soft x-ray transmission microscopy by a stroboscopic pump-and-probe measurement scheme at a temporal resolution of 200 ps. A 180{sup o} domain wall in a restoring potential of a permalloy microstructure is displaced from its equilibrium position by nanosecond current pulses leading to oscillations with velocities up to 325 m/s. The motion of the wall is described with an analytical model of a rigid domain wall in a nonharmonic potential allowing one to determine the mass of the domain wall. We show that Oersted fields dominate the domain-wall dynamics in our geometry.

The most commonly discussed measures of microstructure in composite materials are the spatial correlation functions, which in a porous medium measure either the grain-to-grain correlations, or the pore-to-pore correlations in space. Improved bounds based on this information such as the Beran-Molyneux bounds for bulk modulus and the Beran bounds for conductivity are well-known. It is first shown here how to make direct use of this information to provide estimates that always lie between these upper and lower bounds for any microstructure whenever the microgeometry parameters are known. Then comparisons are made between these estimates, the bounds, and two new types of estimates. One new estimate for elastic constants makes use of the Peselnick-Meister bounds (based on Hashin-Shtrikman methods) for random polycrystals of laminates to generate self-consistent values that always lie between the bounds. A second new type of estimate for conductivity assumes that measurements of formation factors (of which there are at least two distinct types in porous media, associated respectively with pores and grains) are available, and computes new bounds based on this information. The paper compares and contrasts these various methods in order to clarify just what microstructural information and how precisely that information needs to be known …

We propose a real-space finite differences approach for accurate and unbiased O(N) Density Functional Theory molecular dynamics simulations based on a localized orbitals representation of the electronic structure. The discretization error can be reduced systematically by adapting the mesh spacing, while the orbitals truncation error decreases exponentially with the radius of the localization regions. For regions large enough, energy conservation in microcanonical simulations is demonstrated for liquid water. We propose an explanation for the energy drift observed for smaller regions.

A photon collider interaction region has the possibility of expanding the physics reach of a future TeV scale electron-positron collider. A survey of ongoing efforts to design the required lasers and optics to create a photon collider is presented in this paper.

With laser-driven tabletop x-ray lasers now operating in the efficient saturation regime, the source characteristics of high photon flux, high monochromaticity, picosecond pulse duration, and coherence are well-matched to many applications involving the probing of matter undergoing rapid changes. We give an overview of recent experiments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Compact Multipulse Terawatt (COMET) laser using the picosecond 14.7 nm x-ray laser as a compact, ultrafast probe for surface analysis and for interferometry of laser-produced plasmas. The plasma density measurements for known laser conditions allow us to reliably and precisely benchmark hydrodynamics codes. In the former case, the x-ray laser ejects photo-electrons, from the valence band or shallow core-levels of the material, and are measured in a time-of-flight analyzer. Therefore, the electronic structure can be studied directly to determine the physical properties of materials undergoing rapid phase changes.

High quality CdZnTe (or CZT) crystals have the potential for use in room temperature gamma-ray and X-ray spectrometers. Over the last decade, the methods for growing high quality CZT have improved the quality of the produced crystals however there are material features that can influence the performance of these materials as radiation detectors. The presence of structural heterogeneities within the crystals, such as twinning, pipes, grain boundaries (polycrystallinity), and secondary phases (SPs) can have an impact on the detector performance. There is considerable need for reliable and reproducible characterization methods for the measurement of crystal quality. With improvements in material characterization and synthesis, these crystals may become suitable for widespread use in gamma radiation detection. Characterization techniques currently utilized to test for quality and/or to predict performance of the crystal as a gamma-ray detector include infrared (IR) transmission imaging, synchrotron X-ray topography, photoluminescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy. In some cases, damage caused by characterization methods can have deleterious effects on the crystal performance. The availability of non-destructive analysis techniques is essential to validate a crystal's quality and its ability to be used for either qualitative or quantitative gamma-ray or X-ray detection. The …

We report a new STAR measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A{sub LL} for inclusive jet production at mid-rapidity in polarized p + p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of {radical}s = 200 GeV. The data, which cover jet transverse momenta 5 < p{sub T} < 30 GeV/c, are substantially more precise than previous measurements. They provide significant new constraints on the gluon spin contribution to the nucleon spin through the comparison to predictions derived from one global fit of polarized deep-inelastic scattering measurements.

In [1]the one Higgs doublet standard model was obtained by an orbifold projection of a 5D supersymmetric theory in an essentially unique way, resulting in a prediction for the Higgs mass m_H = 127 +- 8 GeV and for the compactification scale 1/R = 370 +- 70 GeV. The dominant one loop contribution to the Higgs potential was found to be finite, while the above uncertainties arose from quadratically divergent brane Z factors and from other higher loop contributions. In [3], a quadratically divergent Fayet-Iliopoulos term was found at one loop in this theory. We show that the resulting uncertainties in the predictions for the Higgs boson mass and the compactification scale are small, about 25percent of the uncertainties quoted above, and hence do not affect the original predictions. However, a tree level brane Fayet-Iliopoulos term could, if large enough, modify these predictions, especially for 1/R.

The correlation between baryon number and strangeness elucidates the nature of strongly interacting matter. This diagnostic can be extracted theoretically from lattice QCD calculations and experimentally from event-by-event fluctuations. The analysis of present lattice results above the critical temperature severely limits the presence of q{bar q} bound states, thus supporting a picture of independent (quasi)quarks. Details may be found in [1].

Department of Energy contractors are required to monitor external occupational radiation exposure of an individual likely to receive an effective dose equivalent to the whole body of 0.1 rem (0.001sievert) or more in a year. For a working year of 2000 hours, this translates to a dose rate of 0.05 mrem/hr (0.5 {micro}Sv/hr). This can be a challenging requirement for neutron exposure because traditional surveys with shielded BF{sub 3} proportional counters are difficult to conduct, particularly at low dose rates. A modified survey method was used at the Savannah River Site to find low dose rates in excess of 0.05 mrem/hr. An unshielded He{sup 3} detector was used to find elevated gross slow neutron counts. Areas with high count rates on the unshielded He{sup 3} detector were further investigated with shielded BF{sub 3} proportional counters and thermoluminescent neutron dosimeters were placed in the area of interest. An office area was investigated with this method. The data initially suggested that whole body neutron dose rates to office workers could be occurring at levels significantly higher than 0.1 rem (0.001sievert). The final evaluation, however, showed that the office workers were exposed to less than 0.1 rem/yr (0.001sievert/yr) of neutron radiation.

Cross sections for photoionization of doubly-chargedscandium ions has been measured using a merged-beams technique. Resultsare compared with the time-reversed process ofphotorecombination.

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The KTeV physics program encompasses many goals including a precision measurement of the direct CP violation parameter Re({epsilon}{prime}/{epsilon}) in K{sub S,L} {yields} {pi}{pi} decays, and studies of rare neutral kaon decays. The KTeV detector collected data during the Fermilab fixed-target runs of 1996-97 and 1999. This article focuses on the precision measurement of the direct CP violation parameter Re({epsilon}{prime}/{epsilon}) using the 1996-97 data set. In addition, measurements of the neutral kaon parameters {tau}{sub s}, {Delta}m, {phi}{sub {+-}}, {Delta}{phi} from that data set and a new measurement of the branching fraction of K{sub L} {yields} e{sup +}e{sup -} {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -} from the 1997 and 1999 data also are presented.

We report here on the R and D program of the U.S. Neutrino Factory and Muon Collider Collaboration. Our effort includes work on targetry, muon ionization cooling, simulation work, and development of superconducting RF cavities. In addition, we are involved in the international effort toward a Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE). Recent activities in all these areas will be described.

A method for determining worst-case cyclic fatigue thresholds in grain-bridging ceramics by quantifying the role of bridging is demonstrated for a model alumina. Crack-growth properties for both long and short (< 2 mm) cracks emanating from machined notches (root radii, (rho) {approx}; 15 - 150 (mu)m) were investigated. When compared as a function of the applied stress-intensity range (delta K), growth rates (da/dN) were far higher and fatigue thresholds (Delta)KTH were markedly lower with short cracks, with growth being observable at the lowest driving forces for short cracks emanating from razor micronotches ((rho)is approximately equal to 15 (mu)m). For growth rates < 10-8 m/cycle, da/dN vs. (delta)K data for short cracks merged with the steady-state data for long cracks after {approx}2 mm of extension.

With extensive upgrades to the detector and electronics, CDF has started collecting data with Run II of the Tevatron. The enhanced silicon coverage and the use of silicon based tracks in the trigger, make CDF well suited for a broad program of B hadron measurements. We present the current status of the experiment and prospects for measurements in Run II.

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Photoionization of multiply charged ions is studied using the merged-beams technique at the Advanced Light Source. Absolute photoionization cross sections have been measured for a variety of ions along both isoelectronic and isonuclear sequences.

The paper discusses the present trends in the design of low-noise front-end systems for room temperature semiconductor detectors. The technological advancement provided by submicron CMOS and BiCMOS processes is examined from several points of view. The noise performances are a fundamental issue in most detector applications and suitable attention is devoted to them for the purpose of judging whether or not the present processes supersede the solutions featuring a field-effect transistor as a front-end element. However, other considerations are also important in judging how well a monolithic technology suits the front-end design. Among them, the way a technology lends itself to the realization of additional functions, for instance, the charge reset in a charge-sensitive loop or the time-variant filters featuring the special weighting functions that may be requested in some applications of CdTe or CZT detectors.

Run II at the Tevatron started on March 1, 2001 with a design instantaneous luminosity of 2 x 10{sup 32} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}. The upgraded D0 detector is expected to collect 2 fb{sup -1} of data at {radical}s = 2.0 TeV in approximately 2 years. The D0 collaboration is planning to make measurements in a number of important areas of B physics, including sin(2{beta}), B{sub s} mixing, the {Lambda}{sub b} lifetime and rare B decays. In this note we describe the upgraded D0 detector and highlights of the B physics program in D0.

ATLAS (Argonne Tandem Linear Accelerator System) accelerates heavy-ion elements, and consists of 2 separate ion source injectors, 64 superconducting resonators, and 3 target areas. As with any complex accelerator facility, database management systems are used extensively to support both the archival of operational data, and the realtime control needs of the accelerator. Web technology has recently been integrated into the already existing ATLAS Oracle Rdb database system and control system documentation to enhance communication with the operators, control system engineers, and other technical support staff at ATLAS. This paper reviews the historical development of the control system database structure and user interface, and the Internet software developer tools used to create a new online interface.