The discovery that ultra-intense laser pulses (I > 10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}) can produce short pulse, high energy proton beams has renewed interest in the fundamental mechanisms that govern particle acceleration from laser-solid interactions. Experiments have shown that protons present as hydrocarbon contaminants on laser targets can be accelerated up to energies > 50 MeV. Different theoretical models that explain the observed results have been proposed. One model describes a front-surface acceleration mechanism based on the ponderomotive potential of the laser pulse. At high intensities (I > 10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}), the quiver energy of an electron oscillating in the electric field of the laser pulse exceeds the electron rest mass, requiring the consideration of relativistic effects. The relativistically correct ponderomotive potential is given by U{sub p} = ([1 + I{lambda}{sup 2}/1.3 x 10{sup 18}]{sup 1/2} - 1) m{sub o}c{sup 2}, where I{lambda}{sup 2} is the irradiance in W{micro}m{sup 2}/cm{sup 2} and m{sub o}c{sup 2} is the electron rest mass.At laser irradiance of I{lambda}{sup 2} {approx} 10{sup 20} W{micro}m{sup 2}/cm{sup 2}, the ponderomotive potential can be of order several MeV. A few recent experiments--discussed in Chapter 3 of this thesis--consider this ponderomotive potential sufficiently strong to accelerate protons from the …

The D0 detector underwent a major upgrade to maximize its ability to fully exploit Run II at the Fermilab Tevatron, the world's highest energy collider. The upgrade included a completely new central tracking system with an outer scintillating fiber tracker and an inner silicon vertex detector all within a 2T superconducting solenoid. This thesis describes the development of high level trigger algorithms including vertexing, impact parameter significance and invariant mass, that utilize tracks from these detectors. One of the main physics goals of Run II is the observation of B{sub s} oscillations. This measurement, which cannot be performed at the B factories, will significantly constrain the ''unitarity triangle'' associated with Cp violation and so probe the Standard Model of particle physics. Furthermore this is an interesting measurement as the study of mixing in meson systems has a long history for revealing new physics. The second part of this thesis presents a study of the hadronic decay B{sub s} {yields} D{sub s}{pi}. This important mode provides the best proper time resolution for B{sub s} mixing and is reconstructed for the first time at D0. Projections on the sensitivity to B{sub s} oscillations are then presented.

This thesis presents the measurement of energy dependence of the neutrino-nucleon inclusive charged current cross section on an isoscalar target in the range 3-50 GeV for neutrinos and 5-50 GeV energy range for antineutrinos. The data set was collected with the MINOS Near Detector using the wide band NuMI beam at Fermilab. The size of the charged current sample is 1.94 x 10{sup 6} neutrino events and 1.60 x 10{sup 5} antineutrino events. The flux has been extracted using a low hadronic energy sub-sample of the charged current events. The energy dependence of the cross section is obtained by dividing the charged current sample with the extracted flux. The neutrino and antineutrino cross section exhibits a linear dependence on energy at high energy but shows deviations from linear behavior at low energy. We also present a measurement of the ratio of antineutrino to neutrino inclusive cross section.

An extensive experimental program to measure the spin structure of the nucleus is underway in Hall B at Jefferson Lab using a polarized electron beam incident on a polarized target. Spin degrees of freedom offer the possibility to test, in an independent way, existing models of resonance electro-production. The present analysis selects the Delta{sup +} (1232) in the exclusive channel {rvec p}({rvec e}, e'p)pi{sup 0} from data of the EG1 run period, taken in the Fall of 1998, to extract single and double asymmetries in a Q{sup 2} range from 0.5 to 1.5 GeV{sup 2}/c{sup 2}. Results of the asymmetries are presented as a function of momentum transfer Q{sup 2}. A comparison with the Effective Lagrangian Model by R. Davidson and N. Mukhopadhyay, the unitary isobar model MAID, and the dynamic model by Sato and Lee was performed. The data were found to be generally in good agreement with the models and a x{sup 2} comparison preferred the Sato-Lee model, which is tailored for the Delta (1232) photo- and electro-production. The present results are the first measurement of asymmetries for the exclusive reaction {rvec p}({rvec e}, e'p)pi{sup 0} and will provide new constraints for the models.

Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the origins of life on Earth and how layered double hydroxides were involved.

We present the search for the lepton flavour violating decay {tau} {yields} lK{sup 0}{sub s} with the BaBar experiment data. This process and many other lepton flavour violating {tau} decays, like {tau} {yields} {mu}{gamma} and {tau} {yields} lll, are one of the most promising channel to search for evidence of new physics. According to the Standard Model and the neutrino mixing parameters, branching fractions are estimated well below 10{sup -14}, but many models of new physics allow for branching fractions values close to the present experimental sensitivity. This analysis is based on a data sample of 469fb{sup -1} collected by BABAR detector at the PEP-II storage ring from 1999 to 2007, equivalent to 431 millions of {tau} pairs. the BABAR experiment, initially designed for studying CP violation in B mesons, has demonstrated to be one of the most suitable environments for studying {tau} decays. The tracking system, the calorimeter and the particle identification of BABAR, together with the knowledge of the {tau} initial energy, allow an extremely powerful rejection of background events that, for this analysis, is better than 10{sup -9}. Being {tau} {yields} lK{sup 0}{sub s} a decay mode without neutrinos, the signal {tau} decay can be fully reconstructed. …

Lasershot peening is an emerging modern process that impresses a compressive stress into the surfaces of metals, improving their operational lifetime. Almost everyone is familiar with taking a strip of metal or a wire and bending it multiple times until it breaks. In this situation, when the metal is bent, the surface of outer radius is stretched into a tensile state. Under tension, any flaw or micro-crack will grow in size with each bending of the metal until the crack grows through the entire strip, breaking it into two pieces. Flexure of metal components occurs in most applications. The teeth of a transmission gear flex as they deliver torque in a vehicle. Springs and valves flex every time they transfer loads. If fatigue failure from flexing occurs in the tooth of a transmission gear of light or heavy vehicles, in a fan blade of a diesel engine, in shock-absorbers or safety-related supporting structures, significant loss of assets and potentially loss of human life occurs. Lasershot peening, better than any other technique, has the potential to extend the fatigue lifetime of metal components. In the process, the laser generates a high intensity shock wave at the surface of the metal, straining …

This thesis is focused on an inclusive search of the t{bar t} {yields} E{sub T} + jets decay channel by means of neural network tools in proton antiproton collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). At the Tevatron p{bar p} collider top quarks are mainly produced in pairs through quark-antiquark annihilation and gluon-gluon fusion processes; in the Standard Model description, the top quark then decays to a W boson and a b quark almost 100% of the times, so that its decay signatures are classified according to the W decay modes. When only one W decays leptonically, the t{bar t} event typically contains a charged lepton, missing transverse energy due to the presence of a neutrino escaping from the detector, and four high transverse momentum jets, two of which originate from b quarks. In this thesis we describe a t{bar t} production cross section measurement which uses data collected by a 'multijet' trigger, and selects this kind of top decays by requiring a high-P{sub T} neutrino signature and by using an optimized neural network to discriminate top quark pair production from backgrounds. In Chapter 1, a brief review of the Standard Model of …

Determination of application times-to-solution for large-scale clustered computers continues to be a difficult problem in high-end computing, which will only become more challenging as multi-core consumer machines become more prevalent in the market. Both researchers and consumers of these multi-core systems desire reasonable estimates of how long their programs will take to run (time-to-solution, or TTS), and how many resources will be consumed in the execution. Currently there are few methods of determining these values, and those that do exist are either overly simplistic in their assumptions or require great amounts of effort to parameterize and understand. One previously untried method is queuing network modeling (QNM), which is easy to parameterize and solve, and produces results that typically fall within 10 to 30% of the actual TTS for our test cases. Using characteristics of the computer network (bandwidth, latency) and communication patterns (number of messages, message length, time spent in communication), the QNM model of the NAS-PB CG application was applied to MCR and ALC, supercomputers at LLNL, and the Keck Cluster at USF, with average errors of 2.41%, 3.61%, and -10.73%, respectively, compared to the actual TTS observed. While additional work is necessary to improve the predictive capabilities of …

The measurement of B{sub s}{sup 0} mixing is one of the flagship analyses for the Run II B physics program. The sensitivity of the measurement to the frequency of B{sub s}{sup 0} oscillations strongly depends on the number of reconstructed B{sub s}{sup 0} mesons. They present the measurement of the ratio of branching fractions Br(B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup -}{pi}{sup +})/Br(B{sup 0} {yields} D{sup -}{pi}{sup +}), which directly influences the number of B{sub s}{sup 0} events available for the measurement of B{sub s}{sup 0} mixing at CDF-II. They analyze 115 pb{sup -1} of data collected with the CDF-II detector in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV using a novel displaced track trigger. They reconstruct 78 {+-} 11 B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup -}{pi}{sup +} decays at 1153 {+-} 45 B{sup 0} {yields} D{sup -}{pi}{sup +} decays with good signal to background ratio. This is the world's largest sample of fully reconstructed B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup -}{pi}{sup +} decays. They find the ratio of production fractions multiplied by the ratio of branching fractions to be: f{sub s}/f{sub d} {center_dot} Br(B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup -}{pi}{sup +})/Br(B{sup 0} {yields} D{sup -}{pi}{sup +}) = 0.325 {+-} …

The work presented in this thesis describes the first experimental measurement of the photon asymmetry of the exclusive {rvec {gamma}} {yields} {rho}{sup 0}p {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}p reaction. The data were gathered during the summer of 2001 as a proof of principle study using a polarized beam of photons with the CLAS detector in Hall B of Jefferson Lab for the first time. The aim of the g8a set of experiments is to improve the understanding of the underlying symmetry of the quark degrees of freedom in the nucleon, the nature of the parity exchange between the incident photon and the target nucleon, the mechanism of associated strangeness production in electromagnetic reactions, and to search for evidence for the existence of the so called missing resonances. A beam of tagged and collimated linearly polarized photons (energy range 1.8-2.2 GeV) in conjunction with the large solid angle coverage of CLAS make possible the extraction of polarization observables for the photoproduction of vector mesons. For example, the azimuthal distribution of the {rho}{sup 0} as a function of its polar angle in the ({rvec {gamma}},p) c.m. system enables the measurement of the photon asymmetry parameter, {Sigma}. This has been measured for {theta}{sub c.m.} …

Highly charged ions are extracted from an electron beam ion trap and guided to Retrap, a cryogenic Penning trap, where they are merged with laser cooled Be{sup +} ions. The Be{sup +} ions act as a coolant for the hot highly charged ions and their temperature is dropped by about 8 orders of magnitude in a few seconds. Such cold highly charged ions form a strongly coupled nonneutral plasma exhibiting, under such conditions, the aggregation of clusters and crystals. Given the right mixture, these plasmas can be studied as analogues of high density plasmas like white dwarf interiors, and potentially can lead to the development of cold highly charged ion beams for applications in nanotechnology. Due to the virtually non existent Doppler broadening, spectroscopy on highly charged ions can be performed to an unprecedented precision. The density and the temperature of the Be{sup +} plasma were measured and highly charged ions were sympathetically cooled to similar temperatures. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the shape, temperature and density of the highly charged ions. Ordered structures were observed in the simulations.

In the past decades, there has been increasing interest in pulsed high power RF sources for building high-gradient high-energy particle accelerators. Passive RF pulse compression systems have been used in many applications to match the available RF sources to the loads requiring higher RF power but a shorter pulse. Theoretically, an active RF pulse compression system has the advantage of higher efficiency and compactness over the passive system. However, the key component for such a system an element capable of switching hundreds of megawatts of RF power in a short time compared to the compressed pulse width is still an open problem. In this dissertation, we present a switch module composed of an active window based on the bulk effects in semiconductor, a circular waveguide three-port network and a movable short plane, with the capability to adjust the S-parameters before and after switching. The RF properties of the switch module were analyzed. We give the scaling laws of the multiple-element switch systems, which allow the expansion of the system to a higher power level. We present a novel overmoded design for the circular waveguide three-port network and the associated circular-to-rectangular mode-converter. We also detail the design and synthesis process of …

Presented is a measurement of the simultaneous production of a W{sup {+-}} boson in association with a second weak boson (W{sup {+-}} or Z{sup 0}) in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. Events are consider with one electron or one muon, missing transverse energy, and at least two hadronic jets. The data were collected by the D0 detector in Run IIa of the Tevatron accelerator and correspond to 1.07 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity for each of the two channels (WW/WZ {yields} e{nu}q{bar q} and WW/WZ {yields} {mu}{nu}q{bar q}). The cross section for WW + WZ production is measured to be 20.2 {+-} 2.5(stat) {+-} 3.6(sys) {+-} 1.2(lum) pb with a Gaussian significance of 4.4 standard deviations above the background-only scenario. This measurement is consistent with the Standard Model prediction and represents the first direct evidence for WW and WZ production with semi-leptonic decays at a hadron collider.

This first issue of the ''ICF Semiannual Report'' contains articles whose diverse subjects attest to the broad technical and scientific challenges that are at the forefront of the ICF program at LLNL. The first article describes the progress being made at solving the surface roughness problem on capsule mandrels. All NIF capsule options, except machined beryllium, require a mandrel upon which the ablator is deposited. This mandrel sets the baseline sphericity of the final capsule. Problems involving defects in the mandrel have been overcome using various techniques so that 2-mm-size mandrels can now be made that meet the NIF design specification. The second article validates and provides a detailed numerical investigation of the shadowgraph technique currently used to diagnose the surface roughness of a fuel ice layer inside of a transparent capsule. It is crucial for the success of the indirect-drive ignition targets that the techniques used to characterize ice-surface roughness be well understood. This study identifies methods for analyzing the bright band that give an accurate measure of the ice-surface roughness. The third article describes a series of realistic laser and target modifications that can lead to 3-4 times more energy coupling and 10 times greater yield from a …

The cross-section of p{bar p} {yields} Z{sup 0}{gamma} + X production at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV using the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron is measured using 202 pb{sup -1} of data from March 2002 to September 2003, collected with high P{sub T} lepton triggers. The number of events observed and their kinematic distributions are compared to the NLO Standard Model prediction in both the Z{sup 0} {yields} e{sup +}e{sup -} and Z{sup 0} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -} channels. For a minimum lepton-photon separation of {Delta}R{sub l{gamma}} > 0.7, E{sub T}{sup {gamma}} > 7 GeV and a dilepton invariant mass m(l,l) > 40 GeV/c{sup 2}, the cross-section times branching ratio is measured to be 4.6 {+-} 0.5(stat) {+-} 0.2(sys) {+-} 0.3(lumi) pb compared to the NLO Standard Model prediction of 4.5 {+-} 0.3(th) pb.

A superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) in combination with a superconducting absorber of radiation may function as a highly resolving x-ray spectrometer. Electronic excitations, or quasiparticles, are created when a superconductor absorbs an x ray and are detected as an excess tunnel current through the junction. The number of quasiparticles created and the magnitude of the excess current is proportional to the energy of the absorbed x ray. This is similar to existing semiconductor-based spectrometers that measure electron-hole pairs, but with 1000 times more excitations. The energy measurement therefore can be up to 30 times more precise with a superconducting detector than with a semiconductor detector. This work describes the development and testing of an STJ spectrometer design for x-ray fluorescence applications. First, the basic principles of the STJ spectrometer are explained. This is followed by detailed simulations of the variance in the number of quasiparticles produced by absorption of an x ray. This variance is inherent in the detector and establishes an upper limit on the resolving power of the spectrometer. These simulations include effects due to the materials used in the spectrometer and to the multilayer structure of the device. Next, the spectrometer is characterized as functions of operating …

The authors have searched for new physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics in dielectron decay mode at the CDF (Collider Detector at Fermilab) experiment in {bar p}p collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. The data were collected during the 2002-2003 runs corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 200 pb{sup -1}. Many extensions of the Standard Model have been proposed. Grand Unified Theories (GUT) assumes a larger gauge symmetry group and predict new gauge bosons. GUT has hierarchy problem in it and there have been many attempts to solve the hierarchy problem. Solutions for the hierarchy problem are supersymmetry, technicolor, large extra dimensions, warped extra dimensions and little Higgs models. The authors analyze the differential distribution of dielectron events in terms of their invariant mass and no significant excess is found in very high mass region. They present a 95% confidence level limit on the production cross section times branching ratio for new resonant particles decaying into an electron pair as a function of invariant mass. New resonant particles include new neutral gauge boson Z', Randall-Sundrum graviton, R-parity violating sneutrino, and technicolor particles. They also present limits on the effective Planck scale of large extra dimensions.

In this thesis they report the measurement of ratios of branching fractions: {Beta}(B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -})/{Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} D{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}), and {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} D{sup -}D{sub s}{sup +})/{Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} D{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}), using 355 pb{sup -1} of data collected by CDF detector at the Tevatron p{bar p} collider at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV.

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As the dimensions of semiconductor devices are scaled down, in order to achieve higher levels of integration, optical lithography will no longer be sufficient for the needs of the semiconductor industry. Alternative next-generation lithography (NGL) approaches, such as extreme ultra-violet (EUV), X-ray, electron-beam, and ion projection lithography face some challenging issues with complicated mask technology and low throughput. Among the four major alternative NGL approaches, ion beam lithography is the only one that can provide both maskless and resistless patterning. As such, it can potentially make nano-fabrication much simpler. This thesis investigates a focused ion beam system for maskless, resistless patterning that can be made practical for high-volume production. In order to achieve maskless, resistless patterning, the ion source must be able to produce a variety of ion species. The compact FIB system being developed uses a multicusp plasma ion source, which can generate ion beams of various elements, such as O{sub 2}{sup +}, BF{sub 2}{sup +}, P{sup +} etc., for surface modification and doping applications. With optimized source condition, around 85% of BF{sub 2}{sup +}, over 90% of O{sub 2}{sup +} and P{sup +} have been achieved. The brightness of the multicusp-plasma ion source is a key issue for …

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Our physics objective is to search for the neutral on using events containing a like-sign dilepton pair in the following reaction: q{bar q} {yields} W{sup {+-}} H {yields} W{sup {+-}} W*W* {yields} {ell}{sup {+-}}{ell}{sup {+-}} + X. The relevant Higgs boson mass region is above 160 GeV/c{sup 2} for the Standard Model Higgs boson where the branching fraction of H {yields} W*W* supersedes that of H {yields} b{bar b}. The search for this signature in the region at low mass (less than 135 GeV/c{sup 2}) is, however, still important because we need to investigate various Higgs boson couplings as an essential test to convince that signals are attributed to the Higgs boson production. This channel also covers the case beyond the Standard Model that the Higgs boson couples only to the gauge bosons, which is referred to as the bosophilic or fermiophobic Higgs boson. The corresponding mass region suitable to our signature is above 110 GeV/c{sup 2} where the branching fraction of H {yields} {gamma}{gamma} is overtaken by this channel. On the experimental side, the like-sign dilepton event is one of the cleanest signature in hadron collisions. This analysis exploiting such a distinctive signature is therefore expected to have a …

Metal/ceramic interfaces can be found in many engineering applications including microelectronic packaging, multi-layered films, coatings, joints, and composite materials. In order to design reliable engineering systems that contain metal/ceramic interfaces, a comprehensive understanding of interfacial and near interfacial failure mechanisms is necessary.