The D0 Collaboration has recently measured the charge asymmetry of same-sign dimuon events in 6.1 fb{sup -1} of data collected in p{bar p} collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. This allows the extraction of the same-sign dimuon charge asymmetry in semileptonic b-hadron decays, which is predicted to be extremely small in the standard model. The result is found to differ by 3.2 standard deviations from the standard model value, providing the first evidence for anomalous CP-violation in the mixing of neutral B mesons. The analysis, and the method used to extract the result are described in detail.

The MuCool RF Program focuses on the study of normal conducting RF structures operating in high magnetic field for applications in muon ionization cooling for Neutrino Factories and Muon Colliders. This paper will give an overview of the program, which will include a description of the test facility and its capabilities, the current test program, and the status of a cavity that can be rotated in the magnetic field which allows for a more detailed study of the maximum stable operating gradient vs. magnetic field strength and angle.

In response to a request by Picatinny Arsenal, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was asked by the Army to conduct an energy audit of the Arsenal’s 3000 Area Laboratory Complex. The objective of the audit was to identify life-cycle cost-effective measures that the Arsenal could implement to reduce energy costs. A “walk-through” audit of the facilities was conducted on December 7-8, 2009. Findings and recommendations are included in this document.

Since the last successful RHIC Au+Au run in 2007 (Run-7), the RHIC experiments have made numerous detector improvements and upgrades. In order to benefit from the enhanced detector capabilities and to increase the yield of rare events in the acquired heavy ion data a significant increase in luminosity is essential. In Run-7 RHIC achieved an average store luminosity of <L> = 12 x 10{sup 26} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} by operating with 103 bunches (out of 111 possible), and by squeezing to {beta}* = 0.85 m. This year, Run-10, we achieved <L> = 20 x 10{sup 26} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}, which put us an order of magnitude above the RHIC design luminosity. To reach these luminosity levels we decreased {beta}* to 0.75 m, operated with 111 bunches per ring, and reduced longitudinal and transverse emittances by means of bunched-beam stochastic cooling. In addition we introduced a lattice to suppress intra-beam scattering (IBS) in both RHIC rings, upgraded the RF control system, and separated transition crossing times in the two rings. We present an overview of the changes and the results of Run-10 performance.

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Desulfovibrio vulgaris is an anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacterium capable of facilitating the removal of toxic metals such as uranium from contaminated sites via reduction. As such, it is essential to understand the intricate regulatory cascades involved in how D. vulgaris and its relatives respond to stressors in such sites. One approach is the identification and analysis of small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs); molecules ranging in size from 20-200 nucleotides that predominantly affect gene regulation by binding to complementary mRNA in an anti-sense fashion and therefore provide an immediate regulatory response. To identify sRNAs in D. vulgaris, a bacterium that does not possess an annotated hfq gene, RNA was pooled from stationary and exponential phases, nitrate exposure, and biofilm conditions. The subsequent RNA was size fractionated, modified, and converted to cDNA for high throughput transcriptomic deep sequencing. A computational approach to identify sRNAs via the alignment of seven separate Desulfovibrio genomes was also performed. From the deep sequencing analysis, 2,296 reads between 20 and 250 nt were identified with expression above genome background. Analysis of those reads limited the number of candidates to ~;;87 intergenic, while ~;;140 appeared to be antisense to annotated open reading frames (ORFs). Further BLAST analysis of the intergenic …

It is shown that bunch phase space distribution can be modified by means of RF phase modulation.

Within the Neutrino Factory Project the muon acceleration process involves a complex chain of accelerators including a (single-pass) linac, two recirculating linacs and an FFAG. The linac consists of RF cavities and iron shielded solenoids for transverse focusing and has been previously designed relying on idealized field models. However, to predict accurately the transport and acceleration of a high emittance 30 cm wide beam with 10 % energy spread requires detailed knowledge of fringe field distributions. This article presents results of the front-to-end tracking of the muon beam through numerically simulated realistic field distributions for the shielded solenoids and the RF fields. Real and phase space evolution of the beam has been studied along the linac and the results are presented and discussed.

During the 2009 LHC injection tests, the polarities and effects of specific quadrupole and higher-order magnetic circuits were investigated. A set of magnet circuits had been selected for detailed investigation based on a number of criteria. On or off-momentum difference trajectories launched via appropriate orbit correctors for varying strength settings of the magnet circuits under study - e.g. main, trim and skew quadrupoles; sextupole families and spool piece correctors; skew sextupoles, octupoles - were compared with predictions from various optics models. These comparisons allowed confirming or updating the relative polarity conventions used in the optics model and the accelerator control system, as well as verifying the correct powering and assignment of magnet families. Results from measurements in several LHC sectors are presented.

Long range beam-beam experiments were conducted during the Run 2009 in the Yellow and the Blue beams of the RHIC accelerator with DC wires. The effects of a long-range interaction with a DC wire on colliding and non-colliding bunches with the aid of beam losses, orbits, tunes were studied. Results from distance scans and an attempt to compensate a long-range interaction with a DC wire is presented. Two DC wires in the vertical plane were installed in the RHIC accelerator in 2006 with the aim of investigating long range (LR) beam-beam effects and a potential compensation. Extensive experiments were conducted focusing mainly on the effect of a wire on single ion beams from 2006-2009. A unique opportunity to compare the effect of the wire on colliding beams and compensation of a single LR beam-beam interaction were conducted in Run2009 with protons at 100 GeV. Due to aperture considerations for decreasing {beta}*, the Blue wire was removed during the shutdown after the Run2009 and the Yellow wire is foreseen to be removed in the near future. Therefore, these experiments serve as the final set of measurements for LR beam-beam with RHIC as a test bed. The relevant RHIC beam and lattice …

The 3rd LHC Crab Cavity workshop (LHC-CC09) took place at CERN in October 2009. It reviewed the current status and identified a clear strategy towards a future crab-cavity implementation. Following the success of crab cavities in KEK-B and the strong potential for luminosity gain and leveling, CERN will pursue crab crossing for the LHC upgrade. We present a summary and outcome of the variousworkshop sessions which have led to the LHC crab-cavity strategy, covering topics like layout, cavity design, integration, machine protection, and a potential validation test in the SPS.

Retarding field analyzers (RFAs) provide an effective measure of the local electron cloud density and energy distribution. Proper interpretation of RFA data can yield information about the behavior of the cloud, as well as the surface properties of the instrumented vacuum chamber. However, due to the complex interaction of the cloud with the RFA itself, understanding these measurements can be nontrivial. This paper examines different methods for interpreting RFA data via cloud simulation programs. Techniques include postprocessing the output of a simulation code to predict the RFA response; and incorporating an RFA model into the cloud modeling program itself.

Microbial communities are each a composite of populations whose presence and relative abundance in water or other environmental samples are a direct manifestation of environmental conditions, including the introduction of microbe-rich fecal material and factors promoting persistence of the microbes therein. As shown by culture-independent methods, different animal-host fecal microbial communities appear distinctive, suggesting that their community profiles can be used to differentiate fecal samples and to potentially reveal the presence of host fecal material in environmental waters. Cross-comparisons of microbial communities from different hosts also reveal relative abundances of genetic groups that can be used to distinguish sources. In increasing order of their information richness, several community analysis methods hold promise for MST applications: phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP), cloning/sequencing, and PhyloChip. Specific case studies involving TRFLP and PhyloChip approaches demonstrate the ability of community-based analyses of contaminated waters to confirm a diagnosis of water quality based on host-specific marker(s). The success of community-based MST for comprehensively confirming fecal sources relies extensively upon using appropriate multivariate statistical approaches. While community-based MST is still under evaluation and development as a primary diagnostic tool, results presented herein demonstrate its promise. …

We study extensions of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with new degrees of freedom that couple sizably to the MSSM Higgs sector and lie in the TeV range. After integrating out the physics at the TeV scale, the resulting Higgs spectrum can significantly differ from typical supersymmetric scenarios, thereby providing a window Beyond the MSSM (BMSSM). Taking into account current LEP and Tevatron constraints, we perform an in-depth analysis of the Higgs collider phenomenology and explore distinctive characteristics of our scenario with respect to both the Standard Model and the MSSM. We propose benchmark scenarios to illustrate specific features of BMSSM Higgs searches at the Tevatron and the LHC.

We review recent experimental measurements of the Fermi surface of the iron-pnictide superconductor LaFePO using quantum oscillation techniques. These studies show that the Fermi surface topology is close to that predicted by first principles density functional theory calculations, consisting of quasi-twodimensional electron-like and hole-like sheets. The total volume of the two hole sheets is almost equal to that of the two electron sheets, and the hole and electron Fermi surface sheets are close to a nesting condition. No evidence for the predicted three dimensional pocket arising from the Fe d{sub z}{sup 2} band is found. Measurements of the effective mass suggest a renormalisation of around two, close to the value for the overall band renormalisation found in recent angle resolved photoemission measurements.

A new multiscale simulation tool has been developed to model the strength of tantalum under high-pressure dynamic compression. This new model combines simulations at multiple length scales to explain macroscopic properties of materials. Previously known continuum models of material response under load have built upon a mixture of theoretical physics and experimental phenomenology. Experimental data, typically measured at static pressures, are used as a means of calibration to construct models that parameterize the material properties; e.g., yield stress, work hardening, strain-rate dependence, etc. The pressure dependence for most models enters through the shear modulus, which is used to scale the flow stress. When these models are applied to data taken far outside the calibrated regions of phase space (e.g., strain rate or pressure) they often diverge in their predicted behavior of material deformation. The new multiscale model, developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, starts with interatomic quantum mechanical potential and is based on the motion and multiplication of dislocations. The basis for the macroscale model is plastic deformation by phonon drag and thermally activated dislocation motion and strain hardening resulting from elastic interactions among dislocations. The dislocation density, {rho}, and dislocation velocity, {nu}, are connected to the plastic strain rate …

The Standard Model (SM) is one of the most tested and verified physical theories of all time, present experimental observations are consistent with SM expectations. On the other hand SM can not explain many physical observations: the cosmological observations possibly infer the presence of dark matter which is clearly beyond the SM expectations; the SM Higgs model, while explaining the generation of fermion masses, can not explain the hierarchy problem and a non natural fine tuning of SM is needed to cancel out quadratic divergences in the Higgs boson mass. New physics (NP) beyond SM should hence be investigated: rising the energy above NP processes thresholds, and detecting new particles or new effects not predicted by the standard model directly, is one of the possible approaches; another approach is to make precision measurements of well known processes or looking for rare processes which involve higher order contribution from NP processes, this approach need higher luminosities with respect to the previous approach but lower beam energies. Search for Lepton Flavor Violation (LFV) in charged lepton decays is promising: neutrino physics provides indeed a clear and unambiguous evidence of LFV in the neutral lepton sector via mixing processes, which have been observed …

Hexavalent Chromium is a widespread contaminant found in soil, sediment, and groundwater. In order to stimulate microbially-mediated reduction of Cr(VI), a poly-lactate compound (HRC) was injected into the Chromium-contaminated aquifer at the Hanford (WA) 100H site in 2004. Cr(VI) concentrations rapidly declined to below the detection limit and remained so for more than three years after injection. Based on the results of the bacterial community composition using high-density DNA 16S rRNA gene microarrays, we observed the community to transition through denitrifying, ironreducing and sulfate-reducing populations. As a result, we specifically focused isolation efforts on three bacterial species that were significant components of the community. Positive enrichments in defined anaerobic media resulted in the isolation of an iron-reducing Geobacter metallireducens-like isolate, a sulfate-reducing Desulfovibrio vukgaris-like strain and a nitrate-reducing Pseudomonas stutzeri-like isolate among several others. All of these isolates were capable of reducing Cr(VI) anoxically and have been submitted for genome sequencing to JGI. To further characterize the microbial, and geochemical mechanisms associated with in situ Cr(VI) reduction at the site, additional HRC was injected in 2008. The goal was to restimulate the indigenous microbial community and to regenerate the reducing conditions necessary for continued Cr(VI) bio-immobilization in the groundwater. Analysis …

The advanced nuclear system will significantly advance the science and technology of nuclear energy systems and to enhance the spent fuel proliferation resistance. Minor actinides (MA) are viewed more as a resource to be recycled, and transmuted to less hazardous and possibly more useful forms, rather than simply disposed of as a waste stream in an expensive repository facility. MAs can play a much larger part in the design of advanced systems and fuel cycles, not only as additional sources of useful energy, but also as direct contributors to the reactivity control of the systems into which they are incorporated. In this work, an Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR) fuel unit lattice cell model with 43 UO2 fuel rods will be used to investigate the effectiveness of a Minor Actinide Reduction Approach (MARA) for enhancing proliferation resistance and improving the fuel cycle performance. The main MARA objective is to increase the 238Pu / Pu isotope ratio by using the transuranic nuclides (237Np and 241Am) in the high burnup fuel and thereby increase the proliferation resistance even for a very low fuel burnup. As a result, MARA is a very effective approach to enhance the proliferation resistance for the on power refueling …

Ultra intense short pulse laser pulses incident on solid targets can generate energetic protons. In additions to their potentially important applications such as in cancer treatments and proton fast ignition, these protons are essential to understand the complex physics of intense laser plasma interaction. To better characterize these laser-produced protons, we designed and constructed a novel, spatially imaging proton spectrometer that will not only measure proton energy distribution with high resolution, but also provide its angular characteristics. The information obtained from this spectrometer compliments those from commonly used diagnostics including radiochromic film packs, CR39 nuclear track detectors, and non-imaging magnetic spectrometers. The basic characterizations and sample data from this instrument are presented.

The work in this dissertation presents the synthesis of two mixed metal oxides for biofuel applications and NMR characterization of silica materials. In the chapter 2, high catalytic efficiency of calcium silicate is synthesized for transesterfication of soybean oil to biodisels. Chapter 3 describes the synthesis of a new Rh based catalyst on mesoporous manganese oxides. The new catalyst is found to have higher activity and selectivity towards ethanol. Chapter 4 demonstrates the applications of solid-state Si NMR in the silica materials.

This report summarizes an evaluation of various hydrogen delivery options

We report the discovery of a self-doped multi-layer high T{sub c} superconductor Ba{sub 2}Ca{sub 3}Cu{sub 4}O{sub 8}F{sub 2} (F0234) which contains distinctly different superconducting gap magnitudes along its two Fermi surface(FS) sheets. While formal valence counting would imply this material to be an undoped insulator, it is a self-doped superconductor with a T{sub c} of 60K, possessing simultaneously both electron- and hole-doped FS sheets. Intriguingly, the FS sheet characterized by the much larger gap is the electron-doped one, which has a shape disfavoring two electronic features considered to be important for the pairing mechanism: the van Hove singularity and the antiferromagnetic ({pi}/a, {pi}/a) scattering.

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