We construct metastable configurations of branes and anti-branes wrapping 2-spheres inside local Calabi-Yau manifolds and study their large N duals. These duals are Calabi-Yau manifolds in which the wrapped 2-spheres have been replaced by 3-spheres with flux through them, and supersymmetry is spontaneously broken. The geometry of the non-supersymmetric vacuum is exactly calculable to all orders of the't Hooft parameter, and to the leading order in 1/N. The computation utilizes the same matrix model techniques that were used in the supersymmetric context. This provides a novel mechanism for breaking supersymmetry in the context of flux compactifications.

FY2006 annual report of research conducted by the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, a research unit of the University of Georgia operating on the Savannah River Site in Aiken, County, SC.

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Image of a student working with a lit Bunsen Burner in a lab. She is holding a small metal rod up to the flame and the tip of the rod is also on fire. Around her neck is a lanyard that reads 'University of North Texas' on the cord. It has been turned so that the longer portion hangs down her back for lab safety.

The final report describes the study aimed at exploring the variable-resolution stretched-grid (SG) approach to decadal regional climate modeling using advanced numerical techniques. The obtained results have shown that variable-resolution SG-GCMs using stretched grids with fine resolution over the area(s) of interest, is a viable established approach to regional climate modeling. The developed SG-GCMs have been extensively used for regional climate experimentation. The SG-GCM simulations are aimed at studying the U.S. regional climate variability with an emphasis on studying anomalous summer climate events, the U.S. droughts and floods.

Energetic materials are unique for having a strong exothermic reactivity, which has made them desirable for both military and commercial applications. Energetic materials are commonly divided into high explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics. We will focus on high explosive (HE) materials here, although there is a great deal of commonality between the classes of energetic materials. Although the history of HE materials is long, their condensed-phase properties are poorly understood. Understanding the condensed-phase properties of HE materials is important for determining stability and performance. Information regarding HE material properties (for example, the physical, chemical, and mechanical behaviors of the constituents in plastic-bonded explosive, or PBX, formulations) is necessary for efficiently building the next generation of explosives as the quest for more powerful energetic materials (in terms of energy per volume) moves forward. In modeling HE materials there is a need to better understand the physical, chemical, and mechanical behaviors from fundamental theoretical principles. Among the quantities of interest in plastic-bonded explosives (PBXs), for example, are thermodynamic stabilities, reaction kinetics, equilibrium transport coefficients, mechanical moduli, and interfacial properties between HE materials and the polymeric binders. These properties are needed (as functions of stress state and temperature) for the development of improved micro-mechanical …

This report discusses the McCain Amendment, as modified and subsequently enacted into law. This report also discusses the application of the McCain Amendment by the DOD in the updated 2006 version of the Army Field Manual, particuarly in light of the Supreme Court's ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. In addition, the report discusses the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-366), which was signed into law on October 17, 2006.

Congress has the authority to determine classes of aliens who may be admitted into the United States and the grounds for which they may be removed. Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, certain conduct may either disqualify an alien from entering the United States ("inadmissibility") or provide grounds for his or her removal/deportation. Prominently included among this conduct is criminal activity. This report explores this issue in-depth, especially the difference between the terms "illegal alien" and "criminal alien" and relevant legislation.

This report discusses the potential immigration consequences of criminal activity. “Criminal activity” generally refers to conduct for which an alien has been found or plead guilty before a court of law, though in limited circumstances consequences may attach to the commission of a crime or admission of acts constituting the essential elements of a crime. Consequences may flow from violations of either federal, state or, in many circumstances, foreign criminal law. Some federal crimes are set out in the INA itself — alien smuggling, for example. However, not all violations of immigration law are crimes. Notably, being in the U.S. without legal permission — i.e., being an “illegal alien” — is not a crime in and of itself. Thus, for example, an alien who overstays a student visa may be an “illegal alien,” in that the alien may be subject to removal from the U.S., but such an alien is not a “criminal alien.”

Image of two students standing inside of their dorm room. One is opening the door and the other is balancing a basketball inside. There is a bed in the corner and a desk with a landline and mini-fridge underneath it. The walls are also decorated.

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Recent results from the SSPX spheromak experiment demonstrate the potential for obtaining good energy confinement (Te > 350eV and radial electron thermal diffusivity comparable to tokamak L-mode values) in a completely self-organized toroidal plasma. A strong decrease in thermal conductivity with temperature is observed and at the highest temperatures, transport is well below that expected from the Rechester-Rosenbluth model. Addition of a new capacitor bank has produced 60% higher magnetic fields and almost tripled the pulse length to 11ms. For plasmas with T{sub e} > 300eV, it becomes feasible to use modest (1.8MW) neutral beam injection (NBI) heating to significantly change the power balance in the core plasma, making it an effective tool for improving transport analysis. We are now developing detailed designs for adding NBI to SSPX and have developed a new module for the CORSICA transport code to compute the correct fast-ion orbits in SSPX so that we can simulate the effect of adding NBI; initial results predict that such heating can raise the electron temperature and total plasma pressure in the core by a factor of two.

Shimming systems are required to provide sufficient fieldhomogeneity for high resolution NMR. In certain specialized applications,such as rotating-field NMR and portable (ex-situ) NMR, permanentmagnet-based shimming systems can provide considerable advantages. Wepresent a simple two-dimensional shimming method based on harmoniccorrector rings which can provide arbitrary multipole order shimmingcorrections. Results demonstrate, for example, that quadrupolar ordershimming improves the linewidth by up to and order of magnitude. Anadditional order of magnitude reduction is in principle achievable byultilizing this shimming method for z-gradient correction and higherorder xy gradients.

We measure the laminar deflagration rate of LX-17 (92.5 wt% TATB, 7.5 wt% Kel-F 800) at high pressure and temperature in a strand burner, thereby obtaining reaction rate data for prediction of thermal explosion violence. Simultaneous measurements of flame front time-of-arrival and temporal pressure history allow for the direct calculation of deflagration rate as a function of pressure. Additionally, deflagrating surface areas are calculated in order to provide quantitative insight into the dynamic surface structure during deflagration and its relationship to explosion violence. Deflagration rate data show that LX-17 burns in a smooth fashion at ambient temperature and is represented by the burn rate equation B = 0.2P{sup 0.9}. At 225 C, deflagration is more rapid and erratic. Dynamic deflagrating surface area calculations show that ambient temperature LX-17 deflagrating surface areas remain near unity over the pressure range studied.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree

We study the behavior of hydrogen-bonded systems under high-pressure and temperature. First principle calculations of formic acid under isotropic pressure up to 70 GPa reveal the existence of a polymerization phase at around 20 GPa, in support of recent IR, Raman, and XRD experiments. In this phase, covalent bonding develops between molecules of the same chain through symmetrization of hydrogen bonds. We also performed molecular dynamics simulations of water at pressures up to 115 GPa and 2000 K. Along this isotherm, we are able to define three different phases. We observe a molecular fluid phase with superionic diffusion of the hydrogens for pressure 34 GPa to 58 GPa. We report a transformation to a phase dominated by transient networks of symmetric O-H hydrogen bonds at 95-115 GPa. As in formic acid, the network can be attributed to the symmetrization of the hydrogen bond, similar to the ice VII to ice X transition.

Single Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (SPAMS) was evaluated as a real-time detection technique for single particles of high explosives. Dual-polarity time-of-flight mass spectra were obtained for samples of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (RDX), and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN); peaks indicative of each compound were identified. Composite explosives, Comp B, Semtex 1A, and Semtex 1H were also analyzed, and peaks due to the explosive components of each sample were present in each spectrum. Mass spectral variability with laser fluence is discussed. The ability of the SPAMS system to identify explosive components in a single complex explosive particle ({approx}1 pg) without the need for consumables is demonstrated. SPAMS was also applied to the detection of Chemical Warfare Agent (CWA) simulants in the liquid and vapor phases. Liquid simulants for sarin, cyclosarin, tabun, and VX were analyzed; peaks indicative of each simulant were identified. Vapor phase CWA simulants were adsorbed onto alumina, silica, Zeolite, activated carbon, and metal powders which were directly analyzed using SPAMS. The use of metal powders as adsorbent materials was especially useful in the analysis of triethyl phosphate (TEP), a VX stimulant, which was undetectable using SPAMS in the liquid phase. The capability of SPAMS to detect high explosives and CWA …

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This report provides information about the Clean Air Act Issues in the 109th Congress. Air quality has substantially improved since the passage of the Air act issue in 1970.

This report summarizes the main provisions of the Pension Protection Act (PPA) as they affect single-employer defined benefit plans, multiemployer defined benefit plans, and defined contribution plans.

This report explores the difference between monopoly and monopolization as those terms are used in antitrust law, and the differing enforcement consequences of each-- will be updated if case law or legislation alters the concepts it discusses.