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469 Matching Results
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Precision Measurements of Tau Lepton Decays
Using data collected with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II electron-positron storage ring operating at a center-of-mass energy near 10.58 GeV, the branching fractions {Beta}({tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (8.83 {+-} 0.01 {+-} 0.13)%, {Beta}({tau}{sup -} {yields} K{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (0.273 {+-} 0.002 {+-} 0.009)%, {Beta}({tau}{sup -} {yields} K{sup -}{pi}{sup -}K{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (0.1346 {+-} 0.0010 {+-} 0.0036)%, and {Beta}({tau}{sup -} {yields} K{sup -}K{sup -}K{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (1.58 {+-} 0.13 {+-} 0.12) x 10{sup -5} are measured where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The invariant mass distribution for the {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}} {yields} K{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}, {tau}{sup -} {yields} K{sup -}{pi}{sup -}K{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}} and {tau}{sup -} {yields} K{sup -}K{sup -}K{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}} decays are unfolded to correct for detector effects. A measurement of {Beta}({tau}{sup -} {yields} {phi}{pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (3.42 {+-} 0.55 {+-} 0.25) x 10{sup -5}, a measurement of {Beta}({tau}{sup -} {yields} {phi}K{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (3.39 {+-} 0.20 {+-} 0.28) x 10{sup -5} and an upper limit on {Beta}({tau}{sup -} {yields} K{sup -}K{sup -}K{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}[ex.{phi}]) {le} 2.5 x 10{sup -6} {at} 905 CL are determined from …
Date:
March 16, 2010
Creator:
Nugent, Ian M.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
MEASUREMENTS OF DIRECT CP VIOLATION AND CONSTRAINT ON THE CKM TRIANGLE IN B->K*pi DECAYS
We constrain the apex of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa unitarity triangle with measurements of B {yields} K*{pi} amplitudes from analyses of B{sup 0} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} and B{sup 0} {yields} K{sub S}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} decays. This constraint is consistent with the world average. The B{sup 0} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} decay mode is reconstructed from a sample of 454 million B{sup 0}{bar B}{sup 0} events collected by the BABAR detector at SLAC. We measure direct CP violation in B{sup 0} {yields} K*{sup +}{pi}{sup -} decays at the level of 3{sigma} when measurements from both B{sup 0} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} and B{sup 0} {yields} K{sub S}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} decays are combined.
Date:
April 29, 2010
Creator:
Wagner, Andrew Phillips
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Exclusive B Decays into Final States with Two Charmed Baryons
This Thesis presents measurements of the decays B{sup -} {yields} {Xi}{sub c}{sup 0}{bar {Lambda}}{sub c}{sup -}, {bar B}{sup 0} {yields} {Xi}{sub c}{sup +}{bar {Lambda}}{sub c}{sup -}, B{sup -} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +}{bar {Lambda}}{sub c}{sup -} K{sup -}, and {bar B}{sup 0} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +}{bar {Lambda}}{sub c}{sup -} K{sub s}{sup 0} based on 228 million {Upsilon}(4S) {yields} B{bar B} decays collected with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric-energy B factory.
Date:
January 11, 2010
Creator:
Chai, Xuedong
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Search for Supersymmetry Using Diphoton Events in p anti-p Collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96-TeV
This dissertation presents the results of a search for supersymmetry in proton-antiproton collisions with a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV studied with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. Our strategy is to select collisions with two photons in the final state that have the properties of being the decays of very massive supersymmetric particles. This includes looking for large total energy from the decayed particles as well as for the presence of particles that leave the detector without interacting. We find no events using 2.6 fb{sup -1} of data collected during the 2004-2008 collider run of the Fermilab Tevatron which is consistent with the background estimate of 1.4 {+-} 0.4 events. Since there is no evidence of new particles we set cross section limits in a gauge-mediated supersymmetry model with {tilde {chi}}{sub 1}{sup 0} {yields} {gamma}{tilde G}, where the {tilde {chi}}{sub 1}{sup 0} and {tilde G} are the lightest neutralino and the gravitino (the lightest supersymmetric particle), respectively. We set limits on models as a function of the {tilde {chi}}{sub 1}{sup 0} mass and lifetime, producing the world's most sensitive search for {tilde {chi}}{sub 1}{sup 0} by excluding masses up to 149 GeV/c{sup 2} for {tilde {chi}}{sub 1}{sup 0} …
Date:
May 1, 2010
Creator:
Lee, Eun Sin & A-M, /Texas
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A top quark mass measurement using a matrix element method
A measurement of the mass of the top quark is presented, using top-antitop pair (t{bar t}) candidate events for the lepton+jets decay channel. The measurement makes use of Tevatron p{bar p} collision data at centre-of-mass energy {radical}s = 1.96 TeV, collected at the CDF detector. The top quark mass is measured by employing an unbinned maximum likelihood method where the event probability density functions are calculated using signal (t{bar t}) and background (W+jets) matrix elements, as well as a set of parameterised jet-to-parton mapping functions. The likelihood function is maximised with respect to the top quark mass, the fraction of signal events, and a correction to the jet energy scale (JES) of the calorimeter jets. The simultaneous measurement of the JES correction ({Delta}{sub JES}) provides an in situ jet energy calibration based on the known mass of the hadronically decaying W boson. Using 578 lepton+jets candidate events corresponding to 3.2 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity, the top quark mass is measured to be m{sub t} = 172.4 {+-} 1.4 (stat+{Delta}{sub JES}) {+-} 1.3 (syst) GeV=c{sup 2}, one of the most precise single measurements to date.
Date:
February 1, 2010
Creator:
Linacre, Jacob Thomas
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Measurement of the $WW+WZ$ production cross section in a semileptonic decay mode at CDF
The measurement of the WW + WZ production cross section in a semileptonic decay mode is presented. The measurement is carried out with 4.6 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity collected by the CDF II detector in {radical}s = 1.96 TeV proton-antiproton collisions at the Tevatron. The main experimental challenge is identifying the signal in the overwhelming background from W+jets production. The modeling of the W+jets background is carefully studied and a matrix element technique is used to build a discriminant to separate signal and background. The cross section of WW + WZ production is measured to be {sigma}(p{bar p} {yields} WW + WZ) = 16.5{sub -3.0}{sup +3.3} pb, in agreement with the next-to-leading order theoretical prediction of 15.1 {+-} 0.9 pb. The significance of the signal is evaluated to be 5.4{sigma}. This measurement is an important milestone in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson at the Tevatron.
Date:
March 1, 2010
Creator:
Hurwitz, Martina
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Top Quark Produced Through the Electroweak Force: Discovery Using the Matrix Element Analysis and Search for Heavy Gauge Bosons Using Boosted Decision Trees
The top quark produced through the electroweak channel provides a direct measurement of the V{sub tb} element in the CKM matrix which can be viewed as a transition rate of a top quark to a bottom quark. This production channel of top quark is also sensitive to different theories beyond the Standard Model such as heavy charged gauged bosons termed W{prime}. This thesis measures the cross section of the electroweak produced top quark using a technique based on using the matrix elements of the processes under consideration. The technique is applied to 2.3 fb{sup -1} of data from the D0 detector. From a comparison of the matrix element discriminants between data and the signal and background model using Bayesian statistics, we measure the cross section of the top quark produced through the electroweak mechanism {sigma}(p{bar p} {yields} tb + X, tqb + X) = 4.30{sub -1.20}{sup +0.98} pb. The measured result corresponds to a 4.9{sigma} Gaussian-equivalent significance. By combining this analysis with other analyses based on the Bayesian Neural Network (BNN) and Boosted Decision Tree (BDT) method, the measured cross section is 3.94 {+-} 0.88 pb with a significance of 5.0{sigma}, resulting in the discovery of electroweak produced top quarks. …
Date:
February 1, 2010
Creator:
Pangilinan, Monica & U., /Brown
System:
The UNT Digital Library
B Flavour Tagging with Artificial Neural Networks for the CDF II Experiment
One of the central questions arising from human curiosity has always been what matter is ultimately made of, with the idea of some kind of elementary building-block dating back to the ancient greek philosophers. Scientific activities of multiple generations have contributed to the current best knowledge about this question, the Standard Model of particle physics. According to it, the world around us is composed of a small number of stable elementary particles: Electrons and two different kinds of quarks, called up and down quarks. Quarks are never observed as free particles, but only as bound states of a quark-antiquark pair (mesons) or of three quarks (baryons), summarized as hadrons. Protons and Neutrons, the constituents forming the nuclei of all chemical elements, are baryons made of up and down quarks. The electron and the electron neutrino - a nearly massless particle without electric charge - belong to a group called leptons. These two quarks and two leptons represent the first generation of elementary particles. There are two other generations of particles, which seem to have similar properties as the first generation except for higher masses, so there are six quarks and six leptons altogether. They were around in large amounts shortly …
Date:
January 1, 2010
Creator:
Schmidt, Andreas
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Measurement of Neutrino-Induced Charged-Current Neutral Pion Production
This work presents the first comprehensive measurement of neutrino-induced charged-current neutral pion production (CC{pi}{sup 0}) off a nuclear target. The Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment (MiniBooNE) and Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) are discussed in detail. MiniBooNE is a high-statistics ({approx} 1,000,000 interactions) low-energy (E{sub {nu}} {element_of} 0.5-2.0 GeV) neutrino experiment located at Fermilab. The method for selecting and reconstructing CC{pi}{sup 0} events is presented. The {pi}{sup 0} and {mu}{sup -} are fully reconstructed in the final state allowing for the measurement of, among other things, the neutrino energy. The total observable CC{pi}{sup 0} cross-section is presented as a function of neutrino energy, along with five differential cross-sections in terms of the final state kinematics and Q{sup 2}. The results are combined to yield a flux-averaged total cross-section of <{sigma}>{sub {Phi}} = (9.2 {+-} 0.3{sub stat.} {+-} 1.5{sub syst}.) x 10{sup -39} cm{sup 2}/CH{sub 2} at energy 965 MeV. These measurements will aid future neutrino experiments with the prediction of their neutrino interaction rates.
Date:
April 1, 2010
Creator:
Nelson, Robert H.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Measurement of branching fraction ratios and CP asymmetries in B →D0 CPK decays with the BABAR detector
The primary goals of the BABAR experiment are the detection of CP violation (CPV) in the B meson system, the precise measurement of some of the elements of the CKM matrix and the measurement of the rates of rare B meson decays. At present, BABAR has achieved major successes: (1) the discovery, in neutral B decays, of direct and mixing-induced CP violation; (2) accurate measurements of the magnitudes of the CKM matrix elements |V{sub cb}| and |V{sub ub}|; (3) a precise measurement of the CKM parameter {beta} {triple_bond} arg[- V{sub cd}V*{sub cb}/V{sub td}V*{sub tb}]; (4) a first measurement of the CKM parameters {alpha} {triple_bond} arg[- V{sub td}V*{sub tb}/V{sub ud}V*{sub ub}], {gamma} {triple_bond} arg[- V{sub ud}V*{sub ub}/V{sub cd}V*{sub cb}]; and (5) the observation of several rare B decays and the discovery of new particles (in the charmed and charmonium mesons spectroscopy). However, the physics program of BABAR is not yet complete. Two of the key elements of this program that still need to be achieved are: (1) the observation of direct CP violation in charged B decays, which would constitute the first evidence of direct CPV in a charged meson decay; and (2) the precise measurement of {alpha} and {gamma}, which …
Date:
May 5, 2010
Creator:
Marchiori, Giovanni & U., /Pisa
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Thick Nano-Crystalline Diamond films for fusion applications
None
Date:
July 14, 2010
Creator:
Dawedeit, C
System:
The UNT Digital Library
First Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson Using the Semileptonic Decay Channel: H --> WW --> mu bar nu jj
This dissertation presents the first search for the standard model Higgs boson (H) in decay topologies containing a muon, an imbalance in transverse momentum (E{sub T}) and jets, using p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 4.3 fb{sup -1} recorded with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. This analysis is sensitive primary to contributions from Higgs bosons produced through gluon fusion, with subsequent decay H {yields} WW {yields} {mu}{nu}jj where W represents a real or virtual W boson. In the absence of signal, limits are set at 95% confidence on the production and decay of the standard model Higgs boson for M{sub H} in the range of 115-200 GeV. For M{sub H} = 165 GeV, the observed and expected limits are factors of 11.2 larger than the standard model value. Combining this channel with e{nu}jj final states and including earlier data to increase the integrated luminosity to 5.4 fb{sup -1} produces observed(expected) limits of 5.5(3.8) times the standard model value.
Date:
September 1, 2010
Creator:
Zelitch, Shannon Maura & U., /Virginia
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Search for vector-like quark production in the lepton+jets and dilepton+jets final states using 5.4 fb-1 of Run II data
The Standard Model of particle physics provides an excellent description of particle interactions at energies up to {approx}1 TeV, but it is expected to fail above that scale. Multiple models developed to describe phenomena above the TeV scale predict the existence of very massive, vector-like quarks. A search for single electroweak production of such particles in p{anti p} collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV is performed in the W+jets and Z+jets channels. The data were collected by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb{sup -1}. Events consistent with a heavy object decaying to a vector boson and a jet are selected. We observe no significant excess in comparison to the background prediction and set 95% confidence level upper limits on production cross sections for vector-like quarks decaying to W+jet and Z+jet. Assuming a vector-like quark -- standard model quark coupling parameter {tilde {kappa}}{sub qQ} of unity, we exclude vector-like quarks with mass below 693 GeV for decays to W+jet and mass below 449 GeV for decays to Z+jet. These represent the most sensitive limits to date.
Date:
October 1, 2010
Creator:
Caughron, Seth
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Reducing the losses of optical metamaterials
The field of metamaterials is driven by fascinating and far-reaching theoretical visions, such as perfect lenses, invisibility cloaking, and enhanced optical nonlinearities. However, losses have become the major obstacle towards real world applications in the optical regime. Reducing the losses of optical metamaterials becomes necessary and extremely important. In this thesis, two approaches are taken to reduce the losses. One is to construct an indefinite medium. Indefinite media are materials where not all the principal components of the permittivity and permeability tensors have the same sign. They do not need the resonances to achieve negative permittivity, {var_epsilon}. So, the losses can be comparatively small. To obtain indefinite media, three-dimensional (3D) optical metallic nanowire media with different structures are designed. They are numerically demonstrated that they are homogeneous effective indefinite anisotropic media by showing that their dispersion relations are hyperbolic. Negative group refraction and pseudo focusing are observed. Another approach is to incorporate gain into metamaterial nanostructures. The nonlinearity of gain is included by a generic four-level atomic model. A computational scheme is presented, which allows for a self-consistent treatment of a dispersive metallic photonic metamaterial coupled to a gain material incorporated into the nanostructure using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. …
Date:
December 15, 2010
Creator:
Fang, Anan
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Sterile-Neutrino Search with the MINOS Experiment
The MINOS experiment is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in the the NuMI beamline at Fermilab, USA. Using a near detector at 1 km distance from the neutrino production target, and a far detector at 735 km from the target, it is designed primarily to measure the disappearance of muon neutrinos. This thesis presents an analysis using MINOS data of the possibility of oscil- lation of the neutrinos in the NuMI beam to a hypothetical sterile flavour, which would have no Standard Model couplings. Such oscillations would result in a deficit in the neutral current interaction rate in the MINOS far detector relative to the expectation derived from the near detector data. The method used to identify neutral current and charged current events in the MINOS detectors is described and a new method of predicting and fitting the far detector spectrum presented, along with the effects of systematic uncertainties on the sterile neutrino oscillation analysis. Using this analysis, the fraction f{sub s} of the disappearing neutrinos that go to steriles is constrained to be below 0.15 at the 90% confidence level in the absence of electron neutrino appearance in the NuMI beam. With electron appearance at the CHOOZ limit, f{sub …
Date:
September 1, 2010
Creator:
Rodrigues, Philip
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Developing new optical imaging techniques for single particle and molecule tracking in live cells
Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy is a far-field as well as wide-field optical imaging technique. Since it is non-invasive and requires no sample staining, DIC microscopy is suitable for tracking the motion of target molecules in live cells without interfering their functions. In addition, high numerical aperture objectives and condensers can be used in DIC microscopy. The depth of focus of DIC is shallow, which gives DIC much better optical sectioning ability than those of phase contrast and dark field microscopies. In this work, DIC was utilized to study dynamic biological processes including endocytosis and intracellular transport in live cells. The suitability of DIC microscopy for single particle tracking in live cells was first demonstrated by using DIC to monitor the entire endocytosis process of one mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) into a live mammalian cell. By taking advantage of the optical sectioning ability of DIC, we recorded the depth profile of the MSN during the endocytosis process. The shape change around the nanoparticle due to the formation of a vesicle was also captured. DIC microscopy was further modified that the sample can be illuminated and imaged at two wavelengths simultaneously. By using the new technique, noble metal nanoparticles with different …
Date:
December 15, 2010
Creator:
Sun, Wei
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Dark matter limits froma 15 kg windowless bubble chamber
The COUPP collaboration has successfully used bubble chambers, a technology previously applied only to high-energy physics experiments, as direct dark matter detectors. It has produced the world's most stringent spin-dependent WIMP limits, and increasingly competitive spin-independent limits. These limits were achieved by capitalizing on an intrinsic rejection of the gamma background that all other direct detection experiments must address through high-density shielding and empirically-determined data cuts. The history of COUPP, including its earliest prototypes and latest results, is briefly discussed in this thesis. The feasibility of a new, windowless bubble chamber concept simpler and more inexpensive in design is discussed here as well. The dark matter limits achieved with a 15 kg windowless chamber, larger than any previous COUPP chamber (2 kg, 4 kg), are presented. Evidence of the greater radiopurity of synthetic quartz compared to natural is presented using the data from this 15 kg device, the first chamber to be made from synthetic quartz. The effective reconstruction of the three-dimensional positions of bubbles in a highly distorted optical field, with ninety-degree bottom lighting similar to cloud chamber lighting, is demonstrated. Another innovation described in this thesis is the use of the sound produced by bubbles recorded by an …
Date:
December 1, 2010
Creator:
Szydagis, Matthew Mark
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Search for associated production of z and Higgs bosons in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV
We present a search for associated production of Z and Higgs bosons in 4.2 fb{sup -1} of {bar p}p collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV, produced in RunII of the Tevatron and recorded by the D0 detector. The search is performed in events containing at least two muons and at least two jets. The ZH signal is distinguished from the expected backgrounds by means of multivariate classifiers known as random forests. Binned random forest output distributions are used in comparing the data to background-only and signal+background hypotheses. No excess is observed in the data, so we set upper limits on ZH production with a 95% confidence level.
Date:
December 1, 2010
Creator:
BackusMayes, John Alexander & /Washington U., Seattle
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Search for Neutrino Induced Coherent NC($\pi^{0}$) Production in the MINOS Near Detector
The production of single, highly forward {pi}{sup 0} mesons by NC coherent neutrino-nucleus interactions ({nu}{sub {mu}} + N {yields} {nu}{sub {mu}} + N + {pi}{sup 0}) is a process which probes fundamental aspects of the weak interaction. This reaction may also pose as a limiting background for long baseline searches for {nu}{sub {mu}} {yields} {nu}{sub e} oscillations if the neutrino mixing angle {theta}{sub 13} is very small. The high-statistics sample of neutrino interactions recorded by the MINOS Near Detector provides an opportunity to measure the cross section of this coherent reaction on a relatively large-A nucleus at an average E{sub {nu}} = 4.9 GeV. A major challenge for this measurement is the isolation of forward-going electromagnetic (EM) showers produced by the relatively rare coherent NC({pi}{sup 0}) process amidst an abundant rate of incoherently produced EM showers. The backgrounds arise from single {pi}{sup 0} dominated NC events and also from quasi-elastic-like CC scattering of electron neutrinos. In this Thesis the theory of coherent interactions is summarized, and previous measurements of the coherent NC({pi}{sup 0}) cross section are reviewed. Then, methods for selecting a sample of coherent NC({pi}{sup 0}) like events, extracting the coherent NC({pi}{sup 0}) event rate from that sample, estimating …
Date:
November 1, 2010
Creator:
Cherdack, Daniel David & U., /Tufts
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Searches for New Physics at MiniBooNE: Sterile Neutrinos and Mixing Freedom
The MiniBooNE experiment was designed to perform a search for {nu}{sub {mu}} {yields} {nu}{sub e} oscillations in a region of {Delta}m{sup 2} and sin{sup 2} 2{theta} very different from that allowed by standard, three-neutrino oscillations, as determined by solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments. This search was motivated by the LSND experimental observation of an excess of {bar {nu}}{sub e} events in a {bar {nu}}{sub {mu}} beam which was found compatible with two-neutrino oscillations at {Delta}m{sup 2} {approx} 1 eV{sup 2} and sin{sup 2} 2{theta} < 1%. If confirmed, such oscillation signature could be attributed to the existence of a light, mostly-sterile neutrino, containing small admixtures of weak neutrino eigenstates. In addition to a search for {nu}{sub {mu}} {yields} {nu}{sub e} oscillations, MiniBooNE has also performed a search for {bar {nu}}{sub {mu}} {yields} {bar {nu}}{sub e} oscillations, which provides a test of the LSND two-neutrino oscillation interpretation that is independent of CP or CPT violation assumptions. This dissertation presents the MiniBooNE {nu}{sub {mu}} {yields} {nu}{sub e} and {bar {nu}}{sub {mu}} {yields} {bar {nu}}{sub e} analyses and results, with emphasis on the latter. While the neutrino search excludes the two-neutrino oscillation interpretation of LSND at 98% C.L., the antineutrino search shows an …
Date:
July 1, 2010
Creator:
Karagiorgi, Georgia S.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Measurement of muon neutrino and antineutrino induced single neutral pion production cross sections
Elucidating the nature of neutrino oscillation continues to be a goal in the vanguard of the efforts of physics experiment. As neutrino oscillation searches seek an increasingly elusive signal, a thorough understanding of the possible backgrounds becomes ever more important. Measurements of neutrino-nucleus interaction cross sections are key to this understanding. Searches for {nu}{sub {mu}} {yields} {nu}{sub e} oscillation - a channel that may yield insight into the vanishingly small mixing parameter {theta}{sub 13}, CP violation, and the neutrino mass hierarchy - are particularly susceptible to contamination from neutral current single {pi}{sup 0} (NC 1{pi}{sup 0}) production. Unfortunately, the available data concerning NC 1{pi}{sup 0} production are limited in scope and statistics. Without satisfactory constraints, theoretical models of NC 1{pi}{sup 0} production yield substantially differing predictions in the critical E{sub {nu}} {approx} 1 GeV regime. Additional investigation of this interaction can ameliorate the current deficiencies. The Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment (MiniBooNE) is a short-baseline neutrino oscillation search operating at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). While the oscillation search is the principal charge of the MiniBooNE collaboration, the extensive data ({approx} 10{sup 6} neutrino events) offer a rich resource with which to conduct neutrino cross section measurements. This work concerns …
Date:
December 1, 2010
Creator:
Anderson, Colin & U., /Yale
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Search for V H and Technicolor Producion in the qqbb Final State Using the RunII D0 Detector
A search for dijet resonance production in a four-jet all-hadronic final state from the D0 detector at Fermilab's Tevatron is presented. The data set, acquired at a p{bar p} center-of-mass energy of {radical}s = 1.96 TeV, contains primarily multijet events and represents approximately 1 fb{sup -1} of data. The cross section limits for associated Higgs production and Technicolor processes are determined through a background subtraction method using data to estimate the background. This four-jet channel is potentially very powerful, but is extremely challenging due to the large multijet background from QCD processes. Background rejection is performed by utilizing b-tagging, pre-selection cuts, a multi-variate boosted decision tree discriminant, and the correlated information contained in the M(bb) and M(jj) dijet invariant masses. The search for V H (WH+ZH) processes yields a 95% confidence level observed upper limit of 20.4 pb on the VH cross section for a Higgs mass of 115 GeV/c{sup 2}. Additionally, a 95% confidence level observed upper limit of 16.7 pb was set for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV/c{sup 2} and 24.6 pb was set for a Higgs boson mass of 135 GeV/c{sup 2}. The same data set was used to place limits on the Technicolor process …
Date:
April 1, 2010
Creator:
Clutter, Justace R.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Magnetic nanoparticles for applications in oscillating magnetic field
Enzymatic and thermochemical catalysis are both important industrial processes. However, the thermal requirements for each process often render them mutually exclusive: thermochemical catalysis requires high temperature that denatures enzymes. One of the long-term goals of this project is to design a thermocatalytic system that could be used with enzymatic systems in situ to catalyze reaction sequences in one pot; this system would be useful for numerous applications e.g. conversion of biomass to biofuel and other commodity products. The desired thermocatalytic system would need to supply enough thermal energy to catalyze thermochemical reactions, while keeping the enzymes from high temperature denaturation. Magnetic nanoparticles are known to generate heat in an oscillating magnetic field through mechanisms including hysteresis and relaxational losses. We envisioned using these magnetic nanoparticles as the local heat source embedded in sub-micron size mesoporous support to spatially separate the particles from the enzymes. In this study, we set out to find the magnetic materials and instrumental conditions that are sufficient for this purpose. Magnetite was chosen as the first model magnetic material in this study because of its high magnetization values, synthetic control over particle size, shape, functionalization and proven biocompatibility. Our experimental designs were guided by a series …
Date:
December 15, 2010
Creator:
Peeraphatdit, Chorthip
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Dislocation dynamics simulations of plasticity at small scales
As metallic structures and devices are being created on a dimension comparable to the length scales of the underlying dislocation microstructures, the mechanical properties of them change drastically. Since such small structures are increasingly common in modern technologies, there is an emergent need to understand the critical roles of elasticity, plasticity, and fracture in small structures. Dislocation dynamics (DD) simulations, in which the dislocations are the simulated entities, offer a way to extend length scales beyond those of atomistic simulations and the results from DD simulations can be directly compared with the micromechanical tests. The primary objective of this research is to use 3-D DD simulations to study the plastic deformation of nano- and micro-scale materials and understand the correlation between dislocation motion, interactions and the mechanical response. Specifically, to identify what critical events (i.e., dislocation multiplication, cross-slip, storage, nucleation, junction and dipole formation, pinning etc.) determine the deformation response and how these change from bulk behavior as the system decreases in size and correlate and improve our current knowledge of bulk plasticity with the knowledge gained from the direct observations of small-scale plasticity. Our simulation results on single crystal micropillars and polycrystalline thin films can march the experiment results …
Date:
December 15, 2010
Creator:
Zhou, Caizhi
System:
The UNT Digital Library