Over the past couple of decades, the Standard Model of high energy particle physics has clearly established itself as an invaluable tool in the analysis of high energy particle phenomenon. However, from a field theorists point of view, there are many dissatisfying aspects to the model. One of these, is the large number of free parameters in the theory arising from the Yukawa couplings of the Higgs doublet. In this thesis, we examine various issues relating to the Yukawa coupeng structure of high energy particle field theories. We begin by examining extensions to the Standard Model of particle physics which contain additional scalar fields. By appealing to the flavor structure observed in the fermion mass and Kobayashi-Maskawa matrices, we propose a reasonable phenomenological parameterization of the new Yukawa couplings based on the concept of approximate flavor symmetries. It is shown that such a parameterization eliminates the need for discrete symmetries which limit the allowed couplings of the new scalars. New scalar particles which can mediate exotic flavor changing reactions can have masses as low as the weak scale. Next, we turn to the issue of neutrino mass matrices, where we examine a particular texture which leads to matter independent neutrino …

This dissertation discusses a data collection experiment within the Actinide Isomer Identification project (AID). The AID project is the investigation of an active interrogation technique that utilizes nuclear isomer production, with the goal of assisting in the interdiction of illicit nuclear materials. In an attempt to find and characterize isomers belonging to 235U and its fission fragments, a 232Th target was bombarded with a monoenergetic 6Li ion beam, operating at 45 MeV.

Undergraduate thesis with the initial attempt to validate the Attention Network Test (ANT) by comparing it to a thoroughly validated measure, the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric (ANAM) battery. The author examines the validity of the ANT in order to confirm its use in both clinical and normal populations.

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In this thesis work we have measured the following upper limits at 90% of confidence level, for B meson decays (in units of 10{sup -6}), using a statistics of 465.0 x 10{sup 6} B{bar B} pairs: {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}K{sup 0}) < 1.6 {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}{eta}) < 1.4 {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}{prime}{eta}{prime}) < 2.1 {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}{phi}) < 0.52 {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}{omega}) < 1.6 {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}{prime}{phi}) < 1.2 {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}{prime}{omega}) < 1.7 We have no observation of any decay mode, statistical significance for our measurements is in the range 1.3-3.5 standard deviation. We have a 3.5{sigma} evidence for B {yields} {eta}{omega} and a 3.1 {sigma} evidence for B {yields} {eta}{prime}{omega}. The absence of observation of the B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}K{sup 0} open an issue related to the large difference compared to the charged mode B{sup +} {yields} {eta}K{sup +} branching fraction, which is measured to be 3.7 {+-} 0.4 {+-} 0.1 [118]. Our results represent substantial improvements of the previous ones [109, 110, 111] and are consistent with theoretical predictions. All these results were presented at Flavor Physics and CP Violation (FPCP) 2008 Conference, that took place in Taipei, Taiwan. They will be …

A unique approach to crack-free joining of heterogeneous ceramics is demonstrated by the use of sialon polytypoids as Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) as defined by the phase diagram in the system, Si3N4-Al2O3. Polytypoids in the Al2O3-Si3N4 system offer a path to compatibility for such heterogeneous ceramics. The first part of the dissertation describes successful hot press sintering of multilayered FGM's with 20 layers of thickness 500 mm each. Transmission Electron Microscopy was used to identify the polytypoids at the interfaces of different areas of the joint. It has been found that the 15R polytypoid was formed in the Al2O3-contained layers and the 12H polytypoid was formed in the Si3N4-contained layers. The second part of the dissertation discusses the mechanical properties of these polytypoidally joined Si3N4-Al2O3. The thermal stresses of this FGM junction were analyzed using a finite element analysis program (FEAP) taking into account both coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and modulus variations. From this analysis, the result showed a dramatic decrease in radial, axial and hoop stresses as the FGM changes from three layers to 20 graded layers. Scaling was considered, showing that the graded transition layer should constitute about 75 percent or more of the total sample thickness …

The thesis is concerned with the relation between a microscopic approach and a macroscopic approach to the study of the nuclear binding energy as a function of neutron number, proton number and nuclear deformations. First of all we give a general discussion of the potential energy of a system which can be divided into a bulk region and a thin skin layer. We find that this energy can be written down in the usual liquid drop type of expression, i.e., in terms of the volume, the surface area and other macroscopic properties of the system. The discussion is illustrated by a study of noninteracting particles in an orthorhombic potential well with zero potential inside and infinite potential outside. The total energy is calculated both exactly (a microscopic approach) and also from a liquid drop type of expression (a macroscopic approach). It turns out that the latter approach reproduces the smooth average of the exact results very well. We next make a digression to study the saddle point shapes of a charged conducting drop on a pure liquid drop model. We compare the properties of a conducting drop with those of a drop whose charges are distributed uniformly throughout its volume. …

W boson + QCD Jet events, produced in 1.8 TeV proton-antiproton collisions and measured by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), were used to measure the center-of-mass production angle of the W + jet system, and were also used to place limits on the production of excited quark states. The center-of-mass production angular distribution agrees well with leading order and next-to-leading order QCD predictions. Excited quark states were searched for in the reaction q + g {yields} q* {yields} q + W. Upper limits on the q* cross section, as a function of the q* mass, are shown. Comparison with a theoretical prediction for q* production excludes excited quark states with a mass in the range 150--530 GeV/c{sup 2}, at 95% confidence.

One of the biggest challenges in Chemical Dynamics is describing the behavior of complex systems accurately. Classical MD simulations have evolved to a point where calculations involving thousands of atoms are routinely carried out. Capturing coherence, tunneling and other such quantum effects for these systems, however, has proven considerably harder. Semiclassical methods such as the Initial Value Representation (SC-IVR) provide a practical way to include quantum effects while still utilizing only classical trajectory information. For smaller systems, this method has been proven to be most effective, encouraging the hope that it can be extended to deal with a large number of degrees of freedom. Several variations upon the original idea of the SCIVR have been developed to help make these larger calculations more tractable; these range from the simplest, classical limit form, the Linearized IVR (LSC-IVR) to the quantum limit form, the Exact Forward-Backward version (EFB-IVR). In this thesis a method to tune between these limits is described which allows us to choose exactly which degrees of freedom we wish to treat in a more quantum mechanical fashion and to what extent. This formulation is called the Tuning IVR (TIVR). We further describe methodology being developed to evaluate the prefactor …

The author presents measurements of radiative B meson decays to the final states K{sub s}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma} and K{phi}{gamma} based on data collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} collider at SLAC. In a data sample of 467 million B{bar B} pairs, the time-dependent CP asymmetry in B{sup 0} {yields} K{sub s}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma} decays is measured in two regions of K{sub s}{sup 0}-{pi}{sup 0} invariant mass. In the K* region, 0.8 < m(K{sub s}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}) < 1.0 GeV/c{sup 2}, we find S{sub K*{gamma}} = -0.03 {+-} 0.29 {+-} 0.03 and C{sub K*{gamma}} = -0.14 {+-} 0.16 {+-} 0.03; in the range 1.1 < m(K{sub s}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}) < 1.8 GeV/c{sup 2}, they find S{sub K{sub s}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma}} = -0.78 {+-} 0.59 {+-} 0.09 and C{sub K{sub s}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma}} = -0.36 {+-} 0.33 {+-} 0.04. With a sample of 228 million B{bar B} pairs they measure the branching fraction {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{phi}{gamma}) = (3.5 {+-} 0.6 {+-} 0.4) x 10{sup -6} and set the limit {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} K{sup 0}{phi}{gamma}) < 2.7 x 10{sup -6} at 90% confidence level. The direct CP asymmetry in B{sup +} {yields} …

We search for CP violation in a sample of 4.7 x 10{sup 4} singly Cabibbo suppressed D{sup 0} {yields} K{sup +} K{sup -} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} decays and 1.8(2.6) x 10{sup 4} D{sub (s)}{sup +} {yields} K{sub S}{sup 0} K{sup +} {pi}{sup +} {pi}{sup -} decays. CP violation is searched for in the difference between the T-odd asymmetries, obtained using triple product correlations, measured for D and {bar D} decays. The measured CP violation parameters are A{sub T}(D{sup 0}) = (1.0 {+-} 5.1(stat) {+-} 4.4(syst)) x 10{sup -3}, A{sub T}(D{sup +}) = (-11.96 {+-} 10.04(stat) {+-} 4.81(syst)) x 10{sup -3} and A{sub T}(D{sub s}{sup +}) = (-13.57 {+-} 7.67(stat) {+-} 4.82(syst)) x 10{sup -3}. This search for CP violation showed that the T-odd correlations are a powerful tool to measure the CP violating observable A{sub T}. The relative simplicity of an analysis based on T-odd correlations and the high quality results that can be obtained, allow to consider this tool as fundamental to search for CP violation in four-body decays. Even if the CP violation has not been found, excluding any New Physics effect to the sensitivity of about 0.5%, it is still worth to search for CP violation in …

Undergraduate thesis exploring psychosocial factors of type II diabetes in older married adults of the Hispanic American population. It is proposed that social support mitigates the effect of psychosocial problems on self-care behavior and posited that greater social support in the form of familial and spousal relationships is related to better health outcomes, specifically better self-reported disease self-management of type II diabetes in married Hispanics.

This thesis reports the analysis of the e{sup +}e{sup -} {yields} e{sup +}e{sup -}K{sub S}{sup 0}K{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup {-+}} and e{sup +}e{sup -} {yields} e{sup +}e{sup -}K{sup +}K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} processes using the final dataset of the BABAR experiment located at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. From previous measurements, the K{sub S}{sup 0}K{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup {-+}} final state is known to show a clear signal from the {eta}{sub c}(2S) particle. This c{bar c} state escaped detection for almost twenty years and its properties are still not well established on the experimental ground, while accurate predictions exist on the theoretical side. The e{sup +}e{sup -} {yields} e{sup +}e{sup -}K{sup +}K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} process is first studied in this thesis. An accurate determination of the {eta}{sub c}(2S) properties is obtained in the K{sub S}{sup 0}K{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup {-+}} decay mode. We also report the first observation of {eta}{sub c}(2S) and other charmonium states to the K{sup +}K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} final state. The results of this thesis have been published in Physical Review D, and will be useful to test theoretical models describing the charmonium system. The thesis is organized in four chapters. The first one gives a brief introduction …

We have demonstrated that a bulk absorber coupled to a TES can serve as a good gamma-ray spectrometer. Our measured energy resolution of 70 eV at 60 keV is among the best measurements in this field. We have also shown excellent agreement between the noise predictions and measured noise. Despite this good result, we noted that our detector design has shortcomings with a low count rate and vulnerabilities with the linearity of energy response. We addressed these issues by implementation of an active negative feedback bias. We demonstrated the effects of active bias such as additional pulse shortening, reduction of TES change in temperature during a pulse, and linearization of energy response at low energy. Linearization at higher energy is possible with optimized heat capacities and thermal conductivities of the microcalorimeter. However, the current fabrication process has low control and repeatability over the thermal properties. Thus, optimization of the detector performance is difficult until the fabrication process is improved. Currently, several efforts are underway to better control the fabrication of our gamma-ray spectrometers. We are developing a full-wafer process to produce TES films. We are investigating the thermal conductivity and surface roughness of thicker SiN membranes. We are exploring alternative …