Optical microbunches with a spacing of 800 nm have been produced for laser acceleration research. The microbunches are produced using a inverse Free-Electron-Laser (IFEL) followed by a dispersive chicane. The microbunched electron beam is characterized by coherent optical transition radiation (COTR) with good agreement to the analytic theory for bunch formation. In a second experiment the bunches are accelerated in a second stage to achieve for the first time direct net acceleration of electrons traveling in a vacuum with visible light. This dissertation presents the theory of microbunch formation and characterization of the microbunches. It also presents the design of the experimental hardware from magnetostatic and particle tracking simulations, to fabrication and measurement of the undulator and chicane magnets. Finally, the dissertation discusses three experiments aimed at demonstrating the IFEL interaction, microbunch production, and the net acceleration of the microbunched beam. At the close of the dissertation, a separate but related research effort on the tight focusing of electrons for coupling into optical scale, Photonic Bandgap, structures is presented. This includes the design and fabrication of a strong focusing permanent magnet quadrupole triplet and an outline of an initial experiment using the triplet to observe wakefields generated by an electron …

This thesis presents the results of an analysis of {nu}{sub {mu}} disappearance with the MINOS experiment, which studies the neutrino beam produced by the NuMI facility at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The rates and energy spectra of charged current {nu}{sub {mu}} interactions are measured in two similar detectors, located at distances of 1 km and 735 km along the NuMI beamline. The Near Detector provides accurate measurements of the initial beam composition and energy, while the Far Detector is sensitive to the effects of neutrino oscillations. The analysis uses data collected between May 2005 and March 2007, corresponding to an exposure of 2.5 x 10{sup 20} protons on target. As part of the analysis, sophisticated software was developed to identify muon tracks in the detectors and to reconstruct muon kinematics. Events with reconstructed tracks were then analyzed using a multivariate technique to efficiently isolate a pure sample of charged current {nu}{sub {mu}} events. An extrapolation method was also developed, which produces accurate predictions of the Far Detector neutrino energy spectrum, based on data collected at the Near Detector. Finally, several techniques to improve the sensitivity of an oscillation measurement were implemented, and a full study of the systematic uncertainties was …

I present preliminary results of the measurement of the hadronic mass spectrum and its first three spectral moments in inclusive charmless semileptonic B-meson decays. The truncated hadronic mass moments are used for the first determination of the b-quark mass and the nonperturbative parameters {mu}{sub {pi}}{sup 2} and {rho}{sub D}{sup 3} in this B-meson decay channel. The study is based on 383 x 10{sup 6} B{bar B} decays collected with the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} storage rings, located at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The first, second central, and third central hadronic mass moment with a cut on the hadronic mass m{sub X}{sup 2} < 6.4GeV{sup 2} and the lepton momentum p* > 1 GeV are measured to be: M{sub 1} = (1.96 {+-} 0.34{sub stat} {+-} 0.53{sub syst}) GeV{sup 2}; U{sub 2} = (1.92 {+-} 0.59{sub stat} {+-} 0.87{sub syst}) GeV{sup 4}; and U{sub 3} = (1.79 {+-} 0.62{sub stat} {+-} 0.78{sub syst}) GeV{sup 6}; with correlation coefficients {rho}{sub 12} = 0.99, {rho}{sub 23} = 0.94, and {rho}{sub 13} = 0.88, respectively. Using Heavy Quark Effective Theory-based predictions in the kinetic scheme we extract: m{sub b} = (4.60 {+-} 0.13{sub stat} {+-} 0.19{sub syst} {+-} 0.10{sub …

B{sub s}{sup 0} mixing studies provide a precision test of Charge-Parity violation in the Standard Model. A measurement of {Delta}m{sub s} constrains elements of the CKM quark rotation matrix [1], providing a probe of Standard Model Charge-Parity violation. This thesis describes a study of B{sub s}{sup 0} mixing in the semileptonic decay B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup -} {mu}{sup +}{nu}X, where D{sub s}{sup -} {yields} {phi}{pi}{sup -}, using data collected at the D-Zero detector at Fermi National Accelerator in Batavia, Illinois. Approximately 2.8 fb{sup -1} of data collected between April 2002 and August 2007 was used, covering the entirety of the Tevatron's RunIIa (April 2002 to March 2006) and part of RunIIb (March 2006-August 2007). Taggers using both opposite-side and same-side information were used to obtain the flavor information of the B{sub s}{sup 0} meson at production. The charge of the muon in the decay B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup -}{mu}{sup +}{nu}X was used to determine the flavor of the B{sub s}{sup 0} at decay. The B{sub d}{sup 0} mixing frequency, {Delta}m{sub d}, was measured to verify the analysis procedure. A log-likelihood calculation was performed, and a measurement of {Delta}m{sub s} was obtained. The final result was {Delta}m{sub …

We report on a search for Standard Model (SM) production of Higgs to WW* in the two charged lepton (e, {mu}) and two neutrino final state in p{bar p} collisions at a center of mass energy {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. The data were collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.9fb{sup -1}. The Matrix Element method is developed to calculate the event probability and to construct a likelihood ratio discriminator. There are 522 candidates observed with an expectation of 513 {+-} 41 background events and 7.8 {+-} 0.6 signal events for Higgs mass 160GeV/c{sup 2} at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic level calculation. The observed 95% C.L. upper limit is 0.8 pb which is 2.0 times the SM prediction while the median expected limit is 3.1{sub -0.9}{sup +1.3} with systematics included. Results for 9 other Higgs mass hypotheses ranging from 110GeV/c{sup 2} to 200GeV/c{sup 2} are also presented. The same dilepton plus large transverse energy imbalance (E{sub T}) final state is used in the SM ZZ production search and the WW production study. The observed significance of ZZ {yields} ll{nu}{nu} channel is 1.2{sigma}. It adds extra significance to the ZZ {yields} 4l channel …

The Standard Model of field and particles is the theory that provides the best description of the known phenomenology of the particle physics up to now. Data collected in the last years, mainly by the experiments at the big particle accelerators (SPS, LEP, TEVATRON, HERA, SLAC), allowed to test the agreement between measurements and theoretical calculations with a precision of 10{sup -3} {divided_by} 10{sup -4}. The Standard Model is a Quantum Field Theory based on the gauge symmetry group SU(3){sub C} x SU(2){sub L} x U(1){sub Y} , with spontaneous symmetry breaking. This gauge group includes the color symmetry group of the strong interaction, SU(3){sub C}, and the symmetry group of the electroweak interactions, SU(2){sub L} x U(1){sub Y}. The formulation of the Standard Model as a gauge theory guarantees its renormalizability, but forbids explicit mass terms for fermions and gauge bosons. The masses of the particles are generated in a gauge-invariant way by the Higgs Mechanism via a spontaneous breaking of the electroweak symmetry. This mechanism also implies the presence of a massive scalar particle in the mass spectrum of the theory, the Higgs boson. This particle is the only one, among the basic elements for the minimal formulation …

The work presented here is the first measurement of the fraction of top quark pair production through gluon-gluon fusion. We use an integrated luminosity of 0.96 {+-} 0.06 fb{sup -1} of p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s of 1.96 TeV collected by the CDF II detector. We select t{bar t} candidates by identifying a high-p{sub T} lepton candidate, a large missing E{sub T} as evidence for a neutrino candidate and at least four high E{sub T} jets, one of which has to be identified as originating from a b quark. The challenge is to discriminate between the two production processes with the identical final state, gg {yields} t{bar t} and q{bar q} {yields} t{bar t}. We take advantage of the fact that compared to a quark, a gluon is more likely to radiate a low momentum gluon and therefore, one expects a larger number of charged particles with low p{sub T} in a process involving more gluons. Given the large uncertainties associated with the modeling of the low p{sub T} charged particle multiplicity, a data-driven technique was employed. Using calibration data samples, we show there exists a clear correlation between the observed average number of low p{sub T} charged particles and …

This thesis is a description of the measurement of the W boson mass using the D0 Run II detector with 770 pb{sup -1} of p{bar p} collision data. These collisions were produced by the Tevatron at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV between 2002 and 2006. We use a sample of W {yields} e{nu} and Z {yields} ee decays to determine the W boson mass with the transverse momentum distribution of the electron and the transverse mass distribution of the boson. We measure M{sub W} = XXXXX {+-} 37 (stat.) {+-} 26 (sys. theo.) {+-} 51 (sys. exp.) MeV = XXXXX {+-} 68 MeV with the transverse momentum distribution of the electron and M{sub W} = XXXXX {+-} 28 (stat.) {+-} 17 (sys. theo.) {+-} 51 (sys. exp.) MeV = XXXXX {+-} 61 MeV with the transverse mass distribution.

The power of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is its ability to image the internal structure of optically opaque samples and provide detailed maps of a variety of important parameters, such as density, diffusion, velocity and temperature. However, one of the fundamental limitations of this technique is its inherent low sensitivity. For example, the low signal to noise ratio (SNR) is particularly problematic for imaging gases in porous materials due to the low density of the gas and the large volume occluded by the porous material. This is unfortunate, as many industrially relevant chemical reactions take place at gas-surface interfaces in porous media, such as packed catalyst beds. Because of this severe SNR problem, many techniques have been developed to directly increase the signal strength. These techniques work by manipulating the nuclear spin populations to produce polarized} (i.e., non-equilibrium) states with resulting signal strengths that are orders of magnitude larger than those available at thermal equilibrium. This dissertation is concerned with an extension of a polarization technique based on the properties of parahydrogen. Specifically, I report on the novel use of heterogeneous catalysis to produce parahydrogen induced polarization and applications of this new technique to gas phase MRI and the characterization …