Instrumentation and Beam Dynamics Study of Advanced Electron-Photon Facility in Indiana University (open access)

Instrumentation and Beam Dynamics Study of Advanced Electron-Photon Facility in Indiana University

The Advanced eLectron-PHoton fAcility (ALPHA) is a compact electron accelerator under construction and being commissioned at the Indiana University Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter (CEEM). In this thesis, we have studied the refurbished Cooler Injector Synchrotron (CIS) RF cavity using both the transmission line model and SUPERFISH simulation. Both low power and high power RF measurements have been carried out to characterize the cavity. Considering the performance limit of ferrite, we have designed a new ferrite loaded, co-axial quarter wave like cavity with similar structure but a more suitable ferrite material. We have also designed a traveling wave stripline kicker for fast extraction by POISSON and Microwave Studio. The strips geometry is trimmed to maximize the uniformity of the kicking field and match the impedance of the power cables. The time response simulation shows the kicker is fast enough for machine operation. The pulsed power supply requirement has also been specified. For the beam diagnosis in the longitudinal direction, we use a wideband Wall Gap Monitor (WGM) served in CIS. With proper shielding and amplification to get good WGM signal, we have characterized the injected and extracted beam signal in single pass commissioning, and also verified the debunching …
Date: August 1, 2011
Creator: Luo, Tianhuan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mesoporous silica nanoparticles for biomedical and catalytical applications (open access)

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles for biomedical and catalytical applications

Mesoporous silica materials, discovered in 1992 by the Mobile Oil Corporation, have received considerable attention in the chemical industry due to their superior textual properties such as high surface area, large pore volume, tunable pore diameter, and narrow pore size distribution. Among those materials, MCM-41, referred to Mobile Composition of Matter NO. 41, contains honeycomb liked porous structure that is the most common mesoporous molecular sieve studied. Applications of MCM-41 type mesoporous silica material in biomedical field as well as catalytical field have been developed and discussed in this thesis. The unique features of mesoporous silica nanoparticles were utilized for the design of delivery system for multiple biomolecules as described in chapter 2. We loaded luciferin into the hexagonal channels of MSN and capped the pore ends with gold nanoparticles to prevent premature release. Luciferase was adsorbed onto the outer surface of the MSN. Both the MSN and the gold nanoparticles were protected by poly-ethylene glycol to minimize nonspecific interaction of luciferase and keep it from denaturating. Controlled release of luciferin was triggered within the cells and the enzymatic reaction was detected by a luminometer. Further developments by varying enzyme/substrate pairs may provide opportunities to control cell behavior and manipulate …
Date: May 15, 2011
Creator: Sun, Xiaoxing
System: The UNT Digital Library
Quantifying Uranium Isotope Ratios Using Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry: The Influence of Laser Parameters on Relative Ionization Probability (open access)

Quantifying Uranium Isotope Ratios Using Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry: The Influence of Laser Parameters on Relative Ionization Probability

Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry (RIMS) has been developed as a method to measure relative uranium isotope abundances. In this approach, RIMS is used as an element-selective ionization process to provide a distinction between uranium atoms and potential isobars without the aid of chemical purification and separation. We explore the laser parameters critical to the ionization process and their effects on the measured isotope ratio. Specifically, the use of broad bandwidth lasers with automated feedback control of wavelength was applied to the measurement of {sup 235}U/{sup 238}U ratios to decrease laser-induced isotopic fractionation. By broadening the bandwidth of the first laser in a 3-color, 3-photon ionization process from a bandwidth of 1.8 GHz to about 10 GHz, the variation in sequential relative isotope abundance measurements decreased from >10% to less than 0.5%. This procedure was demonstrated for the direct interrogation of uranium oxide targets with essentially no sample preparation. A rate equation model for predicting the relative ionization probability has been developed to study the effect of variation in laser parameters on the measured isotope ratio. This work demonstrates that RIMS can be used for the robust measurement of uranium isotope ratios.
Date: September 6, 2011
Creator: Isselhardt, B H
System: The UNT Digital Library
Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry: Examinations of the origins of polyatomic ions and advances in the sampling of particulates (open access)

Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry: Examinations of the origins of polyatomic ions and advances in the sampling of particulates

This dissertation provides a general introduction to Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and laser ablation (LA) sampling, with an examination of analytical challenges in the employment of this technique. It discusses the origin of metal oxide ions (MO+) in LA-ICP-MS, as well as the effect of introducing helium and nitrogen to the aerosol gas flow on the formation of these polyatomic interferences. It extends the study of polyatomic ions in LA-ICP-MS to metal argide (MAr+) species, an additional source of possible significant interferences in the spectrum. It describes the application of fs-LA-ICP-MS to the determination of uranium isotope ratios in particulate samples.
Date: November 30, 2011
Creator: Witte, Travis
System: The UNT Digital Library
Radio Frequency Station - Beam Dynamics Interaction in Circular Accelerators (open access)

Radio Frequency Station - Beam Dynamics Interaction in Circular Accelerators

The longitudinal beam dynamics in circular accelerators is mainly defined by the interaction of the beam current with the accelerating Radio Frequency (RF) stations. For stable operation, Low Level RF (LLRF) feedback systems are employed to reduce coherent instabilities and regulate the accelerating voltage. The LLRF system design has implications for the dynamics and stability of the closed-loop RF systems as well as for the particle beam, and is very sensitive to the operating range of accelerator currents and energies. Stability of the RF loop and the beam are necessary conditions for reliable machine operation. This dissertation describes theoretical formalisms and models that determine the longitudinal beam dynamics based on the LLRF implementation, time domain simulations that capture the dynamic behavior of the RF station-beam interaction, and measurements from the Positron-Electron Project (PEP-II) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that validate the models and simulations. These models and simulations are structured to capture the technical characteristics of the system (noise contributions, non-linear elements, and more). As such, they provide useful results and insight for the development and design of future LLRF feedback systems. They also provide the opportunity to study diverse longitudinal beam dynamics effects such as coupled-bunch impedance driven …
Date: March 1, 2011
Creator: Mastoridis, Themistoklis & /Stanford U., Elect. Eng. Dept. /SLAC
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Road to the Higgs in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$= 1.96 TeV (open access)

The Road to the Higgs in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$= 1.96 TeV

Presented is a series of analyses which are central to the search for a low-mass Higgs boson. A search for ZZ production in the ZZ {yields} {ell}{sup -}{ell}{sup +}{nu}{bar {nu}} channel is introduced then the successful combination of this analysis with with the ZZ {yields} {ell}{sup +}{ell}{sup -}{ell}'{sup +}{ell}'{sup -} search to produce the first observation of the ZZ process at a hadron collider is then detailed. The final analysis presented is the search for the Higgs in the ZH {yields} {nu}{bar {nu}}b{bar b} channel and the interpretation as a ZZ {yields} {nu}{bar {nu}}b{bar b} search in order to validate the techniques. Common themes are discussed, such as multivariate techniques and instrumental backgrounds from energy measurement fluctuations and the tools used to combat them. The formalism of the statistical analysis of the final selected sample is introduced generally and demonstrated in the context of the above mentioned searches. The optimization of the selection through the identification of poorly reconstructed leptons is included as well as the utilization of b-quark identifying tools. Some space is given to jet reconstruction/identification and the Level 1 Calorimeter Trigger. The efficient identification and calibration of jets is central to many physics analysis especially in the …
Date: April 1, 2011
Creator: Facini, Gabriel & U., /Northeastern
System: The UNT Digital Library
Solid state NMR method development and studies of biological and biomimetic nanocomposites (open access)

Solid state NMR method development and studies of biological and biomimetic nanocomposites

This thesis describes application and development of advanced solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques for complex materials, in particular organic-inorganic nanocomposites and thermoelectric tellurides. The apatite-collagen interface, essential for understanding the biomineralization process in bone and engineering the interface for controlled bio-mimetic synthesis and optimized mechanical properties, is buried within the nanocomposite of bone. We used multinuclear solid-state NMR to study the composition and structure of the interface. Citrate has been identified as the main organic molecule strongly bound to the apatite surface with a density of 1/(2 nm){sup 2}, covering 1/6 of the total surface area in bovine bone. Citrate provides more carboxylate groups, one of the key functional groups found to affect apatite nucleation and growth, than all the non-collagenous proteins all together in bone; thus we propose that citrate stabilizes apatite crystals at a very small thickness of {approx}3 nm (4 unit cells) to increase bone fracture tolerance. The hypothesis has been confirmed in vitro by adding citrate in the bio-mimetic synthesis of polymerhydroxyapatite nanocomposites. The results have shown that the size of hydroxyapatite nanocrystals decreases as increasing citrate concentration. With citrate concentrations comparable to that in body fluids, similar-sized nanocrystals as in bone have been produced. Besides …
Date: February 7, 2011
Creator: Hu, Yanyan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Observation of $t$-channel electroweak top quark production (open access)

Observation of $t$-channel electroweak top quark production

The top quark is the heaviest known fundamental particle, with a mass of 172.0{sub -1.3}{sup +0.9}GeV. This is nearly twice the mass of the second heaviest known particle, the Z boson, and roughly the mass of a gold atom. Because of its unusually large mass, studying the top quark may provide insight into the Higgs mechanism and other beyond the standard model physics. Only two accelerators in the world are powerful enough to produce top quarks. The Tevatron, which first accelerated protons in 1983, has produced almost 400,000 top quarks, roughly half at each of its two detectors: DO and CDF. The LHC is a much newer accelerator which currently has accumulated about 0.5% as much data as the Tevatron. However, when running at full luminosity, the LHC is capable of producing a top quark about once every second and will quickly surpass the Tevatron as the leading producer of top quarks. This analysis uses data from the D0 detector at the Tevatron, which are described in chapter 3. Top quarks are produced most often in pairs of top and anti-top quarks through an interaction of the strong force. This production mode was first observed in 1995 at the Tevatron. …
Date: April 1, 2011
Creator: Triplett, Nathan & U., /Iowa State
System: The UNT Digital Library
Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1: Mechanisms of its synergistic regulation by growth factors (open access)

Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1: Mechanisms of its synergistic regulation by growth factors

My research is on the synergistic regulation of PAI-1 by EGF and TGF-β. The mechanism of synergistic regulation of PAI-1 by EGF and TGF-β are addressed. Methods are described for effective identification of RNA accessible sites for antisense oligodexoxynucleotides (ODNs) and siRNA. In this study effective AS-ODN sequences for both Lcn2 and Bcl2 were identified by in vitro tiled microarray studies. Our results suggest that hybridization of ODN arrays to a target mRNA under physiological conditions might be used as a rapid and reliable in vitro method to accurately identify targets on mRNA molecules for effective antisense and potential siRNA activity in vivo.
Date: December 1, 2011
Creator: Song, Xiaoling
System: The UNT Digital Library
Equilibrium Speciation of Select Lanthanides in the Presence of Acidic Ligands in Homo- and Heterogeneous Solutions (open access)

Equilibrium Speciation of Select Lanthanides in the Presence of Acidic Ligands in Homo- and Heterogeneous Solutions

This dissertation explores lanthanide speciation in liquid solution systems related to separation schemes involving the acidic ligands: bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP), lactate, and 8-hydroxyquinoline. Equilibrium speciation of neodymium (Nd3+), sodium (Na+), HDEHP, water, and lactate in the TALSPEAK liquid-liquid extraction system was explored under varied Nd3+ loading of HDEHP in the organic phase and through extraction from aqueous HCl and lactate media. System speciation was probed through vapor pressure osmometry, visible and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, 22Na and 13C labeled lactate radiotracer distribution measurements, Karl Fischer titrations, and equilibrium pH measurements. Distribution of Nd3+, Na+, lactate, and equilibrium pH were modeled using the SXLSQI software to obtain logKNd and logKNa extraction constants under selected conditions. Results showed that high Nd3+ loading of the HDEHP led to Nd3+ speciation that departs from the ion exchange mechanism and includes formation of highly aggregated, polynuclear [NdLactate(DEHP)2]x; (with x > 1). By substituting lanthanum (La3+) for Nd3+ in this system, NMR scoping experiments using 23Na, 31P nuclei and 13C labeled lactate were performed. Results indicated that this technique is sensitive to changes in system speciation, and that further experiments are warranted. In a homogeneous system representing the TALSPEAK aqueous phase, Lactate protonation behavior …
Date: August 11, 2011
Creator: Robinson, Troy A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The theoretical study of passive and active optical devices via planewave based transfer (scattering) matrix method and other approaches (open access)

The theoretical study of passive and active optical devices via planewave based transfer (scattering) matrix method and other approaches

In this thesis, we theoretically study the electromagnetic wave propagation in several passive and active optical components and devices including 2-D photonic crystals, straight and curved waveguides, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), and etc. Several optical designs are also presented like organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells and solar concentrators. The first part of the thesis focuses on theoretical investigation. First, the plane-wave-based transfer (scattering) matrix method (TMM) is briefly described with a short review of photonic crystals and other numerical methods to study them (Chapter 1 and 2). Next TMM, the numerical method itself is investigated in details and developed in advance to deal with more complex optical systems. In chapter 3, TMM is extended in curvilinear coordinates to study curved nanoribbon waveguides. The problem of a curved structure is transformed into an equivalent one of a straight structure with spatially dependent tensors of dielectric constant and magnetic permeability. In chapter 4, a new set of localized basis orbitals are introduced to locally represent electromagnetic field in photonic crystals as alternative to planewave basis. The second part of the thesis focuses on the design of optical devices. First, two examples of TMM applications are given. The first example is the design …
Date: May 15, 2011
Creator: Zhuo, Ye
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson Produced in Association with a $W$ Boson (open access)

A Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson Produced in Association with a $W$ Boson

We present a search for a standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W boson using data collected with the CDF II detector from p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. The search is performed in the WH {yields} {ell}{nu}b{bar b} channel. The two quarks usually fragment into two jets, but sometimes a third jet can be produced via gluon radiation, so we have increased the standard two-jet sample by including events that contain three jets. We reconstruct the Higgs boson using two or three jets depending on the kinematics of the event. We find an improvement in our search sensitivity using the larger sample together with this multijet reconstruction technique. Our data show no evidence of a Higgs boson, so we set 95% confidence level upper limits on the WH production rate. We set limits between 3.36 and 28.7 times the standard model prediction for Higgs boson masses ranging from 100 to 150 GeV/c{sup 2}.
Date: May 1, 2011
Creator: Frank, Martin Johannes & U., /Baylor
System: The UNT Digital Library
MicroCantilever (MC) based nanomechanical sensor for detection of molecular interactions (open access)

MicroCantilever (MC) based nanomechanical sensor for detection of molecular interactions

Specific aims of this study are to investigate the mechanism governing surface stress generation associated with chemical or molecular binding on functionalized microcantilevers. Formation of affinity complexes on cantilever surfaces leads to charge redistribution, configurational change and steric hindrance between neighboring molecules resulting in surface stress change and measureable cantilever deformation. A novel interferometry technique employing two adjacent micromachined cantilevers (a sensing/reference pair) was utilized to measure the cantilever deformation. The sensing principle is that binding/reaction of specific chemical or biological species on the sensing cantilever transduces to mechanical deformation. The differential bending of the sensing cantilever respect to the reference cantilever ensures that measured response is insensitive to environmental disturbances. As a proof of principle for the measurement technique, surface stress changes associated with: self-assembly of alkanethiol, hybridization of ssDNA, and the formation of cocaine-aptamer complexes were measured. Dissociation constant (K{sub d}) for each molecular reaction was utilized to estimate the surface coverage of affinity complexes. In the cases of DNA hybridization and cocaine-aptamer binding, measured surface stress was found to be dependent on the surface coverage of the affinity complexes. In order to achieve a better sensitivity for DNA hybridization, immobilization of receptor molecules was modified to enhance …
Date: May 11, 2011
Creator: Kang, Kyung
System: The UNT Digital Library
Improving the phase stability and oxidation resistance of B-NiAl (open access)

Improving the phase stability and oxidation resistance of B-NiAl

High temperature alloys are essential to many industries that require a stable material to perform in harsh oxidative environments. Many of these alloys are suited for specific applications such as jet engine turbine blades where most other materials would either melt or oxidize and crumble (1). These alloys must have a high melting temperature, excellent oxidation resistance, good creep resistance, and decent fracture toughness to be successfully used in such environments. The discovery of Ni based superalloys in the 1940s revolutionized the high temperature alloy industry and there has been continued development of these alloys since their advent (2). These materials are capable of operating in oxidative environments in the presence of combustion gases, water vapor and at temperatures around 1050 C. Demands for increased f uel efficiency, however, has highlighted the need for materials that can be used under similar atmospheres and at temperatures in excess of 1200 C. The current Ni based superalloys are restricted to lower temperatures due to the presence of a number of low melting phases that result in softening of the alloys above 1000 C. Therefore, recent research has been aimed at exploring and developing newer alloy systems that can meet the escalating requirements. …
Date: August 15, 2011
Creator: Brammer, Travis
System: The UNT Digital Library
Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced in association with a W Boson in the isolated-track charged-lepton channel using the Collider Detector at Fermilab (open access)

Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced in association with a W Boson in the isolated-track charged-lepton channel using the Collider Detector at Fermilab

The Higgs boson is the only elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model (SM) that has not yet been observed experimentally. If it exists, it explains the spontaneous electroweak symmetry breaking and the origin of mass for gauge bosons and fermions. We test the validity of the SM by performing a search for the associated production of a Higgs boson and a W boson in the channel where the Higgs boson decays to a bottom-antibottom quark pair and the W boson decays to a charged lepton and a neutrino (the WH channel). We study a dataset of proton-antiproton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy {radical}s = 1.96 TeV provided by the Tevatron accelerator, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.7 fb{sup -1}, and recorded using the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF).We select events consistent with the signature of exactly one charged lepton (electron or muon), missing transverse energy due to the undetected neutrino (MET) and two collimated streams of particles (jets), at least one of which is required to be identified as originating from a bottom quark. We improve the discrimination of Higgs signal from backgrounds through the use of an artificial neural network. Using a Bayesian statistical inference approach, we …
Date: August 1, 2011
Creator: Buzatu, Adrian
System: The UNT Digital Library
Campbell penetration depth in Fe-based superconductors (open access)

Campbell penetration depth in Fe-based superconductors

A 'true' critical current density, j{sub c}, as opposite to commonly measured relaxed persistent (Bean) current, j{sub B}, was extracted from the Campbell penetration depth, {lambda}{sub c}(T,H) measured in single crystals of LiFeAs, and optimally electron-doped Ba(Fe{sub 0.954}Ni{sub 0.046}){sub 2}As{sub 2} (FeNi122). In LiFeAs, the effective pinning potential is nonparabolic, which follows from the magnetic field - dependent Labusch parameter {alpha}. At the equilibrium (upon field - cooling), {alpha}(H) is non-monotonic, but it is monotonic at a finite gradient of the vortex density. This behavior leads to a faster magnetic relaxation at the lower fields and provides a natural dynamic explanation for the fishtail (second peak) effect. We also find the evidence for strong pinning at the lower fields.The inferred field dependence of the pinning potential is consistent with the evolution from strong pinning, through collective pinning, and eventually to a disordered vortex lattice. The value of j{sub c}(2 K) {approx_equal} 1.22 x 10{sup 6} A/cm{sup 2} provide an upper estimate of the current carrying capability of LiFeAs. Overall, vortex behavior of almost isotropic, fully-gapped LiFeAs is very similar to highly anisotropic d-wave cuprate superconductors, the similarity that requires further studies in order to understand unconventional superconductivity in cuprates and …
Date: August 15, 2011
Creator: Prommapan, Plegchart
System: The UNT Digital Library
Search for new particles decaying to diject in 7 TeV proton-proton collisions at CMS (open access)

Search for new particles decaying to diject in 7 TeV proton-proton collisions at CMS

This thesis presents a measurement of the dijet invariant mass spectrum and search for new particles decaying to dijets at CMS in 7 TeV pp collisions using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.875 pb{sup -1}. The measured dijet mass distribution is compared to QCD prediction from PYTHIA . It is required the pseudorapidity separation of the two jets to satisfy |Dh| < 1.3 with each jet inside the region of |{eta}| < 2.5. The observed dijet mass spectrum is fitted by a smooth function to search for dijet resonances. Since there is no evidence for dijet resonances, the upper limits at 95% Confidence Level (C.L.) on the resonance cross section are set. These generic cross section limits are compared with theoretical predictions for the cross section for several models of new particles: string resonances, axigluons, colorons, excited quarks, E{sub 6} diquarks, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, W' and Z'. It is excluded at 95% C.L. string resonances in the mass range 0.50 < M(S) < 2.50 TeV, excited quarks in the mass range 0.50 < M(q*) < 1.58 TeV, axigluons and colorons in the mass ranges 0.50 < M(A) < 1.17 TeV and 1.47 < M(A) < 1.52 TeV, and E{sub …
Date: March 1, 2011
Creator: Ozturk, Sertac & U., /Cukurova
System: The UNT Digital Library
A New Tool for Effective and Efficient Project Management (open access)

A New Tool for Effective and Efficient Project Management

Organizations routinely handle thousands of projects per year, and it is difficult to manage all these projects concurrently. Too often, projects do not get the attention they need when they need it. Management inattention can lead to late projects or projects with less than desirable content and/or deliverables. This paper discusses the application of Visual Project Management (VPM) as a method to track and manage projects. The VPM approach proved to be a powerful management tool without the overhead and restrictions of traditional management methods.
Date: December 1, 2011
Creator: Willett, Jesse A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Search for a Standard Model Higgs Boson with a Dilepton and Missing Energy Signature (open access)

Search for a Standard Model Higgs Boson with a Dilepton and Missing Energy Signature

The subject of this thesis is the search for a standard model Higgs boson decaying to a pair of W bosons that in turn decay leptonically, H {yields} W{sup +}W{sup -} {yields} {bar {ell}}{nu}{ell}{bar {nu}}. This search is performed considering events produced in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV, where two oppositely charged lepton candidates (e{sup +}e{sup -}, e{sup {+-}}{mu}{sup {-+}}, or {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -}), and missing transverse energy, have been reconstructed. The data were collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider, and are tested against the standard model predictions computed for a Higgs boson with mass in the range 115-200 GeV. No excess of events over background is observed, and limits on Standard Model Higgs boson production are determined. An interpretation of these limits within the hypothesis of a fourth-generation extension to the standard model is also given. The overall analysis scheme is the same for the three dilepton pairs being considered (e{sup +}e{sup -}, e{sup {+-}}{mu}{sup {-+}}, or {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -}); this thesis, however, describes in detail the study of the dimuon final state.
Date: June 1, 2011
Creator: Gerbaudo, Davide
System: The UNT Digital Library
Adaptations in Electronic Structure Calculations in Heterogeneous Environments (open access)

Adaptations in Electronic Structure Calculations in Heterogeneous Environments

Modern quantum chemistry deals with electronic structure calculations of unprecedented complexity and accuracy. They demand full power of high-performance computing and must be in tune with the given architecture for superior e#14;ciency. To make such applications resourceaware, it is desirable to enable their static and dynamic adaptations using some external software (middleware), which may monitor both system availability and application needs, rather than mix science with system-related calls inside the application. The present work investigates scienti#12;c application interlinking with middleware based on the example of the computational chemistry package GAMESS and middleware NICAN. The existing synchronous model is limited by the possible delays due to the middleware processing time under the sustainable runtime system conditions. Proposed asynchronous and hybrid models aim at overcoming this limitation. When linked with NICAN, the fragment molecular orbital (FMO) method is capable of adapting statically and dynamically its fragment scheduling policy based on the computing platform conditions. Signi#12;cant execution time and throughput gains have been obtained due to such static adaptations when the compute nodes have very di#11;erent core counts. Dynamic adaptations are based on the main memory availability at run time. NICAN prompts FMO to postpone scheduling certain fragments, if there is not enough …
Date: November 29, 2011
Creator: Talamudupula, Sai
System: The UNT Digital Library
Measurement of the numu Charged Current pi+ to Quasi-Elastic Cross Section Ratio on Mineral Oil in a 0.8 GeV Neutrino Beam (open access)

Measurement of the numu Charged Current pi+ to Quasi-Elastic Cross Section Ratio on Mineral Oil in a 0.8 GeV Neutrino Beam

Charged current single pion production (CC{pi}{sup +}) and charged current quasi-elastic scattering (CCQE) are the most abundant interaction types for neutrinos at energies around 1 GeV, a region of great interest to oscillation experiments. The cross-sections for these processes, however, are not well understood in this energy range. This dissertation presents a measurement of the ratio of CC{pi}{sup +} to CCQE cross-sections for muon neutrinos on mineral oil (CH{sub 2}) in the MiniBooNE experiment. The measurement is presented here both with and without corrections for hadronic re-interactions in the target nucleus and is given as a function of neutrino energy in the range 0.4 GeV < E{sub {nu}} < 2.4 GeV. With more than 46,000 CC{pi}{sup +} events collected in MiniBooNE, and with a fractional uncertainty of roughly 11% in the region of highest statistics, this measurement represents a dramatic improvement in statistics and precision over previous CC{pi}{sup +} and CCQE measurements.
Date: January 1, 2011
Creator: Linden, Steven K. & U., /Yale
System: The UNT Digital Library
Theory of spin-fluctuation induced superconductivity in iron-based superconductors (open access)

Theory of spin-fluctuation induced superconductivity in iron-based superconductors

In this dissertation we focus on the investigation of the pairing mechanism in the recently discovered high-temperature superconductor, iron pnictides. Due to the proximity to magnetic instability of the system, we considered short-range spin fluctuations as the major mediating source to induce superconductivity. Our calculation supports the magnetic fluctuations as a strong candidate that drives Cooper-pair formation in this material. We find the corresponding order parameter to be of the so-called ss-wave type and show its evolution with temperature as well as the capability of supporting high transition temperature up to several tens of Kelvin. On the other hand, our itinerant model calculation shows pronounced spin correlation at the observed antiferromagnetic ordering wave vector, indicating the underlying electronic structure in favor of antiferromagnetic state. Therefore, the electronic degrees of freedom could participate both in the magnetic and in the superconducting properties. Our work shows that the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity plays an important role to the understanding of the rich physics in this material. The magnetic-excitation spectrum carries important information on the nature of magnetism and the characteristics of superconductivity. We analyze the spin excitation spectrum in the normal and superconducting states of iron pnictides in the magnetic scenario. …
Date: August 15, 2011
Creator: Zhang, Junhua
System: The UNT Digital Library
Adjoint-Based Uncertainty Quantification with MCNP (open access)

Adjoint-Based Uncertainty Quantification with MCNP

None
Date: September 2, 2011
Creator: Seifried, J E
System: The UNT Digital Library
Finite Deformation of Magnetoelastic Film (open access)

Finite Deformation of Magnetoelastic Film

None
Date: April 29, 2011
Creator: Barham, M I
System: The UNT Digital Library