Article discussing linear response and fluctuation dissipation theorem for non-Poissonian renewal processes.

Article on the first principles theory of artificial metal chains on NiAl(110) surface.

None

A generation of high performance front-end and read-out ASICs customized for highly segmented CdZnTe sensors is presented. The ASICs, developed in a multi-year effort at Brookhaven National Laboratory, are targeted to a wide range of applications including medical, safeguards/security, industrial, research, and spectroscopy. The front-end multichannel ASICs provide high accuracy low noise preamplification and filtering of signals, with versions for small and large area CdZnTe elements. They implement a high order unipolar or bipolar shaper, an innovative low noise continuous reset system with self-adapting capability to the wide range of detector leakage currents, a new system for stabilizing the output baseline and high output driving capability. The general-purpose versions include programmable gain and peaking time. The read-out multichannel ASICs provide fully data driven high accuracy amplitude and time measurements, multiplexing and time domain derandomization of the shaped pulses. They implement a fast arbitration scheme and an array of innovative two-phase offset-free rail-to-rail analog peak detectors for buffering and absorption of input rate fluctuations, thus greatly relaxing the rate requirement on the external ADC. Pulse amplitude, hit timing, pulse risetime, and channel address per processed pulse are available at the output in correspondence of an external readout request. Prototype chips have …

We present recent simulation results for the main features of the electron cloud in the storage ring of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge, and updated results for the Proton Storage Ring (PSR) at Los Alamos. In particular, a complete refined model for the secondary emission process including the so called true secondary, rediffused and backscattered electrons has been included in the simulation code.

Using ASCA data, we find, contrary to other researchers using ROSAT data, that the X-ray spectra of the VY Scl stars TT Ari and KR Aur are poorly fit by an absorbed blackbody model but are well fit by an absorbed thermal plasma model. The different conclusions about the nature of the X-ray spectrum of KR Aur may be due to differences in the accretion rate, since this Star was in a high optical state during the ROSAT observation, but in an intermediate optical state during the ASCA observation. TT Ari, on the other hand, was in a high optical state during both observations, so directly contradicts the hypothesis that the X-ray spectra of VY Sol stars in their high optical states are blackbodies. Instead, based on theoretical expectations and the ASCA, Chandra, and XMM spectra of other nonmagnetic cataclysmic variables, we believe that the X-ray spectra of VY Sol stars in their low and high optical states are due to hot thermal plasma in the boundary layer between the accretion disk and the surface of the white dwarf, and appeal to the acquisition of Chandra and XMM grating spectra to test this prediction.

Spectrometer grade, room-temperature radiation detectors have been produced on Cd{sub 0.90}Zn{sub 0.10}Te grown by the low-pressure Bridgman technique. Small amount of indium has been used to compensate the uncompensated Cd vacancies for the crystals to be semi-insulating. The properties of the detectors are critically dependent on the amount of excess Te introduced into the growth melts of the Cd{sub 0.90}Zn{sub 0.10}Te crystals and the best detectors are fabricated from crystals grown with 1.5% excess Te. Detector resolution of {sup 57}Co and {sup 241}Am radiation peaks are observed on all detectors except the ones produced on Cd{sub 0.90}Zn{sub 0.10}Te grown from the melt in the stoichiometric condition. The lack of resolution of these stoichiometric grown detectors is explained by a p/n conduction-type inhomogeneity model.

Regardless of the form of restructuring, deregulated electricity industries share one common feature: the absence of any significant, rapid demand-side response to the wholesale (or, spotmarket) price. For a variety of reasons, electricity industries continue to charge most consumers an average cost based on regulated retail tariff from the era of vertical integration, even as the retailers themselves are forced to purchase electricity at volatile wholesale prices set in open markets. This results in considerable price risk for retailers, who are sometimes forbidden by regulators from signing hedging contracts. More importantly, because end-users do not perceive real-time (or even hourly or daily) fluctuations in the wholesale price of electricity, they have no incentive to adjust their consumption in response to price signals. Consequently, demand for electricity is highly inelastic, and electricity generation resources can be stretched to the point where system stability is threatened. This, then, facilitates many other problems associated with electricity markets, such as market power and price volatility. Indeed, economic theory suggests that even modestly price-responsive demand can remove the stress on generation resources and decrease spot prices. To test this theory, we use actual generator bid data from the New York control area to construct supply …

Laser driven accelerators, in which particles are accelerated by the electric field of a plasma wave driven by an intense laser, have demonstrated accelerating electric fields of hundreds of GV/m. These fields are thousands of times those achievable in conventional radiofrequency (RF) accelerators, spurring interest in laser accelerators as compact next generation sources of energetic electrons and radiation. To date however, acceleration distances have been severely limited by lack of a controllable method for extending the propagation distance of the focused laser pulse. The ensuing short acceleration distance results in low energy beams with 100% electron energy spread, limiting applications. Here we demonstrate that a relativistically intense laser can be guided by a preformed plasma density channel and that the longer propagation distance can result in electron beams of percent energy spread with low emittance and increased energy, containing >10{sup 9} electrons above 80 MeV. The preformed plasma channel technique forms the basis of a new class of accelerators, combining beam quality comparable to RF accelerators with the high gradients of laser accelerators to produce compact tunable high brightness electron and radiation sources.

Fermilab is considering a 8 GeV superconducting linac whose primary mission is to serve as an intense H{sup -} injector for the main injector. This accelerator is also planned to be used for accelerating various other species (e.g. electrons, protons and muons). In the present paper we investigate the possibility of such a linac to accelerate high-brightness electron beam up to {approx} 7 GeV. We propose a design for the electron front end based on a photoinjector and consider the electron beam dynamics along the linac. Start-to-end simulations of the full accelerator for electrons are presented. Finally the potential applications of such an electron beam are outlined.

An overview of CCD development efforts at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is presented. Operation of fully-depleted, back-illuminated CCD's fabricated on high resistivity silicon is described, along with results on the use of such CCD's at ground-based observatories. Radiation damage and point-spread function measurements are described, as well as discussion of CCD fabrication technologies.

Threshold structures, reminiscent of those seen in the polar hydrogen halides, have recently been observed in the cross sections for electron impact excitation of certain vibrational levels of the non-polar CO2 molecule. These structures occur at energies outside the range where shape resonances dominate the dynamics. We propose a virtual state model that describes the multi-dimensional nuclear dynamics during the collision and explains quantitatively the selectivity observed in the excitation of the Fermi dyad, as well as the pattern of threshold peaks and oscillations seen in the upper levels of the higher polyads.

SciDAC has invested heavily in climate change research. We offer a candid opinion as to the impact of the DOE laboratories' SciDAC projects on the upcoming Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. As a result of the direct importance of climate change to society, climate change research is highly coordinated at the international level. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is charged with providing regular reports on the state of climate change research to government policymakers. These reports are the product of thousands of scientists efforts. A series of reviews involving both scientists and policymakers make them among the most reviewed documents produced in any scientific field. The high profile of these reports acts a driver to many researchers in the climate sciences. The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) is scheduled to be released in 2007. SciDAC sponsored research has enabled the United States climate modeling community to make significant contributions to this report. Two large multi-Laboratory SciDAC projects are directly relevant to the activities of the IPCC. The first, entitled ''Collaborative Design and Development of the Community Climate System Model for Terascale Computers'', has made important software contributions to the recently released third version of …

Crystallisation of lower-rim tetra-O-alkylated p-carboxylatocalix[4]arenes from pyridine results in the formation of both bi-layer and pillar type supramolecular motifs. Full alkylation at the calixarene lower rim has significant influence over the supramolecular self-assembly motif, including preclusion of pyridine guest molecules from the calixarene cavity in the solid state.

The last few years have seen significant progress in constructing the atomic models required for non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) simulations. Along with this has come an increased understanding of the requirements for accurately modeling the ionization balance, energy content and radiative properties of different elements for a wide range of densities and temperatures. Much of this progress is the result of a series of workshops dedicated to comparing the results from different codes and computational approaches applied to a series of test problems. The results of these workshops emphasized the importance of atomic model completeness, especially in doubly excited states and autoionization transitions, to calculating ionization balance, and the importance of accurate, detailed atomic data to producing reliable spectra. We describe a simple screened-hydrogenic model that calculates NLTE ionization balance with surprising accuracy, at a low enough computational cost for routine use in radiation-hydrodynamics codes. The model incorporates term splitting, {Delta}n = 0 transitions, and approximate UTA widths for spectral calculations, with results comparable to those of much more detailed codes. Simulations done with this model have been increasingly successful at matching experimental data for laser-driven systems and hohlraums. Accurate and efficient atomic models are just one requirement for integrated …

Hiding communication latency is an important optimization for parallel programs. Programmers or compilers achieve this by using non-blocking communication primitives and overlapping communication with computation or other communication operations. Using non-blocking communication raises two issues: performance and programmability. In terms of performance, optimizers need to find a good communication schedule and are sometimes constrained by lack of full application knowledge. In terms of programmability, efficiently managing non-blocking communication can prove cumbersome for complex applications. In this paper we present the design principles of HUNT, a runtime system designed to search and exploit some of the available overlap present at execution time in UPC programs. Using virtual memory support, our runtime implements demand-driven synchronization for data involved in communication operations. It also employs message decomposition and scheduling heuristics to transparently improve the non-blocking behavior of applications. We provide a user level implementation of HUNT on a variety of modern high performance computing systems. Results indicate that our approach is successful in finding some of the overlap available at execution time. While system and application characteristics influence performance, perhaps the determining factor is the time taken by the CPU to execute a signal handler. Demand driven synchronization at execution time eliminates the …

Large scale molecular dynamics simulations of bulk melts of polar (poly(vinylidene fluoride) (pVDF)) polymers are utilized to study chain conformation and ordering prior to crystallization under cooling. While the late stages of polymer crystallization have been studied in great detail, recent theoretical and experimental evidence indicates that there are important phenomena occurring in the early stages of polymer crystallization that are not understood to the same degree. When the polymer melt is quenched from a temperature above the melting temperature to the crystallization temperature, crystallization does not occur instantaneously. This initial interval without crystalline order is characterized as an induction period. It has been thought of as a nucleation period in the classical theories of polymer crystallization, but recent experiments, computer simulations, and theoretical work suggest that the initial period in polymer crystallization is assisted by a spinodal decomposition type mechanism. In this study we have achieved physically realistic length scales to study early stages of polymer ordering, and show that spinodal-assisted ordering prior to crystallization is operative in polar polymers suggesting general applicability of this process.

To create high energy density matter and fusion conditions, high-power drivers, such as lasers, ion beams, and x-ray drivers, are employed to heat targets with pulses short compared to hydro-motion. Both high energy density physics and ion-driven inertial fusion require the simultaneous transverse and longitudinal compression of an ion beam to achieve high intensities. We have previously studied the effects of plasma neutralization for transverse beam compression. The scaled experiment, the Neutralized Transport Experiment (NTX), demonstrated that an initially un-neutralized beam can be compressed transversely to {approx}1 mm radius when charge neutralization by background plasma electrons is provided. Here we report longitudinal compression of a velocity-tailored, intense, neutralized 25 mA K+ beam at 300 keV. The compression takes place in a 1-2 m drift section filled with plasma to provide space-charge neutralization. An induction cell produces a head-to-tail velocity tilt that longitudinally compresses the neutralized beam, enhances the beam peak current by a factor of 50 and produces a pulse duration of about 3 ns. The Physics of longitudinal compression, experimental procedure, and the results of the compression experiments are presented.

As part of the Next Linear Collider (NLC) collaboration, the NLC structures group at Fermilab has started an R&D program to fabricate NLC accelerator structures in cooperation with commercial companies in order to prepare for mass production of RF structures. To build the Next Linear Collider, thousands accelerator structures containing a million cells are needed. Our primary goal is to explore the feasibility of making these structures in an industrial environment. On the other hand the structure mass production requires ''industrialized''microwave quality control techniques to characterize these structures at different stages of production as efficiently as possible. We developed several automated set-ups based on different RF techniques that are mutually complementary address this problem.

A preliminary measurement of the branching fraction {Beta}({tau}{sup -} {yields} K{sup -}{pi}{sup 0}{nu}{sub {tau}}) is made using 124.4 fb{sup -1} of e{sup +}e{sup -} collision data provided by the PEP-II accelerator, operating primarily at {radical}s = 10.58 GeV, and recorded using the BABAR detector. They measure: {Beta}({tau}{sup -} {yields} K{sup -} {pi}{sup 0}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (0.438 {+-} 0.004(stat) {+-} 0.022(syst))%. This result is the world's most precise measurement of this branching fraction to date and is consistent with the world average.

We have developed a Monte Carlo simulator for astrophysical objects, which incorporate the transportation of X-ray photons in photoionized plasma. We applied the code to X-ray spectra of high mass X-ray binaries, Vela X-1 and GX 301-2, obtained with Chandra HETGS. By utilizing the simulator, we have successfully reproduced many emission lines observed from Vela X-1. The ionization structure and the matter distribution in the Vela X-1 system are deduced. For GX 301-2, we have derived the physical parameters of material surrounding the neutron star from fully resolved shape of the Compton shoulder in the iron K{alpha} line.

Cryogenic inertial confinement fusion targets at the National Ignition Facility and the Laser Megajoule will be protected from thermal infrared radiation by a cold shroud. As the shroud is removed just before the laser pulse, infrared radiation will heat and possibly degrade the symmetry of the solid hydrogen fuel layer. A lumped component mathematical model has been constructed to calculate how long an indirect drive target can be exposed to thermal radiation before the fuel layer degrades. The allowed exposure time sets the maximum shroud removal time and therefore has important implications for the design of the cryogenic shroud systems. The model predicts that the maximum exposure time is approximately 0.18 s for plastic capsules inside hohlraums with transparent laser entrance holes. By covering the laser entrance holes with a partially reflective coating, the exposure time can be increased to approximately 1 s. The exposure time can be increased to about 2 s by using beryllium capsules. Several other design concepts could increase the exposure time even further. Lengthening of the allowed exposure time to 1 s or longer could allow a significant cost savings for the shroud system.

Global address space languages like UPC exhibit high performance and portability on a broad class of shared and distributed memory parallel architectures. The most scalable applications use bulk memory copies rather than individual reads and writes to the shared space, but finer-grained sharing can be useful for scenarios such as dynamic load balancing, event signaling, and distributed hash tables. In this paper we present three optimization techniques for global address space programs with fine-grained communication: redundancy elimination, use of split-phase communication, and communication coalescing. Parallel UPC programs are analyzed using static single assignment form and a data flow graph, which are extended to handle the various shared and private pointer types that are available in UPC. The optimizations also take advantage of UPC's relaxed memory consistency model, which reduces the need for cross thread analysis. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the analysis and optimizations using several benchmarks, which were chosen to reflect the kinds of fine-grained, communication-intensive phases that exist in some larger applications. The optimizations show speedups of up to 70 percent on three parallel systems, which represent three different types of cluster network technologies.

The predicted superionic phase of water is investigated via ab initio molecular dynamics at densities of 2.0-3.0 g/cc (34-115 GPa) along the 2000 K isotherm. They find that extremely rapid (superionic) diffusion of protons occurs in a fluid phase at pressures between 34 and 58 GPa. A transition to a stable body-centered cubic (bcc) O lattice with superionic proton conductivity is observed between 70 and 75 GPa, a much higher pressure than suggested in prior work. They find that all molecular species at pressures greater than 75 GPa are too short lived to be classified as bound states. Above 95 GPa, a transient network phase is found characterized by symmetric O-H hydrogen bonding with nearly 50% covalent character.