The discovery of neutrino mass through experimental evidence of neutrino oscillations at the end of the last century has provided the first proof that the Standard Model of particle physics is incomplete. To be able to extend the Standard Model to incorporate massive neutrinos first requires many theoretical uncertainties surrounding the particle and its interactions to be understood. Therefore, a dedicated experimental programme is needed over the coming decades to provide precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters and also a possible measurement of CP violation in the lepton sector, which could have astrophysical consequences. An intense source of neutrinos is required to achieve these precision measurements and the leading contender proposed to provide this neutrino beam, is the Neutrino Factory. Before a Neutrino Factory facility can be realised, a number of technological challenges need to be evaluated and understood first. One of which, is reduce the large phase space volume (emittance) of the initial muon beam, which is eventually stored and through decay provides the neutrino beam. Ionisation cooling is the chosen method to achieve this and the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment (MICE) at Rutherford Laboratory in the UK, is required to demonstrate ionisation cooling and its feasibility for …

I present an analysis of b{bar b} pair production correlations, using dimuon-triggered data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV during Run II of the TeVatron. The leading order (LO) and next-to-leading order (NLO) b quark production processes are discriminated by the angular and momentum correlations between the b{bar b} pair. Track-level jets containing a muon are classified by b quark content and used to estimate the momentum vector of the progenitor b quark. The theoretical distributions given by the MC{at}NLO event generator are tested against the data.

The accurate and efficient simulation of coupled neutron-photon problems is necessary for several important radiation detection applications. Examples include the detection of nuclear threats concealed in cargo containers and prompt gamma neutron activation analysis for nondestructive determination of elemental composition of unknown samples.

In this dissertation, we present the results of a time-dependent angular analysis of B_s → J/ΨΦ decays performed with the use of initial-state flavor tagging. CP violation is observed in this mode through the interference of decay without net mixing and decay with net mixing, that is, B_s → J/ΨΦ and B_s → $\bar{B}$_s → J/ΨΦ . The time-dependent angular analysis is used to extract the decay widths of the heavy and light B_s eigenstates and the difference between these decay widths ΔΓ_s {triple_bond} Γ_s^L-Γ_s^H. Initial-state flavor tagging is used to determine the matter-antimatter content of the B_s mesons at production time. We combine flavor tagging with the angular analysis, which statistically determines the contributions of the CP-even and CP-odd components at decay time, to measure the CP-violating phase β_s. The phase β_s is expressed in terms of elements of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix as β_s {triple_bond} arg (-V_tsV*_tb/V_csV*_cb), and is predicted by the Standard Model to be close to zero, β_s^SM = 0.02. In the measurement of ΔΓ_s, we use a dataset corresponding to 1.7 fb^-1 of luminosity, collected at the CDF experiment from proton-antiproton collisions at a center of mass energy √s = 1.96 TeV. In the measurement of …

Cross-sections are presented for 58 GeV {pi}, K, and p on a wide range of nuclear targets. These cross-sections are essential for determining the neutrino flux in measurements of neutrino cross-sections and oscillations. The E907 Main Injector Particle Production (MIPP) experiment at Fermilab is a fixed target experiment for measuring hadronic particle production using primary 120 GeV/c protons and secondary {pi}, K, and p beams. The particle identification is made by dE/dx in a time projection chamber, and by time-of-flight, differential Cherenkov and ring imaging Cherenkov detectors, which together cover a wide range of momentum from 0.1 GeV/c up to 120 GeV/c. MIPP targets span the periodic table, from hydrogen to uranium, including beryllium and carbon. The MIPP has collected {approx} 0.26 x 10{sup 6} events of 58 GeV/c secondary particles produced by protons from the main injector striking a carbon target.

The D0 detector underwent an upgrade to its silicon vertex detector and triggering systems during the transition from Run IIa to Run IIb to maximize its ability to fully exploit Run II at the Fermilab Tevatron. This thesis describes improvements made to the tracking and vertexing algorithms used by the high level trigger in both Run IIa and Run IIb, as well as a search for resonant di-J/{psi} states using both Run IIa and Run IIb data. Improvements made to the tracking and vertexing algorithms during Run IIa included the optimization of the existing tracking software to reduce overall processing time and the certification and testing of a new software release. Upgrades made to the high level trigger for Run IIb included the development of a new tracking algorithm and the inclusion of the new Layer 0 silicon detector into the existing software. The integration of Layer 0 into the high level trigger has led to an improvement in the overall impact parameter resolution for tracks of {approx}50%. The development of a new parameterization method for finding the error associated to the impact parameter of tracks returned by the high level tracking algorithm, in association with the inclusion of Layer …

The top quark is by far the heaviest known fundamental particle with a mass nearing that of a gold atom. Because of this strikingly high mass, the top quark has several unique properties and might play an important role in electroweak symmetry breaking - the mechanism that gives all elementary particles mass. Creating top quarks requires access to very high energy collisions, and at present only the Tevatron collider at Fermilab is capable of reaching these energies. Until now, top quarks have only been observed produced in pairs via the strong interaction. At hadron colliders, it should also be possible to produce single top quarks via the electroweak interaction. Studies of single top quark production provide opportunities to measure the top quark spin, how top quarks mix with other quarks, and to look for new physics beyond the standard model. Because of these interesting properties, scientists have been looking for single top quarks for more than 15 years. This thesis presents the first discovery of single top quark production. An analysis is performed using 2.3 fb{sup -1} of data recorded by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider at centre-of-mass energy {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. Boosted decision trees are …

Arsenic in drinking water is a major public health problem threatening the lives of over 140 million people worldwide. In Bangladesh alone, up to 57 million people drink arsenic-laden water from shallow wells. ElectroChemical Arsenic Remediation(ECAR) overcomes many of the obstacles that plague current technologies and can be used affordably and on a small-scale, allowing for rapid dissemination into Bangladesh to address this arsenic crisis. In this work, ECAR was shown to effectively reduce 550 - 580 mu g=L arsenic (including both As[III]and As[V]in a 1:1 ratio) to below the WHO recommended maximum limit of 10 mu g=L in synthetic Bangladesh groundwater containing relevant concentrations of competitive ions such as phosphate, silicate, and bicarbonate. Arsenic removal capacity was found to be approximately constant within certain ranges of current density, but was found to change substantially between ranges. In order of decreasing arsenic removal capacity, the pattern was: 0.02 mA=cm2> 0.07 mA=cm2> 0.30 - 1.1 mA=cm2> 5.0 - 100 mA=cm2. Current processing time was found to effect arsenic removal capacity independent of either charge density or current density. Electrode polarization studies showed no passivation of the electrode in the tested range (up to current density 10 mA=cm2) and ruled out oxygen …

Information technology (IT) is becoming increasingly pervasive throughout society as more data is digitally processed, stored, and transferred. The infrastructure that supports IT activity is growing accordingly, and data center energy demands haveincreased by nearly a factor of four over the past decade. Data centers house IT equipment and require significantly more energy to operate per unit floor area thanconventional buildings. The economic and environmental ramifications of continued data center growth motivate the need to explore energy-efficient methods to operate these buildings. A substantial portion of data center energy use is dedicated to removing the heat that is generated by the IT equipment. Using economizers to introduce large airflow rates of outside air during favorable weather could substantially reduce the energy consumption of data center cooling. Cooling buildings with economizers is an established energy saving measure, but in data centers this strategy is not widely used, partly owing to concerns that the large airflow rates would lead to increased indoor levels of airborne particles, which could damage IT equipment. The environmental conditions typical of data centers and the associated potential for equipment failure, however, are not well characterized. This barrier to economizer implementation illustrates the general relationship between energy use …

Ozone, an ambient pollutant, is transformed into other airborne pollutants in the indoor environment. In this dissertation, the type and amount of byproducts that result from ozone reactions with common indoor surfaces, surface residues, and vapors were determined, pollutant concentrations were related to occupant exposure, and frameworks were developed to predict byproduct concentrations under various indoor conditions. In Chapter 2, an analysis is presented of secondary organic aerosol formation from the reaction of ozone with gas-phase, terpene-containing consumer products in small chamber experiments under conditions relevant for residential and commercial buildings. The full particle size distribution was continuously monitored, and ultrafine and fine particle concentrations were in the range of 10 to>300 mu g m-3. Particle nucleation and growth dynamics were characterized.Chapter 3 presents an investigation of ozone reactions with aircraft cabin surfaces including carpet, seat fabric, plastics, and laundered and worn clothing fabric. Small chamber experiments were used to determine ozone deposition velocities, ozone reaction probabilities, byproduct emission rates, and byproduct yields for each surface category. The most commonly detected byproducts included C1?C10 saturated aldehydes and skin oil oxidation products. For all materials, emission rates were higher with ozone than without. Experimental results were used to predict byproduct exposure …

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

We report on two searches performed at the D0 detector at the Fermi National Laboratory. The first is a search for Z di-boson production with a theoretical cross section of 1.4 pb. The search was performed on 2.6 fb{sup -1} of data and contributed to the first observation of ZZ production at a hadron collider. The second is a search for a low mass Standard Model Higgs in 4.2 fb{sup -1} of data. The Higgs boson is produced in association with a Z boson where the Higgs decays hadronically and the Z decays to two leptons. The ZZ search was performed in both the di-electron and di-muon channels. For the ZH search, we will focus on the muonic decays where we expanded the traditional coverage by considering events in which one of the two muons fails the selection requirement, and is instead reconstructed as an isolated track. We consider Higgs masses between 100 and 150 GeV, with theoretical cross sections ranging from 0.17 to 0.042 pb, and set upper limits on the ZH production cross-section at 95% confidence level.

We have used the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF-II) to set upper limits on the branching ratio of the flavor-changing neutral-current (FCNC) top quark decay t {yields} Zc using a technique employing ratios of W and Z production, measured in 1.52 fb{sup -1} of p{bar p} data. The analysis uses a comparison of two decay chains, p{bar p} {yields} t{bar t} {yields} WbWb {yields} {ell}{nu}bjjb and p{bar p} {yields} t{bar t} ZcWb {yields} {ell}{sup +}{ell}{sup -} cjjb, to cancel systematic uncertainties in acceptance, efficiency, and luminosity. We validate the MC modeling of acceptance and efficiency for lepton identification over the multi-year dataset also using a ratio of W and Z production, in this case the observed ratio of inclusive production of W to Z-bosons, a technique that will be essential for precision comparisons with the standard model at the LHC. We introduce several methods of determining backgrounds to the W and Z samples. To improve the discrimination against SM backgrounds to top quark decays, we calculate the top mass for each event with two leptons and four jets assuming it is a t{bar t} event with one of the top quarks decaying to Zc. The upper limit on the Br(t …

The analysis presented in this thesis focuses on kinematic distributions in the t{bar t} system and studies in detail selected differential cross sections of top quarks as well as the reconstructed t{bar t} pair, namely the top quark transverse momentum and the t{bar t} system mass. The structure of the thesis is organized as follows: first the Standard Model of the particle physics is briefly introduced in Chapter 1, with relevant aspects of electroweak and strong interactions discussed. The physics of the top quark and its properties are then outlined in Chapter 2, together with the motivation for measuring the transverse top quark momentum and other kinematic-related variables of the t{bar t} system. The concepts of present-day high energy physics collider experiments and the explicit example of Fermilab Tevatron collider and the D0 detector in Chapters 3 and 4 are followed by the description of basic detector-level objects, i.e. tracks, leptons and jets, in Chapter 5; their identification and calibration following in next chapter with the emphasis on the jet energy scale in Chapter 6 and jet identification at the D0. The analysis itself is outlined in Chapter 7 and is structured so that first the data and simulation samples …

MINOS is a long-baseline two-detector neutrino oscillation experiment that uses a high intensity muon neutrino beam to investigate the phenomena of neutrino oscillations. By measuring the neutrino interactions in a detector near the neutrino source and again 735 km away from the production site, it is possible to probe the parameters governing neutrino oscillation. The majority of the {nu}{sub {mu}} oscillate to {nu}{sub {tau}} but a small fraction may oscillate instead to {nu}{sub e}. This thesis presents a measurement of the {nu}{sub e} appearance rate in the MINOS far detector using the first two years of exposure. Methods for constraining the far detector backgrounds using the near detector measurements is discussed and a technique for estimating the uncertainty on the background and signal selection are developed. A 1.6{sigma} excess over the expected background rate is found providing a hint of {nu}{sub e} appearance.

In this thesis, results of neutrino-nucleon neutral current (NC) elastic scattering analysis are presented. Neutrinos interact with other particles only with weak force. Measurement of cross-section for neutrino-nucleon reactions at various neutrino energy are important for the study of nucleon structure. It also provides data to be used for beam flux monitor in neutrino oscillation experiments. The cross-section for neutrino-nucleon NC elastic scattering contains the axial vector form factor G{sub A}(Q{sup 2}) as well as electromagnetic form factors unlike electromagnetic interaction. G{sub A} is propotional to strange part of nucleon spin ({Delta}s) in Q{sup 2} {yields} 0 limit. Measurement of NC elastic cross-section with smaller Q{sup 2} enables us to access {Delta}s. NC elastic cross-sections of neutrino-nucleon and antineutrino-nucleon were measured earlier by E734 experiment at Brookheaven National Laboratory (BNL) in 1987. In this experiment, cross-sections were measured in Q{sup 2} > 0.4 GeV{sup 2} region. Result from this experiment was the only published data for NC elastic scattering cross-section published before our experiment. SciBooNE is an experiment for the measurement of neutrino-nucleon scattering cross-secitons using Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at FNAL. BNB has energy peak at 0.7 GeV. In this energy region, NC elastic scattering, charged current elastic scattering, …

The top quark is the heaviest known matter particle and plays an important role in the Standard Model of particle physics. At hadron colliders, it is possible to produce single top quarks via the weak interaction. This allows a direct measurement of the CKM matrix element V{sub tb} and serves as a window to new physics. The first direct measurement of single top quark production with a tau lepton in the final state (the tau+jets channel) is presented in this thesis. The measurement uses 4.8 fb{sup -1} of Tevatron Run II data in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV acquired by the D0 experiment. After selecting a data sample and building a background model, the data and background model are in good agreement. A multivariate technique, boosted decision trees, is employed in discriminating the small single top quark signal from a large background. The expected sensitivity of the tau+jets channel in the Standard Model is 1.8 standard deviations. Using a Bayesian statistical approach, an upper limit on the cross section of single top quark production in the tau+jets channel is measured as 7.3 pb at 95% confidence level, and the cross section is measured as 3.4{sub -1.8}{sup +2.0} …

A method is presented to simultaneously separate the contributions to a sample of B{sub (s)}{sup 0} {yields} h{sup +}h{sup {prime}-} decays, where h = {pi} or K, and measure the B meson lifetimes in the sample while correcting for the bias in the lifetime distributions due to the hadronic trigger at the CDF experiment. Using 1 fb{sup -1} of data collected at CDF the B{sup 0} lifetime is measured as {tau}{sub B{sup 0}} = 1.558{sub -0.047}{sup +0.050}{sub stat} {+-} 0.028{sub syst} ps, in agreement with the world average measurement. The B{sub s}{sup 0} lifetime in the B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -} decay is measured as {tau}{sub B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -}} = 1.51{sub -0.11}{sup +0.13}{sub stat} {+-} 0.04{sub syst} ps. No difference is observed between the lifetime and other measurements of the average B{sub s}{sup 0} lifetime or the lifetime of the light B{sub s}{sup 0} mass eigenstate determined from B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} J/{psi}{phi} decays. With the assumptions that B{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -} is 100% CP-even and that {tau}{sub B{sub s}{sup 0}} = {tau}{sub B{sup 0}} the width difference in the B{sub s}{sup 0} system is determined as {Delta}{Lambda}{sup CP}/{Lambda} = 0.03{sub …

This thesis describes a measurement of the branching fraction Br(B{sup 0}{sub s} {yields} D{sup (*)}{sub s} D{sup (*)}{sub s}) made using a data sample collected from proton-antiproton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV, corresponding to approximately 1.3 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity collected in 2002--2006 by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. One D{sup (*)}{sub s} meson was partially reconstructed in the decay D{sub s} {yields} {phi}{mu}{nu}, and the other D{sup (*)}{sub s} meson was identified using the decay D{sub s} {yields} {phi}{pi} where no attempt was made to distinguish D{sub s} and D{sup *}{sub s} states. The resulting measurement is Br(B{sup 0}{sub s} {yields} D{sup (*)}{sub s} D{sup (*)}{sub s}) = 0.039{sup +0.019}{sub -0.017}(stat){sup +0.016}{sub -0.015}(syst). This was subsequently used to estimate the width difference {Delta}{Gamma}{sup CP}{sub s} in the B{sup 0}{sub s}-{anti B}{sup 0}{sub s} system: {Delta}{Gamma}{sup CP}{sub s}/{Gamma}{sub s} = 0.079{sup +0.038}{sub -0.035}(stat){sup +0.031}{sub 0.030}(syst), and is currently one of the most precise estimates of this quantity and consistent with the Standard Model.

This thesis presents the analysis of the double differential dijet mass cross section, measured at the D0 detector in Batavia, IL, using p{bar p} collisions at a center of mass energy of {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. The dijet mass was calculated using the two highest p{sub T} jets in the event, with approximately 0.7 fb{sup -1} of data collected between 2004 and 2005. The analysis was presented in bins of dijet mass (M{sub JJ}) and rapidity (y), and extends the measurement farther in M{sub JJ} and y than any previous measurement. Corrections due to detector effects were calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation and applied to data. The errors on the measurement consist of statistical and systematic errors, of which the Jet Energy Scale was the largest. The final result was compared to next-to-leading order theory and good agreement was found. These results may be used in the determination of the proton parton distribution functions and to set limits on new physics.

At particle accelerators the Standard Model has been tested and will be tested further to a great precision. The data analyzed in this thesis have been collected at the world's highest energetic-collider, the Tevatron, located at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) in the vicinity of Chicago, IL, USA. There, protons and antiprotons are collided at a center-of-mass energy of {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. The discovery of the top quark was one of the remarkable results not only for the CDF and D0 experiments at the Tevatron collider, but also for the Standard Model, which had predicted the existence of the top quark because of symmetry arguments long before already. Still, the Tevatron is the only facility able to produce top quarks. The predominant production mechanism of top quarks is the production of a top-antitop quark pair via the strong force. However, the Standard Model also allows the production of single top quarks via the electroweak interaction. This process features the unique opportunity to measure the |V{sub tb}| matrix element of the Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix directly, without assuming unitarity of the matrix or assuming that the number of quark generations is three. Hence, the measurement of the cross section of …

In this thesis we present the measurement of the inclusive isolated prompt photon cross section with a total integrated luminosity of 2.5 fb{sup -1} of data collected with the CDF Run II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The prompt photon cross section is a classic measurement to test perturbative QCD (pQCD) with potential to provide information on the parton distribution function (PDF), and sensitive to the presence of new physics at large photon transverse momentum. Prompt photons also constitute an irreducible background for important searches such as H {yields} {gamma}{gamma}, or SUSY and extra-dimensions with energetic photons in the final state. The Tevatron at Fermilab (Batavia, U.S.A.) is currently the hadron collider that operates at the highest energies in the world. It collides protons and antiprotons with a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The CDF and the D0 experiments are located in two of its four interaction regions. In Run I at the Tevatron, the direct photon production cross section was measured by both CDF and DO, and first results in Run II have been presented by the DO Collaboration based on 380 pb{sup -1}. Both Run I and Run II results show agreement with the theoretical predictions except …

The standard model (SM) of particle physics is a theory, describing three out of four fundamental forces. In this model the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix describes the transformation between the mass and weak eigenstates of quarks. The matrix properties can be visualized as triangles in the complex plane. A precise measurement of all triangle parameters can be used to verify the validity of the SM. The least precisely measured parameter of the triangle is related to the CKM element |V{sub td}|, accessible through the mixing frequency (oscillation) of neutral B mesons, where mixing is the transition of a neutral meson into its anti-particle and vice versa. It is possible to calculate the CKM element |V{sub td}| and a related element |V{sub ts}| by measuring the mass differences {Delta}m{sub d} ({Delta}m{sub s}) between neutral B{sub d} and {bar B}{sub d} (B{sub s} and {bar B}{sub s}) meson mass eigenstates. This measurement is accomplished by tagging the initial and final state of decaying B mesons and determining their lifetime. Currently the Fermilab Tevatron Collider (providing p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV) is the only place, where B{sub s} oscillations can be studied. The first selection of the 'golden', fully hadronic decay …

Top quarks are predominantly produced in pairs via the strong interaction in {bar p}p collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV . The top quark has a weak isospin 1/2, composing a weak isospin doublet with the bottom quark. This characteristic predicts not only top quark pair production via strong interaction but also single production together with a bottom quark via weak interaction. However, finding single top quark production is challenging since it is rarely produced ({sigma}{sub singletop} = 2.9 pb) against background processes with the same final state like W+jets and t{bar t}. A measurement of electroweak single top production probes the W-t-b vertex, which provides a direct determination of the Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element |V{sub tb}|. The sample offers a source of almost 100% polarized top quarks. This thesis describes an optimized search for s-channel single top quark production and a measurement of the single top production cross section using 2.7 fb{sup -1} of data accumulated with the CDF detector. We are using events with one high-p{sub T} lepton, large missing E{sub T} and two identified b-quark jets where one jet is identified using a secondary vertex tagger, called SecVtx, and the other jet is identified using SecVtx or …