Accelerator science and technology have evolved as accelerators became larger and important to a broad range of science. Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams was established to serve the accelerator community as a timely, widely circulated, international journal covering the full breadth of accelerators and beams. The history of the journal and the innovations associated with it are reviewed.

Parameters have been studied for a high luminosity e{sup +}e{sup -} collider operating at the Upsilon 4S that would deliver a luminosity of 1 to 4 x 10{sup 36}/cm{sup 2}/s. This collider, called a Super-B Factory, would use a combination of linear collider and storage ring techniques. In this scheme an electron beam and a positron beam are stored in low-emittance damping rings similar to those designed for a Linear Collider (LC) or the next generation light source. A LC style interaction region is included in the ring to produce sub-millimeter vertical beta functions at the collision point. A large crossing angle (+/- 24 mrad) is used at the collision point to allow beam separation. A crab-waist scheme is used to reduce the hourglass effect and restore peak luminosity. Beam currents of 1.8 A at 4 x 7 GeV in 1251 bunches can produce a luminosity of 10{sup 36}/cm{sup 2}/s with upgrade possibilities. Such a collider would produce an integrated luminosity of about 10,000 fb{sup -1} (10 ab{sup -1}) in a running year (10{sup 7} sec) at the {gamma}(4S) resonance. Further possibilities include having longitudinally polarized e- at the IR and operating at the J/Psi and Psi beam energies.

Email overload, even after spam filtering, presents a serious productivity challenge for busy professionals and executives. One solution is automated prioritization of incoming emails to ensure the most important are read and processed quickly, while others are processed later as/if time permits in declining priority levels. This paper presents a study of machine learning approaches to email prioritization into discrete levels, comparing ordinal regression versus classier cascades. Given the ordinal nature of discrete email priority levels, SVM ordinal regression would be expected to perform well, but surprisingly a cascade of SVM classifiers significantly outperforms ordinal regression for email prioritization. In contrast, SVM regression performs well -- better than classifiers -- on selected UCI data sets. This unexpected performance inversion is analyzed and results are presented, providing core functionality for email prioritization systems.

We have fielded a neutron imaging system at the National Ignition Facility to collect images of fusion neutrons produced in the implosion of inertial confinement fusion experiments and scattered neutrons from (n, n') reactions of the source neutrons in the surrounding dense material. A description of the neutron imaging system will be presented, including the pinhole array aperture, the line-of-sight collimation, the scintillator-based detection system and the alignment systems and methods. Discussion of the alignment and resolution of the system will be presented. We will also discuss future improvements to the system hardware.

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An experimental campaign to tune the initial shock compression sequence of capsule implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) was initiated in late 2010. The experiments use a NIF ignition-scale hohlraum and capsule that employs a reentrant cone to provide optical access to the shocks as they propagate in the liquid deuterium-filled capsule interior. The strength and timing of the shock sequence is diagnosed with velocity interferometry that provides target performance data used to set the pulse shape for ignition capsule implosions that follow. From the start, these measurements yielded significant new information on target performance, leading to improvements in the target design. We describe the results and interpretation of the initial tuning experiments.

The 3-rd International 3-days Workshop "Baryon and Lepton Number Violations: BLV-2011" took place at Gatlinburg, TN for September 22-24, 2011. Workshop was organized by the International Organizing Committee and had received advice from the International Program Advisory Committee (see Appendix 1). Workshop was co-chaired by Pavel Fileviez Perez (University of Wisconsin) for theory and Yuri Kamyshkov (University of Tennessee) for experiment and local organization. Workshop was supported and sponsored by the University of Tennessee, Indiana University, North Carolina State University together with TUNL, and by the HEP office of the Department of Energy. DOE financial support in this sponsoring grant was $8,000; that was 23% of the overall budget of the Workshop. Remaining 77% were provided by the sponsoring Universities. Workshop sponsors including DOE are shown on the Workshop webpage. There were 90 workshop participants with 52 from US and remaining from Bosnia/Herzegovina (1), Brazil (1), China (1), Columbia (1), France (1), Germany (10), Italy (9), Japan (4), Russian Federation (3), Slovenia (2), Spain (4), and Switzerland (1). Among Workshop participants there were 17 postdocs and young researchers and 11 graduate students. Total 67 talks and 14 posters were presented at Workshop during 3 days of sessions. Appendix 2 shows …

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According to Noether's theorem, for every symmetry in nature there is a corresponding conservation law. For example, invariance with respect to spatial translation corresponds to conservation of momentum. In another well-known example, invariance with respect to rotation of the electron's spin, or SU(2) symmetry, leads to conservation of spin polarization. For electrons in a solid, this symmetry is ordinarily broken by spin-orbit (SO) coupling, allowing spin angular momentum to flow to orbital angular momentum. However, it has recently been predicted that SU(2) can be recovered in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), despite the presence of SO coupling. The corresponding conserved quantities include the amplitude and phase of a helical spin density wave termed the 'persistent spin helix' (PSH). SU(2) is restored, in principle, when the strength of two dominant SO interactions, the Rashba ({alpha}) and linear Dresselhaus ({beta}{sub 1}), are equal. This symmetry is predicted to be robust against all forms of spin-independent scattering, including electron-electron interactions, but is broken by the cubic Dresselhaus term ({beta}{sub 3}) and spin-dependent scattering. When these terms are negligible, the distance over which spin information can propagate is predicted to diverge as {alpha} {yields} {beta}{sub 1}. Here we observe experimentally the emergence of the …

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In situ x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Pt L{sub 3} edge is a useful probe for Pt-O interactions at polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) cathodes. We show that XAS using the high energy resolution fluorescence detection (HERFD) mode, applied to a well-defined monolayer Pt/Rh(111) sample where the bulk penetrating hard x-rays probe only surface Pt atoms, provides a unique sensitivity to structure and chemical bonding at the Pt-electrolyte interface. Ab initio multiple-scattering calculations using the FEFF8 code and complementary extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) results indicate that the commonly observed large increase of the white-line at high electrochemical potentials on PEMFC cathodes originates from platinum oxide formation, whereas previously proposed chemisorbed oxygen-containing species merely give rise to subtle spectral changes.

The first experimental observation of magnetic resonances in electron clouds is reported. The resonance was observed as a modulation in cloud intensity for uncoated as well as TiN-coated aluminum surfaces in the positron storage ring of the PEP-II collider at SLAC. Electron clouds frequently arise in accelerators of positively charged particles, and severely impact the machines performance. The TiN coating was found to be an effective remedy, reducing the cloud intensity by three orders of magnitude.

Polar Kerr effect in the high-Tc superconductor YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 6+x} was measured at zero magnetic field with high precision using a cyogenic Sagnac fiber interferometer. We observed non-zero Kerr rotations of order {approx} 1 {micro}rad appearing near the pseudogap temperature T*, and marking what appears to be a true phase transition. Anomalous magnetic behavior in magnetic-field training of the effect suggests that time reversal symmetry is already broken above room temperature.

The science goals for future ground-based all-sky surveys, such as the Dark Energy Survey, PanSTARRS, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, require calibration of broadband photometry that is stable in time and uniform over the sky to precisions of a per cent or better, and absolute calibration of color measurements that are similarly accurate. This performance will need to be achieved with measurements made from multiple images taken over the course of many years, and these surveys will observe in less than ideal conditions. This paper describes a technique to implement a new strategy to directly measure variations of atmospheric transmittance at optical wavelengths and application of these measurements to calibration of ground-based observations. This strategy makes use of measurements of the spectra of a small catalog of bright 'probe' stars as they progress across the sky and back-light the atmosphere. The signatures of optical absorption by different atmospheric constituents are recognized in these spectra by their characteristic dependences on wavelength and airmass. State-of-the-art models of atmospheric radiation transport and modern codes are used to accurately compute atmospheric extinction over a wide range of observing conditions. We present results of an observing campaign that demonstrate that correction for extinction due …

Accurate characterization of polymer-electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) requires understanding the impact of mechanical and electrochemical loads on cell components. An essential aspect of this relationship is the effect of compression on the polymer membrane?s water-uptake behavior and transport properties. However, there is limited information on the impact of physical constraints on membrane properties. In this paper, we investigate both theoretically and experimentally how the water uptake of Nafion membrane changes under external compression loads. The swelling of a compressed membrane is modeled by modifying the swelling pressure in the polymer backbone which relies on the changes in the microscopic volume of the polymer. The model successfully predicts the water content of the compressed membrane measured through in-situ swelling-compression tests and neutron imaging. The results show that external mechanical loads could reduce the water content and conductivity of the membrane, especially at lower temperatures, higher humidities, and in liquid water. The modeling framework and experimental data provide valuable insight for the swelling and conductivity of constrained and compressed membranes, which are of interest in electrochemical devices such as batteries and fuel cells.

Niobium coatings on copper cavities have been considered as a cost-efficient replacement of bulk niobium RF cavities, however, coatings made by magnetron sputtering have not quite lived up to high expectations due to Q-slope and other issues. High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is a promising emerging coatings technology which combines magnetron sputtering with a pulsed power approach. The magnetron is turned into a metal plasma source by using very high peak power density of ~ 1 kW/cm{sup 2}. In this contribution, the cavity coatings concept with HIPIMS is explained. A system with two cylindrical, movable magnetrons was set up with custom magnetrons small enough to be inserted into 1.3 GHz cavities. Preliminary data on niobium HIPIMS plasma and the resulting coatings are presented. The HIPIMS approach has the potential to be extended to film systems beyond niobium, including other superconducting materials and/or multilayer systems.

Progress in particle and nuclear physics has been closely connected to the progress in accelerator technologies - a connection that is highly beneficial to both fields. This paper presents a review of the present and future facilities and accelerator technologies that will push the frontiers of high-energy particle interactions and high intensity secondary particle beams.

Progresses towards the calculation and the understanding of NLO/NLL contributions to Deep Inelastic Scattering at low x with gluon saturation are being reviewed.

Determination of the phase diagrams for the nanocrystalline forms of materials is crucial for our understanding of nanostructures and the design of functional materials using nanoscale building blocks. The ability to study such transformations in nanomaterials with controlled shape offers further insight into transition mechanisms and the influence of particular facets. Here we present an investigation of the size-dependent, temperature-induced solid-solid phase transition in copper sulfide nanorods from low- to high-chalcocite. We find the transition temperature to be substantially reduced, with the high chalcocite phase appearing in the smallest nanocrystals at temperatures so low that they are typical of photovoltaic operation. Size dependence in phase trans- formations suggests the possibility of accessing morphologies that are not found in bulk solids at ambient conditions. These other- wise-inaccessible crystal phases could enable higher-performing materials in a range of applications, including sensing, switching, lighting, and photovoltaics.

Evaluating the impacts and effectiveness of energy efficiency programs is likely to become increasingly important for state policymakers and program administrators given legislative mandates and regulatory goals and increasing reliance on energy efficiency as a resource. In this paper, we summarize three activities that the authors have conducted that highlight the expanded role of evaluation, measurement and verification (EM&V): a study that identified and analyzed challenges in improving and scaling up EM&V activities; a scoping study that identified issues involved in developing a national efficiency EM&V standard; and lessons learned from providing technical assistance on EM&V issues to states that are ramping up energy efficiency programs. The lessons learned are summarized in 13 EM&V issues that policy makers should address in each jurisdiction and which are listed and briefly described. The paper also discusses how improving the effectiveness and reliability of EM&V will require additional capacity building, better access to existing EM&V resources, new methods to address emerging issues and technologies, and perhaps foundational documents and approaches to improving the credibility and cross jurisdictional comparability of efficiency investments. Two of the potential foundational documents discussed are a national EM&V standard or resource guide and regional deemed savings and algorithm databases.

This poster describes a microchannelplate (MCP)–based, gated x-ray imager developed by National Security Technologies, LLC (NSTec), and Sandia National Laboratories(SNL) over the past several years. The camera consists of a 40 mm × 40 mm MCP, coated with eight 4 mm wide microstrips. The camera is gated by sending subnanosecond high-voltage pulses across the striplines. We have performed an extensive characterization of the camera, the results of which we present here. The camera has an optical gate profile width (time resolution) as narrow as 150 ps and detector uniformity of better than 30% along the length of a strip, far superior than what was achieved in previous designs. The spatial resolution is on the order of 40 microns for imaging applications and a dynamic range of between ~100 and ~1000. We also present results from a Monte Carlo simulation code developed by NSTec over the last several years. Agreement between the simulation results and the experimental measurements is very good.

This slide show documents aerial radiation surveys over Japan. Map product is a compilation of daily aerial measuring system missions from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant to 80 km radius. In addition, other flights were conducted over US military bases and the US embassy.

Evaporation rates of K2O, Na2O, and FeO from chondrule-like liquids and the associated potassium isotopic fractionation of the evaporation residues were measured to help understand the processes and conditions that affected the chemical and isotopic compositions of olivine-rich Type IA and Type IIA chondrules from Semarkona. Both types of chondrules show evidence of having been significantly or totally molten. However, these chondrules do not have large or systematic potassium isotopic fractionation of the sort found in the laboratory evaporation experiments. The experimental results reported here provide new data regarding the evaporation kinetics of sodium and potassium from a chondrule-like melt and the potassium isotopic fractionation of evaporation residues run under various conditions ranging from high vacuum to pressures of one bar of H2+CO2, or H2, or helium. The lack of systematic isotopic fractionation of potassium in the Type IIA and Type IA chondrules compared with what is found in the vacuum and one-bar evaporation residues is interpreted as indicating that they evolved in a partially closed system where the residence time of the surrounding gas was sufficiently long for it to have become saturated in the evaporating species and for isotopic equilibration between the gas and the melt. A diffusion …

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