Some applications of flavor symmetry are examined. Approximate flavor symmetries and their consequences in the MSSM (Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model) are considered, and found to give natural values for the possible B- and L-violating couplings that are empirically acceptable, except for the case of proton decay. The coupling constants of SU(3) are calculated and used to parameterize the decays of the D mesons in broken flavor SU(3). The resulting couplings are used to estimate the long-distance contributions to D-meson mixing.

The main goal of the work presented in this thesis is produce highly spin-polarized xenon to create much greater signal intensities (up to 54,000 times greater) so as to allow studies to be made on systems with low surface area and long spin-lattice relaxation times. The spin-exchange optical pumping technique used to create high nuclear spin polarization is described in detail in chapter two. This technique is initially applied to some multiple-pulse optically detected NMR experiments in low magnetic field (50G) that allow the study of quadrupoler interactions with a surface of only a few square centimeters. In chapter three the apparatus used to allow high field {sup 129}Xe NMR studies to be performed with extremely high sensitivity is described and applied to experiments on diamagnetic susceptibility effects in thin ({approximately}2000 layers) films of frozen xenon. Preliminary surface investigations of laser polarized {sup 129}Xe adsorbed an a variety of materials (salts, molecular crystals, amorphous carbon, graphite) are then discussed. A full detailed study of the surface of a particular polymer, poly(acrylic acid), is presented in chapter four which shows the kind of detailed information that can be obtained from this technique. Along with preliminary results for several similar polymers, a …

The use of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to study molecules in the solid state has grown rapidly over the past several years. This is due to the advent of techniques which allow for the removal of certain interactions in the solid state which previously have thwarted most attempts at obtaining chemical shift or their anisotropies. With these parameters and others now available, NMR has become an important tool to be used in the understanding of the chemistry of solids. The work reported in this dissertation applies the techniques of solid state NMR to a number of chemical systems. Specific applications are made to crystallinity in polymers, to combined sample spinning and multiple pulse techniques, and to aromatic and aliphatic content of vitrain portions of coals of varying carbon content.

Time-differential perturbed angular correlation techniques were applied to a systematic study of insulating antiferromagnets and rare-earth intermetallic alloys doped with either /sup 111m/Cd or $sup 111$In. The internal magnetic fields and electric field gradients at the radioactive nucleus are deduced from the experimentally measured perturbation factors. The analysis of fluoride, chloride, oxide, and sulfide data shows the systematic variation of the observed supertransferred hyperfine fields with the intervening anion covalency and allows extraction of covalency parameters after the adoption of a simple model. A comparison of the transferred hyperfine field data between fluoride perovskites and the corresponding quadratic layer compounds produces a value for the zero- point spin deviation in magnetically two-dimensional antiferromagnets which is in qualitative agreement with existing theoretical estimates. Paramagnetic shifts due to transferred hyperfine field and field-induced spin-flopping have also been observed. By careful temperature regulation the temperature dependence of the sublattice magnetization can be plotted next to a diamagnetic impurity in RbMnF$sub 3$ and MnF$sub 2$. A shift in the transferred hyperfine field at Cd doped into MnS has been measured under the application of moderate pressures up to 22 kbar. Analysis of the electric field gradients at the In and Sn sites in the …

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Neutrinos produced as a result of cosmic-ray interactions in the earth's atmosphere offer a powerful probe into the nature of this three-membered family of low-mass, weakly-interacting particles. Ten years ago, the Super-Kamiokande Experiment has confirmed earlier indications that neutrinos undergo lepton-flavor oscillations during propagation, proving that they are massive contrary to the previous Standard Model assumptions. The Soudan Underground Laboratory, located in northern Minnesota, was host to the Soudan2 Experiment, which has made important contributions to atmospheric neutrino research. This same lab has more recently been host to the MINOS far detector, a neutrino detector which serves as the downstream element of an accelerator-based long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiment. This thesis has examined 418.5 live days of atmospheric neutrino data (fiducial exposure of 4.18 kton-years) collected in the MINOS far detector prior to the activation of the NuMI neutrino beam, with a specific emphasis on the investigation of electron-type neutrino interactions. Atmospheric neutrino interaction candidates have been selected and separated into showering or track-like events. The showering sample consists of 89 observed events, while the track-like sample consists of 112 observed events. Based on the Bartol atmospheric neutrino flux model of Barr et al. plus a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of interactions …

It is now widely accepted that the Standard Model assumption of massless neutrinos is wrong, due primarily to the observation of solar and atmospheric neutrino flavor oscillations by a small number of convincing experiments. The MINOS Far Detector, capable of observing both the outgoing lepton and associated showering products of a neutrino interaction, provides an excellent opportunity to independently search for an oscillation signature in atmospheric neutrinos. To this end, a MINOS data set from an 883 live day, 13.1 kt-yr exposure collected between July, 2003 and April, 2007 has been analyzed. 105 candidate charged current muon neutrino interactions were observed, with 120.5 {+-} 1.3 (statistical error only) expected in the absence of oscillation. A maximum likelihood analysis of the observed log(L/E) spectrum shows that the null oscillation hypothesis is excluded at over 96% confidence and that the best fit oscillation parameters are sin{sup 2} 2{theta}{sub 23} = 0.95{sub -0.32} and {Delta}m{sub 23}{sup 2} = 0.93{sub -0.44}{sup +3.94} x 10{sup -3} eV{sup 2}. This measurement of oscillation parameters is consistent with the best fit values from the Super-Kamiokande experiment at 68% confidence.

The Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS) is a long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. The MINOS Far Detector, located in the Soudan Underground Laboratory in Soudan MN, has been collecting data since August 2003. The scope of this dissertation involves identifying the atmospheric neutrino induced muons that are created by the neutrinos interacting with the rock surrounding the detector cavern, performing a neutrino oscillation search by measuring the oscillation parameter values of {Delta}m{sub 23}{sup 2} and sin{sup 2} 2{theta}{sub 23}, and searching for CPT violation by measuring the charge ratio for the atmospheric neutrino induced muons. A series of selection cuts are applied to the data set in order to extract the neutrino induced muons. As a result, a total of 148 candidate events are selected. The oscillation search is performed by measuring the low to high muon momentum ratio in the data sample and comparing it to the same ratio in the Monte Carlo simulation in the absence of neutrino oscillation. The measured double ratios for the ''all events'' (A) and high resolution (HR) samples are R{sub A} = R{sub low/high}{sup data}/R{sub low/high}{sup MC} = 0.60{sub -0.10}{sup +0.11}(stat) {+-} 0.08(syst) and R{sub HR} = R{sub low/high}{sup data}/R{sub low/high}{sup MC} …

This thesis presents the results of atmospheric neutrino observations from a 12.23 ktyr exposure of the 5.42 kt MINOS Far Detector between 1st August 2003 until 1st March 2006. The separation of atmospheric neutrino events from the large background of cosmic muon events is discussed. A total of 277 candidate contained vertex {nu}/{bar {nu}}{sub {mu}} CC data events are observed, with an expectation of 354.4{+-}47.4 events in the absence of neutrino oscillations. A total of 182 events have clearly identified directions, 77 data events are identified as upward going, 105 data events are identified as downward going. The ratio between the measured and expected up/down ratio is: R{sup data}{sub u/d}/R{sup MC}{sub u/d} = 0.72{sup +0.13}{sub -0.11}(stat.){+-} 0.04 (sys.). This is 2.1{sigma} away from the expectation for no oscillations. A total of 167 data events have clearly identified charge, 112 are identified as {nu}{sub {mu}} events, 55 are identified as {bar {nu}}{sub {mu}} events. This is the largest sample of charge-separated contained-vertex atmospheric neutrino interactions so far observed. The ratio between the measured and expected {bar {nu}}{sub {mu}}/{nu}{sub {mu}} ratio is: R{sup data}{sub {bar {nu}}{nu}} / R{sup MC}{sub {bar {nu}}{nu}} = 0.93 {sup +0.19}{sub -0.15} (stat.) {+-} 0.12 (sys.). This is …

The phenomenon of flavour oscillations of neutrinos created in the atmosphere was first reported by the Super-Kamiokande collaboration in 1998 and since then has been confirmed by Soudan 2 and MACRO. The MINOS Far Detector is the first magnetized neutrino detector able to study atmospheric neutrino oscillations. Although it was designed to detect neutrinos from the NuMI beam, it provides a unique opportunity to measure the oscillation parameters for neutrinos and anti-neutrinos independently. The MINOS Far Detector was completed in August 2003 and since then has collected 2.52 kton-years of atmospheric data. Atmospheric neutrino interactions contained within the volume of the detector are separated from the dominant background from cosmic ray muons. Thirty seven events are selected with an estimated background contamination of less than 10%. Using the detector's magnetic field, 17 neutrino events and 6 anti-neutrino events are identified, 14 events have ambiguous charge. The neutrino oscillation parameters for {nu}{sub {mu}} and {bar {nu}}{sub {mu}} are studied using a maximum likelihood analysis. The measurement does not place constraining limits on the neutrino oscillation parameters due to the limited statistics of the data set analysed. However, this thesis represents the first observation of charge separated atmospheric neutrino interactions. It also …

Melanie Waltman's dissertation to be presented on March 24, 2010.

Electron spectroscopy, combined with synchrotron radiation, was used to measure the angular distributions of photoelectrons and Auger electrons from atoms and molecules as functions of photon energy. The branching ratios and partial cross sections were a 130 measured in certain cases. By comparison with theoretical calculations, the experimental results are interpreted in terms of the characteristic electronic structure and ionization dynamics of the atomic or molecular sample. The time structure of the synchrotron radiation source was used to record time-of-flight (TOF) spectra o f the ejected electrons. The ''a double-angle-TOF'' method for the measurement of photoelectron angular distributions is discussed. This technique offers the advantages of increased electron collect ion efficiency and the elimination of certain systematic errors. Several results were obtained for Xe using photon energies in the range hv {approx_equal} 60-190 eV, where excitation and ionization of the inner-subshell 4d electrons dominates. The 4d asymmetry parameter {beta} exhibits strong oscillations with energy, in agreement with several theoretical calculations. As predicted, the 5p asymmetry parameter was observed to deviate strongly from that calculated using the independent-electron model, due to intershell correlation with the 4d electrons.

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Gabor first proposed holography in 1948 as a means to experimentally record the amplitude and phase of scattered wavefronts, relative to a direct unscattered wave, and to use such a {open_quotes}hologram{close_quotes} to directly image atomic structure. But imaging at atomic resolution has not yet been possible in the way he proposed. Much more recently, Szoeke in 1986 noted that photoexcited atoms can emit photoelectron of fluorescent x-ray wavefronts that are scattered by neighboring atoms, thus yielding the direct and scattered wavefronts as detected in the far field that can then be interpreted as holographic in nature. By now, several algorithms for directly reconstructing three-dimensional atomic images from electron holograms have been proposed (e.g. by Barton) and successfully tested against experiment and theory. Very recently, Tegze and Faigel, and Grog et al. have recorded experimental x-ray fluorescence holograms, and these are found to yield atomic images that are more free of the kinds of aberrations caused by the non-ideal emission or scattering of electrons. The basic principles of these holographic atomic imaging methods are reviewed, including illustrative applications of the reconstruction algorithms to both theoretical and experimental electron and x-ray holograms. The author also discusses the prospects and limitations of these …

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This thesis involved the construction of (1) a grammar that incorporates knowledge on base invariancy and secondary structure in a molecule and (2) a parser engine that uses the grammar to position bases into the structural subunits of the molecule. These concepts were combined with a novel pinning technique to form a tool that semi-automates insertion of a new species into the alignment for the 16S rRNA molecule (a component of the ribosome) maintained by Dr. Carl Woese`s group at the University of Illinois at Urbana. The tool was tested on species extracted from the alignment and on a group of entirely new species. The results were very encouraging, and the tool should be substantial aid to the curators of the 16S alignment. The construction of the grammar was itself automated, allowing application of the tool to alignments for other molecules. The logic programming language Prolog was used to construct all programs involved. The computational linguistics approach used here was found to be a useful way to attach the problem of insertion into an alignment.

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Our approach involves on-axis illumination of the compounds inside the capillary detection region and is applied to absorbance and fluorescence detection. Absorbance measurements were made by focussing an incident laser beam into one capillary end; by using signals collected over the entire length of analyte band, this enhances the analytical path length of conventional absorbance detection 60x. This instrument offers a 15x improvement in detection limits. Three fluorescence detection experiments are discussed, all of which involve insertion of an optical fiber into capillary. The first uses a high refractive index liquid phase to obtain total internal reflectance along capillary axis, this reducing light scatter. The second uses a charge-coupled device camera for simultaneous imaging of a capillary array (this may be useful in genome sequencing, etc.). The third is a study of fluid motion inside the capillary under pressure-driven and electroosmotic flow. The thesis is divided into four parts. Figs, tabs.

In this thesis we present a search for oscillations of B{sub s}{sup 0} mesons using semileptonic B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup -}{ell}{sup +}{nu} decays. Data were collected with the upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDFII) from events produced in collisions of 980 GeV protons and antiprotons accelerated in the Tevatron ring. The total proton-antiproton center-of-mass energy is 1.96 TeV. The Tevatron is the unique source in the world for B{sub s}{sup 0} mesons, to be joined by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN after 2007. We establish a lower limit on the B{sub s}{sup 0} oscillation frequency {Delta}m{sub s} > 7.7 ps{sup -1} at 95% Confidence Level. We also present a multivariate tagging algorithm that identifies semileptonic B {yields} {mu}X decays of the other B mesons in the event. Using this muon tagging algorithm as well as opposite side electron and jet charge tagging algorithms, we infer the B{sub s}{sup 0} flavor at production. The tagging algorithms are calibrated using high statistics samples of B{sup 0} and B{sup +} semileptonic B{sup 0/+} {yields} D{ell}{nu} decays. The oscillation frequency {Delta}m{sub d} in semileptonic B{sup 0} {yields} D{ell}{nu} decays is measured to be {Delta}m{sub d} = (0.501 {+-} 0.029(stat.) {+-} 0.017(syst.)) …

One of the central questions arising from human curiosity has always been what matter is ultimately made of, with the idea of some kind of elementary building-block dating back to the ancient greek philosophers. Scientific activities of multiple generations have contributed to the current best knowledge about this question, the Standard Model of particle physics. According to it, the world around us is composed of a small number of stable elementary particles: Electrons and two different kinds of quarks, called up and down quarks. Quarks are never observed as free particles, but only as bound states of a quark-antiquark pair (mesons) or of three quarks (baryons), summarized as hadrons. Protons and Neutrons, the constituents forming the nuclei of all chemical elements, are baryons made of up and down quarks. The electron and the electron neutrino - a nearly massless particle without electric charge - belong to a group called leptons. These two quarks and two leptons represent the first generation of elementary particles. There are two other generations of particles, which seem to have similar properties as the first generation except for higher masses, so there are six quarks and six leptons altogether. They were around in large amounts shortly …

The b quark fragmentation distribution has been measured, using data registered by the DELPHI experiment at the Z pole, in the years 1994-1995. The measurement made use of 176000 inclusively reconstructed B meson candidates. The errors of this measurement are dominated by systematic effects, the principal ones being related to the energy calibration. The distribution has been established in a nine bin histogram. Its mean value has been found to be <x{sub E}> = 0.704 {+-} 0.001(stat.) {+-} 0.008(syst.). Using this measurement, and other available analyses of the b-quark fragmentation distribution in e{sup +}e{sup -} collisions, the non-perturbative QCD component of the distribution has been extracted independently of any hadronic physics modeling. This distribution depends only on the way the perturbative QCD component has been defined. When the perturbative QCD component is taken from a parton shower Monte-Carlo, the non-perturbative QCD component is rather similar with those obtained from the Lund or Bowler models. When the perturbative QCD component is the result of an analytic NLL computation, the non-perturbative QCD component has to be extended in a non-physical region and thus cannot be described by any hadronic modeling. In the two examples, used to characterize these two situations, which are …

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