Recent experiments were carried out on the Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) towards the demonstration of a soft x-ray laser Thomson scattering diagnostic for a laser-produced exploding foil. The Thomson probe utilized the Ne-like zinc x-ray laser which was double-passed to deliver {approx}1 mJ of focused energy at 21.2 nm wavelength and lasting {approx}100 ps. The plasma under study was heated single-sided using a Gaussian 300-ps pulse of 438-nm light (3{omega} of the PALS iodine laser) at laser irradiances of 10{sup 13}-10{sup 14} W cm{sup -2}. Electron densities of 10{sup 20}-10{sup 22} cm{sup -3} and electron temperatures from 200 to 500 eV were probed at 0.5 or 1 ns after the peak of the heating pulse during the foil plasma expansion. A flat-field 1200 line mm{sup -1} variable-spaced grating spectrometer with a cooled charge-coupled device readout viewed the plasma in the forward direction at 30{sup o} with respect to the x-ray laser probe. We show results from plasmas generated from {approx}1 {micro}m thick targets of Al and polypropylene (C{sub 3}H{sub 6}). Numerical simulations of the Thomson scattering cross-sections will be presented. These simulations show electron peaks in addition to a narrow ion feature due to collective (incoherent) Thomson scattering. The …

High Energy Physics continues to push the technical boundaries for electronics. There is no area where this is truer than for vertex detectors. Lower mass and power along with higher resolution and radiation tolerance are driving forces. New technologies such as SOI CMOS detectors and three dimensional (3D) integrated circuits offer new opportunities to meet these challenges. The fundamentals for SOI CMOS detectors and 3D integrated circuits are discussed. Examples of each approach for physics applications are presented. Cost issues and ways to reduce development costs are discussed.

Precise and absolute beam polarization measurements are critical for the RHIC spin physics program. Because all experimental spin-dependent results are normalized by beam polarization, the normalization uncertainty contributes directly to final physics uncertainties. We aimed to perform the beam polarization measurement to an accuracy Of {Delta}P{sub beam}/P{sub beam} < 5%. The absolute polarimeter consists of Polarized Atomic Hydrogen Gas Jet Target and left-right pairs of silicon strip detectors and was installed in the RHIC-ring in 2004. This system features proton-proton elastic scattering in the Coulomb nuclear interference (CNI) region. Precise measurements of the analyzing power A{sub N} of this process has allowed us to achieve {Delta}P{sub beam}/P{sub beam} = 4.2% in 2005 for the first long spin-physics run. In this report, we describe the entire set up and performance of the system. The procedure of beam polarization measurement and analysis results from 2004-2005 are described. Physics topics of AN in the CNI region (four-momentum transfer squared 0.001 < -t < 0.032 (GeV/c){sup 2}) are also discussed. We point out the current issues and expected optimum accuracy in 2006 and the future.

The accuracy requirements for modern nuclear reactor simulation are steadily increasing due to the cost and regulation of relevant experimental facilities. Because of the increase in the cost of experiments and the decrease in the cost of simulation, simulation will play a much larger role in the design and licensing of new nuclear reactors. Fortunately as the work load of simulation increases, there are better physics models, new numerical techniques, and more powerful computer hardware that will enable modern simulation codes to handle the larger workload. This manuscript will discuss a numerical method where the six equations of two-phase flow, the solid conduction equations, and the two equations that describe neutron diffusion and precursor concentration are solved together in a tightly coupled, nonlinear fashion for a simplified model of a nuclear reactor core. This approach has two important advantages. The first advantage is a higher level of accuracy. Because the equations are solved together in a single nonlinear system, the solution is more accurate than the traditional “operator split” approach where the two-phase flow equations are solved first, the heat conduction is solved second and the neutron diffusion is solved third, limiting the temporal accuracy to 1st order because the …

The Grid security mechanisms were designed under the assumption that users would submit their jobs directly to the Grid gatekeepers. Many groups are however starting to use pilot-based infrastructures, where users submit jobs to a centralized queue and are successively transferred to the Grid resources by the pilot infrastructure. While this approach greatly improves the user experience, it does introduce several security and policy issues, the more serious being the lack of system level protection between the users and the inability for Grid sites to apply fine grained authorization policies. One possible solution to the problem is provided by gLExec, a X.509 aware suexec derivative. By using gLExec, the pilot workflow becomes as secure as any traditional one.

The AdS/CFT correspondence between string theory in AdS space and conformal field theories in physical space-time leads to an analytic, semi-classical model for strongly-coupled QCD which has scale invariance and dimensional counting at short distances and color confinement at large distances. One can use holography to map the amplitude describing the hadronic state in the fifth dimension of Anti-de Sitter space AdS5 to the light-front wavefunctions of hadrons in physical space-time, thus providing a relativistic description of hadrons in QCD at the amplitude level. In particular, we show that there is an exact correspondence between the fifth-dimensional coordinate of AdS space z and a specific impact variable {var_sigma} which measures the separation of the quark and gluonic constituents within the hadron in ordinary space-time. New relativistic light-front equations in ordinary space-time can then be derived which reproduce the results obtained using the 5-dimensional theory. The effective light-front equations possess elegant algebraic structures and integrability properties. This connection between the AdS and the light-front representations allows one to compute the analytic form of the frame-independent light-front wavefunctions, the fundamental entities which encode hadron properties and allow the computation of decay constants, form factors, deeply virtual Compton scattering, exclusive heavy hadron decays …

The Fission Product Extraction (FPEX) Process is being developed as part of the United States Department of Energy Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative for the simultaneous separation of cesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr) from spent light water reactor (LWR) fuel. Separation of the Cs and Sr will reduce the short-term heat load in a geological repository, and when combined with the separation of americium (Am) and curium (Cm), could increase the capacity of the geological repository by a factor of approximately 100. The FPEX process is based on two highly specific extractants: 4,4',(5')-Di-(t-butyldicyclo-hexano)-18-crown-6 (DtBuCH18C6) and Calix[4]arene-bis-(tert-octylbenzo-crown-6) (BOBCalixC6). The DtBuCH18C6 extractant is selective for strontium and the BOBCalixC6 extractant is selective for cesium. Results of flowsheet testing of the FPEX process with a simulated feed solution in 3.3-cm centrifugal contactors are detailed. Removal efficiencies, distribution coefficient data, coextraction of metals, and process hydrodynamic performance are discussed along with recommendations for future flowsheet testing with actual spent nuclear fuel.

During the past two years, the US heavy ion fusion science program has made significant experimental and theoretical progress in simultaneous transverse and longitudinal beam compression, ion-beam-driven warm dense matter targets, high-brightness beam transport, advanced theory and numerical simulations, and heavy ion target physics for fusion. First experiments combining radial and longitudinal compression {pi} of intense ion beams propagating through background plasma resulted in on-axis beam densities increased by 700X at the focal plane. With further improvements planned in 2008, these results enable initial ion beam target experiments in warm dense matter to begin next year. They are assessing how these new techniques apply to higher-gain direct-drive targets for inertial fusion energy.

During the past two years, the US heavy ion fusion science program has made significant experimental and theoretical progress in simultaneous transverse and longitudinal beam compression, ion-beam-driven warm dense matter targets, high-brightness beam transport, advanced theory and numerical simulations, and heavy ion target physics for fusion. First experiments combining radial and longitudinal compression {pi} of intense ion beams propagating through background plasma resulted in on-axis beam densities increased by 700X at the focal plane. With further improvements planned in 2008, these results enable initial ion beam target experiments in warm dense matter to begin next year. They are assessing how these new techniques apply to higher-gain direct-drive targets for inertial fusion energy.

The BaBar detector, operating at the PEPII B factory of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), installed over 200 2nd generation Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) in 2002. The streamer rates produced by backgrounds and signals from normal BaBar running vary considerably (0.1- >20 Hz/cm2) depending on the layer and position of the chambers, thus providing a broad spectrum test of RPC performance and aging. The lowest rate chambers have performed very well with stable efficiencies averaging 95%. Other chambers had rate-dependant inefficiencies due to Bakelite drying which were reversed by the introduction of humidified gases. RPC inefficiencies in the highest rate regions of the higher rate chambers have been observed and also found to be rate dependant. The inefficient regions grow with time and have not yet been reduced by operation with humidified input gas. Three of these chambers were converted to avalanche mode operation and display significantly improved efficiencies. The rate of production of HF in the RPC exhaust gases was measured in avalanche and streamer mode RPCs and found to be comparable despite the lower current of the avalanche mode RPCs.

The ATLAS experiment is a multi-purpose particle detector that will study high-energy particle collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider. For the reconstruction of charged particles, and their production and their decay vertices, ATLAS is equipped with a sophisticated tracking system, unprecedented in size and complexity. Full exploitation of both the Inner Detector and the muon spectrometer requires an accurate alignment. The challenge of aligning the ATLAS tracking devices is discussed, and the ATLAS alignment strategy is presented and illustrated with both data and Monte Carlo results.

Previous experiments examining the transcriptional profileof the anaerobe Desulfovibrio vulgaris demonstrated up-regulation of theFur regulon in response to various environmental stressors. To test theinvolvement of Fur in the growth response and transcriptional regulationof D. vulgaris, a targeted mutagenesis procedure was used for deletingthe fur gene. Growth of the resulting ?fur mutant (JW707) was notaffected by iron availability, but the mutant did exhibit increasedsensitivity to nitrite and osmotic stresses compared to the wild type.Transcriptional profiling of JW707 indicated that iron-bound Fur acts asa traditional repressor for ferrous iron uptake genes (feoAB) and othergenes containing a predicted Fur binding site within their promoter.Despite the apparent lack of siderophore biosynthesis genes within the D.vulgaris genome, a large 12-gene operon encoding orthologs to TonB andTolQR also appeared to be repressed by iron-bound Fur. While other genespredicted to be involved in iron homeostasis were unaffected by thepresence or absence of Fur, alternative expression patterns that could beinterpreted as repression or activation by iron-free Fur were observed.Both the physiological and transcriptional data implicate a globalregulatory role for Fur in the sulfate-reducing bacterium D.vulgaris.

Comet 81P/Wild 2's serendipitous orbit change to the inner solar system in 1974 offered researchers a rare opportunity to sample cometary material from the Kuiper belt, a repository of material left over from solar system formation {approx}4.6 Gyr ago. NASA's Stardust mission intercepted the comet in January 2004 and returned with material collected from its tail in January 2006. The cometary material, consisting of particles ranging from 10 microns down to <2 nm, was collected in aerogel, a very low density ({approx}3 mg/cm cm3) silica foam, to minimize the effects of deceleration from 6.1 km/s. The entire deceleration track is extracted from the aerogel block as a pyramidal shape known as a keystone which can be mapped using x-ray fluorescence prior to extraction of terminal or intermediate particles for other analyses. One goal of the track mapping is to determine the bulk composition of the cometary material returned. Unfortunately, although the aerogel is predominantly SiO{sub 2}, there are sufficient quantities of trace elements similar to those expected in the cometary material to require sophisticated discrimination techniques in order to decide whether a fluorescence map pixel contains only aerogel or both aerogel and cometary material. We have developed a dual threshold …

The Pierre Auger Collaboration intends to extend the energy range of its southern observatory in Argentina for high quality data from 0.1 to 3 EeV. The extensions, described in accompanying papers, include three additional fluorescence telescopes with a more elevated field of view (HEAT) and a nested surface array with 750 and 433 m spacing respectively and additional muon detection capabilities (AMIGA). The enhancement of the detector will allow measurement of cosmic rays, using the same techniques, from below the second knee up to the highest energies observed. The evolution of the spectrum through the second knee and ankle, and corresponding predicted changes in composition, are crucial to the understanding of the end of Galactic confinement and the effects of propagation on the lower energy portion of the extragalactic flux. The latter is strongly related to the cosmological distribution of sources and to the composition of the injected spectrum. We discuss the science motivation behind these enhancements as well as the impact of combined HEAT and AMIGA information on the assessment of shower simulations and reconstruction techniques.

The effect of intermolecular {pi}-{pi} stacking on the electrical and mechanical properties of monolayer films molecules containing aromatic groups was studied using atomic force microscopy. Two types of aromatic molecules, (4-mercaptophenyl) anthrylacetylene (MPAA) and (4-mercaptophenyl)-phenylacetylene (MPPA) were used as model systems with different {pi}-{pi} stacking strength. Monolayer films of these molecules on Au(111) surfaces exhibited conductivities differing by more than one order of magnitude, MPAA being the most conductive and MPPA the least conductive. The response to compressive loads by the AFM tip was also found to be very different for both molecules. In MPAA films distinct molecular conductivity changes are observed upon mechanical perturbation. This effect however was not observed on the MPPA film, where intermolecular {pi}-{pi} interactions are likely weaker.

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) is a high power density and high neutron flux research reactor operating in the United States. Powered with highly enriched uranium (HEU), the ATR has a maximum thermal power rating of 250 MWth. Because of the large test volumes located in high flux areas, the ATR is an ideal candidate for assessing the feasibility of converting an HEU driven reactor to a low-enriched core. The present work investigates the necessary modifications and evaluates the subsequent operating effects of this conversion. A detailed plate-by-plate MCNP ATR 1/8th core model was developed and validated for a fuel cycle burnup comparison analysis. Using the current HEU U 235 enrichment of 93.0 % as a baseline, an analysis can be performed to determine the low-enriched uranium (LEU) density and U-235 enrichment required in the fuel meat to yield an equivalent K-eff between the HEU core and the LEU core versus effective full power days (EFPD). The MCNP ATR 1/8th core model will be used to optimize the U-235 loading in the LEU core, such that the differences in K-eff and heat flux profile between the HEU and LEU core can be minimized. The depletion methodology MCWO was used to …

We study the azimuthal asymmetric distribution of hadronsinside a high energy jet in the single transverse polarized proton protonscattering, coming from the Collins effect multiplied by the quarktransversity distribution. We argue that the Collins function in thisprocess is the same as that in the semi-inclusive deep inelasticscattering. The experimental study of this process will provide usimportant information on the quark transversity distribution and test theuniversality of the fragmentation functions.

Improvement of antiproton stacking rates has been pursued for the last twenty years at Fermilab. The last twelve months have been dedicated to improving the computer model of the Stacktail system. The production of antiprotons encompasses the use of the entire accelerator chain with the exception of the Tevatron. In the Antiproton Source two storage rings, the Debuncher and Accumulator are responsible for the accumulation of antiprotons in quantities that can exceed 2 x 10{sup 12}, but more routinely, stacks of 5 x 10{sup 11} antiprotons are accumulated before being transferred to the Recycler ring. Since the beginning of this recent enterprise, peak accumulation rates have increased from 2 x 10{sup 11} to greater than 2.3 x 10{sup 11} antiprotons per hour. A goal of 3 x 10{sup 11} per hour has been established. Improvements to the stochastic cooling systems are but a part of this current effort. This paper will discuss Stacktail system measurements and experienced system limitations.

With the experimental success of longitudinal, bunched beam stochastic cooling in RHIC it is natural to ask whether the system works as well as it might and whether upgrades or new systems are warranted. A computer code, very similar to those used for multi-particle coherent instability simulations, has been written and is being used to address these questions.

The effect of resonant magnetic perturbations on heat transport in DIII-D H-mode plasmas has been calculated by combining the TRIP3D field-line tracing code with the E3D two-fluid transport code. Simulations show that the divertor heat flux distribution becomes non-axisymmetric because heat flux is efficiently guided to the divertor along the three-dimensional invariant manifolds of the magnetic field. Calculations demonstrate that heat flux is spread over a wider area of the divertor target, thereby reducing the peak heat flux delivered during steady-state operation. Filtered optical cameras have observed non-axisymmetric particle fluxes at the strike-point and Langmuir probes have observed non-axisymmetric floating potentials. On the other hand, the predicted magnitude of stochastic thermal transport is too large to match the pedestal plasma profiles measured by Thomson scattering and charge exchange recombination spectroscopy. The Braginskii thermal conductivity overestimates the expected heat transport in the pedestal because the mean free path is longer than estimates of the parallel thermal correlation length, and collisionless transport models are probably required for accurate description. However, even the collisionless estimates for electron thermal transport are too large by one to two orders of magnitude. Thus, it is likely that another mechanism such as rotational screening of resonant perturbations …

We describe a camera to record coherent scattering patterns with a soft-X-ray free-electron laser. The camera consists of a laterally-graded multilayer mirror which reflects the diffraction pattern onto a CCD detector. The mirror acts as a bandpass filter both for wavelength and angle, which isolates the desired scattering pattern from non-sample scattering or incoherent emission from the sample. The mirror also solves the particular problem of the extreme intensity of the FEL pulses, which are focused to greater than 10{sup 14} W/cm{sup 2}. The strong undiffracted pulse passes through a hole in the mirror and propagates on to a beam dump at a distance behind the instrument rather than interacting with a beamstop placed near the CCD. The camera concept is extendable for the full range of the fundamental wavelength of the FLASH FEL (i.e. between 6 nm and 60 nm) and into the water window. We have fabricated and tested various multilayer mirrors for wavelengths of 32 nm, 16 nm, 13.5 nm, and 4.5 nm. At the shorter wavelengths mirror roughness must be minimized to reduce scattering from the mirror. We have recorded over 30,000 diffraction patterns at the FLASH free-electron laser with no observable mirror damage or degradation …

We present a method for computing incompressible viscousflows in three dimensions using block-structured local refinement in bothspace and time. This method uses a projection formulation based on acell-centered approximate projection, combined with the systematic use ofmultilevel elliptic solvers to compute increments in the solutiongenerated at boundaries between refinement levels due to refinement intime. We use an L_0-stable second-order semi-implicit scheme to evaluatethe viscous terms. Results are presentedto demonstrate the accuracy andeffectiveness of this approach.

This paper is concerned with the implementation of a computational model of turbulent flow in a section of the lower plenum of Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR). The proposed model has been encoded in a state-of-the-art CFD code, NPHASE. The results of NPHASE predictions have been compared against the experimental data collected using a scaled model of a sub-region in the lower plenum of a modular prismatic gas-cooled reactor. It has been shown that the NPHASE-based model is capable of predicting a three-dimensional velocity field in a complex geometrical configuration of VHTR lower plenum. The current and future validations of computational predictions are necessary for design and analysis of new reactor concepts, as well as for safety analysis and licensing calculations.

Neutron transmission experiments were performed on samples of an advanced nickel-chromium-molybdenum-gadolinium (Ni-Cr-Mo-Gd) neutron absorber alloy. The primary purpose of the experiments was to demonstrate the thermal neutron absorbing capability of the alloy at specific gadolinium dopant levels. The new alloy is to be deployed for criticality control of highly enriched DOE SNF. For the transmission experiments, alloy test samples were fabricated with 0.0, 1.58 and 2.1 wt% natural gadolinium dispersed in a Ni-Cr-Mo base alloy. The transmission experiments were successfully carried out at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). Measured data from the neutron transmission experiments were compared to calculated results derived from a simple exponential transmission formula using only radiative capture cross sections. Excellent agreement between the measured and calculated results demonstrated the expected strong thermal absorption capability of the gadolinium poison and in addition, verified the measured elemental composition of the alloy test samples. The good agreement also indirectly confirmed that the gadolinium was dispersed fairly uniformly in the alloy and the ENDF VII radiative capture cross section data were accurate.