In a new mode of measurement, the amplitude of a tearing mode rotating at frequencies of up to tens of KHz has been obtained using the spectral features of high frequency MSE data. A formulation has been developed to calculate the pitch angle oscillations associated with these instabilities, from the MSE spectrum. Density fluctuations can be simultaneously obtained from MSE measurements if the intensity response to density variation can be calibrated. Examples of observations are given and detection limits are explored.

A distributed memory message-passing parallel implementation of a finite-volume discretization of the primitive equations in the Community Atmosphere Model is presented. Due to the data dependencies resulting from the polar singularity of the latitude-longitude coordinate system, it is necessary to employ two separate domain decompositions within the dynamical core. Data must be periodically redistributed between these two decompositions. In addition, the domains contain halo regions that cover the nearest neighbor data dependencies. A combination of several techniques, such as one-sided communication and multithreading, are presented to optimize data movements. The resulting algorithm is shown to scale to very large machine configurations, even for relatively coarse resolutions.

Under anaerobic conditions and at circumneutral pH, cells of the widely-distributed, obligate chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Thiobacillus denitrificans oxidatively dissolved synthetic and biogenic U(IV) oxides (uraninite) in nitrate-dependent fashion: U(IV) oxidation required the presence of nitrate and was strongly correlated to nitrate consumption. This is the first report of anaerobic U(IV) oxidation by an autotrophic bacterium.

Understanding and predicting the behavior of high-Z non-LTE plasmas is important for developing indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion. Extending earlier work from the Nova laser, we present results from experiments using the Omega laser to study the ionization balance of gold as a function of electron and radiation temperature. In these experiments, gold samples embedded in Be disks expand under direct laser heating to n{sub e} {approx} 10{sup 21} cm{sup -3}, with T{sub e} varying from 0.8 to 2.5 keV. An additional finite radiation field with effective temperature T{sub r} up to 150 eV is provided by placing the gold-Be disks inside truncated 1.2 mm diameter tungsten-coated cylindrical hohlraums with full laser entrance holes. Densities are measured by imaging of plasma expansion. Electron temperatures are diagnosed with either 2 {omega} or 4 {omega} Thomson scattering, and also K-shell spectroscopy of KCl tracers co-mixed with the gold. Hohlraum flux and effective radiation temperature are measured using an absolutely-calibrated multichannel filtered diode array. Spectroscopic measurements of the M-shell gold emission in the 2.9-4 keV spectral range provide ionization balance and charge state distribution information. The spectra show strong variation with T{sub e}, strong variation with the applied T{sub r} at T{sub e} below …

Alumina aerogels were prepared through the addition of propylene oxide to aqueous or ethanolic solutions of hydrated aluminum salts, AlCl{sub 3} {center_dot} 6H{sub 2}O or Al(NO{sub 3}){sub 3} {center_dot} 9H{sub 2}O, followed by drying with supercritical CO{sub 2}. This technique affords low-density (60-130 kg/m{sup 3}), high surface area (600-700 m{sup 2}/g) alumina aerogel monoliths without the use of alkoxide precursors. The dried alumina aerogels were characterized using elemental analysis, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, solid state NMR, acoustic measurements and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis. Powder X-ray diffraction and TEM analysis indicated that the aerogel prepared from hydrated AlCl{sub 3} in water or ethanol possessed microstructures containing highly reticulated networks of pseudoboehmite fibers, 2-5 nm in diameter and of varying lengths, while the aerogels prepared from hydrated Al(NO{sub 3}){sub 3} in ethanol were amorphous with microstructures comprised of interconnected spherical particles with diameters in the 5-15 nm range. The difference in microstructure resulted in each type of aerogel displaying distinct physical and mechanical properties. In particular, the alumina aerogels with the weblike microstructure were far more mechanically robust than those with the colloidal network, based on acoustic measurements. Both types of alumina aerogels can be transformed to {gamma}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} …

An intermediate regime for tokamak operation has been obtained in DIII-D and in other tokamaks in which the inductive flux consumption is reduced and a broad current profile with the safety factor just above or near the sawtoothing limit is obtained and maintained. The DIII-D tokamak was operated in this regime near the no-wall b limit. High stability and good confinement was achieved at a desired level of q{sub 95} {approx} 3 to 4 for durations as long as 35{tau}{sub E}, three times the current-diffusion time. This regime offers the promise of achieving higher fusion gain and yield and/or longer burn duration for ITER.

We are developing high-current ion sources for Heavy Ion Fusion applications. Our proposed RF plasma source starts with an array of high current density mini-beamlets (of a few mA each at {approx}100 mA/cm{sup 2}) that are kept separated from each other within a set of acceleration grids. After they have gained sufficient kinetic energy (>1.2 MeV), the mini-beamlets are allowed to merge together to form a high current beam (about 0.5 A) with low emittance. Simulations have been done to maximize the beam brightness within the physical constraints of the source. We have performed a series of experiments on an RF plasma source. A 80-kV 20-{micro}s source has produced up to 5 mA of Ar{sup +} in a single beamlet and we measured the emittance of a beamlet, its energy spread, and the fraction of ions in higher charge states. We have also tested a 50-kV 61-hole multi-beamlet array. Two upcoming experiments are being prepared: the first experiment will test full-gradient extraction and transport of 61 beamlets though the first four electrodes, and the second experiment will converge 119 beamlets into an ESQ channel at one-quarter scaled voltage of a 1.6 MV HIF injector.

A semi-empirical model was used to explain why the measured melting curves of molybdenum, and the other bcc transition metals, have an unusually low slope (dT/dP{approx}0). The total binding energy of Mo is written as the sum of the repulsive energy of the ions and sp-electrons (modeled by an inverse 6th power potential) and the d-band cohesive energy described by the well known Friedel equation. Using literature values for the Mo band width energy, the number of d-electrons and their volume dependence, we find that a small broadening of the liquid d-band width ({approx}1%) leads to an increase in the stability of the liquid relative to the solid. This is sufficient to depress the melting temperature and lower the melting slope to a value in agreement with the diamond-anvil cell measurements. Omission of the d-band physics results in an Al-like melting curve with a much steeper melt slope. The model, when applied to the f-electrons of the light actinides (Th-Am), gives agreement with the observed fall and rise in the melting temperature with increasing atomic number.