The National Ignition Facility (NIF) Power Conditioning System provides the pulsed excitation required to drive flashlamps in the laser's optical amplifiers. Modular in design, each of the 192 Main Energy Storage Modules (MESMs) stores up to 2.2 MJ of electrical energy in its capacitor bank before delivering the energy to 20 pairs of flashlamps in a 400 {micro}s pulse (10% power points). The peak current of each MESM discharge is 0.5 MA. Production, installation, commissioning and operation of the NIF Power Conditioning continue to progress rapidly, with the goals of completing accelerated production and commissioning by early 2008, while maintaining an aggressive operation schedule. To date, more than 97% of the required modules have been assembled, shipped and installed in the facility, representing more that 380 MJ of stored energy available for driving NIF flashlamps. The MESMs have displayed outstanding reliability during daily, multiple-shift operations.

There is a growing appreciation that hidden sector dynamics may affect the supersymmetry breaking parameters in the visible sector (supersymmetric standard model), especially when the dynamics is strong and superconformal. We point out that there are effects that have not been previously discussed in the literature. For example, the gaugino masses are suppressed relative to the gravitino mass. We discuss their implications in the context of various mediation mechanisms. The issues discussed include anomaly mediation with singlets, the mu (B mu) problem in gauge and gaugino mediation, and distinct mass spectra for the superparticles that have not been previously considered.

We develop a nodal dislocation dynamics (DD) model to simulate plastic processes in fcc crystals. The model explicitly accounts for all slip systems and Burgers vectors observed in fcc systems, including stacking faults and partial dislocations. We derive simple conservation rules that describe all partial dislocation interactions rigorously and allow us to model and quantify cross-slip processes, the structure and strength of dislocation junctions and the formation of fcc-specific structures such as stacking fault tetrahedra. The DD framework is built upon isotropic non-singular linear elasticity, and supports itself on information transmitted from the atomistic scale. In this fashion, connection between the meso and micro scales is attained self-consistently with core parameters fitted to atomistic data. We perform a series of targeted simulations to demonstrate the capabilities of the model, including dislocation reactions and dissociations and dislocation junction strength. Additionally we map the four-dimensional stress space relevant for cross-slip and relate our findings to the plastic behavior of monocrystalline fcc metals.

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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.

As accurate modeling of atmospheric flows in urban environments requires sophisticated representation of complex urban geometries, much work has been devoted to treatment of the urban surface. However, the importance of the larger-scale flow impinging upon the urban complex to the flow, transport and dispersion within it and downwind has received less attention. Building-resolving computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are commonly employed to investigate interactions between the flow and three-dimensional structures comprising the urban environment, however such models are typically forced with simplified boundary conditions that fail to include important regional-scale phenomena that can strongly influence the flow within the urban complex and downwind. This paper investigates the interaction of an important and frequently occurring regional-scale phenomenon, the nocturnal low-level jet (LLJ), with urban-scale turbulence and dispersion in Oklahoma City using data from the Joint URBAN 2003 (JU2003) field experiment. Two simulations of nocturnal tracer release experiments from JU2003 using Lawrence Livermore National laboratory's FEM3MP CFD model yield differing levels of agreement with the observations in wind speed, turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) and concentration profiles in the urban wake, approximately 750m downwind of the central business district. Profiles of several observed turbulence parameters at this location indicate characteristics of both …

We use large N duality to study brane/anti-brane configurations on a class of Calabi-Yau manifolds. With only branes present, the Calabi-Yau manifolds in question give rise to N=2 ADE quiver theories deformed by superpotential terms. We show that the large N duality conjecture of hep-th/0610249 reproduces correctly the known qualitative features of the brane/anti-brane physics. In the supersymmetric case, the gauge theories have Seiberg dualities which are represented as flops in the geometry. Moreover, the holographic dual geometry encodes the whole RG flow of the gauge theory. In the non-supersymmetric case, the large N duality predicts that the brane/anti-brane theories also enjoy such dualities, and allows one to pick out the good description at a given energy scale.

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) can be used to improve the prepulse contrast in chirped-pulse amplification systems by amplifying the main pulse with a total saturated OPCPA gain, while not affecting the preceding prepulses of the seed oscillator mode-locked pulse train. We show that a simple modification of a multistage OPCPA system into a cascaded optical parametric amplifier (COPA) results in an optical switch and extreme contrast enhancement which can completely eliminate the preceding and trailing oscillator pulses. Instrument-limited measurement of prepulse contrast ratio of 1.4 x 10{sup 11} is demonstrated from COPA at a 30-mJ level.

We investigate the role of lifetime effects from resonances and emission duration tails in femtoscopy at RHIC in two Blast-Wave models. We find the non-Gaussian components compare well with published source imaged data, but the value of R{sub out} obtained from Gaussian fits is not insensitive to the non-Gaussian contributions when realistic acceptance cuts are applied to models.

The four experiments, ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb are currently under constructionat CERN. They will study the products of proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. All experiments are equipped with sophisticated tracking systems, unprecedented in size and complexity. Full exploitation of both the inner detector andthe muon system requires an accurate alignment of all detector elements. Alignmentinformation is deduced from dedicated hardware alignment systems and the reconstruction of charged particles. However, the system is degenerate which means the data is insufficient to constrain all alignment degrees of freedom, so the techniques are prone to converging on wrong geometries. This deficiency necessitates validation and monitoring of the alignment. An exhaustive discussion of means to validate is subject to this document, including examples and plans from all four LHC experiments, as well as other high energy experiments.

Solid state experiments at extreme pressures (10-100 GPa) and strain rates ({approx}10{sup 6}-10{sup 8}s{sup -1}) are being developed on high-energy laser facilities, and offer the possibility for exploring new regimes of materials science. These extreme solid-state conditions can be accessed with either shock loading or with a quasi-isentropic ramped pressure drive. Velocity interferometer measurements establish the high pressure conditions. Constitutive models for solid-state strength under these conditions are tested by comparing 2D continuum simulations with experiments measuring perturbation growth due to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in solid-state samples. Lattice compression, phase, and temperature are deduced from extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements, from which the shock-induced {alpha}-{omega} phase transition in Ti and the {alpha}-{var_epsilon} phase transition in Fe are inferred to occur on sub-nanosec time scales. Time resolved lattice response and phase can also be measured with dynamic x-ray diffraction measurements, where the elastic-plastic (1D-3D) lattice relaxation in shocked Cu is shown to occur promptly (< 1 ns). Subsequent large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations elucidate the microscopic dynamics that underlie the 3D lattice relaxation. Deformation mechanisms are identified by examining the residual microstructure in recovered samples. The slip-twinning threshold in single-crystal Cu shocked along the [001] direction is shown to …

Inertial fusion and high-energy density science worldwide is poised to take a great leap forward. In the US, programs at the University of Rochester, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the Naval Research Laboratory, and many smaller laboratories have laid the groundwork for building a facility in which fusion ignition can be studied in the laboratory for the first time. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is being built by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Agency to provide an experimental test bed for the US Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) to ensure the dependability of the country's nuclear deterrent without underground nuclear testing. NIF and other large laser systems being planned such as the Laser MegaJoule (LMJ) in France will also make important contributions to basic science, the development of inertial fusion energy, and other scientific and technological endeavors. NIF will be able to produce extreme temperatures and pressures in matter. This will allow simulating astrophysical phenomena (on a tiny scale) and measuring the equation of state of material under conditions that exist in planetary cores.

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The overall objective of this presentation is to demonstratea conceptual multiscale, multidomain model of coupling of biogeochemicaland hydrogeological processes during bioremediation of Cr(VI)contaminated groundwater at Hanford 100H site. A slow releasepolylactate, Hydrogen Release Compound (HRCTM), was injected in Hanfordsediments to stimulate immobilization of Cr(VI). The HRC injectioninduced a 2-order-of-magnitude increase in biomass and the onset ofreducing biogeochemical conditions [e.g., redox potential decreased from+240 to -130 mV and dissolved oxygen (DO) was completely removed]. Athree-well system, comprised of an injection well and upgradient anddowngradient monitoring wells, was used for conducting the in situbiostimulation, one regional flow (no-pumping) tracer test, and fivepumping tests along with the Br-tracer injection. Field measurements wereconducted using a Br ion-selective electrode and a multiparameter flowcell to collect hourly data on temperature, pH, redox potential,electrical conductivity, and DO. Groundwater sampling was conducted bypumping through specially designed borehole water samplers.Cross-borehole radar tomography and seismic measurements were carried outto assess the site background lithological heterogeneity and themigration pathways of HRC byproducts through groundwater after the HRCinjection.

Scrap materials containing plutonium (Pu) metal were dissolved at the Savannah River Site (SRS) as part of a program to disposition nuclear materials during the deactivation of the FB-Line facility. Some of these items contained both Pu and beryllium (Be) metal as a composite material. The Pu and Be metals were physically separated to minimize the amount of Be associated with the Pu; however, a dissolution flowsheet was required to dissolve small amounts of Be combined with the Pu metal using a dissolving solution containing nitric acid (HNO{sub 3}) and potassium fluoride (KF). Since the dissolution of Pu metal in HNO{sub 3}/fluoride (F{sup -}) solutions was well understood, the primary focus of the flowsheet development was the dissolution of Be metal. Initially, small-scale experiments were used to measure the dissolution rate of Be metal foils using conditions effective for the dissolution of Pu metal. The experiments demonstrated that the dissolution rate was nearly independent of the HNO{sub 3} concentration over the limited range of investigation and only a moderate to weak function of the F{sup -} concentration. The effect of temperature was more pronounced, significantly increasing the dissolution rate between 40 and 105 C. The offgas analysis from three Be …

Pairs of Au nanoparticles have recently been proposed asplasmon rulers based on the dependence of their light scattering on theinterparticle distance. Preliminary work has suggested that plasmonrulers can be used to measure and monitor dynamic distance changes overthe 1 to 100nm length scale in biology. Here, we substantiate thatplasmon rulers can be used to effectively measure dynamical biophysicalprocesses by applying the ruler to a system that has been investigatedextensively using ensemble kinetic measurements: the cleavage of DNA bythe restriction enzyme EcoRV. Temporal resolutions of up to 240 Hz wereobtained, and the end-to-end extension of up to 1000 individual dsDNAenzyme substrates could be monitored in parallel for hours. The singlemolecule cleavage trajectories acquired here agree well with valuesobtained in bulk through other methods, and confirm well-known featuresof the cleavage process, such as the fact that the DNA is bent prior tocleavage. New dynamical information is revealed as well, for instance,the degree of softening of the DNA just prior to cleavage. The unlimitedlife time, high temporal resolution, and high signal/noise make theplasmon ruler an excellent tool for studying macromolecular assembliesand conformational changes at the single molecule level.

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The Demolition of B431 is required to achieve the mission of LLNL and the NNSA FIRP objectives by: (1) Supporting the NNSA Infrastructure Plan goal to ''demolish excess facilities as early as possible''; (2) Banking square footage that allows continued application of advanced science and nuclear technology to the Nation's defense; and (3) Helping maintain and enhance the safety, security, and reliability of the weapons stockpile. A significant effort has been put into the demolition concept in order to ensure that it is well thought out and represents best-value to the government for the money.

The thermal Gaussian approximation (TGA) recently developed by Mandelshtam et al has been demonstrated to be a practical way for approximating the Boltzmann operator exp(-{beta}H) for multidimensional systems. In this paper the TGA is combined with semiclassical (SC) initial value representations (IVRs) for thermal time correlation functions. Specifically, it is used with the linearized SC-IVR (LSC-IVR, equivalent to the classical Wigner model), and the 'forward-backward semiclassical dynamics' (FBSD) approximation developed by Makri et al. Use of the TGA with both of these approximate SC-IVRs allows the oscillatory part of the IVR to be integrated out explicitly, providing an extremely simple result that is readily applicable to large molecular systems. Calculation of the force-force autocorrelation for a strongly anharmonic oscillator demonstrates its accuracy, and of the velocity autocorrelation function (and thus the diffusion coefficient) of liquid neon demonstrates its applicability.

We propose a partitioning problem in a power system contextthat weighs the two objectives of minimizing cuts between partitions andmaximizing the power imbalance between partitions. We then pose theproblem in a purely graph theoretic sense. We offer an approximatesolution through relaxation of the integer problem and suggest refinementusing stochastic methods. Results are presented for the IEEE 30-bus and118-bus electric power systems.

Dislocation substructures developed in high-purity Mo single crystals deformed under uniaxial compression at room temperature to a total strain of {approx} 0.5% with a strain rate of 1 s{sup -1} have been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques in order to elucidate the underlying micromechanisms of the anomalous operation of {l_brace}0{bar 1}1{r_brace} slip systems, i.e. Schmid-law violation, in bcc metals. The crystals were oriented with the stress axis parallel to a nominal single-slip orientation of [{bar 2}920], in which the ({bar 1}01)[111] slip system is the only system having a maximum value of Schmid factor (m = 0.5). Nevertheless, the recorded stress-strain curve reveals no single-slip or easy-glide stage, and the anomalous slip occurs in both (011) and (0{bar 1}1) planes. TEM examination of the dislocation structure in the ({bar 1}01) primary slip plane reveals that in addition to the operation of the ({bar 1}01)[111] slip system, the coplanar ({bar 1}01)[1{bar 1}1] slip system that has a much smaller Schmid factor (m = 0.167) is also operative. Similarly, the (0{bar 1}1)[111] slip system (m = 0.25) is cooperative with the coplanar (0{bar 1}1)[{bar 1}11] system (m = 0.287), and the (011)[1{bar 1}1] slip system (m = 0.222) is cooperative …

The 4th Gordon Conference on Photoions, Photoionization and Photodetachment will be held January 29-February 3, 2006 at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in Buellton, California. This meeting will continue to cover fundamentals and applications of photoionization and photodetachment, including valence and core-level phenomena and applications to reaction dynamics, ultrashort laser pulses and the study of exotic molecules and anions. Further information will be available soon at the Gordon Conference Website, and will be announced.

The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment (SSPX) uses a magnetized coaxial gun to form and sustain spheromaks by helicity injection. Internal probes give the magnetic profile within the gun. Analysis of these data show that a number of commonly applied assumptions are not completely correct, and some previously unrecognized processes may be at work. Specifically, the fraction of the available vacuum flux spanning the gun that is stretched out of the gun is variable and not usually 100%. The n=1 mode that is present during sustained discharges has its largest value of {delta}B/B within the gun, so that instantaneously B within the gun is not axisymmetric. By applying a rigid-rotor model to account for the mode, the instantaneous field and current structure within the gun are determined. The current density is also highly non-axisymmetric and the local value of {lambda} {triple_bond} {mu}{sub 0}j{sub {parallel}}/B is not constant, although the global value {lambda}{sub g} {triple_bond} {mu}{sub 0}I{sub g}/{psi}{sub g} closely matches that expected by axisymmetric models. The current distribution near the gun muzzle suggests cross-field current exists, and this is explained as a line-tying reaction to plasma rotation.

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