Two differently heat-treated AerMet-100 alloy cylinders were explosively driven to fragmentation. Soft-captured fragments were studied to characterize the deformation and damage induced by high explosive loading. The characterization of the fragments reveals that the dominant failure mechanism appears to be dynamic fracture along adiabatic shear bands. These shear bands differ in size and morphology depending on the heat-treated conditions. Nanoindentation measurements of the adiabatic shear bands in either material condition indicate higher hardness in the bands compared to the matrix regions of the fragments.

The double spherical harmonics angular approximation in the lowest order, i.e. double P{sub 0} (DP{sub 0}), is developed for the solution of time-dependent non-equilibrium grey radiative transfer problems in planar geometry. Although the DP{sub 0} diffusion approximation is expected to be less accurate than the P{sub 1} diffusion approximation at and near thermodynamic equilibrium, the DP{sub 0} angular approximation can more accurately capture the complicated angular dependence near a non-equilibrium radiation wave front. In addition, the DP{sub 0} approximation should be more accurate in non-equilibrium optically thin regions where the positive and negative angular domains are largely decoupled. We develop an adaptive angular technique that locally uses either the DP{sub 0} or P{sub 1} flux-limited diffusion approximation depending on the degree to which the radiation and material fields are in thermodynamic equilibrium. Numerical results are presented for two test problems due to Su and Olson and to Ganapol and Pomraning for which semi-analytic transport solutions exist. These numerical results demonstrate that the adaptive P{sub 1}-DP{sub 0} diffusion approximation can yield improvements in accuracy over the standard P{sub 1} diffusion approximation, both without and with flux-limiting, for non-equilibrium grey radiative transfer.

Experiments planned to address the issue of electron correlation in the Pu 5f states are described herein. The key is the utilization of the Fano Effect, the observation of spin polarization in nonmagnetic systems, using chiral excitation such as circularly polarized X-rays.

BlueGene/L (BG/L), developed through a partnership between IBM and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is currently the world's largest system both in terms of scale with 131,072 processors and absolute performance with a peak rate of 367 TFlop/s. BG/L has led the Top500 list the last four times with a Linpack rate of 280.6 TFlop/s for the full machine installed at LLNL and is expected to remain the fastest computer in the next few editions. However, the real value of a machine like BG/L derives from the scientific breakthroughs that real applications can produce by successfully using its unprecedented scale and computational power. In this paper, we describe our experiences with eight large scale applications on BG/L from several application domains, ranging from molecular dynamics to dislocation dynamics and turbulence simulations to searches in semantic graphs. We also discuss the challenges we faced when scaling these codes and present several successful optimization techniques. All applications show excellent scaling behavior, even at very large processor counts, with one code even achieving a sustained performance of more than 100 TFlop/s, clearly demonstrating the real success of the BG/L design.

We review the recently developed bootstrap method for the computation of high-multiplicity QCD amplitudes at one loop. We illustrate the general algorithm step by step with a six-point example. The method combines (generalized) unitarity with on-shell recursion relations to determine the not cut-constructible, rational terms of these amplitudes. Our bootstrap approach works for arbitrary configurations of gluon helicities and arbitrary numbers of external legs.

The benchmarking of theoretical modeling is crucial to the ultimate determination of the nature of the electronic structure of Pu. Examples of experimental techniques used for cross checking state of the art calculations will be given.

A comprehensive study of mantle anisotropy along the Red Sea and across Saudi Arabia was performed by analyzing shear-wave splitting recorded by stations from three different seismic networks: the largest, most widely distributed array of stations examined across Saudi Arabia to date. Stations near the Gulf of Aqaba display fast orientations that are aligned parallel to the Dead Sea Transform Fault, most likely related to the strike-slip motion between Africa and Arabia. However, most of our observations across Saudi Arabia are statistically the same, showing a consistent pattern of north-south oriented fast directions with delay times averaging about 1.4 s. Fossilized anisotropy related to the Proterozoic assembly of the Arabian Shield may contribute to the pattern but is not sufficient to fully explain the observations. We feel that the uniform anisotropic signature across Saudi Arabia is best explained by a combination of plate and density driven flow in the asthenosphere. By combining the northeast oriented flow associated with absolute plate motion with the northwest oriented flow associated with the channelized Afar plume along the Red Sea, we obtain a north-south oriented resultant that matches our splitting observations and supports models of active rifting processes. This explains why the north-south orientation …

Mantle anisotropy along the Red Sea and across the Arabian Peninsula was analyzed using shear-wave splitting recorded by stations from three different seismic networks: the largest, most widely distributed array of stations examined across the Arabian Peninsula to date. Stations near the Gulf of Aqaba display fast orientations aligned parallel to the Dead Sea Transform Fault, most likely related to the strike-slip motion between Africa and Arabia However, most of our observations across Arabia are statistically the same (at a 95% confidence level), with north-south oriented fast directions and delay times averaging about 1.4 s. Since end-member models of fossilized anisotropy and present-day asthenospheric flow do not adequately explain these observations, we interpret them as a combination of plate and density driven flow in the asthenosphere. Combining northeast oriented flow associated with absolute plate motion with northwest oriented flow associated with the channelized Afar upwelling along the Red Sea produces a north-south resultant that matches the observations and supports models of active rifting.

This article provides comments on "Solvation Parameters. 2. A Simplified Molecular Topology to Generate Easily Optimized Values," published in the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.

The resistance of Alloy 22 (N06022) to localized corrosion, mainly crevice corrosion, has been extensively investigated in the last few years. However, the behavior of Alloy 22 in concentrated aqueous solutions that may simulate concentrated ground waters was not fully understood. Systematic electrochemical tests using cyclic potentiodynamic polarization as well as the Tsujikawa-Hisamatsu electrochemical method were performed to determine the crevice corrosion susceptibility of Alloy 22 in simulated concentrated water (SCW), simulated acidified water (SAW) and basic saturated water (BSW). Results show that Alloy 22 is immune to crevice corrosion in SCW and SAW but may suffer crevice corrosion initiation in BSW. Results also show that in a naturally aerated environment, the corrosion potential would never reach the critical potential for crevice corrosion initiation.

Cryogenic microcalorimeter detectors operating at temperatures around {approx}0.1 K have been developed for the last two decades, driven mostly by the need for ultra-high energy resolution (<0.1%) in X-ray astrophysics and dark matter searches [1]. The Advanced Detector Group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has developed different cryogenic detector technologies for applications ranging from X-ray astrophysics to nuclear science and non-proliferation. In particular, we have adapted cryogenic detector technologies for ultra-high energy resolution gamma-spectroscopy [2] and, more recently, fast-neutron spectroscopy [3]. Microcalorimeters are essentially ultra-sensitive thermometers that measure the energy of the radiation from the increase in temperature upon absorption. They consist of a sensitive superconducting thermometer operated at the transition between its superconducting and its normal state, where its resistance changes very rapidly with temperature such that even the minute energies deposited by single radiation quanta are sufficient to be detectable with high precision. The energy resolution of microcalorimeters is fundamentally limited by thermal fluctuations to {Delta}E{sub FWHM} {approx} 2.355 (k{sub B}T{sup 2}C{sub abs}){sup 1/2}, and thus allows an energy below 1 keV for neutron spectrometers for an operating temperature of T {approx} 0.1 K . The {Delta}E{sub FWHM} does not depend on the energy of the incident photon …

We applied a 0.3 mJ, 1.7 ns, 46.9 nm soft X-ray Argon laser to ablate the surface of large band gap dielectrics: CaF{sub 2} and LiF crystals. The ablation versus the fluence of the soft X-ray beam has been studied varying the fluence in the range of 0.05-3 J/cm{sup 2}. An ablation threshold of 0.06 and 0.1 J/cm{sup 2} and an ablation depth of 14 and 20 nm have been found for CaF{sub 2} and LiF, respectively. These results define new ablation conditions for these large band gap dielectrics, which can be of interest for the fine processing of these materials.

Ga-stabilized {delta}-Pu undergoes small changes in density with time. These have been associated with four different causes: an initial reversible expansion that saturates after a short time; a continuous change that can be attributed to the in-growth of helium and actinide daughter products from the radioactive decay of plutonium; possible void swelling; and phase instability. We review our present understanding of these processes and evaluate their contributions to density changes. It is shown that the initial transient expansion is intimately connected with the metastability of the {delta}-phase at ambient temperature.

This article discusses a dynamical origin of memory and renewal.

Evolutionary conservation of DNA sequences provides a tool for the identification of functional elements in genomes. We have created a database of evolutionary conserved regions (ECRs) in vertebrate genomes entitled ECRbase that is constructed from a collection of pairwise vertebrate genome alignments produced by the ECR Browser database. ECRbase features a database of syntenic blocks that recapitulate the evolution of rearrangements in vertebrates and a collection of promoters in all vertebrate genomes presented in the database. The database also contains a collection of annotated transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) in all ECRs and promoter elements. ECRbase currently includes human, rhesus macaque, dog, opossum, rat, mouse, chicken, frog, zebrafish, and two pufferfish genomes. It is freely accessible at http://ECRbase.dcode.org.

X-ray diffraction and infrared data have been collected froma sample of ettringite from ambient pressure to 6.4 GPa. The sample wasfound to reversibly transform to an amorphous phase at 3 GPa. Theisothermal bulk modulus of ettringite was found to be 27(7) GPa and theincompressibilities of the lattice parameters were found to be 71(30) GPaalong a and 108(36) GPa along c.

The trend for men to have children at older ages raises concerns that advancing age may increase the production of genetically defective sperm, increasing the risks of transmitting germ-line mutations. We investigated the associations between male age and sperm DNA damage and the influence of several lifestyle factors in a healthy non-clinical group of 80 non-smokers (age: 22-80) with no known fertility problems using the sperm Comet analyses. The average percent of DNA that migrated out of the sperm nucleus under alkaline electrophoresis increased with age (0.18% per year, p=0.006); but there was no age association for damage measured under neutral conditions (p=0.7). Men who consumed >3 cups coffee per day had {approx}20% higher % tail DNA under neutral but not alkaline conditions compared to men who consumed no caffeine (p=0.005). Our findings indicate that (a) older men have increased sperm DNA damage associated with alkali-labile sites or single-strand DNA breaks, and (b) independent of age, men with substantial daily caffeine consumption have increased sperm DNA damage associated with double-strand DNA breaks. DNA damage in sperm can be converted to chromosomal aberrations and gene mutations after fertilization increasing the risks for developmental defects and genetic diseases among offspring.

In a first beam dynamics validation experiment for a new Pulse Line Ion Acceleration (PLIA) concept, the predicted energy amplification and beam bunching were experimentally observed. Beam energy modulation of -80 keV to +150 keV was measured using a PLIA input voltage waveform of -21 kV to +12 kV. Ion pulses accelerated by 150 keV, and bunching by a factor of four were simultaneously achieved. The measured longitudinal phase space and current waveform of the accelerated beam are in good agreement with 3-D particle-in-cell simulations.

Resonance enhancement of the quantum efficiency of new polarized electron photocathodes based on a short-period strain-compensated AlInGaAs/GaAsP superlattice structure is reported. The superlattice is a part of an integrated Fabry-Perot optical cavity. We demonstrate that the Fabry-Perot resonator enhances the quantum efficiency by up to a factor 10 in the wavelength region of the main polarization maximum. The high structural quality implied by these results points to the very promising application of these photocathodes for spin-polarized electron sources.

A high resolution soft x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic study of Ga and As 3d core levels has been conducted for Fe/GaAs (001) as a function of Fe thickness. This work has provided unambiguous evidence of substrate disrupting chemical reactions induced by the Fe overlayer--a quantitative analysis of the acquired spectra indicates significantly differing behavior of Ga and As during Fe growth, and our observations have been compared with existing theoretical models. Our results demonstrate that the outdiffusing Ga and As remain largely confined to the interface region, forming a thin intermixed layer. Whereas at low coverages Fe has little influence on the underlying GaAs substrate, the onset of substrate disruption when the Fe thickness reaches 3.5 {angstrom} results in major changes in the energy distribution curves (EDCs) of both As and Ga 3d cores. Our quantitative analysis suggests the presence of two new As environments of metallic character; one bound to the interfacial region and another which, as confirmed by in-situ oxidation experiments, surface segregates and persists over a wide range of overlayer thickness. Analysis of the corresponding Ga 3d EDCs found not two, but three new environments--also metallic in nature. Two of the three are interface-resident whereas the third undergoes …

The authors report the measurement of electron impact excitation cross sections for the strong iron L-shell 3 {yields} 2 lines of Fe XVIII through Fe XXIV at the EBIT-I electron beam ion trap using a crystal spectrometer and a 6 x 6 pixel array microcalorimeter. The cross sections were determined by direct normalization to the well established cross section of radiative electron capture through a sophisticated model analysis which results in the excitation cross section for 48 lines at multiple electron energies. They also studied the electron density dependent nature of the emission lines, which is demonstrated by the effective excitation cross section of the 3d {yields} 2p transition in Fe XXI.

We have developed a technique for drawing commercially available polyimide tubing to the required fill tube dimensions. The tubes are then precisely cut with an Excimer laser to produce a clean, flat tip. We have also demonstrated that one can use the Excimer laser to drill less than a 5 {micro}m diameter through hole in the {approx}150 wall of a NIF dimension GDP shell, and can then create a 10-15 {micro}m diameter, 20-40 {micro}m deep counterbore centered on the through hole with the same laser. Using a home built assembly station the tube is carefully inserted into the counterbore and glued in place with UV-cure epoxy, using a LED UV source to avoid heating the joint. We expect that the same joining technique can be used for Be shells.

Fano Effect measurements are the key to direct observation of the Kondo or spin shielding intrinsic to models of electron correlation. The Fano Effect is the observation of spin polarized photoelectron emission from NONMAGNETIC materials, under chirally selective excitation, such as circularly polarized photons. Below are described three spectrometers, with which Fano Effects measurements have been made.

A fine grained silicon-tungsten calorimeter is ideal for use as the electromagnetic calorimeter in a linear collider detector optimized for particle-flow reconstruction. We are designing a calorimeter that is based on readout chips which are bump bonded to the silicon wafers that serve as the active medium in the calorimeter. By using integrated electronics we plan to demonstrate that fine granularity can be achieved at a reasonable price. Our design minimizes the gap between tungsten layers leading to a small Moliere radius, an important figure of merit for particle-flow detectors. Tests of the silicon detectors to be used in a test beam prototype as well as timing measurements based on similar silicon detectors are discussed.