These lectures give a general introduction to supersymmetry, emphasizing its application to models of elementary particle physics at the 100 GeV energy scale. I discuss the following topics: the construction of supersymmetric Lagrangians with scalars, fermions, and gauge bosons, the structure and mass spectrum of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), the measurement of the parameters of the MSSM at high-energy colliders, and the solutions that the MSSM gives to the problems of electroweak symmetry breaking and dark matter.

A highly segmented coaxial HPGe detector was operated in a low background counting facility for over 1 year to experimentally evaluate possible segmentation strategies for the proposed Majorana neutrino-less double-beta decay experiment. Segmentation schemes were evaluated on their ability to reject multi-segment events while retaining single-segment events. To quantify a segmentation scheme's acceptance efficiency the percentage of peak area due to single segment events was calculated for peaks located in the energy region 911-2614 keV. Single interaction site events were represented by the double-escape peak from the 2614 keV decay in {sup 208}Tl located at 1592 keV. In spite of its prototypical nature, the detector performed well under realistic operating conditions and required only minimal human interaction. Though the energy resolution for events with interactions in multiple segments was impacted by inter-segment cross-talk, the implementation of a cross-talk correlation matrix restored acceptable resolution. Additionally, simulations utilizing the MaGe simulation package were performed and found to be in good agreement with experimental observations verifying the external nature of the background radiation.

The decision by India and Pakistan in May 1998 to conduct nuclear weapon tests and declare themselves as nuclear weapon states challenged South Asian regional stability calculations, US nonproliferation policy, and prevailing assumptions about international security. A decade later, the effects of those tests are still being felt and policies are still adjusting to the changed global conditions. This paper will consider non- and counter-proliferation policy options for the United States and Pakistan as they work as partners to prevent the transfer of nuclear technology and further nuclear proliferation.

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A new method has been applied to the determination of neutron nonelastic cross sections for iron {sup 56}Fe and lead {sup 208}Pb for energies between 5 and 26 MeV. These data have estimated errors of only a few percent and do not suffer from the ambiguities encountered in earlier nonelastic data. We attempt to fit these high precision data using both a semiclassical single phase shift model (nuclear Ramsauer model) as well as a recent global optical model that well reproduces a wide body of neutron scattering observables. At the 5% uncertainty level, both models produce satisfactory fits. However, neither model gives satisfactory fits to these new precise data. We conclude that fitting precise data, i.e., data with errors of approximately 2% or less, may require a nuclear mass dependence of radii that reflects structure effects such as shell closures.

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The use of a ground based laser for space debris cleaning was investigated by the ORION project in 1996. Since that study the greatest technological advance in the development of high energy pulsed laser systems has taken place within the NIF project at LLNL. The proposed next laser system to follow the NIF at LLNL will be a high rep rate version of the NIF based on diode-pumping rather than flashlamp excitation; the so called 'LIFE' laser system. Because a single 'LIFE' beamline could be built up in a few year time frame, and has performance characteristics relevant to the space debris clearing problem, such a beamline could enable a near term demonstration of space debris cleaning. Moreover, the specifics of debris cleaning make it possible to simplify the LIFE laser beyond what is required for a fusion drive laser, and so substantially reduce its cost. Starting with the requirements for laser intensity on the target, and then considering beam delivery, we will flow back the laser requirements needed for space debris cleaning. Using these derived requirements we will then optimize the pulse duration, the operational regime, and the output pulse energy of the laser with a focus of simplifying …

The Analytical Development (AD) Section field nuclear measurement group performed six 'best available technique' verification measurements to satisfy a DOE requirement instituted for the March 2009 semi-annual inventory. The requirement of (1) yielded the need for SRNL Research Operations Department Material Control & Accountability (MC&A) group to measure the Pu content of five items and the highly enrich uranium (HEU) content of two. No 14Q-qualified measurement equipment was available to satisfy the requirement. The AD field nuclear group has routinely performed the required Confirmatory Measurements for the semi-annual inventories for fifteen years using sodium iodide and high purity germanium (HpGe) {gamma}-ray pulse height analysis nondestructive assay (NDA) instruments. With appropriate {gamma}-ray acquisition modeling, the HpGe spectrometers can be used to perform verification-type quantitative assay for Pu-isotopics and HEU content. The AD nuclear NDA group is widely experienced with this type of measurement and reports content for these species in requested process control, MC&A booking, and holdup measurements assays Site-wide. However none of the AD HpGe {gamma}-ray spectrometers have been 14Q-qualified, and the requirement of reference 1 specifically excluded a {gamma}-ray PHA measurement from those it would accept for the required verification measurements. The requirement of reference 1 was a new …

The development of microsatellites requires the development of engines to modify their orbit. It is natural to use solar energy to drive such engines. For an unlimited energy source the optimal thruster must use a minimal amount of expendable material to minimize launch costs. This requires the ejected material to have the maximal velocity and, hence, the ejected atoms must be as light as possible and be ejected by as high an energy density source as possible. Such a propulsion can be induced by pulses from an ultra-short laser. The ultra-short laser provides the high-energy concentration and high-ejected velocity. We suggest a microthruster system comprised of an inflatable solar concentrator, a solar panel, and a diode-pumped fiber laser. We will describe the system design and give weight estimates.

When people think of the government they think of the President, or Congress, or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), but there are thousands of people in government-related jobs doing things most don’t really notice everyday. You can find them everywhere, from the space science folks at NASA, to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) watching out for the bad guys. There are Rangers, and Social Workers, Nurses and Agricultural Managers. They are people working to keep the many facets of the USA rolling. One very diverse bunch is The Department of Energy (DOE) , a group who is expanding the ways we make and save energy to power our cars, homes, and businesses. Tucked away under the DOE is the National Nuclear Security Administration, the NNSA is an agency that maintains the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. It works to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction. It provides the U.S. Navy with safe nuclear propulsion, and it responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and abroad, and it supports efforts in science and technology*. (* DOE/NNSA/KCP website info)

We report solar cells based on highly confined nanocrystals of the ternary compound PbSxSe1-x. Crystalline, monodisperse alloyed nanocrystals are obtained using a one-pot, hot injection reaction. Rutherford back scattering and energy filtered transmission electron microscopy suggest that the S and Se anions are uniformly distributed in the alloy nanoparticles. Photovoltaic devices made using ternary nanoparticles are more efficient than either pure PbS or pure PbSe based nanocrystal devices.

Recent advances in the ability to generate extremes of pressure and temperature in dynamic experiments and to probe the response of materials has motivated the need for special materials optimized for those conditions as well as a need for a much deeper understanding of the behavior of materials subjected to high pressure and/or temperature. Of particular importance is the understanding of rate effects at the extremely high rates encountered in those experiments, especially with the next generation of laser drives such as at the National Ignition Facility. Here we use large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the high-rate deformation of nanocrystalline tantalum to investigate the processes associated with plastic deformation for strains up to 100%. We use initial atomic configurations that were produced through simulations of solidification in the work of Streitz et al [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, (2006) 225701]. These 3D polycrystalline systems have typical grain sizes of 10-20 nm. We also study a rapidly quenched liquid (amorphous solid) tantalum. We apply a constant volume (isochoric), constant temperature (isothermal) shear deformation over a range of strain rates, and compute the resulting stress-strain curves to large strains for both uniaxial and biaxial compression. We study the rate dependence and identify …

This article discusses examples and guidelines to form the general policy and guidelines for replication of bioenergy feedstock experiments to be published in BioEnergy Research.

This article presents a simple, inexpensive, and efficient chemical method of synthesizing nickel and nickel hydroxide powders with nanometer-sized particles.

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is an isotope based measurement technology that utilizes carbon-14 labeled compounds in the pharmaceutical development process to measure compounds at very low concentrations, empowers microdosing as an investigational tool, and extends the utility of {sup 14}C labeled compounds to dramatically lower levels. It is a form of isotope ratio mass spectrometry that can provide either measurements of total compound equivalents or, when coupled to separation technology such as chromatography, quantitation of specific compounds. The properties of AMS as a measurement technique are investigated here, and the parameters of method validation are shown. AMS, independent of any separation technique to which it may be coupled, is shown to be accurate, linear, precise, and robust. As the sensitivity and universality of AMS is constantly being explored and expanded, this work underpins many areas of pharmaceutical development including drug metabolism as well as absorption, distribution and excretion of pharmaceutical compounds as a fundamental step in drug development. The validation parameters for pharmaceutical analyses were examined for the accelerator mass spectrometry measurement of {sup 14}C/C ratio, independent of chemical separation procedures. The isotope ratio measurement was specific (owing to the {sup 14}C label), stable across samples storage conditions for at …

Palynological results from Julietta Lake currently provide the most direct evidence to support the existence of a glacial refugium for Pinus pumila in mountains of southwestern Beringia. Both percentages and accumulation rates indicate the evergreen shrub survived until at least {approx}19,000 14C yr B.P. in the Upper Kolyma region. Percentage data suggest numbers dwindled into the late glaciation, whereas pollen accumulation rates point towards a more rapid demise shortly after {approx}19,000 14C yr B.P. Pinus pumila did not re-establish in any great numbers until {approx}8100 14C yr B.P., despite the local presence {approx}9800 14C yr B.P. of Larix dahurica, which shares similar summer temperature requirements. The postglacial thermal maximum (in Beringia {approx}11,000-9000 14C yr B.P.) provided Pinus pumila shrubs with equally harsh albeit different conditions for survival than those present during the LGM. Regional records indicate that in this time of maximum warmth Pinus pumila likely sheltered in a second, lower-elevation refugium. Paleoclimatic models and modern ecology suggest that shifts in the nature of seasonal transitions and not only seasonal extremes have played important roles in the history of Pinus pumila over the last {approx}21,000 14C yr B.P.

This paper describes a three mode HeNe laser frequency stabilization technique using the mixed mode frequency to obtain a fractional frequency stability of 2 x 10{sup -11}. The mixed mode frequency occurs due to optical nonlinear interactions with the adjacent modes at each of the three modes. In precision displacement interferometry systems, the laser source frequency must be stabilized to provide an accurate conversion ratio between phase change and displacement. In systems, such as lithography applications, which require high speed, high accuracy and low data age uncertainty, it is also desirable to avoid periodic nonlinearities, which reduces computation time and errors. One method to reduce periodic nonlinearity is to spatially separate the measurement and reference beams to prevent optical mixing, which has been shown for several systems. Using spatially separated beams and the proper optical configuration, the interferometer can be fiber fed, which can increase the interferometer's stability by reducing the number of beam steering optical elements. Additionally, as the number of measurement axes increases, a higher optical power from the laser source is necessary.

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This paper describes a novel heterodyne laser interferometer with no significant periodic nonlinearity for linear displacement measurements. Moreover, the optical configurations have the benefit of doubling the measurement resolution when compared to its respective traditional counterparts. Experimental results show no discernable periodic nonlinearity for a retro-reflector interferometer and plane mirror interferometer configurations with a noise level below 20 pm. The incoming laser beams of the interferometers are achieved by utilizing two single mode optical fibers. To determine the stability of the optical fiber couplers a fiber delivery prototype was also built and tested.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has the responsibility to carry out independent inspections of all nuclear material and facilities subject to safeguards agreements in order to verify compliance with non-proliferation commitments. New technologies have been continuously explored by the IAEA and Member States to improve the verification measures to account for declared inventory of nuclear material and detect clandestine diversion and production of nuclear materials. Even with these efforts, a technical safeguards challenge has remained for decades for the case of developing a method in identifying possible diversion of nuclear fuel pins from the Light Water Reactor (LWR) spent fuel assemblies. We had embarked on this challenging task and successfully developed a novel methodology in detecting partial removal of fuel from pressurized water reactor spent fuel assemblies. The methodology uses multiple tiny neutron and gamma detectors in the form of a cluster and a high precision driving system to obtain underwater radiation measurements inside a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) spent fuel assembly without any movement of the fuel. The data obtained in such a manner can provide spatial distribution of neutron and gamma flux within a spent fuel assembly. The combined information of gamma and neutron signature is used …

Predamage electron emission shows a dependence on fluence, bandgap and wavelength consistent with multiphoton excitation across the bandgap and inconsistent with avalanche ionization and thermionic emission models. The electron emission scales with pulselength as 1/..sqrt..T. 6 references, 8 figures, 1 table.

Over the past decade a new genre of laboratory astrophysics has emerged, made possible by the new high energy density (HED) experimental facilities, such as large lasers, z-pinch generators, and high current particle accelerators. (Remington, 1999; 2000; Drake, 1998; Takabe, 2001) On these facilities, macroscopic collections of matter can be created in astrophysically relevant conditions, and its collective properties measured. Examples of processes and issues that can be experimentally addressed include compressible hydrodynamic mixing, strong shock phenomena, radiative shocks, radiation flow, high Mach-number jets, complex opacities, photoionized plasmas, equations of state of highly compressed matter, and relativistic plasmas. These processes are relevant to a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, such as supernovae and supernova remnants, astrophysical jets, radiatively driven molecular clouds, accreting black holes, planetary interiors, and gamma-ray bursts. These phenomena will be discussed in the context of laboratory astrophysics experiments possible on existing and future HED facilities.

This paper describes an implementation of hardware neural networks using highly linear thin-film resistor technology and an 8-bit binary weight circuit to produce customizable artificial neural network chips and systems. These neural networks are programmed using precision laser cutting and deposition. The fast turnaround of laser-based customization allows us to explore different neural network architectures and to rapidly program the synaptic weights. Our customizable chip allows us to expand an artificial network laterally and vertically. This flexibility permits us to build very large neural network systems.

We report on the evolution of defects in Pu during isochronal annealing and self irradiation using positron annihilation spectroscopy. Positron annihilation spectroscopy is a sensitive probe (part per million level) for atomic-scale defects. The spectroscopic tools available at LLNL allow the determination of size, concentration, and chemical surroundings of defects in aged Pu samples. Positron lifetime analysis was performed on eight samples aged 7 months to 42 years. All samples except the 7-month old sample contained a high concentration of positron trapping centers. The dominant component yielded a lifetime value of {approx}182 ps. In aged samples, a second longer lifetime component was observed that appears to increase in strength with the age of the sample. The observed lifetime values and their relative strengths are shown in figure 1. The top panel corresponds to the lifetime values and the bottom panel corresponds to the intensity of the long lifetime component. Positron lifetime values are determined by the bubble size and He content. When He is added to a bubble, the positron lifetime is shortened due to the increased electron density. When the size of the bubble is known from an independent measurement, the observed positron lifetime values and the associated first …